Passing the Buck

Fire Moth Headquarters, Family Quarters.

"This station is reporting the latest news: Atlantis, the world-famous floating tourist city, has sunk due to the turbulence and tsunami caused by an undersea earthquake. The death toll is currently under investigation. It is understood that the main cause of this major accident was the failure of Atlantis's relevant protective measures..."

Mostima turned off the TV and looked out the window. Others might be fooled like that, but she wouldn't.

Atlantis, a sea-based tourist city, was built under the supervision of the Mu Continent. Its technological advancement was even more advanced than that of some small countries. It sank due to turbulent currents and tsunamis.

Most people are easily fooled, probably because the information about Honkai is strictly sealed off. Almost no one knows that Honkai. Honkai has not spread the Present, and most people have no opportunity to come into contact with Honkai. So even if some people don't believe it or have conspiracy theories, they won't be associated with Honkai.

After all, who could conjure up something like the concept of Honkai and drive all of this development from behind the scenes?

The Fire Moth are only responsible for cleaning up and Honkai information related to Honkai; they can say whatever they want about the rest.

"Um... Sister Mostima ..." Gianna stood at the bedroom door and called Mostima's name softly.

"What's wrong, Gianna?" Mostima looked at the little girl who had been abandoned by her sister. The Present, with the Fire Moth and her own identity as a Serpent Executive, Mostima was completely powerless. When she looked around, she found that Gianna was the only person she knew relatively well. Even Maple had only come once in the past month.

At least... Feng introduced Rin to Gianna, so the two children could look after each other at school... Compared to Lilith, who had never visited and had no information about him, Feng was quite good. Moreover, in reality, Feng was only somewhat familiar with Lilith; Gianna was a complete stranger to him.

For Mostima, school was a concept buried along with her past. Due to family reasons, after leaving school, she didn't know where to go home. Nowhere needed her. Even at school, whenever there was a parent-teacher conference or a parent-child activity, she could only watch. Over time, all the children said she had no parents and didn't like being with her.

Every day when she went to pick Gianna up from school, she would look at the school gate and couldn't help but think back to when she was a child. Her biggest wish was for her parents to pick her up from school, but every time, she ended up walking home alone and being treated like air. No one cared about her grades or whether she was in any danger.

Once, she deliberately lingered around her "home" for a while, hoping someone would look for her and criticize her for not coming home so late, and for not having anything to show for it except for going hungry.

Therefore, she enjoys stirring up trouble between people, watching them stage one betrayal after another. This is also because she subconsciously feels jealous of the relationship between them. She keeps repeating this behavior, destroying the relationships, as if she is giving her past self a piece of evidence: this is how the world is, and you are not alone.

And the Present...

Stopping her thoughts, Mostima noticed that Gianna seemed to be holding something in her hand, which looked like a report card.

I remember my grades used to be pretty good. Maybe that's why I was ostracized? Even my own parents act like they don't have a daughter. Without anyone to protect me, the children's malice becomes even more unrestrained.

"The teacher said a family member needs to sign..." Gianna whispered, "My sister doesn't want to..."

"Okay, I understand." Mostima reached out and took the report card from Gianna's hand. She glanced at the grades and thought, "Well, as expected of Lilith's monstrous sister, she got full marks in all subjects. Lilith's brother, Davien, is the same; he's not even an adult yet, but he's already learned almost everything about economics."

As for Lilith, the eldest sister, it seems there's nothing in Inari that Lilith can't do...

She had seen the towering peaks of the Far East, witnessed the ink-wash landscapes of Shenzhou, and even played the classical harp, Lilith ...

I really want to see how this family of freaks develops their brains. Each of them is more capable than that idiot father, and they think they have a good grasp on their children. If that guy hadn't been lucky enough to die in the Fourth Great Honkai, I bet when he got home, Davien would have given him a famous scene of filial piety.

If Lilith knew in advance about the Fourth Great Honkai, then it would be a case of a loving father and a filial daughter...

"Sister Mostima, I miss my sister so much..." Gianna said with a hint of grievance.

Hey, hey, hey, about two months ago, your sister was pointing a gun at you.

