Getting Fired / The Trickster

"What do you mean 'that's all'? Please, what you're standing in front of is an Artificial Intelligence android created from the pinnacle of human and genius Vill-V's technological achievements! She's also beautiful and can reproduce. A century ago, humanity wouldn't have even imagined the birth of such a creation!" Vill-V, dissatisfied with Kevin's statement, slapped Prometheus on the back. "That's so cool!"

"We didn't come here to see you show off how you've transformed Prometheus again..."

"Wait a minute, Kevin."

May suddenly called out to the impatient Kevin, staring at the new Prometheus before asking Vill-V, "Full Soul Steel?"

"Uh-huh."

"Space folding technology?"

Vill-V smiled broadly, "That's right."

"..."

The key point isn't Prometheus, but the technology Vill-V used. Since she was able to create Prometheus's body from Soul Steel, that means...

"Therefore, when watching a magician's performance, you must learn to wait for surprises."

Vill-V snapped her fingers, and Prometheus took out... from a seemingly ordinary drawer beside him.

Two guns.

"Praise be to the supreme masterpiece of the Spiral Workshop! Symbolizing humanity's first step in conquering the Herrscher! A god-slaying weapon created using the power of the gods!"

"Divine Key: Phoenix!"

Vill-V removed her hat and bowed slightly. "Although I have some byproducts worth mentioning, I think you are more curious about them now."

"Hello, my friend."

A tall woman with long, wine-red hair swirled her wine glass as she sat at a corner of the table. She didn't seem like the hostess; rather, she looked like a quiet drinker sipping wine in the corner.

A Nun nodded slightly and sat down opposite her.

"Have they gone on a mission?"

"Yes, it's a pity that Eri can't attend this party." Eden swirled his glass, then smiled gently at Aponia. "A toast to our friends who are not here."

"Then Eri."

Aponia didn't refuse, raised her glass, and drank it down with an air of grandeur no less than that of Eden.

After downing a glass of strong red wine, Aponia's face flushed a delicate, lovely blush, adding to her ethereal beauty.

"Hehe, I rarely know people who are this generous. Did you drink often when you were Nun?" Eden asked softly, watching Aponia put down her glass without changing her expression.

"I am Nun now," Aponia corrected herself first, then said, "No... I rarely drink alcohol, I only have a drink on holidays when necessary."

So, have you adapted?

"Hmm..." Aponia nodded gently, "I've gotten used to life here without even realizing it."

It may not have been that great, but Aponia didn't complain at all.

"Is that so... a change in status..."

"You seem to have something on your mind," Aponia pointed out.

Is this also the 'fate' you see?

"No," Aponia shook her head, "It's just that your face is full of your thoughts."

"..."

"If you need me to, I can be a listener; that's what I do best."

Prayer and listening are the skills that Nun excel at. Aponia usually only confides in one person, but listening is something she always does, even about the "sins" and "punishments" of the "monsters" in the Deepest Place.

Eden pondered for a long time, listening to the faint creaking of her seat from the uneasy trembling of her feet. After a long pause, she slowly spoke, "In your opinion, how should wine be drunk to make it taste good?"

"... I don't know much about wine."

"The answer is that it tastes better when you drink it with others. When you drink it alone, you can only taste the flavor of the wine, but not anything else." Eden put down his glass. "It's like a record; it only has a beautiful melody when it's played on a phonograph."

"Many people, including Lin and Eri, have told me this, but I've thought a lot about whether there's anything else I can do."

"Aponia, can you see my destiny? My destiny to become Flame-Chaser?"

"You don't need to tell me, I just want someone to witness it."

Chapter 167 Fired

"Is this all the preparations you made beforehand? That's quite a lot."

The voice of that person came from behind Yan Luo's head. She was slightly surprised. "You actually managed to follow me here."

"I've locked you and him in World Bubble, what's so difficult about that?"

"..."

"However, according to the scheduled time, there are still two full years between the Eighth Honkai War and Ninth Honkai War."

"Because it's not just this place that needs to be decorated, but also myself."

"Uh... I see. You really are a madman."

Yan Luo stopped. "A madman? Compared to you, no one can be considered a madman."

"Kevin, can you control it?"

"Um."

Kevin calmly swung the blazing greatsword in his hand. The intense heat from the sword evaporated the surrounding seawater, creating a mist that even the other researchers on the ship, nearly a kilometer away, could feel the heat wave hitting them.

"The Heart Essence of the Seventh Herrscher contains about twice the amount of Honkai Energy as other Herrscher and about three times that of the First Herrscher. Even though I have tried my best to suppress the output of the core and divided it into two parts, it will still release the high-temperature Honkai Energy once I use its true power. Only Kevin can use it without any side effects."

Vill-V was dressed very casually, without her usual top hat. She wore a shirt that was a bit too big for her, which pushed up her chest, and hot pants that revealed her smooth thighs. A leg band accentuated the sexy curves of her right thigh.

"What you can control is what you have to be a weapon."

"More than those things, I want to ask something." Mei put down her pen and looked suspiciously at the oversized shirt on Vill-V. "This shirt doesn't fit you well, and if I remember correctly, it belongs to... Lin, right?"

Since Lin usually only wears one style of clothing, and considering the size of this garment, it's not difficult to determine who its original owner was.

Vill-V looked down at her shirt, which was covering almost half of her thigh, and smiled nonchalantly, "Oh, this? I saw someone stealing Lin's clothes, so I just grabbed one too."

