I Am Not a Hero

After the assistant entered the laboratory and the lights outside the laboratory turned from green to red...

The surgery began.

Chapter 4: Fully Armed

"You really have astonishing adaptability. Your body would have had a strong rejection reaction the first time you had a limb transplant, but you immediately adapted to the new limb the second time." Mobius took a few steps back, smiling with satisfaction at her creation. "Or perhaps, by not using anesthesia, you skipped the rejection reaction entirely?"

"..."

Lin sat up silently on the operating table, bringing his brand-new left hand before him to examine.

Solid, powerful muscles full of explosive force, thick bones, and even the skin color at the connection point was indistinguishable. It was virtually identical to his original arm.

As for his original arm, which had been shattered into dust, it had been taken away by the assistant, Bianca. What she would do with it was unknown.

Mobius's skills were truly astonishing. This limb cloning and regeneration technology alone was at least decades ahead of the world. Who knew how many other biological technologies she had researched or already perfected that she hadn't revealed.

Perhaps she had already achieved the "immortality" that humans had pursued since ancient times.

"Thank you." Lin clenched his fist, the sense of power he felt causing him to whisper his thanks.

"No need for thanks. This wasn't a free gift; it was a transaction. Don't think you can get away with just a 'thank you'." Mobius seemed displeased with his rare display of sincerity. She narrowed her eyes, her unique green irises taking in Lin's current appearance. Her gaze was as cold as if she were appraising a useful tool.

"I know." Lin's dark pupils earnestly watched Mobius through the gaps in the bandages. He exhaled and said, "Dr. Mobius, feel free to contact me if you need anything in the future."

Mobius's brow twitched. "...Why does that sound so strange?"

Never mind.

Mobius cast these trivial matters aside. She picked up several syringes filled with glowing green reagent from a nearby table and tossed them to Lin, a faint smile gracing her lips. "Then the first thing I'll have you do is help me test these. They can temporarily enhance your physical functions and reduce your pain. You're quite injured elsewhere besides your left arm, aren't you? Don't think you can get something for nothing and die in this operation without paying the price."

"...Thank you."

"Tsk, I told you not to say thank you. Besides, they aren't without side effects. Once the effects wear off, the pain will return to you tenfold. It's entirely possible you'll be in so much agony that you die."

"I'm eternally grateful."

"..."

Lin took the medicine and his blood-stained uniform and left. Just as Bianca emerged after having disposed of Lin's damaged arm, she watched Lin disappear around the corner and sighed, "This young man's endurance is incredible. That was the pain of connecting nerves one by one, and his expression didn't even change the entire time."

"But he is, after all, still within the scope of a 'normal human'."

For some reason, Mobius murmured this softly, an unknown light flickering in her eyes.

"Team Member Lin!"

Soul and Himiko, who had been waiting in the corridor for a long time, saw Lin approaching from the direction of Mobius's laboratory. Soul, looking somewhat haggard, waved to him joyfully. A scythe-like weapon was slung across his back.

Lin walked over with his usual calm demeanor. Himiko then noticed that his arm had been restored to its original state and exclaimed in surprise, "You actually let Dr. Mobius operate on you?"

Everyone knew that Mobius's operating table was akin to a transformation machine. You went up as human and might come down as an unknown creature destined for the history books. That's why most of MOTH's members spoke of Mobius's name with a shudder.

Soul, upon hearing this, looked at Lin with concern. "Team Member Lin, your body this time..."

"It's fine."

Lin calmly shook his head, then pushed past the two of them and headed towards the R&D department.

New equipment awaited him there.

"Lin."

The head of the R&D department had bloodshot eyes. After the Honkai outbreak, the R&D department had been working overtime to adjust new equipment for the soldiers, tightening screws even now.

Someone had already notified him of Lin's arrival. The two of them were quite familiar with each other by now. The R&D head custom-made exclusive, high-performance equipment for Lin, and Lin, like a test subject, helped him test its performance. Therefore, there were no pleasantries. The head knew why Lin was here.

He handed Lin his signature helmet.

"Communication technology has been updated three times in just a few months. Others are using lighter equipment, but I know you need this, so I've made some technical adjustments and upgrades. I believe only you can handle it." A hint of pride showed on the R&D head's tired face.

