"So that's how it is..."
A few minutes later, after exchanging some information, the girls finally had a rough understanding of the current situation.
"In other words, right now, Mei and Tesla went to the Honkai energy hotspot in Nagazora City, where there seem to be traces of Otto's experiments. The Schicksal reinforcements that arrived later split into two groups, with Ana going to meet up with Mei and the others."
"And then, Ana directly manifested as a Herrscher? And the others are currently missing?"
Lynelle's expression turned a bit odd. Although she had expected plot twists after the Schicksal war, the current situation in Nagazora was still somewhat hard to believe.
After all, counting Ana, half of the Herrschers were now gathered in Nagazora.
"What a mess..."
"And that's not all. Before reinforcements arrived, our main concern was whether we could hold the safe zone."
"But now with Seele's help, the safe zone shouldn't be a major issue. However, another problem has popped up."
Bronya, who was tightly holding Seele's hand, said, "Given the current Honkai energy concentration, if we don't deal with it, people in the safe zone will likely start contracting Honkai sickness on a large scale within a week."
"A week? That seems like plenty of time, doesn't it?"
Kiana, who had taken over because Sirin was too drained, sounded confused.
"Idiot Kiana, don't think that's a generous timeframe. These residents all survived the Third Honkai Eruption years ago."
"To put it grimly, they're essentially survivors of a 'natural selection' process. If even they can't withstand this level of radiation... you can imagine the dosage."
"So, we still need to find Mei and the others. At the very least, we have to understand what exactly happened with Ana."
Lynelle thought for a moment and stood up.
"Seele, you stay here and help Bronya and Kiana. If you're the one controlling the core and aren't fully proficient yet, rashly facing an unknown situation like Ana could be dangerous."
"Besides, if any Valkyries get injured or... worse, while you're here, you could give them a chance at a 'revival match'..."
"Then Lynelle, should I go with you?" Kiana immediately perked up.
"You stay put too." Lynelle directly placed a hand on the girl's head.
"Earlier, the two of you couldn't stabilize the defensive line even with the Valkyries and the Quantum Titans working together. If you leave now, it'll be even worse... At least until Bella gets here, you can't go."
"Ehh—" Kiana let out a displeased sound.
"Damn it, I should've asked Dr. Einstein to perform the Gem of Haste implantation experiment on me earlier... If I had the authority of the Herrscher of Fire right now, I could perfectly counter these Honkai beasts."
"?" Lynelle, who was just about to leave, slowly typed a question mark in her mind. "Wait, wha, what experiment?"
"The Gem of Haste implantation experiment." Kiana chuckled.
"After obtaining the gem, the doctors tested its compatibility with me, and it was an astonishing 90%+! Meaning I could fully control two cores simultaneously, with Sirin and I each controlling one."
"By the way, Mommy Cecilia also mentioned that if it really succeeded, we could change the name to Herrscher of Flamescion... Pretty cool, right?"
"Indeed." Lynelle nodded in deep agreement. She'd almost forgotten that Cecilia had also been 'spoiled' to some extent.
Someone as clever as her probably realized the origin of Customer Service Kiana-chan's image when she saw Kiana's compatibility with the Gem of Haste.
Looking at it this way, Kiana's growth path actually seemed surprisingly fitting?
After using Kiana's power to teleport directly to the area Mei and Tesla had previously surveyed, Lynelle began searching everywhere for traces of Mei and the others.
Originally, Lynelle thought that Nagazora was so large that finding them might be difficult. So, she specifically pulled out a character card for a"Diting," ready to employ some tech and special methods.
But... within minutes, she realized she had overthought it.
The traces left by the group from their earlier fight weren't just present, they were abundant.
Looking at the large indentation on the ground not far away, Lynelle's expression nearly cracked.
"No doubt, the electrical marks here are probably from Mei, and this broken javelin should be Ana's, but... where did this Taixu Sword Qi mark come from?"
"Did that Otto guy release Sushang early? Then who's going to guard him when he executes his plan later? He couldn't possibly drag Yae Sakura out, could he?"
"Oh wait, theoretically, if the Herrscher of Ice arrived early, then little Senti being 'premature' isn't impossible either... But the one who left this mark definitely isn't little Senti."
"If it were her, Ana wouldn't stand a chance against a little Senti wielding both a 'peak physical body' and 'Herrscher of Sentience authority.'"
"Wait, this is..."
Beneath the nearly ground-covering ice, Lynelle discovered a perfectly preserved Titan. After some effort extracting it, she quickly confirmed its origin.
"So this is Tesla's mech... That makes things easier."
Immediately, the authority of Corruption began to seep slowly from the girl's palm into the Titan, completely taking over its control permissions while repairing its severely damaged frame.
"Just as I thought, Tesla had a communicator with her when she left. Perfect, I'll try contacting them first. If I get through, I can locate their position... Hello? Is this Dr. Tesla of Anti-Entropy?"
"Gasp!"
In a pile of ruins not far away, Tesla was so startled she nearly threw her terminal.
"Mei! Come check this out—how can someone connect to my comms in this heavily shielded zone and immediately identify me?!"
"Could it be Otto...?"
A spark of electricity flickered on Mei's hand. However, as soon as she took the terminal, a strange look appeared on her face.
"Wait, this energy... Lynelle?"
"Bingo~" Sure enough, Lynelle's voice came from the other end. "Sorry, the signal here isn't great, data transfer is a bit slow. Stay where you are for a moment, I'll be right there."
"Also, it's urgent. Other explanations can wait. Mei, let me ask you a question first. Think about it carefully."
"Would you... like to fully fuse with a Herrscher core and master its power, just like Kiana did?"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.