"What is your view on this incident, Dr. Mei?"
On the eve of the high-ranking officials' relocation, Einstein sought out Mei and asked the Head of Research and Development, who had remained calm throughout the entire process.
Einstein felt that this high-ranking official assassination incident was not targeted. Before this, the officials were mainly divided into two factions: one that supported Mei and one that opposed Mei. The conflict essentially revolved around Mei.
However, the deaths of the officials this time seemed more like a cleansing of the entire high-ranking stratum. Both supporters and opponents were among the deceased; it appeared to be random killing. Yet, Mei, who should have been at the center of the storm, remained completely unharmed, even clocking in and out on time every day. Furthermore, she hadn't even taken the most basic self-protection measures. If Kevin hadn't constantly lingered around her, one might truly believe she didn't care about her own life or death.
Einstein pondered and decided to ask Mei for her opinion. Her intuition told her that Mei, who had observed the events from an outsider's perspective, would give her a different answer.
"Why ask me?"
"Because Dr. Mei doesn't seem to care..." Einstein scrutinized Mei's expression, but she couldn't discern any extraneous emotion on the genius's face. "Also, I've considered who benefits when the high-ranking officials are reduced. Besides the other officials, the biggest beneficiary is you, Dr. Mei."
"In other words, your suspicion is also quite high."
Would the reduction of high-ranking officials and the murder of her supporters affect Mei's plans?
To outsiders, the impact would be considerable. However, in reality, with the reduction and even disappearance of the entire high-ranking echelon, Mei would likely gain more influence. After all, her abilities had been affirmed over the years, and she frequently participated in high-level meetings. If not for the extreme controversy surrounding her, she might have already entered the high ranks.
"But," Einstein changed the subject, shifting from a severe, critical, and questioning tone to a normal conversational one, "This doesn't align with Dr. Mei's way of doing things. Furthermore, if I can figure this out, I doubt Dr. Mei would make such an obvious and amateur move."
After listening to Einstein's explanation and analysis, Mei displayed her signature smile, seemingly affirming her points.
"Dr. Einstein, I would be happy to share information with you... if these tragedies hadn't occurred."
"...So, you refuse?"
Einstein had anticipated the refusal. As she said, Mei was a beneficiary of this incident, and she could afford to sit back and observe the events unfold.
"You once said that the killer exploited our habitual thinking—the method of killing, the location of the killing, and the murder weapon are all highly misleading factors." The long-haired girl pushed her glasses back up from the bridge of her nose, her eyes filled with the wisdom and calmness of a rational person. "Then why limit this incident to the mentality of 'power struggle'? And... why insist on using 'logical deduction' to find the killer? This isn't a detective game."
"Logical deduction..." The words struck a chord. The misty haze in Einstein's mind seemed to be swept away by a large hand.
Yes, since the whole thing was about exploiting habitual thinking to mislead, why should they use traditional logical deduction to find the true culprit? Wasn't that also a form of habitual thinking?
With the Honkai already occurring, numerous unexplainable Honkai phenomena were frequent. So, even if the killer, as a member of the Fire Moth, had acquired some unpublicized technology unknown to them to commit the murders, they would be unable to find clues using existing information.
"But, Dr. Mei, why do you say the motive for this incident is not 'power struggle'?"
"Dr. Einstein, what did you join the Fire Moth for?"
"For... humanity..."
Einstein murmured, and then her eyes slowly widened. An absurd guess surged into her mind.
Since she joined the Fire Moth for humanity, what were the intentions of the high-ranking officials who established the organization?
They were likely only more radical than her in their desire to protect humanity.
However, their definition of humanity might differ from the average person, leading their methods to become distorted.
Those who initially established a system of divided power would not have been high-ranking officials for "profit" from the start, otherwise, they would not have jointly commanded the Fire Moth peacefully for decades.
Even the killer had endured a long time within this system because their methods had once been effective.
Until the internal conflict reached its peak, this system became an obstacle to the progress of the Fire Moth and humanity.
Mei was the fuse that ignited the conflict, but she was not the true cause. Various symptoms were deeply buried within the organization, like a maggot on a bone or poison in the marrow. The dispute over her was merely a manifestation of this flaw. This was also why the target of this assassination incident was the high-ranking officials, not Mei, because the killer realized the essential problem lay in the structure of the organization.
"Loving humanity while despising the humans he deems 'unqualified'—what an arrogant 'arbiter'."
"It's not important who will lead humanity after this. What matters is that there is such a person who believes I would only create more monsters, and therefore wants to eliminate me in advance. Now it seems he has no remaining strength to target me..."
"Or, he believes that after the disaster, humanity will choose the right person to lead the way. Such blind faith in humanity reminds me of Lin…"
"Captain Lin, I don't have nightmares anymore."
Seele stood formally in front of the table displaying a group photo. She gazed at the photo of herself, who still wore a gentle smile, quietly took the photo out of the frame, and put it in her pocket.
"I think we always feel nostalgic when looking back, sensing that we have become a different person."
"I believe I have changed a lot, but one thing hasn't changed." She placed her palm on her face, mimicking her expression in the photo. A smile curved her lips. "I'm a coward. While you, Captain Lin, were still advancing relentlessly, I had already retreated into a corner early, afraid that those around me would be sacrificed, afraid that death would take everything away from me again."
"To this day, that hasn't changed."
"However, I will move forward, stumbling or not, I will move forward."
"For everything you wanted to protect, for everything I want to protect, even death is something I can face."
"So, you must also fulfill your promise from back then…"
She lowered her hand.
Go.
She whispered to herself.
Quiet death bloomed in her eyes.