If she couldn't have it, she would destroy it—Durandal certainly didn't harbor such extreme thoughts.
However, an existence like Aponia was someone who absolutely could not be allowed to fall into the hands of Fire Moth.
Durandal wasn't entirely sure if Fire Moth would still tread the old path of the MANTIS project now that she was aggressively poaching their potential talent.
It was highly likely they would; after all, Mei and Mobius weren't the only scientists in Fire Moth capable of researching those forbidden fields.
In any case, if Fire Moth still managed to unlock the MANTIS tech tree and the trajectory of history remained unswerving—meaning Aponia was still taken by them and subjected to the Meta-Morph surgery—she would, in all probability, still become the strongest psychic MANTIS.
Psychic-type MANTISes were somewhat underwhelming when it came to fighting the Honkai, but they were unrivaled when it came to dealing with humans.
The Schicksal Organization and Fire Moth would one day shift from limited cooperation to total confrontation. Thus, Durandal's actions were a matter of mending the sails before the storm.
By that same logic, she had tasked Aponia with waiting for Kalpas to show up. A combat force like Kalpas could never be surrendered to Fire Moth.
Furthermore, the secrets Kalpas carried were vital to Project Ark. Durandal had never given up on looking toward the stars, and for that reason, she had to recruit him.
As for the remaining members of the original thirteen Flame-Chasers, Pardofelis and Kosma...
Regarding the former, it depended on whether they crossed paths this time. If they did, recruiting her into the logistics department under Eden would be a perfect use of her talents.
As for the latter, he was essentially a beacon for the Fourth Honkai Eruption. If the time came and he still developed that sense of admiration for the Schicksal squad leader who rescued him, leading to a desire to join the organization, then placing him under that leader's command would be perfectly fine.
But truth be told, even if those two didn't join Schicksal and ended up with Fire Moth, it wouldn't change the overall grand scheme of things.
The only one who could truly tip the scales and had yet to appear was Kalpas.
"So, that's how it is..."
Aponia nodded, accepting Durandal's explanation.
Indeed, perhaps her abilities weren't indispensable to Schicksal, but if she were to join a hostile camp, those same powers would become a grave threat to them.
Aponia felt no internal resistance to this.
In her eyes, rather than joining some unknown organization in the future, joining Schicksal now seemed like a fine choice.
After all, she could tell that when the three of them had helped earlier, they felt genuine affection and pity for those children.
To her, that was enough.
"We will be staying in Sundown Alley for half a month. If the children in the sanitarium feel any discomfort—for instance, if their condition fails to ease or even worsens—they can receive immediate help. If anything happens, call the number on that business card. My phone is on standby twenty-four hours a day."
With that, Durandal had no intention of lingering.
She called for Elysia and prepared to leave, leaving Eden behind to coordinate the other matters with Aponia, such as verifying the manifest for the airdropped supplies and auditing the sanitarium's current assets.
Stepping out of the sanitarium, Durandal and Elysia walked down a street infamous for its poverty and chaos.
This place was a breeding ground for countless vices; one could find a concrete example of every human evil here.
It was common knowledge that negative human emotions served as a hothouse for Honkai energy.
So, even though this place lacked industrial facilities—meaning its level of civilization was low—the concentration of Honkai energy was actually higher than in a typical industrialized city.
This was the root cause of why so many children suffering from Honkai sickness were gathered in the sanitarium.
Most of those children were orphans of Sundown Alley. Some were the children of drug dealers, others of prostitutes, thieves, or murderers...
They had lost their families for various reasons, and due to their low Honkai resistance and poor adaptability, living long-term in an environment with such high Honkai concentrations naturally led to them contracting the sickness.
As for those who managed to remain healthy, they all possessed some sort of special "talent" to one degree or another.
For instance, Aponia's "prophecies," or Pardofelis's "restocking skills."
Of course, in the final analysis, these were perhaps a "gift" from the Honkai—or a "curse." Which term fit better depended entirely on one's perspective.
At this moment, Durandal and Elysia felt a sense of deja vu, reminiscent of when they first met in that Siberian town.
Hostile gazes followed them from every corner, as if people were ready to jump out and cause trouble at any second.
However, because these people hadn't seen how Durandal and Elysia had entered Sundown Alley—only seeing them emerge from the sanatorium—and combined with the commotion of something falling from the sky earlier and the deterrent presence of Aponia, no one dared to make a move just yet.
Much like how Vill-V had the ability to mimic others long before becoming a MANTIS, Aponia possessed a certain degree of "Discipline" even before her surgery, in addition to her prophecies.
This was the leverage that allowed Aponia to peacefully maintain a sanitarium full of sick and disabled children in the middle of the chaotic Sundown Alley.
Anyone who had tried to cause trouble at the sanitarium or harm Aponia had already been taught a profound lesson. Now, no one dared to look down on that seemingly frail woman anymore.
"Oh my, this really brings back memories, doesn't it? ♪"
Elysia was still clinging to Durandal's arm, her voice trailing off with a touch of nostalgia.
At Elysia's mention, Durandal also recalled their past experiences.
Even though it had only been about half a year, looking back, it felt as though a lifetime had passed.
"I hope no one lacks the common sense to come looking for trouble this time. After all, in a place like this, it's hard for me to restrain my killing intent."
Compared to Sundown Alley, that Siberian town under Connie's influence actually seemed quite charming and peaceful.
Even for someone like Durandal, who disliked bypassing the law to deal out private justice to villains, the best she could do was try to restrain herself from proactively digging into the shadows.
This didn't mean Durandal intended to ignore it forever.
Once Schicksal's influence reached Sundown Alley, she would personally move to purge the filth—if only to destroy the breeding ground of the Honkai.
But until then, as long as these people didn't come dancing in front of her, she could still manage to pretend she didn't see them.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL