65. Sakura, I'm sure you wouldn't want anything to happen to your sister...
"I have arrived at the designated location, HQ, awaiting further instructions."
On a street in Sundown Alley, a girl with long pink hair, dressed in casual clothes, was slowly walking down one of the roads.
"My power senses quite a few infected with Honkai infection. I did some 'inquiring.' A sanatorium is taking in children with Honkai infection... these madmen. A large concentration of Honkai energy itself can trigger a Honkai incident."
Around her, many residents exuding dangerous auras were watching this seemingly frail girl warily. Seeing her youthful and beautiful appearance, her fit and shapely figure, and the pink rabbit ears atop her head that looked like a cosplay accessory, some couldn't help but lick their lips and whistle.
However, the girl paid these people no mind. Before anyone could come to pick a fight, she patted the sharp katana at her waist. The hilt suddenly popped up, revealing a light blue blade as thin as ice.
An icy chill instantly spread out, and all the onlookers immediately fled.
"Haa..."
Sakura took a deep breath, trying hard to suppress the urge of the rabbit ears on her head to sway back and forth, and continued walking forward.
"The traitor's coordinates have been sent to you. The equipment prepared for you has also had all identifying marks removed. We will cut off contact from now on. Sakura, you know the rules. If you are captured, no one will vouch for you—do well."
On the other end of the phone, the man speaking sounded amiable and kind, like an old leader concerned about his subordinates.
"As for that sanatorium, although it shouldn't be important, you can stop by on the way... deal with it a bit, clean it up."
But his words were still cold and merciless. Sakura knew how many damned and innocent lives this man carried on his shoulders.
"Don't carry too much psychological burden. You are fighting for the survival of humanity. Before the apocalypse, all morality and ethics lose their meaning. Anyone who threatens MOTH, anyone who poses a danger to our salvation work, must all be erased!"
At this time in society, national governments were still intact. On a societal level, people were not receptive to MOTH, which had suddenly appeared, declared it would save the world, and was recruiting talent extensively.
The public called MOTH demons. Politicians racked their brains trying to get this organization to serve them. Although MOTH was itself established by various nations, there were always factions opposed to the founders within a country.
In fact, the public's opinion wasn't wrong. MOTH truly were demons. Their experiments continuously trampled on the bottom line, and there was the 'Venomous Chrysalis,' an organization specifically for handling dirty work.
And this mission was to deal with several MOTH defectors, making them disappear without a trace.
Sakura was one of them. She had failed in assassinating Dr. Mei and was instead recruited into the organization. As a price, she was put on the fusion warrior modification platform, said to have a slim chance of survival.
Of course, in reality, this was no different from a death sentence. After enduring immense pain, Sakura became one of the few lucky survivors.
Afterward, Sakura had the ears on her head. She always couldn't suppress the swaying of these rabbit ears, which made her particularly awkward. The other nine—no, the first batch of eight fusion warriors didn't have such strange features—why did she always instinctively think there were nine fusion warriors?
However, this had nothing to do with Sakura. She was just a weapon and shouldn't have too many other thoughts. She wouldn't think too much during missions. The only person she cared about most was...
Thinking this, Sakura arrived deep in an alley, in a warehouse that looked particularly old and worn, and opened the iron-chain-covered door.
She wouldn't act as a MOTH warrior. All the equipment she needed was provided at the target location. This could make her actions more secretive... and also allow her to be abandoned at any time.
"Huh?"
Then, looking at the completely empty warehouse before her, Sakura was stunned.
Where's my equipment? So many pieces of tactical equipment missing?
She was certain that Venomous Chrysalis couldn't have made a mistake. These tactical supplies must have already been delivered. Then... someone must have stolen the goods!
"Big sister, what are you looking for? Did you lose something?"
Suddenly, behind Sakura, a crisp, somewhat childish and soft voice, indistinguishable as a boy or girl, gently sounded. Sakura instinctively thought of her sister "Rin," and her body trembled violently.
She worked so hard, never minding getting blood on her hands, all for the sake of wanting her sister to live a stable life. In her sister's eyes, she had always been a gentle, good older sister. The fact that she had become an assassin must never be known by Rin!
But soon, she realized Rin couldn't be here—the most important thing was, how could her perspective self not have noticed someone approaching her!
