"Then I'll leave this genius idea to you." The man stood up and solemnly saluted Delta. "Just let me have some fun with it after you build it."
"Get lost! Who wants to build something like that for you? I'm planning to go to the front lines. Why don't you figure out how to build it yourself?" Delta closed his laptop and shot the man an irritated glare.
"The front lines? But isn't your Honkai Energy Adaptability..."
"Terrible, right? I'm sick of it. Why does everyone treat that thing like the only standard?" Delta impatiently tapped the lid of his laptop. "How could I possibly hide inside this shell and do nothing but wait for news from the front? How could I sit still for that?"
Those soldiers were truly fighting for humanity. How could he cower here, clinging to life in fear of death?
To fight shoulder to shoulder with them—even if he died, he would consider this life worth it.
"Anyway, whoever wants to join the Research and Development Department can go ahead. I won't be a coward."
"..."
The man stroked his chin and stared at the disdainful Delta.
"What are you looking at?"
"Nothing. I just think it's a shame." The man smiled regretfully. "You could help more soldiers survive, yet you chose the stupidest possible way."
"What do you mean?" Delta looked at him suspiciously.
The man narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Delta, you should stay in the Research and Development Department."
"..."
"..."
"...You too?" Delta's gaze turned dark and sharp. He stared at the man who smiled all day long and spoke each word slowly. "You think I'm afraid of fighting too?"
"How could I? Honestly, you should be better at fighting than I am." The man scratched the back of his head. "But the battlefield isn't where you belong. You can't display your true talent there."
"I really envy you. You have such incredible talent for research. Soldiers can't fight without spears, and they can't protect themselves without armor. In truth, wars are wars fought by weapons makers. And you're the one who makes the spears and armor. That's why you're the one who can truly fight."
"I really... admire the clouds beneath your feet."
Delta sat silently beside the man, looking at the unfeigned yearning in his eyes.
Delta had never expected him to think that way. After all, he himself envied the man's sufficient Honkai Energy Adaptability.
The two of them should have traded lives.
"...When you put it that way, staying in the Research and Development Department doesn't sound so bad."
"Hehe, right?"
"After all, if you come to pick up equipment later, I can charge you a fortune."
"Wow, spare me. For the sake of us being friends who have shared the same pair of pants for years, at least give me a special deal once in a while."
The two sat side by side on Fire Moth's deck, talking freely about a future after Honkai—a future they fought for.
Suddenly, the man looked up and happily tugged on Delta's clothes.
"Hey! Look!"
Delta raised his head.
A clear birdsong cut across the sky.
Vision
"The anti-gravity levitation system is complete. We're already installing it on Titan and the Floating Cannon systems. Once we adjust the corresponding parameters, they'll be ready for deployment."
This was indeed excellent news. Even Lin had not expected to hear, at such a critical moment, that the most crucial Titan development had been completed.
"Hahahaha, all that work day and night wasn't for nothing." Delta spoke in a weak voice, yet his words were full of pride. "This flight device installed on Titan will be called the Delta Flight Device. What do you think? Once Titan is prepared, we can immediately begin developing an airship. Maybe one day we can realize the concept of an Aerial Base."
This was a truly era-defining technological innovation. With the anti-gravity levitation system complete, many previously restricted technologies could now be expanded and developed further.
In the face of Honkai, humanity's progress had also been remarkable. At the very least, that was something to take comfort in.
"Once you return, you can... Hm?"
Delta stopped halfway through his sentence in confusion. Lin frowned and asked, "What is it?"
"No... After I reported that Titan was complete, they replied that Titan was to be transported immediately to your mission location for its first live combat test..." Delta haltingly read out the message he had received. "Mission? What mission?"
"I'm heading toward the coast of Mu Continent. An Upper-class Honkai Beast may have appeared there."
"Oh! So that's it. Fine, wait there. I'll set out at once and bring Titan over."
"...Isn't Titan still incomplete?"
"It's fine. All that remains is parameter adjustment. The travel time, plus some time after I arrive, will be enough. It'll probably only take a dozen or so hours."
"Alright."
The other side ended the communication first. It seemed Delta wanted to use this time to make further adjustments.
Lin, does the live combat test still require the previous system settings?
Prometheus was also part of operating Titan. After the first version of Titan was improved, Neural Connection was implemented in the autonomous Titan model to achieve a massive leap in operating performance. The burden of a single person connecting to Titan alone was enough to kill someone, so AI Assistance became especially important.
Lin's ability to control Titan and perform seemingly impossible movements also relied on Prometheus helping him bear part of the load.
"Maintain them."
Understood.
"Captain, that communication just now..." After Lin fell silent once more, Hua could not help asking.
Recalling his previous experience piloting it, Lin said, "...Titan is complete. It's on its way."
"Is that so? That's great." Hua nodded, somewhat happily.
"Titan... It can greatly increase our combat strength." Immer considered more factors. "But Captain, we have no experience coordinating with Titan in battle. How should we arrange our formation?"
Not to mention that Lin would likely pilot Titan and fly through the sky using the flight device, Titan's size and firepower alone were not something ordinary soldiers could coordinate with. Fighting at his side would instead make Lin hold back.
"This is merely Titan's experimental deployment. Titan will not be deployed in every battle." Lin had naturally considered this as well. He said calmly, "For this mission, you will temporarily work with Squad Three on reconnaissance."
"Yes."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Kevin joined the communication channel.
"This is Squad One Captain Kevin." Kevin's stern voice was completely different from his usual cheerfulness. "I received an additional communication. Squad One will cooperate with Squad Seven's captain in Titan's deployment operation."
