Chapter 146

Hua countered, "If I can't work harder, how can I guarantee that I can step up in the next crisis?"

After saying that, she looked at Ai Yue nervously, waiting for his reply.

Hua is essentially a person who goes with the flow. She doesn't care what she should do or what kind of person she will become, but she doesn't want to disappoint Ai Yue.

For a long time after losing Captain Himiko's leadership, Hua was in a daze. It was Ai Yue who pulled her out of that life and gave her a new life and a goal to strive for. Hua didn't know how to repay such kindness, but at least she wanted to make herself worthy of such treatment.

Ai Yue stared at her for a long time, then suddenly said something that Hua hadn't expected, "Let's go on a trip starting tomorrow."

"...ah?"

5

Chapter Five: Who goes on a trip to their neighbor's house?

Hua clearly didn't know why Ai Yue was doing this, but she unconditionally agreed with every decision Ai Yue.

So the next morning, she packed her things and waited for the time to leave.

Then she heard Mobius ask in a puzzled tone, "So why would you suddenly say you want to go on a trip at a time like this? Hasn't the project just started to make progress?"

"It's precisely because of the progress that we can no longer stay in the lab."

Ai Yue's answer was quite strange, "In short, put down your work and go out for a walk."

Ai Yue's idea didn't come from seeing Hua's condition; in fact, he had had this thought ever since the mission regarding the Eleventh Herrscher ended.

Following the continuous emergence of Herrscher, the activity level of the Cocoon of Finality has dropped to an unprecedented low. The monitoring data of global Honkai Energy fluctuations by Prometheus over the past half month also proves that the Honkai disasters worldwide are now much lower than before the birth of the Eleventh Herrscher.

It can be said that we are now in a rare period of peace. Thanks to this period, humanity can finally rest and recuperate and regain its former vitality.

Ai Yue wanted to travel to observe what kind of state people were in at this time.

This may sound like a simple act of social observation, but it had a very important impact on Ai Yue's subsequent research.

Ai Yue needs to understand whether humanity is truly ready for evolution.

His experiments have now reached a critical stage. Every result that emerges from this stage will completely overturn human imagination. It can be said that Ai Yue alone is enough to determine the future of the entire human civilization.

Especially in times like these, he must proceed with extreme caution, because even the slightest oversight could affect countless people.

Therefore, he had to leave the laboratory and return to human society—after all, even if he could obtain incredibly detailed data through Prometheus, it would be far less reliable than verifying it with his own eyes.

"I can't stand you. You should at least give me some advance notice."

Seeing Ai Yue's unwavering expression, Mobius shook his head. "I haven't packed anything yet!"

"Strictly speaking, your home isn't even here, so there's not much to tidy up, is there?"

Ai Yue looked at her with a subtle expression. "Anyway, the first stop is Moth to Fire, so you can go back and pack your things—speaking of which, haven't you been back in a long time?"

Aside from the final catalytic process of the Stigmata Project conducted at the First Research Institute, Mobius did indeed not hold significant power at the First Research Institute for a considerable period of time.

She seemed to have completely adapted to life on the Star of Light. If Ai Yue hadn't mentioned it, she might have forgotten that she still had a research institute to manage at the Moth to Fire.

"What does it matter? Klein has been in charge of it mostly anyway."

Mobius shrugged, appearing quite nonchalant. "I've handed everything over to Klein; the First Research Institute now belongs to her."

"You're really quite reckless,"

Ai Yue paused for a moment, then smiled, "But it really doesn't seem to matter much."

Before Ai Yue joined the Moth to Fire, the First Research Institute was the research center that the entire Moth to Fire relied on. It was thanks to the "Fusion Warrior Project" proposed by Mobius that humanity was able to overcome the difficulties of the Seventh Herrscher.

However, since Ai Yue appeared, the First Research Institute has been completely overshadowed by someone's brilliance and has now become no different from other laboratories.

From this perspective, it's not necessarily a bad thing that the First Research Institute was put in charge of by Klein.

"Brother Yue, I'm ready!"

On the other side, Pardofelis also ran excitedly into the hall. Although she had storage items, she also prepared a backpack in a very serious manner, making her seem to be the only one among everyone present who looked like she was going on a trip.

Of all those present, Pardofelis was probably the most carefree. So when Ai Yue told her that they were going on a trip starting today, she didn't ask any questions and happily went to pack her luggage.

