I'm No MOTH Hero

Threat.

Lin was a reserved person, a fact Elysia emphasized repeatedly, and Mei also saw this trait in him to some extent. Once he abandoned his reserve, it meant every word he spoke was a genuine threat from the reality plane.

Mei gave up confronting him and instead asked another question: "What was that 'you' just now?"

"..." A detached gaze swept over Mei from inside the helmet. He said, "It was just an enemy simulated by the Imaginary Tree based on memories. Not just mine, but similar constructs of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers also exist."

"Why? Aren't you yourselves memory entities? Why would enemies like these clones appear?"

"Fictional enemy."

Lin said something incomprehensible, turned, and waved, signaling Mei to follow.

Fictional enemy?

Whose?

Chapter 55: Reaching the Lowest Level of MOTH, The Deepest Place

'The Deepest Place, simply put, is a detention facility used to imprison heinous criminals or difficult experimental subjects. Its existence isn't secret, and I can give you the coordinates directly, but not just anyone can enter it right now.'

'I was only responsible for the initial design and construction. I'm not sure how MOTH plans to renovate it; all my permissions have been revoked. However... the creator of a piece of equipment knows its flaws best.'

The engine's roar gradually died down. Lin, wearing only a helmet and no other gear, parked the speedboat in the island's shadow. He climbed ashore using a grappling hook, cautiously hid it, and cleaned up any traces. Then, he crouched behind a dense giant tree, peeking out to scout.

The so-called backdoor Vill-V provided was actually a transmitter designed to jam the surveillance system of the island where The Deepest Place was located. Her surveillance system was at least two tiers more advanced than MOTH's own. Therefore, generally, anyone entering the surveillance range would be scanned. However, Vill-V had specifically set a unique frequency in the system that could hide them.

So, Lin just needed to find The Deepest Place's location using the coordinates and then directly sail over with the modified speedboat.

Lin did some simple follow-up work. MOTH probably still thought he was in his room, but it wouldn't remain hidden for long. He had to return to headquarters at the latest within a day, or his superiors might discover his absence.

Whether viewed from above or at eye level, its exterior made it look like an ordinary island. According to Vill-V, she had moved the original structures underground, and the entrance would change randomly at intervals. Thus, Lin's first challenge was to find the entrance.

"Splash."

The gentle sound of the tide hitting the shore was like the bell of an ancient temple, lulling one to sleep. After a simple reconnaissance, Lin found no guards and began to move quickly around the island.

The island wasn't large, even smaller than the headquarters base, so Lin didn't take long to search the entire island.

There was no place that looked like an entrance.

Lin stopped at the center of the island, fiddling with the lower part of his helmet as he thought.

Vill-V hadn't asked for any tangible compensation. Her condition for providing help was for Lin to personally crack the various mechanisms and devices of The Deepest Place and to attach recordings of his cracking process.

Her expression in the darkness was unreadable, giving the impression of observing a variable entering a maze she had set, like an author watching a participant struggle.

Therefore, apart from the initial help, Lin received no hints about what the entrance was, which forced him to put in more effort.

"Prometheus, did you detect any hollow structures?"

[No, the vegetation on the island shows signs of artificial planting, but there are no hidden passages or underground tunnels detected.]

"..."

The artificial signs indicated Vill-V hadn't lied to him, but why couldn't he detect the entrance? Could it be that, like those bombs, it used materials that couldn't be scanned?

Lin looked up as he pondered. The midday sun hit his helmet. Without activating its light-blocking feature, Lin squinted slightly, his deep black pupils as clear and boundless as a mirror.

"'I love you, and it has nothing to do with you'..." Lin softly murmured the poem. After standing still for nearly half an hour, he lifted his leg and ran back towards where he had initially stood.

This poem was mistakenly attributed to Goethe, but its actual author was another female poet. Thinking about it carefully, this itself was a hint. He focused his attention on the island itself, believing the island was The Deepest Place, which was likely a mistake.

The Deepest Place might not necessarily be this island.

Lin returned to the coastline where he had landed. He crouched behind a fallen cliff, watching the changes in the water.

After about an hour, the sea remained unchanged, just like an hour ago. A gentle breeze blew, waves lapped the shore, indistinguishable from any other island.

Lin waited patiently. He wasn't confident that searching elsewhere wouldn't cause him to miss it, so he could only gamble that what he was waiting for was the correct location.

