Even now, Fire Moth remained largely under the grip of traditional capital interests.
So when it came time each month to distribute supplies to its various branches, headquarters' higher-ups would always prioritize the "well-connected" ones based on how generously each branch director had "shown their appreciation" to the top brass, doling out the best-quality goods to their favorites first.
The Australia branch, deliberately suppressed by capital forces, naturally received nothing but defective or substandard supplies—aside from the weapons and equipment they couldn't easily tamper with.
But Himeko's talent for leading troops and fighting was truly top-tier.
Even with poorer-quality supplies compared to other branches, the results she delivered weren't exactly earth-shattering, but still impressive.
With just 0.6 portions of support, she could pull off effects worth a full 1.0.
That was a skill Himeko definitely possessed.
Unfortunately, a certain profit-obsessed and vindictive head of logistics had no concept of the bigger picture.
Despite all the achievements Himeko had racked up on the frontlines against the Honkai since being assigned to the Australia branch…
…the higher-ups at headquarters themselves intended to pressure and push Himeko away from the centers of power.
Well aware of the leadership's stance, this logistics chief hardly ever reported any of Himeko's accomplishments in Australia truthfully to his superiors.
Almost every piece of evidence Himeko submitted regarding her achievements was intercepted and withheld by him beforehand.
It was a blatant double standard: 'If there's merit, I'll suppress it; if there's blame or trouble, I'll report it immediately.'
And relying on his own perceived understanding of Himeko's unit's combat capabilities, the logistics chief even gradually began deliberately withholding a second portion of the supplies allocated by headquarters to Himeko's forces.
He went so far as to engage in internal strife, artificially inflating the procurement prices of life-saving supplies!
After all, wasn't Himeko famously effective even with just a scrap of resources?
So if he withheld just a little extra on top of the existing cuts, or raised the procurement prices by a few extra percent, surely someone as capable as her could handle it, right?
This kind of malicious targeting and suppression, tacitly approved by the authorities, was essentially a move to keep that inflexible "troublemaker" Himeko pinned down in the Australia branch—the most troublesome region to manage—for the rest of her life, until she died there!
Himeko's treatment was somewhat akin to those "great generals" of ancient feudal times, founding heroes who held military power.
Such figures often met one of two fates due to their achievements overshadowing their rulers: either secretly eliminated by the "emperor" and the higher-ups, or, like Himeko now, thrown under some pretext to a remote, desolate "frontier" [the Australia branch] to spend their lives "repelling foreign enemies" [fighting the Honkai] and burning out for the dynasty.
But hot-tempered Himeko was nothing like those loyal, righteous ancients who would be blindly devoted to Fire Moth.
The main reason she endured such immense pressure and fought desperately in that remote, bleak Australia branch was that the Honkai had taken almost everything from her when she was very young.
Take, for instance, the previously mentioned incident where an eleven- or twelve-year-old Himeko rushed onto the Honkai battlefield without a second thought.
That was precisely because young Himeko no longer had a "home" to return to.
So, with nearly suicidal resolve, she lied about her age, hoping to die on the battlefield taking revenge on the Honkai.
But fortunately, even back then, little Himeko showed signs of growing into an incredibly stunning beauty with a tall, statuesque figure.
Though only eleven or twelve, her development as a girl was remarkably advanced—only slightly behind Seele of the Current Era, who at twelve already boasted a terrifying C+ cup.
Hers were indeed C+ in size, but since her waist wasn't quite as slender as Seele's, the overall effect wasn't quite as jaw-dropping.
By the way, in the original storyline, because Seele's body became quantized at age twelve, she essentially remained stuck with her twelve-year-old physique, with no chance of growing up.
But our main character Seele here does have room to grow—just not in height, but rather in… volume.
As for what that means, well, those who get it, get it. Ahem, moving on…
But thanks to this, with no family around to verify her age, Himeko's initial claim of being fifteen or sixteen went unquestioned; no one could tell just by looking.
Though it's unclear whether the heavens suddenly decided they didn't want Himeko to die just yet, or if Himeko was simply born for the battlefield…
…once she stepped onto the battlefield with that death wish, Himeko fought like some powered-up protagonist from a shonen anime.
Even looking back now, Himeko herself isn't sure how many times she fearlessly charged into hordes of Honkai Beasts, slaughtering madly, nor how many beasts fell by her hand.
All she remembers is that even the initial anti-Honkai protective suit issued to her at the start became overloaded and severely damaged, unable to withstand the high-density Honkai Energy erosion.
Yet Himeko's body always resisted the Honkai Energy's corruption.
Time and again, she rose back up from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, seemingly tireless—like a monster completely immune to Honkai infection!
Such ferocious combat records, coupled with that terrifying physique that allowed her to cut through Honkai Beast hordes with minimal protective gear and no fear of infection, quickly caught the attention of Fire Moth's higher-ups.
Back then, over a decade ago, while no Herrschers had openly appeared on the Honkai side yet, the Fire Moth organization also lacked figures like Kevin or the far-beyond-spec monster that was Elysia.
So Himeko, who had lied about her age to seek death on the battlefield, inexplicably became Fire Moth's top fighter in those early years, embarking on a legendary rise within the organization.
