But Xiwang's spirit finally reached its limit, and he fainted while falling continuously.
Gollum—
The last tiny bubble squeezed out of the crack of his mouth and floated silently upwards, lonely and helpless.
In the pitch-black deep sea, the dark lines on his body flowed quietly, as if what happened before had no effect on them... No, they were still affected. One of the "lines" left its original trajectory and drifted upwards little by little along his arm, like a floating bubble.
Slowly, the "pattern" that deviated from its trajectory began to disappear quietly, as if being burned by flames, turning into ashes bit by bit, and finally blending into the sea water and disappearing quietly.
A bunch of pure white lilies fell quietly and silently into his hands.
As if worried, someone held his already weak hand and gently and tenderly helped him close his five fingers so that he could accept the bouquet of lilies.
Silently, the lilies bloomed with a faint glow, and then quietly dissipated, turning into dots of blue, driving the surrounding sea water, turning it into a deep blue liquid, and then silently merging into his body.
The gentle sea water quietly gathered and turned into a deep blue liquid, slowly seeping into his body, giving him "nutrients" without reservation, and his burnt half body was gradually "growing and reshaping", and finally returning to normal, without any trace on his body, as if he had never been injured.
Until this moment, the sea water, which was worried about the child, seemed to let go of its worry and loosened its restraint on his body. It just held him quietly and let him sleep peacefully.
…………
………………
And at the bottom of the dark sea, a huge aquatic Honkai beast was swimming slowly, looking for its "prey". The black and white on its body were distinct, and there was a conspicuous white patch on each side of its head, which made people feel like they were its eyes... But these were useless in the dark deep sea.
Suddenly, it was attracted by a ray of light that did not belong to the seabed. Even though it was very faint, it was not something that would appear on the seabed.
It swam closer, and soon, it touched a small figure.
It was a little confused for a moment, because the "thing" in front of it... seemed to be its "companion", but in its cognition, he should not appear here, and should not appear in this identity.
It gently touched the little guy with its mouth, but found that he did not respond. After swimming around him a few times, it was sure that he was still alive.
"嘤——"
It made a whistle-like sound and gently moved its tail fin, revealing a hint of worry.
Then it controlled the sea water, gently tied him to its body, and swam away with him.
…………
………………
click-
Wielding a blade as thin as ice, it caused gusts of wind and snow, freezing the sea water and creating a piece of ice surface that people could stand on.
After beheading the Honkai beast that broke through the ice and letting its remaining body fall on the ice, the girl with cherry-colored animal ears habitually shook the knife and then put it back into the sheath.
"Hurry up, pack up your things, it's going to sink!"
Behind him, countless Fire Moth members were busy on the ice, trying to rescue the remaining data and debris as much as possible.
The destruction and sinking of Mu Continent dealt a heavy blow to humanity. If industrial capacity could be restored elsewhere, it would be difficult to save the original scientific research results. Too much data sank into the sea, and even more data was directly swallowed and torn apart by the "black sun". People could only barely piece together everything that had happened from the remaining fragments.
Since then, the entire human society has been shrouded in a haze... But even so, they must take action to try not to make the consequences worse.
But all that was a little far away for Sakura, and it was not something she should think about.
"........."
Ying looked at the frozen ice surface and listened to the sound of waves in the distance, unable to speak for a long time.
The long and slender ears on her head wanted to droop several times according to her mood, but she forced herself to stop, and habitually stretched them straight. Her long cherry-colored hair swayed gently in the cold wind, bringing with it bursts of light floral fragrance.
She tightly grasped the blade at her waist and took several steps, wanting to leave and look for that breath on the sea, but in the end, she did not leave. The hand holding the blade hung on the handle as if it had lost strength, and the breath emanating from her whole body became fragile in an instant, like cherry blossoms about to wither in the cold wind.
click-
The Honkai beast hiding under the ice seized the moment when her breath weakened, smashed the ice surface and attacked her.
But what greeted it was only a fleeting icy blue.
thump.
Sakura wordlessly repeated the movements of shaking the sword and sheathing it, letting the remains of the Honkai beast fall on the ice, waiting for others to come forward to seal it and take it away, silently performing her duties.
After a while, the soldiers in the rear informed her that the surrounding wreckage had been salvaged and it was time for them to leave.
"it is good."
Ying nodded and watched them board the aircraft. She looked away only when the aircraft was obscured by the clouds - she did not leave with the team.
