Beautiful clothes.
Beautiful scenery.
Laughing friends.
She couldn't help but hum a melodious tune, sitting on a purple-black platform, swinging her soft, smooth calves, and stroking the fluffy, adorable rabbit head next to her.
After feeling annoyed by the glaring sunlight, she started looking for an indoor space to avoid the light, planning to wait until the sun weakened slightly before going out again.
She was slightly surprised that she hadn't encountered any more zombies along the way.
After briefly looking at the surrounding buildings, she noticed this particularly charming structure from the outside, with display signs full of girly, plush animal toys. It was probably a plush toy amusement area specifically for children.
After bringing them inside, she found that the place was indeed full of plush toys, just as advertised. There were many particularly small and cute ones, which even delighted her.
However, it was a little strange that some plush toys would suddenly appear with a thump from… bizarre angles. She initially thought these were meant to be surprises, but they appeared too quickly, which might scare the children.
"Seele, there are zombies outside."
At this moment, the former Captain of the Seventh Squad suddenly spoke to her as she was humming a song.
She set down the rabbit head hesitantly: "Huh? There are? How do you know?"
"…"
"Oh, it's the detector, right."
"Yes."
"…This might be a dangerous area that has been attacked by the Honkai," she quickly assessed the situation based on her memories and experience. "Call for backup."
There were too many people. She might struggle a bit alone, and even though the combat members who had died were resurrected by her, none of them had equipment, so injuries were inevitable.
But then she reconsidered. Even if there were injuries, she could heal them, right? If they died, they could be resurrected completely.
…No, she couldn't let them die again.
She took out her communicator. Seeing the cracks, she couldn't recall when it had been damaged, but it should still be usable, so the first person she contacted was Lin.
"Drip—"
Connection failed.
She paused.
This wasn't an unanswered call, but a sign that the other party's communicator was damaged.
Fire MOTH specialized communicators used batteries that could last for over fifty years, and the communicator could not be turned off. Unless the communication function itself was completely broken, there was no scenario where a call couldn't be placed.
"H-How could it be damaged?"
"Lin's communicator was destroyed when the Councilman took him away," Delta answered her question.
"Oh, right." She remembered that she had personally witnessed Lin's communicator being destroyed when she demanded the Councilman transfer Lin to a safe place. She breathed a sigh of relief, but then another question occurred to her, "How would you know that?"
At that time, wasn't Delta already dead? Only she and the Councilman should know about this.
For some reason, she felt as if her consciousness was simultaneously clear and extremely hazy. Something was disappearing, and she hadn't even noticed the disappearance itself.
"You told me that."
"I… told you?"
She abruptly covered her eyes, murmuring.
Then she gave an enchanting smile and said to herself: "Yes, you told me that."
She reverted to a stunned expression: "Did I tell you that?"
"Of course. You told me many other things too, like… your beloved Squad Member Lin."
"We are friends who know each other deeply. Look, the fact that so many people are alive again is the result of our combined power, isn't it?"
She raised her head, and a deep crimson replaced the original azure in her right eye.
And the originally stunned expression was gradually replaced by a smile.
"Yes, this is my power…"
"Think about it. Lin is already seriously ill. When that piece of trash took him away, the Honkai Energy had already started eroding his internal organs. Counting the time now, he has most likely already…"
"Died? No, impossible. I will cure Lin, using my ability."
"Do you really think so? Why don't you try using this ability, which can resurrect the dead, to resurrect your Squad Member Lin?"
She clutched her heart, breathing heavily. An indescribable feeling echoed in her chest.
For some reason, the figure wearing the helmet appeared before her eyes.
And when he took off the helmet, all she saw was a blank face.
"No… I don't know what Lin looks like…"
"But you can resurrect even them. What does it matter if you don't know his appearance?"
"No! I can't let him use this method…"
This method?
What method? Was there something wrong?
She looked at everyone again. They all wore the exact same smile.
The words were stuck in her throat. She genuinely felt fear at this moment, a deep fear toward the act of "resurrecting" Lin.
She couldn't tell if this was fear that Lin was truly dead or fear of "resurrecting" him.
"Are you resisting me? Are you afraid of me? I am you. I share the same feelings and the same memories as you. I love life and want to protect everyone, just like you." Her smile grew increasingly exaggerated, and the smiles on the faces of the people standing behind her changed with hers. "This is 'our' power. The fact that you can use it means we are of one mind."
"…But, but…"
"Do you still want Squad Member Lin to see your timid side? Do you still remember the promise between you two? You are supposed to fight for life."
"I remember, of course! That's why I—"
That's why I… what?
Blood and a mask flashed through her mind, but she didn't know what they meant. Several faces, frozen in the agony of death, flickered in the darkness.
Had she done anything for this promise?
And… what exactly was the promise…
"That's right, you haven't done anything wrong, so put away your cowardice. After we bring Squad Member Lin back to this world, you must let him clearly see that you are completely different from that fragile little girl you used to be, understood?"
"I… understood."
"Don't worry about anything. With the ability to control life and death, you can completely end the Honkai disaster. By then, neither they…" A finger pointed to the resurrected people, then her hand spread open, pointing toward a blank space, "…nor Squad Member Lin will need to fight anymore. No one will die."
"Yes…"
"Finally, I still need to emphasize one thing: I am the same as you. I love life, and I love Lin too. So don't be afraid of me. Let 'us'… let 'me' resurrect Squad Member Lin."
The azure in her left eye seemed to be contaminated by the deep crimson in her right eye and was gradually replaced by it. Finally, a dazzling smile completely appeared on her face.
And at the same time, in the mountain of the amusement park's back hill, a pair of bloody, giant eyes opened.