I've already said this isn't a life simulator!

"If you want to escape, just go ahead. Remember to report back to base afterwards. I won't report you. After all, we all just want to live."

"........."

They looked at each other, seemingly surprised that Xi Wang would say such a thing. After a brief hesitation, one of them slowly moved his body, and after confirming that you really had no opinion, he immediately turned around and ran away.

Once the first person took the lead, the others quickly followed suit, scattering like birds and beasts.

"........."

Xi Wang watched the last team member leave, then calmly withdrew her gaze, glanced again at the Seventh Herrscher who hadn't moved in the distance, turned her head, and began searching outwards from the Herrscher with a radius of two streets, gradually moving away from the Herrscher—the temperature near the Herrscher was too high, and her combat suit couldn't withstand it.

Unfortunately, he found no survivors. This place was too close to the Herrscher. Ordinary people exposed to such a high concentration of Honkai energy without special protection would basically die. Even if they didn't die directly, they would be burned to death by the flames caused by the Seventh Herrscher.

Trapped in a cramped space, surrounded by scorching flames, their only oxygen is taken away by the fire, eventually falling into a coma, their bodies consumed by flames in the darkness, or being discovered by wandering Honkai Beasts, dying in terror of those monsters. Their wails only last briefly before returning to deathly silence.

At times like these, one should marvel at how fortunate those without Honkai energy resistance are, dying merely when the Honkai erupts, without pain or the struggle for survival.

"...This is Nozomi. No survivors have been found in the five streets near the Herrscher. I'm applying for temporary retirement. When will the follow-up support arrive? I need weapons."

"Received. Support troops will arrive within half an hour, along with the weapons you need. You can now proceed to this location (a series of coordinates) to rest and search for the survivors of the Fifth Squad nearby. Also, please keep a close eye on the Seventh Herrscher's movements and report any abnormalities immediately."

"...Are there any survivors in Himiko's group?"

"Yes, Hua, a member of the fifth squad, last sent a communication from this location (a series of coordinates). Based on our deduction, she should still be staying nearby."

"Hua... I understand. I'm moving towards the target point now."

Xi Wang raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised... She was really impressive to be able to retreat to this position after facing the Herrscher's outburst at such close range.

As for why there was no further contact with the Firemoth, that's not really important. After all, anything can happen on the Honkai battlefield, and it's perfectly normal for communications to be damaged due to special circumstances.

After receiving temporary permission to retreat and rest, Xi Wang quickly headed towards the target point, while keeping an eye on the movements of the Seventh Herrscher.

"........."

However, the Seventh Herrscher did not move. Instead, she remained quietly in place, floating motionless in mid-air. If it weren't for the flames around her still being active and the high-temperature area being expanding, one might have thought she was asleep in mid-air.

I thought she would be like she was at the ball before, igniting the emotions of those around her with fiery passion, stirring everyone's passion, yet retaining her own gentleness at crucial moments... just like a flame, with a fiery outer flame and a gentle inner flame.

But I never expected that after becoming a Herrscher, she would become so quiet, so quiet that it was completely opposite to the nature of the power she displayed, so quiet that it was completely different from the person she used to be... Perhaps this is the Honkai.

Xi Wang temporarily withdrew her gaze.

[Himiko, the Seventh Herrscher]...I never imagined that we were comrades-in-arms just a short time ago, and that we would become enemies and one of the sources of disaster in the blink of an eye. It's truly lamentable.

If possible, let her die in a slightly more peaceful way, at least so she can feel less guilt for killing civilians and her comrades... if she can still feel that emotion.

But then again...

Xi Wang slightly raised his head and looked at the huge ruins... This place used to be a huge building, but now it has been reduced to ruins, and flames are still raging around it.

That seems to be the landmark building here, right? It's called the "Australian Dome." I think the famous star Eden held a concert here... but I don't know if she's still alive now.

pat-

She bought herself another candy. The sticky feeling on her hands was annoying, but there was nothing she could do. At this temperature, it was good that the candy hadn't melted completely. At this moment, Xi Wang was also extremely glad that she had accepted Alicia's suggestion and had Velvet make a better candy box. Otherwise, she probably wouldn't have been able to eat any during this battle.

That somewhat neurotic magician can be useful sometimes... I should prepare a return gift for her when I get back.

Of course, he knew why Alicia had made that suggestion, but that's why he didn't have Velvi modify the old candy box; instead, he had her make a new one directly.

As for the old candy box, it was returned to the Poison Chrysalis for recycling, since it contained traces of "candy" and the Poison Chrysalis didn't want anyone else to know about it... This also prevented Alicia from getting her hands on it.

This is the only thing that Xi Wang will never let Alicia get... absolutely not.

Even Sakura won't do.

After replenishing himself with some "sweetness," Xi Wang temporarily stopped his wandering thoughts and began searching around the ruins for possible hiding places. He was quite good at this.

Soon, he faintly heard a long sigh.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Eden: You're surprisingly a gentle person.

"I'm sorry to have reminded you of something bad... I understand, just like what I just went through."

It was a highly distinctive, heavenly voice, but her words carried a deep weariness.

"Watching helplessly as everything I knew, everything I cherished... vanished in an instant. Sadness, despair, helplessness... these heavy emotions weighed on me, making it difficult to breathe. Even now, I'm still wondering whether this is reality or a cruel nightmare..."

