Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

"Hahaha! Fire Moth, you researched a virus called Honkai, spread it into the bodies of ordinary people, and blamed the disasters caused by repeated Honkai outbreaks on natural disasters… But now it's different! The greatest… uh, magician, engineer, scholar, hacker, chef, mechanic, lecturer of this century, Vill-V… uh, will expose your crimes to the whole world!"

Phamas pursed his lips, took a deep breath, and raised his index finger as if to say something, but it ended in a helpless sigh.

"Elvin, go turn off the screen."

"Hey, Fire Moth, what does this mean? Are you so afraid of me?"

Even after the screen was powered off, Vill-V's voice still echoed through the speakers.

"Turn off the speakers too!"

"Hah!" Phamas slumped back in his chair, unable to hide his fatigue. But when he looked up, he saw the camera in front of him. The camera seemed to sense his gaze and began to twitch magically.

"Fifty thousand, right?"

Phamas turned his head and asked the staff member beside him.

"Commander, what did you say?"

The staff member clearly failed to grasp his leader's intention.

Phamas could no longer endure it. Imitating Mobius, he picked up a chair and smashed the camera to pieces.

Finally, he didn't forget to add:

"Just deduct the fifty thousand from Dr. Mobius's research funds. She never keeps track of her expenses anyway…"

"Everyone, let's talk about it. What kind of lunatic is this? How did we, the Fire Moth, become the spreaders of Honkai?"

He leaned back in his chair, constantly rubbing his temples, but he couldn't understand the golden-haired girl's bizarre thought process.

"Is it possible… because we've never released any information about Honkai, and the Fire Moth is always present at every Honkai outbreak… so she imagines us as a company like the Umbrella Corporation in movies, researching bioweapons?"

Phamas nodded. It wasn't impossible…

"Elvin, find the attacker's location again, and issue a wanted order!"

"Oh, right, didn't the Fifth Squad just get new recruits? Let them go, consider it training."

…

Three days later, Michael, dressed in civilian clothes, stood under a street sign in Twilight Street.

"Sub-Captain, headquarters could only confirm that the suspect is in Valka City… Why did we come to this lawless suburb right away? For hackers, the network here is way too bad…"

Michael raised his hand and gave the young man beside him a flick on the forehead. "Do you think hackers only live in skyscrapers? In my experience, powerful hackers are mostly those middle-aged uncles who smoke and pick their feet in internet cafe private rooms…"

"But Sub-Captain, the technology level in Twilight Street is basically stuck in the last century. There are only a few local area networks. There shouldn't be any internet cafes…"

Michael's face flushed slightly. His mouth twitched, and he threatened in a low voice, "Immer, do you want extra training tonight?"

"No, I don't want to… Sub-Captain, I believe your analysis is reasonable. The wanted criminal must be in Twilight Street!"

Michael smoothed his bangs, very satisfied with Immer's understanding attitude.

"Use your brain, think about it. The Fire Moth has already issued a wanted order. If Vill-V was in the main city, she would have a high chance of being discovered by the smart surveillance system if she showed her face even once. Even if she can disguise herself, it's too dangerous. Only a place like Twilight Street, with its mixed population, low technology level, and lack of sensitivity to outside news, where the Fire Moth's influence is difficult to penetrate, is the perfect hiding place for a wanted criminal!"

Of course, besides that, the reason he was so sure Vill-V was in Twilight Street was also because of a certain feeling he had. After all, the small Twilight Street was where three Flame-Chasers came from. It seemed that as long as Twilight Street was mentioned, it was hard not to think of the Flame-Chasers. Perhaps this was what they called fate?

Michael looked at Immer, who finally seemed to understand. Sometimes, he felt that this boy, who was a year younger than him, was a bit too straightforward. Although his physical abilities were indeed good, otherwise he wouldn't have joined the organization as a minor…

Come to think of it, the name Immer… he felt like he had heard it somewhere, but he couldn't remember…

Stepping onto the dilapidated street, the soles of their shoes made a "swish swish" sound on the broken concrete.

The dust of twilight outlined the shapes of the twilight light and shadows, lazily moving through the streets named after twilight, bringing a hint of warmth to the people in their thin spring clothes.

Michael slapped his forehead. "I made a slight miscalculation."

"What's wrong, Sub-Captain?"

"Don't you think our clothes are a bit out of place here?"

Immer looked at the brand-new down jackets they were wearing, then looked at the children by the roadside, their heads big and their small bodies wrapped in greasy blankets, looking like mushrooms. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

"Forget it," Michael waved his hand. "Immer, pull up the real-time images of Twilight Street, and look for places where cats gather."

"Cats?" Immer was stunned. He felt that his sub-captain's orders were becoming more and more outrageous.

Michael revealed a meaningful smile. "Cats aren't important. What's important is the person who's with the cats…"

"Huh! Sub-Captain, but the intel didn't say the wanted criminal likes cats?"

"Immer, you're too stubborn. I never said that person is Vill-V."

"Then… who is the Sub-Captain looking for?"

"Looking for a… well-informed old friend."

As night slowly fell, a girl with short brown hair swung her head, lightly stepping on her own shadow under the streetlights.

On the wall not far away, a black cat looked back at the girl who had been following it for two streets, and couldn't help but show an expression of "let her be."

"Left, right… oh! So that's how you avoid the iron spikes on the wall. You're so smart!"

The girl's steps twisted and turned following the black cat's movements, and then she revealed a smile that said, "So that's how you solve it?" It wasn't the first time she had learned to walk by following a cat. The girl seemed to have a knack for it, learning all sorts of skills from the cat just by observing it.

