"Mr. Lin, seeing you in this state truly pains my heart."
"..."
Lin stopped several meters away, looking coldly at Gray Serpent.
Pulling back the hood, inhuman red pupils peered out from behind a mask, meeting Lin gaze with soul-piercing intensity.
"Tell me everything you know." The surrounding air glazed over with a thin layer of ice. Lin breath came out as a cold mist; in this foggy world, the figure before him was blurred.
Gray Serpent let out a raspy, low laugh that sounded like a bellows. "At your service."
Lin took a step forward, but after that step, he stopped. He drew a long blade from his weapon case and pointed it in a specific direction.
"..."
Gray Serpent lowered his hand as well, his red pupils watching the scene with interest.
This was likely what humans often called "dramatic."
From where the blade pointed, a pink-haired girl—usually decisive and cool, but now looking hesitant—walked out.
Clear purple eyes reflected the blade tip pointing unwaveringly at her chest. Her hands hung at her sides; she didn't even reach for the hilt of the blade at her waist.
She was here to execute a mission, but she had never expected to see this.
Lin—formerly a comrade, now a wanted criminal—stood beside her target, pointing a weapon at her. It felt like a return to that night by the artificial lake years ago.
To be precise, both people before her were now her targets.
"Is it because of what I told you? So, you believed him and left Fire Moth too," Sakura bit her lip and asked after seeing it was him.
"..."
Lin stared intensely at the beast ears on Sakura head. He thought of the rumors others whispered about her, the ugly faces of those three Fusion Warriors, and Sakura sister, Rin.
"...Don't follow me. Don't carry out any missions for a while." Lin lowered his blade, turned, and walked quickly in the other direction.
"Ms. Sakura, this time you only need to act as if you never encountered Mr. Lin. After all, you know full well that the mission Fire Moth gave you to kill me is impossible to complete—they know it themselves. So, when you return, just submit a report saying you 'killed' me once again." Gray Serpent also turned to follow the direction Lin had gone. "Well then, I wish you a pleasant life. Until next time, Ms. Sakura."
Sakura stood frozen in place with her head lowered, the white mist dampening her hair.
...
"Is this wise? Humanity will not be grateful for a lie."
Lin walked ahead, not answering Gray Serpent's question as he sheathed his blade.
"Perhaps it would have been better to tell her the truth."
Lin soon arrived at a secluded location and turned to face Gray Serpent. "What is your information source?"
Since their first meeting, Gray Serpent had displayed a profound understanding of Fire Moth; this time, he had even passed on news of Svatok-51.
This proved one thing: Gray Serpent had eyes and ears within Fire Moth.
But how did an artificial life form born only a few years ago manage to plant moles inside Fire Moth? How did he even know top-secret information only available to the high command?
"I believe the source of the intelligence is unimportant. After all, you must have analyzed that my channels originate from within Fire Moth; who specifically it is has no meaning." Gray Serpent's raspy chuckle sent a bone-chilling cold through the air, as it always did.
"...What was the cause of the Eruption at Svatok-51?"
"You should know the reason the Stargate was established at Atra." Gray Serpent handed Lin a chip. Lin took it and put it in his pocket. "Atra is a region with extremely unstable space. The Stargate was built there because it can facilitate transport to the Atra on the Moon. Fire Moth wanted to connect the Stargate to the Quantum Sea to begin exploration."
Lin immediately understood Gray Serpent's words and silently clenched his fist.
Due to the attack incident, the Stargate hadn't been modified for over a year. But from what Lin had seen in the KY-00 aerial fortress, Fire Moth had actually been secretly conducting various researches, developments, and modifications.
In other words, the Eruption at Svatok-51 was likely an accident that occurred during the modification of the Stargate... No, it was also possible they intentionally used Svatok-51 for experiments. After all, that place was extremely special to Fire Moth.
"Everything you want to know is in there. I am glad you could come to find me. You finally understand what I said."
Lin glanced at him, tightened his mask, and a muffled voice spoke from beneath it: "I do not understand."
...
In KY-01, the second base of the project named Kali Yuga (The Iron Age), a person in the command room was yawning.
"Hah~"
"Don't get distracted." The person next to him nudged him. "KY-00 was attacked. Now the mission requires us to be careful of KY-01 being attacked."
"Isn't it just that helmeted guy everyone's been buzzing about?" The yawning man said dismissively. "How could the same trick work twice? Not to mention, even if he found KY-00, he won't necessarily find us on the ground. Besides, he's just a failure who botched the Project Soldier surgery. We have thirty Fusion Warriors and all these mechs."
"Hard to say. Three Fusion Warriors were seriously injured at KY-00..."
"That was definitely a sneak attack. He's best at—"
BOOM!
Suddenly, the earth shook. A coffee cup on the table shattered as it hit the ground. Everyone in the command room jumped up in terror.
"What happened!"
"Surveillance, answer! Where is the mech patrol?"
"Attack! We're under attack—"
A figure wearing a helmet watched silently as a second explosion occurred in the warehouse housing the mechs. He coldly scanned the Fusion Warrior squads rushing toward the warehouse.
In groups of three—aside from the nearest group, it would take the other squads some time to reach this location. Their formation was scattered; they couldn't support one another.
One squad, two, three... a total of six emerged. This probably wasn't the entire force. Were the remaining squads on standby?
Lin pressed a button on his helmet, gripped a hilt ejected from his weapon case, and leaped down from his high vantage point, charging toward the unsuspecting Fusion Warrior squads.
...
"Has he begun his move?"
A man looked at the intoxicating moonlight and smiled.
"Then let's get started on our end as well."
He walked down a dark corridor, everything about his face obscured.
"Captain Ato?"
A voice made the man stop. He turned and saw Erwin standing at the other end, looking exhausted.
"Where are you going so late?"
"Nothing, I just couldn't sleep. Taking a walk." The man gave a friendly smile.
"Okay... I'm so hungry I can't sleep. I came out to find something to eat..."
Erwin pointed toward the cafeteria, then wobbled in that direction.
"The cafeteria is already closed at this hour."
"Eh? Oh... I forgot." Erwin walked back to his room with a bitter face and waved to the man. "Then I'll just have to tough it out for the night. Goodnight, Captain Ato."
"Goodnight."