The Vixen's Gambit: Tonight We Hunt

Landing on the moon—for the people of Blue Earth, this was a historic event. Even with the advancements of science, only a handful of astronauts had set foot on the moon decades ago, and since then, the so-called lunar program had gone silent.

Now, humanity was finally restarting the long-stalled lunar project. It was just a pity that the participants weren't natives of Blue Earth…

After all, these otherworldly visitors possessed far superior physical abilities than ordinary humans. Sending them to the moon didn't require much consideration.

Forget spacesuits; as long as the rocket could reach its destination, they were good. They didn't even need a return rocket.

"Ugh, this rocket is so tiny! There's only one seat," Kiana complained, surveying the cramped interior of the rocket. "The exterior looks cool, but it's not as comfy as the Hyperion."

"Blue Earth doesn't have the same technology we do. This rocket uses chemical propellants, not a Honkai energy reactor. It's quite impressive they've managed to achieve this much," Otto said, smiling at the rocket.

Although most of this technology was outdated by his standards, seeing a non-Honkai tech tree was a good reference. However, these were thoughts for after their return.

"Otto, is everything alright with Lihua?" Kallen asked, having silently approached Otto.

"With Theresa by her side, those pesky bugs here can't hurt her."

Otto glanced at Kallen and smiled. "You're quite calm. You didn't follow Lihua around like Eleanor… Are you too embarrassed to talk to her?"

Kallen ignored Otto, walking past him towards the rocket's entrance.

Of course, she wanted to cling to Lihua, to talk to her, to tell her how much she missed her, and how painful the years without her had been… But how could she face her?

Unlike Eleanor and Otto, Kallen was a Kaslana. She carried the same blood as Lihua, the blood of humanity's shield. She had confessed her mistakes to Lihua, promising to become someone Lihua could be proud of.

But in the end, she had broken her promise. She had allowed Otto's crimes to happen, even assisting him.

Lihua didn't blame her, but Kallen couldn't accept her kindness with the same ease and shamelessness as Otto… She wanted to do something first. Something that would allow her to face Lihua, something to talk about.

Otherwise, even if she saw Lihua, what could she say? Confessing her wrongdoings would only hurt Lihua.

Defeating [Lee], protecting Blue Earth… perhaps that could count for something.

At the launch site, under the watchful eyes of countless observers, roaring flames lifted the rocket skyward, carrying the power to destroy human civilization towards the moon.

Inside the capsule, Otto felt no apprehension about the journey.

Their strength was simply overwhelming.

Schicksal's three leaders, each a centuries-old monster.

The Herrscher of Reason, the Herrscher of the Void, and the Herrscher of Thunder. When they fought together, they even had some sort of friendship bonus super buff!

Durandal and Cecilia. The former, a prodigy infused with a bubble universe; the latter, an elite with saintly blood that neutralized Honkai energy. Fighting together, they even got a mother-daughter tag-team bonus!

Finally, there was Fu Hua, a MANTIS warrior who had lived for thousands of years, surviving since the Previous Era.

Against a measly Herrscher of Sentience, Otto couldn't imagine how they could lose! They could have taken her down a few days ago. Now, after several days of rest, everyone had recovered their fighting strength. This would be a piece of cake!

He just needed to resist her mind control for a bit, and the battle would be over in a few moves.

Otto rarely allowed himself to celebrate victory before it was certain, but at this moment, his joy was uncontainable. He could practically see the smile on Lihua's face as she praised him.

No… not that awkward smile. It should be a more gentle, proud—

Wait, where did Lihua come from?!

Seeing Lihua cautiously crawling out from a narrow gap between the equipment, not only Otto, but everyone else's eyes widened in surprise.

"Lihua, what are you doing here?!"

Kallen was the most shocked. She had thoroughly checked the rocket inside and out before takeoff precisely to prevent this! During Schicksal's dangerous Eastern Expedition, Lihua, who wasn't allowed to participate, had snuck into the team.

Although Lihua hadn't explicitly said she wanted to come this time, Kallen had taken precautions, just in case.

And she still got through!

"Ahaha, would you believe me if I said I accidentally fell asleep while touring the rocket yesterday?" Lihua chuckled sheepishly. "I'm really worried about you… Don't mind me! I'll just stay out of the way and watch from the rocket—if nothing goes wrong…"

As the saying goes, for every measure, there's a countermeasure. Kallen had taken precautions, but Lihua was no pushover.

Seeing Kallen approaching inside the rocket, she had exchanged for a single-use invisibility cloak from the system and hid in a corner, watching Kallen walk right past her.

Too bad I can't use the protagonist's "Passenger" perks as Unit-1. I might not even have needed to spend energy on the cloak… Although I was well-off before, energy is precious. Gotta save where I can.

"But weren't you supposed to be with Theresa—?" Otto's eyebrows furrowed.

"Haha, she's probably still watching anime," Lihua chuckled wryly. "I found her an interesting anime, told her I wasn't feeling well, and went to my room to 'rest'… then snuck out in the middle of the night."

"Never mind that! You need to go back!"

"Miss Kallen, that might be a little difficult," Bronya said, looking at the monitor displaying the view outside. "We're already in space… While Miss Lihua seems capable of surviving inside the capsule, she probably can't return to Blue Earth on her own—though if she insists, I can make her a single-person flight pack."

"That's too dangerous. I can use Kurikara to send her back," Raiden Mei said calmly, dismissing Bronya's risky idea. "Actually, the ride's not bad, just a bit windy."

"…Is it possible that I could just teleport Lihua back?" Kiana asked, exasperated. Did no one care about her, the Herrscher of the Void? She thought she was the most outlandish of the three, but it seemed the other two had become even more eccentric in her absence.

"I have Blue Earth's spatial coordinates. Once we confirm the moon's coordinates, I can take her back and return. It won't take much energy if I know both locations."

Compared to single-handedly re-entering the atmosphere or riding a red lightning dragon back, Kiana's suggestion was much more reasonable and received unanimous approval. After a few token protests, Lihua seemingly resigned herself to the inevitable and quieted down.

It's fine. As long as I get to the moon… They seem to be waiting for us, so once we arrive, they probably won't have time to worry about me.

So, just getting to the moon is enough.

Over the decades, human technology had advanced significantly. A journey to the moon that once took three or four days now took less than a day.

.....

"Are they here?"

[Lee] looked up at the approaching light in space, raising an eyebrow. "They're fast…"

She had been planning to visit Blue Earth to retrieve Elysia's body from that underground facility. After all, a body constructed from energy, while sufficient for scientific research, was no match for a true MANTIS warrior body in combat.

But now, she had no choice.

"You lot, go take care of them."