Ms. Firefly's Happy Vacation

From Mercy's Bane Swarm King, Jiang Qiao learned the origin of the Glamoth Iron Cavalry.

Their essence was, in fact, a type of 'Swarm evolved specifically to counter the Swarm.'

Their humanoid appearance made them more acceptable and easier for the Glamoth Council to control.

And the so-called "Entropy Loss Syndrome," viewed by many as something akin to an anti-tampering failsafe, was actually just a byproduct.

The initial purpose of Entropy Loss Syndrome was merely to sever any possibility of the Swarm controlling the Glamoth Iron Cavalry and to conceal the true nature of this technology.

"No wonder... the Council came to fear the Glamoth Iron Cavalry..."

[Firefly] touched her chin, a look of understanding dawning.

He had previously been baffled by the Glamoth people's decision to actively destroy and seal away the Iron Cavalry technology.

After all, as a genetic engineering project, if the Iron Cavalry were truly Glamoth's 'consumables,' their 'bullets,' as originally intended, then from the perspective of Entropy Loss Syndrome, the Glamoth Republic had no reason to abandon such a powerful weapon.

Keep in mind, many factions in the galaxy coveted this technology.

But if everything Mercy's Bane shared was true...

Then it all made sense.

Because the Glamoth Iron Cavalry were fundamentally 'insects born to exterminate insects,' once the Swarm disaster ended, they, also being 'insects,' naturally needed to disappear as well.

Especially since the Glamoth Republic itself probably never fully mastered the technology; it was merely an application derived from a Swarm King lineage of [Mercy's Bane].

To prevent this uncontrollable power from becoming a threat, sealing the technology became the logical course of action.

But none of this mattered to Mercy's Bane Swarm King.

"The Iron Cavalry... are all... children."

The gentle voice carried a hint of certainty.

Although the Iron Cavalry, as Glamoth's creations, weren't personally bred by it; although they were born enemies of the Swarm; although the Glamoth people used 'Entropic Dissolution' to sever their connection to the Swarm...

To Mercy's Bane Swarm King, the 'evolutionary' branch, it still saw them as its own kin, its blood relatives.

"My... life... is nearing its end."

"Oh, Emperor... I wish to entrust those offspring to you."

"Setting aside whether I accept the title of Emperor, are you sure you want to entrust your descendants, those Swarm, to a Glamoth Iron Cavalry?" The silver-haired girl sighed, holding up the firefly-shaped transformation device.

Mercy's Bane showed no concern, stating with conviction:

"You will accept. Because they... are kin."

"Why are you so certain?"

"Because the Path of Propagation... cannot tolerate loneliness."

"..."

Hearing this answer, [Firefly], feeling the yearning from this body, curled her lip slightly.

"An uninteresting reason."

Uninteresting, perhaps, but true.

While this reason meant nothing to Jiang Qiao himself, for this body, [Firefly], at this moment—the power that erupted when its bloodline was severed and it faced isolation, the power that extended to the present—it indeed belonged to [Propagation].

And the greatest weakness of the Path of Propagation is its inability to endure solitude.

Then again, in this universe, aside from a few extremely rare individuals and the lofty Aeons, how many living beings could truly endure loneliness?

The power of Pathstriders comes from their will to follow their Path.

It also comes from the 'heart' beating within their chest.

---||---

Chat Group

Jiang Qiao: @Firefly.

Firefly: Eh? I'm here! What's up?

Undoubtedly, Ms. Firefly was currently having a blast in the Elysian Realm. Although the Flame-Chasers there had rather... distinct personalities, perhaps because she was under Elysia's protection, or for some other reason, most of them treated her quite kindly.

This even included the notoriously difficult-to-approach Kalpas.

Though Kalpas maintained his intimidating, keep-away aura, Ms. Firefly saw right through him, recognizing that this seemingly grumpy—and actually quite grumpy—hothead was surprisingly similar to herself.

Of course, not in the grumpy department—Firefly would never admit she shared common ground with Kalpas regarding temper.

Maybe just the violence... no, definitely not! After all, wearing the SAM armor was one thing, but right now, Firefly was happily vacationing in the Elysian Realm.

Throw away all those weird images!

But, undoubtedly, Kalpas' desire for 'a home' resonated with Firefly's longing for companionship.

Thus, the two got along reasonably well.

Besides Kalpas, there was also Kevin...

