Mostima: Did I Have a Choice?

After weighing the pros and cons, Mostima opened the door, but the instant she opened it, she pointed her gun at the masked man outside.

"Sigh, I knew it would turn out like this." The masked man shrugged. "Please rest assured, Miss Mostima, I truly mean no harm. As you can see, I have nothing in my hands except this umbrella. If you wish to make our conversation easier, you can simply call me Gray Serpent."

"Gray Serpent?" Mostima frowned and repeated the name. "Why would anyone have that name? Or is it your code name?"

"Name and code name, what's the difference?" Gray Serpent said casually. "However, I guess humans probably wouldn't use that as their name, right? Although 'we' have had more knowledge than humans since birth, we also don't have a childhood, which is a really distant concept for us."

Mostima narrowed her eyes. She wasn't stupid; she quickly extracted the key information from the Gray Serpent's words.

This Gray Serpent isn't human? It didn't have a childhood?

She knew the Present some madmen and organizations were conducting human cloning experiments, and even the Fire Moth, which the Present herself belonged to and which considered itself a guardian of humanity and took it upon itself to fight the Honkai, was no exception. The difference was that the Fire Moth wanted to obtain new humans who could perfectly adapt to Honkai Energy and find a way to fight the Honkai from them.

The so-called "Honkai"... was the disaster that swept across South America when Lilith removed her mask.

To be honest, Mostima wasn't interested in fighting the Honkai. She figured if the sky fell, someone would step up. She'd seen it when she searched for information on the internal network of the Fire Moth; that Feng... was definitely no pushover. Just like the legendary Heroes who appear when the apocalypse is near, Mostima believed that if the sky fell, Feng would be the one to hold it up.

What does this have to do with her? She's just an ordinary person. Heroes have Heroes way of living, and ordinary people have theirs.

You can manage on your own.

"However, that Lord Feng did say that when a person realizes their relatively independent existence from within their body, that is when they say goodbye to childhood." Gray Serpent added, "Most Gray Serpent think what he said makes a lot of sense. We were born for the same reason and act for the same goal. But what is the meaning that belongs to us beyond that? We are still searching for it to this day."

"You're all called Gray Serpent, right?" Mostima lowered the muzzle of his gun. "Don't you find it troublesome to each other? Aren't you afraid of the scene where someone shouts 'Gray Serpent' and a whole bunch of people turn around?"

It's terrifying to even think about, isn't it?

The Gray Serpent chuckled and said, "To make it easier to distinguish us, we are numbered according to the order of our birth, starting from number one. As things stand, I should be considered one of the younger generations. You can also call me Number One Gray Serpent. However, it's somewhat sad that even our Creator can't tell us apart, or rather, she probably doesn't care which individual we are. In short, there will only be one Gray Serpent in front of the Present person, so the situation that Miss Mostima is worried about won't happen."

"Don't try to glorify yourself. I don't care about this at all," Mostima said indifferently, arms crossed. "After all this gossip, it's about time you told me what your purpose is here, isn't it?"

"Isn't this to ease the tension between us?" Gray Serpent shrugged. "After those unpleasant things that happened between you and Indigenous One, Indigenous One uploaded the whole thing to the Gray Serpent network after the mission. I sincerely apologize to my unromantic brethren. That guy always says one word if he can, he'll never say two. It's so boring, isn't it?"

Mostima paused for a moment, then said, "Come on, at least you're a bit more skilled than him. Tell me about your skills."

This Gray Serpent, is it the kind that talks a lot of nonsense? Or is it that the higher the number, the more nonsense it talks?

"It is a great honor to receive your recognition." Gray Serpent bowed slightly and then said, "Before I declare my purpose, I would like to ask for permission to enter this dormitory. After all, we are about to talk about something that we don't want some people with long ears to hear."

Mostima stared at the Gray Serpent for a moment, then stepped aside to make way for it. "Come in. Also, please put away your umbrella. Don't open it in the house."

"Using an umbrella is kind of a symbol of us, isn't it? It's really sad that I'm not recognized." Gray Serpent said this, then put away the umbrella and walked into the dormitory.

