"Speaker Kiel, I thought today's eting would continue in R'lyeh. I didn't expect this kind of surprise... This base... its overall style, the internal zoning structure, it all feels rather familiar."
i pushed the glasses up her nose, her gaze critically assessing the personnel bustling around them.
Amidst their busy work, they couldn't help but steal glances at i. After all, in the eyes of those in the know, i wore many hats—
So saw her as a hero. Physically frail, yet as an ordinary human woman, she managed to command a group of superhuman MANTISes... and even a Herrscher. Under her leadership, Fire Moth had achieved remarkable success against the Honkai.
But undeniably, also under her leadership, this organization, originally adapted from a United Governnt anti-Honkai departnt, was subtly starting to overshadow its parent body.
Therefore, others believed she was rely a puppet. Compared to that Herrscher, she seed to lack the necessary leverage to truly oppose him. So, the entirety of Fire Moth wasn't so much under her control as it was under the First Herrscher's.
Although humanity still couldn't fathom why the First Herrscher would... fight for humanity, the species' inherent distrust of outsiders made it hard for them not to view Fire Moth with a degree of hostility when looking through this particular lens.
But perhaps everyone selectively ignored the fact that i had once been a sixteen-year-old genius who published papers related to relativity. It was because of that paper she was invited to the academic conference in R'lyeh, officially joining Fire Moth six months later.
From then until now, only six years had passed.
i... she was actually just a twenty-two-year-old young woman.
"Hehe, actually, most of this base was constructed just within the last month. Originally, this place was just a weapons testing ground. What do you think? Quite similar to Fire Moth's headquarters, isn't it?"
Kiel ignored i's implication. He didn't imdiately answer the question of "why co here?" Instead, he pivoted to boasting about the base's scale, the manpower, resources, technological level involved, and the ti taken.
His intention beca crystal clear with his last sentence—although Fire Moth was the absolute main force against the Honkai, it was ultimately just a combat division, perhaps with so research departnts tacked on. Both through channels and legality, it lacked the authority to mobilize vast resources.
The United Governnt, however, was different. They were a complete governing body. Especially under the highly centralized power structure of the apocalypse, they could rapidly mobilize global resources. Building a base the size of Fire Moth's headquarters required less than a month.
This wasn't just a show of force, but a threat. It implied that if SEELE wanted to, they could absolutely rebuild an organization of Fire Moth's scale from scratch.
It was like how emperors in ancient Cathay could casually establish the Eastern Depot to counterbalance the Embroidered Uniform Guard, or even create a Western Depot to check them both.
"Impressive speed, but I still think it's less convenient than the First Herrscher's Authority. Back then, he reconstructed the entire headquarters base, along with the whole underground city, in an instant."
i naturally understood the threat and returned it fittingly. Unfortunately for Kiel, she hadn't originally intended to reply with words—if not for saving face for him, she would have turned her head, covered her mouth, and chuckled softly.
i lacked specific data to calculate the absolute limit of the United Governnt's resource mobilization in an era where the population had nearly halved, but she firmly believed one thing—in any era, the most precious resource is people themselves.
With the United Governnt's current size, pooling resources from headquarters and all branches would yield enough to build more than ten bases the size of Fire Moth HQ. But what use would that be?
The na "Fire Moth" didn't correspond to that underground city, nor the pyramid-like base made of greenish crystal. The na itself described a swarm of "moths."
It referred to extraordinary individuals like Michael, Elysia, Mobius, and Kevin, but also ordinary people like i, Elvin, Fuxi, Nuwa, and the late Phamas.
But ultimately, the distinction between "ordinary" and "extraordinary" was rely one of capability.
Their essence was the sa. They were all moths drawn to the fla.
The United Governnt could replicate the base, but could they, relying on their so-called "resources," replicate these fire-chasing moths?
Obviously impossible.
But from Kiel's words, she could confirm the reason for this sudden change of itinerary.
Although she still couldn't figure out why SEELE had abruptly changed its attitude, even proactively proposing a rger between the United Governnt and Fire Moth, it was clear that their willingness to rge didn't equate to a willingness to relinquish leadership.
Coincidentally, i wasn't willing to give it up either.
Since neither side was willing to yield, it was ti to show their hands.
Kiel narrowed his eyes, glancing sideways at the calm and composed i. Maintaining such poise on soone else's ho turf – was it due to her own formidable nature, or did she simply hold more trump cards?
