Honkai Impact 3: Saving the former civilization by rubbing the black technology

"There's no mistake. The concentration of Honkai energy here is the highest in this settlement. It seems the person we're looking for is here."

The woman, with her hood covering most of her face, leaving only her mouth and a few strands of pink hair exposed, placed her hands on her waist and whispered, "Alicia, isn't it a bit too hasty for us to just barge in like this?"

"Is there?" The girl named Alicia was still looking around at the interior of the church. Although it was extremely poor, she was still looking at it with great interest. "Ying, you are a little too nervous. Maybe things are not as bad as you think."

"You're too optimistic, Alicia." Ying sighed. "The fact that their men were able to steal the tactical box without us noticing suggests there's a deep secret hidden behind it. They very likely have an understanding of the Fire Moth beyond imagination, and even our information could be on their desk. Facing such an enemy, we must be cautious."

"But everyone here says that Ms. Aponia, who runs the sanatorium, is a beautiful and kind nun," Alicia said with a smile. "How could such a person be a bad person?"

Sakura sighed and said nothing more.

Alicia is such a person. She always treats everyone with kindness, but she can't do it herself.

Fortunately, she has already requested support from her superiors. Even if the opponent's strength exceeds her expectations, she should be able to resolve it as long as she delays the situation for enough time.

At this moment, Sakura raised her head slightly - her keen senses told her that two people were approaching this way.

But judging by their footsteps, neither of them seemed to pose a threat...

The girl was still thinking, but the two people had already appeared in her sight.

"It's really you guys."

Seeing the two strange yet familiar faces, Ai Yue took a deep breath and controlled his emotions.

He took a step forward, standing in front of Aponya, and took the initiative to speak: "I wonder why the two of you from the Fire Moth Chaser have come all this way?"

Chapter 5: Oops, I'm surrounded by Yingjie

The moment he saw the guests, Ai Yue knew it was a sure thing.

Compared to Sakura who hid her appearance under a hood, Alicia did not cover her appearance too much, but simply wore a hat, so Ai Yue recognized her at a glance.

Although we still don’t know why Alicia came here, as long as her personality is the same as what Ai Yue knows, then tonight will not have the tragic ending in the original plot.

Alicia looked at the young man in front of her and blinked curiously: "Hello, have we met somewhere?"

There was a hint of nostalgia in the other person's eyes, which didn't seem like the first time he saw her. Lisia thought about it carefully, but couldn't remember where she had seen the other person before.

"No, I've only heard of you." Ai Yue smiled. "My name is Ai Yue, and this is Aponya, the director of the sanatorium. May I know your names?"

"Since you know we're from the Fire Moth, how could you not know our identities?" Ying frowned and took a step forward. "Stop pretending. What are you planning?"

Ai Yue was slightly stunned. He had never expected Ying to be so hostile to him: "Miss, is there any misunderstanding between us?"

"Hey, Ying, don't be so anxious." Alicia pulled Ying's sleeve and looked at Ai Yue and the others with a smile on her face, "Why don't we sit down and talk?"

Ying looked at Alicia and wanted to say something, but Alicia shook her head at her, obviously not intending to change her mind.

In this regard, she could only give in and choose to follow Alicia's arrangements - after all, the other party was nominally the leader of this mission.

So the four of them sat down like this, but because there were only rows of benches facing the main hall in the church, people on both sides could only sit on two benches side by side, looking like spies who came to make a meeting.

"Come to think of it, we haven't introduced ourselves yet," Alicia spoke first. "My name is Alicia. As you can see, I'm a lovely girl~"

"Ying." Compared to Alysia who was striking a cute pose, Ying was much more indifferent. She didn't even take off her hood. "Just call me Ying."

"Ying is a little shy," Alicia didn't force it. She just raised one hand to her mouth, pretending to whisper, "but she's actually a very gentle person."

"...Let's get down to business first." Ying coughed lightly and changed the subject, "How did you know our identities?"

"I happen to know some rumors about the Fire Moth. It's hard not to know since you two came to Dusk Street so openly." Ai Yue shrugged. "Of course, it's mainly because I saw your box."

"You really stole the tactical box!"

Ying stood up suddenly, but was held down by Alicia again: "Ying, be patient. It's not too late to see what Mr. Ai Yue has to say next."

"The theft of the tactical box was actually a coincidence, but I'm sure you won't believe me if I explain it this way, so I suggest I talk about something else first." Ai Yue skipped the question and didn't answer directly. "Ms. Alicia, what mission did the Fire Moth send you here to carry out?"

"Well, this isn't something I can easily tell outsiders." Alicia shook her head slightly. "Mr. Ai Yue, I'm personally willing to trust you, but for now, we're not close enough."