Seeing Mostima's somewhat strange expression, the little girl lowered her head and said, "My sister is very good to me. She teaches me to bake cakes, helps me with my homework, and even braids my hair... My brother is also very good, although he never smiles much, but he actually admires my sister a lot... I haven't seen my sister and brother in a long time... I want to go home..."

Mostima remained silent.

Davien wasn't very clear on the details. All she knew was that Davien had the idea of killing her father. Davien also didn't seem to have a good attitude towards Lilith. Even when she stayed at Lilith's house, Lilith seemed to intentionally or unintentionally prevent her from having any opportunities to communicate with Davien at her house.

Children often lack sufficient understanding of the malice of the world, especially since Gianna sees Lilith as a perfect older sister, based on both her own experience and what others say. So even when Lilith no longer concealed her true malice and pointed a gun at Gianna, who didn't even know what a gun was, was simply instinctively afraid because she felt the malice.

After the incident, especially the Present only Mostima is alive with her, her longing for her family has become even stronger.

Mostima began to ponder how best to bring it up. This was the first time Gianna had ever said this to Gianna in all the time they had spent together. It seemed Gianna had wanted to say it all along, but hadn't because she felt she shouldn't have asked. The Present, longing had taken over...

Gianna is an obedient and intelligent child. She must have vaguely sensed something before she didn't ask. Is her the Present thought about this because the report card requires a family member's signature?

So here's the question: Should Mostima tell Gianna that her sister has given up on her and is chasing after men?

Well... even if it's a lie, if it can protect a child's fragile dream, then so be it.

"Your sister has things to do," Mostima said casually after signing the papers. "Your brother also has things to do. They are both doing important things, so they won't be back for a while. When they come back, they can take you home. You should behave well and try to get them to come back soon."

Gianna bit her lip, then said in a slightly sobbing voice, "But why... a few days ago, Sister Ling said she saw you and a boy named Feng come to her house and play games with her? Why didn't you come back to see me..."

Mostima: "!"

Lilith!

That bell, isn't that Sakura's younger sister? You don't care about your own sister, but you go and play games with someone else's sister?

She suddenly remembered what Lilith had said to her when she introduced Bell to Gianna: "Lilith... she actually hates her family, so you might see her anywhere, but... she will never the Present in front of Gianna again. When that time comes, do your best to protect Gianna. I will also keep an eye on Lilith."

Mostima pressed her temples; she had indeed underestimated Lilith's ruthlessness... She the Present even had reason to suspect that Lilith, knowing the relationship between the two children, deliberately went to Ling's house so that Ling would later intentionally or unintentionally bring it up with Gianna...

"Is that so?" Mostima forced a smile. "I understand. I'll try to find Lilith later. She must have her own reasons."

She practically gritted her teeth as she said the last few words.

If you want to cut ties with your own family, then cut ties. Why come back and try to sow discord?

However, she couldn't bring herself to confront Lilith directly. For some reason, she was a little afraid of Lilith, perhaps... because she had been tricked by Lilith before and was afraid of her again...

But that doesn't matter. If we can't go directly to Lilith, we can go to Feng! Doesn't Lilith like Feng? Isn't she willing to do anything for him? Then all Feng has to do is say the word...

Speaking of which, would Feng actually bring it up? He only introduced Rin and Gianna back then, never letting Lilith and Gianna meet. He even said that "Lilith hates her family"...

My head hurts.

Never mind, since the Present and Lilith have already gone to carry out their missions, let's see if we can come up with any excuses before they come back.

Mu Continent.

"Vayu has been confirmed dead, and its Honkai Core as a Honkai Beast has been recovered. The only remaining issue is dealing with this newly born Honkai Beast," Zhu Yufeng said, looking at the others. "As for this newly born Honkai Beast..."

"There's no need for you Fire Moth to trouble yourselves. Since this incident occurred near our Mu Continent, and the sunken Atlantis was a water city that our Mu Continent painstakingly built, then it should be resolved by our Mu Continent." A blue-clad officer approached and said, "You were sent by Fire Moth to transport the Law Core warriors. The Present arrived at its proper place. You don't need to interfere in other matters."

