Honkai Archives: Old, Short, but Gold

[You knew that the moment the continent of Mu was sunk into the Sea of Quanta by the Herrscher of Rock, humanity had already fallen behind in the battle against the Honkai, like a person losing blood yet still having to fight a titan beast. Death and defeat were only a matter of time.]

[The Herrschers that appeared later further confirmed this thought. Yet even with human civilization in great danger, the Fire Moth still did not stop its internal strife.]

[Scientists, the higher-ups of the Fire Moth, even the fused warriors with power – everyone had their own desires and secret agendas, as well as different ideologies and stances. The vast Fire Moth had no true leader, and the whole of humanity had no unifying voice capable of uniting everyone other than when facing an immediate threat like the Honkai.]

[You wanted to try and unite the Fire Moth and the remaining humans, but you found that you couldn't. For one, there was too much internal resistance within the Fire Moth. For another, your own nature as a scientist meant you didn't possess the qualities of a true leader. The burden a leader shouldered would suffocate you.]

[But most importantly, you were weak. You couldn't become a fused warrior and had a very low resistance to Honkai energy. Long-term Honkai energy research and high-intensity work had taken a toll on your body. You knew you wouldn't live long.]

[You were close to death after using yourself as bait to capture all the Herrschers of Domination, but you forced yourself to move forward with your pre-planned projects, and selected the most suitable among them.]

[In the end, you decided to leave the hope of human civilization to the future and died during the battle between the Flame-Chasers and the Herrscher of the End.]

Looking at the results of this simulation, Mei, who was already somewhat addicted to the simulations, fell silent.

This simulation had been far more extensive and complex than the others. The information she'd gained from it was more than from all the other simulations combined.

The gains were so vast that she had a rather unrealistic fantasy.

But while Mei was silent, Kevin was unusually conflicted.

His simulation had ended soon after Mei's.

But unlike Mei, his simulation spanned a much longer period of time and covered a multitude of events, which had greatly impacted his young and enthusiastic spirit.

But Kevin wasn't actually concerned about the simulations or their outcomes. He was more concerned about the future the simulation had revealed.

More specifically, the future for himself and Mei.

In the future revealed by the simulations, he lived for a long time, but he became someone completely unlike himself. And Mei, who he'd sworn to protect, left him very early on.

Leaving him alone to carry out plans that were practically insane.

Thinking about how that future might actually become reality, Kevin couldn't help but shiver.

He couldn't imagine how someone like him, who was so cheerful, could become so cold. It was like he was a completely different person, a total obsessive.

But what Kevin couldn't accept was that even if he obtained great power, he wouldn't be able to protect his beloved.

"Mei, if the future shown in the simulation really is our future, I will break it!"

"As long as you are with me, I will have the strength of a hundred people!"

Kevin grabbed Mei's shoulders, his voice unusually serious and sincere.

"But…I don't want you to overwork yourself for things you don't enjoy."

"..."

Mei opened her mouth to say something, but ended up saying nothing.

At first, she didn't believe that what happened in the simulations was the future of humanity. But as the number of simulations grew, her understanding of the circumstances and events increased.

Mei had to admit that what had happened in the simulations was indeed humanity's future, or at least a possible one.

And in the future shown in the simulations, she didn't seem to have a choice.

There were many geniuses in the Fire Moth, but there wasn't one genius who could be a leader.

Yes, not a single one.

Such a vast organization had no one who could shoulder that burden.

Her simulated self had also acknowledged this, acknowledging she was not a true leader and had only been forced into the role due to the crisis.

If the Fire Moth had a competent leader, the odds of humanity defeating the Honkai might be greatly improved.

With that in mind, Mei responded gently to Kevin.

"I promise, Kevin, I won't force myself to do things that make me unhappy."

There seemed to be no limit to the number of simulations one could run.

As long as the simulation was fast enough, they could run many simulations.

After thinking for a while, Mei decided to see if she could find a real leader in the following simulations.

Like…Elysia?

The image of the pink-haired figure appeared in Mei's mind.

But at the same time, a signal also appeared in her brain.

It was the signal source she had seen when she was on the verge of death during her last simulation in the depths of the lifeless wasteland.

It seemed there were still people living in that wasteland.

Able to survive on a land completely unsuitable for any living creature, Mei was curious as to who or what the source of that signal was.

Another person who can run simulations?

Or someone with special abilities like Kevin or Kalpas?

[Once, twice, three times, four times… Humans had made countless mistakes in the process of fighting the Honkai. These mistakes had intertwined to form the path to humanity's end, burying it.]

[After witnessing the defeat of the last fused warriors on the moon, including Mei, at the hands of the 13th Herrscher, the Herrscher of the End, the Fire Moth's "Fire Seed" plan was put into action.]

[According to this plan, you and the remaining Flame-Chasers would be put into a dormant state using the Key of Stagnation [Dormant Eternity], sleeping until a new era 50,000 years later to fight the Honkai.]

[You outwardly agreed, but you actually had your own plan. A plan regarding "Infinity."]

[After everyone went into hibernation, you quietly escaped the state of dormancy. You and Prometheus both witnessed and took part in this project.]

[You gave your life to this project, which was completely contrary to your own plan, but you accepted it willingly.]

[Simulation complete.]

After carefully recording everything that had happened in the simulation and her own experiences, Mobius fell into thought.

Although humanity had been destroyed as usual in her last simulation, the victory they had achieved was unprecedented, and it had provided a lot of important information.

In her future experiments and practices, she could avoid a lot of mistakes and troubles, which would allow her to make technological progress more quickly.

But the most important prerequisite for her to continue pursuing her ideals was that human civilization be able to defeat the Honkai and continue to exist.

Mobius believed that if she had enough time, she would one day be able to surpass the gods and achieve true infinity for humanity.

With that thought in mind, Mobius took out a file from her drawer.

The file contained records of hundreds of elites who were suitable to be absorbed into the Fire Moth. Scanning the names, Mobius's gaze quickly settled on one.

A genius scientist specializing in electromagnetics and quantum mechanics - Mei.

"I want to recommend someone to the council."

Calling in the Fire Moth guard outside her lab, Mobius wrote Mei's name on a letter of recommendation.

"Mei is an excellent person, the kind that the Fire Moth needs. I strongly recommend that the council absorb them into the organization immediately through the special talent program."

Due to her previous simulations, Mobius's research, while still looked down upon, had actually increased her status within the Fire Moth, she was not only a high-ranking member of the Fire Moth, but also a member of the highest council that controlled the Fire Moth.

Faced with Mobius's recommendation, the Fire Moth guard outside the lab couldn't possibly be negligent. They took the letter of recommendation and headed towards the conference hall.

"Wait."

But Mobius suddenly stopped the guard who was about to leave, and pulled a few more letters of recommendation from her drawer, writing the names of Kevin, Hua, Vill-V, and others before handing them to the guard again.

"Recommend these people as well. They are all talents the Fire Moth needs."

"Yes!"

Having done all that, Mobius turned her attention to the research project at hand.

It was a research project on the Honkai disease.

She had been very interested in this project and had even withstood a lot of pressure to get access to a living patient who was dying from Honkai disease.

But now…

She was no longer interested.

Having gone through several simulations, she already knew the principles of the Honkai disease and the final results of this project.

There was no longer any value in pursuing it.

So...

"One more simulation. Just one more."

"After this simulation ends, I will start a new research project."

Licking her lips with her small pink tongue, Mobius declared, both obsessed and confident.

Simulation, start!

"Humanity was already close to defeating the Honkai in the last simulation. Humanity will definitely win this time!"

"After so many simulations and so much experience… I've got the advantage! I've got the advantage!"