"Hi, Kevin, did you miss me?"
Elysia waved at Kevin, who was walking down the corridor. The latter stopped coldly, glanced at her, but didn't speak.
"Whoa..." Elysia moved closer, staring at his cold expression with a mischievous smile, "If it were Lin, he would say 'No' at this moment."
"...Is there something you need?"
"Oh, I just arrived here. Can't you come and welcome us?"
"We are here to execute a mission, not to hold a welcome party."
"You sound exactly like Lin."
"If you want to find Lin, you can open your communicator now and chat with him to your heart's content." Kevin turned around and walked into the conference room. "But if you want to hear the progress of the mission, then come in."
Elysia shrugged. She pointed to a seat in the corridor for the young woman behind her, then followed Kevin inside.
The young woman sat down on the chair blankly, staring at the closed conference room door.
"Captain Lin?" A confused voice attracted her attention after a while, mainly because of the word "Lin" in the sentence.
Kosma looked at the young woman in surprise, but quickly realized that this person wasn't Lin, but a woman wearing the same helmet.
After the Sixth Honkai War, Ato's temporary squad was disbanded and reorganized. Kosma returned to First Squad to serve as Kevin's deputy, and naturally followed Kevin to Shenzhou for this mission.
Upon hearing that Thirteenth Squad had arrived, he intended to join Kevin in discussing the next steps of the mission with Elysia, but unexpectedly saw the young woman who looked so much like Lin.
"I apologize, I mistook you for someone else..." Kosma quickly calmed down. He offered an apology, then looked at the young woman, wanting to say something.
Why was this person wearing Captain Lin helmet? The style couldn't be wrong. Although he hadn't interacted with it much, the impression was deep.
Was she wearing the same helmet because she admired Captain Lin? But this helmet doesn't actually improve combat efficiency. A more convenient system would be better. Should he gently remind her?
Wait, her temperament is also similar to Captain Lin. Could they be acquainted? And did Captain Lin ask her to wear this helmet? If so, wouldn't his reminding her be redundant?
Oh, no, it's also possible that she randomly chose this helmet. If Captain Lin saw that no one reminded her to choose a more advanced system, would he think they were bullying a new recruit?
Fine, I should still remind her.
"You..." Kosma slowly began, after deciding.
"..." The young woman silently waited for him to speak.
"...No, it's nothing."
The young woman looked at the man who seemed to have been contemplating for a long time and looked like he had something to say but held it back. She was confused. He clearly had something to say just now, so why did he swallow it?
Influenced by Lin direct style of speech, the young woman asked without hesitation: "Do you know Lin?"
"Yes, I do." Kosma hadn't expected the young woman to be so direct, and they really were acquainted with Lin.
"What is your name?" the young woman asked again.
"Kosma, the deputy of First Squad."
"I am MSA-970."
"..."
"..."
And then what?
After saying this, the young woman stopped speaking, as if she had completed a task.
Kosma cautiously examined the young woman. Since the suicide squad incident of the Fifth Honkai War, he had become overly thoughtful, and this young woman, who was closely connected to Lin, made his imagination run wild.
Why didn't she give her name? Was it because his previous hesitation caused her bad feelings? Or was his answer too brief, making her feel he was impolite?
But he didn't mean to be impolite. He simply thought Kevin's concise and clear way of speaking was efficient.
Should I explain myself and then ask for her name?
No, maybe Captain Lin dislikes him?
Thinking carefully, since this person's helmet is exactly the same as Captain Lin, she might be Lin disciple, similar to his relationship with Kevin. Could Captain Lin have privately expressed his dislike for him, causing this person to dislike him too?
No, no, Captain Lin would definitely not be that kind of person...
Then, did Captain Lin mention some aspect of him that caused this person's disgust?
It must be because he still has flaws, right? Then I should ask her for advice and correct myself immediately.
"Um..."
"..."
"No, it's nothing."
This person had been standing there for nearly ten minutes, but the number of words he spoke was less than thirty in total. The young woman looked at him in silence as he stared at her. The two fell into an awkward silence.
"Is the food here good?"
After a while, the young woman remembered something important and asked Kosma.
"It's alright."
What did that mean?
What was she trying to test?
Does anyone ask if the food is good as soon as they arrive?
"Lin often cooks Shenzhou cuisine for me. He says Shenzhou feels more like his hometown than the Far East, so the first cuisine he learned was Shenzhou style," the young woman narrated their conversation flatly. "Do they have late-night snacks here?"
"No, going out at night is prohibited."
"Oh..."
From the sound, she seemed a little disappointed.
Kosma found the young woman difficult to read. He couldn't understand whether her words held any deeper meaning.
The young woman's helmet eyes blinked. She tilted her head and said: "Don't you want to chat?"
"No..." Kosma instinctively tried to deny it.
Strange, was she chatting with him just now?
"Oh, okay. You can talk about your Captain then. He's Lin good friend, right?" The young woman patted the seat beside her. There was plenty of space left on the long bench.
Kosma sat down beside her, hesitant but increasingly curious about this young woman.
His intuition told him that she was a special person, just like Lin.
"Captain Kevin is indeed Captain Lin friend. They were close friends before I even joined Fire Moth."
Kosma recalled the tacit cooperation between Kevin and Lin in the wind-swept border town during the Fourth Honkai War, and the natural smile on Kevin's face whenever he mentioned Lin.
But since returning to First Squad, he hadn't seen Kevin smile again.
"He is now the strongest warrior in Fire Moth, and the things he carries are becoming heavier and heavier," Kosma muttered sadly.
"No, Lin is the strongest," the young woman shook her head, interrupting his sentimentality.
"Hmm? But Captain Kevin's physical abilities far surpass Captain Lin."
"Lin won against him in sparring."
"That was just training. In real combat, Captain Kevin single-handedly cleared an entire A-rank danger zone last time."
"Lin can do that too."
"No, Captain Lin is certainly very capable, but Captain Kevin is truly the strongest warrior in Fire Moth now."
"No, Lin is."
Just as the two of them were getting louder and arguing over a baseless title, sounding like children quarreling, which was about to echo through the entire corridor, the conference room door opened.
"Kosma."
Kevin stood at the door, staring indifferently at the blushing, agitated Kosma who had stood up.
And Elysia watched the pouting young woman, barely containing her laughter.