The Ninth Eruption / Emotions

When love governs everything, power ceases to exist; when power dominates everything, love disappears. The two are each other's shadows.

Rainwater converged in the air, trickling down from the helmet's visor, gathering at the feet, and flowing into the distance.

The helmeted man seemed to have known all along that Hen would be here. He was neither surprised nor angry. Everything was just as calm as when they first met, with a bittersweet feeling mixed in with the rain.

"Lin, why are people always in conflict and opposition? It's as if if there are only two people left in the world, they will risk everything to stab each other in the chest. Is there any way to resolve this?"

Hen's face was soaked. He looked like he was smiling, but the light rain distorted his expression beyond recognition.

"Turning all of humanity into orange juice would solve the problem," a muffled thud came from inside the helmet.

Hen paused for a moment, then laughed, "Is this your sense of humor?"

"..."

"Splash."

"Swish." Lin drew his knife and gun. He never imagined that his weapons would be aimed at this man, but he did not waver at all. His eyes under the helmet were numb to the point of being cold-blooded.

Hen saw Lin's actions and felt his chilling aura. For the first time, he knew what it felt like to be Lin's enemy.

But he didn't make many moves; instead, he calmly opened his chest, putting his vital organs in a dangerous position.

"Lin, you can go now." Then, he didn't stop him.

"..."

"I know Lin, you would give everything for humanity and the warriors who died for humanity. You are a person who lives in the past, so you will not tolerate any form of insult to warriors and the sacrificed." Hen spread his hands and spoke slowly, "The Fire Moth has robbed the warriors of their meaning of existence. Whom do we fight for, and for whom will we die, should be decided by ourselves."

"Griseo did not experience physical mutation after the Hypervariable Surgery, nor did she lose her senses like you. On the contrary, her color perception was enhanced, making the world more vivid for her, while she was just a blank sheet of paper, and those vivid colors could smear her at any time into something I don't want to see."

"You asked me why, and I think I can tell you now. It's because I don't want the warriors to lose their purpose, and I want Griseo to be able to live peacefully, instead of being seen as a monster by others."

"This is what I made with that person. It's very simple: I work for him, and he stops the KY Plan, which has rendered all our efforts and sacrifices so far meaningless. You are also part of it."

Lin finally figured out all the thoughts and the whole story.

Two years ago, after encountering the Stargate attack, Hen made a deal with a traitor among the High Council. In order to stop the High Council 'KY Plan, Hen secretly made preparations, while the traitor tried his best to prevent the High Council from implementing the KY Plan ahead of schedule. Lin was also a part of their plan. The words Hen left for Lin made Lin start investigating the Fire Moth and the former Fire Moth.

After accidentally encountering the Honkai Svatogor 51, they had the Gray Serpent, who was cooperating with them, convey the truth about the Honkai Impact to Lin, prompting Lin to speed up the investigation and, after learning the truth, to completely rebel against the Fire Moth.

Lin then continuously sabotaged the KY Plan's bases, slowing down the project's preparations and giving the traitors more time to prepare.

Gray Serpent is likely a two-faced individual. He not only collaborates with the traitors but also with the High Council of the Firemoth. He maneuvers between them and, from a prime viewing spot, sees the script he envisions.

The only problem is that Lin didn't believe the Honkai of Svatogor 51 that he encountered at that time was the work of the High Council who were preparing to implement the KY Plan, but rather the work of the "traitors" who cooperated with Hen.

The disaster that triggered Svatogor 51 did not benefit the High Council of the Flame Chaser; on the contrary, it only harmed them. The Flame Chaser has gradually appeared in the eyes of the world in recent years, but they clearly do not want to show themselves to the world too early and can only spend a lot of manpower and resources to cover it up.

Moreover, what made Lin completely suspicious of the Fire Moth was the Honkai of Svatogor 51.

No, that's not right. He shouldn't be called a traitor, because that person probably just wanted to monopolize the results of the KY Plan. His secret research on the Stargate and his betrayal of other High Council were all for this purpose.

"I was wrong."

"You are right."

Hen and Lin spoke at the same time. After Hen finished speaking, he looked at the calm Lin in surprise, wondering why he would say such a thing.

"You... don't you hate me? I used you, and ultimately led to this situation."

"If hatred were useful, I would hate you forever." Lin flicked his sword, put it back in its case, and walked past Hen. "Sooner or later, this day will come. As long as humans are still humans, they cannot escape self-destruction."

"And you..."

