"Elysia, you seem to be in a good mood?"
Walking along the base's path, Acheron glanced at Elysia, who was humming a nursery tune beside her, and couldn't help but feel a bit curious.
"My mood is good every day, you know. After all, only by facing others with a smile can you receive smiles in return."
If the person you're talking to has a face like they've been sucking on lemons, as if everyone owes them three million, would you still smile at them?
It'd be pretty hard, right?
Elysia understood this well, which was why she always wore a bright smile, no matter who she was dealing with.
And it had to be said, Elysia's attitude had influenced many people. Despite being the captain of a Fire Moth Squad, she greeted everyone with that same cheerful grin.
Although Acheron was now the strongest warrior in Fire Moth, if you asked who the most popular person was, Elysia would win by a landslide.
Maybe even if you combined Acheron and Kevin's votes, they still wouldn't beat Elysia's.
Hmm, in a way, that's kinda like owning half the scene, isn't it?
"But, Mei, you're right, I am really happy today. Wanna guess why?"
Elysia suddenly skipped cheerfully in front of Acheron, then turned around, beaming at her.
"I don't know."
Acheron shook her head.
"Aw, come on! At a time like this, you should try your best to guess what's on a young girl's mind! Even if you're wrong, it's fine!"
Elysia puffed out her cheeks, but seeing the slightly flustered look on Acheron's face, she couldn't help a soft giggle.
"Ah, never mind. If it's you, Mei, it's to be expected. Actually... the source of my happiness is you, Mei."
Elysia looked at Acheron, gently placing a hand over her heart.
"...Me?"
"Yep! Ever since you arrived, everyone in the Fire Moth has changed. A lot."
Elysia gazed at Acheron with a smile, speaking slowly. "Before, even though we always managed to defeat the Herrschers in the end, there was always this dark cloud of despair hanging over the base. People weren't very optimistic about the future."
"After all, you never knew when someone might die from the Honkai... and... no one really knew what the end goal of the Honkai was. Facing stronger and stronger enemies, they just fought on, numb."
As she spoke, her eyes, shining like polished gems, fixed on Mei:
"But after you came, Mei, everything changed. I can feel it—a light of hope taking root in people's hearts. You know, before you arrived, every time Fire Moth faced a Herrscher, even if we won in the end, the cost was always devastating. Both the casualties and the economic losses were astronomical."
"But after you showed up, everything changed. Even if a Herrscher's appearance still causes damage, you take them out so quickly that the losses stay manageable."
"Most importantly, people can see it now—they can see the hope of victory. Herrschers aren't so terrifying after all, right? Your popularity within the Fire Moth is really high now, Mei, especially among the soldiers. The Eighth Herrscher that appeared the other day had a really tricky ability."
"According to Dr. Mei's analysis afterward, even if the Fire Moth had won, the cost would've been horrific. But with your help, we dealt with it in no time!"
"I just did what I could..."
"But what you 'could do' indirectly saved countless lives, Mei. You're a true hero, no doubt about it. In the hearts of the Fire Moth's warriors, and in my heart too."
The girl looked at Acheron, her words sounding almost like a heartfelt confession.
Honestly, faced with such shy, confessional words, even Acheron felt a little embarrassed.
Fortunately, the awkwardness didn't last long. Soon, another figure came into view for both Acheron and Elysia.
Like Elysia, she had long pink hair and wore a mask that hid her features.
She wore a neat uniform, but the most striking thing was the katana in her hand.
It wasn't as eye-catching as Acheron's nodachi, but someone casually carrying a blade, looking ready to draw it at a moment's notice, was a rare sight in the Fire Moth.
"A new beautiful girl I haven't seen before!"
Even though the girl radiated a 'keep away' aura, Elysia bounced right up to her, looking curious.
"..."
Faced with Elysia's fiery enthusiasm, Sakura was momentarily at a loss for words.
"What's your name? I don't think I've seen you in Fire Moth before! Wow, our hair color is the same! Why are you wearing a mask? Can I see your face? I have a feeling you must be a really cute girl. I love cute girls the most..."
Before Sakura could even speak, Elysia's words came at her like rapid-fire, leaving her even more unsure of how to respond.
"Elysia, you'll scare her like that."
Acheron gently tugged on Elysia's sleeve, apologetically.
"Oops, sorry, sorry! My beautiful girl radar went off, and I couldn't help myself."
After Acheron's reminder, Elysia finally caught herself and offered a playful apology to Sakura.
"You can call me Sakura. I'm here... to see Dr. Mobius and Dr. Mei for the MANTIS Surgery…"
Sakura said briefly.
"Oh, I think I heard Mei mention that. She said there'd be another MANTIS Surgery in the next couple of days. So it's you!"
Elysia clapped her hands together, then immediately grabbed Sakura's wrist. "Come with me, come with me! I'll take you to Mei~"
With that, she eagerly started leading the way.
However, compared to Elysia, Sakura seemed more interested in Acheron.
"Is something wrong?"
Noticing Sakura's gaze, Acheron tilted her head slightly in question.
"My apologies. I was just... curious. About what is so special about the current strongest warrior of the Fire Moth, the Miss Mei who single-handedly slays Herrschers."
After Acheron pointed it out, Sakura realized her staring might have been rude and hurriedly apologized.
"And? Did you figure it out?"
"Not really."
In response to Acheron's counter-question, Sakura shook her head.
"Miss Mei... both your appearance and your aura seem no different from an ordinary person. I understand there are differences between individuals, but why... do you possess such immense power...?"
Acheron wasn't sure if this curiosity was Sakura's own, or came from someone behind her.
