"Do you work out often?"
"..."
"Is your helmet real? It looks so authentic."
"Fake."
"I think it's real, so it must be real."
"..."
There were two types of people Lin couldn't deal with. One was the Elysia type, who were persistent to a certain degree, making one feel she could write a textbook called A Beginner's Guide to Pestering Others Until They Give Up.
The other was the self-talking type. In a sense, they were more difficult to handle than Elysia, because Elysia would at least listen to some things, while the self-talking type would automatically modify whatever was said into the result she wanted in her mind, no matter how much was said.
Anna followed Lin at a distance of about two meters. With the hail lessening, she covered her head with one hand and followed closely behind Lin, ignoring the small hailstones hitting her head. She had become convinced that Lin was a master with extraordinary skills.
In a way, her intuition was terrifyingly accurate, but Lin had no desire to compliment her.
He was just going to survey some particularly unusual areas next, so he wouldn't be exposed, but his seemingly aimless walking was highly suspicious and would be noticed over time.
He had to lose her.
Lin found a corner, slightly increased his speed to leave Anna behind, and after rounding the corner and confirming no one was present, he instantly deployed his grappling hook and leaped to the rooftop.
After a cold glance down at Anna, who was searching in surprise in the empty alley below, he turned and jumped to the rooftop of another building.
He needed to find evidence quickly so the residents of Trant could be evacuated.
...
Under the cold wind, even the sunlight illuminating the world seemed weak and listless.
Sure enough, there were no results.
Lin spent nearly a full day running around the entire city. It was not an easy job. This task should have been assigned to others, but the recent situation in Fire Moth made him feel that some things were better done personally.
The temperature was dropping, but that was all it was doing. The Honkai Energy in the city hadn't increased, unlike the situation during the Fourth Eruption.
Faced with the Honkai, humanity had no experience. Even if it merely changed its way of descending upon the world each time, humanity had no way to cope.
Exactly...
"Lin, Dr. Mei is calling."
Prometheus's words made Lin, who was crouching on the edge of the rooftop, look up. He said briefly, "Connect."
"Lin, where are you?"
"Outside."
"I have good news and bad news. To save time, I'll start with the good news."
After Lin disconnected from Fire Moth's intranet, Mei began to tell him her "good news."
"Prometheus II has been completed. It will officially take over Fire Moth's internal network in sixteen days, and through its calculations, the number of Herrschers that can be born and the number of large-scale Honkai Eruptions have been determined."
"..."
The number has been determined?
This was indeed good news. Humanity's biggest challenge against the Honkai was the unknown. Since the Second Eruption, no one could be sure how many of these disasters, which could plunge human society into chaos the moment they appeared, there would be, or how many humanoid natural disasters, capable of destroying a town with a casual strike, existed.
Confirming the number was equivalent to giving humanity a hope for existence.
"The total is 'fourteen' Herrschers."
"Fourteen... Herrschers." Mei's wording was always precise. Lin immediately realized the implication of this statement. "How many large-scale Honkai Eruptions will there be?"
"Unknown," Mei said.
"..."
"According to the current progression, fourteen Heralds of the Honkai will be born, but the number of large-scale Honkai Eruptions cannot be calculated. It might be lower than the number of Herrschers, but it could also be much higher than the total number of Herrschers. The birth of a Herrscher may not require reliance on a large-scale Honkai Eruption."
A fact that overturned everything.
If that was the case, was it possible that there were already born Herrschers hiding within current human society? Or would the end not be in sight even if all Herrschers were defeated in the future?
What kind of consequences would this information bring if announced?
"Is that the bad news?"
"I'm afraid not."
"..."
"After running simulations on the first four large-scale Honkai Eruptions, the outbreak time for the Fifth Eruption can now be estimated."
"When?"
"One month from now."
One month? That was plenty of time to prepare.
"However, the location of the outbreak is still unknown."
"..."
After ending the communication, Lin stood up, looking down at the city of tens of millions of people.
One month to convince the risk-averse Fire Moth to evacuate the people of this city...
"Lin! I see you!"
"..."
The sudden shout interrupted Lin's train of thought. He looked down with a slight doubt and saw a heavily sweating Anna standing below, waving at him.
The sweat and the smile stunned Lin.
...
Sitting in the coffee shop, Lin was somewhat impressed by the girl in front of him, who was gulping down juice to quench her thirst.
She had actually spent an entire day searching for him like a headless fly and genuinely found him in the end. This level of persistence was truly extraordinary.
"Lin, what were you doing standing on the rooftop? Wait a minute, wait, don't say anything yet!" After quenching her thirst, Anna immediately asked the stirring Lin, eager to speak. "Considering how you suddenly disappeared in front of me before, did you just 'swoosh' and jump onto the rooftop? Wow, is it possible that a situation that only happens in comics and novels actually happened to me!"
...Sure enough, her intuition was terrifyingly accurate.
However, Lin had already thought of a way to respond on the way here. He put down his spoon and nodded calmly: "Yes."
"...Eh?"
Lin's straightforward admission left her dumbfounded.
"I serve as a captain in a secret organization hidden in the shadows of the world. The ultimate mission of this organization is to save humanity and defeat natural disasters. The organization controls 80% of the world's economic lifeline, and the stock market is manipulated by the organization's high-level executives. All the advanced technology you see is at least twenty years behind the organization's."
"We have branches all over the world, and members of the organization are present in all walks of life, including the owner and waiters of this coffee shop. The main base is located on the ocean surface of the South Pacific, with plans to build an airborne base."
"The unexplained disasters that have occurred in recent years are all caused by an inexplicable supernatural phenomenon, including this cooling."
This was one of the rare times Lin had spoken so many words in one breath, and not a single word was false. Prometheus inside the helmet was utterly shocked by his self-disclosure, viewing it as a symptom of mental breakdown based on her logical framework.
However...
"That's so chuunibyou, Helmet Uncle."
Anna's eyes turned into an expression of unreserved disdain.