"We cannot decide others, but we can decide ourselves. If we are deprived of meaning, then we will take it back." Lin took a step forward, and the torrential rain above his head suddenly stopped. Just one step away, he stepped from the rain into the clear sky. He raised his head and looked at the sun.

As a soldier, as a hero, as himself.

It's that simple.

The waves and the beach remain unchanged; every wave is at the same height and in the same place, perfectly covering her footprints.

Delta lowered her head as the waves washed over her ankles. She looked up at the boundless sky, where the sea and sky met in a single expanse.

She kept having this dream. Vill-V said it was a normal phenomenon for Flame-Chaser, but she knew it was something that happened when she was a child, not a memory of Honkai Beast.

The swim ring rolled to her feet. She had been chasing after it, but now she could simply bend down and pick it up.

"Sister, aren't you going to pick it up?"

"..."

A blue-haired girl walked up to Delta, and behind her was the sandcastle that Delta had kicked and destroyed.

Delta inhaled the salty, sea-smelling air, pursed her lips, and smiled, "No, thank you."

"Why?" The girl leaned against her side, and Delta patted the girl's head.

Now, Delta is eighteen years old, while the girl is still the same as in my childhood memories, petite and delicate, like a rag doll.

"Because... I'm all grown up now, and I can't chase after a swimming ring like a little kid anymore. I'm your older sister, and I need to take on this responsibility."

"But my sister is still a child too."

"No, I don't have any older brothers or sisters, but I have a younger sister who is waiting for me to become her hero."

Delta smiled and crouched down, radiating brilliance before the girl.

The girl smiled and nodded emphatically.

"Yes, sister—"

"Howl!"

Delta roared in anguish, raising her sword amidst tears and rain, towards the monster who had once been her sister.

Chapter 229 The Ninth Honkai War

"Didn't stop MSA-079? Hmph, no problem, I expected it. That man couldn't bring himself to do it." The man loosened his tie and stood in Stargate, ordering the others who had taken over, "Set the activation point to the coordinates of MSA-079."

"Activate? Now?" One of the people with wings on their backs glanced at him with an ambiguous look.

"Yes, now," the man replied impatiently.

These people were not entirely his subordinates; many of them were former subordinates of the Speaker. After the Speaker's death, they continued to operate in secret as remnants of the Speaker's forces. Hen contacted them through Qianqi and successfully reached a cooperation agreement.

The man needs to absorb the fruits of the KY Plan alone, while the other High Council are his enemies. The remnants of the Speaker's faction need to break the flawed system of the Moth Chaser and punish the High Council, which is why the two can hit it off.

But the man did not tell the remnants of the Speaker his true purpose; he only stated that he also wanted to sanction other High Council.

"Hen is your subordinate, isn't he?"

"He's not..."

"Oh, everyone, some of you look familiar, and some you don't." At that moment, a pink-haired girl swaggered in as if she were entering her own home, waving to the man and the other person she was talking to. "Isn't this Mr. Skye? As High Council, why are you near the Branch 10 and the Stargate? Did you run out of snacks at home and come out to find something to eat? Or are snacks not enough to satisfy your appetite?"

"CM-002... How did you get in?" The man narrowed his eyes, staring at the smiling girl as if facing a formidable enemy.

"I do have a name~ I prefer people to call me by my name rather than a number. After all, girls with nice names want more people to know them." Elysia tilted her head, then pretended to be confused as she looked at another person. "And this one, if I remember correctly, is Sigma? You disappeared after the Speaker died. Have you been lost for all these years?"

The atmosphere in the management office became heavy with Elysia's arrival. Even though she was lively and cute, as bright as crystal, it only made people feel that they could only see their own ugly reflection in the crystal.

"Oh! I remember now!"

Elysia clapped her hands and smiled like a blooming flower—

"Sigma, you were one of the Speaker's subordinates, weren't you? Back then, the Speaker betrayed the Flame Chaser, and you participated in the Cleansing Incident, including the riot at headquarters. So, Mr. Skye, what were you and this former Flame Chaser and traitor planning near the important Stargate? Or... have you already done something?"

Elysia pointed to the people behind the control panel that manipulated the Stargate, and the Stargate itself, which had clearly been activated.

She smiled beautifully; there were probably few girls in the world with such natural and gentle beauty who could rival her. But precisely because of this, they found this girl, who became Flame-Chaser only after Kevin, incredibly terrifying.

It's like a brightly colored flower in full bloom, but the dust is full of toxins.

The man's palms were sweaty; he couldn't let himself show weakness. "Sigma, kill her."