She slowly drew out her sword. The wind and snow froze the sea surface, and she walked on the ice, killing the Honkai beasts that kept breaking through the ice, while moving towards the next designated location.
Even though she was alone now, the calm expression on her face never changed, and the animal ears on her head never moved.
When she arrived at the next place, she repeated the task process of "killing the Honkai beast, protecting the personnel, and waiting for the salvage to be completed", and kept repeating this until everything was over, until the Fire Moth informed her that it was time to go back.
Is it over yet?
It was not until then that Ying realized in a daze that she had been on the sea for seven consecutive days.
For seven days, she fought non-stop, maintained the ice surface non-stop, and repeated the task of "guarding the salvage personnel" non-stop. Except for eating, she had little rest.
However, none of them could sense any familiar presence in the sea, and other companions did not send any corresponding news.
"........."
Ying stood on the ice for a long time without moving. Even though the soldiers on the aircraft behind her urged her again and again, she seemed not to hear them. She even took a step forward stiffly, as if she was going to continue to the next mission location.
"cherry."
Alicia grabbed Sakura and forcibly stopped her movements.
"It's time to go back, eh?"
Seeing Sakura turn around and look at her, Alicia spoke softly.
"...Ah, is it over? Alicia."
Sakura seemed to have come back to her senses at this moment and spoke with a hint of apology.
"Sorry, I got distracted."
He turned around and took the initiative to walk towards the aircraft with slow steps, as if he was lingering on and waiting for something.
But until she boarded the aircraft, until the aircraft flew into the sky and leaped into the clouds, the expected "miracle" did not happen.
"........."
Sakura slowly withdrew her gaze from the sea and did not look at the ice surface that had been broken into pieces by the Honkai beast.
After returning to the base, Sakura stopped when she met Kevin who had also returned.
"........."
She looked at Kevin, waiting for his answer.
Kevin, on the other hand, shook his head slightly in silence, with deep fatigue in his drooping eyes - like Sakura, he had persisted on the sea for seven consecutive days, but also gained nothing.
And next, Kevin will have to face the accountability of Fire Moth.
His spine was no longer straight, and he no longer had the temperament of a warrior... It was as if something was pressing down on him, heavy.
"........."
Ying just nodded silently as a response, and took another step towards home.
But her steps seemed even heavier and more tired.
Standing at the door of her house, she adjusted her expression slightly and smiled, but it looked a little stiff because she was too tired. She patted her face again to make her expression look more natural, and then pushed the door open and entered.
He first washed himself, then prepared dinner absentmindedly, and had dinner with Ling in silence. Late at night, he sent Ling to her own room on the grounds that "it's time for a big girl to sleep alone."
Click.
She walked into her room and closed the door. Now she was finally alone.
The animal ears on his head lost their support at this moment and drooped weakly, and his hands also hung limply at his sides.
He moved his feet bit by bit, walked to his bed with difficulty, and then fell on the bed weakly.
She tilted her head slightly, used the soft pillow to wipe away the tears that inevitably overflowed from her eyes, slowly raised her hand, gently pressed the cherry blossom pendant that she had never taken off, rubbed it lightly with her fingertips, and hesitated for a long time without opening it.
Ling was still next door, and she was afraid that she would cry out loud.
"You're still here, right?"
She whispered softly.
The accumulated weariness surged up and overwhelmed her.
Chapter 40: Friendly Honkai Beast?
[You wake up, and all you see is the darkness of the deep sea and the water flowing around you]
[You feel as if you are bound to a certain entity, and are being carried by it to swim rapidly in the deep sea]
[It should be a Honkai beast that only belongs to the "ocean", because it is the water that binds you]
[You try to manipulate the sea water to untie yourself, but the moment you manipulate the sea water, the Honkai beast that is carrying you stops, as if it has noticed your movements.]
[Your body tenses up immediately, ready to fight, and your five fingers subconsciously put together to form a knife shape... Hmm? Both hands?]
[You were a little surprised for a moment that half of your body had recovered... No, no, no, this can't be explained by the "self-healing ability of a fusion warrior", right?]
[But considering that Mobius has the ability to even "resurrect from the dead", and that you are in the ocean, which is full of water, it seems not impossible that you can recover in the end? And you have not been backfired by "Gabriel's" genes, and you still maintain your consciousness and human body. You can obviously breathe underwater, and even move under the heavy pressure of the deep sea...]