"Can we talk the Present?" Mostima asked after closing the door.

"Of course, then I'll get straight to the point. We hope you can join the World Serpent," Gray Serpent said.

"What if I don't agree?" Mostima asked.

"Then my mission might be judged as a failure, and then another Gray Serpent will come next time." Gray Serpent tilted its head and replied, "So, although it should be considered a suggestion in name only, it seems that you have no choice but to accept this option."

Mostima: "..."

Isn't this a direct threat? One plays the good cop and the other the bad cop, what's with this? She's seen this kind of tactic before. Gray Serpent's words clearly mean that he's the one who talks more, so he'll go first. If she doesn't comply, he might come knocking again next time. That Gray Serpent who pointed a gun at her head before.

Seeing Mostima's speechless expression, Gray Serpent seemed quite pleased. He continued, "Not long ago, the owner of the Spiral Workshop within the Fire Moth, the Magic King of the Twilight Era, Vill-V, discovered that someone was invading the Fire Moth's database, yet she didn't make a fuss. We all know your identity, and the Fire Moth's the Present firewall was built by Vill-V. The person who can break through her firewall—we have leads and motives—is you, Miss Mostima. So, I came to your door."

Mostima paused for a moment, then said, "Did Lilith tell you this?"

"You could say that, after all, Lady Lilith also thinks you're very suitable to join the Serpent Realm and become one of us," Gray Serpent said. "The Serpent Realm originated from the Shadow Organization of the Fire Moth. Of course, we have always maintained the same goal: to defeat the Honkai to the greatest extent possible. However, there are some things that can't be done openly, so we can only wait for our time to come, just like the Serpents lurking in the shadows."

"What would I get by joining you?" Mostima frowned. "Even if you want to threaten me, you have no choice. At worst, I can fight you to the death. Since the Serpent Realm is a clandestine organization, aren't you afraid of being exposed by me?"

"A very reasonable answer," Gray Serpent said. "Then I will also give my answer. First, to answer your first question, what you are getting is a legitimate opportunity to obtain funds. We don't need you to do too much for us. Just like your usual transactions, we will give you corresponding compensation for your work."

"In other words, you want to treat me as the personal hacker of the World Serpent?" Mostima said.

"As expected of Miss Mostima," Gray Serpent continued. "After all, you can never have too many talented people. Lord Maple also said that you don't like being constrained, so this condition can be considered as him proposing it."

Feng? Is he also one of the World Serpents?

Mostima began to speculate about the current situation. First of all, Maple was undoubtedly one of the youngest and most promising warriors of the Fire Moth. Given enough time, his position within the Fire Moth would definitely not be low, and it seemed only a matter of time before he became one of the higher-ups. Moreover, judging from Gray Serpent's words, he should have a certain degree of influence within the World Serpent.

Maybe I can find an opportunity to test him later. After all, I've helped him before, so he owes me one.

Judging from Gray Serpent's appearance, he's definitely not afraid of being exposed. After all, the Vill-V he mentioned discovered his intrusion into the Fire Moth's database immediately. And according to the information she obtained, Vill-V is a monster among monsters. How could someone be a genius in multiple fields at the same time?

Since there's no way to resist, why not take advantage of the other party's current favorable conditions and frankly choose to accept it?

Mostima used to be fearless, even if it meant a fight to the death. But now that he has someone he has to care about and take care of, he has a weakness that makes him want to compromise...

Is this the real reason Lilith kept Gianna around?

"It really was Lilith who had him completely outmaneuvered from the very beginning..." Mostima thought to himself with a wry smile.

"Alright, no need for further discussion. I agree, provided what you say is true." Mostima looked at the Gray Serpent and said, "If you force me to do anything, don't blame me for turning against you."

"I think that apart from Number One and Klein, no one would like Ban, right?" Gray Serpent looked up at the ceiling. "Even Lord Maple, who is known as the King of Scrolls, definitely doesn't like Ban. He would just leave if he had any issues with him."

Mostima nodded inwardly; at least Feng had always been to her liking.