Fortunately, his wait was not in vain. After another hour, exactly three hours and three minutes after Lin recorded his landing, the water flow changed, and a small whirlpool appeared.

As expected, if it wasn't within the island's landmass, it must be in the deep water beneath the entire island.

[Lin, your physical condition does not support unprotected deep diving.]

Prometheus's intelligence was improving daily. In just a few days, she could already infer Lin's next actions from his behavior and issue a warning.

This time, Lin chose not to equip his power armor out of personal preference. With only a helmet, he was basically exposed. The air purification system wasn't an oxygen tube, nor did he carry diving equipment. Moreover, this was a cold water region. Naked diving could worsen his already overburdened body.

Lin tightened his sleeves, expelling as much air as possible. After taking a few deep breaths, he said, "Prometheus, record the depth."

[Understood.]

No matter how advanced Prometheus was, she was just an AI and couldn't interfere with Lin's decisions; she could only obey his will.

After taking one last breath to maintain his lung capacity, Lin took a leap and plunged into the cold, dark sea.

Drowning, struggling, difficulty breathing.

His consciousness sank into boundless darkness. Salty seawater poured into his nasal cavity, and the water pressure pressed against his fragile eardrums. Everything before his eyes seemed to be erased.

The unknown of the deep sea was always the most terrifying psychological pressure for humans.

It felt as if a giant mouth filled with inner teeth could extend at any moment and swallow him whole.

Lin had already reached the outer wall, but he still hadn't found an entrance. He had to dive deeper. The depth displayed on Prometheus's record panel had already surpassed the world record for unassisted human free diving.

When the pressure reaches a certain level, nitrogen dissolves into the blood. The greater the pressure, the higher the solubility, leading to a lack of oxygen for humans, which could ultimately cause blood vessels to rupture.

Some of Lin's body parts were glowing an unhealthy red, a sign of tiny blood vessels bursting internally.

But he remained calm, not panicking. At this point, any sign of fear would be fatal.

A glint flashed in his dark eyes, and Lin suddenly plunged into the light ahead.

"Bang!"

Lin shot out of the high pressure and back into normal atmospheric pressure. The drastic environmental change caused him to collapse onto the ground. He coughed out the last of the seawater he had inhaled. The reflection on his visor showed his sclera were filled with terrifying bloodshot veins. His left eardrum seemed to have ruptured, and the pain diminished the sounds he could hear, accompanied by occasional tinnitus. Blood seeped out from his ear.

Soon, Lin regained his composure. He stood up from the ground and glanced at the depth recorded by Prometheus, which would be very helpful for him if he ever returned to this place.

His gaze shifted forward.

A long, dark corridor, leading to an unknown destination.

Chapter 56: The Deep Sea, Work, and a Request

No patrols.

The passage was so wide that a Titan could roll around in it. Lin speculated it was designed to hold Honkai Beasts in the future, but there was no lighting. Lin had to activate his helmet's night vision to move freely within.

He ran along the corridor, his body aching faintly. Fortunately, Lin was accustomed to this level of pain, and it didn't affect his movements.

The depth and length were astonishing. Before reaching the end of this path, Lin estimated that the size of The Deepest Place far exceeded that of the headquarters base. It was hard to imagine how that woman with the slightly eccentric way of speaking managed to build a structure of this magnitude underwater.

Soon, Lin encountered his second problem.

"Still no entrance...?"

The path was bare, with no door-like structures. The end of the path was just a smooth, unmarked wall.

However, this time, Lin didn't spend much time before finding some hidden hollow structures. He just didn't know how to open them and could only stand in front of the wall and tap it carefully.

Forcing his way through was out of the question. Even if he found a way to enter normally, it would leave a record, which would be troublesome if he was investigated.

This time, Lin decided to "skip class."

"Prometheus, can you hack into the facilities here and delete the access logs?"

[Yes, the Doctor implanted a hacking system in me.]

A hacking system... As expected, Mei had considered the possibility of internal conflict among humans from the very beginning.

[However, my current computing power is insufficient to hack the entire system. I can only unlock some locks, and I cannot delete the logs.]

"..."

Less than two-thirds of the twenty-four hours remained. The longer he stayed, the higher the chance of being discovered. After much consideration, Lin decided to save time for his investigation.

