[Cursed Energy: 1512 → 1714]

  Looking at the noti front of him, Aleph sighed.

  ‘It’s not as good as st time. The extra one hundred… Was it from the Herrscher Core?’

  After menting his luck, he stretched his entire body. Crag sounds were heard throughout the hangar.

  “Ugh… Is my back pain as bad as before..?”

  *****

  The dest of the fourth Herrscher halted the ordinary operations of the MOTH. Due to the ued diversioed by the Herrscher, thousands of Fire MOTH soldiers were redirected to two pces: the tornado and the farm where the Herrscher went.

  The former was successfully dealt with after aremely risky operation by a MOTH soldier. He was able to detonate a handheld bomb made to destabilize the strong tornado. O was thrown at its ter, it died down.

  As for the tter…

  “It was clearly an outsider. All the records indicate that we do not have the teology to create su exoskeleton suit. We are still usiricity fod’s sake!”

  “What about honkai energy reactors? Aren’t they enough?”

  “It’s not enough to fly at that speed.”

  “What about the researstitutes? The sed and third institutes, everybody?!”

  “We all have a clear report of their progress. It’s impossible to jump from ohing to another.”

  Another round of spectacle occurred in the deliberation room. The death of the fourth Herrscher uhe hands of a ‘third-party’ startled most of the cilors to the extreme. Distrust among them began to quickly grow. All of them had some people in mind.

  “Ahem. The Herrscher Core was obtai the site. It is now stored at the First Institute. I believe this is a point worth discussing.”

  The ander-in-chief tapped at the table top periodically. A report was sent to the cilors’ side.

  “At the very least, they do not have the iion to keep the core to themselves. Of course, it remains questionable what their iions are.”

  His calm voice brought a moment of silehin the room. The ander-in-chief who officially trolled Fire MOTH’s military forces was no ordinary man. His charisma was enough to steer the discussions within this room.

  A while ter, the silence was broken by a question.

  “What was Miss Elysia’s status at that time? Right, Doctor Aleph too.”

  “Miss Elysia is on vacation in Shenzhou. Our mehe ones who told her about the fourth Herrscher.” The ander-in-chief replied. “As for Doctor Aleph, he was resting at that time.”

  Once again, he brought up evideo their side. It killed most of the suspis of the two being that outsider. Strangely enough, several people vocally supported this cim.

  ‘The iment’s worth it. I won’t have to waste time looking at the third institute…’

  ‘That Aleph didn’t leave his room. Heh, let’s see how others make trouble.’

  ‘If it wasn’t him… could it be…’

  All sorts of intrigues happened as their discussio by. It has to be pointed out that the outsider became a ‘more important’ matter thaling the fourth major eruption’s aftermath.

  ‘Things o ge…’

  *****

  Fire MOTHs has a Tradition Night every year. It is held during the day of endation to those who made signifit tributions to MOTH. It was always held o day of September, making it just right for the soldiers to take a day off.

  Due to the fourth major eruption, it was held in advance. Fifteen hours had passed after the entire i. Although not all soldiers attehere were still many of them. The rest were watg through the live broadcast.

  ‘The feeling’s pletely different here.’

  Kevin had a bnk thought as he remaianding straight oage. As the person who destroyed the threatening tornado, he was awarded a medal as well as a rank promotion. It was a brief ceremony, which is part of MOTH’s culture.

  ‘This girl’s few years youhan me… Well, the world couldn’t be judged by normal standards anymore.’

  His sight moved towards the gray-haired girl who was awarded alongside him. Among the group of awardees, she was the you o made him realize how screwed the world was, requiring a girl of her age to head straight to the battlefield.

  The awarding ceremony was finished soon. The attendees were soon dispersed from the event vehey were granted a day off to rest in the Mu ti.

  Just as Kevin and the others behind him were about to head out, a familiar figure appeared. His hands covered his huge yawn. It was evident in his eyes that he didn’t get enough sleep. The ed coffee in his hands was drunk in one fell swoop.

  “Oh? The ceremony is already over? I hope you won’t bme me for being te, Kevin.”

  “This is new. You are not the type to arrive te.”

  A smile was drawn on Aleph's face.

  “You’ve ged. Who would’ve guessed you would care about punctuality now?”

  “...”

  Kevin’s mouth twitched. He kneh joked about his former ‘deli’ lifestyle.

  “Military discipline is really effective. Anyways, let’s go grab some lunch. I rushed over as soon as I heard they’re doing this ceremony now.”

  Just as Aleph was about to say more things, someoerrupted him.

  “Sir Aleph..?”

  Aleph’s eyes widened as he saw the gray-haired girl behind Kevin. Her voice trembled as she called his name—a sign of her nervousness.

  ‘...That was why…’

  He sighed silently as he reanized his thoughts.

  “Long time no see, Miss Hua.”

  *****

  “So that’s it.”

  Kevin nodded as he finished listening to the story between Aleph and Hua. Though he knew about Aleph’s escapades in the Sapphire City, he didn’t know it was Hua whom Aleph saved.

  “Major Himeko… She’s famous on the Far East branch.” Kevin stated. “She’s been in the frontlines for nearly ten years. She was one of the veterans within MOTH.”

  “She is the type to take honkai seriously.”

  Hearing Aleph’s implications, Kevin fell silent. He then thought for a while before he asked:

  “Are you talking about the misma of the higher-ups?”

  “You saw it for yourself. They are insisting on information trol even now. It’s stupid, I knoh replied. “Anyways, let’s not talk about those things for now. I’ve heard you recruited someone from the battlefield?”

  “You heard about it already… Yes, I did. He is brave enough to attempt bombing the tornado by himself.”

  At that time, there was a civilian who somehow mao get his hands on the bombs held by the special team. It was desigo "kill" the tornado. Kevin was the one who threw it in the end.

  “He’s a civilian, right? How did he get his hands on it?”

  The two talked to each other for the time being. Hua chose to tiing silently while listening to the two of them.

  It didn’t take long before her turn came. Aleph asked her some retively basic questions such as her friend’s dition as well as what she’d seehe past eight months.

  “So, what do you pn to do now?”

  A familiar question was brought up.