Seeing no response, the tea-haired man seemed to find 'talking to himself' rather pointless. He sighed and raised the small, gleaming knife towards the 'corpse' covered head-to-toe in bandages before him.
Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind swept through the stone cave, making the long-haired man squint. When he opened his eyes a moment later, the stone slab bed was empty.
"Alright... alright..." The tea-haired man raised his hands helplessly, turning towards the cave entrance with a wry smile. "You did give me some face, at least, didn't you?"
Under the flickering light of the oil lamp inside the cave, the tea-haired man's full appearance was gradually revealed.
Although the tea-haired man had grown a beard and looked to be around 30 to 40 years old, he still wore a deep green, ornate academy uniform.
The buttons on his waistcoat were fastened meticulously, and the wrinkles on his clothes were smoothed out as much as possible. He wore brown leather boots, and there was even an academy insignia on his chest.
The only things that distinguished his attire were the matching deep green shawl and the various medals and ribbons pinned to it, hinting at his unusual status.
In the long-haired man's hand was a small, brightly polished dagger, clearly having been carefully cleaned just moments before.
Meanwhile, at the cave entrance, Shu—stripped to the waist and covered in crude bandages—was panting heavily, one hand braced against the cave wall, barely managing to stay upright.
His eyes were fixed intently on the tea-haired man before him. Though exhausted, his gaze remained sharp, as if trying to excavate some hidden truth from the man.
Aside from the dagger in his hand, Shu could clearly sense nothing threatening about the man—no energy fluctuations, no Honkai energy. Furthermore, Shu's senses detected a thin, long callus on the pad of the man's right thumb, and the way he held the dagger was just so...
Like he was holding a scalpel?
Considering the bandages wrapped around his own body and the man's earlier statement about "19 fatal wounds," Shu chose not to immediately restrain the man. Instead, he quickly moved to the cave entrance, blocking the man's 'escape route.'
This was why the tea-haired man had wryly commented on Shu giving him face.
"'You're... the person under the cloak?'" Shu asked, his voice somewhat hoarse.
He remembered falling within the city, an unbearable weight crushing him until he could barely breathe, stripping away his consciousness and plunging him into a coma. The only other human likely to be here... would be the cloaked figure, right?
"'Cloak?'" The tea-haired man paused, then shook his head. 'Apologies, that wasn't me.'"
"'Hm?'" Shu frowned. 'What do you mean?'"
"'The person wearing the cloak up on the surface is one of my companions...'" The tea-haired man lowered his dagger and gave Shu a gentlemanly bow. "'Warrior from the Fire Moth, allow me to introduce myself. I am Charles Robert Darwin, one of the seven certified Underground Holy Hands of the [Spider Web]...'"
"'...The Origin of Species?'" Shu remained silent for a long moment before asking tentatively from the entrance.
Darwin stiffened slightly, then offered a forced smile. 'That is merely a personal interest... My formal profession is actually that of a doctor...'"
"'Do you know Vakh?'" Shu asked next.
"'Vakh Cioara?'" Hearing the familiar name, Darwin's eyes lit up. 'Of course, I've heard of him. An unattainable peak in biology, yet also the one among the Seven Underground Holy Hands with the most... humble origins. Why, could it be Vakh is now employed by the Fire Moth?'"
The man is gone, but the core remains... Shu thought.
"'He's dead. I killed him,'" Shu stated calmly.
Darwin: "..."
Do you hear the terrifying thing you just said so calmly?
Involuntarily, Darwin's gaze flickered to the dagger he had lowered as a gesture of goodwill, but he immediately dismissed the thought. Based on the speed the other man had just shown, darting from the bed to behind him, never mind a small dagger—even a hundred Future City-produced laser swords would be useless.
"'I wonder what Vakh did to warrant being...'" Darwin, who had seemed completely composed moments ago, now had a large bead of sweat trickling down his temple.
"'He was possessed by a Herrscher,'" Shu said. 'I had no choice but to find a way to eliminate It.'"
"'Herrscher?'" A flicker of confusion crossed Darwin's face. 'What is that?'"
Shu: "...?"
He was used to assuming everyone had at least a basic understanding of the Honkai. Now, suddenly faced with a complete 'newbie,' Shu felt somewhat unsure how to proceed.
Darwin noticed Shu's speechless expression, chuckled, and apologized first. 'Apologies, I may have been isolated here for quite some time... I'm not very familiar with these newly emerged terms...'"
"'Then how did you know I came from—'" Shu started to ask instinctively, then remembered his clothes bore not only the Fire Moth icon but also the words 'Fire Moth' prominently displayed.
"'Right...'" Shu covered his eyes with his hand, then sighed resignedly and moved his hand to his forehead.
"'Before understanding Herrschers, you first need to understand the Honkai...'"
As Shu's explanation deepened, Darwin's composed—a mixture of detached, rigorous, and lazy—expression gradually crumbled. His eyes widened, and even his breathing grew somewhat heavy.
What? A disaster born alongside human civilization has descended?! And it wiped out percent of the world's population in one go?! A single Herrscher can destroy at least an entire city?! And what was that about Vakh's abilities? As long as a single cell existed within his domain, he could instantly create entirely new, unheard-of species?
For Darwin, the author of The Origin of Species, the sheer 'heaven-defying' nature of this was tantamount to taking his fundamental understanding of the world and grinding it brutally against rough pavement. And then the even more outrageous Herrscher of Memory... whose power manifests as silently modifying, usurping, and inserting memories into others?!
What is this? What is this?!
If not for the earlier mention that the Great Honkai killed over 6.9 billion people in its initial wave, Darwin's first reaction would probably have been—
The Honkai, the Honkai?~ Damn it, where do I sign up to apply for Herrscher?!
"'Ahem...'" Still reeling from shock, Darwin cleared his throat twice, then waved a hand at Shu, feigning composure.
"'Right then, I understand now...'"
No, I can see you don't understand at all. Shu thought.