In short, Ms. Firefly navigated interactions with the supposedly difficult Flame-Chasers in the Elysian Realm with surprising ease.

This made Elysia, who considered herself the 'expert buddy-buddy teacher' of the Realm, extremely proud.

Currently, Firefly was at Pardofelis's stall, playing with Can.

Yes, very happy!

After all, Firefly previously never had the chance to interact with creatures like cats and dogs—mostly due to lack of opportunity.

Upon receiving Jiang Qiao's message, the happy Ms. Firefly panicked slightly.

What what? Could it be that 'vacation time' was over, and she had to go back to being a tin can?

Having seemingly learned the art of leisure from the cats, Ms. Firefly looked at the message with trepidation, as if facing a debt collector.

Jiang Qiao: I ran into a bug over here.

What? A bug?

Seeing those words, Ms. Firefly reacted as if a keyword had been triggered, subconsciously wanting to pull out her transformation device and start igniting the seas.

Ah... Jiang Qiao was using the [Firefly] body right now. Never mind then.

Firefly: A bug... just exterminate it.

She offered an extremely simple and easy-to-understand solution—her own standard operating procedure.

When in doubt, punch it twice. Oh, it's a bug? Better add a couple more punches!

Though currently unemployed, Ms. Firefly still remembered the standard procedures of her old job by heart.

Jiang Qiao: Uh, actually, I was thinking of saving this one.

Firefly: Eh?

Save a bug?

This keyword was definitely outside Ms. Firefly's realm of knowledge.

She only knew bugs were for killing; she'd never considered saving one... Glamoth military regulations didn't mention that, either.

Oh, wait, maybe they did... Something about contacting the Swarm leading to immediate court-martial.

Though that rule was never enforced.

But that didn't matter anymore; she was long unemployed, why worry about professional ethics?

Firefly: Um... you should do whatever you want, don't worry about my feelings. Just make your own decision.

Firefly: Sorry, I've got something to take care of here, so... um... yeah! No need to tell me!

With that, Ms. Firefly hastily used the chat group's newly implemented log-off function.

Honestly, she didn't mind chatting with Jiang Qiao, but well... Firefly was always a little worried that if they talked too long, he might want to switch back...

Really, really, it wasn't that she didn't want to switch back... it's just that this body felt so comfortable... and there were so many things here she'd never experienced before...

"Meow~"

Uuu, so cute~

---||---

Unaware of Firefly's situation, Jiang Qiao could only marvel at her haste.

He found it a bit strange that someone could be busy in a place like the Elysian Realm, but it didn't matter.

He originally thought saving a bug might be strange for an Iron Cavalry, so he wanted to ask the body's owner for her opinion. But now... hmm, it seemed she had no objections, and the feeling from this body resonated similarly. In that case... then...

The silver-haired girl made up her mind. Looking at Mercy's Bane Swarm King before her, she slowly extended her hand.

Amidst the creature's confusion.

The authority over Life and Death began its work.

Just like the authority of Truth, the powers from that world weren't weakened or outdated in the Honkai Star Rail universe—look at Welt Yang, that half-baked user.

And the authorities Jiang Qiao had fused and sublimated were even more potent.

With sufficient energy supply, in certain aspects, he was even more versatile than most Emanators.

Like now.

...Analyzing the Destruction power from Zephyro... its presence not only severely damaged Mercy's Bane's body but also suppressed its ability to recover, furthermore incinerating the Swarm King's 'entropy'—or, more vividly put, its very origin/source.

Logically, this should have been fatal. Even Mercy's Bane itself felt it was beyond saving and was prepared to quietly wait for death.

But Jiang Qiao used the power of the Propagation Path, originating from the same source as Mercy's Bane, to dispel the Destruction power. Then... looking at the hollowed-out state of Mercy's Bane, he devised a solution.

Since its entropy was gone, he just needed to fill the gap with something else.

Thus, he took out the Cocoon and used a portion of its 'existence' to fill Mercy's Bane's void.

The tampering with its genetic blueprint also affected Mercy's Bane Swarm King's physical form.

This process took a long time.

---||---

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the underground factory.

Silver Wolf was sullenly passing the time with games.

Although she played single-player games, after playing with Ms. [Firefly], Ms. Silver Wolf seemed to have become accustomed to her presence. Playing alone now, while still possible, felt somewhat dull.

At times like these, she'd want to pull [Firefly] in to play together, and Jiang Qiao usually wouldn't refuse.

