"What are your sins?"
After a moment of silence, Fu Li spoke reassuringly. "I am listening. You may speak freely."
His voice was light, like a feather drifting into her soul, allowing Aponia's troubled heart to find a measure of peace.
"I attempted to take away the memories of the MOTHs Who Chase the Flame from all who knew of them, but I was unable to fill the resulting void in their memories."
Because it was only after we learned what we should not have known that we came to this point.
"Through my ability, I completely reshaped a civilian woman's mind into another Elysia."
Although it was her own request, and we needed more hope.
"I once tried to make the minds of six hundred members of a station exist simultaneously within a single person's body, which resulted in nearly forty vicious incidents."
Because they were all on the verge of death, and she just… wanted them to live.
"I also replicated the personality of the Eighth Herrscher."
Because she no longer knew what else to do.
Inside the empty church, Aponia confessed her sins to her priest in a low voice.
Four hundred and ten sins. Even though some were requested by others, even though some were acts of desperation, Aponia never once tried to defend herself.
She simply recounted her sins, softly, so softly, as if in repentance, or perhaps as if she were taking stock of her failures.
"Lord Priest, my sins are too numerous to count. But if I do not do these things, who else will?"
Her voice was no different from before, only more weary. It was as if she were asking Fu Li, and at the same time, asking herself.
Fu Li could not see her expression, but he could imagine it must be gray, despairing, and lifeless.
—She had tried almost everything, yet in her eyes, the puppet strings of fate had not shifted in the slightest because of her efforts.
Aponia…
Fu Li wanted to speak, but she continued.
"The suffering of all those people has shown me that I have not done enough. I… must continue."
"I do not know if what I am doing is right or wrong. I do not know if my actions will lead to success or failure."
"The only thing I can be certain of is that among all of humanity, there is no one who can stop me."
"Except for you, Lord Priest. But…"
A slender hand reached out from the opening in the screen. The skin was delicate and fair, like a work of art sculpted by a god.
"Will you… fear and stop me? Even after I have done so many cruel things?"
Fu Li did not hesitate. He reached out and took her hand, comforting her.
"I will not stop you, because I know that, fundamentally, you are a person who gives kindness to the best of her ability."
"But, when you use your [Discipline], have you not noticed that your own heart has become lost with each attempt?"
"If you don't mind, would you be willing to, for a moment, let go of the hands you are holding so tightly and experience what it feels like to have your own hand held?"
"Like a lone boat adrift on the sea, it also needs an anchor to find stability, to keep from being lost in the endless waters."
Hearing his words, silence fell outside the confessional.
"Lost? To have my hand held? An anchor?"
Aponia whispered the words, her grip on the priest's hand tightening slightly.
After a long silence, she seemed to let out an almost inaudible chuckle.
"Thank you, Priest. I am enlightened."
Enlightened about what?
A question mark appeared over Fu Li's head. He had only been trying to calm her down. How had he suddenly managed to resolve her inner turmoil?
Could it be? Do I have a talent for being a psychologist?
As his thoughts wandered, Aponia suddenly spoke.
"Priest, if it is possible, could I ask you… to be my anchor?"
"Of course."
Fu Li's unthinking reply allowed Aponia, outside the screen, to feel a long-lost warmth once more.
In that moment, she was certain she had found her anchor.
Fu Li, meanwhile, was feeling his hand, which was being squeezed a little too tightly, and was somewhat surprised.
Isn't Aponia a psychic-type? Why is she so strong?
[After the confession, Aponia's excursions outside decreased significantly, and you moved your laboratory into The Deep End.]
[She once again focused her attention on the children and the prisoners, just as she had always done, holding the hands of the weak.]
[Until one day, a pure, barefooted little girl stepped into this space, wandering alone in the darkness.]
[She seemed to know no fear, or perhaps, she was so pure that not even the blackness could stain her.]
[She walked on, until a candlelight flickered in the dark.]
[Aponia took her hand and led her from the darkness into the light.]
[And the little girl's single word, 'Mama,' sparked a different kind of thought in her mind.]
---o---
Inside The Deep End, Fu Li looked at the completed New Second Divine Key and finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Ever since he had agreed to be Aponia's anchor, he had moved his laboratory from the outside world into The Deep End.
Fortunately, the network here was good enough that he could hold video calls with Mobius and the others. Otherwise, they might not have seen each other for a long time.
The brand-new Second Divine Key—Void Hand, Soul Probe.
Its appearance was酷似 the in-game exclusive weapon for the Herrscher of Sentience, Domain of Sentience, but its actual function was completely different.
Its wielder could expend a massive amount of Honkai energy to activate the authority of the Herrscher of the Void, causing the target to be directly converted into a controllable collapsed state within the quantum sea.
This would create an opportunity for Fu Li to directly extract the Herrscher's Core, and then, without harming the host's body, annihilate the Herrscher's consciousness.
It was this bold concept that had earned the praise of even the self-proclaimed genius, Vill-V, who had jokingly nicknamed it 'Gimme That'.
As for its safety?
As someone who had stumbled in this pit once before, Fu Li had naturally taken that into account. The mere Herrscher of Corruption would be a piece of cake.
Just as Fu Li was excitedly about to tell Vill-V and Mobius about his invention, the laboratory door was suddenly pushed open.
"Hm? Who is it?"
Turning his head, Fu Li saw Aponia leading a little pink-haired ball of fluff, walking in with an embarrassed look on her face.
"Priest, today is Ania's birthday. Her wish is for you and me to take her out to play. Is that alright?"
After saying this, Aponia's hand, hidden behind her back, tightened.
"Go out to play?" Fu Li tilted his head.
Right now, only 20% of the world's cities were still operational. The remaining survivors were all striving for the future, having basically given up on entertainment.
However, the end of the world was coming. For a child, this might be their last chance to play.
So, since these children had been cooped up for so long, maybe it was time to let them go out and have some fun.
"Alright. But if we're going to play, let's invite some more friends."
A long, strong hand gently rested on Ania's head as Fu Li put on a benevolent expression.
"How about we take all the children from the Sanatorium with us?"