Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

"As the captain of the Fifth Squad, I'm really sorry for missing your first mission due to my physical condition."

Himeko stood at the front of the line, her back to the darkness. As always, she was like a torch burning in the night. She looked at the unfamiliar faces, feeling both apologetic and sad.

The soldiers responded with their upright postures and fiery gazes. They had long admired this legendary captain who had ended the Second Honkai. Of course, this was thanks to the promotion of a certain young female sub-captain…

Himeko turned to look at the darkness behind her. "But there's also good news. Our Fifth Squad will have another member… She's a lovely girl, but she's also very strong!"

As she finished speaking, the sound of "tap-tap-tap…" came from the darkness behind her.

When Michael, standing at the head of the line as sub-captain, saw the figure of the person who came, his pupils contracted violently.

"Hello everyone, my name is Sakura. I'm honored to work with you all. May you all have good fortune in battle!"

The pink-haired girl looked a bit wooden and only made a brief self-introduction.

But her gaze, without any attempt to hide it, was always fixed on Michael.

Michael's breath hitched. He had received too many shocks today. But then he breathed a sigh of relief. The reason why Sakura had joined the Fifth Squad wasn't hard to guess. It was probably like Sai joining Team 7: to monitor and, under special circumstances, assassinate. That was all.

But Sai was eventually won over… Michael naturally had enough confidence to win over Sakura – compared to Sai, who had no bonds, Sakura's weakness was too obvious.

Standing behind him, Elysia keenly noticed his abnormality, but due to the situation, she couldn't ask. She could only narrow her eyes and carefully size up the so-called "newcomer."

Sakura lowered her head and walked to the end of the first row, where Michael was at the head of the line.

Himeko looked at Michael in surprise, and then said, "It's quite a coincidence that I came back. As soon as I arrived at the base, the staff department pulled me aside. Because the Vill-V capture operation you carried out before was a D-rank mission, they forced a C-rank mission on me. I assume you have some experience… Now, everyone, disperse immediately. Gather here again in three hours. Understand?"

"Understood!"

"Good. You two sub-captains, stay behind."

After everyone had left, Himeko looked at her two subordinates with a smile. Her amber eyes sparkled. She first straightened Michael's collar and then smoothed Ellie's fluffy hair, unable to help but tease,

"I didn't expect that you two would become sub-captains while I was away?"

According to past practice, the sub-captains should be two of the most powerful veterans in the entire squad. If the unit suffered too many losses, they would select soldiers from other units to transfer over.

Michael and Ellie's appointment was a temporary order issued by Ato, but the Fire Moth hadn't revoked this order. One reason was that the other units had also suffered considerable losses in the Second Honkai, and they were basically in a state of having no soldiers to transfer. The reason why their unit's new recruits had only been added recently was because the previous soldiers had been assigned to other units.

Of course, the most important reason was that these two monsters were fighting for first place on the simulation training room rankings every week. If it was really based on combat power, no one should be able to compare to the two of them.

"Michael, is your arm okay?"

Before he could answer, Ellie took the initiative to tear off the bandage on his hand, turning it three times to the left and three times to the right.

Himeko barely suppressed her laughter and said, "It's good that you're okay…"

She didn't ask about the assassination and didn't explain the origin of the newcomer, Sakura.

She had already heard about the little incident with Michael, but the fact that Michael was standing in front of her now meant everything. There was no need to ask any more questions.

But she didn't explain the origin of Sakura, which didn't mean that Elysia wouldn't ask.

"Captain Himeko, where did that little girl come from?"

Himeko shook her head. "The staff department explained that she was transferred from a special department. As for what specific department, I don't know."

"She looks even younger than Michael and me. Is it really okay to send a child that young to the battlefield?" Ellie's eyebrows were furrowed into a figure eight. She seemed to be worried about the other party, but she was actually still trying to find out her origin and combat power.

"Don't underestimate her. You can look at the simulation training room rankings. Her short-term burst combat power is just below you and Michael."

"She's that strong!" Ellie couldn't help but click her tongue.

Without knowing when, the two of them had once again focused their gazes on Michael.

Michael had been pondering for a long time, and finally decided not to reveal Sakura's identity for now.

"If Sakura is acting under the orders of the Poison Cocoons, then her mission is obvious. There's no need to worry Ellie and the captain."

He chuckled twice and looked at Himeko. "Captain, you asked us to stay behind not just to catch up, right?"

Himeko responded with an approving look and then took out two files from her backpack and handed them to the two of them.

"This is an overview and the goals of the mission. Take a look. Do you have any opinions?"

Michael glanced at Ellie, who was scratching her head, and focused on the file.

[Mission Location: Mu Continent - Ruruye]

[Mission Rank: C (Note: This rank is the adjusted rank, corresponding to the original B-rank mission. That is, there is a high probability of fighting Honkai beasts. The assessment is that it is unlikely that upper-level Honkai beasts or lower-level Honkai beasts over ten meters tall will appear)]

[Mission Overview: Ruruye, the capital of the Mu Continent, has experienced multiple paranormal events within the past month. Three districts have been abandoned. After further investigation, joint government investigators discovered the existence of a small number of Honkai beasts. The specific map is in the attachment.]