Xi Wang listened silently to the other person's words and gradually approached the source of the sound... He could tell that the other person was using these words to ease her own mood and at the same time to comfort her companion. Therefore, Xi Wang did not deliberately make any footsteps to get closer, but simply maintained a silent pace according to his habit.

"...I can't bring back the past, but I can still cherish this moment. That's what I can still do now."

"........."

She's finished speaking.

pat-

Xi Wang understood, and deliberately made some footsteps to approach. Then she took out the candy box and added a candy to her bowl. Although the sound of closing the candy box was not loud, it was still crisp at this moment.

"It seems you've finished your conversation... Miss Eden."

Xi Wang looked at the gorgeous figure hiding in a corner of the ruins. Her beautiful performance costume was covered with scratches and burn marks, and her wine-red hair was now covered with dust. She, who was praised as the "most dazzling star" of this generation, was now buried under the ruins and covered with dust.

"you are……"

"...Captain Wang."

When Eden saw him arrive, she asked him with some confusion, but the shout from the girl sitting on the other side of the broken wall gave her the answer.

"So you really are here, Hua. It seems the people at headquarters were right."

Xi Wang nodded to Hua, who quickly stood up and approached, and then glanced at Hua's equipment, casually offering a reminder.

"...Also, your squad's communications are down."

"Feel sorry."

Hua seemed to only then notice the incident. He quickly checked and discovered that his squad's communication had been interrupted at some point, so he had no choice but to apologize.

"Be careful next time... Have you found any other survivors?"

"...Sorry, no, Miss Eden was just someone I happened to save."

"Really? That's pretty good."

Xi looked on knowingly, then reached out her hand to Eden, who had already stood up.

"Wang, the leader of the special response squad for the Moth of Fire, sends his greetings, Miss Eden."

"Hello, Captain."

After a brief greeting, Xi Wang then spoke.

"Although finding Hua Ni and the survivors are two good things, I still have some unfortunate news to tell you - we currently do not have any support teams on the perimeter, and we can only wait for the subsequent support teams to pick you up. Judging from the time, the teams should arrive within twenty minutes."

"We can continue to rest here until the team arrives."

"……us?"

"...Yes, my mission failed. My weapon melted during the approach, so it was switched to searching for survivors."

Xi Wang first reported the situation via communication and, after receiving permission to rest and wait on the spot, sat down at the outward-facing gap in the ruins, keeping an eye on her surroundings while responding to Hua's questions.

"That……"

"Unfortunately, we've only found one so far."

Without giving Eden and Hua time to ask questions, Xi Wang immediately spoke, turning back to look at Eden. It was obvious who the survivor who had been found was.

"........."

This caused a moment of silence between the two, and their mood became even lower.

"Well... Captain Wang, may I ask about your teammates..."

"They all escaped."

"……what?"

"There's nothing surprising about it. Everyone is afraid of death, and soldiers are no exception... Moreover, at this level of collapse, there are basically no people left alive, so rescue seems unnecessary. Therefore, it's only natural for them to flee."

Seeing Eden's slightly shocked expression, Xi Wang responded calmly.

"Besides... there's nowhere to escape to now. At most, we can only find a place to hide and wait for this disaster to subside and for the flames to go out."

"……What's the meaning?"

"This fire has affected the entire Australian continent and is rapidly spreading outwards. Several small islands near Australia have also experienced abnormally high temperatures. We must deal with the Herrscher first to stop this disaster and prevent the flames from spreading further... However, Australia is probably beyond saving. We can't save a fire of this magnitude. We can only wait for it to go out on its own... We still need to deal with the Herrscher first."

"how come……"

Hua was momentarily dazed, while Eden stood frozen in place, clearly not expecting the fire to spread across the entire Australian continent.

"...And, Miss Eden."

After a brief pause, Xi Wang changed the subject and turned to look at Eden, the big star.

"You may be recruited by the Fire Moth later, whether it is your reputation or wealth, or the special reason why you can survive under these circumstances, the Fire Moth will choose to contact you... Perhaps we will become companions later."

"As for what the Fire-Chasing Moth is, you can think of it as an organization that deals with special disasters like this fire. I think you will know the truth about this fire later. More details will be explained to you by the Fire-Chasing Moth's specialists later."

"……Ok, I see."

Without giving Eden a chance to ask any questions, Xiwang finished saying everything she wanted to say in one go. Eden opened her mouth, but in the end, she could only swallow back the questions she was going to ask and simply nodded to indicate that she understood.

"Please get some rest. We'll send you away once the reinforcements arrive... Hua, what are you going to do?"

Wang stood up and looked at Hua, who was about to leave.

"If you want to go find Himiko, I advise you not to, unless you can handle it."

As if guessing what the other was going to do, Xi Wang tugged at his collar as he spoke. It seemed that the high temperature had caused his combat uniform to stick to his skin. With a painful tearing sound, the collar of Xi Wang's neck, along with part of his skin, was torn off, revealing the obviously charred flesh underneath.

"Captain Wang?!"

"Your protective suit can't withstand the temperature around her right now. You can't even get close to her, let alone see her. You'll be roasted unconscious by the heat halfway there."

Xi Wang let go of her hand as if nothing had happened, speaking in a completely unwavering tone.

"Then he fell to the ground and was engulfed by flames, adding another corpse to this Honkai, nothing more."

"No matter what you want to confirm right now, or what you want to do with her, you can't do it right now."

"Of course, if you insist on going, I don't mind, provided that you are mentally prepared and ready to deal with the consequences of doing so."