She had been observing this cat for a long time. It and its companions had round bellies every morning. They must have found a lot of good food at night!

Although Twilight Street was a lawless area, known worldwide for its filth and disorder, it also had its share of wealthy people.

And those wealthy people would rather throw away cans that had just passed their expiration dates than give them to poor people like her.

But cats had a more sensitive sense of smell than humans. They could always find the warehouses where these expired foods were piled up, and then, instead of humans, they would feast on them.

The black cat turned its head and continued to weave through the night.

The girl quickly followed.

Yellow dirt road, Good Luck Bridge, the church… in the corner of the girl's eye, the familiar scenery gradually changed. Weaving through streets and alleys, climbing windows and roofs, the black cat's pace quickened, while the girl, dragging her feet that were blistered from her oversized boots, followed closer and closer.

Finally, the black cat arrived at its destination. It leaped in front of a high wall, elegantly and nimbly flipping into a tall window.

"Hey! That's cheating!"

Even if the girl was exceptionally talented, the height of that window was still beyond her reach.

She could only pout and condemn her "teacher."

The black cat glanced down at the girl from above, a hint of smugness in its eyes.

To the girl, its pair of green eyes shone brightly in the night, like the stars in the sky.

But then, those two stars disappeared.

"Grumble~" The girl leaned against the wall, clutching her empty stomach, greedily inhaling the scent wafting over the dirt wall.

Once, her dream was to smell the aroma of canned fish every night and fall asleep nestled among the soft, warm bodies of a group of cats.

But people's dreams were always endless.

When she actually reached this point, her intestines, which were constantly protesting and complaining, didn't want to be satisfied with just that.

She suddenly turned to look at the high dirt wall. The streetlights not far away flickered, and she began to move with the rhythm of the lights.

Thinking back to the way the cat jumped, she went down on all fours, bent her hind legs, and compressed her body into a bow, ready to launch.

"Buzz…" A spark flashed in the streetlight's core, and it went completely dark. Almost at the same time, the girl twisted her body, suddenly jumped up, and her hands actually grabbed onto the nearly three-meter-high dirt wall!

"Hmph…"

Her feet thrashed against the dirt wall. Her oversized boots made it difficult for her feet to get a firm grip on the wall. Although she had successfully climbed the wall, her thin, twig-like arms were clearly not strong enough to support her to flip over the wall. She struggled for about ten seconds, and finally, she lost her grip and fell down.

"Ah!" She bit her lip tightly, but finally couldn't help but groan – she seemed to have twisted her ankle when she landed, and her palm was also scratched by the rough dirt wall, burning with pain.

And even more painful than the physical pain was the anger, resentment… and that indescribable, sour feeling in her heart.

It's always like this… the girl groaned in her heart.

Ever since she could remember, everyone had always left her like this.

The pedestrians on the street, the homeless man who took care of her, or the warm sunlight at noon… the girl counted on her fingers.

And also those two figures, one pink and one silver. Several years ago, they had suddenly appeared in her life. She had once thought that such happy days could continue, until one morning, she woke up to find that the two, who were only a few years older than her, were gone…

But what does it matter? – the girl told herself.

Sooner or later, I will find a place where I can bask in the sun every day, find a place where I don't have to worry about food and clothing, find you, find…

"Meow~"

The girl looked up, and those two stars reappeared in the night.

"Clang!"

The girl's eyes lit up. With just that crisp sound, she knew what the black cat had thrown down!

"Canned food! Canned food! Delicious canned food!"

She groped her way over in the moonlight. Sure enough, it was a can of tuna that was half-opened.

Although it looked like the cat had nibbled on it, the girl, who was always hungry, couldn't help but salivate at the smell of the oil. She couldn't resist!

The black cat probably didn't know why it had given the food to this girl.

Perhaps her persistent following made it think of her as a clingy kitten, or perhaps because she slept with them every afternoon, it had already considered her part of their group.

The black cat didn't know, and wouldn't think about it.

It jumped back to the girl's side, stretched, and let the girl stroke its warm, soft fur, listening to her scold it for leaving her behind, and to her vow that she would be able to jump that high someday.

But the next moment, with the sound of footsteps coming from the darkness in front of them, the black cat instantly arched its back. By the time the girl reacted, it had already disappeared without a trace.

The girl's heart tightened – the nights in Twilight Street were not peaceful!

She quickly hid the can behind her back, and curled up in the shadows left by the streetlight, trying to blend in.

"Sub-Captain, there's another place where cats gather up ahead."

"Mm, I know."

Pardo quietly perked up her ears. Although she didn't know the identities of the people, it was always good to take note of them, because information was always a hot commodity among the various gangs in Twilight Street.

"But that voice… sounds a bit familiar?"

The girl pondered to herself.

The footsteps of the newcomers stopped in front of her. The girl quickly held her breath and kept telling herself, "He didn't see me! He didn't see me!"

Unfortunately, things didn't go as she wished. The person squatted down in front of her.

"Pardo?"

"Ah! Ah? Boss! Need any goods? I have everything here!"

Seeing that the person had called out her name, Pardo immediately put on a flattering expression.

"Pardo…" The other person's voice suddenly deepened. Pardofelis's heart went cold. She didn't know how she had made her customer unhappy.

"Do you want some candy? This time, you don't have to trick it out of Ellie anymore. As much as you want."

Pardo was stunned at first, and then her pupils constricted, and her body began to tremble.

"You are… Big Brother Michael!"

"Slap!" A crisp sound came from the darkness.

It sounded like someone had just been slapped across the face.