Obviously, although Alicia is gentle and kind and is willing to treat everyone with the greatest kindness, she is not so brainless as to say everything to a stranger she meets for the first time.

"Okay, then I'll try another approach." Ai Yue also changed his strategy and pointed at Aponiya, who was sitting next to him. "As you can see, this Miss Aponiya is very well-known in Dusk Street and is well-informed. If you want to know the news about Dusk Street, she is the most convenient way."

Since the Fire Moth would send people like Alicia to carry out the mission, it would definitely not be a simple matter of hunting down or eliminating ordinary people infected by Honkai, because such tasks are dirty work and can be left to the people of Poison Pupa to solve.

For Alicia to come forward, the matter must at least be one that requires someone with a good image and good communication skills to solve. The main content of this kind of task is generally not related to violence, so Ai Yue acted so relaxed.

Of course, considering that Sakura is also there, this mission will have a less clean backup plan, but Ai Yue believes that Alicia will definitely try her best to avoid that situation.

If it really comes to the point where he has to use force, then he can only close the door and let the robber go.

"Well, Miss Aponia," Alicia said without hesitation this time, "Do you know why the concentration of Honkai energy in this sanatorium is so high?"

As she spoke, she took out a detector. The warning light on it was light red, representing "the concentration of Houkai energy that will cause damage to the human body."

Aponiya glanced at Ai Yue, then nodded: "I know."

She stood up and walked towards the door they came from. "It would be a bit troublesome to explain, so please follow me. However, please be quiet, everyone is asleep."

Sakura and Alicia looked at each other, and their expressions couldn't help but become serious.

The other party's reaction and the previously mentioned "sanatorium" all hint at the truth behind it.

The four of them walked quietly through the corridor, patrolling every room. Aponya held a lantern and occasionally had a brief conversation with the patients who woke up from their dreams, soothing their emotions and helping them fall asleep again.

It wasn't until they walked out of the last ward and into the backyard that Ying finally couldn't help but ask, "Are they all?"

"Yes, all of them." Aponya's expression was calm. "Every one of them is a homeless Honkai disease patient."

Sakura was silent.

She really wanted to ask Aponya if she knew what the consequences would be if so many patients with infectious Honkai energy were gathered together, but she couldn't bring herself to say the words.

Because she could understand the feeling of not being able to stand by and watch someone die. If it were her, could she really just sit there and do nothing?

Of course, compared to the centralized rescue plan that would cause huge consequences, there is another most reliable, yet most cruel method...

"It must be hard to take care of so many patients, right?" Alicia was focusing on something else. "It's not easy for Miss Aponya."

"Fortunately, with everyone's help and donations, we can still hold on." Aponya said calmly, "But Miss Alicia, this is not what you want to say, right?"

Not only Aponya, but even Ai Yue noticed that the other party had been paying attention to the Honkai energy adsorption devices he gave to the patients since he saw them.

"Oh no, I've been caught." Alicia didn't feel embarrassed at all. Instead, she said, "By the way, can I call you by your name?"

Aponya was stunned for a moment, but nodded.

"So, Aponia," Alicia said slowly, "are you aware of the consequences of doing this?"

"A large number of Honkai disease patients gathering together will lead to a more serious outbreak, right?" Aponya nodded. "I didn't understand that at first, but I know now."

"Let me guess. Did someone kind enough tell you?" Alicia pulled something out of her pocket. "For example, the person who made this thing?"

In her hands appeared a Honkai Energy Adsorption Device, one for each patient.

Aponiya almost subconsciously looked at Ai Yue, but she finally controlled her actions.

However, a split second of reaction was enough for Alicia to make a judgment, so the pink-haired girl shifted her gaze to Ai Yue: "Could it be that, Ai Yue, you know the person who made this thing? Or... is it actually you?"

She naturally dropped the word "Mr." from the title she originally used to address Ai Yue.

"If I say it's me," Ai Yue sighed, then said, "what would the Fire Moth do?"

Ai Yue was not surprised that Alicia got the Honkai Energy Adsorption Device, because he did not only provide this thing to the sanatorium in Aponia - many wealthy people were willing to pay a high price to buy it in order to avoid dying from Honkai Energy infection.

Ai Yue sells the Honkai Energy Adsorption Device to others, on the one hand to earn money to continue scientific research, and on the other hand to attract the attention of the Fire Moth in advance and thus change the future of Dusk Street.

The Fire Moth has only just found Dusk Street using the Honkai Energy Absorption Device, and can be said to be quite slow in its reaction.

"Of course, I'm inviting you to join the Fire Moth." Alicia smiled and held out her hand. "Well, are you interested?"

"Is this your mission?" Although joining the Fire Moth was Ai Yue's goal, he didn't shake Alicia's hand. "If it's just this, there's no need to mobilize so many people, right?"

