"Mm."
After hearing Mei's explanation, Conductor Vill-V pondered for a moment before saying, "So in other words, Dr. Mei, you want to form a 'cleanup unit'?"
Dr. Mei nodded. "Yes. The unit will still be called Cocoon, so that MOTH, contaminated by harmful microbes, can break free of its cocoon and become a butterfly."
"Oh? So Sakura's current covert assassination unit is also called Cocoon?"
Dr. Mei leaned lightly against the wall and explained at an unhurried pace, "The covert operations unit Sakura belongs to was never originally created to serve as hired muscle for the higher-ups. In reality, they are humanity's first true elite experimental force against the Honkai."
Understanding dawned on Vill-V. "I see. So that's the true purpose behind Cocoon."
"Yes... and no. Kevin, have you ever heard of Gu?"
Dr. Mei suddenly addressed Kevin, who had been listening attentively off to the side despite looking utterly confused and having absolutely no sense of participation.
Hearing Dr. Mei test his knowledge, Kevin immediately perked up and eagerly recited what he had learned in high school. "Of course. In ancient Shenzhou legends, there was a technique where various highly venomous insects were placed inside a sealed container, a vessel, and made to fight one another. The strongest survivor at the end was called a Gu. That Gu would gain all sorts of miraculous abilities. It would transcend the category of its original species and metamorphose into an entirely new creature..."
"Correct. That is Cocoon."
Kevin, who had finally begun to feel involved, abruptly fell silent at Dr. Mei's words and frowned slightly.
Dr. Mei's meaning was simple enough to understand.
Use humanity itself as Gu. First make humans slaughter one another. Then allow the final Gu to form a cocoon, transform into a butterfly, and ultimately throw itself into the far greater flame known as the Honkai.
At the thought, even Kevin could not help shuddering.
Only those trapped within the vessel themselves could truly understand how sinister it was.
A trace of shock flashed through Sakura's eyes as well.
"So that's what it was..."
Compared with Kevin, who merely found the revelation horrifying without fully understanding it, and Sakura, who had been trapped inside the scheme without realizing it, Conductor could infer far more from the information Dr. Mei had provided. "In other words, Cocoon doesn't refer to just one group of people."
Dr. Mei glanced at the surprised Sakura and confirmed, "You're right. Within Cocoon, not only do Sakura and the others have to kill one another, but those MOTH higher-ups are also members of Cocoon."
"Hiss—"
Vill-V rubbed her temple. Even she had not expected the plan to be quite this malicious.
No wonder MOTH's higher-ups had so many different factions. So they had deliberately been selected to raise Gu as well.
"What kind of animal came up with this plan? It's vicious beyond belief. Humanity's elites finally came together of their own accord to establish MOTH, and at the very moment humanity should have united against an external enemy, this person was thinking of ways to intensify infighting and drain humanity from within."
Dr. Mei added, "According to Dr. Edison's testimony, we've already found some clues about the person who conceived and implemented this plan."
"Edison? Wasn't that guy thrown in prison?"
"Don't forget, thanks to you, Dr. Einstein, Dr. Tesla, Dr. Newton, and I also spent several days imprisoned in a MOTH prison."
"Uh..."
Vill-V scratched her head somewhat sheepishly.
Because of Herrscher of Reason Planck's resurrection, MOTH's core S-1 Laboratory had effectively had its roof blown off, and the losses inflicted upon MOTH could no longer be measured in money.
MOTH no longer possessed the capability to construct another world-class S-1 Laboratory. A superlaboratory of that caliber required years of accumulated technology and continuous refinement to create.
Unfortunately, it had all become foam upon the sea now.
Perhaps tens of thousands of years later, when future generations dredged it back up, that ocean garbage might even find a second life.
Although Dr. Einstein and Dr. Tesla had resurrected the Herrscher of Reason under Dr. Newton's name, Dr. Mei refused to believe Vill-V had not been giving instructions behind the scenes.
With Dr. Newton acting adorably clueless every single day, could she really have arranged such a meticulous plan? Throwing her in prison for it had been far too unjust. (Newton: Who are you looking down on?!)
Dr. Mei, Dr. Einstein, Dr. Tesla, and Dr. Newton had only managed to get out after spending a few days in prison thanks entirely to Dr. Mei handling the situation appropriately.
And while they were imprisoned, they had hardly been idle. They spent some time getting in contact with Dr. Edison, and under Dr. Tesla's heartfelt, reasonable, and thoroughly fist-driven persuasion, Dr. Edison
finally revealed the intelligence he possessed—
"'Star Sovereign' and 'Lucifer.' One is a founder of MOTH, while the other is one of the North American higher-ups."
"A founder of MOTH? How come I've never heard of him? Does Dr. Mobius know him?"
Sakura, who had been listening silently for some time, lightly bit her lip before suddenly interjecting, "'Lucifer.' I know him. The person who gives me my orders calls himself 'Lucifer.'"
After learning the full truth behind Project Cocoon, Sakura's mindset had already begun to change.
After all, she had already suffered once because of an intelligence disadvantage. This time, Sakura did not want to make the same mistake, especially when her younger sister's safety was at stake.
If she remained within Project Cocoon, her younger sister would inevitably remain trapped within this deathtrap as well.
The bait used to control a Gu insect could be even more endangered than the Gu insect itself. There was nothing the higher-ups would not do.
Bestowing favors was the simplest and most effective method during the Gu-raising phase.
Once the Gu-raising phase ended, however, there were methods far more effective than favors for making the Gu insects obedient.
There was something else Sakura cared about as well. "Dr. Mei, if you oppose Project Cocoon, why are you still using the same name?"
Her position is wavering.
Dr. Mei glanced at Sakura, pondered for a moment, then said, "Because I want to give this Cocoon plan a different meaning."
"Project Cocoon is already more than halfway complete. Now that it has reached its final stage, reversing the plan is no longer possible."
"Since that's the case, we might as well move with the momentum. We will be the final butterflies to break free from the cocoon!"
The scope of Project Cocoon was simply too horrifying. It extended from the highest ranks all the way down to secret units, operating both openly and in the shadows.
Most importantly, it understood human nature far too well. It was like imperial statecraft. Even if those higher-ups realized what was happening, they could never bring themselves to give up the meat already in their mouths. They willingly entered the vessel, because every last one of them believed they would be the final winner.
What they did not realize was that the true Gu master had long been waiting for them to stick their heads out of the vessel so they could all be harvested.
Vill-V nodded in sudden understanding. "So you're going to seize the final prize directly. Good idea, Dr. Mei."
"But if that's the case, doesn't Sakura have to keep doing the 'dirty work'?"