"Mr. Michael, is this the dinner you've arranged for us?"
Mei cast a perfectly measured look of distaste at the small mountain of... instant green-labeled canned food piled before her.
Michael narrowed his eyes, subtly surveying the surroundings. Everyone seated at this table was a City Official from one of the various settlements currently established in the Americas.
Their expressions were also somewhat awkward, yet held no displeasure, clearly indicating some prior consensus reached behind the scenes.
Of course, the mastermind behind all this, City Official Michael of Third New Heaven City, seated one spot away from the duplicate Michael with Mei between them, was utterly unconcerned. He excitedly pried open the can of beef in front of him the moment he sat down.
Even in summer, unheated canned meat is practically a culinary nightmare. At first glance, you couldn't even see meat chunks, just a layer of yellowish-white greasy paste floating on the broth's surface, strongly resembling a hot spring pool left unchanged for a decade.
In such a state, a rank, fishy odor was unavoidable. Yet, the official Michael impatiently raised his fork, skillfully and accurately speared a large chunk of beef through the layer of paste, and quickly shoved it into his mouth, chewing vigorously.
If not for his impeccable attire—a tailcoat woven entirely from hand-spun pure silk, his long golden hair slicked back with wax, shimmering almost blindingly under the lights—the duplicate Michael would have genuinely thought this was a common laborer, exhausted after a long day, returning home with his rationed beef can.
His home is empty, no family, so he greets no one. No microwave, no gas stove, and he doesn't want to spend money using the community kitchen.
Besides, he can't wait that long; he rips open the can and starts wolfing it down.
But this scene was unfolding at a high-level banquet.
Although the hotel decor was simple, lacking gold, silver, or gemstone embellishments, not even wallpaper—just stark white walls and the long fluorescent tube lights common in classrooms—it certainly looked austere.
However, the table hidden beneath the white cotton tablecloth...
While everyone was distracted, the duplicate Michael discreetly chipped off a tiny piece of wood and examined the grain closely.
"Old elm wood... Quite the luxury."
Even before the Honkai, antique furniture made from elm wood was valuable collector's item.
Now, in an era where lumber prices had skyrocketed to the point where even plywood coat hangers were considered high-end goods, it was even more extravagant.
Just keeping up appearances...
But watching the official Michael devour his food with such gusto, even the duplicate felt a flicker of doubt—was this really just an act?
He secretly used the Authority of Sentience on the official Michael. Three seconds later, his eyes widened progressively with shock, followed by a flood of pity, anger, and sorrow welling up within him.
I see. This man...
Alright then, let's change the plan again...
Just then, the official Michael belatedly registered Mei's questioning tone. He lifted his head, which had been practically buried in the can.
His face, though showing signs of age, was still handsome, but now smeared with broth and grease from the beef can, presenting a truly comical sight.
He lifted the white cotton tablecloth and crudely wiped the grease from his lips. Even his colleagues, who had agreed to play along, couldn't bear to watch this action. They feigned clearing their throats, using coughs ("Ahem, ahem!") as warnings not to overdo the act.
But he remained oblivious, only turning his head to reply slowly after wiping his face clean:
"Eh! Why isn't everyone eating? Do our esteemed Commissioners find this meal too sumptuous? Rest assured, these are reserve rations saved up over a long time by myself and all the officials of Third New Heaven City through careful scrimping. Please, eat your fill today! Canned meat, canned vegetables, we have plenty of everything!"
"Heh heh..."
Mei picked up a beef can, weighed it in her hand, and let out two chilling dry laughs from her throat.
How could she not see through the act these people were putting on? It was understandable. Facing special envoys from HQ, no one knew their personalities.
Arrange things too nicely from the start, and what if they refused to play ball? Wouldn't that be admitting guilt without being asked?
Better to arrange something subpar initially, everyone acting harmless. If they encountered someone with high demands who got angry because of it, they could just offer more gifts and apologize later. It was an unspoken understanding.
Of course, this was all within the realm of understandable human behavior. What saddened Mei wasn't this, but...
She counted what was in front of her: one can of beef, one can of luncheon meat, two vacuum-sealed packs of corn tortillas, one can of spinach, one can of peas, carrots, and corn mix, plus a packet of instant compressed vegetable soup powder.
The green packaging still bore the Fire Moth emblem. The two meat cans were the smaller half-jin (approx. 250g) size, while the two vegetable cans were the larger one-jin (approx. 500g) size.