Clearly, it was both.
In truth, SEELE understood, or at least Kiel did—the United Governnt had fundantally lost any chance of controlling Fire Moth.
They did possess advantages in resources and legality. If he wanted to tear down all pretenses, he could cut off all of Fire Moth's funding right now.
But that would undoubtedly be a laughable and foolhardy act.
In a normally functioning world, controlling resources, funds, and legality ant controlling almost everything. But in this apocalyptic era, where so humans wielded power transcending fundantal physics, whoever held the greatest strength held the ultimate authority and leadership.
This was why, after SEELE's sches failed, the relationship between the two sides beca strained, but the United Governnt, at most, annoyed Fire Moth with bureaucratic hurdles, never truly ripping off the mask.
Because after Anti-Entropy rged with Fire Moth, and more and more MANTISes were produced, the balance of power had decisively shifted.
The old Fire Moth, while theoretically the main anti-Honkai force, had equipnt levels roughly equivalent to the United Governnt's. Even for the Fire Moth-series aerospace warships, the United Governnt had blueprint backups and production capability.
But things were different now. SEELE had researched for two or three years, devising countless sches and power plays, but ultimately acted on none of them, simply because of one truth—in the face of the overwhelming power of Herrschers and MANTISes, all their plots were re bubbles.
Precisely because he understood this, he had dragged out the previous eting, which could have been resolved in a few sentences, for three and a half days.
It was all to showcase to i another power, a power belonging to humanity itself, held in the hands of the United Governnt, a power sufficient to combat the Honkai.
Only by fully demonstrating strength could they hope to secure a deserving share in the power distribution during the upcoming rger and integration.
He just hoped... Taro wouldn't disappoint.
"Alright, let's get back to business, Dr. i. The reason for disrupting the eting agenda and inviting you to this base is because...
"Just this morning, an experint conducted at this base achieved a technological breakthrough. Since even Dr. Mobius calls you an all-rounder, we hoped you could offer so guidance to our technical staff—that's right, what cos next is the very first live-fire test of a humanoid general-purpose combat weapon, independently developed by the United Governnt!"
"Humanoid? Combat weapon?"
Various ideas flashed through i's mind. Things were developing in unexpected directions. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret. If she had relied on Ato and the others' abilities to forcefully manipulate the eting process from the start, would things have been less troubleso?
Behind her, Ato took in the unfolding situation. He cleared his throat seemingly casually, but it was a covert signal asking i—was it ti to act?
Although his, his wife's, and Evangeline's abilities couldn't compare to Aponia's, their psychic perception abilities—jokingly dubbed the "Gods of Internal Strife" by Michael—were sufficient to control the minds of everyone in this base for a considerable period.
But i gave no reaction, no indication whatsoever.
Ato, unconvinced, cleared his throat again, this ti a bit too obviously. Even Kiel turned around, giving him a mocking smile.
Still, i remained unmoved.
"Damn it! Could i have been controlled by the enemy's psychic-sensitive MANTIS!"
Ato couldn't help but let his thoughts run wild. Before they departed, Michael had secretly briefed him on many things, including Vill-V finding records of three MANTISes within the United Governnt Ard Forces' internal files.
Although the rest of the information was blank—no records of their abilities, nas, or even genders—just as a sniper's primary target is always the enemy sniper, MANTISes naturally had to be extra vigilant about MANTISes not on their side.
What if the other side also had psychic abilities?
He secretly activated his powers. Fortunately, he detected no excess Honkai Energy around i, nor any trace of interference from a psychic MANTIS.
Just as he reined in the Honkai Energy that had slightly spilled out from his body, i suddenly chuckled softly:
"Alright, let us see then. How does this so-called humanoid general-purpose combat weapon compare to a MANTIS?"
"Naturally, it cannot compare to a MANTIS capable of facing a Herrscher head-on. But against typical high-level Honkai Beasts, it should be far more effective than the Fire Moth-series warships."
Kiel rarely smiled, but he did now. He couldn't afford to be overconfident; he needed to leave himself an out in case of failure. But even for him, a man who had weathered many storms, it was hard to suppress his excitent at this mont.
Ato, using the sixth sense of a psychic MANTIS, could guarantee—that smile... was very wrong, bordering on distorted...
---||---
"Huff... Huff... Huff..."
