Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

"Captain Himeko… the big guy you mentioned is bigger than I imagined…"

Michael was completely enveloped in shadow, looking at the mountain range made of steel alloys in front of him, his mouth agape for a long time, both surprised and delighted.

Elysia silently glanced at him. She felt that his words just now had some ambiguity, but this suspicion was quickly interrupted by the exclamations of surprise from the team members behind her.

Even Sakura, who had been silent all the way, leaned on her sword, momentarily speechless.

Michael looked at the introduction on the aluminum plaque next to him:

[Fire Moth One Sky Carrier, Length 450.8 meters, Width 133.2 meters, Height 87.4 meters]

As for the weight, weapons, and other information, probably because it wasn't fully completed, there was no introduction for the time being.

Himeko said, "This warship hasn't been equipped with weapons yet. According to the plan, it should be equipped with 32 270mm railguns as secondary guns, and the main guns are 8 430mm railguns. It's said that the reserved space at the bow was designed to install a 680mm railgun. I don't know if it will be implemented in the future."

"The Fire Moth is really rich." Michael sighed. You had to know that one shot from a 270mm railgun could solve a lower-level Honkai beast under ten meters, and even some of the upper-level Honkai beasts that didn't appear often would have to kneel before a 430mm railgun.

"We've only become rich recently. After the Second Honkai outbreak, the joint government directly increased our budget several times. Of course, this huge warship was actually started a long time ago, but due to engine problems, it never had the chance to take off. This time, it's just going to Ruruye to put on a show. The Fire Moth also needs to show its strength to defeat the Honkai to a small number of people in the know!"

"Engine?" Michael pondered. "It seems that the current Fire Moth One hasn't completely solved the engine problem, right?"

"You're very perceptive." Himeko praised. "The Moonlight Engine it's currently equipped with, even with the most advanced Honkai energy reactor, can only allow this empty shell to move at a speed of over 300 kilometers per hour, which is even slower than old-fashioned helicopters. If it's loaded with weapons and ammunition, it might not even reach 200 kilometers per hour. More importantly, this warship was designed with aircraft carriers in mind, and according to the plan, it should also carry 150 various aircraft and a large number of mechs…"

"Moonlight Engine…" Michael noted it down silently. This name immediately reminded him of someone…

Wait! Mu Continent… academic conference… it couldn't be such a coincidence, right?

If he calculated the time, the Third Honkai…

Michael's good mood instantly disappeared.

He wanted to ask something else, but Himeko had already turned around, urging the somewhat scattered line to quickly enter the Fire Moth One through the elevator.

Half an hour later, the entire base moved along the buried rails, separating to both sides. The sound of motors and gears turning formed a whole, creating a thunderous roar that echoed in the distant mountains.

From the outside, it looked like a mountain hundreds of meters high on the snowy plain had suddenly been split in half, and then, under the pull of some force, it separated to both sides. The tunnels and caverns lined with steel inside were countless – this was the Fire Moth base, but in the eyes of higher beings, it was probably no different from an ant nest.

Inside the ship's island, because the seats hadn't been installed yet, Michael and the others could only be tied to the walls outside the cockpit with crude safety belts. After a while, he felt the ship start to shake violently. The shaking made his ears ring with the sound of "rumble, rumble, rumble." Then, the behemoth began to rock, tilting left and right. From the outside, it might just be a slight tremor, but for the people inside, it was a bit terrifying.

He suddenly thought of an inappropriate analogy – it was like crossing the ocean in a washing machine.

Then, he suddenly felt an itchy sensation in his ear canal. After that, something fell out, landed on his shoulder, and bounced up. He quickly grabbed it in his hand.

Elysia noticed his movements and couldn't help but look over curiously.

Sakura hadn't taken her eyes off Michael since the beginning, so she was now staring at his hand, guessing what he was holding.

Michael spread his hand with a strange smile, revealing a black "peanut."

Elysia's beautiful features twisted together, and she waved her hand in disgust.

Sakura was completely stunned.

"Immer, Immer?"

Immer turned to look at his favorite sub-captain. "What…"

As soon as he opened his mouth, Michael threw the "peanut" into his mouth.

Immer chewed it instinctively. "Ugh!"

"That's for throwing a grenade at me!"

The serious combat mission was suddenly filled with a joyful atmosphere – if you didn't consider the injured Immer.

But Michael himself was smiling a bit forcedly. He hadn't been resting much these past few days, and accidents kept happening one after another. He was really at his limit and wanted to get a good night's sleep.

Suddenly, his heart sank. Michael turned his head and looked at the scenery outside the porthole again, and found that the altitude he was at was constantly increasing.

It took a full half hour. Michael had lost count of how many layers of clouds the behemoth under his feet had passed through. It wasn't until the sky above became pitch black and deep that the warship's upward trend, along with the continuous tremors, stopped at the same time.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief…

The red light on the wall in front of Himeko went out, and a green light came on. She couldn't wait to unfasten her seatbelt, and the members of the Fifth Squad naturally did the same.

"Alright, it's a long way from the base to Ruruye. According to the Fire Moth One's speed, it will take about thirty hours to arrive. Everyone, follow me to the residential area first. It's the only place that's been decorated. Your names have already been put up. One room for each of you!"

