"Destob—"
"Stop!"
Destobier pressed her left hand to her forehead and extended her right arm forward, quickly making a "STOP" gesture to interrupt her visitor's words.
Tall and sturdily built.
A middle-aged man with messy, silver-blue medium-length hair, a scar running horizontally across the bridge of his nose and between his eyebrows, nearly blocked Destobier's doorway completely—
The newcomer, like Destobier, belonged to The Flame-Chasers' First Squad and was also one of the original eight Fusion Soldiers:
Trace.
He was a senior to Kevin and Kosma.
He was also the father of Grisia, one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, known as "Stars."
"Let me guess."
Trace was a very reliable senior and teammate. Already a father (Trace's wife, Blanca, was once Mobius's assistant), he was also extremely dependable in terms of strength.
He was just a bit rigid in personality.
"I'm guessing you're definitely not here to give me a gift."
"Coming all this way to block my door during my vacation, and without calling ahead... Spill it, is Kevin in some kind of trouble again?"
"..."
Trace's silence confirmed Destobier's suspicion.
However, she had actually only guessed half right—
"There is a gift."
From a small carrier bag that looked tiny in Trace's hand, a gift wrapped in colorful plastic paper and tied with a sky-blue ribbon was handed to Destobier.
"This is!?"
"A gift for you from Grisia."
"..."
"You scared me to death, I almost thought your character persona had broken."
Amidst Destobier's exaggerated expression, her jaw nearly dropping, Trace gave an answer so reasonable it was an "as expected" moment.
"But Kevin does indeed have something for us to do."
"..."
"Alright, alright."
Destobier spread her hands while shaking her head with a helpless tone.
"Don't just stand there blocking the doorway."
Destobier cleared the way in the entryway. Accompanied by the "pat-pat" sound of slippers on the floor, she walked back into the living room.
"Hopefully..."
"It won't take up too much time."
"The Indian Peninsula?"
"Yes."
Being uneloquent.
Trace directly handed Destobier the paper documents Kevin had given him (or more likely, passed on to him).
Compared to storing information on networks and in databases, a considerable portion of data within The Flame-Chasers was preserved in this primitive manner.
Flipping through the intelligence in her hands.
Destobier understood why Trace had appeared here.
The panic caused by the Honkai Sickness could no longer be concealed by information control.
Faced with this symptom of exaggerated scale, extremely rapid spread, and 100% fatality rate, even The Flame-Chasers could only produce "delaying" medication, not a complete cure.
Worldwide, there was only one successfully cured Honkai Sickness patient.
But his situation was utterly unreplicable—the "serum" consumed to treat "Su" was a miracle difficult to reproduce... both ethically and technologically.
The above situation.
Had plunged all nations, except for the Mu Continent, into immense trouble.
Adding frost to snow.
Was the large-scale invasion of Honkai Beasts.
In the North Atlantic region, a vast number of aquatic Honkai Beasts emerged from the deep sea. They split into two groups, simultaneously launching assaults on the coastlines of Western Europe and North America.
To counter them.
Kevin and Kosma were dispatched by The Flame-Chasers, responsible for sniping the high-tier combat power within this Honkai Beast legion.
However.
There was more than one place where the situation was severe.
In the border region between Asia and the Pacific, there was also a massive Honkai Beast legion that, in just half a day, had occupied... no, more accurately, destroyed nearly two-thirds of Yingzhou's land.
To resolve this trouble.
Shenzhou's forces, including the entire "Qinglong" Fleet, numbering over 50,000 personnel, had already set out to assist Yingzhou in defending its last remaining territory.
As for The Flame-Chasers.
The only one responsible for dealing with the high-end Honkai Beast combat power here was Elysia—although "Miss Elf" alone was sufficient, in reality, this was merely an indication of their strained combat resources.
With the rollout of the Fusion Soldier project.
Dr. Mei, who already held significant sway within The Flame-Chasers due to the Key of God project, was seen as a thorn in the side by many both inside and outside the organization. When others were absent, Sakura needed to provide close personal protection for Dr. Mei's safety.
Furthermore.
Not all Fusion Soldiers could be deployed to the battlefield:
Mobius's identity as a scientist was far more important than that of a warrior.
Aponia, confined to the "deepest part" of a certain island due to her overly unique abilities, also couldn't be used as combat power.
Among the eight Fusion Soldiers, the only ones currently available for deployment were Trace and Destobier.
Trace and Destobier's "vacation," from mid-January until now, was the only rest time the two had received.
But now.
They didn't even have time for a "short nap."
Honkai Sickness and Honkai Beasts—these physical-sense natural disasters—humanity still had ways to combat them. But the erosion from the mental plane... More and more members of The Flame-Chasers—scattered across the globe, strategizing to solve Honkai problems—were falling into a deep sleep for unknown reasons.
That wasn't entirely accurate.
The so-called "deep sleep" was actually brain death.
As such instances became increasingly numerous and frequent, a certain degree of chaos also permeated The Flame-Chasers.
This unprecedented type of "attack," with its extremely clear targeting, was definitely not something ordinary Honkai Beasts could achieve.
Although only a few months had passed since the Seventh Great Honkai Eruption.
The combination of large-scale Honkai Beast attacks and the explosive spread of Honkai Sickness... these all-too-familiar scenes forced The Flame-Chasers to suspect—
A new Herrscher.
Had been born in a way they had never seen before.
At this time, the upper echelons of The Flame-Chasers began to ponder a certain missing persons case—on the Indian Peninsula, communication from "Heng He Li" had been "severed" for as long as two weeks. A team composed of Flame-Chasers and Armed Dolls had disappeared during this investigation.
The two-person team was not weak.
Ordinary low-ranking Honkai Beasts were definitely no match for this combination. Even against a Honkai Emperor, if they couldn't win, they should have been able to escape.
Their unexplained disappearance, and the "normal" communication in "Heng He Li" now, which was too stark a contrast, shrouded the city in thick, ominous clouds.
The matter involved a city with a population of ten million.
To be safe.
The Flame-Chasers chose members of Kevin's First Squad, two Fusion Soldiers, to investigate together. Trace and Destobier were very strong. Although not in the T0 tier like Kevin, the two, with their excellent coordination, could definitely take down an Emperor-class if they joined forces.
"Slap."
The documents were lightly slapped onto the coffee table by Destobier.
"This is?"
Trace, who had been pushed out the door, looked at Destobier's actions with confusion—
"If you want to watch a pretty girl change clothes, be careful I don't report you to Sister Blanca, okay?"
"Quickly in, quickly out."
Amidst rustling sounds, the girl's words came out clearly.
"Try to..."
The experience honed in battle.
Helped Destobier change clothes with the utmost speed.
She glanced back at the teddy bear tied with a ribbon—that was the holiday gift the girl had given herself—her final words were softly covered by the "click" of the closing door.
"...come home early."