Their commission was suspicious.

"...Was it too late when you arrived here?" Amidst the frost, a warrior wielding an ice blade spoke slowly.

"Mm." Chen Luo stood in front of Ying and nodded slowly.

Beside Chen Luo and Ying were countless warriors frozen into ice sculptures by the Fifth Divine Key, and a curled-up girl with the same hair color as Ying, encased in purple crystal.

“Ring…” Sakura called softly, but she could no longer hear that familiar voice responding to her.

There is no greater sorrow than a dead heart, and no greater grief than silence.

When Sakura saw her sister's body, she could no longer suppress the grief in her eyes. The only thing that gave Sakura some comfort was that at least Rin's expression at the end was calm rather than terrified, and her body had not suffered any damage.

It was as if it had fallen into a deep sleep within that purple crystal.

"This was originally something Alicia asked me to give you, intended as a seal to Ling if anything unusual happened after you took her away," Chen Luo said.

"..." Chen Luo was met with silence once again.

Sakura naturally recognized the purple crystal. As Alicia's comrade-in-arms, she knew that Alicia's battlefield was filled with such crystals, which were gorgeous and beautiful, and also represented tranquility.

Theoretically speaking, even if these crystals are broken, the person inside should be safe and sound, but now they are being used as coffins to hold the remains.

And this crystal stands out conspicuously in this created battlefield.

Chen Luo did not disturb Sakura, whose mood was already extremely heavy and whose gaze never left the seemingly sleeping Ling. Instead, he looked at the monster lurking in the shadows behind him, which was gradually approaching.

A dozen or so assassins slowly approached, and a cold wind blew by, instantly freezing all the assassins who were moving forward into ice sculptures, just like the ice sculptures of the warriors dressed in the uniforms of the Fire Moth who were kneeling near the purple crystal, as if they were on a pilgrimage or repenting.

The next moment, crimson flames swept in and instantly burned the frozen assassins to ashes, which scattered in the air.

Kevin, wielding the greatsword-shaped Destroyer, walked towards them.

By pooling all the resources of the Firemoth, three prototype super-limit weapons have now been successfully produced, and Annihilation is one of them.

Kevin glanced at the Moth Chasers soldiers who had knelt and frozen into ice sculptures with a complicated expression, then looked at Chen Luo.

The Fifth Divine Key is known as the most malevolent Divine Key. The higher-ups of the Firemoth originally intended not to give the Fifth Divine Key a chance to appear until an absolutely kind person was chosen. It wasn't until Chen Luo used the Fifth Divine Key to freeze and revive those who failed the fusion surgery that the Fifth Divine Key was handed over to Chen Luo.

Now it has been proven that the Fifth Divine Key, which can be used to save lives, can also be transformed into a terrifying weapon due to a moment's lapse in judgment.

Kevin wondered why none of the soldiers kneeling on the ground showed any fear on their ice sculpture faces, but he didn't think about it too much.

“Sakura…” Kevin tried to wake his comrade, but only silence answered him.

Kevin shook his head slightly, then connected to the communication channel.

“May, all the assassins on Kevin’s 33rd basement level have been cleared out,” Kevin said.

"Thank you for your hard work. All the assassins on the other floors have been eliminated. Has Bell's main body reacted at all?" Mei's voice came through the communicator.

"...Nothing unusual." Kevin said after glancing at the bell, which seemed to be asleep but was indeed lifeless and encased in purple crystal.

Rin's body is indeed very quiet now, although... this situation itself is abnormal.

"It cannot be concluded that the crisis has been resolved yet. We will continue to observe, and support will arrive soon."

"Received." Kevin then hung up the call.

“The Twelfth Herrscher’s ability is to release a large amount of airborne corrosive virus at the moment of death. After Rin died, the Herrscher was awakened,” Kevin said.

Currently, only Chen Luo possesses the ability to hear Kevin speak.

"At least that's how it seems from the current performance." Chen Luo nodded slightly.

"Do these frozen soldiers still have a chance to revive?" Kevin asked, looking at the ice sculptures kneeling on the ground.

"Obviously, that's it. Everyone needs to pay the price for their mistakes." Chen Luo shrugged.

