"Me?" The conversation turned to Susannah. She smiled sheepishly at Shu. "Actually... I didn't take on any commissions..."
Shu was taken aback. "No commission...?"
Then are you here on vacation?
"Actually, I'm here on a sightseeing trip!" Susannah's declaration nearly made Shu choke. He hadn't expected his sarcastic guess to be true.
But coming to such a dangerous place for sightseeing, was Susannah serious?
"Is there... anything to see here?" Shu asked, puzzled. While Susannah seemed a bit eccentric, Shu didn't believe for a second that this trip had no purpose.
"Of course there is!" Susannah got excited again. "Did you know? Sapphire City has Fire Moth's first military base! It's also where Fire Moth first made its debut!"
He had indeed proposed the concept of Fire Moth in Sapphire City... but a military base?
Did they have one of those?
Hadn't Otto said that the place in Sapphire City was just an outpost and a transfer station? It had been renovated and expanded a bit, but it was still just a small market and a small base...
It couldn't be called a military base by any stretch of the imagination, could it?
Shu nodded silently, while Susannah continued to passionately introduce the various "hot spots" of Sapphire City to him.
"And the train station in Sapphire City, that's where the Hyperion once docked! And, and, there's a collapsed multi-story parking garage in the city center, that's where Fire Moth eliminated its first Honkai Beast..."
Susannah rattled off several places where Fire Moth had been active.
Shu was familiar with every single place, but also not so familiar...
For example... had he really been to the Taixuan Martial Arts Hall?
If it weren't for the association with Sushang, Shu really couldn't remember ever going there.
After all, no battles had taken place there. When Shu recalled his memories, he would subconsciously prune it out.
The only places Shu remembered in Sapphire City were the underground pub littered with corpses, the multi-story parking garage, and the street near the Pearl of Sapphire.
The memories buried deep in his consciousness surged to the surface, rippling through his mind. Perhaps because they had been buried for too long, or perhaps because the river of memory was too turbulent.
These memories had all more or less lost their original appearance, taking on the unique colors of reminiscence.
Just as the Herrscher of memory had said: memories beautify themselves over time.
Maybe he should look up that part of his memory in the Akashic Chronicle?
As Shu thought this, amidst Susannah's passionate and now somewhat quieter monologue, he slowly turned his head and leaned against the gently swaying car window.
No, that would be a waste. The Akashic Chronicle was a Divine Key. It could be used for much more important things than just looking up his old memories.
The vibration of the train car was faint. Shu could only feel it when he leaned against the glass, a subtle tremor hidden within the din.
But it was there, and at this moment, it was so real.
His thoughts gradually chased the light and faded into the distance with the swaying motion, replaced by a gentle darkness.
Disorder, selflessness, and thoughtlessness embraced his fatigue. The scene before him gradually faded away.
"But if you ask me... the most, most important attraction in Sapphire City has to be... huh?" Perhaps at the peak of her excitement, Susannah glanced at Shu, only to find that her sole audience was now leaning against the seat, eyes closed, silent.
Wait, did she...
Startled, Susannah quickly leaned in for a closer look.
The white-haired young man's head was resting against the car window.
His slightly parted lips indicated his relaxed state. On his steadily rising and falling chest, a plainly designed but elegant badge flickered with a dim light.
One look was enough to tell that this would be a wonderful sleep.
Seeing that her "only" audience had fallen asleep, Susannah opened her mouth, then closed it again.
While it was frustrating to be cut off at the most exciting part of her story, disturbing someone's sleep was even more rude.
With a soft sigh, Susannah sat back down in her seat, a little dejected.
Uh... why is it so quiet?
Two seconds after sitting down, Susannah finally realized that the atmosphere around her had changed drastically.
This familiar feeling...
Susannah whipped her head around. As expected, along with the quiet car came the focused, slightly amused gazes of the other passengers.
Everyone was looking at Susannah, as if waiting for her to continue.
A blush quickly spread across the young girl's face. Under everyone's gaze, Susannah turned into a ripe tomato in just a second.
"What's the most, most important attraction?" someone asked with a chuckle, like the last straw that broke Susannah's back.
"Mmph—!!"
A sound like a kettle boiling softly echoed through the quiet car. Susannah curled up, as if she could escape everyone's gaze by turning into a ball.
What followed was a burst of good-natured laughter. A cheerful atmosphere quickly spread through the train, a train that was, for all intents and purposes, heading towards "danger"...
And no one noticed that beside Susannah, who was trying to bury herself like an ostrich, a faint halo of light began to spread from Shu's body, concealed by the badge.
The laughter seemed to transform into specks of starlight, gently clinging to Shu's body, invisible to everyone.
[Hope]—a special power that only Shu could wield, condensed from the recognition and trust of those around him.
And at this moment, it seemed that another condition had been added to its source.
---||---
At the same time, on the thirteenth underground level, Otto walked hurriedly into the small, cramped room.
At this moment, apart from the occasionally blinking signal light and the ever-present cold glow of the cube, the only thing left in the room was a dim, lightless scepter.
In fact, just a minute ago, it had been emitting a faint, multicolored glow.
Otto looked at the inexplicably extinguished scepter with a grave expression.
He took out his portable device to check for traces of Honkai energy around it, then took out his phone, about to call Shu.
But just as he raised his hand, Otto fell silent, looking at the message on his phone.
It was a photo. A white-haired man was leaning against a car window in a relaxed posture.
...
"Heh..." After a long while, Otto let out a soft chuckle. He put his phone away and looked at the dim scepter.
"Sleep well," he said softly.