Mike stood leaning against the iron railing, taking deep, steady breaths to calm his mind.
The impact of the past few hours had been imnse. Furthermore, since no one had explained the full context of the situation to him, his thoughts were chaotic and muddled. He could only act instinctively according to orders.
He looked down at his hands. They were so familiar, yet blinking his eyes, they seed to transform into cold, massive chanical arms.
Although he'd long known about the supernatural phenonon of Honkai, not only had he always viewed the disaster from a third-person perspective, but the test he had just completed...
That thing... how to describe it...
He couldn't even tell if what he'd witnessed was supernatural or science fiction.
In short... his mind was a tangled ss.
Fortunately... fortunately... Minister Taro was known for being a man of his word. While that phrase wasn't necessarily complintary in so senses, at least for Mike, it wasn't a bad thing.
Just as he was thinking this, familiar footsteps approached.
Taro walked up to Mike alone, unaccompanied by guards.
"It's all taken care of."
He pulled a stack of photos from his uniform's inner pocket: photos of the three comrades implicated because of him, and photos of his parents.
In just three days, his comrades had beco practically emaciated. It wasn't just physical thinness; their hair stood on end, ssy and unkempt, and the bright, alert gaze characteristic of pilots had been extinguished.
Especially his old partner, Everson. In the photo, he kept his head lowered, unwilling to let anyone see his face clearly.
"Your comrades have been removed from the forced labor camp. As compensation, if they wish to continue serving in the ard forces, they will be directly granted the rank of Major. If they wish to retire, they will receive Lieutenant Colonel benefits directly. Your family, and theirs, will be moved to live in [Noah's Ark] in R'lyeh if they are willing. If you don't believe , I can have my n send video proof right now."
Mike didn't answer, just numbly took the stack of photos, his fingers tracing over every person in each picture.
"Oh, right, and this guy. Almost forgot to show you."
Taro beckoned to a subordinate nearby. After a mont, the subordinate brought over a freshly printed color photo.
Mike took it listlessly. The background looked familiar—the prison he'd spent two days in. That person... that thing that could perhaps still be called human, that bloody, mangled figure... who was it?
"Throw that Lieutenant Colonel Lewis into the place you just left." Taro's earlier words echoed in his mind. He quickly widened his eyes to observe—
All four limbs were broken and nailed to the wall, making the figure's build unrecognizable. The hair, along with the scalp, had been completely torn off, leaving only a pinkish surface on the head, with so grayish spots visible upon closer inspection—presumably the skull.
Both ears were cut off, with long iron nails driven into the ear canals. The eyes were gouged out, eyelids removed, making the empty sockets impossible to ignore... Looking further down, the nose and lips were also cut off, revealing blood-soaked teeth behind the dark nasal cavity, an utterly chilling sight.
Alright, neither the build nor the facial features could reveal the original appearance. It only made one...
"Bleargh!"
He had eaten two energy bars on the helicopter ride to the lab to stave off hunger, but vomited them all up during the previous experint.
He had just managed to eat so beef after the experint ended, and now he threw it all up again.
"This is Lieutenant Colonel Lewis."
Even without Taro's reminder, Mike could guess.
But he didn't believe Taro had deliberately mutilated Lewis, the man who frad him, solely to vent Mike's anger or seek revenge for him, just to make him willingly cooperate with the upcoming experint...
This clearly carried a warning: Mike and Lewis were no different in Taro's eyes. What he could do to Lewis, there was no reason he couldn't do to Mike.
And even less reason he couldn't do it to his parents.
From Mike's perspective, he truly couldn't understand.
It wasn't that he didn't want revenge on Lieutenant Colonel Lewis, but this thod of revenge didn't bring him satisfaction, only imnse... discomfort...
The root cause was that this behavior broke the so-called bottom line of civilization...
In his established worldview, humans, having been nurtured by modern civilization's "humanity," were incapable of such bestial acts that violated basic morality.
But it wasn't that he couldn't accept it; after all, he had already witnessed sothing similar in the courtroom.
Perhaps his wording was off. It wasn't really a matter of acceptance or non-acceptance; he just wasn't shocked anymore.
However, another matter baffled him even more—whether seeing his comrades or his parents, his emotional response was extrely limited...
"Feeling a bit emotionally detached? No thrill of revenge, nor relief that your friends and family are saved?"
Taro asked impassively, as if he had anticipated this.
