A Thousand Faces in Turmoil
Europe, the Third Research Institute of the Fire Moth.
"The Tenth Herrscher has appeared. Now, all normal communication methods, including conventional ones, are at risk of being exposed. Only we here know about the counterattack plan against the Tenth Herrscher," Admil said, looking at the giant humanoid soldier before him. "Although I understand that the Moonlight Throne does indeed have a huge destructive effect on the Honkai, that's our confidence in facing that last Herrscher, that's..."
Admil's expression suddenly turned into a dead fish eye. "Is it really necessary to make legs? For a weapon of this level, the feet should be decorations. After all, the Heavenly Thunder's main battlefield should be space. If we don't consider ground combat, the leg armor can be completely removed... at least it can save some materials."
"Yes, why does it have to be a human foot?" Rovoc nodded as he looked at the engineering drawings in his hand.
Admil: "..."
Rovoc's aesthetic sense in designing mechs is often questionable, sometimes described as having a kind of godlike beauty.
The entire Third Research Institute is currently in complete lockdown; outsiders can't get in, and insiders can't get out. Communication is also almost entirely cut off from the outside world. Rovoc and Admil are able to contact the outside world entirely through the Gray Serpent Network, which highlights the network's advantages. After all, the Gray Serpent aren't human. The Tenth Herrscher's vessel can only be human, and for Gray Serpent, which are half-object and half-machine creations, only Corrosion can be their nemesis.
Admil and his men needed to do was wait patiently for the rabbit to run into their trap.
"After this incident is over, don't you want to consider going back to headquarters?" Admil said. "The sinking of the Mu Continent must have had some impact on you, right?"
He knew perfectly well that after the Ninth Herrscher incident, Zhu Yufeng had come to inquire about Rovoc's mental state and asked him to pay more attention to Rovoc condition. Although Rovoc always seemed to be very resistant to the Mu Continent, it was still her hometown. And now... she had no hometown to go back to, and no relatives to talk to... Oh, Lionel is still alive.
"Don't worry, you can tell Feng I'm fine." Rovoc continued to inspect the performance of the various parts of the Heavenly Thunder with a blank expression. "However... I was going to head to headquarters after this incident was over anyway."
Admil fell silent. He looked up at the enormous mechanical creation. Actually, he wasn't an expert in Honkai dynamics engineering. Like Mobius, he specialized in the field of material science. He could only say he knew a little about everything else.
The main builders of the Heavenly Thunder were probably the two Experts, Vill-V and Rovoc. The reason they chose the Third Research Institute was because it was now completely World Serpent territory. Compared to other places, its security and secrecy were much higher... at least compared to other subordinate institutions of the Fire Moth, everyone here was one of their own.
However, in these special times, even the once impenetrable World Serpent territory cannot guarantee that the Tenth Herrscher will not infiltrate it.
No one knows how it or how it came to be. All that is known is that a considerable number of them are lurking among the population. Admil Dang has been paying attention to the rumors that have been spreading recently. As the person in charge of the God-Slaying Plan, he was responsible for the construction of the Heavenly Thunder, which was overseen by Rovoc, while he was responsible for its management and planning.
There haven't been any similar rumors at the Third Research Institute yet, but Admil is still a little uneasy. Like Zhu Yufeng, he is worried that the rumors are just a smokescreen to attract the attention of the Fire Moth, and that this "smokescreen" is the kind that is so effective that the Fire Moth can't ignore it.
It's just that Rovoc was so focused on building the Heavenly Thunder that he didn't pay attention to these rumors. Otherwise, given how much Rovoc... Sigh, Admil really wanted to say to his colleague, "Can you not be so self-aware? You're not without advantages, so why don't you have any idea of getting involved?"
Unfortunately Rovoc was stubborn, and nothing I said made a difference...
After this period of research and development, the Heavenly Thunder has almost overcome some technical problems, and it is only a matter of time before the core technical problems are completely overcome... It is truly thanks to the foresight of Mobius and others that another industrial system was constructed outside of the Mu Continent. However, the sinking of the Mu Continent alone is enough to give humanity a hard time.
