Hot.
This word can encompass the entire summer. Even things with higher temperatures might not fully represent the word "hot," because everyone has probably experienced a summer filled with cicada chirps, blazing heat, and a garlic-flavored watermelon taken out of the fridge placed beside them.
The moment Sakura stepped out of the transport plane, she was hit by a wave of heat.
They hadn't landed at the Australian branch, so there was no cover or air conditioning when they landed. For just an instant, Sakura felt like she had arrived in a scorching hell. The scenery before her was distorted by waves of steaming heat haze.
In that moment, she genuinely envied Lin fully enclosed helmet, which reportedly had a built-in temperature regulation system, equivalent to a small air conditioner.
"Want some sunscreen?"
At this moment, Lin voice came from behind. Before Sakura could turn around, a brand-new bottle of sunscreen was handed to her side.
"Ah..."
Sakura hadn't expected Lin to even prepare something like this.
"She bought it," Lin said without a ripple in his voice.
"..." Sakura accepted it with a strange look.
"She" naturally referred to the young woman, MSA-970.
Sakura actually felt that the relationship between the two of them was more like that of an elder and a junior than husband and wife... such as an older brother and younger sister, or a father and daughter. Every time she saw them together, Lin was teaching her something, and the young woman's tone had a strong dependence on Lin, like a little girl who couldn't leave her father.
And the sense of déjà vu from the "buying little things only girls use for a father going on a long trip" was even stronger now.
However, this was indeed useful to Sakura. Her armor itself didn't cover much skin... Although she had applied to change to a more modest armor that exposed less skin when she renewed her equipment, the R&D Department rejected it with the reason, "What else do you expect a speed-type armor to look like?" So, the current armor looked about the same as before.
The heat could be controlled by her weapon, but direct sunlight could not be blocked.
After briefly applying the sunscreen to her exposed skin, she returned the bottle to Lin.
"Let's go. The mission target is nearby."
Lin jumped off the transport plane first, raising a puff of dust as he landed.
This mission was extremely simple, even having nothing to do with the Honkai. It was to apprehend the hacker who had infiltrated the Fire Moth intranet and posted bets in Mei's name. If this weren't a two-person operation, Lin would never have been assigned such a ridiculous task. Sakura even suspected it was Mei's personal vendetta.
Furthermore, Prometheus II's reverse intrusion thoroughly investigated the hacker's hundreds of fabricated IPs, and the actual location they found was this desolate wilderness.
This meant that the hacker was likely living alone in a secret base, saving them the trouble of operating in a crowded, observant city.
Cooling herself down with the cold air released from her sword, Sakura followed Lin forward.
This was her first time in Australia. She had visited most countries during the cleanup of former Chrysalis members, but Australia was one of the few places she hadn't yet set foot in.
This was Western Australia, largely covered by deserts and semi-deserts. She wondered if someone truly had the financial resources and capability to establish a secret base here? Or was it actually an organization?
However, her doubts were soon resolved when Lin said, "Stop."
Because a very inconspicuous house appeared ahead.
The color of the house was very similar to the desert, likely designed for camouflage. Judging from the solar generators distributed nearby, power supply was probably not an issue.
Lin walked straight ahead without hesitation, pushing open the door...
...
"Hahaha... They finally arrived."
A hand reached out from the shadows and clicked a few keys on the keyboard under the glow of the screen. The automatic lock on the door in the surveillance footage unlocked, and the man wearing a helmet easily pushed the door open.
"Oh? It's Lin and Sakura, unexpectedly. It seems I'm quite valued... Well, they didn't bring overly powerful equipment. Let me take a good look at whether the soldiers of Fire Moth are truly as the files describe..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Lin in the surveillance footage suddenly looked up. A gaze pierced the restrictions of the monitor, directly meeting hers.
"...Eh?"
Strange. That was a disguised pinhole camera. It should be completely invisible from the outside.
And Lin expression was as if he knew she was observing them right now.
...
Sakura also looked up at the lamp: "A surveillance camera?"
"Yes," Lin nodded. He looked back at the door: "The lock on this door is remotely controlled. Someone unlocked it manually and is watching us."
Judging from the exterior alone, it was impossible to tell that the door was manually locked or that there was a camera. However, these subtle details could not be hidden from Lin. He could deduce the internal structure of the house through many means, including concluding that there must be a basement just by looking at the terrain and the house's exterior.
And the person hiding behind the screen watching them was most likely in the basement.
Prometheus had not been brought with him this time. Vil-V's Divine Key project was in its initial phase and desperately needed personnel, and this mission didn't require her, so they couldn't directly infiltrate the surveillance system.
However, there was no need for such trouble. They could capture the person just by going down.
...
"Did they notice..." She was silent for a while, watching Lin and Sakura nonchalantly walk into the depths of the house. She thought indecisively, "Then why are they still coming in? Aren't they afraid of an ambush?"
After much deliberation, she decided to proceed with the original plan. She focused intently as Lin and Sakura walked into the room she had prepared, then pressed the close button.
"Bang!"
The reinforced door firmly blocked the way back. The walls were naturally specially thickened and reinforced; ordinary firearms and cold weapons couldn't penetrate them.
Then, she turned on the microphone...
"Hey, you two from Fire Moth, I want to play a game with you..."
...
"Hey, you two from Fire Moth, I want to play a game with you..."
Sakura looked at the loudspeaker transmitting the voice, bewildered. Seeing no movement from Lin, she quietly listened to what the person had to say.
The voice was synthesized, impossible to discern gender or age, slightly laced with static and hoarseness.
"You have always hidden in the dark, just like I am now. You claim to be protecting humanity, yet you engage in human experimentation and mutual slaughter, using the disaster of the Honkai as a beautiful justification for yourselves."
"Now, I want to play a game with you, to verify if you are truly willing to sacrifice everything for humanity, as you claim..."