As he said this, he glanced at Sakura who was standing behind Alicia.

If it was just a mission like this, there would definitely be no need for both of them to go out at the same time, but Alicia's mission didn't seem to require Sakura as a backup plan, so it couldn't be a coincidence, right?

"You really know a lot. I'm becoming more and more interested in you." Alicia smiled. "Sakura and I do have different missions, but the final clues both point to Dusk Street, so we came here together. As for Sakura's mission, you'll have to ask her."

"'That day, He fell from the sky. People on earth looked up and saw the starry sky.'" Ying was silent for a moment, then recited something like a poem, "Have you heard this ballad?"

Ai Yue looked at Aponya - didn’t I ask you to sing a different song for the children?

"It's a lullaby I sang to my children," said Aponya. "But it's been ages since I sang it—is there anything wrong with it?"

"I don't know." Sakura looked at Aponya with a complicated expression, "But I'm afraid you need to come with us, Miss Aponya."

Aponya seemed to understand something and asked slowly: "After I go back with you, can I still come back?"

Sakura said nothing, and the atmosphere gradually became tense.

Obviously, unlike Ai Yue, if Aponia went to the Fire Moth, she would probably not be treated well.

"Then, please forgive me for refusing." Aponya shook her head. "The patients and children here need me."

She didn't ask "Can the patient and the child be taken away together?" because such a thing was obviously unrealistic.

Sakura continued to remain silent, but her body lowered slightly, obviously making some preparations.

Perhaps due to personal reasons, she was unwilling to do so, but a mission was a mission and it was something that had to be completed.

"Hey, don't make the atmosphere so tense?" Alicia quickly stepped forward to smooth things over. "There must be another way to solve this problem, right?"

"That's right, the children are still sleeping, at least don't fight here, right?" Ai Yue also tried to ease the atmosphere, "If there is anything, we can still..."

He stopped talking before he could finish his words, because Aponya rarely took the initiative to reach out and grab Ai Yue's right wrist, then slowly pulled it towards him.

"I'm sorry, Miss Alicia, I can't let you take him away." Aponya's tone remained calm, but a hint of determination could be heard from it. "Ai Yue is indispensable to the sanatorium. Everyone here needs her."

"Eh?" Aponya's sudden and completely different attitude caught Alicia off guard. "Wait, why don't you just talk it out nicely?..."

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Just as Alicia was thinking about how to ease the tense atmosphere, an abrupt voice interrupted her, making the already tense atmosphere even more tense.

A masked man stood in the shadows. No one noticed when he appeared, but everyone could hear the obvious anger in his words.

"I don't care what you want to do to that woman." The masked man Qianjie slowly walked out of the shadows, "But it's best not to hurt Ai Yue, otherwise-"

Extremely dangerous.

This was Sakura's first feeling when she noticed Qianjie. The other person standing there gave people a feeling of inhuman brutality and cruelty.

This does not mean that the opponent is as ferocious as a jackal, tiger or leopard, but more like some kind of terrifying power that is difficult to resist - such as a volcano about to erupt or a typhoon tearing through the sky.

That is something that cannot be countered by human power at all.

Ordinary people would tremble in fear and lose the ability to resist when faced with such an existence, but Sakura is different. She is a swordsman who has been tempered through thousands of battles and is also a transcendent person who possesses extraordinary power.

Therefore, facing Qianjie, she subconsciously chose to take the initiative.

The large burqa used to conceal her identity seemed very cumbersome at this moment, so Ying simply took it off, revealing a pair of long ears standing upright on her head.

At the same time, he also showed the long sword at his waist to everyone.

"Oh, interesting." Qianjie said in an agitated voice, "You asked for this!"

However, the next second, a small cylindrical object rolled onto the open space between the people.

"boom!"

With a slight sound, thick and violent smoke instantly spread out and directly covered the entire backyard.

Ai Yue recognized at a glance that this was his improved "instantaneous explosion smoke bomb", which could instantly create smoke covering an area of ten meters in radius, but it seemed that he only gave two of this thing to Padofelice?

Before he could figure out what was going on, he felt another small hand grab his left arm.

"Brother Yue, we are here to save you!"

Chapter 6: A Sinful Man

Padovich is no fool.

According to martial arts novels, she can be considered a martial arts genius as someone who was able to learn the movements of a cat when she was a child and became a master thief.

Therefore, when Ai Yue just took a quick look at the box and was about to rush her to the next settlement, Padofelice actually realized that Ai Yue was hiding something from her.

After all, she has grown up all by herself at such a young age, how could she not notice other people's emotional changes?

It’s just that most of the time Padova is afraid of trouble, so she pretends not to understand.

But this time is different, this time... this time it might be the trouble that I got myself into!