"Canghai City is approaching the station. Passengers for this stop, please..."
Hua unconsciously slowed her steps. The sound of the train pulling into the station echoed overhead. She stared blankly at the slowly approaching streetcar.
"What's wrong, Hua?" The white-haired, brown-skinned girl beside her waved a hand in front of her face, perplexed by her distraction.
Hua snapped back to reality, letting out a sigh of melancholy. She shook her head: "I want to go back and see my father."
The white-haired girl suddenly understood. She patted Hua's shoulder, grinning, trying to cheer her up: "Oh, you're homesick. Do all Shenzhou people have this sentiment? I feel like everyone I know from Shenzhou is homesick all the time, just like you. The holidays are starting soon, aren't they? You can go home and see your father then, can't you?"
Go home? The martial arts school is closed now. Has the house changed completely? Suddenly, she didn't really want to go back...
Hua was startled by her own thoughts. She forcefully shook her head, tossing the extraneous ideas out of her mind.
"That's true. Never mind, let's not think about it. Let's go eat noodles," she changed the subject, forcing a reserved smile as she spoke to the white-haired girl, the only person she could call a close friend.
When she returned, she would tell her father that she had made a friend. He would surely be happy.
The white-haired girl immediately grabbed her stomach and whined, elongating the final vowel: "Ugh? Noodles again? Hua, you eat noodles every time we go out. Don't you ever get sick of it?"
"Eh? Th-then let's change it."
"Hehe, I'm just messing with you. Is it the same noodle shop as last time?"
"Mmm... Huh?"
Two people walked past Hua, making her abruptly freeze where she stood, just as she was about to speak.
The white-haired girl didn't get a response from Hua, and asked, "Hua? What is it?"
She followed Hua's gaze and saw a person wearing a hood and a girl with inner-layer-dyed hair walking around the corner, talking about something.
"Someone you know?"
"No," Hua denied. "That person wearing the hat is a little strange."
"Strange? How is he strange? Is he handsome?" As soon as handsome men were mentioned, the white-haired girl immediately stood on her tiptoes, excited to get a better look at the person. They rarely saw handsome men, but if she had to judge, A-Hua was actually better looking than most boys, which was a shame since she was a girl.
"Handsome? I don't think so. He was wearing a mask and sunglasses under his hood. You couldn't tell what he looked like at all."
"Ah? That is strange. Walking around like that in broad daylight, could he be a criminal?"
"I don't think so. His presence isn't like that."
Most martial arts practitioners possess an "awareness" that cannot be described in words. As that person passed by, Hua sensed a subtle feeling of incongruity about him. Moreover, his stride, posture, and speed were all precise to a certain degree, clearly indicating rigorous training, but his left foot showed some disharmony, like someone recovering from a severe illness.
Furthermore, even though the person's eyes were shielded by sunglasses, Hua could feel that he had observed her closely, likely having noticed her unique, trained habit of carrying herself.
"Such a strange person..."
She murmured, staring at the empty corner.
"Soldier Lin, are you sure your body is alright?"
Seele watched Lin, whose actions were now indistinguishable from an ordinary person, her voice still tinged with worry.
Although he had no external wounds, Lin initially behaved like a person who had woken up from a dozen years as a vegetable and was learning to use his body again. The overturned medicines in the lab had left Nuwa and Fuxi pale-faced and scrambling to figure out how to face Mobius.
Despite all that, he still wanted to go on a mission. Even though the Fifth Squad wasn't assigned any, he still applied for an off-base task.
The Moth of the Flame-Chasers assigns both squad missions and solo missions. Most solo missions are for investigating areas with abnormal Honkai energy concentrations. To prevent the Moth of the Flame-Chasers, which favors the elite route, from suffering frequent reductions in manpower, there are rarely single-person combat missions on the front lines, prioritizing efficiency.
Seele was worried about Lin, who had just gotten out of the sickbay, so she came along.
Lin loosened his overly tight mask and replied coldly: "I'm fine."
His body was still uncoordinated, occasionally resulting in him moving the same arm and leg forward simultaneously, but it was enough for small missions.
"This mission is to investigate the abnormal Honkai concentration in Canghai City. Honkai Zombies have appeared frequently in Canghai City in recent months, and there have been numerous civilian sightings. Our task is to search for Honkai Zombies at the location of the most recent sighting."
Lin briefly recounted the mission.
The outbreak of the Honkai is not instantaneous; it accumulates slowly. Just as some diseases have external symptoms, a Honkai outbreak has omens, which manifest in various ways.
However, the frustrating thing is that even if precursors appear, it doesn't necessarily mean a large-scale Honkai outbreak will occur. Most are minor Honkai energy invasions, which cannot be treated as a disaster warning that warrants the expenditure of manpower and resources.
"Honkai Zombies... Soldier Lin, do Honkai Zombies hide? Why do we need to search for them?" Seele was confused.
Would those mindless monsters try to avoid people?
Some higher-tier Honkai Zombies might possess basic intelligence, but it was impossible for them to hide to avoid danger like humans, only wandering out when no one was around.
Lin glanced at her: "...Time."
"Time?"
"The time of invasion."
"The time of invasion... does that mean—" Seele covered her mouth. She understood what Lin meant.
Humans in an environment with excessively high Honkai energy will transform into Honkai Zombies over time. This duration depends on the human's Honkai energy resistance and the energy's concentration. In large-scale Honkai outbreaks like the First and Second Eruptions, humans at the epicenter are usually instantly corrupted into Honkai Zombies and Honkai Beasts; those with poor adaptability might not even get the chance to transform.
Given that the bustling city center was still peaceful, such a high concentration of Honkai energy was impossible. Therefore, a person being corrupted into a Honkai Zombie must have retained their sanity for a period of time, making it plausible that they hid in a deserted place out of fear of their own condition.
Seele muttered dreamily, "Then, if that person hasn't been completely corrupted, is there still a chance to save them..."
Lin frowned, looking at Seele, who was completely unaware of what she was saying.
Isn't she a researcher's daughter? How could she not know that Honkai energy corruption is irreversible at this stage?
Lin said only one sentence: "The inhibitor, there is only one vial."
And the inhibitor is not an antidote.
Seele didn't realize what Lin's words meant at the moment, but soon, she would understand.
She would understand how fragile her delusion was in the face of reality.
It was already night when Lin and Seele found the small, old apartment.
Upon seeing the sight inside, neither of them spoke. The scene in the room was beyond both of their expectations.
The apartment was old and cramped, but clean, with no signs of man-made damage. The quantity and contents of the furniture indicated that two people, one adult and one child, lived there.
Lin silently picked up the photo on the desk. It was a picture of a young mother and her son, possibly a primary school graduation photo. The photo was yellowed, and when he flipped it over, he saw the date taken was three years ago.
In the bottom right corner was a small string of text: "I love you. I hope to give you your father's share of love as well."
The smiles of the adult and the child, even through the photo, conveyed warmth.
Seele stared blankly at the people in the photo.
Lin put the photo down. His eyes were unchanged, like those of an emotionless iron man.
He drew the standard-issue pistol that he had never used, checked the clip, released the safety, and cocked the hammer.
"Click."
The sharp sound jolted Seele, awakening her from her daze.
She swallowed, glanced at Lin, and then, looked at...
The woman.
The woman who was tied to the bed, emitting inhuman growls from her throat, her skin pale... the woman from the photo.
And in the corner of the room, a small boy was sobbing uncontrollably and trembling, clutching his body, his eyes filled with tears as he stared at the woman who had once given him warm hugs.
Lin raised his gun expressionlessly, aiming at the woman whose mouth had cracked open to her ears.