"Everyone has something they want to protect, don't they?"
Acheron didn't answer Sakura's question directly. After a moment's thought, she replied softly.
"Something... to protect?"
Sakura looked at Acheron, pondering the meaning of her words. Unconsciously, a petite figure surfaced in her mind.
Rin...
She placed a hand over her chest, lost in thought.
"Everyone has something they want to protect. But if protecting what's precious to you means destroying what others hold dear... that's nothing but extreme selfishness."
Acheron shook her head and said no more. Yet, the implied meaning in her words gave Sakura pause.
Did she... know something?
The path to Dr. Mei's office wasn't far, and Elysia soon brought them to the door.
--+--
After delivering Sakura, Acheron and Elysia didn't linger and left immediately.
"Let's go, let's go! We got held up a bit, but it's no big deal! Hope the kids aren't getting impatient."
Elysia chattered as she led Acheron out of the Fire Moth base.
They'd made plans with Pardo yesterday to visit the children at the sanatorium today.
"They won't be. They're good kids."
Acheron shook her head gently. With that, they got into the vehicle.
Ever since their first trip to the Sundown Alley, Acheron and Elysia had made a habit of going there in their free time, always bringing supplies with them.
"Elysia! Long time no see! And Big Sis Mei! I missed you guys so much!"
No sooner had they reached the sanatorium's gate than Pardo was already there waiting. Seeing them approach, she cheered excitedly.
"Thank you both for your trouble. If not for your support, this sanatorium would have had a hard time surviving."
The director, Aponia, looked at the two with their truck full of supplies and couldn't help but smile.
In fact, besides Elysia, Eden had also visited during this time in her spare moments and managed to secure a lot of funding for the sanatorium. This had significantly improved the children's quality of life.
It wasn't just the food; many other aspects had gotten better too.
The most obvious change was that their beds, desks, pots, and pans could finally be replaced with new ones.
The old ones? Kalpas had chopped them up for firewood.
Before, the beds the children slept on were rickety wooden bunk beds that creaked loudly if you just sat on them.
The tables were the same, covered in scratches.
"Well then, we'll leave it to you, Mr. Mover~ We two delicate girls can't possibly move all these supplies by ourselves!"
Elysia looked at Kalpas, who was standing to the side, and winked at him. Then she took Acheron inside the sanatorium.
Leaving Kalpas alone to stare at the truckload of goods before starting to haul them with grunts of effort.
Thankfully, his physical strength was downright absurd. Moving these supplies was nothing. If he wasn't worried about scaring people, he'd probably just lift the entire truck in, unload it, and be done with it.
"So, Pardo, have you been behaving yourself this whole time?"
"Hehe, of course I have, Elysia-sis! I've been totally well-behaved this whole time."
Hearing Elysia's question, Pardo gave an innocent grin, though a hint of guilt flickered across her face.
Elysia could tell at a glance that Pardo had still been out stealing during her absence.
But Elysia didn't say anything about it.
Besides, Pardo actually had her own code when it came to stealing.
She didn't steal from the poor—they had it hard enough already, and she couldn't bring herself to do it.
She didn't steal from children or the elderly—they didn't have much to take either.
She didn't steal from the middle class—everyone was just struggling to get by.
Though unscrupulous speedbump drivers were a different story; Pardo would rob them until they cried.
A nobleman acquires his wealth by proper means. Pardo's main targets were actually the wealthy.
As for how she managed to pickpocket Elysia and Acheron that one time... well, that was probably just a stroke of luck.
"Aponia, I brought some good news this time!"
Elysia looked at Aponia, her eyes curving into happy crescents.
"Good news? What is it, Elysia?"
Hearing Elysia's excited, treasure-sharing tone, Aponia looked at her curiously.
"It's about the children~ Recently, Dr. Mei and Dr. Mobius successfully developed a specialized treatment for Honkai sickness. As long as the person isn't completely gone, about to turn into a zombie, there's a very high chance they can be cured~"
Elysia's words made even the usually unflappable Aponia widen her eyes.
Indeed, this technology had only been developed very recently.
And Mobius had contributed greatly to the research.
After all, in the final stages of developing such a drug, human trials were necessary.
The initial human trials were conducted by Mobius herself. She intentionally infected herself with Honkai sickness, let it progress to a late stage, and then used the experimental drug to stop the Honkai's spread.
After more than a dozen such cycles of 'rebirth,' she and Dr. Mei finally achieved success.
Of course, a lot of the credit actually went to that genius manuscript.
For brilliant people, sometimes all they need is an idea. As long as the mindset doesn't falter, there are always more solutions than difficulties.
The two genius scientists of this world hit it off perfectly. Many technologies that once seemed like pipe dreams were brought back to the table with the help of that manuscript.
Even Acheron felt that the exchange for that genius manuscript was more than worth it. Who would have thought a single manuscript could provide such profound inspiration to two scientists...
And while things were moving along briskly with the preparations for the sanatorium's relocation, the darker side of Fire Moth was growing restless.
To the higher-ups, Acheron was a threat, and that sanatorium, the source of that coincidental nursery rhyme, was also a target that needed to be eliminated.
To ensure the secrets of the initial Origin Incident never came to light, certain factions within the Fire Moth's upper echelons chose to erase everyone who knew about that event, leaving not even a sliver of chance.
So, upon learning that Acheron was currently at the Sundown Alley, they simply dispatched Sakura—'also' a MANTIS—to carry out a mission regarding Acheron...
"Sakura, your mission is to eliminate Raiden Mei and everyone at that sanatorium!"
--+--
T/N: Actually sending her on a suicide mission
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.