"Alright, now that the communication is successful, my mission is complete. From now on, I will be your partner and will act as a bridge between you and the Serpent of the Realm, conveying the Serpent of the Realm's mission to you." The Gray Serpent said, then looked at Gianna's sleeping room, "Humans in their childhood, whether they were humans in their twilight years or non-humans like myself, are all very envious."

Mostima glanced at him. "You've said your piece, shouldn't you be leaving now?"

"How heartless." Gray Serpent shrugged. He didn't linger and gently closed the door before leaving to avoid waking the sleeping child.

Mostima stared at the closed door for a while, then sighed, went back to his room, and went to sleep.

In Mobius's laboratory.

Danzhu hugged Cangxuan and cried loudly, "Sister, your little sister almost didn't make it back!"

Cangxuan, who was calculating how to save on the lab's expenses for the next month and figuring out how to get more funding from his superiors, said, "That's a real shame. The insurance I bought for you didn't come in handy, and I'll have to keep paying for it."

Danzhu: "..."

Are they even sisters anymore?! How can they be so heartless? We agreed to ship them together and make money together!

Cangxuan looked up from the data, glanced at his sister whose face was puffed up with anger, and smiled gently, "However, as long as you're safe and sound, it's fine to pay more money. I've read the mission report this time. Next time... I'll have a chat with Senior Sister Rovoc."

In fact, when Cangxuan received the mission report, he almost dropped the test tube in his hand. This time, Danzhu really almost died. Rovoc and Danzhu stayed at the scene to continue testing the situation, while the retrieval team that returned with the Fourth Herrscher's body suffered heavy casualties. But if you think about it from another perspective, wasn't Rovoc's behavior of staying at the scene with Danzhu Zhu to continue testing safe? From a generally rational point of view, Rovoc's behavior was really like taking Danzhu to dance on the edge of death.

Cangxuan understood his sister better than anyone else. Although Danzhu was often a bit nonsensical and a somewhat timid and cowardly homebody, she was also an extremely sentimental person. Any non-combatant would have been frightened in that situation, and Danzhu was no exception. However, she still chose to stay by Rovoc 'Rovoc side and complete the on-site testing with him, obtaining first-hand information.

If Cangxuan had been there, she would have taken Danzhu away immediately.

Just like the previous one, Mobius went further and further down the path of Artificial Collapse. Realizing that the two sides' ideas were completely irreconcilable, Cangxuan chose to forcibly take Danzhu, who still wanted to stay, away and transferred her to Dr. Dr. Mei's laboratory.

Did Danzhu agree with Mobius? She certainly didn't. Although she and her sister had been Mobius's assistants for a long time, they were still just ordinary people. Even if they understood Mobius a little more than others, it wasn't much more. The reason Danzhu wanted to stay was for Klein's sake.

Cangxuan is more rational than Danzhu, so she can sometimes appear rather cold.

It can't be said that she was afraid of trouble. After all, 50,000 years later, like Danzhu, when Yuan was unable to provide timely support, she faced a serious threat from the newly born and fragile Judgment-level Honkai Beast, Chi You, which was a fragile and Judgment-class Honkai Beast of the Shenzhou. They both chose to join Ji Lin and, at the cost of their lives, suppress Chi You 5,000 years below the Nine Netherworlds.

"Didn't Senior Sister Rovoc come back with you?" Cangxuan asked.

"Senior Sister Rovoc will be back a little later, she said she wants to see her teacher, Professor Salivon," Danzhu replied.

A laboratory in North America.

"Rovoc, what brings you here?" Salivon looked at her long-unseen student with some surprise.

Looking at Rovoc Salivon, who rarely showed any emotion, suddenly felt her eyes well up with tears. She realized that she seemed to be subconsciously wanting to cry, but why? It was just... seeing that Teacher Sally hadn't been affected by the Fourth Great Honkai brought by the Fourth Herrscher, seeing that he was still alive, she felt a strange feeling.

"That's right, I wanted to come back and see you, and tell you about my recent work," Rovoc said.