There were eight tortillas in total. Everyone had the same portion.
This was their standard for "a bit subpar"?
Months ago, in Rhine City, Mei had witnessed firsthand those receiving D-grade supplies.
To save flour and feel fuller, they resorted to mixing large amounts of sawdust and dirt into their bread—a survival tactic humanity had used centuries ago, never imagining their descendants would rely on such bread centuries later.
Malnutrition caused by this, even cases of people literally eating themselves to death by consuming Guanyin clay [Translator Note: A type of white clay sometimes eaten during famine, which can cause fatal intestinal blockage], were not uncommon.
Knowing this, and then facing this pile of food...
These were standard Fire Moth supplies; Mei knew their cost.
The cost of this single meal, deemed "a bit subpar" by these officials, already exceeded half the daily food budget allocated to Anti-Entropy members, who currently had the highest food standard within the Fire Moth system.
A profound sense of powerlessness began to spread through Mei's heart.
Honestly, she wasn't afraid of any single, isolated negative phenomenon. Even a bad start could potentially be turned around through human effort, leading to a not-so-terrible end.
But human effort has its limits.
As Michael had reminded her earlier—she couldn't personally manage two billion people.
She couldn't even directly manage the thirty thousand personnel within the Fire Moth.
She had to rely on these bureaucrats left over from the United Government to effectively manage—and... exploit—the remaining two billion people on Earth.
Yes, exploitation. Though it sounded strange, she was equally aware that everything she was doing constituted thorough exploitation from the perspective of ordinary people.
She needed these people to work, to produce more food to feed themselves—given Earth's current environment, there was virtually no surplus food. For every person who slacked off, another would likely starve.
She needed these people to work, to produce more weapons and equipment to fight the Honkai—Michael could handle many tasks, but not all.
Aside from the staggering demand for unmanned mechs and their corresponding ammunition, the SELENE about to be launched into lunar orbit, and the ongoing modifications to the Fourth and Fifth Divine Keys were all massive engineering projects.
She also needed these people to work—only through excessive labor could they be kept too busy to think about other things, like the religious fervor that had inexplicably become popular.
As she'd mentioned before, the religious rumors hyping up the Americas as a Promised Land with Noah's Ark were still within tolerable limits.
But some cults were actually preaching that "Honkai is a form of salvation," that "Honkai brings humanity back into the Creator's embrace"...
And clearly, the latter was far more destructive. It struck at the deepest existential question—if life is merely a process towards death, if death is inevitable, if living brings no joy, why not embrace death calmly, accept it sooner rather than later?
Thus, this ideology spread uncontrollably.
In a moment, without even realizing it, she had thought through so much.
Inevitably, and certainly with her own conscious decision not to suppress it, her expression soured progressively. From initially being merely overcast, it now showed a hint of ferocity.
"Dr. Akagi, you seem unwell."
The official Michael sounded as if he hadn't noticed her expression at all. To the duplicate Michael, his words sounded like adding fuel to the fire.
Of course, as the only one present using his Authority to cheat and privy to the official Michael's complete thoughts, the duplicate felt an unreal urge to laugh, unsure whether it should be a bitter chuckle, a scornful laugh, or a cold sneer.
The official Michael didn't let his gaze linger on "Dr. Akagi." He turned his attention to his colleagues:
"Right, why aren't you all eating? Dig in, everyone!"
"Ahem, ahem!"
The white-haired, white-bearded City Official seated to his left coughed heavily and spoke with weighty significance, "Young people are always so impatient. How can the host start eating boisterously before the guests have even touched their food? Hurry up and apologize to the two Commissioners!"
The official Michael raised an eyebrow at the "White Beard" opposite him. Their gazes met silently. Then, the official Michael swiveled his head 180 degrees to look at Mei to his left.
"Oh, oh! Ahh! I am terribly sorry, Dr. Akagi..."
"Spare me the unnecessary words."
Mei waved her hand dismissively. From the duplicate Michael's perspective, it looked almost like she was about to deliver a resounding slap to the official's face.
That, of course, didn't happen. Mei simply stood up decisively and let out two cold laughs.
"Heh heh, I've now experienced the hospitality of the American Branch personnel. Kaspar, let's go. Let's see the accommodations arranged for us by this 'Guardian of Heaven's Gate'."
