Before Inori could praise Mr. Mad Hatter for long, she was urged to move on by Liora.
Clearly, Liora had no interest in listening to what Mr. Mad Hatter had performed during the Departure Mission.
She wasn't some fanatic fan of his.
"Cough, cough... alright. Surrounding Mr. Mad Hatter, the senior cadres are known as the Constellations, named after the twelve zodiac signs."
The leadership of the Mad Hatter organization was not the Mad Hatter Party.
That was because most of the people in the Mad Hatter Party were executors.
The only ones with particularly sharp minds were Su and Zofia.
One served as the public-facing boss of the Mad Hatter organization.
The other was the boss behind the boss—the CEO of HoMu Network Technology Co., Ltd.
Huck and Kirsch were responsible for Zofia's protection, while Bronya was busy playing games at HoMu Company.
You couldn't possibly expect the honest Hua, or Pardo—who might pocket things at any moment—to manage the Mad Hatter organization.
Even if Pardo refrained out of respect for Vill-V, just looking at so many treasures would be torture for her.
Thus, the Mad Hatter Party became Vill-V's directly subordinate group, independent from the main organizational leadership.
A large organization couldn't possibly rely on Su alone to hold everything together.
The current structure of the Mad Hatter organization was led by Su, acting as Mr. Mad Hatter, with the Constellations serving as cadres beneath him.
This was perfectly normal—an organization's structure couldn't remain the same as when it first started.
Constant adaptation to circumstances was what allowed it to grow.
"You all know the twelve zodiac signs, right? Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces. The titles of the Constellations come from these."
"The special ones are Sun and Moon. You've already met Lady Moon, since she was the one who sent you to assist us."
At this point, Liora took out a playing card printed with the Queen of Hearts and added, "And under the twelve Constellations are us Poker—fifty-four cadres ranked by card value. I am the fourth highest, second only to the King and the two Jokers."
Seeing the identity card that Su had once commissioned her to design, Vill-V nodded in understanding.
So this was how the Mad Hatter organization was structured now.
Thankfully, they weren't using mahjong suits for classification. Otherwise, her organization would have turned into some kind of fraudulent cult like those online stories.
"Then I guess I'd count as a combatant?"
"Heh." Liora rolled her eyes. "Do you think we're some kind of evil organization? Do we need titles like 'combatant' or 'Team Rocket'?"
"Aren't you?" Vill-V, the mastermind behind it all, tilted her head.
Inori also shook her finger righteously. "We may be an unofficial organization, and we are wanted by the World Government. We do commit some illegal acts. But everything we do is for justice. So far, we've resolved hundreds of Honkai incidents and helped tens of thousands of civilians."
Su was indeed reliable in handling matters.
He had visited Mad Hatter bases around the world multiple times. The organization had now grown into a force spanning sixteen countries, with nearly ten thousand members—not to mention tens of thousands of unregistered affiliates.
"If that weren't the case, why would you join Mad Hatter?"
"For money..." Vill-V answered honestly. "The original purpose of founding Mad Hatter was to make money. Sure, I invested quite a bit myself, but that's normal—an investment."
Back then, Vill-V hadn't considered things like contingency plans or fighting the Honkai.
To be precise, one of the initial ideas was for Magician to use it for a worldwide magic tour.
That was also why Magician had come up with the name Mad Hatter Party.
Of course, the first tour ended in a major accident, and the plan was immediately shut down by Conductor.
Inori's expression immediately fell. She tapped her forehead with her middle finger. "Alright... that's a very realistic reason."
"Don't misunderstand. That's not compromising with reality." Vill-V said confidently. "Money is just one part of balancing life. I simply didn't intend to give it up. If something just falls into my lap, I'd actually find it boring."
Inori didn't comment on Vill-V's statement. Instead, she turned to Liora. "Then what about your dream, Senior Liora?"
Discussing such topics wasn't just to pass the time—it was to accelerate the bonding between team members.
"My dream?" Liora's eyes sparkled visibly. "Don't you think the quality of handsome men and beautiful women in Mad Hatter is exceptionally high?"
To be fair, that was true. When Vill-V wandered around MOTH, most of the faces she saw were forgettable background characters. But among the few members of Mad Hatter she had met, all of them had left a strong impression.
This was likely because MOTH had far too many people who were unqualified or just occupying positions without merit—especially in recent years.
On the combat side, due to shortages, the requirements had been lowered significantly, even in terms of basic quality.
On the research side, plagiarized papers had become common. Although several had been caught, it was an ongoing problem.
As for MOTH's management, it was even more lifeless. Their deep understanding of the Honkai had filled them with fear and despair.
In contrast, most members of Mad Hatter still possessed vitality and passion. They still had the courage and hope to defeat the Honkai.
After all, Mad Hatter was a new organization, filled with young blood.
"By the way," Liora looked up. "Wasn't I supposed to meet four people? Where's the last one?"
"Mm..." Hua, who was taking care of Zeo nearby, picked up the communicator. Her gaze swept over Pardo's icon—it still showed no signal. "Pardo... she wouldn't have sold the communicator, would she..."
Liora clearly had little patience. "Leave her a signal and let's move. Everything comes second to Mr. Mad Hatter's mission."
But Vill-V was clearly uneasy, so she left Zeo behind in the shop to wait for Pardo.
With Zeo's combat ability, there shouldn't be much to worry about.
Leaving through the back door of the clothing store, the three followed Liora as she weaved through the streets.
Since the distance was a bit long, Vill-V, feeling bored, started chatting with the stigma beside her—Liora.
"Maybe it's just me, but it feels like you've been watching me this whole time. Is there something wrong with my body?"
From the moment she met Liora, Vill-V had felt as if her body was being constantly scanned by Liora's gaze.
Even though she wasn't particularly sensitive to such things, she eventually noticed after a while.