[The combat uniform is completely gone, but you can solve this slightly embarrassing problem by wrapping your entire body in the azure "water" you created.]
[Although I always feel like something is wrong, it’s a good thing after all. After all... you did survive.]
[Now you are still alive and conscious, that is enough]
[As for the present, after discovering that you had awakened, the sea water that had originally bound you slowly dissipated, and you chose to move away from the Honkai beast in an instant, and manipulated the water flow to attack it with your backhand]
[After you tried to attack it a few times, you found that it didn't work very well. When the water got close to it, it would control it and then disperse and turn into ordinary sea water. So you gave up this useless behavior and relied on your perception of water to figure out its appearance.]
[From the perspective of its shape, it should be a "fish-shaped" Honkai beast, with only two colors on its body, one on the abdomen and one on the back, and there is a patch of the same color on each side of its head. And from the perception, the difference between the two colors is very large... Hmm? ]
[You suddenly found the corresponding marine creature from your memory...Isn't this a killer whale?]
[And as a Honkai beast... it actually retains its original appearance as a killer whale. Apart from its larger size, there is almost no other abnormality.]
[Oh, no... Orcas shouldn't stay in such a lightless deep sea, so it's still a little unusual]
[In addition, it has the remains of a Honkai beast in its mouth... What is this? An internal fight among Honkai beasts? It doesn't look like that... And there are traces of gnawing on the remains, as if this thing is its food... Do Honkai beasts in the ocean need to follow the food chain to hunt? ]
[Just as you were sensing it through the water flow, it was also sensing you through the water flow. After discovering that you did not run away directly or continue to attack, it chirped softly. It was very crisp and sounded a bit like a whistle.]
[But its abrupt action still makes you tense up instantly. After all, the ocean is a restricted area. The Honkai beasts here are not only numerous but also dangerous... The Honkai beasts that crawled onto the shore left a psychological trauma on many people. How many Honkai beasts are there in the deep ocean... It's hard to imagine.]
[However, you did not attack it again, but just took a vigilant look, because you felt the friendly emotion it conveyed to you.]
[If you think about it carefully, the Honkai beast treated you as its own kind in the beginning, and it wouldn't even attack you. And even if it wanted to attack you, it could have just bitten you to death while you were unconscious, without having to wait until you woke up now.]
[…What is this? I was saved by a Honkai beast? Is it because I was treated as a “companion”? ]
[You glanced at the remains of the Honkai beast in its mouth and denied this view.]
[“嘤——” Perhaps because it hadn’t responded to you for a long time, it swam around you in a half circle, making a clear chirping sound, and conveyed its inquiries and concern to you.]
[You ignored it. You are now thinking about how to deal with it... Logically speaking, as a fusion warrior, you met it as a Honkai beast. You should attack it without hesitation and destroy it for the two reasons of "eliminating Honkai" and "human civilization"... It's natural, isn't it? ]
[But you don’t really want to kill it now... On the one hand, you are too weak, probably because you were trying to “recover half of your body” before, and the other party also has the ability to control water. If a real fight breaks out, it’s hard to say who will win or lose.]
[On the other hand... judging from the current situation, it is possible that it saved you. Even if it didn't, it did show its kindness to you. And you can't do anything about the existence that helped you.]
[Your expression changed several times, and you wanted to attack several times, but hesitated... In the end, you sighed and gave up]
[Compared to dealing with the Honkai beasts, what’s more important now is to stay alive and return to them… I don’t know how much time has passed, I hope I didn’t make them too worried]
[As for it... just this time, only this time... huh? ]
[Just when you were thinking about what to do next, you found that it was approaching you cautiously. You moved a little further away, and it seemed to be frightened by your action. It quickly stopped, shouted softly, and moved its huge tail fin twice, conveying an apology.]
[Then, it throws out the remains of the Honkai beast in its mouth, manipulates the sea water, and gently pushes it in front of you]
[…You don’t quite understand what it means]
[It saw that you didn't move, so it manipulated the sea water again, cut off a small piece of the remains of the Honkai Beast, and then rolled it back to its mouth and swallowed it in one gulp, as if to show you what these remains are used for. Then it swam back and forth around you, exuding an expectant mood, as if it hoped that you would accept this "food"]
[It doesn't seem to be worried that you won't be able to know its movements... but that's understandable. After all, you both have the ability to manipulate seawater. Relying on your perception of water, you can easily "see" each other's movements.]
