"The Ninth Honkai Eruption has broken out."
In the virtual meeting, everyone fell into an eerie silence.
They truly had not anticipated that the critical Ninth Honkai would erupt at this moment. It hadn't just disrupted their plans; it had placed them in an impossible dilemma.
If they declared a ceasefire now to jointly combat the Herrscher, what would happen once the eruption ended? Would the other side stay their hand? If they continued their internal conflict, how could they possibly hope to stand against a Herrscher?
The "Crusade" they had initiated seemed to have grown beyond their power to stop it.
"I do not support a ceasefire. Our numbers of MANTIS and Mechs are superior; we can resolve even the Ninth Honkai."
One person was the first to voice their opinion.
Gray Serpent had not been wrong: what humanity truly needs is a figure to make choices on its behalf, regardless of who that person is.
"Then let us vote. For or against a ceasefire."
The fundamental governance of the Fire Moth high command was the voting system. Since everyone held equal power, the principle of majority rule was theoretically unbreakable.
"Where is Skye?" someone noticed an absence among them.
"Unknown. Contact was lost after the last meeting."
"Then Skye's vote will be counted as an abstention."
The votes against the ceasefire far outnumbered those in favor. The decision was clear.
"Correct. It is very clear."
A voice that did not belong to any of them rang out, causing their eyes to widen. Some were beyond shocked—they knew this voice well. They had communicated with her often; some had even been in contact recently, trying to persuade her to surrender.
"Mei?!"
Mei's projection appeared in the center of the meeting, surrounded by the projections of the others. "Everyone, you have just made your final choice. That was the last chance I gave you."
Her tone was the same as every time she reported research results: confident and calm as still water. Her gaze, however, looked at them as if they were nothing more than lifeless, inorganic matter.
"I know your confidence stems from your own perceived importance. You are all hidden in corners across the globe, appearing only as virtual avatars. To be honest, half the difficulty of stopping the KY Project came from you—how to find you, how to deal with you?"
"But fortunately, Lin bought me enough time to consider. And now... it is time to execute."
Mei's tone sent a chill down many of their spines. She was a genius scientist, but she was also a demon who would use any means necessary for the sake of humanity. That was exactly why they had promoted her so aggressively—but now, she had turned her spear against them.
An unspeakable terror climbed into their hearts.
"What are you trying to do, Mei?!"
"Thanks to the fact that you have never truly appeared in person since the Great Purge, it gave me an idea of how to 'humanely' handle the relationship between your power and your lives." Mei curled her lips into a scholarly smile, adjusting her glasses. "Don't worry. Except for me, no one will know your end. You will be the 'thoughtful leaders' who declared a ceasefire for the sake of the greater good. You were that in the past, and you will be that in the future."
Like Lin, she would bury the filth forever in unknown soil and pave over the ground. Even if people walked over it, they would never discover the stench hidden beneath.
Bang!
Aside from Mei, the projections of the others simultaneously showed expressions of pure horror. The sound of something being breached echoed from their respective physical locations.
Mei smiled and wiped some blood from her forehead. She watched tenderly as the projections vanished one by one. Eventually, only her projection remained.
The next time these projections appeared before others, those "high-ranking officials" would be completely different people.
From then on, they would be selfless, righteous, passionate, and devoted...
"Dr. Mei, what else do you require of me?"
A projection that had vanished reappeared, but the person shown was now a tall man draped in a cloak and wearing a mask.
Gray Serpent, covered in blood from head to toe, stood quietly behind Mei.
"No, nothing more is needed." Mei took a deep breath, a trace of fatigue appearing between her brows. "Thank you for your help in providing their meeting frequencies. It allowed me to locate them."
"There is no need for thanks. I merely wished to witness this event and provide some trivial assistance."
Mei exited the simulation pod. Her frail body nearly caused her to go into shock the moment she left the virtual world for reality. She gripped the edge of the pod, panting heavily.
"Looking at you in such a pathetic state, have you never considered undergoing the Project Soldier surgery yourself?"
Mei wiped the blood from her forehead—the blood in the meeting had only been virtual data, but her real forehead was bleeding now. After catching her breath, she smiled again. "Dr. Mobius, you know I cannot undergo the surgery."
Mobius sat in her transport vehicle. Seeing Mei's state, she gave a cold snort.
"Thank you, Dr. Mobius. The technology you provided played a crucial role."
"It was just a byproduct of my research," Mobius said, her eyes darkening with irritation. "Vil-V ran off without a word. Was I supposed to just run off too?"
"Haha... sometimes, being liked by too many people isn't necessarily a good thing."
"What 'liked'?"
Before Mobius could truly lose her temper, Mei stood up. Her smile vanished, replaced by a look of professional gravity. "Next, it is time to return to our primary duty."
What was the primary duty of the Fire Moth?
Naturally...
To fight the Honkai.
"LIN!!!"
Lin, sitting in the passenger seat, saw the woman carrying a suitcase from a distance. She was waving frantically, running toward them.
Her smile was exceptionally brilliant the moment she saw him.
However, behind her, a tide-like swarm of zombies and Honkai Beasts roared, closing in and snapping at her heels!
"Lin—"
Before Ato could finish his sentence, Lin had already leaped from the high-speed off-road vehicle. He drew his gun and activated the phase-shift device in mid-air.
Bang! Bang!
Two rapid gunshots followed. The bullets grazed past Vil-V face, striking the heads of the zombies about to grab her shoulders. Then, Vil-V felt herself pulled into a firm embrace. She lowered her head, feeling the intense heartbeat of this man.
"Though I have much I want to say," Vil-V suppressed all her hardships and tears in her heart. When she looked up, there was only the bright, cheerful smile she usually showed him. "But first, I should give this to you."
She placed the suitcase into Lin hands.