If the population were smaller, it wouldn't be so bad, but with so many people in the world and such a huge demand for industry, if the world hadn't established an industrial system independent of the Mu Continent beforehand, humanity's current state of affairs would probably have regressed by several decades in an instant.
"If there's enough time, perhaps we can really create twelve God-Slaying Spears as proposed by Vill-V..." Admil thought to himself, but this was just wishful thinking. The Ninth Herrscher incident had only been over for a few months, and the Tenth Herrscher had already appeared. The intervals between the appearances of Herrscher were getting shorter and shorter, and the end was getting closer and closer. Moreover, the sinking of the Mu Continent had severely damaged the human industrial system, Fire Moth still had to find a way to supply the existing industrial needs of humanity.
This basically means that only one Heavenly Thunder can be built at present. Let alone twelve more, building even one more might be difficult due to time constraints.
The God-Slaying Weapon: Heavenly Thunder Aegis Zeus is essentially an extension of the Moonlight Throne Project. The technical problems of the Moonlight Throne have already been solved by Vill-V, May, and Rovoc, a speed that far exceeded Admil's expectations. He didn't quite understand how these people had managed to overcome such a new concept in such a short time. However, transferring the Moonlight Throne technology to the Heavenly Thunder was another matter entirely. It wasn't simply about attaching the Moonlight Throne to the Heavenly Thunder; it was about enabling the Heavenly Thunder to further amplify the power of the Moonlight Throne.
"It should be stronger than the five Moonlight Throne operating at full capacity under normal conditions."
That's what Vill-V said at first, though it was in a joking tone, but... why five? Given her personality, shouldn't it be a larger number that would be more shocking?
Regardless, once the Heavenly Thunder is successfully developed, firstly, its appearance will be different from that of existing humans, which will indeed greatly boost morale. Secondly, according to the Moonlight Throne theory, the Heavenly Thunder can indeed be called the ultimate weapon for humanity to fight against the Honkai, a Herrscher killer specifically designed to target the characteristics of Herrscher.
If this is used as bait, the Tenth Herrscher will surely take the bait, just as the rumors they spread forced the Fire Moth to take notice.
"Everything is ready; we're just waiting for you to show up."
Although as a researcher, Admil should theoretically be bad at fighting, and in fact Admil is indeed the weakest of the Thirteen Fallen Angels in terms of combat ability, that is only relative to the group of madmen among the Thirteen Fallen Angels. At least in this research institute, the only one who can defeat Admil Rovoc in his collapsed state.
Fire Moth Headquarters Base, Family Quarters.
Mostima was typing on the keyboard when she received a reply from Gray Serpent, instructing her to pay close attention to the recent state of the Fire Moth councilors and to be careful of her surroundings.
The Tenth Herrscher has appeared, but they are much weaker than normal Herrscher, so they can only lie dormant among Herrscher in human form.
This is the information the Gray Serpent told her.
Therefore, Mostima has been going out less lately and is constantly on guard to see if there are any strange people around him observing him.
There's no way around it; among the current high-ranking members of World Serpent, she's the weakest in combat and the easiest to die... Who told her to be just an ordinary person who hasn't even undergone Fusion Warrior surgery?
Just to be on the safe side, some of the Gray Serpent also lay in wait near the dwelling.
Spiral Workshop.
Looking at the nearly completed Star Sea Harmony, Vill-V said to Eden beside her in a somewhat joking tone, "Eden, how about we try a different approach this time? How about something innovative? After all, I didn't design Star Sea Harmony in the first place, and I really don't want to create the same thing as someone else."
In her previous life, before the Star Sea Harmony was even completed, Vill-V was stripped of her right to create the Divine Key. But this time it's different; Vill-V is still the main engineer who created the Divine Key.
"If you can find a melody that is more suitable for this core, that's no problem, my friend," Eden said with a smile.
"Hmm... I really don't know why Annal, a soldier's Herrscher Core, ended up like a singer, with her own unique melody..." Vill-V shrugged and said. The analysis of the Ninth Herrscher's Herrscher Core had already been completed, and the final conclusion was that Star Sea Harmony was the most suitable Divine Key style for releasing the power of the Ninth Herrscher.