"I don't mean to interfere," Zhu Yufeng thought to himself.

Don't make it sound like he wants to fight Varuna or something. If you say you can handle it, I'll definitely run away. If you can't handle it... With the Present technology of the Mu Continent, it's definitely enough to deal with Varuna, so there's even less reason for him to care.

"This guy seemed so arrogant the whole time," Disaster whispered to Kosma.

Kosma nodded. In his previous life, he had dealt with many people from the Mu Continent. Indeed, some of them were proud to be from the Mu Continent and looked down on people from other continents. There were quite a few of them, which directly led to the following result... probably the Ninth Law.

"After all, as an organization dedicated to Honkai, it's hard to believe you didn't even notice this underwater Honkai, and you lacked corresponding countermeasures after Honkai occurred. It's really difficult to trust your organization," the Blue Army officer said. "Mayor Kandela has already protested to His Majesty the King. Hopefully, you can learn from this and improve your technology in the future."

Pardo rolled her eyes. Take corresponding measures? Are you kidding me? There are only a few of them, what measures can they take? Boss Kevin and Brother Yu Feng didn't get the Heavenfire and the Black Abyss White Flower. If they got the Heavenfire, Boss Kevin could part the Earth in the middle. If they got the Black Abyss White Flower, Brother Yu Feng could create a Sahara Desert. What is a mere Varuna?

Pardo's little expression did not escape the eyes of the Qing officer. He snorted and said, "The Fire Moth really has no one left. Recently, the outstanding talents have either not become officials or have just become officials."

Disaster finally couldn't hold back any longer and said, "But how come I remember that when Dr. Mobius's former assistant, Rovoc, came to the Mu Continent for academic exchange, all the scholars on the Mu Continent combined couldn't defeat her in a debate?"

"What's wrong with those stubborn people who won't admit it even when they're down?" The Qing officer's face darkened, and then he looked at Zhu Yufeng: "Are you the leader of this team? I didn't realize that you soldiers are helpless in the face of disaster, but you're quite good at talking."

Zhu Yufeng: "..."

How did he become the team leader? The team leader has always been Elysia.

And Rovoc is just Mu Continent person, how could he be cut off so quickly?

Lilith yawned, somewhat uninterested, and said, "In terms of research, you've independently studied the Honkai, yet you still didn't detect this Honkai. In terms of measures, Atlantis has never had any countermeasures against the Honkai from beginning to end, yet you expect a few people to reverse the situation. It's like saying you're here and everything will be the same. In terms of arguments, when you can't win an argument, you go to your parents to complain. How childish! Since we're no longer needed, can we leave the Present?"

Kevin gave Lilith an approving look. Look, she hadn't said a word until now, but as soon as Feng was mentioned, she shut him up.

The Qing-Chi officer's face darkened further, and after a long while, he coldly snorted and said, "Our Mu Continent has a lot of things to research, not just Honkai. Your Fire Moth specialize in Honkai organizations, do you expect us to teach you how to do things?"

"Eh, really?" Elysia said with some surprise, "But Mu Continent's research Honkai began before the establishment of the Fire Moth, and the establishment of the Fire Moth was also spearheaded by the Mu Continent, right? Moreover, we share our experimental results with you. Does what you're saying mean that Mu Continent has research results that it hasn't shared with us?"

Blue-haired officer. "..."

He was just talking about this male geese, so why did two female geese jump out and speak up?

Ultimately, it boils down to a matter of shirking responsibility. The sinking of Atlantis was a major slap in the face to a segment of the Mu Continent. They wanted to get revenge but refused to admit that they bore any responsibility for the incident.

The officer's face turned pale and then red, and in the end he just snorted coldly and left.

Lilith squinted at his back, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Elysia glanced at Zhu Yufeng and said somewhat jokingly, "Now someone can't refuse to become the team leader, right?"

Zhu Yufeng squinted at Elysia: "Is this because someone deliberately dumped their feelings on me?"

"Because I think you can handle it~" Elysia shrugged.

"I can handle this for you, leave it to me," Lilith said, looking at Zhu Yufeng.

Elysia: "..."