But right now, that clearly wasn't an option.

What annoyed Silver Wolf even more was the bug hanging around...

Though from an insect's perspective, or even a human's, this firefly was actually quite pretty.

But a bug is a bug... and a bug that stopped her from going inside with her buddy was a bad bug!

She disliked the firefly, and the firefly certainly disliked her.

However, the thing this human was playing seemed quite interesting...

Hovering behind Silver Wolf, the firefly watched the game she was playing with keen interest through its beautiful compound eyes.

Sensing it, Silver Wolf deliberately used her body to block the view. The firefly just moved around her.

After a bit of this back-and-forth, the annoyed Ms. Silver Wolf simply twisted her little body around, creating a perfect, no-blind-spot blockage. Hmph, I won't let you watch!

"Hmph, petty!" the firefly's thought echoed.

Though tempted to snatch the game and teach this small human a lesson, the firefly restrained itself.

So what if you won't let me watch? What's the big deal?

Of course, she was still peeking, using her Swarm King's Guard abilities.

Perhaps due to frustration, Ms. Silver Wolf made a mistake, and her screen went black. The firefly immediately let out a mental chuckle.

And offered an evaluation:

Noob!

Hmm, humans seemed to use that word to mock others.

"Hah!?"

Silver Wolf instantly snapped.

Even a bug dared to mock the great Silver Wolf?

Come here! Watch me tear off that glowing light bulb of yours and use it as a flashlight!

"Hmph!"

Like I'm scared of you!

Just as the tension between the girl and the bug reached its peak, they both suddenly sensed something and looked up towards the sky simultaneously.

"Unidentified outsiders," the firefly thought.

"...That logo, it's an IPC starship." The girl and the bug reacted differently. Silver Wolf casually did a quick search, looking puzzled. "Those IPC guys who won't lift a finger without profit, what are they doing on this busted planet?"

"Should we go check?" the firefly guard mentally asked, likely relaying to its recovering King.

"The King said... I must guard this place, let no one enter."

"Tch, is there anyone else here besides us?" Silver Wolf scoffed.

"Whatever, suit yourself. Go or don't go, I'm going to see what these guys are up to."

With that, Silver Wolf vanished using Aether Editing.

The firefly glanced back at the entrance, hesitated for a moment, then also flew off, wings beating.

---||---

Outside the landed starship, a group of Interastral Peace Corporation employees in protective suits were clearly visible.

They were chattering amongst themselves:

"Hey, why did we have to come to this godforsaken place?"

"This was the capital of the Glamoth Republic, you know? The Glamoth Republic?"

"Tch, who doesn't know? But isn't that nation long gone? Look, this capital planet is wrecked. Check the environmental readings... even grass can't grow... damn, there are actually natives still here?"

"Is it strange there are natives?"

"Didn't you know? The Intelligentsia Guild tagged this planet as dead, incapable of supporting life. The civil war back then wiped everyone out."

"Huh? So unlucky... Seriously, why did the higher-ups send us here?"

"I heard some inside info. Word is, Mr. Osvaldo recently caught a few former council members from the Glamoth Republic. Maybe there's some incredible treasure hidden on this planet, that's why they sent us."

"The planet's destroyed like this, how could there still be treasure?"

"Tell me about it, right? But that's what the bosses said, so us grunts just have to follow orders."

"You, you, what are you talking about? Whispering during work hours, watch out or I'll dock your performance points!"

The noisy chatter of the IPC personnel reached Silver Wolf's ears, making her sneer.

"Tch, so it's the Strategic Investment Department."

Though new to the wider universe, as a frequent netizen, Ms. Silver Wolf was already well-aware of the notorious reputation of the head of the IPC's Strategic Investment Department.

"Looks like they're heading towards Wolsong..."

"But marching in so openly like this... those beasts are gonna give these IPC folks a real hard time." Having been hassled by those creatures herself, Ms. Silver Wolf felt a bit of schadenfreude, looking forward to seeing the IPC stumble.

However...

The IPC team leader, upon discovering the presence of numerous hostile life forms on the planet and judging conventional clearing methods inefficient...

Activated the starship's systems...

Silver Wolf watched curiously, wondering what they intended to do.

Then she saw it in the system interface, warming up: an 'anti-biological weapon' capable of efficiently killing only living beings without damaging anything else.

Note attached: Very economical.