Lin silently took the helmet and, ignoring the bandages, put it on. After securing it, he activated the helmet's internal system.

A red line scanned his iris, and the interior of the helmet suddenly lit up, returning to the familiar interface.

[Physiological characteristics confirmed]

That feeling of information flowing into his mind returned, and the data was even more detailed than before, as if it had dissected the entire world.

"Your jump, jet, and grappling hook have all been improved accordingly. I've also added some new mobility units to the external power armor, so you can put whatever you want in there." The R&D head shrugged. "Like a photo of your sister, and you can show it to people before a fight."

"..."

Lin could see everything the R&D head was talking about through the helmet's visor. He could process information through text much faster than the head spoke, but he still wanted to say something.

This felt like a handover ceremony, much like the ancient bestowal of a sword upon a disciple.

"Of course, these are all standard. They're nothing new to you, I'm sure." The R&D head chuckled freely. "So, I'll show you something unconventional."

"Unconventional?" Data already appeared before Lin's eyes. He scanned it briefly and understood.

A new weapon?

He followed the R&D head to a warehouse. The head pressed a button, and a standard-issue rifle with a novel design was retrieved from inside.

"You should know that MOTH has been researching Honkai Energy. This energy, which is almost omnipotent after removing its corrosive effects, is a new direction for weapon development. And in the short time since you went to Canghai City and the Third Herrscher was born, we've succeeded."

"The Third Herrscher is surrounded by an electromagnetic field that can form a shield, making conventional weapons useless against her. That's why these weapons that can convert and utilize Honkai Energy were developed."

"Honkai gives us not only destruction, but perhaps also gifts."

Himiko's greatsword and Soul's scythe from earlier were also made using this technology, right?

Has humanity's progress become too fast?

Lin gazed at the rifle for a long time, saying nothing. He took it and placed it in the weapon slot on his back, along with a new pistol, grenades, and...

"A knife?"

The last item was a knife, blue and white, slightly longer than a dagger.

Only a small section of the blade was sharp, while the blade itself was a peculiar azure, as if blue blood flowed within it.

"This is a weapon still in its experimental phase, my personal creation. Consider it compensation for your injury last time." As Lin took the knife, the head of the R&D department showed a flicker of reluctance in his eyes, but he quickly hid it. "This knife was developed based on the Second Herrscher's data. It's a high-frequency cutting knife that uses microscopic particle vibrations for cutting. Considering your preference for daggers, I've adjusted it to this length."

"..." After scanning the weapon, Lin didn't immediately accept it. Instead, he looked up at the R&D head.

The head of R&D knew what he meant and smiled nonchalantly. "It's fine. Only I know about this knife, so use it however you want, as long as you don't tell anyone I gave you special treatment."

"Thank you."

Lin felt like he had said this word an unusual number of times these past few days.

"Oh, right. Take this too. The data has been adjusted, but I still can't guarantee it will work properly. It's up to you whether you use it or not."

"This is personal advice: don't use it unless you absolutely have to. Maybe this time, it'll cut your head off."

Lin stared at the watch-like device before him.

Could he die?

He reached out and took the incredibly heavy Phase Transfer Device.

Chapter 5: Squad Five, Supporting the Battlefield

"Swish..."

The deathly silent downpour washed away the world's sins, fierce and unending like Noah's flood, with brewing thunderstorms ready to strike at any moment.

Changkong City, however, was like an island in the sea, engulfed in darkness, silence, and death.

"Bang!"

The sound of air breaking through the rain, a blood-stained baseball bat tore through the downpour and smashed into a Mortal's face, brutally crushing its nose and embedding itself in its now-inactive brain.

A Mortal to his right howled and lunged. Before it could even raise its hands, it was kicked in the stomach and sent flying.

"Mei! This way!"

The boy's athletic wear was soaked through by the rain. His usually bright white hair clung to his skin, making his normally handsome appearance somewhat disheveled. He swung the baseball bat, knocking the Mortal away, and shouted to the black-haired, bespectacled girl behind him.

There was no panic in the black-haired girl's expression. On the contrary, while the boy was fighting, she was carefully observing these Mortals whose skin had turned deathly pale.