"Uh... uh... yes."
When caught having their thoughts read, the most instinctive reaction is to lie in denial.
But Mike felt that, at this point, lying was unnecessary, especially since he was notoriously bad at it.
"Hmph..."
Taro snorted coldly through his nose and explained flatly:
"It's a side effect of the experint. While your mind is linked with Ajax, your brain temporarily becos Ajax's brain. Look at your own body now, do you occasionally mistake it for Ajax? It's cognitive dissonance leading to mory misalignnt. Just rest well for a few days after the experint is over, and it'll be fine. Don't overthink it."
"..."
Mike hadn't thought much of it initially, but hearing that last phrase, "Don't overthink it"...
It was hard not to overthink it.
Besides, Taro's explanation was vague, filled with baffling descriptions.
For instance, what did "your brain temporarily becos Ajax's brain" an?
Wait a minute!
"The experint!" Mike pressed his lips together tightly, staring intently at Taro, who was just a step away. "Isn't the experint already finished? I successfully activated it just now, didn't I?"
Taro pursed his lips, turned around, leaned his elbows on the iron railing, and looked at the dark silhouette of the giant cha, Ajax.
"What you just did was the first step—the synchronization test, testing if you have the ability to control this body. The next experint is an advanced test while maintaining synchronization rate, including walking, running, and basic tests of speed, wrist strength, etc... Just think of it as a physical check-up, no problem, right?"
"No problem, sir."
Mike responded with the crispness expected of a soldier.
He thought he could clock off, but suddenly being asked for overti by the boss certainly didn't please Mike.
But it wasn't about whether he was pleased or not; it was about whether he liked Lieutenant Colonel Lewis's current look or not.
"Actually, you could refuse. After all, for now, you're the only pilot we could find. You have enough leverage to bargain."
Mike frowned. He didn't appreciate Taro's communication style, full of subtle jabs and hints whether needed or not.
Wasn't he just trying to say, "You might be the only pilot now, but it's temporary. Sooner or later, we'll find soone more suitable. You'd better behave yourself and follow orders"?
If Mike had refused to continue the experint earlier, Taro saying this would have been sowhat acceptable. But Mike had agreed readily, yet still got poked. It left a sour taste.
His tone beca a bit sharp as he asked directly:
"When does the advanced experint begin?"
"At least another two hours."
Taro explained, stroking his beard:
"Rather than calling it an advanced experint, it's more like a performance. You'll be notified when it's ti. After that, all you need to do is give your best effort to demonstrate Ajax's power to your audience."
Mike also turned around, mimicking Taro's posture, leaning his elbows on the railing, staring at Ajax's massive back.
He remained silent, but his mind was working backward, trying to deduce the "truth."
So things were easy to guess, like the audience Taro ntioned.
Although he hadn't said it explicitly, related information had already been revealed.
He previously ntioned the experint was related to Fire Moth, but judging by the current staff on site, there were no obvious Moth insignias.
So, it was obvious who the "audience" was.
Mike couldn't, and didn't have the ability to, ddle in the complex relationship between Fire Moth and the United Governnt. He just gazed absently at the hundred-ter-tall behemoth before him, feeling his heart beat slightly faster.
There were at least two hours left. The closer the event, the slower ti seed to pass. Neither Mike nor Taro could kill ti by scrolling on phones like most people. But if they didn't distract themselves, the silence stretched by the flow of ti was almost maddening.
"Actually, I lied to you earlier."
The sudden frankness made Mike almost think he was hallucinating. But as Taro's next words followed, he quickly realized it was true.
"Well, not exactly lied. I said I don't like people like you... Hehe, actually, it's just because you people don't fit in with us."
Mike didn't know how to respond. He suddenly rembered his earlier questions, and seeing Taro seed to be in a decent mood, he asked boldly:
"Minister Taro, if it's convenient, could you tell what exactly Ajax is? And what does my brain becoming its brain an? I believe, as the pilot, I need a certain right to know. It will also help synchronize better."
"That..."
Taro tilted his head up, pondering for a mont.
"Actually, the fact that you're asking ans you've sensed sothing, haven't you? Although Ajax looks like a cha, it's far more than that."
------
Author's Note: Ahem, it was actually ntioned in the Elysian Realm lore text that the Previous Era considered various options before settling on MANTISes, including giant humanoid combat weapons.
Reviews
All reviews (0)