Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers-Chapter 221: Consciousness Transfer… Successful?

"This isn't gonna work... Too many guards. Can't sneak in!" Pardo lowered her miniature night-vision binoculars and checked her watch. Half an hour had passed since the mission began, and she still hadn't found an opening.

Anxiety gnawed at her, overpowering her usual sleepiness. She'd tried multiple vantage points. The security around this small courtyard was even tighter than Golden Courtyard back in the Lower Quarter.

"What do I do? What do I do? I'm gonna fail the mission!" She knew this wasn't a "big job," not by her usual standards of commerce. This was a life-or-death situation, something she usually avoided. She wasn't stupid, just... selectively ignorant.

But she knew – a mission personally assigned by Mei-nee-chan couldn't be a trivial task. Still, she'd taken it...

And now she regretted it.

Suddenly, the bushes rustled beside her. Before panic could set in, a sleek, well-fed tabby cat emerged. It saw Pardo, crouched low like a feline herself, and, sensing a kindred spirit, approached cautiously, nudging her with its head, then weaving between her arms, finally presenting its rear.

Pardo, her heart still pounding, relaxed slightly, then looked up at the cat's butt. "..." She twitched her lips, a wave of nostalgia washing over her. Back in the Lower Quarter, stray cats had done the same, vying for her attention. This was a feline gesture of affection and trust. The correct response would be to... lick it.

No way!

But years of experience had taught her an acceptable alternative. She leaned in, blowing gently on the cat's rear.

The tabby flicked its tail, then turned and rubbed against her, seeming to want more. Pardo stroked its neck. A crazy, yet plausible, idea popped into her head.

"I'd trust a Lower Quarter cat, but you look a bit... pampered. Are you even smart enough?" Pardo poked the cat's head. The cat, seemingly understanding her insult, rolled its eyes and meowed softly in protest.

"Eh? You do understand! See? Cats are smart! Tell me, how do I get into that courtyard? I know you know a way in, right?"

"Meow—" The cat purred, rubbing against her, but didn't lead the way. Instead, it circled her hood, where she kept her snacks.

"Sigh..." Pardo reluctantly pulled out a dried fish. The cat sniffed it, gobbled it down, then licked its paw, patted Pardo's hand, and darted out of the bushes towards the courtyard wall.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Pardo followed, mimicking the cat's movements, even its gait and path. They reached the base of the wall effortlessly.

"Wow, that was easy!" Pardo stretched, wondering if she'd underestimated her opponent.

The cat, from a nearby bush, pulled out a sign: "DANGER: MINEFIELD. DO NOT ENTER."

"..." Pardo's raised foot froze in mid-air, trembling.

The cat bounded around, showing her that the ground beneath the wall was safe. She hesitantly lowered her foot.

But... "How am I gonna get back out?!" she thought, looking at the gray, early-morning expanse of the minefield.

Behind her, the cat leaped onto the wall, meowing.

Pardo measured the wall's height with her eyes, a smile spreading across her face. She remembered her first encounter with Michael, failing to scale a wall just like this. She wondered what had happened to that black cat...

Cutting off her thoughts, she crouched, then leaped, surpassing the cat in speed and grace. They landed, mimicking each other, inside the courtyard.

It was eerily quiet. Pardo scanned the area with her night-vision binoculars. No guards, and they were in a blind spot for the security cameras. The minefield, while a formidable barrier, had also lulled the guards into complacency. It also helped, of course that manpower in this place was limited.

But now that she was in, Pardo faced another problem. Mei hadn't given her a specific target, just to investigate an experiment... Where should she start?

"Meow—" The cat circled her feet. Pardo offered it her last fish, patting its head. "Okay, okay! You got me in, you deserve it! Now go play. Don't get involved in this!"

But the cat refused to leave, running a few steps in one direction, then back to Pardo, licking her toes.

"Hahaha! That tickles! Alright, alright, I'll follow you!" Pardo checked her watch. Her mission was only two hours long, and more than half that time had already passed. She had to trust the cat. Or rather, she was trusting herself.

"After all, I've always been lucky!" She might as well try.

She took a deep breath and followed the cat. The cat led her to a strange vent.

"Not... not another vent...?"

The cat, ignoring her complaint, squeezed through the vent's grating, then, using its paws and teeth, unlatched the wire mesh inside. Pardo helped her remove the grating from the outside.

"Uh... you want me to go in here?" Pardo glanced at her watch. No time to waste.

