Vill-V's inexplicable concern instead left Sakura looking at a loss.
After a moment of silence,
Sakura said in a dry, powerless voice, "I understand. Just give me the missions directly. I'll carry them out, even if they're dirty work. I've already done plenty of that."
Sakura's posture made it look as though she had resigned herself to her fate, turning into a pitiful, weak, and helpless little thing.
Dr. Mei adjusted her glasses. "It seems Sakura still has other plans in mind."
Of course, that was merely Mei's intuition. A Cocoon assassin would never reveal their true emotions so easily.
According to Edison's intelligence, their personalities were twisted and could never be judged by the standards of ordinary people. For a pupa to transform into a butterfly required a long metamorphosis, and they were precisely what one might call deviants.
Yes, in the most literal sense of the word.
That was also why Dr. Mei simply did not believe Sakura could still retain a pure and kind humanity.
If she had been an ordinary assassin, there might still have been some room to save her. But after enduring the corruption of all three stages of Cocoon, could someone truly still preserve their humanity?
If it were really that easy, then what was the point of Project Cocoon?
A children's game?
That was precisely why Dr. Mei had said, "Humans can become numb. And once that numbness sets in, healing it is often harder than healing a real wound."
The assassins of Cocoon were elites who had survived humanity slaughtering itself. Most of them no longer regarded people as people, but merely as prey.
Such assassins could be used, but there was absolutely no possibility of truly opening one's heart to them.
They were the most cunning assassins in human history, masters at disguising themselves before others.
One second, they might appear sincerely remorseful, weeping bitterly as though they had turned over a new leaf. The next, their fingers might already be inside your heart.
That was what Cocoon had cultivated—assassins who had broken through the limits of morality, ethics, and humanity itself.
And the sword Sakura carried with her, Frozen Naraka, should never have appeared before the world again, because it came from MOTH's Ashes Repository—the place where MOTH stored the relics of fallen MOTH warriors. Kevin had once taken Dr. Mei there to visit it.
At the time, Dr. Mei had seen that very sword. Now it seemed the blade displayed in the repository had been a counterfeit.
The fact that they were willing to risk defiling a fallen hero's spirit and violating MOTH's regulations to take this sword out was even more proof that Sakura was one of Cocoon's finest, a killer upon whom MOTH's higher-ups had placed great expectations.
Would someone like that truly abandon resistance after only a few words?
And so she added in a cold tone, "Don't worry, Vill-V. I'll cover up her crimes for her."
They could use Sakura's talent for killing to handle things that could not be done openly.
Once killing was no longer necessary, they could have her atone for her sins, console the spirits of the dead, and sever all ties with her—
It was despicable, but it was also the most rational and efficient course of action.
Easily believing that an unfamiliar and ruthless assassin was a righteous person who kept her word would be the truly irrational choice.
If they wanted to trust her, fine... but there needed to be sufficient evidence.
Without even a shred of evidence, what kind of person would casually trust the word of an assassin if not a naive fool?
Was Dr. Mei a naive fool? Obviously not.
Forget Dr. Mei. Even the simple-minded Kevin would not believe her!
Only Vill-V, an outsider familiar with the story of the Honkai, knew what kind of person Sakura truly was, what ideals she possessed, and what kind of character she had.
Vill-V sighed and thought to herself, I really don't believe that at all. Dr. Mei, what kind of relationship do you have with Sakura? To you, she's just a stranger, isn't she? You'd even use Kevin if necessary, so Sakura would probably be treated as a disposable pawn too if the situation called for it.
Vill-V knew Dr. Mei still counted among the few remaining consciences within MOTH, but that conscience would never be reflected in her actions.
Her way of doing things was simply too rational. Even without much prior interaction, Vill-V had already sensed that extreme rationality during their previous cooperation.
In some respects, she was even colder-blooded than Snake.
To Vill-V, Sakura was a special existence, one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, and that was why Vill-V protected her so strongly.
But to Dr. Mei and Kevin, Sakura was nothing more than an unfamiliar assassin.
A merciless assassin with blood debts piled high, formidable killing skills, and missions whose targets happened to be their own heads.
Even if Dr. Mei did not say it aloud, Vill-V understood perfectly well that Sakura was an assassin cultivated by Cocoon, and Cocoon itself had originally existed to nurture the bloodlust of assassins.
Unlike in the original story, where Dr. Mei persuaded Sakura to defect to her side with only a few words, this world was extremely realistic. A merciless assassin would not earn everyone's trust, and a merciless assassin would not trust everyone else either.
In the cruel hidden world of the Previous Era, only relationships of control forged through unbreakable threats and leverage could be trusted.
But Vill-V believed that someone with an extreme sister complex could be called back from the shadows into the light!
And so Vill-V chose to trust this fundamentally kind girl unconditionally.
But how was Vill-V supposed to explain that? Guarantee it with her own reputation? Speaking of which, did Vill-V even have any reputation left?
(Conductor: Damn it, Magician ruined all of it.)
Although this was a great chance to get up close and personal with Sakura... Vill-V could only settle for the next best thing and find a way to persuade Sakura to leave this enormous pit behind.
As far as Sakura was concerned, Vill-V remembered that Cocoon had not exactly been a source of pleasant memories.
Even under Dr. Mei's command, given Dr. Mei's style of doing things, she would probably completely disregard Sakura's feelings.
To Dr. Mei, Sakura was only an assassin who had come to kill her and was subsequently turned to her side. She was not a companion, much less someone Dr. Mei would bother trying to understand as a person with her own personality and emotions, or regard as an ordinary girl.
If Sakura simply continued following Dr. Mei's plan, it definitely would not lead to anything good in the end.
Vill-V spread her hands and said, "Dr. Mei, covering up crimes can't wash away sin. What Sakura needs most right now is to put everything down... Maybe becoming a nun wouldn't be a bad choice either."
Right, whether Sakura became a nun herself or went chasing after one.
For Sakura, becoming an ordinary girl who simply enjoyed life together with her younger sister might actually be pretty nice.
As for the fact that Sakura had originally been a shrine maiden?
Please. Had the eight million gods of the Far East really protected Sakura and her younger sister and kept them safe?
Sakura had probably lost her faith long ago during her life within Cocoon. A god who failed to keep their promises could hardly inspire peace of mind.
Seeing Vill-V oppose her again and again, refusing to let her directly coerce Sakura into joining and insisting on asking Sakura's opinion, Dr. Mei remained entirely unconcerned, as though she already had everything under control.
Given Sakura's background and personality, Dr. Mei was certain she would not make any other choice.
There was only one path before her, and that was to join Dr. Mei's Cocoon.
Whether sincerely or as an act.
Even a Cocoon assassin was far easier to read than the unfathomable Vill-V.