"After all, even if I'm just the last one, I'm still a member of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers acknowledged by Ellie-nee."
"..."
She looked up at the sky and sighed: "It feels just like a dream. An orphan from Sundown Alley like me actually getting called a Flame-Chaser by everyone one day."
"Can, tell me... if my mom and dad were still here, what would they think? Would they be proud of me?"
"Never mind thinking about that. What can I do right now? Hmm, first I'll go ask Vill-V-nee for advice..."
The scene in the memory shifted again.
On the night Kevin met with disaster, Pardofelis was alone here.
"96, 97... I never thought there were so many treasures hidden here. Tomorrow I'll ask Mei-nee to take me treasure hunting there again?"
"Mechanical parts can be sold to Vill-V-nee, pretty little accessories to Ellie-nee, and as for these weird ornaments, I'll just trick Aponia and the others into buying them... Hehe, now I'm gonna get rich."
As time passed silently, Pardofelis's voice counting the goods gradually became as vague and murmuring as sleep-talking.
Seeing this scene.
Mei couldn't help but laugh dumbly. Falling asleep while counting spoils—this really suited Pardofelis's personality perfectly.
She was about to leave when she suddenly heard something that caught her attention.
"The first target... let's go with Boss Kevin. I wonder if he'll accept it..."
?
Kevin?
Why mention him out of the blue?
"This matter... has to be kept secret from Ellie-nee. Hmm, right, and from Mei-nee too, otherwise she'll definitely never forgive me..."
Hearing Pardofelis's words made Mei turn serious.
As if suddenly awakening from meditation, Mei came back to her senses. The two pairs of concerned eyes in front of her were watching her intently.
Vill-V asked: "Dear cute audience member, what did you see?"
Pardofelis hurriedly added: "Mei-nee, you should have seen it, right? On the day Boss Kevin went missing, I didn't see him at all."
Mei didn't answer.
Meeting Mei's gaze, the girl awkwardly averted her head.
"Don't look at me like that, Mei-nee, it's making me super nervous. I really didn't do anything."
Mei said: "I saw your memories from the night Kevin disappeared. You spent the whole night sorting through goods collected from everywhere, and only fell asleep hugging them just before dawn."
Pardofelis smiled awkwardly: "Hehe, I found a lot of treasures while treasure hunting, so I got a bit excited. But like this, doesn't it prove I'm innocent?"
"Mei-nee, see? I told you, I'm innocent. With the suspicion cleared, now I can investigate together with you all, right?"
Mei continued: "But before falling asleep, you said you were going to do something behind my and Elysia's backs."
"Pardo, do you still have some secret you're hiding from us in 210?"
Vill-V said: "Ah ya, I never expected there'd be this segment of memory. Turns out little Pardo isn't as honest as she seems."
Pardofelis was stunned: "Eh? Mei-, Mei-nee, what are you talking about? How could I possibly have any secrets from you?"
Mei said: "According to what you said in your dream, this matter concerns many Flame-Chasers, and you even wanted to involve Kevin in it. What exactly is it that you'd go to such lengths to hide?"
"..."
Pardofelis fell into a rare silence.
Vill-V chimed in from the side: "Little Pardo, at a time like this, you'd better tell the truth. Otherwise, the suspicion on you won't be cleared, you know."
"..."
After hesitating for a long while, Pardofelis finally said reluctantly: "It's just... a little business... really just business."
Mei questioned: "What kind of business requires hiding it from me and Elysia??"
Faced with her questioning, Pardofelis could only answer: "It's about... that..."
Mei was puzzled: "That?"
Pardofelis said: "That... the horns on your head."
Mei became even more confused: "Horns?"
Pardofelis mustered her courage: "I was planning whether I could rent out your horns for others to touch. If Ellie-nee found out, she'd definitely spread it everywhere, and then you'd definitely get angry."
"So... that's why I had to keep it secret from you two."
Mei: "..."
The scene instantly fell silent.
Meanwhile, the viewers watching this on TV were all laughing and crying at the same time.
The chat group messages started flooding in.
"Hahahahahaha, as expected of Pardo, born to be a business genius."
"In this kind of atmosphere, only Pardo can make me laugh."
"I'm dying of laughter, hahahaha. Mei's horn-touching thing is now known to everyone."
"Interesting, really interesting. If this business actually happens, I'll pay first—I want to touch them too."
"Hahahaha, Pardo is too cute. This kind of thing definitely has to be hidden from Elysia—after all, to Elysia, those horns are her exclusive territory."
