Chapter 11 - Humans

Fusion Soldiers.

Super soldiers produced and controlled by the Fire Moth, born from the fusion of human and Honkai Beast genes.

Their strength surpassed that of ordinary humans.

However, not all Fusion Soldiers could obtain superhuman combat power. Most were at a level that "talented human soldiers could also reach after arduous training"—the phrase from the Shenzhou Tablet described this quite accurately...

That's impossible!

The above was merely the official statement propagated by the Fire Moth to prevent panic and suspicion. Humans who could reach "that level" were already one in ten thousand. All who could become Fusion Soldiers were elites of human society, at least in terms of killing and combat.

However.

The Fusion Soldiers mentioned above mainly referred to the products after the implementation of the "Super Transformation Project."

Before the implementation of the "Super Transformation Project," which achieved breakthrough progress, the so-called "Fusion Soldiers" had yet to reach such an exaggerated level of strength.

They still relied more on specialized weapons for combat. Combining Honkai Cores with humans/machinery (true Fusion Soldiers involved a deeper "genetic" fusion of the two) was still the latest research achievement.

It wasn't wrong to call this group Fusion Soldiers either.

Their abilities only began to strengthen to a "non-human" extent after the completion of the "Chimera Project."

————

Returning our attention to the interior of the "Banshee."

The middle-aged uncle's name had been discarded long ago, when his comrades were burned to charcoal by napalm bombs dropped by "friendly forces." Now, all that remained was the codename "Arno."

His team members habitually called him "Captain."

There were a total of 6 people in the cabin.

Besides the two pilots—one for flight and one for main weapon control—there were 4 members in the mission squad.

On an empty flight seat.

The knotted, messy seatbelts were not stowed away as required by flight regulations, indicating that someone had been positioned there not long ago.

Arno's fully staffed squad, configured for 12 people, was a rarity in this era where manpower was scarce everywhere.

In reality.

These "elites," all Fusion Soldiers, were merely a special experimental squad from a certain "Biological Research Institute" under the Fire Moth.

Vacancies on any given day were filled on the same day.

No one could envy them... and probably, no one would.

————

"Captain!"

In a corner of the cabin.

A young man with short brown hair reported to Arno, his tone slightly slick.

The fellow, who looked to be in his mid-twenties, was named "Ethan"—this was the name he gave himself after his enlightenment at Dragon Field. As for the reason he came out of Dragon Field, it wasn't due to serving his sentence, but because the "Biological Research Institute" didn't have enough samples, and the "volunteers" willing to participate were being consumed too quickly.

Ethan's intuition was very sharp.

He could accurately read the atmosphere and sense danger in advance.

Within Dragon Field were elites from all walks of life, and Ethan had inherited a vast amount of knowledge from them—

Through the method of oral gymnastics.

"Hmm?"

Arno's gaze shifted to Ethan.

He didn't like this kid—if it weren't for Ethan always managing to procure luxury items like cigarettes, Arno would have long since let this life-clinging, death-fearing fellow fend for himself.

Arno understood Ethan's meaning:

Find him a "light" duty—simply translated, a job with a mortality rate not exceeding 75%.

This mission was not about confronting Honkai Beasts.

In fact, their primary job wasn't fighting Honkai Beasts at all, but something somewhat similar to that of the "Toxic Pupae":

"Friendly negotiations targeting internal human elements."

If negotiations failed, they would certainly die on the spot; if negotiations succeeded, they might die next time... by being sent to the front lines.

Considering that 9 hours ago.

The "great cleanup" operation within the Fire Moth had been efficiently completed, they should have been sent to the front lines.

But now.

The task assigned to them by the Biological Research Institute had changed to reconnaissance behind enemy lines.

The squad was secretly transported by submarine to Australia, to search for the cause of the energy decay of a fissure in a destroyed city on the west coast.

Just thinking about it, it wasn't going to be an easy job.

By the way.

The Fire Moth was indeed an organization under the United Nations specifically for combating the Honkai.

But they weren't the only ones in the world fighting the Honkai—to protect their own territories, the existence of national armies was still extremely necessary.

To this day.

Australia had not completely fallen under the Honkai's erosion.

Several cities on the east coast were still under human control, with both the Fire Moth and national armies stationed there.

But the west coast, sparsely populated and also the Honkai's rear, was a desolate wasteland.

No one could have imagined that in such a place teeming with Honkai Beasts, the Biological Research Institute had secretly cleared out an entire area (an entire city).

To conduct experiments related to Honkai energy.

————

Honkai Fissure.

The thing Lu Xing used as his healing spring.

They mostly appeared in areas completely eroded by Honkai energy—these fissures, leading to unknown destinations, were tantamount to portals between Earth and the Honkai Beasts' "Nests."

They could also be considered outposts for the Honkai army.

Regarding the existence of these fissures.

The elder of the Fire Moth, director of the Biological Research Institute, initiator and researcher of the Fusion Soldier project, "Infinity" Mobius, hmm, also our green-haired snake spirit lady—Mobius, who was still an older-sister type at this time, wanted to understand the working principles of these things (portals) by analyzing the Honkai fissures.

If the research succeeded.

The Fire Moth could deploy troops more flexibly, making operations like targeted strikes or decapitation missions exceptionally easy.

Closing Honkai fissures, redirecting their appearance locations, proactively opening them for ambushes, etc.—tactics previously unimaginable could be routinely employed.

This was also why Arno's squad had come here.

Humans could not stay for long in areas rampant with Honkai energy; this was true even for Fusion Soldiers with higher Honkai energy resistance (adaptation).

For discovered but indestructible Honkai fissures, surveillance was mostly carried out using mechanical reconnaissance.

Two weeks ago, according to feedback from measuring devices.

The Honkai fissure in the experimental area had undergone a slight change.

The Honkai energy concentration around two fissures remained unchanged, but one of them showed a large-scale decay in Honkai energy, and the fissure itself even showed a tendency to close—for a total of only three discovered and preserved fissures, this was an unacceptable loss.

After detailed planning, disguise, and deception.

The Biological Research Institute finally dispatched this squad of middling strength—not strong enough to attract the attention of various factions, yet not so weak as to be wiped out by a few Honkai Beasts—to the target experimental site.