Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

Inside the war room, Ato paced anxiously in circles, and Himeko's gaze kept following his footsteps, spinning until her head became a bit dizzy, and then she belatedly looked away.

"Oh no!"

Ato suddenly clapped his hands and exclaimed in a low voice.

"What's wrong?"

In order to prevent the previous mistakes from happening again, this time they entered the command compartment inside the war room. Legally speaking, this was indeed a kind of transgression, but it was also a helpless move.

"I…" Ato paused for a second, and then sighed, "I shouldn't have sent the First Squad to carry out the task of blockading Poison Cocoon."

"The order has been issued for so long, there's no use regretting it now…"

"Captain!"

Before Himeko finished speaking, the small door of the compartment was rudely pushed open.

"What's the matter, Andre?"

Andre scratched the beard on his chin and said, "Captain, the First Squad clashed with Poison Cocoon, and one Poison Cocoon member who was trying to negotiate was killed."

Ato patted his forehead and leaned his back against the cold wall.

"Why was he killed? Didn't I give the order to prioritize persuasion?"

He asked this question almost through gritted teeth.

Although in Himeko's eyes, it was already something he knew the answer to—after the First Squad members learned that their captain was very likely assassinated by Poison Cocoon, if they could still maintain maximum restraint and calmness, it would be the most unlikely thing, right?

As a veteran, no matter how straightforward Andre was, it was impossible for him not to think of this. Seeing that there were only Himeko and Ato in the compartment for the time being, he hurriedly closed the door.

As if still a little worried, he lowered his voice and said, "I was still searching Poison Cocoon's armory at the time, when I suddenly heard several gunshots. When I rushed out again, the Poison Cocoon member had already been shot five times, even his head was blown open. Two of the shots were fired automatically by two drone mechs, and the rest were fired by soldiers… but it's already impossible to verify whether it was the mechs or soldiers who fired first."

"Mechs… the terminal brain [Zero] of the mechs should be controlled by Dr. Mei… Never mind that, Andre, did you find that gun in Poison Cocoon's armory, or the corresponding transfer records?"

Andre's expression suddenly became very complicated. Just when Ato thought he hadn't found anything, he spoke again, "There are transfer records, and there's even no attempt to hide them—it's Poison Cocoon No. 1730."

[No attempt to hide them!]

Ato and Himeko exchanged glances. A chill gradually spread in the small compartment—from the beginning of the incident until now, all the evidence and guidance were too singularly pointed, as if the mastermind behind it was extremely arrogant, thinking that the people being played by him would willingly continue along the path he gave.

In fact, it was indeed so.

The guidance he gave was very simple and clear, but every step accurately calculated the reactions of the rest of Fire Moth, leaving people with no other choice but to follow the evidence. Just like now, even if Himeko and Ato remained rational, and temporarily put aside their suspicions about Poison Cocoon, would the First Squad, and other Fire Moth members, agree?

If it were other organizations, there might be room for maneuver, but what was Poison Cocoon? It was Vasak's "attack dog," an organization specially used to execute traitors and deserters. Even without this incident, there were many people who wanted them dead.

Then now… Poison Cocoon No. .1730…

"Wait a minute…" Ato looked at Himeko, "Poison Cocoon No. .1730, is that the Poison Cocoon who was responsible for communication between Michael and Vasak in those files before?"

"Yes."

Himeko nodded, her expression becoming even more gloomy. No. .1730, perhaps Ato didn't know, but that was Immer's code name…

But even without knowing this, it didn't affect Ato's judgment of the situation—now that Vasak was confined and awaiting trial, Lezlun became a suspect and was not trusted, and it also involved Michael, who was the person behind it, and what his purpose was, wasn't it obvious at a glance…

Hopefully not.

Ato thought, biting his lip.

"Andre, you are personally responsible for this matter, try to keep the conflict to a minimum."

After saying this, Ato moved the only iron chair in the compartment and sat down heavily.

The coldness of the metal began to spread on his skin, gradually penetrating his lungs, heart, and brain.