Eden chuckled softly, about to say something, when suddenly Vill-V looked towards the entrance of the Spiral Workshop and said with a playful tone, "Councilor Laguar, I don't recall you making an appointment to come over?"
"I'm not here to do anything, just to check on the progress of the Ninth Divine Key's creation," Laguar said with a smile. "Speaking of which, Dr. Vill-V, you were also involved in that God-Slaying Plan God-Slaying Weapon project, right?"
"Yes, you should have received the project proposal by now, right? The main people in charge of these things are Admil and Rovoc, so there's no point in asking me." Vill-V shrugged and said.
"Yes... If I have the chance, I'd also like to discuss the ultimate plan for the Fire Moth with Dr. Admil and Rovoc. It's humanity's final weapon." Laguar's gaze shifted to the Star Sea Harmony. "Now that we have God-Slaying Weapon, weapons like the Divine Key might seem a bit outdated. But it seems that the Ninth Divine Key has already been successfully created?"
"Yes," Vill-V said, looking at Laguar. "But, Councilor Laguar, it seems quite a few people accompanied you to visit my Spiral Workshop?"
"After all, Maple needs to deal with the Honkai on a small island, and Kevin is going to Africa to suppress a riot. Neither of them are with the Fire Moth now, so this is the only opportunity we can seize." Laguar spread his hands and shook his head.
Vill-V chuckled softly. The Thousandth Herrscher had finally lost his composure. Laguar had become the Thousandth Herrscher again, just like in his previous life. However, in his previous life Laguar had led most of the individual members to besiege Mei and seize the Key of the Void. Unexpectedly, this time he had come to her instead...
However, compared to Mei being besieged by hundreds of Thousandth Herrscher, the number of Thousandth Herrscher in the Spiral Invasion Spiral Workshop is now far too small.
"I didn't expect that you and I would be partners in this project, Eden." Vill-V casually took out the first pocket watch she had repaired, which she always carried with her. "How long do you think it will take?"
"That depends on how much you're willing to sacrifice your Spiral Workshop, Vill-V." Eden smiled helplessly. She had only come to check out the Star Sea Harmony and test its feel. She had held the Ninth Divine Key since her previous life, and she had ultimately taken the Star Sea Harmony with her to the War of Finality.
Apart from her, almost no one else could perfectly control the Ninth Divine Key. Instead, they would suffer backlash. Before Eden mastered the Star Sea Harmony, this thing was no different from self-destruction for other warriors. Otherwise, Su wouldn't have had to break the Star Sea Harmony into the Twin Stars of Eden in the later years to reduce its output power.
"It's okay, we can get reimbursed by Mobius afterward anyway," Vill-V said with a smile. "She's much more generous than Mebius."
"If Dr. Mobius knew that you deliberately used this as an excuse to dismantle and rebuild the Spiral Workshop, he would probably cut at least half of your research budget, just like Dr. Mei did," Eden chuckled.
"Come on, Eden, let's put on a wonderful magic show of destruction for our Councilor Laguar and those uninvited spectators~" Vill-V threw Star Sea Harmony to Eden, and prepared herself for battle.
No matter what, the two people here now, though they rarely participate in battles, are still people who participated in the War of Finality.
"The Thousandth Herrscher who attacked the Spiral Workshop only make up a small minority of the total, which means that this is not their main objective... So there should still be quite a few people at May's place..." Vill-V thought to herself, and then sounded the alarm.
Mobius Laboratory.
Upon hearing the alarm, Zhu shouted in a panic, "What's going on? What's going on? Have the Honkai Beast attacked the Fire Moth? Huh? What about the Spiral Workshop? And what's happening at Dr. Mei's lab?!"
Mobius glanced at Klein without speaking. This time, it seemed Klein hadn't become the Thousand Laws Master... Could this be considered a good thing? But why had the vessel for the Thousand Laws Master changed this time? If the vessel for the Thousand Laws Master changed, would the vessel for the Law of Binding still be Michael?
Klein's expression was slightly flustered, but compared to Zhu, she was already calm. However, Zhu's shout made her panic instead. After notifying the guards, Klein looked at Mobius: "Doctor, do we need to take refuge?"