She kicked her heel back, the stool scraping harshly against the floor tiles, and walked towards the door without a backward glance.
The duplicate Michael also stood up, gave the table full of officials an apologetic smile, signaled the official Michael with his eyes to follow, and then turned to leave as well.
However, before the official Michael could even get up, the duplicate turned back around.
Everyone was startled by his sudden movement, unsure what he intended to do. Then they saw him force a smile onto his unsettling face, the scars writhing like worms.
He reached out with both hands and, under the stunned gazes of the others, stacked the canned goods belonging to him and Mei, pushing the pile towards the official Michael.
"Have your people take these. Oh well, since there's nothing else to eat, we can't let it go to waste, right?"
The official Michael had no choice but to personally pick up the six jin (approx. 3kg) worth of cans and other food items, following the duplicate's figure with careful steps.
Bang—
The door slammed shut heavily. The footsteps outside sounded like drums heard while drowning—muffled, distant, and quickly receding even further away.
"Hiss... That Dr. Akagi has quite a temper..." someone remarked, breaking the silent, grim atmosphere in the private room.
Someone else lit a cigarette, and soon the small room was filled with smoke, obscuring the features of people even across the round table.
"Looked like she was angry, but who knows if it was an act? Just like us, preparing this pile of stuff even pigs wouldn't eat—aren't we acting too?"
White Beard spoke as he picked up a can in front of him, weighing it like "Dr. Akagi" had done earlier, then carelessly tossed it onto the table.
"Speaking of which, Michael really went all out, actually managing to swallow that stuff."
Another short, stout, bald man walked over to where the official Michael had been sitting, picked up the half-eaten beef can, sniffed it, then grimaced in disgust and tossed it into the trash bin beside the table.
Cold broth trickled out of the can, pressing against the plastic trash bag, making soft shh-shh sounds.
"He's the illegitimate son of the family. Lived in the slums until he was fourteen."
"Tsk, illegitimate son, still has half noble blood... But conversely, the other half of his bloodline is ultimately unclear. Besides, what does the von Liechtenstein family matter now? Became history a year ago. Making an illegitimate son the head of the family, what a joke."
"Just goes to show, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." [Translator note: Original idiom translates to "Wild boars can't eat fine bran."]
"Hey!"
Hearing such crude comparisons, White Beard raised his hand. Judging by his age alone, one could guess his status among these officials. At his gesture, everyone swallowed the words they were about to say.
"How can such vulgar language be used to describe our colleague?"
Keenly sensing the mockery in White Beard's tone, the man who resembled a tea egg—dark, short, fat, and bald—immediately chimed in with an extremely exaggerated tone:
"Then... Lord Reugel, how should we describe our youngest colleague?"
He respectfully placed his right palm over his left breast and bowed deeply, as if the white-bearded Reugel seated before him truly were a medieval "Lord."
Reugel stroked his white beard with one hand, while the other instinctively reached across the table, finding no wine glass.
"Not so fast. Little Niu He, first go tell the logistics staff they can start preparing the dishes."
"Aye aye, Sir!"
The others watched as a large tea egg bounced towards the door and squeezed out through the crack.
"Ah, that Dr. Akagi is truly impatient. If only she had a bit more patience, she could be enjoying a simple meal with us right now. Ah, wouldn't you all agree?"
"Indeed, indeed. Women are just short-tempered."
"And that guard, Kapas, was even funnier. He was already leaving but had to turn back to grab the cans. Ho! You should have seen the look in his eyes when he saw those cans, like he'd spotted treasure or something! If that Dr. Akagi hadn't been leaving, he probably would have ripped them open right then and there, hahaha."
"Hmph, grunts are like that. But it seems life at HQ is pretty tough too, huh? To actually fancy this kind of stuff?"
"Isn't it obvious? I heard that HQ spends over 90% of its fiscal revenue on military research, production, and supplies."
"That exaggerated? The sheer quantity of weapons and equipment is indeed astonishing, but surely not over 90%?"
"Tch!"
Reugel shook his head, wagged his index finger, and spoke with an air of profound inside knowledge:
"Ordinary weapons and equipment naturally don't cost that much. But do you know how expensive a Divine Key is?"
"How expensive?"
"Don't keep us in suspense, Lord!"
"Tsk, from what I understand, two Divine Keys are currently undergoing modifications. One is supposedly going to be launched into Earth orbit, and the other is related to the underground shelters."