No other choice…

Seeing his appearance, Himeko quietly left the compartment—the situation had reached this point, she had to try again, for example, contacting Anti-Entropy, at least telling Michael about Immer's situation… But to contact the other party, with Immer himself in danger, there was only…

Dr. Mei…

...

Immer quietly closed the door and returned to his room, standing close behind the door.

Through the thin iron door, the shouts, knocks, and footsteps in the corridor outside still clearly reached his ears—Poison Cocoon was finished.

Although the only one who died was a veteran with unrealistic illusions, Poison Cocoon itself, along with those few gunshots, was about to dissipate into the dust of history.

It was time to consider getting out.

Immer didn't have to worry about being buried with Poison Cocoon. Dr. Mei was hard to say, but Michael was definitely not the kind of person who regarded people as disposable tools.

Even based on Immer's understanding of him, even the most ordinary tool, as long as it had some connection with him, he would have some kind of terrible, unbreakable obsession with it.

So he just had to escape from this place, or contact Michael—the latter was a bit difficult. The network communication between Poison Cocoon and the outside world should have been cut off. Although he wasn't without other ways to communicate with Michael, he didn't do so.

A strange feeling stopped him.

Was it because he didn't want to trouble Michael with such a small matter?

It didn't seem to be the case either. He just always felt that he shouldn't do that.

It didn't matter either. In the past two years, he had already planned twenty-eight different escape routes from Poison Cocoon under different circumstances, and prepared corresponding tools for them.

Now it was finally time to test the results, and he actually felt a little excited and reluctant.

He quickly walked two steps, preparing to take out his toolbox and the prepared route map from under the bed.

But the moment he grasped the handle of the toolbox, his expression changed drastically.

He dragged the box out from under the bed. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't his toolbox at all, but a long, narrow box that looked like it was used for holding a gun.

He hurriedly opened the box. Inside was a gun and a lone bullet.

It seemed that the insulation of the outer box was too good. The barrel of the gun still had a faint red color, and he could still feel the residual warmth when he got closer.

Although he still didn't know what exactly was happening outside, since this gun appeared here, it must be related to the commotion outside.

Moreover…

Someone suddenly patted his back gently. Immer turned around abruptly, his elbow swinging backwards, but it was easily blocked by the other person.

The visitor was also wearing a Poison Cocoon mask and was taller than him, but their strength wasn't on the same level at all. He was easily pinned to the ground in two or three moves.

"Wh—"

Before the word "what" was uttered, the Poison Cocoon suddenly released all restraints. Immer, confused, didn't immediately counterattack—anyway, he couldn't win even if he counterattacked.

But the next scene surprised him—the Poison Cocoon raised his hand. He thought the other party was about to attack again, and quickly put up a defensive stance.

The attack didn't come. Instead, the other party covered his mask with his hand and gently took it off. What appeared in front of Immer was a completely unfamiliar face.

After that, the flesh and blood on that face kept squirming, gradually turning into the familiar appearance.

"Mi-mi-mi… Captain Michael!"

"Shhh… Immer, how about helping me finish this play?"

"Ho-how to act?"

"Don't resist, and then just improvise."

Michael smiled lightly. He wanted to say more, but the outside suddenly became quiet. Immediately afterwards came the sound of an iron rod hitting a metal door.

"I'll leave it to you for now, Immer."

Michael irresponsibly disappeared, leaving only Immer anxiously preparing to open the door.

But after taking just two steps, he suddenly nodded, as if understanding something—wasn't that also the safest way to get out of Poison Cocoon?

So he continued walking, and opened the door openly. Then his cheek collided with the cold ground again—why did they always like to pin people to the ground!

"Eh? It's actually you, kid!"

Andre let out a surprised snort. He was no stranger to Immer, who was once a new recruit of the Fifth Squad.

But looking at Immer's armband and ID, it was indeed .1730 without a doubt.

He wasn't stupid. He had seen a lot in recent years following Ato, and understood the political implications almost instantly.