The World Six Months Later / The Tenth Herrscher's Attack

Without affirming or denying, Mobius would probably have denied it without hesitation in the past, but now she just glanced at Klein indifferently and said nothing.

What difference does it make if I want to? What difference does it make if I don't?

Can you bring that idiot back just by wanting to? Can you ignore his death just by not wanting to?

"Doctor... Mr. Lin would definitely not want to see you like this. He used to say that you did many things that others dared not do, but had to do, bearing the blame. He admires you very much... he would definitely hope that you can look forward..."

"Klein."

"Yes."

Am I stagnating?

"...No."

Mobius has continued her research over the past six months, and many groundbreaking advancements are her achievements.

Mobius chuckled knowingly, "So, to look forward, you have to forget him? Klein, you still don't quite understand that guy's personality. He's someone who can't get rid of the past. Every victim has left a mark on him, but he just keeps moving forward while carrying all of that."

Klein was taken aback.

"But chatting with you has really made me feel better. Please continue chatting with me for a while longer."

"But Doctor, I haven't gone to sleep yet..."

"Then I won't sleep."

Chapter Sixty-One: The World Six Months Later

"Chrono, do not act rashly."

"Tch, I don't need your guidance. You should mind your own business first."

"..."

A pink-haired girl with long, thin animal ears walked coldly among the collapsed houses. Her indifferent purple eyes swept over these things that had suffered innocent damage in the battle, but a trace of emotion different from her indifference could not help but flash across them.

Currently, Poisoned Cocoon is carrying out a mission in the Far East. After the Ninth Honkai War, the scale of Poisoned Cocoon expanded to the level of an ordinary squad. She, Chrono, and Immer, who was requested to be assigned by Chrono, are working together to clear an A-level Honkai area.

Since the KY incident, the Poisoned Cocoon has no longer been under the control of the High Council, but has been directly under Mei's command. Their mission objectives have also shifted from focusing solely on the internal human population to addressing issues that are more challenging and troublesome for other teams.

For example, this cleanup mission could have been handled by a regular squad, but there are some... targets that are different from the Honkai.

Immer carefully surveyed the surroundings. He was responsible for the non-combat role in this three-person team. Soon, he had his answer and stopped in front of a thick layer of ruins.

"... The mission objective should be below."

Immer has also changed quite a bit in the past six months. His originally short hair has grown quite long due to his unkempt appearance, and he has become much more aloof. His already quiet personality has become even more withdrawn.

Chrono wore a sinister ghost mask. He had many masks, but this one was his favorite to wear when doing missions. He looked at Ying with a cold smile, "Will you do it or should I?"

"... It doesn't matter."

"Snort."

Sakura and Immer took a few steps back. Chrono smashed open the ruins and lifted the ground, revealing a passage leading underground.

He walked into the underground passage, and then screams came from the bottomless passage. Sakura and Immer stood silently in place, waiting for the noise symbolizing the life cup being devoured to end.

"Monsters... monsters! You monsters who chase fire moths! Ah—"

"..."

It came to an abrupt end.

Clear raindrops fell on the tips of Sakura's beast ears. She covered her beast ears with the hood on her back, put the headphones around her neck on her human ears, and ran her fingers over the earphone shells. Her purple eyes were filled with turbidity.

Monster...

"Hmph, what? You're going to care about the wailing of a bug that gets trampled to death?"

Sakura looked up and saw Chrono, covered in blood, walking out of the passage. Blood was dripping from his mask and being washed away by the rain, but the smell of blood seeped into the mask and could not be dispelled.

He casually flicked away the remaining skin and blood clots from his hand and sneered, "When that person was alive, he comforted you countless times, telling you not to care about these scumbags' gossip, but you never listened. It's even more so after he died. It seems he wasn't very important to you."

"..."

"Why don't you go to the cemetery and visit Henhe after you get back to headquarters..."

"Chrono, isn't that enough?"

It was Immer who spoke up to stop him. His fierce gaze pierced through the rain and fixed on Chrono's mask. The latter snorted coldly and did not continue his sarcasm.

As the rainwater touched Chrono's skin, it produced wisps of white smoke and the sound of evaporation. He clenched his fist and passed by Ying, his hoarse voice seeming to expel the scorching heat from his chest. "Instead of spending all day in boring self-doubt and reminiscing, why not enjoy the screams of those scoundrels who caused their deaths before they die?"