Mobius calmly took a sip of coffee, looked at Klein with a cryptic gaze, and said, "No, we just need to stay here and observe."
On a small island in the Pacific Ocean.
"Mobius sent a message that the individuals of the Thousand-Man Law Enforcer lurking within the Fire Moth have begun to make their move." Zhu Yufeng said, looking at the Thousand-Man Law Enforcer surrounding him and Elysia. "They finally couldn't hold back anymore."
When asked why he didn't help the Africans suppress the riots, he replied...
Who would dare let him get away with this? Isn't the rumor already convincing enough?
Compared to the Rebel Army in the previous life, this time the World Serpent has greatly expanded its infiltration into Africa, turning the entire African armed forces into a disorganized mess. Therefore, this time the Thousand Laws could not incite Rebel Army against the Fire Moth, and could only create local riots in Africa.
To ensure Mei's safety and prevent her from harming herself again with the Void Key, Zhu Yufeng and the others specifically had Hua stay by Mei's side this time. Hua is an honest girl, and unless Mei tricks her, Mei can forget about wearing the Void Key. Moreover, Mei doesn't have any Law Cores to put into the Void Key anymore.
The Heavenfire was taken by Kevin, the Seven Thunders of Purification are in Sakura's hands, the Black Abyss White Flower Zhu Yufeng's hands, the Thousand Worlds is with Su, the Wind of Purification are still drifting in space, the Withering of All Things is currently still being kept by Su, the Feather Dust is in Hua's hands, Star Sea Harmony is with Vill-V.
Without the core of the law, the hammer of the empty key can be activated.
Moreover, the main purpose of the Thousand Laws' appearance this time should still be the Heavenly Thunder, which is under construction. Therefore, they will most likely not reveal too many individuals. In addition, there are several Fallen Angel and Flame-Chasers among the people who remain with the Fire Moth, so it is unlikely that anything unexpected will happen.
Lilith had come with them on her mission, but she turned back halfway, saying she wanted to do something interesting. Judging by the time, Lilith should be returning to the Fire Moth by now.
Theoretically, all of the top Fusion Warrior of the Fire Moth were indeed dispatched this time. However, those who remained within the Fire Moth were only strong on paper, such as Hua, Astaroth, Pardo, and Seele.
Kosma and Disaster should be on their way back now, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
The headquarters of "Arc Moon," a subsidiary of World Serpent.
"I never expected that even the manager of 'Arc Moon' would become a vessel for the Thousand Lawyers." Sakura gripped the hilt of the Seven Thunders of Purification in her hand and instantly killed several individuals of the Thousand Lawyers with a single strike. Xila had also come with her. After all, although Xila was strong on her own, she was... not good at adapting, so Sakura had to come along to avoid any accidents.
Unlike Sakura, Xila didn't share any sentiments; she simply focused on killing all the rebels in front of her.
Fire Moth Division Base, Family Quarters.
"What the hell... There are way too many of the Tenth Laws, aren't there?" Mostima looked at the attacked areas with a gasp. Fortunately, she discovered that someone was taking this opportunity to try to hack into the Fire Moth's network. Just a few days ago, Vill-V said that the network firewall needed to be upgraded and would be temporarily disabled. Was this the time to do it?
At this time, the cybersecurity department of Fire Moth was on high alert. Unfortunately, the Tenth Law also attacked Fire Moth's cybersecurity department, which meant that now, apart from Mostima, no one could stop the external hacker attack.
"In the end, I'll have to do it myself." Mostima typed on the keyboard. The other party's hacking skills were really not good. It wouldn't be easy to stop them, at least not for Mostima.
Just as Mostima was focused on dealing with the mysterious hacker and activating the backup firewall, she suddenly heard the sound of her bedroom door being opened. Instantly alert, she got up and looked in the direction of her bedroom door. The next moment, a gunshot rang out, and a bullet flew past her. Then several more gunshots rang out, and bullets hit her left shoulder and right leg, and one hit her abdomen. The other bullets all went astray.
"Gianna ..." Mostima stared in disbelief at the girl pointing guns at her with both hands. What was going on? Why was Gianna doing this to her...?
