Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers-Chapter 240: Following the Vine to Find the Melon & Setting a Honey Trap

Chapter 240 - Following the Vine to Find the Melon & Setting a Honey Trap

"Oh dear, oh dear, I wonder if dear Michael has made any progress over there!"

Elysia tiptoed first into the war room, Kevin and Mei following closely behind. As for Sakura... with Eden drunk like that at such a time, someone needed to look after her, right?

The entire war room was quiet except for the clicking of keyboards and mice, and the sound of human breathing.

So, the sound of the mechanical door sliding open wasn't exactly jarring, but definitely attention-grabbing.

Michael looked up with a hint of surprise, his eyes brightening for a fleeting moment—so brief that even Elysia, the focus of his gaze, didn't immediately notice anything unusual.

But his subsequent action of lowering his head couldn't help but give off a "guilty conscience" vibe.

"My dear Michael! Your first reaction upon seeing me is to lower your head? That truly hurts!" She made no effort to lower her voice, her words echoing throughout the war room. Consequently, the other warriors either turned their heads openly or glanced sideways, almost everyone's attention momentarily focusing on Michael.

However, when he looked up again, his gaze had returned to its usual calmness.

"Nice new clothes," he praised softly.

"Oh my, you think so too! See? Elysia looks good in everything!" She touched here, scratched there, clearly not trying to highlight her figure, but the hairpin on her right side, the ribbon tying her low ponytail, and the collar pin and brooch pinned respectively.

Seeing this, Michael finally couldn't suppress a slight smile. He smiled and praised, "Nice. The style and color combination of this outfit really suit the jewelry you bought earlier."

"Eh... Eh! Eh!! Isn't it because I myself am very pretty?!"

Michael chuckled helplessly. He wasn't surprised, of course. After all, this uniform had been buried deep in his memory for a long time.

Kevin also grinned. For some reason, watching these two interact made him inexplicably want to laugh—though he didn't know that others saw him and Mei the same way.

Beside him, Mei's lips had just begun to lift before being pressed back down. She covered her forehead somewhat helplessly and explained:

"This is just the new Anti-Entropy uniform designed by Eden. The others are still in production."

She shouldn't have mentioned it. As soon as she did, Elysia immediately looked at Michael, winking provocatively. "Oh my! That's the point! This set of mine, dear Eden personally made it for me ahead of time."

Seeing the muscles in Michael's cheeks twitch uncontrollably and his expression tense up, Elysia finally smiled faintly and let him off the hook.

"Alright, alright! Elysia-brand atmosphere energizer is clocking off! Next up, please welcome the dear Miss Mei to the stage!"

"Wait!" Michael held up his hand. Looking at the warriors whose attention was gradually wandering, he gestured—"Follow me."

He intended to lead them to the command booth behind the war room, but before they got far, he saw through the glass Vaschak sitting animatedly on the sofa, gesturing wildly.

He wasn't alone. Immer stood behind him, and beside him were three holographic projections of middle-aged men, discussing something with slightly heavy expressions.

"Sorry, forgot someone was using this..." Michael covered his face.

"What's he doing here?" Honestly, compared to the deceased Lezrun, Mei's impression of Vaschak wasn't terrible. Not good, but not bad either. After all, while this guy was somewhat of a figurehead occupying a position, he had provided Michael and her with considerable convenience, not exactly helping, but at least not hindering.

However, since that incident, she hadn't seen him active much for over three years.

Of course, that wasn't entirely true. Vaschak's freedom wasn't heavily restricted. Having lost his long-time friend, lost the Poisonous Cocoon he built with his lifeblood, and later lost his annoying rival, he grew increasingly bored. According to Michael's observations, he even showed early signs of Alzheimer's.

Vaschak in this state actually walked around the Fire Moth base quite often—under Immer's watchful eye.

He went to the cafeteria punctually every day for meals and quietly appeared in the back of the war room during every major operational briefing.

