"The nineteenth time..."
A pink-haired girl draped in a raincoat crouched at the edge of a roof. Her eyes, calm to the point of being frozen, watched the figure in black emerging from a skyscraper with an umbrella. Like a seasoned and patient hunter waiting for the prey to show a weakness, she remained motionless in the rain, observing that person's movements.
This was her nineteenth assassination attempt on Gray Serpent.
Gray Serpent possessed multiple identities. Every time, she could find him within an established anti-social organization. Furthermore, she discovered that it wasn't a case of him adopting a new identity after an assassination; rather, he developed multiple organizations simultaneously. This led Sakura to wonder how he possessed such terrifying capabilities for management and agitation.
Over the past year, she had spent the better part of her time dealing with Gray Serpent. To this day, she had still been unable to eliminate this tumor growing within human society.
"Miss Sakura, before we begin this time, could we have a word?"
Gray Serpent seemed to have already felt Sakura bone-chilling killing intent descending through the curtain of rain. He turned around and spread his hands peacefully toward the hidden Sakura: "I may be visiting the Tenth Branch soon. I ask that you temporarily maintain a ceasefire with me."
"..."
The Tenth Branch?
Sakura furrowed her brows at the mention of the place.
Though she had sensed something before, Gray Serpent usually only operated on the Mu continent. Now he was explicitly naming the Tenth Branch—where she was temporarily stationed—for a visit. Was this a death-defying provocation?
"You may have misunderstood. A migratory bird lands not only to hunt. I am not going to the Tenth Branch to disrupt order. To be precise, my 'Father' is at the Tenth Branch, so I am going simply to visit him."
"Father?"
Sakura whispered the word. Gray Serpent's father was at the Tenth Branch?
But Gray Serpent had become a high-level criminal across numerous anti-social and anti-human organizations. How could she possibly allow him onto Fire Moth territory?
Gray Serpent spoke of this matter with an extremely sincere tone and a negotiating manner. In Sakura eyes, he was arrogant to the extreme.
Thus, Sakura did not give him the chance to say another word.
Schwing!
In nearly frozen time, a head flew into the sky, dyeing the rain a transparent red.
"A batch of MANTIS will be assigned to different squads for training soon."
After the day's training, Elysia, who was about to head to dinner, heard the information her adjutant received from Headquarters after submitting the report he had ghostwritten for her. She tilted her head in confusion: "MANTIS... why?"
"Because MANTIS are not only produced within Fire Moth. Adaptability is a key factor in the success of the Project Soldier Surgery. Among the new MANTIS, only one-third were original members of Fire Moth."
How to increase the number of MANTIS was a difficult problem, but how to increase the number of usable personnel was something the Fire Moth high-level had always been extremely adept at. The simplest and most direct method was—recruitment.
Thus, another problem arose: how should these MANTIS integrate into Fire Moth? Or rather... how to quickly turn them into usable combat assets.
In the end, this question was tossed to the various squads—the so-called "veterans leading the rookies."
"The Thirteenth Squad has been assigned three MANTIS."
"That many?"
"...This number has already been reduced as appropriate based on the actual situation of our ongoing mission."
Other squads would have nearly ten MANTIS assigned, but since the Thirteenth Squad was stationed at the Tenth Branch, they only received three.
However, these three were complete "newcomers."
Elysia didn't particularly mind. On the contrary... she was quite excited and happy, her face radiating the joy of having new people to tease.
"When do they arrive?"
"Right now." Lin put away his communicator.
"What do you mean, 'right now'?"
Lin pointed out the window. A transport plane was currently landing.
"MANTIS Serial No. CM-079, Delta, reporting for duty."
Lin felt a bit dazed and confused when he received this file.
The girl before him, half a head shorter than him, had long, deep pink hair with some blue-green highlights. On either side of her head was a horn produced by the surgery, with different interior colors—blue on the left and red on the right. Her fused Honkai Beast was Asshuva.
Her expression lacked the panic and curiosity of other rookies. She possessed a mature calmness. Although her saluting posture wasn't yet standard, there wasn't the slightest hint of slackness.
"Your name is... Delta?" Lin hesitated before asking a question he felt was trivial.
"Yes." She answered fluently. "Is there a problem?"
"..."
The serial number was 079; the name was Delta.
Lin knew she had no connection to a certain person who was no longer here other than the name, but upon seeing it, his heart couldn't help but stir.
"No, it's nothing. Just confirming."
Lin quickly gathered his emotions, showing no outward sign of abnormality. "From today, you will be trained by me. Besides basic soldier standards, there will be specialized training for MANTIS."
"You?"
Delta looked at the man in the helmet with a bit of perplexity. She wasn't doubting his status as an adjutant, but rather something else.
"Are you also a MANTIS?"
"...No."
"Then how are you going to train me?" Delta frowned, her tone serious. "I believe the Captain of the Thirteenth Squad, that MANTIS, is more suited for this task."
"..."
Lin really wanted to tell her that, in truth, after Elysia learned she had to train three MANTIS, she complained loudly and hoped he could take responsibility for one of them. That was why she had been assigned to Lin.
In fact, in other squads, it was generally the adjutants who trained the incoming MANTIS rather than the captains, as a captain's primary job was management, not training.
However, Delta believed Lin lacked the ability. He was just an "ordinary person."
Before arriving at the Tenth Branch, Delta had briefly learned about the team's composition. As for Lin, a "celebrity," she naturally knew he was the one who failed the Project Soldier Surgery and did not become a MANTIS.
Thus, her question carried a mocking undertone of asking something she already knew.
Lin stared into Delta eyes. Her eyes were also dichromatic—blue irises with centers occupied by pink. Serious... and proud.
Lin tucked away the files and spoke calmly: "Then let's have a one-on-one combat exercise first to verify if I am qualified for this job. Shall we?"