Perhaps because things had been too peaceful recently, the tense atmosphere within The MOTHs Who Chase the Flame had finally started to dissipate.
Although there were still occasional missions, like Honkai Beasts attacking the city or reclaiming resource zones, they were nothing more than a piece of cake for the experienced MANTISes.
A very small number of them even began to harbor the rarest and most precious thing in this era: hope. Hope that the Herrschers would not come again, hope that the sun would rise as usual tomorrow.
However, only a select few knew that a sudden 'betrayal' was about to shatter that hope and wishful thinking completely.
"Sigh... Honestly, it's still four days until our one-month anniversary." Pardofelis sat on a chair in the laboratory, watching Fu Li busy at his computer, and flicked her tail in frustration.
She was also wearing a standard-issue white lab coat, but judging by the wrinkled hem and her white-stocking-clad legs, she possessed none of the dispositions of a researcher.
This wasn't surprising, as she wasn't a researcher to begin with. She was only here to spend more time with Fu Li.
When cats know they are about to die, they tend to hide away alone.
Perhaps because of her last experience, she had begun to fear that one day she would wake up, excitedly go looking for her boyfriend, and find nothing but a suicide note.
Just watching Fu Li's back like this, quietly accompanying him while he worked, was an incredibly blissful thing for a simple-minded girl like her.
For some reason, though, her good luck seemed to fail her here from time to time. Automated robots would frequently 'accidentally' run over her tail, which made her a little nervous.
Gazing at her boyfriend's back, Pardo yawned, pillowed her head on her arms, and let her thoughts wander. Before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep.
Not long after she fell asleep, Cangxuan walked in with a worried expression on her face.
"Hm? It's you, Cangxuan. Is something the matter?"
Looking at the sleeping kitten, Fu Li put a finger to his lips in a 'shh' gesture, signaling for her to speak quietly.
"Oh, right." Cangxuan nodded and said with a heavy tone, "Dr. Li, the information I'm about to share is top secret. Please do not spread it."
Top secret? The entire MOTHs is a secret to me.
He thought this to himself but still nodded, indicating for Cangxuan to continue.
"It's like this. The news is about Elysia."
Cangxuan sighed, as if she couldn't bear to say what came next. But duty compelled her. "Dr. MEI is organizing a meeting at 8 PM. The topic of the meeting is..."
"...to discuss whether or not Elysia is a Herrscher."
So, it's finally time?
In truth, the moment he heard Elysia's name, Fu Li already had a rough idea. After all, calculating the time, Kevin's birthday wasn't far off.
"Sigh, that matter..." Fu Li rubbed his forehead as a wave of inexplicable frustration rose within him. He refused outright. "Decline it for me. I have no interest in attending a meeting like that."
"But..."
"...No buts. I'm a little tired, Cangxuan."
That meeting, a meeting he had attended countless times, a meeting that had questioned Elysia countless times—he never wanted to attend it again.
When Fu Li transmigrated, the main story had only been updated to Chapter 30. So, while he didn't know the exact details of Elysia's secret, he knew she was a Herrscher—a Herrscher who loved everyone.
A meeting like that was hard for him to accept. In his eyes, it was a betrayal of a comrade.
"...I see." Cangxuan wanted to say more, but in the end, she didn't.
Although Dr. Li was much gentler than Dr. Mobius, they had many similarities. For example, their stubbornness in certain matters.
Once they made a decision, it was almost impossible to change.
The door closed, leaving only Fu Li, cradling his head, and Black Pardo, who at some unknown point had taken control of Pardo's body and was now looking at him with the same expression.
For a long time, they locked eyes, each seeing the weariness in the other.
...
...
An unknown amount of time passed. In her sleep, Pardo felt something nudging her. She frowned and bit down on whatever was pushing her.
It felt thin, but also long and hard, like a teething stick she had seen before. A cat's instinct made her start to unconsciously bite and gnaw on it.
But as she chewed, she felt something was wrong. She groggily opened her eyes and saw Fu Li looking at her with a helpless expression.
She spat out the object in her mouth and mumbled instinctively, "Ngh... what time is it, Li? Are you off work?"
"Yeah... and you've been holding my finger in your mouth for quite a while."
"Mm... oh, I see. Wait, a finger?"
At this, Pardo's eyes suddenly flew wide open. Looking at Fu Li, who was helplessly wiping his finger, her face instantly turned beet red.
Now she finally knew what she had been gnawing on in her dream.
"I-I-I was just half-asleep! I didn't do it on purpose!"
She explained frantically, not realizing that seeing her like this had managed to dispel some of the frustration and pressure that had built up inside Fu Li.
"Yes, yes, I know."
He reached out and stroked her head, smiling with a bit of helplessness. "No boyfriend would get mad at his girlfriend for something like this, so you don't need to apologize."
"Oh, I... I know."
Even though they had been together for a while, hearing the word 'girlfriend' still made Pardo blush uncontrollably.
But whenever she got into this state, another hand would always naturally take hers.
"Alright, what do you want to eat tonight?"
"Hmm... let me think. I want Squirrel Fish, and rice. Of course, it would be even better with a pizza."
"Pfft, you're eating that much? Aren't you afraid of getting fat?"
"Hmph, I'm a MANTIS. There's no such thing as getting fat. Are you going to make it or not!"
"Alright, alright, I'll make it."
Helplessly holding her small hand, Fu Li led her towards his dormitory.
He was always like this, unable to refuse any request from this little gluttonous cat.
Meanwhile, in Dr. MEI's meeting.
MEI looked at the conference room, which was more than half empty. She then looked down at the attendance list in her hands and frowned.
Li, Aponia, Eden, Kalpas, Sakura, Mobius, Hua, Pardofelis.
It was as if they had all planned it, skipping the meeting she had organized in unison. Why was this? Was it because of trust, or was it because of so-called friendship?
But if she remembered correctly, at least Mobius, the senior who had brought her into The MOTHs Who Chase the Flame, didn't like Elysia at all.
---o---