Honkai: You're telling me this difficulty is from Honkai Impact 3?!

The TEMPEST-class mech sitting under the tree tilted its head slightly, a light flashing from its optical sensors.

Shu composed himself and gave it a polite nod. "Hello."

"Query: May I ask you to state your purpose?" Shu wasn't sure if he should call the mech polite or rude. Its first words were a "polite greeting" that was practically loaded with gunpowder.

"I am the squad captain of the anti-Honkai organization, the Fire MOTH. My mission is to reopen the Eurasian railway and search for survivors to bring back to our base."

"Query: Do you intend to take Miss Frélle?" The mech understood Shu's purpose. It fell silent for a moment. "Negative. I cannot provide a reasonable suggestion until her safety can be confirmed."

"Have you lost contact with the Future City?" Shu asked suddenly. The mech made no attempt to hide anything.

"Affirmative. After battling the unknown creature, my communication device was damaged, and I lost my self-repair capabilities. I have been disconnected from the First Sequence for eighty-four days and six hours."

Eighty-something days? Shu remembered that was around the time the Ethics had arrived in ARC City.

"The monster you mentioned... did it look like this?" Shu raised a hand, and a virtual projection appeared.

The large red bird on Frélle's shoulder flapped its wings violently, as if startled.

The squirrels in the trees instantly vanished. The deer jumped to its feet and paced nervously.

The mech's optical sensors flickered several times. "Response: The appearance is different, but the elemental composition is extremely similar. Query: What technology are you using? I do not detect any virtual projection equipment."

"You could call it a special kind of superpower," Shu said without much explanation. Beside him, Frélle wore an "I knew it" expression.

"This is a Honkai Beast, a creature born from the Honkai with extremely destructive and lethal capabilities. You could call it a type of disaster. It has little to no intelligence and exists solely for the purpose of destroying civilization..."

After a quick and concise explanation of the creature and what the Honkai was, Shu looked at the mech's battered body. "It seems you didn't defeat it..."

"Kai didn't lose..." Frélle muttered under her breath, her voice so soft it was almost just her mouthing the words.

She had unknowingly moved to Shu's blind spot, a position from which she was certain no one could see her from his current angle.

Shu glanced back at her, but all he saw was a well-behaved little girl standing there with her head bowed.

"Response: Mr. Shu, I cannot make a decision," the mech finally spoke after another moment of silence. "Multiple of my modules are damaged, and my onboard processing power is insufficient to make the correct choice. Therefore, I will not offer suggestions or decisions."

"Based on my trust in your words, if you wish to take Miss Frélle from here, and Miss Frélle agrees to your request, I will not stop you."

And if she doesn't agree, are you going to stop me?

Shu glanced at the single remaining launch port out of the mech's original four, but said nothing.

A layer of moss was already climbing up its body, a clear sign that it hadn't moved in a long time. There was even a nest made of dry branches on it, and the feathers inside didn't look like they had been shed long ago.

"I don't want to leave Kai..." Shu glanced at Frélle again. She immediately cooperated, lowering her head obediently.

"She wants to leave with you. That's why I'm here," Shu said.

Of course, he also wanted to take the animals with him, both the beautiful deer and the bear with its cubs.

That bear was huge...

"Query: Can you repair me?" Kai asked.

Shu shook his head. "I can't, but I can take you to someone who can, or bring someone who can to you."

Schrödinger probably could, right? But it seems like it's not her specialty... Wait, did either Einstein or Tesla look like they could build giant robots? But they still did it, didn't they?

Kai fell silent again, this time for longer than ever before.

"Query: What do you... or rather, the MOTH, require of us?" it asked.

"To live," Shu answered without a shred of hesitation. "I only want you to live, to live better, better with each passing day, until things return to how they once were."

Kai didn't speak, only flashing its optical sensors.

"Kai, he's not lying," Frélle said, looking up at the mech.

Shu looked at Frélle in surprise. Her previous delicate demeanor was gone, replaced by a restrained nobility that seemed completely out of place with her tattered clothes.

Now, she truly had the air of a noble lady.

"In that case, take us with you," she said without any lingering attachment. "We can cooperate with you. Is there anything you need us to do? You can take anything in this mansion. I can show you the way."

This was much easier than he had expected.

Shu shook his head. "No need. My only purpose is to get you out of here."

"Really?" A smile appeared on Frélle's face.

Ten minutes later, Shu pushed open a door that Frélle had pointed to, and the glittering jewels inside almost blinded him.

It was like a dragon's hoard. Gold coins and pearls were mixed together, piled carelessly on the floor. Swords embedded with various gems were stuck messily into the mountain of gold, their cold gleam paling in comparison to the golden light.

The walls were adorned with countless treasures that Shu couldn't even identify. He even saw two familiar paintings.

The Homu Lisa's Smile...

"This is my fourth brother's room. He always fancied himself a dragon, so he converted all his personal profits into these things. The family condoned his actions, since it was considered a way of accumulating fixed assets for the family."

"And your fourth brother?" Shu asked subconsciously.

Frélle pointed to a corner. A zombie with its head blown off by a firearm lay in the corner, hidden by the tall mountain of gold.

Shu fell silent. He looked at the zombie, then at the indifferent Frélle, and couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath.

Noble families really are merciless.

He waved his hand, and a few gold coins jumped into his hand. Their heavy weight proclaimed their purity. For a moment, Shu was at a loss.

Money was worthless in the apocalypse, but these were gold coins... real gold coins...

He felt like he might be dreaming...