"What exactly were you doing before you joined the Moth of the Flame?"
This was the first sentence Mobius uttered after finishing the hasty meal Lin had prepared.
"A student." Lin replied flatly as he collected the empty plates and walked away.
Mobius wiped the grease from the corner of her mouth and looked around, noticing that the other three were all rubbing their stomachs with looks of satisfaction.
The reason she wasn't feeling the same... had to be blamed on the eating speed of these three beasts.
"Haha, Kevin really didn't lie." Elysia stretched her graceful figure in a lazy pose, staring at the contemplative Mobius with interest. "The thought of Lin cooking for you every day makes me a little jealous."
"..."
Mobius frowned deeply. She glanced at the empty doorway, turned, and walked toward her office.
"Elysia, come here."
Kevin tidied his uniform and hair, then knocked on the private office door. Upon hearing the "Please come in" response, he opened the door and entered.
"Mei, what did you need... Wow, what is all this!"
Piles of paper covered in complex formulas were stacked next to the desk. Spent pen refills formed a small mountain in the corner. The bespectacled girl's hand wrote non-stop, outlining the formation of a certain concept. She only stopped and added a symbol when Kevin walked through the door.
Kevin stared wide-eyed at the papers filling the room. He could read the individual characters, but he only recognized some basic formulas when they were combined. The knowledge involved far exceeded ordinary outside concepts, and some of the formulas were even Mei's own creations.
Mei capped her pen, picked up the cold coffee next to her, and took a sip. The reflective surface of her glasses mirrored the enormous project: "This is a concept for artificial intelligence. The Titans currently being researched by the Moth of the Flame are split into two directions: one is the Manned Titan piloted by top soldiers like Lin, and the other is the Autonomous Titan controlled by AI."
"The R&D Department at headquarters is tackling the equipment issues, and I am responsible for the research on cross-era artificial intelligence. This is a task I can undertake with my current level of knowledge, as it doesn't involve Honkai energy."
No, why does creating a cross-era artificial intelligence sound like easy work coming from you...
Kevin picked up a piece of paper that had drifted onto the desk and asked curiously, "Mei, why don't you work on a computer? Writing by hand... must be slower, and it's hard to organize."
"Every computer here is connected to the intranet and cannot be isolated. My request for a non-intranet-connected computer was not approved." Mei set down her cup. Her Partypoint pen twirled between her right fingers. "Once I use a computer, it leaves a trace, and even if traces on the network are eliminated, they can be recovered. There is a risk of leakage if someone were to hack in."
"Hack in? Who could hack into the Moth of the Flame?"
Given the Moth of the Flame's geographical location, its military-grade security system, and its mission to fight the Honkai, would hackers really try to infiltrate here?
Mei gave him a meaningful smile: "It's hard to say, and the intruder is not necessarily human. The electromagnetic field controlled by the Third Herrscher can do more than you'd imagine. But she seemed limited by her level of knowledge or other factors, resulting in her only demonstrating lightning strikes and simple magnetic manipulation. In reality, if she wanted to, she could even hack into human electronic facilities, causing communication breakdowns and overheating explosions, not just interference."
Hearing Mei say this, Kevin shivered.
Even when used purely for destruction, the Third Herrscher nearly leveled all of Changkong City. If Mei were to become a Herrscher and use her knowledge to supplement her authority... No, what was he thinking? How could Mei become a Herrscher?
"Besides, I'm only writing it down on paper to maintain a clear train of thought. I've memorized all the necessary details. I will destroy these records later."
Mei stood up, walked to the door, peered out to ensure no one was there, and then locked the door from the inside.
"This room is equipped with anti-eavesdropping and anti-surveillance devices that I built. Do not tell anyone what we discuss next, Kevin."
"Okay."
Kevin's unconditional trust allowed Mei to relax slightly. Her expression eased. She walked to the water dispenser, poured two glasses of water, and handed one to Kevin.
She leaned against the corner of the desk, her finger tracing the rim of the cup, flicking off a drop of water before she began: "I have some things I need to tell you and some questions to ask you..."
She stared at the surprised Kevin with a detached expression.
"They concern Lin."
"An ordinary high school student who never showed outstanding academic performance or exceptional talent, skipping classes, playing arcade games, listening to concerts, reading novels during school, and even having the common habit of folding toilet paper. He's so unremarkable that if I picked up a brick and threw it into any random high school, I'd hit four or five people like him."
"After growing up in the most ordinary way, one night—after a most ordinary night—he suddenly had an epiphany for the greater good of humanity? And he immediately found the organization hidden beneath the world's surface, gaining membership through his incredible reaction speed."
"If life were a novel, this person's first half and second half were written by two different authors. But the problem is, this person exists in reality, not fiction, and he's here in the Moth of the Flame."
Mobius pinned Lin's file to the blackboard and turned to look at the curious Elysia.
"Elysia, don't you find the events surrounding Lin extremely worthy of closer investigation?"
"Or, is the reason you approached him to investigate this matter?"
"Lin is indeed someone whose personality changes drastically following a major turning point, so initially, I wasn't too suspicious of his change. That is, until I looked for his itinerary records from the day before he dropped out of school."
Mei's eyes revealed an absolute rationality—a gaze colder than Lin's.
Her words made Kevin also frown.
"Did Lin witness the Honkai with his own eyes that night, and that's why he decided to join the Moth of the Flame?"
"That's what I thought, too." Mei's eyes flashed. "But the truth is not like that."
In the conference room, the projector displayed the transcript of Lin's entrance interview to the Moth of the Flame. The higher-ups held their breath, intently watching the recording.
The hooded young man narrated his experience emotionlessly.
"In the dialogue archive of MSA-079, he mentions seeing a Zombie and a Moth of the Flame soldier. The soldier sacrificed himself to protect him. The pistol in his hand belonged to that soldier. After that, MSA-079 contacted the Moth of the Flame using the soldier's communicator."
"This is what he said when explaining his reason for joining the Moth of the Flame."
"But after our confirmation..."
"Lin didn't go anywhere that night. He went straight home after school, and he didn't leave until eight o'clock the next morning."
"During that period, no Honkai Eruption occurred in Changkong City."