"..." Kevin raised his Heavenly Fire.

But it wasn't aimed at Chen Luo or Ying, but at those ice sculptures.

The soldiers in the base committed a grave error by arbitrarily executing an individual suspected to be a Herrscher. If civilization still existed, they would naturally be sent to a military court. Kevin had no pity for this, and what was important now was to destroy the evidence.

Because Chen Luo has no law enforcement authority.

Sakura may need to take responsibility for her actions in invading the base, but clearly not now.

"I advise you to stop. Just leave the ice sculpture here, because someone will come and destroy the evidence," Chen Luo said.

"Ok?"

"As it turns out, Aponia's commandments are not omnipotent. The order not to let the soldiers of the Fire Moth give up hope of fighting the Honkai caused them to react too violently," Chen Luo said.

"..." Kevin wasn't stupid; he instantly understood what Chen Luo meant.

If we don't want the soldiers to give up hope of fighting the Honkai, then what is the Honkai in the entire Moth of Flames base right now? It's the Herrschers, of course.

"This can't be said to be anyone's fault... but sooner or later I will tear down that broken cocoon in the sky." Chen Luo looked up at the sky.

There is also a civilization that created the cocoon of the end.

Just wait, one day we'll scatter your ashes!

But not now.

And it won't be Chen Luo who makes the move.

Kevin and others, who are more qualified for revenge than Chen Luo, still exist, so it's not Chen Luo's turn no matter how it's turned.

Chen Luo merely participated in the sorrow and suffering of this civilization, while Kevin and the others ruined their lives as a result.

"The Cocoon of the End...?" Kevin murmured, recalling a concept once proposed by Chen Luo.

“Kevin…Kevin, can you hear me?” Dr. May’s voice came through the communicator again.

"Something's happened. The Herrscher hasn't been eliminated yet."

"……What did you say?"

"The system inside the base has been attacked by a virus, the defense program has been completely compromised, and all equipment and machines have fallen into the enemy's control. It is now further seizing control of the nuclear missile silos."

“The Twelfth Herald can even control biochips within living organisms,” Mei said.

The first group to suffer as a result were the assassins who are now turned into ice sculptures.

"Hang in there, I'm coming right away!"

"The Twelfth Herrscher is an ultimate virus with self-awareness; this is the true form of the Herrscher of Corruption..." Before Dr. Mei could finish speaking, the communication seemed to be affected.

The communication system was completely paralyzed.

Moreover, even the doors to the base's laboratories were automatically closed.

……

After the slash that froze space was unleashed, time slowed down, consciousness scattered, and everything tended to stand still.

In those few seconds, in this dark place, only Sakura was able to move.

When time stopped and disappeared, Sakura was no longer in this space.

"Aren't you going to stop her?" Chen Luo asked Kevin.

After Sakura learned that Rin was still alive in her Herrscher form, she chose to go find him.

Everyone knows perfectly well that Rin has now completely transformed into a Herrscher.

Just like the former Seventh Herrscher Himiko, no Herrscher can resist the erosion of Honkai.

But Sakura still believes that her sister still retains a sliver of humanity, just like Himiko before.

As for Sakura, who insisted on going, Kevin simply gripped the Destroyer in his hand but did not stop her.

At least Kevin volunteered to be frozen into this space.

"Didn't you not stop me either?" Kevin also didn't think that Chen Luo, who possessed the fifth divine key, could lose consciousness due to being frozen.

"Let's go, at least we can't just stand here and watch." Chen Luo said, and walked out along the mechanical door that Ying had cut open.

……

Mei successfully sealed the Herrscher, who fell into a trap and was trapped in the main control system by the isolation program. Mei devised a plan to transfer it into the black box.

The plan succeeded because the Herrscher's actions became inexplicably disordered at the last moment.

When Sakura, who was leaning against a pile of ruins, learned of this news, she left with a relieved smile.

Sakura sacrificed her life to briefly awaken Rin's consciousness.

At least until the very last moment, it wasn't the Twelfth Herrscher, but Sakura's younger sister, Rin.

Sakura's final smile was frozen within a purple crystal.

[Ding! You have a new request!]