Kevin sat at the very back of the transport plane, silently leaning back in his chair, his hands tracing the treads of the pistol.

His teammates sat listlessly a little distance away from him. After all, the temperature around Kevin wasn't very comfortable for anyone to stay for long. Some of the newer teammates looked curiously at the rusty pistol in his hand, wondering why he would carry a pistol that wouldn't turn on.

However, the members of the Squad One who had been following Kevin were used to this. They quietly explained to the new member, but Kevin didn't seem to care.

Frost covered the metal casing of the pistol, and his pupils were reflected in it.

Over the course of six months, human society has undergone tremendous changes. After the population plummeted by one-sixth, social order collapsed entirely. The darkness that had been abandoned by humanity broke free of its confinement and returned to the human race. Religion, riots, suicides... Even without a complete Honkai, the losses suffered by humanity in the past six months are no less than those of a major Honkai.

The Moth of Fire had no choice but to step in and take control, bringing most of the area under its jurisdiction and establishing a new management system with the army through harsh measures.

However, the scope of jurisdiction is ultimately limited, and some areas remain in a state of anarchy and chaos. Many people thrive in this environment. In the normal world, they may be ordinary, but in a world without any moral or rule constraints, they seem to have found a meaning to their existence.

They even felt that the Honkai was a blessing from heaven.

In this situation, the appearance of the Tenth Herrscher exacerbated the chaos. Unlike all the Herrscher that had appeared before, their individual combat strength was comparable to that of a typical Flame-Chaser, but they were able to perfectly hide among humans, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Moth of Fire even suspects that the Tenth Herrscher has a special way of communicating, and that their actions, even when they are on opposite sides of the earth, can be coordinated and covered to a certain extent.

Now, Kevin is leading the Squad One to an uncontrolled area. According to intelligence, there are witnesses of the Tenth Herrscher who have discovered that a large number of Herrscher are hiding in this area.

The transport plane landed, Kevin jumped off the still-unstable plane. He landed on the ground and his cold eyes scanned his surroundings. The dirty streets, the furtive pedestrians, the sour smell—everything about the place was contrary to "normal".

Many eyes, hidden in the shadows, cursed under their breath and hid even deeper when they spotted the Moth of Fire symbol on the transport plane.

Kevin noticed the fearful yet disgusted looks in their eyes, but he ignored them. This wasn't the Squad One's job; if May felt it necessary, she would send the Poisoned Cocoon to carry out the mission.

"CT-1, CT-2, CT-3, carry out the mission as planned."

Kevin gave simple instructions, and the members of the Squad One, armed with weapons, quickly split into three groups and entered the chaotic "cave" to take control of each area. Then he led the rest of the men inside.

The witness only gave a brief report to Moth Chaser, without going into details, and some parts were quite vague, requiring him to confirm them personally.

This forced him to be on guard.

"Bang!"

Chapter Sixty-Two: The Attack of the Tenth Herrscher

A sudden explosion rang out in the southeast. Kevin reacted with lightning speed, turning around to shield one of the team members who was unaware of what was happening. Frost spread from his feet, forming an ice wall around him.

"Bang! Bang!"

Bullets rained down on the ice wall. Kevin kept an eye on the safety of his teammates behind him and contacted the other squads in the sealed-off area.

"CT-1, CT-2, please respond and report the situation."

"..."

There was only a busy tone in the communication, but there were gunshots from a distant battle, so the communication could only have been cut off.

Manipulating electromagnetic fields...

After a brief moment of disorientation following the attack, the team members immediately launched a counterattack. It was impossible to tell whether the people firing shots around them were human or Herrscher, but the cold-bloodedness in their eyes was exactly the same.

Kevin took a step back, preparing to charge through the hail of bullets. Once he defeated the Tenth Herrscher, the rest would be nothing more than...

"Boom!"

Then, the explosion occurred right beneath his feet.

"Operation over. The Squad One has defeated all the Herrscher, and some special Herrscher are en route."

No one cheered in the command room. Mei approached the communicator, turned it on, and said to Kevin, "Squad One, return to base. The rest are to be handled by the Poisoned Cocoon squad."

"...yes."

Vill-V, who wasn't wearing a top hat, stood calmly to the side. After May nodded in acknowledgment, they left the command room.

"The Squad One suffered over 43% casualties. Considering Kevin's abilities, the losses are too heavy." Vill-V seemed like a completely different person, her expression indifferent as she summarized with a rational tone.

