The Vixen's Gambit: Tonight We Hunt

The 3rd Honkai Eruption concluded, leaving Nagazora City in ruins and millions dead or injured. Less than one percent of the population survived.

Having witnessed such a devastating catastrophe, Lee expected Fire Moth to finally reveal the truth about the Honkai to the public. Surprisingly, the higher-ups decided to continue keeping it under wraps.

The obliteration of a city with millions of inhabitants didn't seem like an event significant enough to sway their overall strategy.

And Lee's opinion on their decision didn't matter. Despite being hailed as Fire Moth's hero, she held no real power. She was a symbol, a mascot, nothing more.

Was Lee strong? Of course. But not so strong that Fire Moth couldn't afford to lose her, not to the point where the entire organization would bend to her will.

The three Herrschers she'd defeated so far could have been dealt with by Fire Moth even without her intervention, and the cost wouldn't have been unbearable.

To Fire Moth, Lee was a useful tool, a sharp blade. Having her around made things easier, but if the blade developed its own will, the best outcome would be being shelved.

And with Fire Moth's combat power steadily increasing, this was even more true.

Lee's opinion on this? She didn't really have one. She'd always been indifferent.

"Kevin is really strong," Lee muttered, looking at the report card in her hand with amazement. "He actually broke Elysia's perfect score record in the rookie camp… At this rate, he'll catch up to me soon."

"The younger generation surpasses the older. Looks like I'm about to be washed up and left to die on the beach. I might have to hand over the title of Humanity's Hero soon. How sad, *sniffle, sniffle~*"

"Cut the act," Mobius said, rolling her eyes without looking up from her experiment. "With your record of single-handedly defeating three Herrschers, no one can take that title from you—besides, weren't you just happy the other day that someone could share the workload?"

"Haha, you saw through me, Doctor? Kevin is indeed impressive, but he's still a bit away from my level~" Lee chuckled, scratching her head, but her eyes held a complex look as she stared at the report card, a sense of helplessness washing over her.

Kevin's growth was too fast, especially after joining Fire Moth. It was like he'd activated a cheat code.

When he first joined, Elysia had been eager to spar with him—though Lee suspected it was partly because she wanted to beat him up while he was still relatively weak—but after nearly losing their first match, Elysia never brought it up again.

Lee figured Elysia's protagonist halo was being countered by Kevin's, causing her cheat to malfunction.

Although Kevin still seemed weaker than Lee for now, it was clear that she would become a stepping stone for him in the near future.

Not only that, but even Elysia's strength was steadily increasing, despite not being able to match Kevin's explosive growth. She would eventually surpass Lee as well.

As for Lee's own growth? It was… there.

It wasn't that she didn't want to become stronger, but she simply couldn't.

There were two ways to increase one's strength: physical power and skill. In terms of skill, Lee's combat prowess was unparalleled, even occasionally serving as a guest instructor at Fire Moth's training camp.

But in an era where everyone was throwing around superhuman strength, skill wasn't enough. No matter how skilled a fighter was, could they defeat the Hulk? Of course not. The difference in power was too vast.

Lee had tried training, but the results were… too normal. The minuscule gains were what a regular person would expect from exercise.

Such an improvement might be considered excellent for an ordinary person, but it was far from sufficient for someone fighting against the Honkai.

When your teammates go from punching through one wall to two in a single day, while you're still struggling to jump a millimeter higher—that kind of progress was meaningless.

This was the problem Lee faced. As someone whose strength relied on raw stats, she was starting to fall behind in a world where both Honkai and human power levels were constantly inflating.

The proof was in the Herrschers. While she could easily crush the first few, the later ones could actually injure her, albeit slightly. Based on this trend, Lee estimated her current strength was around the level of the 5th or 6th Herrscher.

Since leveling up was too slow, Lee had to find other ways to cheat, which was why she'd been frequenting Mobius's lab lately.

Unfortunately, neither Mei nor Mobius, nor even Vill-V, had given her a satisfactory answer.

The Divine Key Mei and Vill-V were working on might be a way to boost her power, but it was an external tool, and Lee didn't find it very reliable.

Moreover, while Vill-V had officially joined Fire Moth, she was immediately dispatched to a remote island to build a prison. Though Mei was optimistic about Vill-V's Divine Key proposal, it would be a while before Vill-V returned to actually start working on it.

In the end, Lee's scheming circled back to Mobius and let the MANTLE to MANTIS soldier project.

"Doctor, say, if my Honkai resistance dropped, would it be possible for me to undergo the fusion warrior surgery?" Lee asked Mobius, bored, as the scientist worked diligently.

Bianka had recently left the lab to take on an administrative role in Fire Moth's research division. But for some reason, Mobius hadn't recruited any new researchers, leaving the vast lab to herself—and Lee and her friends, who were practically treating it as a hangout spot.

"What could possibly lower your Honkai resistance?"

If it hadn't been Lee asking, Mobius wouldn't even bother answering such a pointless question. "With your regeneration, even if all your blood was drained, you'd recover in no time. There's no one in this world who could injure you to the point where your body loses its basic resistance to Honkai energy."

So, as long as it did drop, it would be possible?

Lee nodded thoughtfully. "That's true. I am the strongest, after all."

But she wouldn't be forever. When that time came, would she finally have a chance to upgrade her account?

And, if Honkai beast genes weren't powerful enough, what about a Herrscher's? They were definitely a higher tier than Honkai beasts…