"Break through this door, Prometheus. Monitor for any micro-cameras nearby."

[Understood.]

"Klein, compile this experimental data and give it to me before 18:00 today."

"Yes, Doctor."

Mobius casually placed a thick data book on the already mountainous experiment table and instructed the green-haired girl, who was diligently working with a flying pen, before taking a sip of her coffee with satisfaction.

The green-haired girl, also wearing a white lab coat, looked at the pile of files that was almost burying her, her eyes circled with fatigue, and instinctively agreed.

The scene had a distinct feel of a medieval landlord whipping a slave.

"Wow, Senior Sister Klein is taking on most of the work as soon as she arrives," Danzhu said in a low voice to Cangxuan beside her, adding a few strokes to a blank roster as if she were acting.

Although they had joined earlier than Klein, Klein's degree, her age, and her status as an alumna from the same academy were enough for them to respectfully call her "Senior Sister"... Besides, she even helped change reports, so it was best to show some respect.

Cangxuan was diligently doing data statistics, her eyes fixed on her work. She whispered, "Shh, keep your voice down. The Doctor has pushed all the work onto Senior Sister Klein today. Be careful, or she might take a disliking to you, and even a tenth of her workload will have you working overtime until tomorrow."

"Eek—"

"I wonder what the Doctor is up to today. With so much work, she'll probably be eating instant noodles in the lab again. Sigh, I kind of miss that guy with the helmet. His cooking was really good."

"Yeah, and he probably would have helped out if he were here."

"I heard he was at the Fifth Branch when it was attacked. He might be injured and recuperating now."

"You two seem to be having a great time gossiping. Do you want to help Klein with some of the work?"

Mobius's voice, tinged with a chilling coldness, appeared above their heads, scaring them so much that they didn't dare to look up and frantically continued writing. Danzhu was so nervous that she even wrote down the names of several figurines.

Mobius looked speechlessly at these two lab clowns. If the efficiency of the entire lab was currently 1, then Klein accounted for 1.5, while these two combined contributed -0.5. It wasn't that she didn't want to assign them work, but she was worried about receiving data that made her question if the experimental subjects had been swapped again.

However, she did have to go out today, and only a select few could pull her away from the lab.

She adjusted her lab coat. She had made some minor modifications to her personal lab coats, but the thought of Lin's almost unnervingly keen observation skills made her revert to wearing normal lab coats.

Walking through the corridors of the headquarters, the expressions of those who saw her were comical enough to be in a comedy. Mobius simply ignored them.

"Freak, monster, cold-blooded creature." She had heard these words countless times. Before Lin arrived, these words were used to describe her. After Lin arrived, some of these words became his exclusive terms.

After all, different people, but the same kind of oddity.

"..." Mobius wiped her face, feeling utterly bewildered.

She had actually thought for a moment that Lin might understand her feelings, reasoning that they were similar people.

No, their philosophies were completely different. With his inherent human supremacy, it was impossible for them to get along. If she had to say who might share similar views with her, perhaps it would only be...

Mobius stood before the office and knocked.

"Come in."

She pushed the door open, a playful smile gracing her lips.

"You really are quite the VIP, requiring me to come find you myself. By the way, is that little follower of yours bound to you?"

"He's a layer of insurance, and of course, there are personal reasons involved. I won't deny that." The long-haired girl picked up her glasses and put them on, nodding at Mobius. "After all, MOTH doesn't have rules against members dating."

"...Did you call me here just to talk about these things?"

"Of course not, Doctor Mobius." Mei offered a smile. "But if you'd like to chat, we can."

"..."

"Let's get down to business, Doctor Mobius. I've invited you here to prevent eavesdropping, as MOTH's attention is focused on both you and me at the highest level."

Seeing Mobius's growing impatience, Mei placed an unassuming document on the desk.

"This is the draft proposal for the 'Flame-Chaser'."

These simple words caused Mobius's expression to shift. She glanced at the document, then at the smiling Mei, and sneered, "It's already drafted this quickly? It seems the events at the Fifth Branch were even more astonishing than I imagined."

"This is the initial draft. Further improvements and changes might take years, but the biggest issue isn't how to improve it, but how to implement it."

"...I see. So that's why you called me here."

"Yes. We've encountered some minor issues, and right now, Lin is investigating the nature of these problems."