No, it's a different person. She's not the conductor or magician we usually see, but an "expert."

"The Tenth Herrscher only possesses incomplete Herrscher abilities, but her individual combat capabilities and control over those abilities far surpass those of ordinary Flame-Chaser." May pushed up her glasses and said with equal coldness, "A suitable combat plan is needed."

"It has been confirmed that there is a 'quantum entanglement' communication method among the Tenth Herrscher. Before this mission, all communications of the Firemoth headquarters were closely monitored, and it can be confirmed that they could not be leaked through physical means." Vill-V sighed. "There are also unconfirmed Tenth Herrscher in the headquarters."

It's the same situation again: moles, betrayals, leaks... only the roles have changed from humans to Herrscher.

It's impossible to find the whereabouts of other Herrscher by using the captured Tenth Herrscher. The first Tenth Herrscher captured woke up after being dissected and then took his own life. After that, all Herrscher who were about to be captured would choose to commit suicide.

They are spies who are more professional than humans.

"Should we find the Tenth Herrscher at headquarters first?"

"...No."

Mei handed a storage device to Vill-V. They didn't exchange any further words or even glances. After this almost imperceptible act, they went their separate ways at the end of the road.

"Science... Demon..."

Accompanied by intense tinnitus and pain, the scene before my eyes was covered by a blurry grid, and I heard anxious and sharp calls intermittently, but my confused brain could not identify where they came from.

In front of me, there was a person I couldn't see clearly, swaying, her mouth open as she spoke urgently in a way I couldn't understand at all.

Then, a powerful melody exploded in my mind!

"Kosma!"

"Whoosh!"

Kosma took a deep breath, rolled over and sat up, propping himself up and breathing heavily.

He sat on the stretcher, looking around at the paramedics and the tearful Dessidobia, bewildered. In the distance, the still-burning ruins seemed to bring something back to his aching brain.

They seemed to be on a mission, and then...

Attacked, a sonic boom at close range, and a person crackling with electricity rushes out...

"Were we... attacked by the Tenth Herrscher?" Kosma wiped the liquid flowing from his ear, the bright red blood making him realize what had happened to him.

Dessidobia wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, her lips trembling slightly as she said, "Kosma, you pushed me away and then knocked down one of the Herrscher."

They were attacked on their way to the mission location. They never expected to be ambushed and attacked by Herrscher. Dessidobia almost died on the spot. Fortunately, Kosma reacted in time and stubbornly killed one of the Herrscher before losing consciousness.

After examination, Kosma's body was found to be fine. Thanks to the Flame-Chaser's strong physique, he only suffered a ruptured eardrum and some external injuries. He just needs to go back to headquarters for repairs and rest.

Lying inside the transport plane, Kosma stared blankly at the ceiling, while Dessidobia leaned wearily beside him. After Kosma fainted, she single-handedly blocked three Herrscher.

"... The Tenth Herrscher, how annoying."

Kosma rarely speaks so bluntly, but this time he used the word "hateful" to describe it directly.

"Yes," Dessidobia said with a wry smile, "It's so annoying...it feels like another betrayal..."

Having experienced two internal conflicts among the Fire Moths, they were weary of humanity's infighting, each time resulting in loss, and each time unable to change anything.

For Dessidobia, the first purge took away the original Squad Five, while the second KY Plan took away Hen, Lin, Einstein, and many other people she knew...

This topic was too heavy. Dessidobia noticed Kosma's silence and sighed inwardly.

Scar is no less important to Kosma than Kevin is to Kevin. Kevin is Kosma's role model, while Scar is the one who guides Kosma in the right direction.

Kosma clumsy with words, and if he continued to remain silent, he would probably only sink into grief. He could only ask Dessidobia to change the subject.

"I've heard that the Tenth Herrscher can be born around us at any time. Maybe one of us is already the Tenth Herrscher," she joked.

"Ah... um, no way." Kosma paused for a second, then understood what she meant and gave a forced smile. "If Dessidobia became the Tenth Herrscher, I would definitely recognize her in an instant."

"You're the one who's wrong. I can absolutely tell if Kosma's wooden head has changed."

"Dessidobia made a casual remark."

Their light laughter broke the heavy atmosphere.

That's good. Despite the constant loss, life and living must go on. Just cherish those around you who haven't been lost, and that's enough.