Chapter 267: The password is correct

[Somewhat unexpectedly, Einstein's plan was carried out very smoothly. Although Hua cleared out a lot of "Kaiji" along the way and the route was repeatedly adjusted to avoid getting into a tough battle, in the end, they successfully returned to the base with the "Star Gate."]

[After a dangerous "infiltration" operation, Hua, Einstein, and others successfully arrived at the shelter of this base and met with the people who took refuge there.]

[In this shelter, the only people left are some scientific researchers and a few soldiers...the number is less than expected.]

[This is not surprising. After all, if you really count, the "Fire Moth" will definitely give priority to evacuating the people in the base. Therefore, those who remain in the shelter are basically there because of some accidents.]

[Most of the scientific researchers in the shelters were left behind on Mu Continent during the evacuation in order to make room and weight for more precious instruments and data, and to allow things more precious than themselves to leave. They can only hide in the shelters to survive.]

[The soldiers here are similar, most of them are guards for these researchers... Before Hua and others arrived, some soldiers spontaneously organized teams to go out and explore the situation... But they didn't come back in the end, so the number of soldiers here is less than expected.]

[Of course, they are not just waiting to die here, they are also trying to use the equipment in this base to see if they can reactivate the base's autonomous weapons... Fortunately, half a day before Hua and others arrived, they successfully connected to the base's defense system.]

[Even more fortunately, for safety and prudence reasons, they did not directly activate the autonomous weapon, but were thinking about what to do after the weapon was activated... Just at this time, Hua, Einstein, and others arrived.]

[This is undoubtedly good news, because it allows Hua, Einstein, and others to catch Kaiji off guard.]

[Then, everything that follows is logical. Find a cabin that can pass through the "Star Gate" and ensure the safety of personnel, data, and instruments on the moon, and send as much precious data and instruments as possible into the "Star Gate" before the support of "Kaiji" arrives.]

[Considering that if they do this, it is likely to arouse the vigilance of the "Kaiji" and even attract the attention of the "Herrscher", they must prepare for the "Star Gate" to be directly destroyed after this plan...]

[In short, for the sake of safety, Hua, Einstein, and others made full preparations, took various considerations into account, and even made several backup plans. Some soldiers were even prepared to sacrifice themselves, just to ensure the smooth implementation of this plan.]

[After all, according to their estimation, even with Hua, the fusion warrior, and even if the autonomous weapons of the entire base were fully deployed and even overloaded... they could only buy them six hours, and this was still the ideal time.]

[However, just as Hua, Einstein, and others nervously began to implement this plan, they found that everything went smoothly unexpectedly... at least the first half went smoothly.]

[When the base's autonomous weapons were restarted and the defense system vented its firepower in a rather brutal manner... all the "Kaiji" cruising and patrolling nearby were also eliminated. Even if there were occasional omissions, they were cleared out one by one by Hua.]

[After that, they opened the "Star Gate" in an orderly manner and sent some instruments, data, and some personnel into the "Star Gate"... This process was relatively slow, mainly because there were not many cabins in the base that could go to the moon.]

[Half an hour after the plan started, support from "Kaiji" arrived, rushing towards them like a wave on land.]

[But relying on the defense of the base, they can still barely hold on. Hua is fighting with all her might, the flames rising and burning, trying her best to prevent "Kaiji" from getting close.]

[At this point, everything was actually pretty good, and could even be said to be quite "ideal". If they continued like this, they would be able to hold out for the expected "six hours"... This thought lasted until one hour, which was one and a half hours after the plan started.]

[Hua and Einstein noticed that the attack of the "Kaiji" began to become orderly, and seemed to have some kind of "tactics"... Hua knew that this was the arrival of the "Kaiji" that could simulate human form, and she knew that the next battle would become more and more difficult, so she raised her full attention to deal with the next situation.]

[What happened next was just as Hua had expected. The battle became increasingly intense, and many areas of the base were breached. In the end, Hua could only rely on throwing building debris to change the terrain and forcibly block the path of "Kaiji."]

[However, after fighting for an hour and a half with all their might, that is, three hours after the plan began, a great panic enveloped everyone... A high-threat unit arrived, and was even publicizing its arrival in a high-profile manner.]

