"Kevin."
Closing the announcement on the communicator, Mei sighed at her reflection in the glass. Kevin stood not far behind her.
"If I asked you to kill someone, could you do it?"
"Yes."
"...Perhaps my question was flawed. It's not about whether you can 'follow' my will to kill, but can you kill for the sake of humanity?"
Not for someone's wish, but out of one's own choice.
Kevin didn't hesitate. In fact, he didn't need to: "I have always been for you..."
"I know, Kevin." Mei interrupted him. They no longer needed words of tender affection. She took a shallow breath. "Whether it was joining Fire Moth or fighting, you did it for me alone. However, I want to know your own thoughts—what you, as an individual human, a MANTIS soldier, a person named Kevin, think."
Had Kevin ever thought about it?
If one day Mei was gone, how would he survive?
In fact, Kevin had thought about it more than once.
During the Great Purge, when Kevin saw humans attacking their own kind without mercy, he had already wondered if a day like that would come for him too.
The present was merely a reflection of that time; one could even say the Great Purge was just a microcosm and a catalyst for this event.
Humanity had overcome alien invasions and Honkai crises, but those experiences and victories had become fertilizer for growing greed.
"...Lin talked to me before he left." Frost flowers landed on the window, turned golden by the fading twilight. "He said he is often bound by the will of those from the past. Moving toward the future, yet forced to look back at the 'people' following behind him. He can give everything for the living, yet he cannot go against the prayers of the dead."
Moving forward amidst contradiction—both humanity and Lin were like that.
"Mei, it's not about whether I am 'willing,' but about what we 'must' do."
Mei showed a rare, genuine smile of relief.
"Then let's get ready. I believe they have come prepared as well."
There was nothing in the chip Gray Serpent gave Lin.
Yes, the chip that took so much time to crack contained only junk data—completely different from the previous chips that had provided ample information and intelligence.
"To witness this process—that is my entire purpose."
"Understood. This should be the last time."
The role Gray Serpent played in this incident was a doubt Lin had from the very beginning.
He had actively sought out Lin, hinted at the Fire Moth leadership's plans, notified Lin of the reason for the Sverdlovsk-51 Honkai eruption, and finally provided various intelligence on the KY Plan.
Gray Serpent had been actively helping Lin, yet he said his purpose was only to "witness" the process.
In other words, his help to Lin was actually just accelerating the process so he could see the ending sooner. His influence on the outcome was negligible; that intelligence likely could have been obtained by Lin through other means.
This wasn't assistance.
That lifeform created by humans now acted like a high-and-mighty god, observing human joys and sorrows, human actions.
From the start, Gray Serpent knew the goals of the Fire Moth leadership he collaborated with—those leadership members who were another kind of "traitor" to Fire Moth.
MANTIS surgery—the most important part of the MANTIS project that Fire Moth had valued most since the Seventh Honkai. By fusing the super-variant genes of Honkai Beasts into the human body, it significantly enhanced human constitution, surpassing human limits, and allowed for the use of Honkai energy and various abilities composed of it.
But the MANTIS project was also undoubtedly one of the most inhumane projects within Fire Moth.
From early death rates of 99% down to 60%, it seemed like a major improvement, but in reality, it was still a gamble for those undergoing the surgery. Life and death couldn't be cold-bloodedly decided or summarized simply by probability.
Thus, Fire Moth had always promoted "voluntary" acceptance of the MANTIS project, rather than forcing people to undergo the surgery.
But likely no one expected that after the Great Purge, the Fire Moth leadership would take an extreme path completely opposite to that of the Great Purge's culprit.
"All members must undergo MANTIS surgery and submit to the control of MANTIS soldiers..." Delta eyes trembled in their sockets. When she saw the announcement sent from the main command room of Fire Moth Headquarters, she heard the roar of something collapsing.
Vil-V expression remained unchanged. She took the communicator from Delta and looked at the announcement. "Finally, after stalling for so long, we couldn't stop it?"
"You knew all along?"
"Why do you think Fire Moth uses numbers to manage the members below, while the true leadership has no numbers?" Vil-V didn't answer Delta directly. Instead, she picked up her tools and continued tapping on the desk. Her eyes, under the desk lamp, watched the objects on the table. "Planning for military management? No. It's because the people at the very top—they have no positions or ranks."
Numbers...
Delta number was CM-079, symbolizing the seventy-ninth MANTIS soldier to successfully complete the surgery. The person who gave her the number told her it was both an identity and an honor, meaning she was a Fire Moth warrior protecting humanity.
But Delta had seen a sickening emotion in his eyes at that time.
A contempt like that used when looking at livestock.
"When you have something that serves the exact same purpose and can be used at will, you don't bother to remember the different, complex names of those things."
"For example, in my workshop, the tools in the toolbox are divided into different types, and within those types, they are divided by size. When I want Prometheus to bring a certain tool, I give a number."
"Tools are neatly arranged in my toolbox. I consider them mine, but I don't consider myself one of the tools, nor do I give myself a number."
Vil-V spoke coldly of things she had known since the day she joined Fire Moth. She held up a wrench, pointing it at the stunned Delta, who didn't know what expression to make. "I cherish my friends, and I also maintain my tools. When my friends need my tools to help, it doesn't matter how the tools are used."
"However, who counts as my friend is decided subjectively by me."
Bang!
The door to the room was slammed open. Delta pupils shrank. She turned to see two mechs she had never seen before standing at the door.
"CM-079, please cooperate with instructions."
Cold words emerged from the emotionless machines.