Perhaps because he genuinely kept a low profile, or perhaps because he held no real power, both Michael and Mei had gradually forgotten him, leading to the mistaken impression of "not seeing him for three years."

Perhaps this was the sorrow of losing power...

But the Vaschak before them was full of vigor.

Michael explained: "It's those SEELE guys. They don't want to acknowledge the Eighth Honkai Eruption, nor do they want to explain the so-called 'sleeping sickness' to the media themselves, so they dumped the responsibility onto Fire Moth."

Mei nodded, roughly understanding the situation. For this task, Vaschak was suitable in terms of both status and seniority. As for ability, his current state seemed capable enough.

And what if he misspoke? Mei glanced at Immer standing behind him, staring fixedly at the back of his head, and wasn't worried.

Michael continued: "It hasn't been easy for him. Over six hours, after one press conference, this is his third expert lecture. It's tough for a man his age, talking non-stop for six hours."

Mei nodded again, saying no more.

Michael, however, continued chattering as he led the group towards a small booth on the other side of the war room: "If you ask me, after this Honkai eruption ends, if SEELE is still unwilling to release information about the Honkai, we might as well establish a Fire Moth Strategic Deception Bureau. Let Vaschak do interviews when he's bored, fool the public a bit, maybe ease the common people's emotions somewhat."

"And let him spend his twilight years fulfillingly and meaningfully, right?" Mei asked softly, quickening her pace, unknowingly taking the lead. Everyone was familiar with the base layout anyway; there was no need for anyone to lead.

Michael couldn't read her mind—Was it a normal question? Opposition? Teasing? He chose not to answer, instead looking towards Kevin, hoping the person who understood Mei best could offer a hint.

However, Kevin just turned his head and stared blankly back at him, completely missing the various hints Michael blinked his way.

Instead, Elysia boldly stood beside Michael, silently taking his hand.

The meaning was self-evident.

"Even though you've changed a lot these past two years, you're still as kind as before, always repaying every bit of kindness."

Indeed, Michael and Vaschak had many unpleasant encounters, even outright confrontation. It was Vaschak's scheming that forced Michael to leave Fire Moth temporarily. But Michael had somewhat returned the favor, pointing a 280mm railgun muzzle at Vaschak, forcing him to facilitate their escape.

And later events... the intelligence and convenience he provided weren't much, but couldn't be called insignificant. Though his motives were impure, the benefits received were real.

Moreover, like Phamas, his earlier life could arguably be described as fighting for humanity.

Hearing that Vaschak had previously offered Phamas a mansion and beautiful women for retirement, Michael naturally couldn't provide those, only a chance to contribute his remaining energy in his later years. He just didn't know if Mei would agree.

However... honestly, Michael himself wasn't entirely sure if he was doing this out of the kindness Elysia mentioned...

Or if, contrary to Mei forcing herself to be rational to protect her inner sentimentality, he needed to occasionally do something soft-hearted to solidify his own resolve.

"Alright." After a moment's silence, Mei finally gave a clear stance.

Entering the other small booth, she asked impatiently: "Any progress?"

Michael didn't answer directly, instead opening the booth's holographic screen and swiping twice with his finger. Five sets of seemingly random characters appeared before Mei.

"This is?"

"This is how the Eighth Herrscher spreads the sleeping sickness. She uses her powers to contaminate specific characters. Anyone who sees these characters falls into a dream."

Mei pushed up her glasses. Though Michael hadn't revealed more information, she analyzed on her own: "And I saw these characters but didn't fall asleep. Plus, there are so many different sets. Is the Eighth Herrscher constantly changing the contaminated vocabulary?"

Michael could no longer even express surprise at Mei's deductive abilities, merely nodding faintly.

"The purpose?"

"Still unclear. But Mei, this behavior of the Eighth Herrscher, doesn't it remind you of someone frantically searching for materials while writing a thesis..."