Following behind her was Aponia, who was dressed in her nun's habit as always. Even Mobius had temporarily changed out of his white coat to go out, but Aponia seemed to have no intention of changing her attire, which made the group look a little more subtle.

"In short, everyone has arrived."

Looking at the group gathered together, Ai Yue nodded, "Then let's get ready to set off."

So the group went through the Teleportation Gate to the headquarters of the Moth to Fire.

"No, does this even count as tourism?"

Pardofelis blinked, a strange expression creeping onto her face. "What's the difference between us normally?"

Shouldn't traveling involve taking various modes of transportation to different places, seeing different scenery, and tasting different kinds of food?

Why do I feel like I'm just visiting a friend's house?

She looked around at the others and finally realized a rather awkward problem—could it be that among everyone present, I was the only one with high expectations for this?

"Don't rush, this is only the first stop,"

Ai Yue saw through Pardofelis's thoughts at a glance, and patted her head with a smile, "There's plenty of time, and you'll get what you want eventually."

"So what are we doing here?"

Mobius asked, "Is there anything here that could be considered... uh, a tourist attraction?"

"The first thing is to inform someone about our travel plans so that everyone is mentally prepared,"

Ai Yue said, "Secondly, it's more convenient to start from here."

"I thought you were going to apply for a flight route directly and use that supersonic aircraft to go out,"

Mobius couldn't help but show a somewhat surprised expression. "You're really planning to buy a ticket and take the train?"

"Otherwise, how can it be considered tourism?"

Ai Yue waved his hand, "In short, you can do whatever you want for now. We'll meet at the First Research Institute in two hours."

A moment later, Ai Yue arrived at Dr. Mei's office.

Are you going on a trip?

Upon hearing Ai Yue's description, Dr. Mei's face showed a complicated expression. "This is really unexpected... You actually came out of the laboratory?"

Ai Yue has always given people the impression of being a fanatical mad scientist. He can stay up for dozens or even hundreds of hours without sleep for his research, and can stay in the laboratory for more than half a month without leaving. To save time, he even skips meals and relies on intravenous nutrition to maintain his physiological health. It is hard to believe that such a person would say he wants to put down his experiments and go on a trip.

Dr. Mei even began to wonder if the other party still had some unresolved aftereffects of Herrscherization.

"It's not good to stay in the lab all the time."

Ai Yue shrugged and looked at Kevin beside him, "By the way, Kevin, the 'Brahma Project' has also been suspended, so you don't need to go there during this time."

"I see."

Kevin nodded, without asking any further questions about the details. "Have a safe journey."

"Is this all you've come to say?"

Dr. Mei couldn't help but say, looking at his carefree expression, "If there's nothing else, you should leave now."

She had spent a long time negotiating with the United Earth Government for Ai Yue's plan, and finally managed to cover up the truth of the matter while reporting the Great Honkai Disaster. But just two days later, the culprit who had given her so much work was leisurely going on vacation. Such a huge contrast was hard for even a gentle person like Dr. Mei to accept.

But considering Ai Yue's contributions to human civilization, she felt that he should have been enjoying life a long time ago.

"Look at you, always in such a hurry."

Ai Yue said unhurriedly, "I came here not just to report my whereabouts to you."

As he spoke, he placed a black box in front of the two of them. "Here, consider this a small compensation."

"What's this?"

Dr. Mei opened the box and found that most of the space inside was occupied by a silver-white metal box. "A portable computer?"

"'Job Killer 4.0', an Artificial Intelligence specifically designed to handle work."

Ai Yue said, "By the way, this thing was written by Prometheus based on the daily work of the Moth to Fire and the United Earth Government during this period. It is very targeted and should be enough."

"That sounds really good,"

Dr. Mei nodded, but her expression remained largely unchanged. "I hope it works as well as you say."

Using Artificial Intelligence to assist in solving work problems was not Ai Yue's first idea. In fact, Prometheus's initial purpose was this. However, Dr. Mei later discovered through experiments that current Artificial Intelligence is really powerless in the face of complex and ever-changing human negotiations, especially in the tug-of-war between multiple forces, so it was shelved.

Therefore, she was clearly not very confident about what Ai Yue had brought.

"It's okay if it doesn't work well, it can be upgraded."

Ai Yue tapped the silver-white metal box. "The core specifications of this thing are at the same level as the current Prometheus. You don't need to worry about it not understanding your needs. Moreover, it is a blank AI, which can be cultivated from scratch. Just treat it as an extra assistant."