【Under the Cherry Blossom Tree】: Bring Sakura and Rin back to their hometown and bury them together under the cherry blossom tree.

Reward: 1100 Primogems + [5-Year Curse]

Difficulty: Four stars

"I must bring Ying and her sister's remains back to our hometown. No one can stop me, I said it!" Chen Luo slammed his hand on the table and said.

"The Twelfth Herrscher is the Twelfth Herrscher, and Rin is Rin. If you want to study the Twelfth Herrscher, fine, go study that black box! This corpse is completely worthless! Keep arguing! I'll send you to keep Sakura company!"

The entire moth-chasing frenzy will fall silent for a time.

"Alright, I agree with you. Can Qianjie put down the axe now?" Mei sighed and nodded.

"But..." A certain research institute of the Fire-Chasing Moth seemed to have a different opinion.

“Shut up. Chen Luo is right. Psychologically, letting him return to his homeland will at least make the Thirteen Heroes feel better. In a practical sense, the only thing of research value is the black box, not the remains,” Mei said.

The title "Thirteen Heroes Who Chase Fire" has been officially recognized, at least in a formal sense.

Of course, Moth Chasing the Flame is not responsible for providing funding for the activities.

However, the Thirteen Heroes don't need the Fire-Chasing Moths to provide funding, since they have Eden.

This time, no high-ranking members of the Firemoth were present to cause trouble, because all of them had died in the attack.

The permissions required to transplant a biochip are actually quite high, and the Herrscher of Corruption is targeting biochips this time.

"Moreover... Rin was actually imprisoned voluntarily. If it weren't for that, Sakura might have been able to leave the Firemoth with Rin from the very beginning." Dr. Mei's last sentence brought the matter to a close.

Besides Chen Luo, Kevin and others were also responsible for sending the body back.

It was almost the entirety of the Thirteen Heroes of Chasing Fire.

Originally, all members of the Thirteen Heroes of Chasing Fire were scattered by Dr. Mei and then organized into various teams to carry out missions. After all, before that, humanity still had three major cities, which were also plagued by Honkai Beasts.

But not anymore.

In the end, the Twelfth Herrscher still managed to seize control of the nuclear missile silos, and then countless fireworks exploded, blowing up humanity's last three major cities.

Currently, only 31,023 humans remain in the base.

What's there to protect about this?

"I'm sorry, Doctor, I didn't do a good enough job," Hua said during the process of sorting through his belongings after the meeting.

"You have nothing to apologize for. At least you preserved the consciousness of the members in the base, didn't you? Otherwise, there would be less than 3 survivors." Chen Luo waved his hand.

The Herrscher of Corruption's properties can even corrupt humans, so Hua used Feather Dust's second rated power—Multiple Manifestations—to protect the consciousness of the members within the base.

Otherwise, even more people would die.

"Okay, Hua, don't be sad." Alicia patted Hua's shoulder to comfort her.

"Speaking of which, where's Qianjie? Why did he leave so quickly?" Alicia then noticed that Qianjie, who had attended the meeting with her earlier, hadn't come to Sakura's room to collect her belongings.

Perhaps because they had fought side by side before, Qianjie and Ying had a good relationship. Otherwise, she wouldn't be the scary person standing behind Chen Luoshen, her whole body engulfed in flames and carrying an axe.

"Perhaps... they went to fight? After all, those ice sculptures are still on the 33rd floor of the base," Chen Luo said casually.

Of course, it's also possible that they took those ice sculptures to fight Aponia.

But there's no need to say that to Alicia.

"I've basically packed everything, and I'm about to leave," Chen Luo said to Alicia after selecting some of Sakura's favorite mementos.

“Since Sakura has entrusted this matter to me, I will naturally help her complete it.”

Perhaps because Chen Luo and Kevin were both present, and because Chen Luo had previously frozen all the murderers who killed Ling into ice sculptures, Sakura's main request was to Chen Luo.

"Is it okay to just bring one earphone and one photo?" Alicia asked, seeing the two items in Chen Luo's hands.

"Yes, just know about these two things. There's no need to bring clothes or anything like that. Since even civilization can disappear now, there's no need to bring up the elaborate burial rituals. Just bring their most cherished things." Chen Luo nodded.