The excruciating pain from the bullet wound made it almost impossible for her to think. She wasn't a soldier, and in this crisis, she couldn't think of any countermeasures.
Gianna had never practiced using a pistol and had no idea about the recoil or aiming. She emptied the pistol in one go. However, based on her close-range shooting at Mostima, she wouldn't have been able to kill Mostima in a few rounds.
Mostima clutched her abdomen and collapsed to the ground. She forced herself to lift her head and look at Gianna. A sweet, metallic taste of blood began to rise in her mouth. This was the first time she had ever felt so truly close to death.
Fortunately, she was still a bed away from Gianna, and her adrenaline was starting to kick in, so the pain from being shot wouldn't affect her too much in the short term...
Mostima stared at Gianna, shifted her position back, and sat up against the wall, saying, "You are now... the Tenth Law, aren't you, Gianna?"
Gianna's eyes seemed somewhat vacant and empty. She looked at Mostima, gave a sad smile, and said, "I just want my sister to come back..."
Then she walked towards Mostima. When Mostima got close, she raised the gun she was holding in her right hand. She hadn't used a pistol much, so to increase her accuracy, she could only wait until the other person was close before firing.
"Are we really going to pull the trigger?"
Suddenly, Mostima had a thought pop into her mind. She thought about the years she had spent with Gianna and couldn't help but hesitate.
Although Mostima is one of the more wicked Fallen Angel, enjoying stirring up conflict between people, she is also the most humane of Fallen Angel.
Once she gets used to warmth, she can easily become too attached to it...
It was this moment of hesitation that caused her to miss her chance. Gianna looked at the gun pointed at her, as if recalling some memory she didn't want to remember. A wind blade struck Mostima's hand, knocking the gun out of her hand.
"The power of the Law of Wind? How is that possible?" Mostima exclaimed in astonishment.
Compared to that, her biggest problem right now is that she might be just one step away from death.
Instead of taking her life, Gianna used a few more wind blades to knock Mostima down, then went to the computer to disable the backup firewall that Mostima had just activated.
Did I let them down this time...?
Mostima glanced at the pistol that had been knocked to the other side, gritted his teeth, and prepared to go all out.
She got up from the ground, shifted her position slightly, and then lunged towards the location of the pistol. Gianna noticed her movement and sent another wind blade that knocked Mostima back.
Mostima had already gotten the gun. She raised her right hand and fired several shots at Gianna. Although the accuracy was quite poor, the distance was even closer than when Gianna fired at her, so one shot still hit the girl's head.
Mostima leaned against the wall, panting, before slowly moving towards the computer. She managed to sit down, already dizzy from blood loss. Her left shoulder was pierced by a bullet and she couldn't move, so she could only use her blood-stained right hand to operate the keyboard. She did her best to activate the backup firewall and the location system again, so she could later trace the intruder's location...
After doing all that, she leaned back in her chair and stared blankly at the ceiling.
So... what am I working so hard for... when it shouldn't even concern me...?
Is it... for Feng? Honestly, I don't know why, but I seem to have had a special liking for him from the very beginning. Our interactions after joining the Fire Moth have indeed proven that we get along well.
It's like we knew each other in a past life.
However, it seems that we'll have to talk about it in the next life soon...
Compared to others, he had almost no advantages. His only specialty was hacking, which Vill-V also possessed, and perhaps even surpassed. Besides that, was playing video games a special skill? At least he was happy every time he beat Feng in a game, only to be taught a lesson by Lilith afterward...
They really don't have any redeeming qualities whatsoever...
But this time, I really tried my best, I just hope...
"Okay, you won't criticize me... Boss Yu Feng..." Mostima's attention gradually wandered, and she didn't even notice that she had inadvertently uttered words that she used to say often in that time and space that no longer existed.
"Oh dear, it seems I've arrived at just the right time?" Lilith's playful voice suddenly rang out, but Mostima no longer had the mood or energy to pay attention.
Lilith glanced at her sister lying on the ground, shrugged, and said, "I thought you could do it yourself, so I deliberately didn't tell Kaede about this. But it's not so bad that you're the one doing it. Just consider it watching a good show."