If the cat didn't understand, if it was just showing her its den or its stash of food... She'd be wasting precious time. But she decided to trust it.

She took a deep breath and crawled into the vent. But the moment she entered, she realized something was off. The vent sloped downward.

She'd crawled through countless vents. Even vents in underground structures were usually straight up or down. The only explanation, excluding Lezren's eccentricity, was... this wasn't a vent at all!

She reached up. No obstruction. She stood, her hand finally touching the curved ceiling.

She felt around, realizing she'd just crawled through a small opening. The entire wall was actually a door.

Pardo pulled out a small flashlight. A sign on the inside handle read: "Emergency Escape Route L21."

"My... my luck... is this even real?" She turned off the flashlight, following the faint sound of the cat's paws.

The tunnel had no stairs, probably to prevent tripping in the dark. It wasn't long either. Pardo soon saw a faint light. She reached the end, finding herself in a mechanical room, filled with steam. Just as she was about to step out, she heard voices from above.

A hesitant male voice: "Eight, I still don't recommend rushing the surgery... We have no guarantee of success! I've reviewed the previous records. Human-to-human consciousness transfers had some success, but human-to-this-body...

"Only one subject's consciousness managed to enter that body and maintain some activity, miraculously returning to its original body. Even then, her brain suffered irreversible damage – schizophrenia, cognitive impairment...

"Besides, she became the 6th Herrscher. We have to consider the possibility of a mental link between Herrschers... None of the other subjects succeeded..."

This is about Seele? Pardo thought, clenching her fists. The man's words were interrupted by "Eight."

"But... the model you built predicted a 23.4% success rate, right? That's pretty high. Mei's model predicted single-digit success for Kevin's Meta-Morph surgery."

"But... it hasn't been validated with live subjects... We should wait for the next batch of subjects and conduct more experiments!"

"Are you kidding?!" Eight's voice rose sharply. "Why did we move back to the surface? Because we couldn't get test subjects! Did it help? No! It's been over a year since we've conducted a large-scale live experiment because we can't get live subjects! Besides kidnapping a few Fire Moth members... Fine! Now we're on the surface, and we still can't get subjects!"

"But..."

"And another thing, opportunity! Do you understand? The hardest part isn't the consciousness transfer, it's obtaining the 1st Herrscher's core! What good is this body without it? Now the 1st Herrscher has relinquished his core. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance!"

"But I think..."

"Enough! It's not about what you think, it's about what Lezren-sama thinks! Besides, while we can't do large-scale validation experiments... we still have... small-scale subjects."

"Ah... ah! You mean the one we caught last time!"

Eight chuckled darkly. "Heh heh heh, go on. You better get back to Sva's lab before... well, you know."

"Uh... yes, sir! Sva won't even look at us since that guy Su arrived. I'm doing this to prove... that he's wrong about us! I'm just as talented as Su! Even though we share the same blood, I have to say, Lezren-sama has much better taste!" The man who'd initially opposed the surgery now groveled.

Scum, Pardo thought. Flattery was one thing, but this guy was a sycophant.

The voices faded as the two men left. Pardo crept towards the door, peering through the small window.

"Aaaah!"

She saw a man strapped to a crude machine, tubes connected to his head, leading to a device behind him. From that device, a chimney-like pipe led to the ceiling, where the pipes branched out like the folds of a brain. Finally, the pipes converged above a tank filled with something resembling orange soda. A metal spine descended from the pipes, piercing the liquid.

As the man screamed and convulsed, the liquid in the tank bubbled. Pardo could only make out a male figure inside, but couldn't see any details.

"Heh heh, scream all you want. I hadn't planned on using you as a test subject," Lezren sipped wine, looking elegant even in this crude, steel-walled lab. He continued, speaking words Pardo found surprisingly agreeable.

"While I'm scum, I don't like villains. Compared to you, badmouthing my uncle behind his back, I prefer this defiant little punk." He patted the man strapped to the side, who Pardo, from a different angle, now recognized as... Immer!

"But you've fulfilled your purpose by providing the theoretical foundation. So, die."

Lezren's words were followed by the man's final scream. His body twitched, then went limp. Like a... dead cat, Pardo thought.

"Lezren-sama, brainwave activity detected... Success! The consciousness transfer was successful!"

"Calm down, Eight. You've been with me for years. Learn some composure. Alright, stop the transfer."

"Uh... Lezren-sama, are you sure? If we stop now, his consciousness will die."