In just a few hours, their world had turned upside down. Some classmates and teachers had died in the ruins, while others had turned into Mortals and attacked them. The peaceful city had become a man-eating maw, attempting to swallow these two tiny humans in the downpour.

What happened?

Kevin cried out in his heart, wishing someone could answer his question.

But he couldn't break down. He couldn't break down until Mei was safe.

Kevin pulled Mei's hand and they ducked into a convenience store, locking the door behind them. Panting, he slid down the wall.

"Mei... are you okay?"

His excellent physical condition allowed Kevin to survive the first wave of the Honkai impact, and his combat talent let him endure the Mortals' attacks.

But Mei's physical condition was far inferior to Kevin's, so he had to find places to rest after escaping for a while. If they stayed in one place, the living dead seemed to have radar, swarming towards them in groups.

"Mhm... I'm fine." Mei's pale face clearly didn't match her words. She sat on the ground, using tissues from a dispenser to wipe her rain-soaked glasses. "Kevin, you really don't have to worry about me..."

Before she could finish, Kevin vehemently retorted, "How could I not worry about you!"

If he were to abandon Mei, what would be the point of escaping? How could he face Lin then?

Kevin walked to the counter, picked up the phone inside, and dialed. The busy signal quickly made him dejectedly hang up the receiver. "The phones here don't work either?"

Mei glanced at the lightning flashing within the clouds outside and said calmly, "It's the electromagnetic field, isn't it?"

"What?"

"Nothing."

Kevin didn't understand the principles. Mei knew this devoted boy like the back of her hand, thanks to the tireless explanations from someone in the past. She even knew which hand Kevin used to wipe his butt with, and how many sheets of paper he used.

So Mei never understood why Kevin liked her, a boring bookworm whose field of interest had nothing to do with his.

But...

"Mei, don't worry, I'll definitely get you out of here." Seeing Mei looking at him, Kevin forced a smile he thought was sunny, trying to encourage her.

His handsome face, covered in mud and rain, was etched with exhaustion, but his eyes burned with a flame that the rain couldn't extinguish.

Mei couldn't quite explain what that flame was. No, for someone as rational as her, using such an emotional expression was beyond her own expectations.

She analyzed the surroundings, calculating the probability of escape. The more she calculated, the smaller the number became.

But for some reason, Mei didn't want to believe her calculated numbers this time.

"Mhm, I believe you," Mei replied with a faint smile.

Kevin also broke into a wide grin.

"ROOOOAR—"

A deafening roar interrupted their brief moment of warmth, freezing Kevin's smile.

The roar came from nearby.

As if just a stone's throw away.

"Another Honkai Energy reading is rapidly increasing in Changkong City!"

"500HW, 600HW, 700HW... it's still climbing! This location is less than ten kilometers from the Herrscher!"

In MOTH's temporary operations department in Changkong City, a monitor watched the terrifying Honkai Energy curve reach another peak. Their fingers trembled as they sent the data and coordinates to the channel, then swallowed hard and reported, "This is the monitoring department. The Third Herrscher's accompanying Honkai Beast has also been born. The current detected value has already surpassed the Honkai Beasts of the Second Honkai War. We're tentatively designating it..."

"Emperor-class Honkai Beast."

This was undoubtedly another piece of bad news.

Currently, all squads were struggling to move in the extremely low visibility and unstable signal of the torrential rain. Even though new weapons and armor had greatly increased the combat effectiveness of the personnel, the chaotic electromagnetic field had caused almost all electronic equipment to malfunction. In the pitch-black rain, Mortals and Honkai Beasts could emerge at any moment to launch a deadly attack.

So far, the operation had been underway for two hours, but no squad had yet reached the Third Herrscher's location. The closest two squads were Hen and Elysia's. During this time, the number of soldiers swallowed by the rain, sacrificed, or lost contact had already reached nearly one-fifth.

The squads' own monitoring equipment had failed, and all information could only be monitored and broadcast by the central monitoring department. This method was terrifyingly inefficient.

Now, in this hunting ground for monsters, a ferocious beast whose true form was still unknown had been unleashed.