"This is the youngest child here, Lei Anmi. His health has always been poor. He just went through a high fever and has barely recovered now."
Otto stood by the bedside, looking at the child still asleep in bed, speaking softly to Xin Yu who stood beside him.
Xin Yu looked at the child lying in bed, whose face was as exceptionally pale as his own had been when he first awoke. He asked in a low, puzzled voice, "Why not send him to a hospital for long-term treatment? In this condition, this child could very well die in the near future."
"If I could, I would certainly want him treated. But unfortunately, the disease this child suffers from is untreatable with current human medical capabilities."
Otto's expression and tone were very calm. Over so many years, he had grown accustomed to life and death, partings and farewells. Even back then, the person he loved most, the sole faith of his life—she too had lain helplessly on a sickbed like this child, growing weaker day by day under his watch, and then died.
"The disease this child suffers from isn't a normal physical illness, but a calamity called Honkai. We don't know the true nature of Honkai. It's even more efficient than any energy source humanity possesses, but it carries extremely powerful corrosive properties, more terrifying than any radioactive substance."
"It can transform all living beings, allowing fragile flesh and blood bodies to easily defend against bullets, even missiles. Hardened armored vehicles, tanks, are as fragile as paper mache before those transformed monsters."
"And besides their physical strength, these monsters even possess many special abilities, such as teleportation, duplication, invisibility..."
"The strongest among these monsters, we call Herrschers. Every Herrscher possesses the power to utterly destroy human civilization... Honkai has existed in this world since ancient times, and there has never been a solution."
"People infected by Honkai, if their adaptability is sufficient, might be transformed into monsters. Those with insufficient adaptability or who fail to overcome the infection are very likely to turn into a pile of ash, leaving not even a corpse behind."
Otto turned and walked out of the room. Xin Yu glanced one last time at the child still sleeping deeply in bed, then followed Otto's steps.
"Young man, perhaps you don't know, perhaps you can't yet understand, what it feels like when a friend you've spent time with, or the relatives who watched you grow up, suddenly disappear from your life one day."
Otto took a pocket watch from his coat pocket. After opening it, the inside of the lid held a photograph—a smiling woman.
"At first, you'll find it hard to believe. You won't believe death arrived so suddenly, even if there were signs beforehand. Then, when you experience that person's funeral as if in a dream, but you truly understand that person has completely left you, only then will you truly realize: she is dead."
"Initially, memories of the past, even things forgotten in corners, will inexplicably surface. You'll even recall everything related to that person in the smallest details of daily life. Anything that can possibly be associated will inexplicably remind you of that person."
"But you know you can never see that person again. You'll never hear that person speak to you with a smile again. That person will never laugh again, never cry again, never speak again, never again..."
"This is something everyone must face in life: parting."
"One of the main reasons you don't value your own life is because you feel that even if you die, no one will regret it, right?"
Xin Yu looked into Otto's eyes, able to see an unspeakable sorrow within those usually calm emerald orbs.
"Yes. I feel my death wouldn't sadden anyone. I even think that if I died, no one would notice until my body started to rot, until I became unbearably smelly, disturbing others. Only then would someone realize, oh, someone like me existed once."
"Moreover, neither here nor that other world is my world. I lost my family, lost my friends, lost the one I loved, and lost everyone who loved me."
"I even lost all memories of the past. So for me, living is just living blindly, living numbly according to instinct."
"I've lost everything, left utterly alone. Why should I fear losing this last thing?"
Xin Yu spoke his thoughts frankly, showing no sadness. He genuinely felt that for him, being alone, dying wasn't necessarily a good thing, but it was ultimately inconsequential.
"I see. In that case, Xin Yu, if you were to die, I would be sad."
"What?" Xin Yu looked at Otto, stunned by the sudden declaration.
Otto said with a solemn expression, "You revealed all your secrets, told them to this stranger you just met for the first time. That trust has already made me consider you my friend. And since I am much older than you, I also consider you my junior."
"When I see my junior, a young man who should have had a bright future, die abruptly, I will be sad."
"Just like when I look at that child lying on the sickbed, whom I cannot cure, I feel sadness, I feel sorrow."
"But we've only known each other for such a short time..."
"Time is never the standard for measuring a relationship. Some people can know each other for ten or twenty years and still detest each other, or remain indifferent. And sometimes, just a few short minutes can turn two strangers into the closest of friends."
"Xin Yu, your ability gives you more possibilities, a future far more colorful than people like us have. The scenery you can witness is far greater than ours. For someone like you to stop here would truly be a great pity."
"Wander around the orphanage. Get to know those children. I hope you can gain some of the vigor a young man should have from them."
"I also hope you can find some shadows of your own past within those children's dreams."
Otto watched Xin Yu's departing back, then lowered his head again to look at the photograph embedded in the pocket watch.
"Kallen, I've met a child shrouded in mist. He cannot find the path he came from, nor does he know where he is going. He stands at a crossroads, blocked by heavy fog, directionless."
"He resembles the past me somewhat, only without the weakness, entirely filled with confusion."
"It was because of your appearance that I found the dream and conviction within my heart. And I will continue to follow your path..."
"To help, as much as possible, all those who need help."