[Mission Requirements: The Ruruye City Hall has submitted dozens of mission reports within the past month, requesting assistance from the Fire Moth. After discussion by the staff department, it was decided that, given that the Mu Continent academic conference will be held on April 21st, your unit is ordered to set off immediately after receiving the order, eliminate all the Honkai beasts in the districts, and must not be later than April 20th]

[Mission Issuing Unit – Ruruye City Hall to Fire Moth]

[22:37, 14, 4]

Michael looked up and said, not unexpectedly, "It's a very normal mission… Uh, although strictly speaking, I've only carried out two missions, but from what I've seen of other units' daily missions, this is about the same. It's just that due to the special nature of Ruruye and the upcoming academic conference, a time limit has been added. But other units can basically complete this level of mission in about a week…"

He looked at Ellie and then at Himeko. "And with our unit's combat power, it should be even easier, so I don't think this mission is difficult."

In Himeko's eyes, the look of approval was almost overflowing. It was clear that the young man in front of her, in addition to working hard to improve his combat power, had also made detailed observations of the missions carried out by each unit, the difficulty of the missions, and the procedures. If he was given time, he would definitely grow into a captain even more outstanding than her… What a pity…

Himeko could roughly guess Phamas's thoughts. He wanted to use Michael as a one-time trump card, play it, and then let everything be destroyed together.

She then looked at Ellie, expecting that the girl who was on par with Michael would bring her a different surprise.

Then she heard Ellie say, "Ah~ Mu Continent! Ah~ Ruruye! Michael, we've never been to Ruruye when we traveled! I heard that it's the most technologically advanced place in the world! Hmm, just how advanced is it… Will all the buildings be made of crystal? Hmm, shiny, it must look good in the sun!"

She clasped her hands together, placed them next to her cheeks, and looked at Michael with anticipation.

"..."

"..."

"As expected, I shouldn't have any unrealistic expectations for Elysia." Michael said with a solemn expression.

"Indeed." Himeko nodded.

"Hey, don't say that about me. I'll be sad! It's clearly Michael who said everything that needed to be said!"

Himeko tapped Ellie's forehead with her index finger. "Alright, now is not the time to play around. There's one more thing that Michael didn't mention. Let me add to it."

"This mission – is not simple."

Michael and Ellie were stunned.

"Think about it. Because of the reduction in personnel caused by the Second Honkai, there are many backlogged Honkai incidents that haven't been dealt with all over the world, including some adjusted B-rank missions. Why would they give us a C-rank mission at this time?"

Michael frowned. "Isn't it written here? Because there's a time limit, the priority of this mission has been moved up."

"No, that's still not right." Himeko said, "Our Fifth Squad currently has the most new recruits. But the other units also have quite a few new recruits. No matter what, perhaps you yourselves haven't realized it yet, but because of the two of you and your performance in Irkune City, our squad has become the well-deserved trump card."

"According to the principle of four moving and one stationary, while the Second Squad is carrying out a mission, the Third and Fourth Squads have canceled the Vill-V capture operation and are instead carrying out missions nearby. The remaining First and Fifth Squads should have one unit stay on standby at headquarters. Logically speaking, the standby unit should be the trump card unit…"

"Perhaps the staff department wants to train the Fifth Squad? After all, we've only carried out the Vill-V mission after being reorganized. The result was also a failure, and we don't have any experience in fighting the Honkai head-on," Elysia guessed.

Michael looked at the mission file from beginning to end, then turned his attention to the map in the attachment. After a moment, he suddenly spoke up.

"I found the problem. Ruruye's administrative area is very large. The residential areas are mainly located in the outer districts, including the Gatan District, the Zoga District, and the Dagon District."

He pointed to a specific location on the map. "The academic conference, however, is being held on Ruruye Island in the city center. The island has its own independent airport, residential and recreational facilities, and service industries. It's connected to the outer districts by only a few cross-sea bridges."

Michael paused before continuing. "In other words, the abnormalities in the outer districts are unlikely to affect the academic conference. The city hall doesn't need to submit multiple mission requests, asking the Fire Moth to solve the problem before the 20th. After all, the representatives won't even see the outer districts."

He leaned back and added, almost as an afterthought, "Of course, it's not impossible that the city hall is just being responsible..."

"But there's also this," Michael continued, pointing at the report. "'After further investigation, joint government investigators discovered the existence of a small number of Honkai beasts.' But there's no mention of Honkai sickness or the appearance of zombies, which usually accompany Honkai beasts."

He furrowed his brow. "Also, three districts were described as 'abandoned.' What does that mean? Is it voluntary abandonment, with all the residents evacuated? Or is it a lockdown?"

Himeko smiled sweetly. "Your insight is very sharp! I believe the staff department also noticed these discrepancies, which is why they sent us."

Her expression quickly turned serious. "Of course, overthinking it won't help. Only a field investigation can reveal the truth." She paused for a moment, then lightened the mood.

"Never mind, let's not dwell on such heavy topics. There's also a big guy heading to Ruruye with us this time. We can hitch a ride on it!"