Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

On the rooftop of an abandoned factory in Twilight Street, Michael's fingers lightly traced the coarse, sandy texture of the outer wall. He looked up slightly, but all he saw was the silent, cold moon.

Looking out from the vast Twilight Street, the lights were dim. Apart from the howling of the wind, there was no other sound. The upheaval of this morning had been thrown into this stagnant pool, and it clearly hadn't caused much of a ripple.

"Michael, Elysia, are you both ready?"

"Ready!"

"Mm..." Michael hummed softly, then looked down at the fully armed members of the Fifth Squad in the street and gave them an okay sign.

During the day, Vill-V had simultaneously controlled many robots, and the method of controlling the robots was undoubtedly electromagnetic waves.

The distance that this type of control method could cover was definitely not far. After studying the wreckage that Michael had brought back, the Fire Moth staff had quickly identified the area where Vill-V was located – of course, this was all based on the premise that she hadn't moved.

Michael's gaze passed over countless buildings that blended into the night, finally stopping at a half-collapsed low house.

For the Fire Moth, after determining the general area, there was no more time-saving or labor-saving method than searching house to house.

But for Michael, he knew very well that the basement beneath the low house he was staring at was Vill-V's hiding place.

Not for any other reason, but because that was what Vill-V's robot had told him.

"Start the operation! The search will be completed at the latest by dawn… Sigh, I hope Vill-V hasn't run away! I can't wait to go back to the base and sleep!"

Ato's slightly frivolous voice came through the earpiece.

Michael didn't hesitate any longer. He switched the channel to his own squad and ordered,

"Start the operation! I'm in a high position, ready to provide support at any time."

After all the figures had disappeared into the streets and alleys in pairs, and the sound of knocking on doors rose and fell, all that remained on the factory rooftop were the cool night breeze and the cold moonlight.

Michael walked to the front of the collapsed low house, carefully moved a large stone slab, and sure enough, just as Vill-V had said, the entrance to the basement appeared.

The basement door looked like it was made of alloy. There was a doorbell next to it. Michael thought about it and chose to honestly press the doorbell.

"Three short, one long… two short, three long… and finally, another three short, one long… V2V, that should be it, right?"

Michael murmured softly. As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a "click" sound, and the lock on the heavy alloy door had opened.

His face lit up, but he didn't dare to relax his vigilance. So, while keeping his body sideways, he slowly stepped into the basement, carefully observing the surrounding area for any potential dangers.

The basement was much larger than Michael had imagined. Just like Mobius's lab, there were no lights here. Only the wall made of a dozen computer screens emitted a blue glow, outlining the figure of a girl in front of him, and also illuminating the various data cables on the ground, as well as the various parts that Michael recognized but couldn't name in the corners of the walls.

Michael thought that she and Mobius not wearing glasses was simply against nature.

"Heh…" Vill-V stretched languidly, completely ignoring Michael's arrival.

And Michael slowly relaxed. Vill-V's stretching motion just now was very natural, and that didn't seem like something a robot with stiff joints could do.

She leaned her full weight on the back of the chair, her toes lightly touching the ground. The chair spun, and she quickly made eye contact with Michael.

Of course, thanks to the principle of "the darkest place is under the lamp," she was facing away from the only light source, and Michael could only see a dark figure, but not her specific expression.

On the contrary, Michael's swollen left cheek was instantly exposed to Vill-V.

"Hmm… heh… hahaha!"

Michael rolled his eyes, showing a "I knew it" expression.

Whatever, he was used to it. Let it all be destroyed.

"Clap!"

Vill-V waved her hand, and the alloy door behind Michael quietly closed, cutting off her exaggerated laughter, no longer letting it be known to outsiders.

Michael habitually raised an eyebrow. Having his retreat cut off didn't cause his mood to fluctuate. There was no third party here, and if there was danger, he could freely use his Herrscher powers.

Moreover, since Vill-V had taken the initiative to tell him her hiding place, there were only two possibilities.