Ai Yue could understand Dr. Mei's attitude. After all, they had tried several times before, but Prometheus was far from being a match for humans in terms of intrigue and power struggles. He couldn't see the essence of the power struggles between nations and was simply being manipulated. Therefore, the plan to use Artificial Intelligence to reduce the burden had been very unsuccessful.

But this time was different. After attempting to create Prometheus's soul using the Soul Editor, a large amount of tedious, complex, and difficult-to-decipher data was recorded in its original extension. Using this data, Ai Yue upgraded Prometheus's core once again, and now she is on the verge of the second technological singularity.

A new Artificial Intelligence with the same specifications as this Prometheus, whose data is inclined towards human intrigue and backstabbing, might bring surprises if Dr. Mei makes adjustments herself.

Of course, Ai Yue didn't intend to explain any of this, leaving it to Dr. Mei to experience for herself. After all, if all the surprises were revealed, they wouldn't be surprises anymore.

"And what is this box over here?"

Kevin picked up a white box that was on the edge of the box, shook it, and heard a series of clattering sounds coming from inside. "Doesn't sound like a component for the main unit?"

"Oh, that's medicine for Dr. Mei. Two pills three times a day for a month."

Ai Yue waved his hand dismissively and then walked towards the door, saying, "The conditions have been prepared so thoroughly. I hope I can hear good news from you two when I come back."

It wasn't until Ai Yue closed the door that the two of them finally reacted. Kevin carefully put the medicine box into his pocket and said with a serious expression, "I will make sure you take your medicine on time."

The medicine that Ai Yue gave as a gift was obviously intended to treat Dr. Mei's extremely weak body. Considering that Dr. Mei always neglects her personal life because of work, Kevin naturally wanted to keep the medicine on himself.

After all, the number of Honkai attacks has been pitifully small recently, giving him ample time to monitor the other party.

Dr. Mei didn't speak, but turned her head slightly, blushing a little. "Well, let's take a look at the performance of this Artificial Intelligence first."

After reporting his plan, Ai Yue returned to the First Research Institute. At this moment, in the huge research institute, only Hua was sitting in the hall waiting. Even Mobius and Klein, who should have been here, were nowhere to be seen.

"Didn't the others come back?"

Ai Yue asked a question first, then realized something, "Hua, you're not going to stay here forever, are you?"

He had just realized that Hua seemed to have no one left in the Moth to Fire who could be considered a friend.

"No, I just..."

Hua shook her head slightly and said softly, "I went to visit the captain."

Ai Yue opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

Relying on his memory of the original plot, he naturally knew who the captain Hua was talking about was— Himiko, the former captain of the Fifth Squad responsible for maintaining security in Australia, who was also the one who rescued Hua from despair in Canghai City, and... the Seventh Herrscher.

Although Himiko ultimately died as Herrscher, because of her contributions to the Moth to Fire and to humanity, the Moth to Fire organization still held a heroic funeral for her and placed her belongings in the cemetery.

What Hua meant by "visiting" was actually tomb sweeping.

"Don't worry, Doctor Ai Yue."

Seemingly sensing Ai Yue's worries, Hua smiled and reassured him, "I'm no longer dwelling on what happened in the past."

"Really? That's good."

Ai Yue then changed the subject, saying, "By the way, regarding our next destination, I'd like to go back to Shenzhou. Hua, is there anywhere you'd like to go?"

"Isn't Doctor Ai Yue going home to visit his family?"

Hua asked, somewhat surprised.

Ai Yue simply shook his head slightly. "I can't remember where my hometown is."

This statement wasn't entirely untrue, but in this world on the verge of apocalypse, there were clearly other, more pessimistic explanations. Hua didn't press further, but instead thought for a moment, "If possible, should we go and take a look at Canghai City? I heard they're rebuilding there."

6

Chapter Six: When will a second New Canghai City appear?

Canghai City, a few years ago, was the most prosperous city on the coast of Shenzhou. However, everything changed when the Judgment-class Honkai Beast, which were born with the Third Herrscher, landed here with a large number of Honkai Beast.

Hua sat by the window, lost in thought, and then subconsciously glanced at Mobius.

She remembered that she had gone to Canghai City more than a year ago to carry out a mission to determine whether the Judgment-class Honkai Beast "Sesha" was truly dead, but it ended prematurely when she encountered Mobius.