Fu Shi whistled as she moved through the area. When the soles of her boots stepped into the pooled water, fine splashes scattered, reflecting her figure. Before long, she arrived at the rendezvous point.
Bronya's voice also came through the communication channel, "The Honkai energy reactions of the giant red crystals have all disappeared. Mission complete."
"Yay!" Fu Shi immediately chimed in excitedly, her tone full of barely contained anticipation. "Then now we can finally attack the Sky Island City, right?!"
Fu Hua's calm voice came through with a hint of relief, "Mm. The mission has achieved initial success. We'll first head to Lion Bay Bridge and establish contact with the Archbishop to confirm whether the barrier's function of blocking external intrusion has completely failed."
"Then you'd better hurry!" Fu Shi sat at the edge of the broken bridge, her feet swinging in midair as she sized up the distant floating city. "I've been waiting here for so long, I'm bored to death!"
At the same time, within the team heading toward the rendezvous point, Mei☆ finally voiced a doubt that had been lingering in her mind for quite some time, "Elysia, Squad Leader, don't you think these monsters look somewhat familiar? Most of them are extremely similar to the creations in Griseo's paintings."
Fu Hua responded, "Yes, I noticed that quite a while ago."
Elysia tapped her chin lightly with her fingertip. Her bright smile carried a bit more thoughtfulness now, "It's almost like the sky people caught a glimpse of little Griseo's drafts and then made all these strange creatures, right~?"
Mei☆ frowned slightly and pressed further, "But then how did the sky people obtain this information?"
"This goes without saying! It has to be Void Archives!" Fu Shi's voice cut in first, sounding utterly matter-of-fact as she spoiled the answer. "That guy's core hides a gigantic library that records the entirety of pre-civilization knowledge."
Hearing this, Mei☆ grew even more puzzled. Her mind flashed back to Apocalypse Said So that had played in the livestream earlier, and she subconsciously murmured, "Wasn't it thrown into the Imaginary Space by Otto?"
Fu Shi's mouth twitched as she shot back, "Didn't Fu Lin say it before? That guy spent eight whole years tumbling around in the Imaginary Space before crawling back."
Mei☆ fell silent instantly, a trace of realization surfacing in her heart, "So… back then, Fu Lin wasn't teasing Void Archives at all? That line about 'tumbling for eight years before coming back' wasn't a joke?"
"Of course not!" Fu Shi retorted without hesitation.
Carol, who had long since been completely lost, couldn't help but interject, "Um… who or what exactly is Void Archives?"
"It's that blond masked guy you ran into before," Fu Shi explained lazily. "As for his current appearance, it's because he occupied the soulium body Otto left behind."
Bronya had been listening silently all this time. Now she finally spoke, her tone heavy with seriousness, "Herrscher of Sentience, what else do you know?"
....
As they spoke, everyone gradually arrived at Lion Bay Bridge. Seeing the team approach, Fu Shi immediately jumped up from the edge of the broken bridge and waved, "You guys finally made it!"
Bronya strode forward, her expression solemn, "Herrscher of Sentience, please tell us all the information you know about the sky people and Void Archives. This is crucial for our subsequent actions."
Fu Shi scratched her head and waved her hand dismissively, "I don't know that much, really."
As she spoke, she poured out all the key intelligence she had recalled from her memories in one go.
After listening, Fu Hua nodded slowly and took out the communicator, "I'm trying to contact the Archbishop… It's connected."
Theresa's voice came through the communicator, "Fu Hua, what's the situation?"
Fu Hua replied in a deep voice, "Archbishop, we have already stabilized the situation here… Can reinforcements enter Saint Fontaine now?"
Theresa's voice disappeared briefly. When it sounded again, it carried a hint of praise, "Very good. As expected of you, Fu Hua, your efficiency is impressive. Reinforcements will arrive soon. Stay where you are and don't move, "
"No, this is everyone's achievement," Fu Hua corrected modestly, then shifted the topic. "Also, I have new intelligence to report to you…"
After that, Fu Hua clearly and methodically relayed the information Fu Shi had provided.
