Two Months Later

(Volume IV: The Unacceptable Truth: Whispers from the White Mist)

["What do you think… is true death?"

"It's the fact you can't accept the most."]

["Welcome to [White Mist City]—Depascal… We haven't had new guests in a long time…"

"You're telling me… in such a weird place, you're normal?!" Shu looked at the little girl wrapped in white cloth in front of him, his eyes twitching.

"I don't believe it, Mei, do you?" Kiana nodded seriously in agreement.

"…We really don't mean any harm…"]

["As the saying goes—a good pen is no match for a bad memory head! How about I write you down to remember you!"

"That's a good memory is no match for… Never mind… How are you going to write it?"

"Um… You're a good person?"

"…"

"Let's write it like that! The person who comes to save us whenever we cry and make a fuss… Shu… Huh? What's your name again?"]

["Kiana… you…"

"Sorry, Mei, this matter… I have to do it!!"

"…Um… I understand…"

"Wait! No matter who you are… I will definitely find you!!"]

["The Herrscher is not that girl… The Herrscher is—!"]

___---||---____

Chapter 1: Two Months Later

As the saying goes, a good day starts in the morning…

Shu: "…"

You thought he was going to say, "Are—you—kidding—me—?"

No, Shu genuinely felt that mornings were a good time now.

Watching the alarm clock on the bedside table tick closer to seven, Shu pressed the button the moment it was about to ring, sighed, and climbed out of bed.

After quickly washing up and getting dressed, Shu poured himself a glass of warm water and opened his door.

It had been exactly two months since he defeated the Herrscher of Evolution, and quite a lot had happened during that time.

First off, Kiana and Kallen blew up the kitchen in an attempt to assassinate Otto and Shu… Ah, no, not that…

First off, Otto had finally spent two months turning the entire Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical building into the image of the Fire Moth. Spray-painted "Fire Moth" logos weren't just plastered on every floor; they had even maniacally slapped the logo onto the exterior of the Heliopolis building.

Oh, it should be called the Fire Moth First Frontline Base now.

Basement level 2 had become the administrative office area. Otto recruited a group of people to constantly broadcast Fire Moth messages in every city and receive and organize various intel from [The Spiderweb].

Right, [The Spiderweb] had also been renamed. Otto and a certain "Sciences" seemed to have reached some agreement, jointly changing [The Spiderweb] to [Spark].

Shu couldn't even be bothered to find out if [Spark] was inspired by "A single spark can start a prairie fire" or something else. Anyway, it sounded slightly better than [The Spiderweb].

Walking down the hallway of the dormitory floor, Shu only saw a few scattered people along the way.

"Ah! It's Captain Shu!!" Someone who saw Shu let out a suppressed squeal, then raised a fist and pounded it against their chest towards him.

Shu's eye twitched. This was the gesture he'd used to placate the Ethics, and that guy Otto had actually turned it into some kind of Fire Moth "military salute."

He didn't return the salute with the same gesture, instead just nodding stiffly at the person.

The person's eyes rolled back, nearly fainting on the spot. Taking advantage of this dazed moment, Shu quickened his pace and, swift as lightning, occupied an entire elevator by himself.

This was why he liked getting up early now. He used to get up at eight, but eight o'clock was also when everyone else in the dorms started emerging.

The moment Shu stepped out, he'd see jam-packed elevators and corridors filled with people after just a few steps…

He'd really have to nod stiffly all the way just to get through the crowd.

Fortunately, this problem was about to be solved. After today, Shu would be moving into a small villa on basement level 10.

Basement level 8 was currently still sealed off to outsiders, but Otto had granted access to many people. The vast arsenal stored within was no secret to those in the know.

Basement levels 9 and 10 had been designated by Otto as living areas. There were always people without combat capabilities, so Otto arranged for them to open various shops there…

There was even a revived Fire Moth Elementary School, which had started classes a month ago.

The day Adam and Lyle enrolled, their faces were darker than Natasha's night suit.

The Fire Moth didn't have any tasks to keep everyone busy yet, and there were no Honkai Zombies or Deadwalkers to clear in ARC City's urban area.

There were only a few Honkai Beasts that had started appearing recently.

And these lone, low-rank Honkai Beasts weren't even enough for Shu to handle personally; instead, they became "graduation missions" for the small teams Otto had assigned him to form.

Shu didn't go directly to basement level 9 but stopped at basement level 7.

Otto's laboratory was here, and it was also where the remains of the Herrscher of Evolution were stored.

"Yo, morning," Shu casually opened the door to Otto's office, greeted by the sight of Otto with dark circles under his eyes, listlessly waving hello.

"You still know it's morning..." Shu looked speechlessly at the coffee cups on Otto's lab bench. "Didn't you sleep again last night?"

"Hah… Honkai energy is truly a miraculous form of energy… Just exploring its various properties is enough to make one completely engrossed…" Otto didn't answer directly, instead staring at a small, deep purple crystal on the test bench.

Shu followed Otto's gaze, his eye twitching. "You extracted crystallized Honkai energy?"

He quickly scanned Otto up and down, confirming there were no signs of erosion or infection besides fatigue before looking away.

"Relax, I've also used the Key of Evolution to enhance my own Honkai resistance. A tiny bit of crystallized Honkai energy like this can't affect me."

"I don't doubt your ability to control the amount of Honkai energy..." Shu said, "But I doubt you'll follow the rules you set yourself."

Otto's expression stiffened slightly. He looked at Shu. "I don't seem to have any reason to do that yet..."

Shu shrugged. Otto sighed helplessly and waved his hand as he walked towards the lab exit.

"I'm going to rest for a bit. You deal with those Honkai energy crystals. There are still quite a few people here who haven't undergone the Key of Evolution enhancement; they can't be exposed to this stuff."

Right, so you were waiting for me here…

Shu looked speechlessly at the implied [Wish], sighed, reached out, and picked up the small Honkai energy crystal from the test bench. With a rub of his fingers, the crystal vanished as if it had never existed.

"By the way, at nine o'clock, Himeko is leading a team to the northern edge of the city to deal with a Knight-class Honkai Beast that appeared there. Well? Are you going to tag along this time?"

Otto remembered something before leaving and turned back, asking with a smile.

"Do I have any other plans?" Shu retorted. "I've been 'recovering' for two whole months, without a single battle during that time..."

"Isn't that good?" Otto asked back, spreading his hands with a smile.

Shu shut his mouth.

"Fine... It's just one Knight-class Honkai Beast. Himeko is piloting a Titan mech; there shouldn't be anything for me to do," Shu thought for a moment and shook his head.

"Then just wait until the afternoon to help me test how strong Kiana and the others become after equipping the Key of Evolution," Otto finalized Shu's schedule for the day. "See you this afternoon."

Watching Otto leave, Shu sighed helplessly, raised his hand to clear the residual Honkai energy in the laboratory, and then left as well.