"Oh?" Lezren turned. "What does it matter to you?"

"Nothing! Of course not!" Eight quickly pressed the stop button. The man's body stiffened.

The bubbling in the tank subsided. Pardo took out her binoculars.

"Ah!" She gasped, dropping her binoculars.

Inside the tank was... "Michael-boss?!"

No, no, no! She remembered. It wasn't Michael. It was his body, the one he'd died in during the 3rd Eruption!

What were these people doing with his body? Connecting it to the talk of consciousness transfer and the 1st Herrscher's core...

What do I do?

"If someone else were here, even Hua-nee-chan, they could burst in and stop them... But I... I'm not even a MANTIS soldier!"

She was about to flee when she heard Lezren approach Immer.

"Heh heh, you should feel honored. You'll witness a historic moment – the first complete consciousness transfer. Do you know what this means? It means even the most esoteric concept of a soul can be manipulated by humans. Humans are unstoppable."

"Tch, I thought only Vasak would say stuff like that. And if you think humans are unstoppable, why are you transferring into Michael's body? Why do you need the Herrscher core? You want to become the Herrscher of Reason? No, you could never be him!"

"My, I like your spirit. But you're wrong – I don't want to become Michael. He's not worthy of me. He possesses immense power, but his mind is so fragile... Pathetic. Like a child holding the launch codes for every nuclear warhead... ha... hahahaha!

"And I don't want to become a Herrscher. That's just a man-made label, like space, time... These labels have practical meaning, but on a grander scale, they're meaningless. In this regard, I thought Mobius and I would have common ground – we both strive for perfection, for the pinnacle of human existence. I thought she'd understand, but... she's infatuated with that weakling Michael."

"Hmph. You don't understand."

Seeing Immer's defiance, Lezren sighed. "I don't understand? Immer, I admire you. You were my subordinate. I'd like you to return. You're smart, determined, far better than Eight. And you're not like those naive Anti-Entropy fools, spouting nonsense about love and justice. But it seems you've been infected by their childishness."

"Lezren, you really don't get it – we follow him because of his fragility. It's not a good trait, especially in a leader, but... it reminds us of our humanity, our vulnerability. It shows us that he cares. And... if I died, I know he, and the others in Anti-Entropy, would mourn. It makes death less frightening... Compared to your coldness, he, the Herrscher, seems more human..."

"Enough!" Lezren snapped, then quickly calmed down. "No point in arguing. Let's see what happens."

He sat down on the machine, convulsing. The liquid in the tank bubbled furiously.

Finally, everything stilled. The body in the tank twitched, then opened its eyes.

Eight rushed over, offering a set of clothes as "Michael" shattered the tank and stepped out. His eyes were dazed, as if adjusting to a new body. He watched passively as Eight helped him dry and dress.

Then, "Michael"'s gaze focused. But it remained cold.

Eight, expecting praise, was met with a hand around his throat. Blood spurted, soaking "Michael"'s body.

He continued forward, passing three "humans" who could still sense things. He'd kill them all.

He approached Immer.

Pardo burst through the door, slashing the ropes binding Immer with her knife. But it was too late.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

"Michael" appeared before them, reaching out with a sinister expression.

"Wait! You're not Lezren, you're—"

Bang!

"Michael" was slammed into the opposite wall. A curvaceous figure stood between them, blocking the path.

"Damn it, you're a pain in the ass. You two, run! You're lucky you weren't turned into Zombies by the Honkai energy!"

Honkai energy! The small space was filled with swirling black ribbons of Honkai energy. That level of energy... There was only one possibility!

Before Immer could offer his thanks, Pardo grabbed him with one hand, the cat's scruff with the other, and fled the lab.

...

"Dr. MEI, the supplies for the Vishnu Meta-Morph program have arrived via the rapid transit elevator and have been unloaded."

"Oh? The new rapid transit elevator has been tested, right?"

"Yes, Doctor. But due to the electromagnetic catapult technology, the acceleration is too high for even MANTIS soldiers. It can only transport cargo."

"That's enough." Mei peered through the glass at Elysia and the 6th Divine Key. "It's a good day. Elysia and the 6th Divine Key have high compatibility..."

Her vision suddenly turned red.

Wee-ooo! Wee-ooo! Wee-ooo!

Everyone froze, their gazes turning to an equally stunned Mei. The answer was obvious. That alarm only sounded for one reason –

A Herrscher attack!