Even after attaining high rank, Himeko continued to rely on her immunity to Honkai Erosion, throwing herself recklessly into the frontlines against the Honkai.
This iron-blooded style—where a high-ranking commander fought more fearlessly and plunged deeper into the fray than even the suicide squads—profoundly influenced the soldiers under her command.
So, when it comes to the troops that Himeko has personally trained, you might argue they're not the strongest in combat power or weaponry.
But there's one thing that none of Fire Moth's other units can come close to matching: their sheer disregard for death.
Himeko's special constitution—seemingly unaffected by Honkai Energy erosion—had held steady until the emergence of beings known as Herrschers, entities that far surpassed the scale of ordinary Honkai Beasts. It was then that something unexpected happened for the very first time.
That encounter was also Himeko's first face-to-face confrontation with the monsters known as Herrschers.
In the face of that overwhelming, terrifying Honkai Energy, Himeko—who had once seemed almost immune to the Honkai—realized for the first time that she, too, could be corroded and infected by it.
The first Herrscher suppression campaign also left Himeko with unimaginably severe injuries—wounds unlike any she had suffered since first stepping onto the battlefield.
They even left behind terrible aftereffects that the medical technology of the time was completely powerless to cure.
"Lady Himeko, while this might be considered a misfortune for others... for you, perhaps I should offer congratulations."
"If you were to be exposed to Honkai Energy of similar intensity again now, you might truly die."
"But if a warrior of your caliber were to be fully corrupted by the Honkai... well, perhaps a monster even more terrifying than a 'Herrscher' would be born..."
Those were the exact words spoken to Himeko after surgery by the doctor who had pulled the organization's ace back from the brink of death.
Afterward, through some inquiries, Himeko came to understand that her constitution—which she had always believed granted her immunity to Honkai infection—was not, in fact, capable of unconditionally resisting Honkai Energy erosion at any level.
Rather than resisting Honkai infection, Himeko's body was more like a storage tank with an enormous capacity.
Having been active on the front lines against the Honkai for years, Himeko had naturally filled this "storage tank" to the brim with "water"—that is, [Honkai Energy].
Before encountering a Herrscher, the "tank" itself was sturdy enough to withstand the erosion of ordinary-purity Honkai Energy to a certain degree.
But this time, facing the terrifying deluge of Herrscher-level Honkai Energy, it was almost as if all the vast, accumulated Honkai Energy lying dormant within Himeko's body had been detonated all at once!
After this experience of having her internal Honkai Energy ignited by a Herrscher, Himeko's body's resistance to the Honkai could be compared to dropping from the shield durability of a certain grandpa Zhongli straight down to the abstract, constellation-less level of a certain trash-can-loving Trailblazer.
It still offered some resistance, but compared to her former state—where she could cut through hordes of Honkai Beasts like a whirlwind—there was clearly no going back.
After brushing shoulders with death, though Himeko managed to defeat the First Herrscher at an unimaginably terrible cost, she continued to throw herself recklessly into the front lines against the Honkai.
Himeko herself might not have cared about her own life, but Fire Moth's higher-ups at the time turned into downright 'panic kings.'
After all, right after the First Herrscher was subdued, upon realizing the grave consequences that could arise if Himeko were fully corrupted by the Honkai, Fire Moth simply couldn't allow Himeko to keep charging headlong into danger.
They had barely managed to win against the First Herrscher thanks to Himeko's desperate efforts.
But if Himeko—the organization's ace in the fight against the Honkai—were to also fall to corruption, the early Fire Moth would have had no way to handle the consequences of her turning into a Honkai zombie.
After all, back then, Himeko was truly the strongest elite warrior within Fire Moth—bar none.
And so, something rather bizarre suddenly happened.
All those merits that Himeko never cared about others secretly claiming for themselves were suddenly 'cleared of injustice' and credited back to her.
Even the various military rewards that had previously been withheld or dangled like carrots before her were suddenly issued according to the highest standards.
As a result, Himeko found herself inexplicably promoted through the ranks, even breaking precedent to become the first combatant to rise into Fire Moth's visible upper echelons—a legendary figure.
This period of having to treat Himeko like a revered ancestor continued until Elysia—who was even stronger and comparable to a Herrscher—joined Fire Moth.
Only then, when Himeko had reached what could be considered the highest visible level of power within Fire Moth, was she exiled to the barren, remote Australian branch because a replacement ace capable of restraining her had appeared.
The higher-ups, who had once been wary of Himeko and had only just begun to treat her somewhat fairly, quickly revealed the ugly face of capitalists once more.
Even the logistics chief—whose official rank was several levels below hers—dared to show such disrespect toward Himeko, which speaks volumes.
And right after Himeko unceremoniously ignored the warnings of that worthless logistics chief...
That very noon, while anxiously awaiting instructions from Fire Moth's higher-ups in his office, the logistics chief finally received a special top-secret message.
'Have Himeko hand over at least eighty percent of the profits from the Eden concert project, and issue a secret order to eliminate the Herrscher. If not…'
After confirming the full contents of the message and watching the document auto-delete, the once-anxious logistics chief couldn't help but break into a sly, utterly sinister smile.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 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.