[Einstein knew that this must be the arrival of the Herrscher, so she didn't care about anything else and hurriedly asked others to operate the equipment to push the cabin into the "Star Gate," and then asked others to enter the designated cabin. Einstein herself asked the armed puppet to operate the equipment on behalf of others and push the manned cabin into the "Star Gate."]

[By the time Einstein had finished all this, half of the base's defenses had been destroyed by the "Kaiji" who had suddenly become excited and whose combat capability had suddenly increased. Several combatants had also died and were overwhelmed by the "Kaiji."]

[But fortunately, Einstein finally closed the "Star Gate" before "Kaiji" passed through it, and even gritted her teeth and simply let an armed puppet destroy the "Star Gate"... Although it was not completely destroyed, it would be more difficult to repair it.]

[Afterwards, under the leadership of the armed puppets, Einstein successfully broke through the encirclement of "Kaiji" and met with Hua who was retreating in an orderly manner. They quickly began to retreat and ran towards the direction of the "Eye of the Abyss"... They were not running away, but intentionally leading "Kaiji" and "Herrscher" to that place.]

[Although the situation is somewhat bad, due to pessimism about the environment, Hua and Einstein have already made contingency plans, and the current situation is still within an acceptable range!]

[Afterwards, with mutual protection and hard work, Hua and others finally arrived at the base where the "Eye of the Abyss" was located. At the same time, under the cover of Hua and others, Einstein was able to have some time to activate the equipment in the base and the "Eye of the Abyss."]

[If they succeed, they can sink the Herrscher into the Quantum Sea and exile it... Even if they can't, at least they can trap it for a while, right?]

[If they succeed, they will have some breathing time, and the "Fire Moth" can also seize this opportunity to try to retake Mu Continent... If they succeed, they believe that the "Fire Moth" will definitely notice this opportunity.]

[...Yeah, yes, if they succeed.]

_______________________

"Hoo…Hoo…"

Surrounded by flames, Hua was breathing heavily, her body rising and falling with her breathing, and occasionally trembling slightly... The long battle had made her feel tired, and her body was even on the verge of collapse.

However, she couldn't give up, couldn't let the exhaustion swallow her up, and couldn't fall down.

Her team members were still behind her, Dr. Einstein was still behind her, and she had to... stand in front of everyone.

She is a fusion warrior, the captain of the fifth team of "Fire Moth," a warrior fighting for humanity. Here, she is the strongest warrior, so... she cannot fall.

If she fell, who would be able to protect the people behind her? Who would be able to continue to hinder their attack?

She must persevere, cheer up, squeeze out the last ray of thought, and shed the last drop of blood to buy time for the people behind her.

What's more... the enemy in front of her made her unwilling to close her eyes and relax her body.

Hua...hated the "enemy" in front of her, this monster who was disguised as her benefactor, the person who had saved her.

"Ah... I feel a little uneasy when you look at me like that, Hua."

Himeko stroked her forehead in distress, her words full of sighs.

[Compatriots, sad? ]

"Kaiji," who was following Himeko like a "big jar," spoke with some concern. The dark blue liquid in its body flowed slightly, turning into a somewhat gorgeous red color wine, and then flowed out from a gap and fell into a bone cup.

An intoxicating aroma of wine quickly spread out... No, that thing is wine?!

[Compatriots, like, wine, healing, sad! ]

"Haha, thank you so much~ As expected, it's really convenient to be able to communicate with each other~"

Himeko didn't mind. She took the bone cup from its side and drank the rich wine in it. Slightly drunk, she looked at Hua in front of her again - at this time, Hua had adjusted her breath.

And the determination in her eyes never changed... just like the disgust in her eyes.

"Hmm~ That's a nice look, Hua... As expected, it's a good choice to make you the captain. You've grown a lot."

"..."

"But you must have endured a lot, right? After all, only pain can help people grow... You've worked so hard, Hua."

"…Don't talk to me in that tone."

"What? Will you let me admit my mistake? Do you think I'm still the same Himeko as before?"

The corners of Himeko's mouth slightly raised.

"Is there a possibility that I am actually Himeko? After all, the Fire Moth didn't find our bodies, so it can't prove that we are really dead, right?"

"To tell you the truth... I am not dead. I am still standing in front of you, just like before."

"...lie."

Hua felt that when Himeko said that, her thoughts paused slightly, and even her breathing stagnated for a moment, but soon, she gritted her teeth and squeezed out these words from her lips with a little resentment.