"Indeed. Compared to the Herrscher deliberately choosing these words, the idea that the Herrscher contaminated some words incidentally while searching for something sounds more logical. A pity Prometheus is upgrading; otherwise, using big data processing might offer a chance to find the Eighth Herrscher's hiding place."

Kevin and Elysia stood silently aside, their eyes following the conversation between the two.

Kevin: "Elysia, did you understand?"

Elysia: "No... Hey wait! Um, I have a question..."

Michael and Mei turned simultaneously: "What question?"

Elysia: "Kevin and Sakura both fell into dreams. Doesn't the Herrscher have basic control over the dreams she creates? If she has some control, couldn't she follow the thread back through the dream to find our location?"

"Good question," Michael spread his hands.

"But?" Elysia probed.

"But the fact is, she couldn't. Although I don't know why she couldn't, she just couldn't."

"...That's... quite the tongue-twister..."

"Um..." Kevin raised his hand from the side. "I think I understand what happened—probably because of Elysia's pressure at the time, the Herrscher didn't have much time to target me and Sakura specifically. She probably just issued a directive-like command... uh, well, you know what I mean..." He pinched his chin with his thumb and forefinger, forcing a mature look. "So, mine and Sakura's dreams probably weren't fabricated by the Herrscher, just catered to our inner desires. That should explain why the Herrscher couldn't locate Fire Moth through our dreams."

Watching Kevin's confident explanation, Michael and Elysia exchanged glances, both biting their lips to suppress laughter.

Because, when Kevin said, "mine and Sakura's dreams probably weren't fabricated by the Herrscher, just catered to our inner desires," Mei's eyes clearly flickered twice, then she glanced at him several times.

Unfortunately, he remained completely oblivious.

Unsure what prompted it, Mei simply replied flatly to Kevin's explanation: "Hm, that makes sense then."

But having said that, she couldn't help but look towards Michael—"So, you've already thought of the corresponding tactic, right?" She didn't believe that in the eight hours she rested, Michael had only managed to identify the characters.

Although, thinking carefully... it wasn't entirely impossible.

Fortunately, Michael didn't disappoint: "Of course, there's an operational plan, and it's simple—Since she wants to follow the vine to find the melon, we'll set a honey trap." (Literal: invite the lord into the urn)

Such is the power of language. Michael merely used an idiom, yet Mei understood his plan almost instantly—

Let the Herrscher actively notice coveted information about Fire Moth. When she attacks the base, the psychic-sensitive MANTISes inside will proactively enter the dream state to reverse-trace her location.

Once her hiding place is found and she's forced into direct combat, that likely signifies the end of this Honkai Eruption.

Incidentally, they should thank the Herrscher for her earlier gift—Mahamayuri. Its ICHOR factor, like Garuda's, was highly adaptable and leaned towards psychic sensory abilities, creating the conditions for Fire Moth to mass-produce psychic-sensitive MANTISes.

But this plan wasn't flawless, even had significant vulnerabilities... Mei frowned imperceptibly, but then relaxed. Necessary sacrifices. She had witnessed countless such instances before.

She herself couldn't remain uninvolved, couldn't shirk all responsibility for many of those sacrifices... Since that was the case for herself, she couldn't, or rather, wasn't qualified to question this plan on that basis.

But her expression didn't escape Michael's notice.

"Hey, hey! What's with that look? Look at this!" Michael imitated Elysia's tone while holding up a small blue pill.

"The little blue pill!"

"The little blue pill!"

"The little blue pill!"

Three gasps sounded simultaneously. Everyone was... cough cough cough!

"Where are your minds going!" Michael didn't know whether to laugh or cry, lowering his voice to explain, "This isn't just any ordinary little blue pill..."

"Is it the male-specific little blue... Oof! Cough cough cough!" Kevin instinctively interjected, only for Michael to seize the opportunity and flick the pill straight into his mouth.

"Cough cough cough! Huh? This... why is this pill sweet? Wait, isn't this the candy I hid under my bed... Uh, Mei, you misheard, why would I hide high-calorie stuff like candy, hahaha..."