Hearing "one room for each of you," some people's eyes lit up. After all, the space in the original base was small, and there were no private rooms, which severely limited their ability to express their skills.

Michael didn't care. After helping Ellie carry her large and small bags and getting her settled, his bedroom was next door. Coincidentally, Sakura lived across from him.

Ellie tugged at his sleeve, seeming to want to say something to him, but Michael could only say a soft "sorry."

He was really tired. It seemed that he hadn't had a good rest since he had returned from the Vill-V incident. When he thought about the strange situation that might exist in this mission, he immediately had a bit of a headache.

Logically speaking, since he hadn't arrived at the scene yet and lacked a field investigation and evidence, he shouldn't be able to think of anything even if he racked his brains. But Michael's mind was more active than most people's. His brain almost never had any free time. He would always start thinking about the mission for no reason.

Ellie wanted to help him carry his luggage, but he waved his hand to stop her.

Michael walked to the room next door alone. His name was written on a piece of white paper on the door.

He took out the key, inserted it into the hole, and turned it…

"Huh? It won't turn! It's already unlocked? What's going on?"

Michael looked around. The other members had all entered their rooms, even Sakura and Himeko.

He couldn't help but become vigilant. He gently grasped the door handle, turned it slowly, and when he heard a soft "click," he quickly pushed the door open and entered.

The imagined attacker wasn't there.

But there was indeed a figure.

Mobius wasn't wearing the white coat that symbolized a researcher. Instead, she was simply wearing a light green shirt.

Her long green hair was simply tied into a high ponytail. This swept away Michael's inherent impression of her. With her taller figure compared to Ellie, she really had the aura of a mature woman.

"What are you doing here?"

Michael asked softly while frowning and closing the door.

"What? As a high-ranking member of the Fire Moth, is there a problem with me being here?"

She subtly covered her forehead.

Michael moved her hand away. There was a bruise on her forehead – clearly, Mobius had secretly climbed onto the Fire Moth One and hid in Michael's room. But because she hadn't been protected by a seatbelt during takeoff, she had probably fallen quite hard.

Mobius slapped Michael's hand away, fiddled with her bangs, covering the bruise, and said, "I saw a paper before and thought it was quite interesting. I heard that the author was a high school girl, which made it even more strange."

"So you sent an invitation to her, asking her to participate in the academic conference in Mu Continent. But you yourself couldn't leave the Fire Moth for some reason, so you had to stow away? You're a bit smarter than I thought. At least you didn't hold onto the landing gear…"

"You…" Mobius looked at Michael in surprise, as if saying, "How do you know?"

But she quickly recovered and showed a meaningful smile.

"Where would this warship have landing gear… Sigh! I'm only doing this for you. I had a fight with Phamas, and then I was put on house arrest…"

Dr. Mobius, you're not right…

Michael quickly took two steps back. "Dr. Mobius, please calm down!"

Mobius responded with a cold laugh. "Alright, I'm just joking. I've actually been on house arrest for a long time. Haven't you noticed that I've never left the Fire Moth base?"

"Why is that again…" Michael was halfway through speaking when he understood.

On the one hand, Mobius was too important to the Fire Moth. On the other hand, she was just a…

In short, putting her on house arrest was the most economical solution.

"I'll report this. Since what's done is done, Phamas will probably agree to let you participate in the academic conference under surveillance."

"Tch, you're talking like you know Phamas very well."

"I don't care about that…" Michael covered his head. He felt like his head was going to explode.

"Doctor, can I ask you to leave my room?"

"Hey! Why?"

"Do I need a reason?"

"Do you need one?"

"Don't you need one?"

"Are you trying to do something bad, or are you waiting for Elysia to come knocking?" Mobius rarely showed a mischievous smile.

"Dr. Mobius, I suspect that you have a mental problem…" What Michael actually wanted to say was, "You're probably Ellie in disguise!"

"Michael, you're being too heartless. Look, we're alone in a room, and no one knows I'm here. We have enough time…"

While nibbling on her fingers, Mobius clumsily imitated someone batting their eyelashes.

Michael felt a chill in his heart.

It wasn't that he hated Mobius, but it was just that the doctor today was acting like she had taken the wrong medicine/hadn't taken any medicine.

Based on what Michael knew about her, if she hadn't taken the wrong medicine, it meant that Mobius's interest in him was even stronger.

But who knew when she would turn on him and tear him into eight pieces?

Michael suddenly regretted getting involved with her.

After all, the Second Herrscher's corpse was still lying in her lab.

"Hey, by the way, how about you give me some deoxyribonucleic acid? I'll try to make a test tube to see what the difference is between the offspring of a Herrscher and ordinary humans. Hmm, don't you want to know?"

"Um… um?"

Michael was stunned.

But on second thought, this might really be what Grandma Mobius was thinking.

Michael's eyes gradually widened…

"Bang!"

Mobius was thrown out of the room.

She climbed up, her face twisted in anger. Before she could say anything, she saw Ellie leaning against the wall by the door.

She was holding a head massager in one hand and half-covering her mouth with the other, smiling mischievously:

"Oh dear! Dr. Mobius, you guys finished way too quickly!"

Under Mobius's gaze, which seemed like it was about to spit fire, Ellie showed a victory's smile, flicked the hair that was hanging down by her ear, and swaggered open Michael's door.

"So, next, it's my turn!"