Chapter 32: Kindred?

"I pinpointed the perpetrators already."

"Let me guess. You got that knowledge from Director Mobius?"

"Yeah."

Mei's sudden visit was related to Aleph's ambush. Although he was unharmed, no one knows whether it could happen again.

"Doctor Mobius isn't as bad as the rumors say." He said. "I could also see why she gave up fighting those higher-ups."

"She has Elysia's support. It's different with you."

Certainly, Aleph's combat power wasn't tested against Herscherrs. This level of uncertainty was the reason why people chose to take action against him.

"I heard from director Einstein that the proposal is already in its final phase."

Hearing this, Mei saw the underlying meaning behind it.

"I can do it. Your incident should be able to push it through." She said with a hint of guilt. "Don't worry. I'll take care of them."

"No. Don't risk yourself early on. I can still take care of them."

Seeing Aleph declare confidently, she presented her doubts.

"It's not that. What if they arrange a more dangerous ambush? Can you withstand a missile? What about cluster bombs? There's no telling how crazy they could be."

"I should be able to."

"..."

"I'm not joking."

Aleph told her the updates from his nuclear-powered suit. Its maneuverability is more than enough to dodge or even tank those cluster bombs.

"It's not a reason to put yourself at risk."

"Yes. That's why I thought of a plan."

"What plan?"

"Creating a diversion."

Aleph explained its details. 

His individual strength has long been exposed. It made his enemies wary, but it also attracted potential allies to his side. It was akin to a beacon. If he chose to hide it, he wouldn't have met Mobius. He wouldn't have easily dealt with Sakura's surveillance.

Simply put, the effort put into concealing his strength is too big. Also, he wouldn't have unlocked those achievements.

"I will use the suit to get involved in high-level fights. That way, another hindrance would've popped out of thin air. If they do suspect me, it wouldn't matter so long as they don't have any direct evidence."

"You're making things more chaotic."

"That's it."

Aleph's main objective wasn't to hide his identity using the nuclear suit, but rather cause more chaos. The attention he receives will be lesser, which means that he would have more time to develop in peace.

At this moment, Mei processed everything. 

She heaved a deep sigh as she said:

"I didn't think you were like this. It's basically gambling."

"If I am strong enough, I would've cleaned them up from the get-go. They already forgot that honkai is our main enemy."

The rest of the time was spent conversing about several things.

"Take care."

"...Yes."

Looking at Mei's departing back, Aleph inadvertently recalled some memories. The past month made him dream about numerous things—from the tales of war to his life in Nagazora.

He wasn't stupid to not see Mei's feelings for him. It started back then and carried on until now.

It's just that…

"It feels like fooling her."

Was he still the same Aleph she knew?

Only he himself knows.

While Aleph had this dilemma, he recalled a mind-numbing fact he discovered a month ago. He put it off back then since he couldn't think of a reason behind it. The current inner dilemma brought it forward once again.

"I have a given name… not from my parents."

At first, Aleph assumed that given names and the likes were normal. He didn't pay much attention to it—that is, until he inadvertently noticed how out-of-place his name was.

Aleph Ainsworth.

At first glance, nothing seems wrong—that is, until he realized there weren't any given names in this world at all!

He double-checked his official documents and found out that the "Ainsworth" was treated like a second name instead of a family name. It is similar to the traditions from the Far East, such as "Kana" with "Ka" from "Beautiful" and "Na" from "Thread".

However, what chilled him wasn't that. When he began recalling the contents of his dreams, there was a name that coincided with his.

"...Ainsworth. The same name from my dreams."

In his dreams—past life—the only name used to identify him was none other than Ainsworth.

"This is too mysterious for the current me…"

Aleph doesn't know how his other name got through this world and became his current name. He could only attribute it to the conspicuous achievement he unlocked.

[Solitary Miracle: Create a miracle none had ever witnessed.]

If there are answers, this achievement leads to them.

This realization pushed forward some problems he had temporarily set aside.

"I need to retrieve my things in Nagazora… but what if they are already destroyed?"

He fell into a deep contemplation once again.

*****

Second institute.

"Tsk. He has the courage to bring it up."

Upon hearing the message Mobius brought to her, Vill-V was stunned. It confirmed that Aleph had the ability to sense and interrupt her spying. If not for a kind of supernatural power, how else could he pull it off?

She saw he wasn't near an electronic device back then. It was also impossible that he predicted her hacking.

All of the points led towards dead ends.

It was the first time that her curiosity was scratched like this. Nearly all of them unanimously agreed to entertain this so-called guest.

As the "one" was placed in the front line, she could only sigh. She was the most "mature" of them all.

It led to the current scenario of her waiting on the runway.

That's right, the runway.

It was one of the least-used runways within the second institute. They focused on weapon development in the first place, unlike the third institute's mechas.

"How could he—?"

Her murmurs were cut short when a figure dropped from the sky. Within a closer look, it was an armored man. The black metal suit left no room for any visible gaps outside.

It didn't take several seconds before her interest was fully piqued. Her eyes traced the metal suit and made dozens of guesses as to which one was inside.

In fact, it wasn't that difficult to create something like this. The only problem was the 'energy source'. Electricity is far too poor to sustain prolonged fights while honkai energy is a risky thing to use.

Numerous ideas came to her mind as he approached her.

"Miss Vill-V, I take it?"

"Yes, it is. You can forgo any formalities. We only have a gap of several months."

Just like Mei, Vill-V went through a lot of trouble before becoming the assistant director of the second institute. Even then, her movements were restricted, simply due to how dangerous her inventions were.

It was barely a year when she stormed the Fire MOTH base alone. She only brought a swarm of self-made automatic robots to attack the base. She was nearly sentenced to death if not for Elysia speaking out for her.

In the end, she spent several months exiled in a deserted island before returning as Fire MOTH's official.

Click-!

The metal suit slowly disassembled from the front, revealing the person inside. His dark black hair paired well with his bright blue pupils. 

For a moment, Vill-V felt a sense of connection with him.

"If it is so, it's nice to meet you, Miss Stalker."