One aspect of the cooperation is that the man will provide Sigma with the technology of Flame-Chaser. Even though the Speaker opposed the Flame-Chaser project at the beginning, now that the Firemoth has Flame-Chaser that can rival Honkai Beast and even Herrscher, it is unrealistic for them to fight against them.

Sigma himself was the first volunteer to try out the Hypervariable Surgery.

Elysia looked curiously at Sigma, whose body showed obvious signs of mutation. "Should we fight?"

Sigma took a deep breath and then uttered an unexpected word. "No."

"What did you say!" The man looked at Sigma in shock and anger, not expecting Sigma to betray him at this moment. "Don't you want to..."

Don't misunderstand.

"Smack."

The man's vision went black as he found himself dangling in the air, a tremendous force gripping his neck so tightly he couldn't breathe. Sigma's eyes flashed with a cold light, like a ferocious beast, and a murderous intent and the smell of blood emanated from him.

"What did you promise? What are you going to do? The coordinates of MSA-079 are in the city. Do you want me to open the rift in the city? You kept saying that the last Svatogor 51 was an accident. Now it seems that it wasn't, right?"

After Sigma finished speaking, he threw the man toward Elysia and stared coldly at the man who was coughing while clutching his neck.

The signs of old age and weakness accentuated the man's ugliness.

Sigma and his remaining forces were opposed to the tendencies and plans of the Firemoth's High Council. To them, attacking the Firemoth and attacking ordinary people were two completely different concepts.

Moreover, he had already sensed the man's true intentions and felt like he was being used; now, it was simply exposed.

"He's in your hands now," Sigma said to Elysia was smiling but not speaking, before raising his hand and waving it.

His men immediately subdued the man's men in the control room, disarmed them, and tied them up. The whole process took less than half a minute.

After watching them efficiently complete everything, Elysia was led past her by Sigma: "Huh? They're just leaving like that?"

"What needed to be done has been done, but you still have things to do. I have no objection to starting the fight now, but neither you nor I should aim to completely destroy the Firemoth." Sigma was completely different from the man he was at the ball. He was irritable, impulsive, and easily angered back then, but time had washed away all that, leaving only a sense of vicissitude. "I just didn't expect MSA-079 to live so long. I thought he was long dead."

Elysia smiled and said, "His name is Lin."

"... I know, Elysia."

At that very moment, at this unexpected time, no one had anticipated it.

The alarm, absent for two years, sounded sharp and piercing, as if celebrating this chaotic party.

"Kevin, Atra is showing signs of Herrscher reaction. It is suspected that when the Stargate opened, a large amount of Honkai Energy from the Quantum Sea entered the Intrinsic World, leading to the birth of the Ninth Herrscher."

Mei's unusually urgent tone made Kevin's hand holding the sword tremble. He cleaved the beam of light aimed at him with a single strike, took two steps back, and stared at the gap in the outer wall flashing an urgent alarm. A long-winged monster, a dark purple color, like one from mythology that blots out the sky, was visible. What he could see was only the tip of the iceberg of this monster.

This colossal creature from the Quantum Sea is roughly the same size as the Aerial Base of the Firemoth's headquarters.

"I understand. Tell Su to go provide support immediately. I'll go after I take care of this Honkai Beast."

He inhaled the metallic, bloody smell of his own ruptured alveoli, mixed with the stench of burning air.

Chapter 230 Emotions

"Alarm..."

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Hen finally came to his senses. His expression changed drastically as he looked at the helmeted man who had also stopped.

A massive Honkai that gave birth to the Herrscher? At this moment?

"..."

Lin activated his detector without saying a word, but there was no large-scale Honkai Energy reaction nearby.

Could it be...?

"It's still quite a distance from here to Atra." Hen blocked Lin's way at this moment. His expression was somewhat unpleasant, but he remained relatively calm. "I came here to pick you up. Get in the car."

"Can you get in touch with the High Council you're working with? Have him contact the other High Council to arrange a temporary ceasefire."

"I'll give it a try."

Einstein was in front of her computer issuing orders to all the Armed Puppet under her control, and to stop all the large-scale weapons of mass destruction used in this incident.

Especially the Stargate. She never expected that a teleportation device could be transformed into a monster transport device for attack. Moreover, such a device would leave behind a large amount of Honkai Energy after it was activated. She hadn't even reacted to the Honkai energy from the last Svatogor 51 Honkai. Now it seems that the Honkai Energy was probably suppressed in one place.

Add to that the Honkai Energy this time... when quantitative change leads to qualitative change, the severity of the resulting events is incomparable.

"Waaah————"

"Alarm?"

Einstein jolted awake and looked up at the flashing red warning light above his head.