"You, you... are just disguised as the people of the past in order to shake our will..."

"Don't say that. You obviously have had this thought yourself. Why don't you try to accept it?"

Himeko said this with a hint of evil humor.

"You should know that I am taking good care of you. For example, right now, I am the one standing in front of you, not him... In addition, in order to have a good talk with you, I did not let other [compatriots] come over..."

"Look, I've been taking care of you, okay?"

"Even now, can't you just... acknowledge me a little?"

"Shut up!"

Hua interrupted her with a low roar, and the flames surrounding her body instantly expanded several times, burning away all the dampness that was coming from the surroundings again.

"Don't try to... seduce me!"

Hua squeezed out the words bit by bit from between her teeth.

A small wound appeared at the corner of her lip, showing a bright red color belonging to blood, which then quickly faded away. The wound also healed quickly under the influence of the fusion warrior's self-healing ability.

... Obviously, she was shaken just now, but she re-firmed her heart.

"…Great."

Himeko didn't seem to be annoyed by this; she just sighed softly.

"It seems that he is right. You are indeed very suitable for this job... Should I say that it is worthy of you, Hua?"

"Thank you for your hard work... all this time."

"...Then I'll add more fuel to the fire."

Himeko paused for a moment, then spoke softly with a faint smile.

"I'll give you a little hint, Hua."

"Since I'm the one who came here, then... where is the Herrscher that you should have stopped?"

?!

Hua, who was originally about to fight back, suddenly paused, and then... a look of surprise appeared on her face.

"Yes, I know that, and he knows that, and that is why I have come to you and to talk to you."

Himeko... Her words were so light-hearted, with a faint smile, but to Hua's ears, they sounded like the whisper of a devil.

"It is precisely because of me that you care so much. Therefore, you will definitely forget about him for a while, forget that... the person you should have welcomed and stopped was a Herrscher... Hmm~ As expected, I am still very important to you, Hua."

Himeko nodded, with the corners of her mouth slightly raised, seeming to be somewhat happy.

"Are you interested in becoming my dance partner in the future? Although we rarely hold dance parties, but... if you really want to, my fellow countrymen will support you."

"Ah, no, let's not talk about things that far away... Let's get back to the present."

"For example... where is the Herrscher who is supposed to be standing in front of you?"

Himeko tilted her head, and a strand of her fiery red hair with white highlights fell down.

"Yes, he is on his way to find Dr. Einstein, and... he is already there, right?"

"..."

"Yeah, that's a very nice look."

Himeko watched Hua's eyes change from astonishment to anger, and then to calmness, and nodded with satisfaction.

'you suppressed your anger, hid it, and quickly began to think about what to do now, trying to break through the surroundings to support your teammates... Very good.'

'But unfortunately, you don't have a chance, Hua.'

"Oh, by the way, Hua, let me tell you one more thing... Haven't you noticed? Your teammates haven't spoken for a long time."

"What?"

"What I mean is."

Himeko gestured behind Hua, and after a brief pause, Hua turned her slightly stiff upper body, moved to the side little by little, and looked behind her from the corner of her eye.

Look over... where her teammates should be standing.

But now, there was nothing there, except for a wall with a big hole that seemed to have been corroded by something, water drops falling silently, and... accumulated water that had spread to the ground over there at some point in time.

Hua lowered her head and looked at the flames surrounding her body. They were still as hot as ever, dispelling the dampness and coldness around her. Even the accumulated water on the ground that wanted to spread over was evaporated and burned dry by the flames, unable to get close to her at all.

But...it's just her, just her.

The people she wanted to protect, the people she was supposed to protect... she didn't protect any of them.

Such fire and such power of hers... what's the use of it?

'I still can't do anything… I can't protect anything…'

"What a shame, Hua."

As if she felt that this was not enough, or perhaps she received guidance from someone in her "thoughts," Himeko spoke again with a slightly strange expression and reluctance in her eyes.

"You haven't protected anything."

——Bang

A barely perceptible sound, like a thin thread breaking, rang in Hua's ears and was infinitely magnified in her mind.

In that instant, resentment, rage, regret... all the accumulated emotions seemed to have found an outlet and were released to their heart's content.

But Hua could no longer perceive so much, nor could she remember so much.

Hua's last impression was the sudden boiling of flames, the fluttering red feathers, and...

A clear bird song.