Michael sighed. He'd gotten these from Pardofelis. Inside were various candies; the blue coating was applied later.

Of course, he wouldn't betray Pardofelis: "It is indeed candy, but the point isn't the candy, but that it's the little blue pill."

"This... What kind of twisted logic is this?"

"Tsk!" Michael clapped his hands. "Regarding the honey trap tactic mentioned earlier, it basically involves actively disseminating information about Fire Moth externally, so that when the Eighth Herrscher discovers it, she can attack here."

Kevin was initially startled, then lowered his head thoughtfully. He wasn't stupid, just accustomed to following Mei's orders; sometimes his first reaction wasn't to think for himself but to look towards Mei.

Speaking of which, Mei and Michael had completely different styles when deploying battle plans. The former would give simple, clear tasks; the 'why' was irrelevant.

Michael, however, liked to painstakingly explain every step of his tactics, even intentionally guiding others to think.

And for Kevin's clever mind, a little thought was enough to grasp Michael's meaning—of course, it helped that when he looked at the characters that were supposed to be on the holographic screen, he saw only a blur, like steam on a bathroom mirror.

"You mean, the biggest problem with this plan originally was that once the Herrscher invaded HQ, tens of thousands of warriors would fall into dreams? And these dreams aren't just the Herrscher's creation, but also guided by the dreamer's own subconscious? If left unchecked, many would get lost in the dream and never wake up, while this little blue pill..."

"Exactly!" Michael's stretching motion froze mid-way. A mysterious force made him snap his fingers, then explain: "What the Eighth Herrscher can do, Aponia can naturally do too. Take this little blue pill, and for 72 hours, you won't be able to see any characters clearly, thus avoiding being dragged into the dream. Of course, this isn't foolproof, as the Herrscher can also directly induce dreams. So Aponia will apply another Discipline to everyone, but how effective that will be..."

Kevin looked somewhat愣 (dazed, blank). Not stunned by the power of the little blue pill, but... that's it?

The little blue pill Michael treasured so much could only block one form of sleeping sickness transmission? Meaning, facing the Eighth Herrscher's invasion, many would still die.

What Michael did seemed more like psychological comfort. For the warriors, on the battlefield, even paper armor counted as armor. And for Michael, he could slightly alleviate his own guilt.

Kevin instinctively wanted to ask: "Why not wait for Prometheus to finish upgrading, then use big data algorithms to directly locate the Herrscher's hiding place?"

That seemed like it could avoid casualties among Fire Moth warriors.

But he quickly realized Michael's "honey trap" wasn't just a simple proactive attack; it was also a defensive posture.

Before Prometheus finished upgrading and found the Herrscher's location, the Herrscher could very well find the base on her own.

Especially since, during the earlier search for characters, some warriors must have accidentally fallen into dreams.

Moreover, he had just glimpsed the news headlines about Vaschak's appearance; the number of sleeping sickness patients was growing exponentially, already approaching one hundred thousand... If they delayed for a few more hours, or a dozen hours, out of fear of sacrifice, then at least a million more people would inevitably fall into dreams. In that case, what would be the meaning of Fire Moth's existence?

Of course, these were just Kevin's own speculations. But if he had to say, if he had to make the decision, he would definitely say: "These are necessary sacrifices. Although the sacrificed likely wouldn't agree with this notion, their sacrifices are undoubtedly meaningful."

Michael blinked, seeming somewhat surprised by Kevin's statement, yet not entirely surprised.

He quickly chuckled softly and added: "Besides, as warriors of Fire Moth, dying on the path of fighting Honkai is what they have always sought."

This was undoubtedly a cruel and ironic truth—those who least deserved to die were often the least afraid of death.

And even more ironically, Michael, Mei, Kevin, and Elysia all readily accepted an unavoidable sacrifice.

Perhaps this was the numbness Himeko spoke of.

"Alright! Next are the final preparations before the operation. Please follow me one more time."