A slender hand rested on the hilt of her sword. Sakura turned around and saw a neatly dressed little boy smiling at her. She relaxed slightly.
It's just a child...
"Hello, little one. Some goods I temporarily stored here, big boxes, are gone. Do you know who took them?"
Still maintaining basic courtesy, Sakura smiled and asked the child before her. She knew the chaos of Sundown Alley. If these supplies were to circulate on the market, the impact would be significant.
"Big boxes? I don't know, sister. I only know that the combat supplies MOTH planned to use to harm the residents of Sundown Alley were taken away by a cute cat—Sakura sister?"
But the next second, this cute black-haired boy suddenly said words that sent a chill down Sakura's spine. Her slender hand instantly rested on the "Frozen Naraka" at her waist. The sword left its sheath, pointing directly at the other's throat.
"You—which organization do you belong to? I'll only give you three seconds."
This was the instinct of an assassin. No matter how they conversed, she had to be able to take a life at any moment.
However, what the little boy said next made Sakura shudder.
"Threatening a child with a weapon, is MOTH always this despicable? Well, it's normal, I guess. Sakura, if your sister Rin knew about such things, what would be the result? She is such an innocent child."
His neck almost frozen by the ice shards, the boy—Gao Qi—showed no fear at all, not even feeling the cold. He smiled at the stunned girl before him and spoke the lines he had always dreamed of saying.
"Sakura sister, I'm sure you wouldn't want anything to happen to your beloved sister, right?"
Gao Qi quite liked this cute rabbit-eared character. But as a good older sister, having lost her sister in both the Previous Era and the Current Era—that was a bit too tragic.
However, this kind of threat from... certain adult material, clearly wasn't very effective against an assassin.
"I think you need to consider your own safety first, little one—you know a lot. I hope you'll spill more words in the 'Deepest Depths'."
Panic and hesitation lasted only a moment. Sakura didn't hesitate to press the blade against the neck of the little boy before her. No matter what, she wanted to subdue this child first.
Perhaps he was just a mouthpiece and sound generator. There might be someone else behind this child. Sakura knew that in Sundown alley, there was an underground king called "The Boss." He might be the one...
But, the next second, Sakura felt a piercing, bone-chilling cold. Her sword was made from the remains of the Herrscher of Ice and the shell of the Honkai beast Parvati. The cold could instantly freeze a room, but it wouldn't harm her.
Yet now, her arm was being frozen instead.
Gao Qi's body had begun to emit waves of cold. Frost covered his black hair. The Honkai energy on his arm started to spread continuously—the next moment, armor made of ice and frost began to appear on his body.
[Herrscher Authority: Ice Herrscher.]
"What are you waiting for, Kalpas? The battle has begun!"
The next second, from a corner of the warehouse, a man wreathed in raging flames, his face hidden behind a mask, smashed through a wall and charged towards the startled Sakura.
"Come on, woman! You want to destroy the sanatorium? Fight me first! Ask my permission!!!"
[Seconds later, a corner of Sundown Alley, which you had evacuated earlier using a fire as a pretext, was utterly consumed by the erupting shockwaves.]
[You had Kalpas focus on containing Sakura, while you unsealed the power of a MANTIS. Simultaneously, you activated the long-preserved core of the Ice Herrscher—your life began its countdown.]
[Three minutes later, just as Kalpas was howling in pain from the beating he was taking, you had subdued all the Fire Moth agents hidden throughout Sundown Alley, bundling them up and dumping them before Sakura.]
[By this time, Kalpas's body was almost completely encased in ice. Apart from his mouth, which remained defiant, he had lost all ability to resist.]
[Then, you displayed a power that left even Sakura stunned.]
"Hah, you brat! So you're this strong, hiding your abilities all along. Had I known, I would have fought you sooner!"
A massive hole pierced through his heart, Kalpas lay unmoving on the ground nearby. Though immensely weakened, his mouth was as sharp as ever.
"A MANTIS?! You're a MANTIS? How is that possible? You're so young. How could Mobius— damn it!"
Half her body completely frozen, Sakura was pinned to the ground by Gao Qi's small frame. Though physically weaker, his combat skills were no less proficient than hers.
Sakura could tell this boy had undergone brutal, rigorous training in life-or-death combat. He was a true warrior!