Upon hearing it, a long silence fell on the other end of the line. Then, suddenly, a sharp explosive outburst rang out, "Ahhhhhhh! Grandpa, you jerk! Even after death, you still dump such a huge mess on me!!!!"
Theresa's communication signal abruptly cut off. Fu Hua's gaze swept over everyone, "Ahem. Before the other squads arrive, we'll remain here on standby for now."
Before her words even finished, Fu Shi suddenly raised her hand and pointed toward the distant floating city, her tone tinged with amusement, "Old Antique, I'm afraid things won't go according to plan. Look over there!"
Hearing this, Fu Hua turned her head. In her line of sight, the outline of floating city suddenly began to distort and ripple violently. The next second, a blinding red beam shot up into the sky, piercing straight through the clouds.
"Wow~" Lyle raised an eyebrow, his tone calm yet slightly flippant. "Clearly, something big is happening, and it's definitely not good."
Adam immediately elbowed Lyle in the side and lowered his voice in warning, "Ahem, be serious. Captain Bronya is staring at you."
Lyle, "...I'm sorry!"
Bronya shifted her gaze away from Lyle and looked toward the distant floating city. Her expression instantly grew grave. Her fingers moved rapidly across the terminal as she spoke with undisguised urgency and heaviness, "Detected massive Honkai energy reactions coming from within the castle… higher than any data we've collected in Saint Fontaine so far."
Fu Shi stood resolutely at the very front of the team, raising her hand to point straight at floating city, "Then what are we waiting for? The enemy's right in front of us, let's move!"
Fu Hua nodded slowly, her gaze firm, "The reinforcement troops will arrive soon, but the abnormal changes in floating city are equally urgent. Whether to act next will be decided jointly by everyone."
Almost the instant Fu Hua finished speaking, everyone had already made their decision.
Accompanied by rousing background music, each person stepped forward in unison, expressions resolute, battle intent surging around them. No words were needed, their actions spoke for themselves.
"Yoshi, let's go! Ahem!"
Mei☆ blinked in confusion and looked around at everyone, staring at the suddenly drastic shift in art style around her, and complained in bewilderment, "Wait, why did everyone's art style suddenly change?"
"It's just special effects, I secretly added a tiny bit of extra effects~"
Fu Shi crossed her arms, her tone carrying a hint of smugness.
Lyle flexed his muscles at the empty air a couple of times, speaking exaggeratedly, "Ah~ I actually turned into a muscle-bound macho man! These lines are just perfect!"
Siegfried also struck a narcissistic pose, "Cool~"
Only Carol, looking at the bulging muscles all over her body, stared tearfully at Timido, Mei☆, and Elysia, whose figures had barely changed at all, "I don't want to look like this! And why is it that they're all girls, yet their figures didn't change at all?!"
"Isn't this great?" Fu Shi crossed her arms, barely holding back her laughter as she glanced at Fu Hua. "Didn't the old antique turn into a devilish muscle monster too?"
Fu Hua looked at her own mountain-pulling, world-shaking physique. A vein twitched at her temple as she grabbed Fu Shi and said in a deep voice, "…Fu Shi, change it back right now!"
Fu Shi blinked, squeezing out a cat-like expression. Her back was already soaked through with cold sweat, yet she still tilted her head innocently, "Meow?! What are you talking about? I don't understand, meow~"
Elysia winked playfully at Mei☆, her skirt twirling lightly as she asked with a bright smile, "How do I look in this art style, Mei~?"
Mei☆ rubbed her forehead. She felt that her already taut combat nerves had been completely thrown off by this sudden shift in art style. In her helplessness, she couldn't help but feel a mix of laughter and tears.
On the Moon, Fu Lin watched this comical scene, laughing so hard he slapped his thigh, tears welling up at the corners of his eyes as he joked loudly, "Hahahaha! This is killing me! When it comes to pulling stunts, it really has to be my Fu Shi!"
Kiana☆ twitched her mouth and said disdainfully, "Such a boring trick."