Michael opened the booth door. The three followed him to Lab 2, which had been renovated beyond recognition.

The entire lab was artificially divided in half by a long row of tables. The half adjacent to Lab 1 was Mobius's territory, the dividing wall knocked down, filled everywhere with Meta-Morph surgery equipment Michael had replicated with his powers.

A quick glance revealed over a hundred cultivation pods, bubbling with ice-blue nutrient fluid.

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Kevin immediately spotted Su, dressed in a special surgical gown, floating inside one pod. He excitedly started forward, but was abruptly blocked by a paintbrush appearing from the side. Kevin dodged, only to see the brush arc through the air and fly back the way it came.

His gaze followed the brush, landing on two figures: one gold, one grey; one tall, one short; one large, one small.

Griseo stared blankly at the paintbrush that had been in her hand moments ago, then suddenly flew off on its own, only to miraculously return. Her expression grew increasingly bewildered.

"Sorry, Captain Kevin, but Doctor Mobius also instructed that these candidates are currently in the post-surgery observation period. No one is allowed near!"

So Kevin could only watch Su, floating intermittently in the nutrient fluid from afar, without a word.

His good friend becoming a MANTIS, then fighting alongside him—Kevin had considered this possibility.

But he hadn't expected it under these circumstances—the battle against the Eighth Herrscher wasn't just the home ground for psychic-sensitive MANTISes, it was a battle only they could participate in.

"What a pity, Su. I wanted to show you some combat experience on your first battlefield, but it turns out to be a fight where I can't help you..."

But then he wondered, when he went off to fight time and again, did Su ever think the same way?

The sudden sadness came quickly and left just as fast. Elysia's "noise" soon reached his ears—

"Oh dear, Dystopia! While using psychokinesis is indeed cool, snatching little Griseo's paintbrush like that will make her shy!"

Dystopia spread her hands, wondering how to deal with Elysia, only to see Elysia brush past her, reaching her sinful hands towards Griseo.

"Ah—Little Griseo, let me pinch your cheeks!"

"Mmm—Mmm!" Griseo tried to resist, but failed.

Dystopia smiled helplessly, her gaze shifting to Blanca floating in her pod.

"Where's Kosma?" Michael asked.

"He's over there helping set up the Observation Hubs, of course!"

Looks like Michael wasn't the only one who liked imitating Elysia's way of speaking...

"By the way, Captain Michael, is it really okay to send Aunt Blanca onto the battlefield so rashly? Later, when Uncle Ato returns... If, I mean if, little Griseo loses both parents... what then?"

Michael didn't answer.

Dystopia shook her head, finding it boring. She took a small box from her pouch and held it out to Michael.

"What's this?"

"Just the customary gift. If I sacrifice myself this time, don't get the chance... give this gift to Kosma. It's nothing valuable, just a watch. I saw him always wearing one with a broken crystal before, so... Hmm, well, something like that."

Michael weighed the box in his hand. "The year before last it was a harmonica, last year a Superman figurine, this year a watch... Feels like you put extra thought into Kosma's gifts. By the way, how's his harmonica practice going? I remember his musical talent wasn't very strong before."

"Music is about expressing your emotions, following your heart." Dystopia shook her head dismissively. "But Captain, you haven't agreed to my request yet. If you're unwilling, I'll have to ask Sister Elysia!"

Dystopia meant it as a joke, but unexpectedly, Michael nodded solemnly, signaling her to give the item to Elysia for safekeeping.

"Cap... Captain, what do you mean?"

"Nothing. Haven't you noticed? Including you and Ato, there's one extra Observation Hub?"

"Isn't that for Aponia... No wait, Aponia needs to handle special situations, won't participate... Then..."

"Correct. That Observation Hub is prepared for me," Michael smiled.

"But... But Captain, you're not a psychic-sensitive MANTIS, nor do you still have..."

Michael once again didn't answer her question directly, just smiled meaningfully and said irrelevantly:

"Let's not talk about this. Happy birthday two days early, Dystopia."