"The first possibility is that she knows my Herrscher identity, so she plans to lure me here and kill me herself, but that's unlikely. Her information should only come from the documents she stole from the Fire Moth and her guesses. It's impossible for her to know my Herrscher identity."

"The second possibility is that she discovered something about me in the Fire Moth's files, which is why she controlled the robot and said, 'So, it's you,' when she first saw me. And her telling me her hiding place is undoubtedly related to this kind of thing that she wants to talk about with me."

"Yo! Isn't this the rising star genius of the Fire Moth?" Vill-V deliberately used an exaggerated tone, not knowing if she was mocking him.

"Genius, rising star?" Michael was a little confused.

"Yeah, don't you know? Your simulation training room has a ranking system. You and that girl's scores are almost double that of the third place. You seem to be an idol for the Fire Moth's soldiers."

No wonder there were always love letters written by young ladies at the door of his dorm… Michael had a headache.

No, he couldn't be led astray!

Also, her wording… did she already know the truth about the Fire Moth and the Honkai?

"Speaking of which, from your actions this morning, you were actually trying to lure me here? For that, you wiped out the lairs of four gangs. Your madness… heh." Michael said coldly.

"So what? I killed all the evil people who exploited the hardworking people of Twilight Street. They deserved it."

Vill-V shrugged, not caring at all.

Michael didn't want to continue this topic.

"Vill-V, surrender."

Vill-V shook her head.

"I can go with you. Sigh, it's so boring. I thought I had discovered the truth, but after reading all the files I stole from the Fire Moth these past few days, I realized that I was the clown all along!"

She waved her hand helplessly.

Michael hadn't expected such a cooperative attitude. It directly interrupted the speech he had carefully prepared, and he didn't know what to say next.

"But I still have reservations about the Fire Moth. Mi-cha-el, you're called Michael, right? Do you know how dark the dark side of the Fire Moth is?"

Vill-V chuckled. Several files popped up on the computer screen in the upper left corner. Michael glanced at the titles. As expected, the contents of the files were all kinds of human experiments.

Michael knew this very well and didn't show much surprise. He could even guess that these human experiments were mostly organized by Mobius.

"So what's the point of bringing these up again? If you want to win me over, you don't need to waste your energy."

"Win you over? Hahaha! You actually think that! Hahaha!"

Vill-V laughed so hard that she was bent over, unable to stop.

"Let me show you this too."

A file popped up on the middle screen and began to flip through the pages automatically.

But this time, Michael was a little uneasy.

The author of the report was "007 Poison Cocoon," and from beginning to end, it was the details of his and Ellie's life and training over the past two months.

"Poison Cocoon…"

But even so, he still didn't understand. What was Vill-V's purpose in showing him these things?

"You must be thinking, what's my purpose in showing you these things, right?"

Michael nodded unconsciously.

He couldn't find Vill-V's motive for doing this.

"Sigh… in the end, isn't it because someone asked me to do this?"

"Someone?" Michael's pupils constricted, as if he had thought of something.

"That's right. Actually, she found me in Twilight Street yesterday. At that time, I was controlling a miniature robot to monitor Dr. Mobius's lab. She looked at the Fire Moth's data that I stole, and then made a deal with me. What I have to do is to lure you here, put these things in front of you, and then let you decide my fate."

Michael silently closed his eyes. "What did she give in return?"

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you, or rather, I don't know?"

Vill-V's words were absurd, but Michael wasn't angry at all, because he knew that was Elysia's style.

He also understood Ellie's intention almost instantly.

They both understood that Michael's Herrscher identity couldn't be hidden forever, and that someone within the Fire Moth had already started investigating and monitoring them, which undoubtedly increased the risk of him being exposed.

Perhaps… perhaps before a Herrscher fighting for humanity was accepted by humanity, Michael still had to go through a period of escape.

And Vill-V, if she was allowed to temporarily roam outside the Fire Moth…

"Sure enough, Elysia, is this what they call telepathy…"