"No need to guess—Elysia definitely blabbed about Mei getting her horns touched."
"Wuwuwu, mentioning Elysia makes me miss her so much. She's my wife, after all."
"Real talk: I used to think Pardofelis was shady with her hands and feet, but now I feel like she's truly the only person in this apocalyptic despair world who can make people feel happy."
"Yeah, in this situation, it's because of Pardo that everyone can still smile amid the despair."
"Little Pardo is so cute! I love you!!"
"..."
Fire Moth Interstellar Entertainment Company.
Li Sushang excitedly said to Pardofelis: "Felis, right now the audience is all talking about you."
Pardofelis immediately asked: "Are they praising me or scolding me? I know the character I'm playing—everyone might not like me much."
Li Sushang shook her head: "No, everyone really likes Felis's role. They're all calling you cute, saying you're the only source of joy in this despair-filled atmosphere. Because of you, no one has completely lost hope."
Pardofelis got excited too: "Really? Everyone really says that? Does that mean my acting is actually pretty good? I was always worried—my acting isn't as good as Kevin and the others, my popularity isn't as high as Ellie-nee, my combat power isn't as strong as Kalpas-ge, and cuteness isn't as good as Griseo..."
Li Sushang comforted her: "Relax, even though Director He is reckless, he's never wrong when it comes to judging people. Your role will definitely be loved by a lot of people. Trust me—this is just the beginning."
Pardofelis nodded: "Okay~"
People like Mobius glanced at Hessian.
Indeed...
In a world shrouded by despair, what people need most is hope—and next is seeing someone as optimistic as Pardofelis, which can bring them even more hope.
On the TV.
Pardofelis hurriedly said: "Wah, Mei-nee, I was wrong! I won't dare do it again!"
Vill-V burst out laughing: "Hahahahaha, I never thought Mei-san's horns would be so popular. Little Pardo, you're a real genius."
Pardofelis sighed: "Sigh, Vill-V-nee, your hat is seriously terrifying. I just had a tiny idea, and Mei-nee saw right through it."
Vill-V said: "Of course. Props made by me always perform ten times their original function. This also proves my consciousness collector is truly effective, right?"
"How about it, Mei-san? In emergencies, we still have to rely on the wisdom of tools."
"Next, we'll use this method to review each Flame-Chaser's memories one by one and clear everyone's suspicions. However..."
"Maybe... not everyone will be willing to do this."
Pardofelis shouted: "Great! I declare that I've completely cleared my name. From now on, I'm joining the detective squad to investigate the truth of this matter with you!"
"Mei-nee, next time you view memories, bring me along too. I have to prove that everyone is innocent."
Mei said: "Opportunities like this probably won't come often. I also don't think the other Flame-Chasers will obediently wait here for us to flip through their memories like a book."
Vill-V said: "Then it'll depend on your skills, our great detective."
"Ah ya, speaking of which, hasn't the one person who absolutely won't refuse this request already arrived?"
A figure rushed in panic. Upon seeing Mei, she seemed to subtly breathe a sigh of relief.
The arriving Flame-Chaser was Hua. She said: "Thank goodness, you're all here."
Hua rarely showed such a vigilant expression, so Mei instinctively tensed up.
She asked: "What's wrong, Hua? You don't look so good."
Hua said: "Something extremely serious has happened. I and—"
"Shh, wait a moment." Vill-V directly interrupted her: "Rather than verbal explanation, I recommend borrowing some tools—like this hat of mine?"
Hua decisively refused: "Sorry, the situation is too urgent. There's no time to test your experimental props with you."
Vill-V said: "Don't rush to refuse. This isn't some party trick."
"We just want a more direct understanding of what exactly happened. Besides, this is also to clear your suspicions."
"Right, my dear Mei-san?"
Pardofelis added: "Ah Hua, listen to me. We're using this hat to view every Flame-Chaser's memories to rule out their suspicions."
Hua was puzzled: "View... memories?"
Mei said: "I understand your concerns, but... we have no progress on other leads. We're left with no choice but to do this."
Hua said: "I have no intention of evading. After all, my memories are inherently chaotic and hard to understand. Will this really help?"
Vill-V said: "Please trust me—this is our last method."
The girl pondered as she looked at the people before her. They were once her trusted comrades, teammates who fought side by side.
Yet the shadow of reality had created irreparable rifts between them. Suspicion and interrogation had become the darkness looming over everyone.
Now, she had to decide whether she could still hold trust in the people before her.
"I understand."
"What do I need to do?"
Vill-V said: "Just put on the hat."
She put on the hat as Vill-V instructed.
