The [Spiderweb]

"I know," Shu said. "I know these children are… a burden to transport. It's alright. I have a way."

The infirmary, despite the crowded beds, wasn't a large room. Shu estimated there were about fifty children. There were supposed to have been over a hundred.

He was prepared to use his power, even if it meant expending half his accumulated [hope]. He would get these children back.

The gene modification equipment – Otto could certainly describe it, and thus he could provide it.

The gene sequences – Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical was nearby, and he could get in.

Restoring the gene locks – he could do that.

If he had a chance to save them all… why wouldn't he try?

Even if… it wasn't a practical solution.

No… it was practical. For every single one of these children.

"But…" Natasha began. She hadn't told Shu about the children precisely because she didn't think Fire Moth would take them.

Her own hesitation about joining stemmed from these children, these seemingly lost causes. She'd planned to wait until all hope was truly gone, until there were no children left, before deciding what to do.

But now, Fire Moth—no, this squad leader, Shu—was saying he'd take them all?

Take these children, who would consume vast resources and medicine? Was he joking?!

Natasha's first thought was that these children would become research subjects, experimented on.

Why else would Shu take them? He couldn't actually intend to save them, could he?!

What kind of saintly organization was Fire Moth?

"Nata." Vakh stopped her. Natasha turned, confusion written on her face. He shook his head.

"Where in Heliopolis are the children's original gene sequences stored?" Shu asked Vakh.

"In the main database, three floors underground," Vakh replied.

He rummaged through a drawer, pulling out a sleek, black hard drive. "This is a data-stealing device from Future City, acquired through the Spiderweb. It has a built-in hacking system. Just plug it into the database interface, and it will copy everything. It can bypass any security measures, any firewalls. You can hack into Heliopolis's system from any access point."

Shu took the drive. It was cold to the touch, no larger than two fingers.

"Heliopolis's network is still functional?" He examined the device, turning it over in his hands. "And this thing works even if the power is out?"

Vakh didn't answer. Natasha chuckled dryly. "You don't seem familiar with the Spiderweb. Are you even really part of Fire Moth?"

Shu hesitated, but Natasha continued, "Actually… you don't seem like the type to be involved with the Spiderweb. It's too… dirty for someone as… pure as you."

"I imagine Ural Silver Wolf handles the Web stuff for your squad? That little girl is pretty famous on there."

So she knew Bronya…

Shu nodded stiffly.

Natasha shrugged, a knowing look on her face.

"The Spiderweb is still up and running. It's even better than before since it's now linked to all those abandoned satellites," she explained, picking up a phone from Vakh's desk.

Over a month into the apocalypse, and Shu was seeing a phone screen light up, unlock, and display a familiar array of apps.

"The Spiderweb went down for a couple of days right after the disaster, but then someone rebooted Future City's root server, and it came back online."

Natasha tapped a black icon with a white spiderweb. A clean forum interface appeared, devoid of ads or extraneous links.

Why hadn't Otto told him about this? He couldn't believe Otto didn't know…

Wait…

Shu's eyes widened. He stared at a pinned post at the top of the forum, dated two days prior.

"Huh?" Natasha noticed it too, clicking on the post.

[Fire Moth Official Account: About the Honkai and the Threats You May Encounter.]

"Uh… is this… your organization?" Natasha scrolled down, skimming past pictures of Honkai Beasts and reaching the comments section. There were quite a few replies.

[Future City. Sykes (Verified Underground Saint): Very useful and concise summary. Recommend memorizing this.]

[Currently in Geim: Holy crap, it's all true! This disaster is the Honkai! I've seen the Honkai Beasts the OP posted! [Image attached]]

[Currently in Hopeus: Who are Fire Moth? They seem to know a lot.]

[All for the Saintess (Verified Underground Saint): They're a well-established organization dedicated to fighting the Honkai and protecting humanity.]

Shu scrolled further.

[Posted by: Fire Moth Official Account]

The profile picture was the familiar Fire Moth logo.

Shu was speechless. His organization was posting public service announcements, and he hadn't known?

He knew instantly this had to be Otto's doing.

"Yes…" Shu sighed, accepting the unexpected revelation.

Natasha nodded, understanding dawning on her face. So, this guy wasn't as high-ranking in Fire Moth as she'd thought. She'd assumed the First Squad leader would be someone important.

"Anyway," Natasha continued, putting the phone away. "As long as the root server is functioning, the network is online, including Heliopolis's. Just plug that drive into any interface, and the Web will do the rest."

"And you don't have to worry about power," she added, already engrossed in the Honkai information on the phone.

"Why not?" Shu asked.

"Because Heliopolis has a fully self-sufficient energy system."