Lin gave a slight nod. "Understood."
Having Squad One cooperate... That was equivalent to having Squad One keep watch and scout for enemies, then having Titan conduct the extermination strike?
It seemed somewhat unnecessary to Lin, but he had always carried out orders strictly. Besides, Kevin would never disappoint him.
Immediately afterward, Lin connected to Squad Three Captain Hen's communication channel.
"This is Squad Seven Captain Lin."
"This is Squad Three Captain Hen. I've received the message. Personnel reassignment is needed?"
Hen and Lin had interacted little. The two handled matters in similar ways and were both more focused on their missions, but outside missions, Hen was not like Lin, who barely interacted with anyone else. He was simply more serious.
According to rumors, Hen's wife, Bianca, who had left Mobius's Laboratory, had given birth to a child recently. Unexpectedly, this man had not stayed with her for long after the child was born, yet had come to carry out this mission without a word of complaint.
"Yes."
"Alright. We'll exchange personnel after arriving at the designated location."
Everything had been arranged. It was unexpected that the objective of this operation had shifted midway into Titan's live combat exercise, but Titan's completion undoubtedly made everyone breathe easier. An increase in combat strength would be a considerable help for this mission, and no one would be unhappy about it.
Except for one person.
Lin's brow was tightly furrowed beneath his helmet. His attention had never been on Titan; instead, he was focused on the typhoon distribution map, observing the formation and spread of the wind fields.
This Honkai Energy reaction had risen slowly rather than erupting suddenly like a large-scale Honkai event. The Honkai Energy coefficient had also only remained around the limit of an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, so Fire Moth had concluded that this was merely a medium-to-large Honkai event that had produced an Upper-class Honkai Beast.
If it really was only a medium-to-large Honkai event, then these personnel were indeed enough. After all, a large-scale Honkai event had not occurred for a year and could erupt at any time, so manpower needed to be kept in reserve.
Yet Lin always felt that there was some crucial detail in this mission that had gone unnoticed.
Could a hurricane capable of shrouding an entire city for a month truly be caused by a Honkai Beast?
And if it was an Upper-class Honkai Beast, why had there been no eyewitness reports?
Lin's hand unconsciously rested on the holster of his pistol.
"Whoosh—"
A raging hurricane swept through torrential rain, eroding the human world.
Visibility had been reduced to less than ten meters. The environment was as harsh as Changkong City during the Third Honkai War.
"Although I've already read the mission briefing, seeing it in person is still shocking." Kevin and his team walked over to Lin. His expression was grave. "This is already a full-scale natural disaster. Even without Honkai, it would cause unimaginable damage to human society."
"..."
Kevin was right. Under a hurricane of this wind speed, human towns would quickly become ruins. Honkai would not even need to act.
"For now, let's begin the reconnaissance, Lin."
Lin did not reply. He moved his gaze away from the city engulfed by the wind field and looked toward the distant sea, where the hurricane drove waves of terrifying height against the shore.
Just now, he had felt an illusion.
It seemed a gaze had come from that direction.
Today's setup
Hunter's Wind
"This is... a painting?"
Among the items dropped by the monster was a picture frame completely different in style from the others. Thinking it might be another Flame-Chaser's belonging, Mei crouched down and picked it up.
Then the frenzied lines within the frame startled her.
The painting's overall colors were extremely oppressive and bleak. Its twisted, muddled lines looked as though the painter had poured ink onto the canvas in a single furious motion, filled with negative emotions that made one's heart turn cold.
It was not artistically obscure. It was pure cathartic painting.
Only after studying it carefully did Mei make out the contents. "This is... a person hanging upside down?"
Amid those horrifying colors was a person suspended upside down beneath a dim light, their hands and feet bound by chains. The person remained motionless, allowing the chains that had stripped away their freedom to hang them there. Blinding crimson blood flowed from the wounds on their hands and feet.
There was not a trace of hope. Amid the gaps in that madness, the beam of light existed only to display the prisoner's misery.
After looking for a little longer, Mei actually saw pairs of outstretched hands in the wildly lined darkness, their fingers spread hungrily and hatefully toward the person in the center...
Smack.
Mei grimly flipped the painting over.
She could not keep looking.
She had stared at it for only a moment, yet an indescribable emotion had already rushed to her head.
Whose painting was this? Or rather, whose memory had painted it?
"Proceed according to plan. Squad Three and Squad Seven will evacuate the remaining residents and investigate. Squad One and Lin will stand guard. Report immediately upon discovering an Upper-class Honkai Beast."
Under the hurricane's effects, the torrential rain was no less fierce than it had been in Changkong City during the Third Honkai War. The cyclone could uproot unstable trees and houses, making it impossible for people to walk through it.
However, having learned from the previous lesson, Fire Moth had thoroughly prepared equipment for dealing with harsh environments this time. Cutting-edge technologies such as Mini Grapplers and Improved Communication had been issued to the combat squads. Though combat was still restricted, it was a vast improvement over last time, when they could barely move and their sight and hearing were limited.
Kevin's squad had seven people in total. Including Lin, there were eight. That was enough to deal with lower-class Honkai Beasts and hold off an Upper-class Honkai Beast, so Lin skipped the less threatening areas and decided to prioritize scouting areas with high Honkai Energy concentrations.
"Kevin, orders." Lin walked through the driving rain to Kevin's side.
Kevin was confused. "Orders?"
"..."
Prompted by the gleaming visor in Lin's helmet, Kevin realized that he was the commander now. Lin and others had always filled that role before; this was the first time Kevin had been asked to assign tasks.
He frowned in thought while Lin and the other team members waited quietly.