Vill-V said: "Yes, just like that. Use facts to prove to us that you're still the Hua we all know."
Mei said: "No time to waste. Let's go."
Mei took Pardofelis into the memory.
As the darkness faded, what appeared before the two was a city on the verge of total collapse.
Pardofelis pointed ahead: "Mei-nee, look over there! Such a huge fire!"
Overwhelming flames lit up the sky. At the center of the blaze, a faint crimson figure was vaguely visible.
In an instant, Mei understood where she was now.
"That's... the Seventh Herrscher."
The flames surged and invaded, devouring everything in their path.
At the edge of the towering inferno, Mei's gaze caught that frail figure.
She lay powerless amid the ruins, covered in wounds, as if breathing was all she could still do.
Beneath the heaven-shaking flames, she was fragile like a leaf on the verge of falling.
Even so.
She still leaned against the remnants of a building that had become rubble, struggling to say something.
It seemed someone was still barely alive beneath the debris.
The raging flames suddenly erupted in blinding white light, then gradually subsided, rising toward farther places.
Hua struggled to lift her head, looking in the direction the flames had gone.
"Captain..."
Against the firelight, Mei couldn't clearly see Hua's expression, but she could still imagine what it was.
It was... the look of farewell.
Mei said: "Pardo, let's go. To the next memory segment."
Pardofelis asked: "Mei-nee, aren't we going to help Hua..."
Mei said: "She can't sense our presence. This is just her memory... something that has already happened in the past, impossible to change."
Pardofelis looked at Hua with great worry: "Is that so... but Hua..."
Mei gazed at the distant, barely breathing girl, as if reviewing her own memories through time.
Those deeply painful partings always lurk in the shadows of memory, becoming unhealable wounds in the depths of the soul.
Yet those pains will eventually scab over and form cocoons, becoming the strength that supports the girl forward.
She withdrew her gaze.
"Pardo, this is just recollection. In the end, you all defeated this Honkai outbreak. That one fact will never change, no matter what."
Pardofelis nodded gently: "Mm."
"Let's go."
Mei headed straight to the next memory segment.
Inside the Elysian Realm hall.
Elysia said to Hua: "What a coincidence, Hua. Meeting you here again. I guess you must have come specifically to chat with me, right?"
Hua shook her head: "Not really..."
Elysia pretended to be hurt: "Eh? It's not? Even so, you should at least lie to me first. Denying it so directly is really heartbreaking."
Hua said: "I... sorry, I didn't think it through."
Elysia laughed: "Haha, alright, I won't tease you anymore. Mei's not here—she's probably undergoing trials deep in the Realm. You'll have to wait a bit longer for her."
Hua asked: "How did you know I was waiting for Mei?"
Elysia said: "I was just guessing casually, and it turned out to be right. You two seem to get along really well, after all."
Hua said: "Mei seems to be an old acquaintance of the me in reality. She's told me about some past experiences, and I feel an inexplicable closeness to her."
Elysia said: "Then you should chat with her more. Witnessing your own future unfolding right in front of you isn't something easy."
"Mei would be happy too. After all, not many people here can chat with her. The Flame-Chasers' attitudes toward her are somewhat complicated."
Hua asked: "Complicated? Because the truth she's trying to uncover is too hidden?"
Elysia said: "Because of her identity—the identity of a Herrscher."
"It seems you really don't mind that. Maybe you two could become great friends."
Hua said: "Herrscher... even for me, it's not easy to say I can coexist peacefully with one."
"Herrschers never fight for humanity, and she's the same—Kevin once told me that, right after... the battle with the Seventh Herrscher."
"Yes... I saw it too. The captain who fought alongside us just one day earlier turned into flames that pushed countless lives into the abyss in an instant."
"Once labeled a Herrscher, is everything from the past erased? Leaving only the will to destroy everything, becoming an existence we can no longer understand?"
Elysia said: "After all, no one has faced Herrschers more directly than Kevin and the others."
"The more times they defeat Honkai, the more wary they become of Herrschers. It can't be helped—after all, a Herrscher's existence marks the beginning of loss..."
Hua said: "But to me... Herrscher is a stance, not an identity. If we only distinguish by power beyond normal humans, then we MANTISes aren't so different from Herrschers..."
"Only those who abandon their human past and try to overthrow everything with destructive power should be constantly guarded against. Clearly, Mei is not one of them, so I've never seen her as a Herrscher."
"She is first a person desperately seeking a way out, and only secondarily a special being with Herrscher powers."
"Perhaps this has always been our unspoken consensus."