"Earth orbit? A satellite? Like that SELENE from before?"
"Mhm, similar in size and shape, but this one's in Earth orbit. But do you know how many SELENE the cost of this one Divine Key is equivalent to? Twenty!!!"
"Isn't that equivalent to nearly ten years of total tax revenue?"
"Yes, but that Herrscher participated in most of the engineering, which did save quite a bit on expenses."
"What about the shelter one?"
Reugel smiled without speaking, which only further piqued everyone's curiosity.
The reason this old man held considerable prestige among the City Officials, even being considered a likely candidate for the position of American Continental Governor, was partly due to his age, but more so because he always seemed to have an endless supply of Fire Moth internal secrets.
When exactly did this start? Nobody could quite remember.
Anyway, everyone here held Level Two authority, so how could this old codger know so much? He must have connections higher up!
That being the case, who else would they curry favor with?
"I can't say too much. I can only reveal two points."
Everyone quickly nodded in understanding. Although they believed Reugel had connections, nobody thought his source would reveal a complete secret to him.
"This Divine Key Sanctuary project... the main structure is made of Soulium, and it's projected to accommodate fifty thousand people."
"Fifty... fifty thousand!!!"
"Hiss... Where did they get so much Soulium? If Rhine hadn't had that incident, there would have been a large supply available..."
"That, I don't know."
Reugel wisely chose to end the topic there.
He actually knew more—like the Soulium came from the moon, that Fire Moth had prepared vast amounts of construction materials and teams to be teleported to the moon using the Second Divine Key for work...
But revealing that would be less of a surprise and more of a shock to the people present.
He also couldn't explain the source of his accurate intelligence. If he said too much... honestly, he felt like he'd already gotten carried out and revealed too many secrets, making it difficult to backtrack.
Fortunately, Niu He pushed the door open just then. For the first time, Reugel found the tea egg quite pleasing to the eye.
"Everyone, the kitchen started prepping earlier, the dishes will be out right away, just a moment!"
However, awkwardly, his colleagues were either looking at their phones, staring blankly at the tabletop, or sneering at the cans. Nobody paid him any attention.
"Ah, Little Niu He, come sit here."
Reugel patted the seat previously occupied by the official Michael. Niu He was overjoyed, trembling as he sat down beside him.
He felt he should say something to liven up the atmosphere, but when he opened his mouth, his voice still quivered with excitement:
"Th-that... Lord Reugel, earlier you said, how should we describe..."
"How to describe him?" Reugel sneered, his expression growing even more exaggerated.
"A dog—will always go back to eating shit!"
"Hahahahaha!"
The private room instantly filled with laughter. Soon after, the kitchen staff brought out exquisite dishes and bottles of fine wine, placing them on the table.
It was hard to imagine, in this era, still witnessing a scene where meals were strictly portioned out course by course.
For Niu He, this wasn't the first time, but he still couldn't identify all the dishes.
He himself came from a common background and wasn't interested in alcohol because he couldn't understand it, only able to distinguish champagne from wine, so he simply didn't drink.
However, the initial cheese flatbread and flounder salad suited his taste well. Then came a thick soup heavy with onions; he accidentally slurped loudly, causing the whole table to look at him, much to his embarrassment.
Next, a refreshing vegetable salad and freshly baked bread served as a transition before the pan-seared foie gras with morel mushrooms arrived.
This time, he didn't make a fool of himself, mimicking the others by eating the foie gras with bread.
The main course was pan-seared Greenland halibut. This fish was extremely rare even before the Honkai; Niu He strongly suspected it was just ordinary cod given a fancy name, as the texture seemed no different.
As for the few slices of black truffle garnishing the fish, even on his second try, he couldn't say it tasted particularly good; it reminded him strongly of the fishy smell of certain proteins.
The final dessert was truly unbelievable: caviar chocolate pudding. After the preamble of foie gras, morels, Greenland halibut, and black truffle, even caviar couldn't impress him anymore.
What shocked him was the gold leaf covering the entire pudding, glittering like sand under the plain fluorescent lights.
"Hey, Lord Reugel, do you think Mei has ever eaten this stuff?" he asked on a whim.
"Pfft! Hahahahaha!"
The private room was once again filled with merriment.
If someone were passing by in the corridor outside and heard the intermittent bursts of near-hysterical laughter coming from within, they would surely think it was—
A most joyful banquet.