"... Why would you steal from me?" Vill-V's tone and expression were as nonchalant as if she had casually grabbed a napkin from someone else's table.

"Well, she doesn't seem like the type of person who would steal Lin's clothes normally. And when she does steal them, she looks like she's caught doing something wrong, which I find quite amusing."

Is there any connection between these two?

"Oh, don't worry about that~" Vill-V waved her hand, and Prometheus handed her a glass of iced orange juice. She took it, took a sip, and squinted her eyes comfortably. "I usually only wear this as pajamas. The smell of Lin on the bed makes me feel at ease."

"You're starting to sound more and more like a crazy woman." Mei couldn't help but sigh and rub her forehead. Couldn't these capable people who were closest to her be a little more normal?

"That's why I said don't worry about these things. By the way, the test is over, right?"

"That's about it. We have the data, and it's even higher than I expected. As the first Divine Key, the Phoenix is already quite perfect."

"The first one? Who said the Phoenix was the first Divine Key? I was just saying that the Divine Key is the first step in conquering the Herrscher, right?"

Mei frowned and turned her head to look at the nonchalant-looking Vill-V: "What did you say?"

"Now that the Phoenix has been tested, it's time to test the [All Things Dormant] created with the core of the Fifth Herrscher." Vill-V smirked enigmatically, snapped her fingers again, and a transport plane slowly descended from above them...

Lin leaned against the gate of the massive facility that sealed the Stargate with his eyes closed. He had already searched the surrounding area and read all the investigation reports of the personnel.

The attack occurred while Hen was conducting his investigation. This timing could not be a coincidence. It would be impossible for someone to attack the Fire Moth's facilities without conducting a basic investigation and entering when there were people present.

In other words, the objective was not to invade the Stargate itself.

Who did it? What was their purpose? Ultimately, we come back to these two fundamental questions.

"What's the matter?"

While Lin was alone in this place organizing the clues, a communication interrupted his train of thought. The caller was Hen.

"It's nothing. You've been inside for a while, do you need to rest?"

"No need..." Lin paused abruptly, staring intently at a certain spot. "We'll talk about it later."

"What's wrong..."

Before Hen could finish speaking, Lin hung up the call. He quickly walked to a spot, then looked up at the ceiling.

According to Hen's description, an explosion occurred near the Stargate during the invasion, but the damage was minor. It's possible that the invaders underestimated the power of the explosion and couldn't break through the wall, leaving only this small crater.

If the intruders' goal wasn't the Stargate itself, then the explosion wasn't intended to breach the wall.

So...

Lin lightly leaped up, landing gracefully on the ceiling. He landed on it with both feet in an anti-gravity position, then hooked one hand around the edge of the crater created by the explosion, scanning the charred marks with his helmet.

Soon, Lin found what he was looking for.

He reached out and wiped his hand across a large black stain, turning his glove completely black, but revealing the original appearance of the bottom it covered.

God caused him to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, God took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in his place.

"..."

This is a sentence written in an extremely beautiful font, and its source is the Bible.

After Adam named all the animals, God realized that he lacked a partner to help him. So God made him fall asleep and took one of his ribs to create a woman, and they became husband and wife.

Why would such a sentence be left behind?

After repeatedly reciting this verse from the Bible in his mind, Lin realized the meaning behind it.

The rib taken from Adam became a woman.

The remains from the moon separated into parts that fell to Earth, possibly the first Herrscher, which corresponds to the meaning of this statement.

The intruder knows the truth about Svatogor 51, and He is conveying something in this way.

Moreover... the rib that separated from Adam became a woman. Could it be that the part of the remains that fell to Earth was also a woman?

Svatogor 51, lunar remains, female...

A flash of inspiration was about to take shape in Lin's mind. He lifted his leg to head towards the Branch 10's database when a new communication call rang out—

"Hey Lin, I got fired. Can you come pick me up?"

"..."

Lin Mo at the caller ID.

Vill-V.

Chapter 168 The Conman

"What happens?"

When Lin picked up Vill-V from the transport plane, she was nonchalantly checking the city distribution of the Mu Continent. Her suitcase containing magic props was at her feet. As soon as she saw Lin, she couldn't wait to open her arms and hug him.

However, Lin nimbly crouched down and slipped under her arm.

He crossed his arms and asked calmly.

"Didn't I tell you? I got fired." Vill-V wasn't too disappointed. She picked up her suitcase with a smile and walked out. "To be precise, I had a long vacation, so I came to the Mu Continent to relax."

"..."

Lin watched Vill-V walk into the Branch 10 and sighed.

"I know you're going to ask what happened next." Vill-V sat in the middle of the cafeteria, her exaggerated behavior drawing strange looks from the other diners, but she didn't seem to care. "Actually, the higher-ups weren't satisfied with what I made, so they halted the Divine Key project."

"..."

Vill-V spoke lightly, but the seriousness of the matter was not as trivial as she made it sound.

The Divine Key project has been in development for several years and was initiated by Mei when she first joined the Firemoth. However, it has been halted just as it was beginning.

If it's just that the first Divine Key didn't perform as expected, it's unlikely that the entire project would be halted immediately.

So there's only one other possibility: what Vill-V made far exceeded expectations.

"What do you want to do next?" Lin didn't pursue the matter further, which made Vill-V very happy.