The transport plane glided smoothly through the clouds.
Lin is an ultimately boring person; his life consists only of missions and training. His original life had nothing to do with the Honkai, yet he is more actively fighting it than most people in the Moth of the Flame-Chasers.
These were the words Himeko had spoken to Seele today. Seele nervously glanced at Lin, who was sitting across from her meticulously polishing a handgun.
Seele had seen this handgun before. It was a piece of standard-issue Moth of the Flame-Chasers gear that Lin always carried and carefully maintained, but never used.
"Soldier Lin, why did you want to join the Moth of the Flame-Chasers?" Seele felt she needed to establish a good relationship with her squad members, as they might have to fight side-by-side for a long time.
Himeko, who had been stung by Lin's impolite words yesterday, also turned to look at Lin, whose hands had stopped moving. She, too, was quite interested in why an ordinary person from a humble background would want to join the Moth of the Flame-Chasers.
"..."
"..."
His taciturn nature was deeply ingrained in people's minds, but since he had stopped his actions, it meant he hadn't ignored the question; he was just contemplating how to answer.
After a long while, a muffled sentence came from inside Lin's helmet: "Why did you?"
"My... my parents are researchers in the Moth of the Flame-Chasers. I was tested and found to have relatively strong Honkai energy adaptability, and I also wanted to help them..."
A significant number of people in the Moth of the Flame-Chasers joined because they were affected by the Honkai, but types like Seele were also common. For her, fighting the Honkai might just mean killing Honkai Zombies and monsters, and being able to help her parents.
"As for me... a person's life needs to have some goals, I suppose." Himeko gave a self-mocking smile, a glimmer of memory in her eyes.
Lin simply responded to both of their reasons with a simple "Oh," and then lowered his head to meticulously wipe the muzzle of his gun.
"..."
The moment of silence lasted a few seconds before Himeko recovered from her memories and asked curiously, "And you?"
Lin finished polishing. He gazed at the black muzzle of the gun, which was pointed right at the center of his brow, as if a bullet could shoot out at any moment and pierce his helmet and his brain.
"I want to find the truth."
He said this without context, and then fell silent once more.
As the Moth of the Flame-Chasers headquarters, built on the sea, came into view amid the shimmering sunrise, Lin heard Seele let out a soft sigh of relief, likely feeling a sense of returning home.
When Lin looked at Himeko, she was watching him with eyes full of interest.
Lin understood that gaze; he had seen a similar one from a green-haired researcher who had given him a physical examination. It was the look of someone treating him as a rare research specimen, though after a round of testing, she had quickly lost interest.
He had personally seen the strange light in the female doctor, Dr. Mobius, grow increasingly intense during the testing process. Just when it peaked, as if she was itching to dissect him, her expression suddenly changed, like biting into a piece of cake and finding half a fly inside.
At that moment, Lin had vaguely guessed the result, and getting the report simply confirmed his suspicion.
Lin had thought this mission was for breaking in the new Fifth Squad, but now it seemed it was just another "test."
He believed that before long, his latest combat report would be sitting on the desk of some high-ranking Moth of the Flame-Chasers official who was interested in him, right next to a cup of coffee.
He just hoped they wouldn't spit the coffee onto the report when they saw the Honkai Energy Adaptability section.
"Want to go grab a drink after a shower?"
Grab a drink?
Lin glanced at the sun, which had just risen above the sea level, and wondered what culture considered drinking straight out of a bottle acceptable early in the morning.
He shook his head. Himeko shrugged and left with Seele.
"Looks like he has a date."
Lin had never heard of unilaterally blocking someone's path counting as a "date."
Seeing the smiling, pink-haired girl who seemed to have been waiting for ages standing at the doorway, Lin subtly sighed, shook his head, and prepared to walk past her.
"Tap."
There was a blur before his eyes, and the smiling girl blocked his path.
"..."
He moved his step.
She blocked it.
He moved his step.
She blocked it.
"..."
His pupils beneath the helmet emitted a chilling, sharp light.
"My, sir, why are you blocking my path?"
Elysia's smile often gave people a feeling of pure warmth, but to Lin, it was nothing more than a facade hiding ulterior motives. It gave Lin a particular headache when she was playing pranks.
Was his attitude not firm enough, or did this girl have some strange obsession? Since their first meeting, she always managed to appear in the most inappropriate places.
He went to the R&D Department—Elysia was criticizing the weapons' aesthetics.
He went to the lab—Elysia was gossiping with the lab assistants.
He went to submit a report—Elysia was the person collecting the report.
Every inexplicable encounter would turn into an opening line of, "Hi~ Missed me?"
Even the sanctuary of a gym, which he considered his personal haven, was drilled into by her with the help of the new head of the Engineering Department! Lin's heart skipped a beat when he saw a pink-haired woman's head dangling from the ceiling while he was running on the treadmill.
Since then, Lin had started working out in his own room.
"Alright, I won't tease you anymore. Your reaction is so funny. Whenever you encounter similar teasing situations, you look like you desperately want to complain, but you have to hold it in for the sake of your image."
Elysia said teasingly.
Lin folded his arms and stared coldly at the girl who made him feel utterly uncomfortable: "Who are you?"
Elysia was shocked for a moment, then gazed at him sorrowfully, as if trying to squeeze out two tears.
"Oh dear, did you hit your head during the mission and get amnesia? I'm Elysia, your best friend! Let me use my love to awaken your memories."
As she spoke, her nefarious hand reached out to touch Lin's helmet connection at the neck, only to be slapped away by Lin, his eyelids twitching.
Lin had no choice against Elysia. Unless she achieved her goal, the woman was impervious to persuasion or force; she was a master of evasion. Lin found this type of person the most difficult to deal with.
If Lin asked, "What exactly do you want?"
Elysia would smile sweetly, like a blooming lily: "I just want to see what you look like under your helmet. I bet you're adorable."
See? She never revealed her true purpose, simply fabricating a reason to approach him.
"If you're a face-chaser, I have a friend who is so handsome you'll be completely overwhelmed. As for me... I'm nothing special." Lin was thinking of Kevin, that optimistic handsome guy known as the Prince of Nagazora High. Perhaps he and Elysia would get along well.
But then he remembered Kevin liked aloof girls like Mei, and he suddenly wasn't surprised that Elysia was interested in him.
"But don't a lot of novels describe a person who normally hides their appearance shocking everyone when they finally drop the disguise? If you think about it, Lin, maybe you plan to make everyone believe you're a hard-boiled man fused with his helmet, and then suddenly take it off one day, stunning the entire Moth of the Flame-Chasers. Hehe, you're quite naughty~"
Shifty-eyed, Elysia glanced left and right to confirm no one was watching, then chuckled and poked Lin's helmet: "But I'd be happy to be the first witness~"
Lin felt helpless. No matter what he said, this woman could come up with a rationale to interpret his words. In the end, it was best not to speak at all.
"After all, if a gun appears in a story, it must be fired. If a mask appears, it must be removed... Hey, wait for me, where are you going?"
Lin walked toward the R&D Department without a word, followed by the eye-catching, bothersome pink-haired girl.
After an in-depth study of the Second Herrscher's abilities, the R&D Department had created some new items that required him to test their performance.
One item in the partial introduction sent by the R&D head caught Lin's attention.
The Phase Transfer Device.