Gao Qi simply offered a faint smile and shrugged.
"Actually, I only ended up in Sundown Alley about a year ago. I was the only survivor among the experimental subjects I was with— guess how many children the same age as your sister are out there?"
Gao Qi was adept at weaving lies with truth. As Mobius's lover, a MANTIS who had suppressed the upper echelons of Fire Moth, he was privy to almost all its dark secrets. While the first official MANTIS only appeared after the 7th Herrscher, Mobius had conducted numerous experiments before that, claiming many lives.
But—there certainly wouldn't have been children among them. Were the Fire Moth leaders foolish enough to waste precious resources on children instead of using readily available elite soldiers?
As for Griseo, that was purely Mobius's personal whim.
However, Gao Qi now intended to spin a lie, presenting himself as a survivor of Fire Moth's MANTIS experiments—here for revenge.
And Sakura was the helper he had chosen.
After all, compared to a future event like "your sister will become the 12th Herrscher," convincing her that her sister could become an experimental subject might be more effective.
"Wha— you're lying, that's impossible, Rin couldn't—"
This person knew so many of Fire Moth's secrets and possessed the power of a MANTIS. By this point, Sakura mostly believed his words.
And once it involved her sister, Rin…
"If you don't believe me, I can take you to Mobius's lab to check if there are any files on Rin—or you can pretend none of this happened and continue being MOTH's lapdog."
Getting up from Sakura, Gao Qi extended a hand to her.
"Alternatively, you can make those so-called leaders grovel before you in fear, make them dread you instead of using you—you came by plane, right? We can return together."
Due to the success of the experiments on Sakura, Mobius indeed kept files on Rin, aiming to study if there were commonalities in MANTIS surgery success rates between sisters—but if Sakura insisted on seeing them, the data on Rin in the computer would be enough to convince her.
"Alright… I'll take you to Fire Moth headquarters. Just to verify."
After a long hesitation, the rabbit ears atop Sakura's head drooped slowly. For her, Rin was everything. To ensure her safety, Sakura would do anything!
"Alright then, Ms. Assassin, let's get up and—"
But before Gao Qi could finish his cool pose, a somewhat surprised voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Zero! The children… the children's fates have changed! I asked Pardo and found you here—was it a gas Leak? Are… are you alright?"
Not far away, Aponia, slightly out of breath, ran over, her face wearing an excited smile. But upon seeing the aftermath of the battle and Gaoqi's current ice-encased appearance, she suddenly froze.
Hearing Aponia's voice, Gaoqi didn't hesitate. He immediately covered his left arm, marked by Honkai energy patterns, with pure ice crystals. Smiling, he turned to Aponia.
"It's nothing serious, Sister Aponia. Everything's fine. It's just… I want to talk to you about something I've been hiding from you."
Aponia's arrival here was also arranged by Gao Qi through Pardo. In fact, her participation was needed for the next steps.
"Hiding from me, is it… That's alright. I won't be angry. Everyone has secrets. I'm happy you're telling me."
The joy on her face faded. Aponia looked at the boy smiling at her and couldn't help but bite her lip.
The inextricable thread of fate connecting her and Gao Qi was now growing thinner, transforming from an unbreakable iron chain into a fragile silk thread…
Just as Gao Qi had said, fate could perhaps be changed, though it was difficult.
Just moments ago, Aponia had noticed that the threads of fate for the children at the sanatorium had undergone a change. Not only did they continue, but they had also become stable and safe.
However… Aponia hadn't expected the price for altering fate to be so high.
With one glance, she understood. Gao Qi's time… was running out.
Slowly walking forward, she approached Gao Qi. Unafraid of the ice crystals on him, Aponia stretched out her arms and pulled him into an embrace.
"It's alright, it's alright. I will stay with you… until the very end."
Deliberately raising the temperature of the ice crystals, Gao Qi knew Aponia might have already figured everything out. This farewell shouldn't carry too much sorrow.
"Let's go, sisters. Let's burn Fire Moth's sins to ashes!"
(TL Note: Sorry for the late update I was playing endfield)
Note: I'm new to translating so please be kind and tell me any mistakes you all find, I will try to release a chapter a day but don't expect much
Please support the original author: warboss
Raw: 崩坏模拟器,你找的人是我么?