"Captain, no anomalies were found in the residential building."
Soon, after Elysia's results came out, the hearts of all operational personnel sank.
Either the detection equipment was faulty, they were mistaken, or... the city itself was the problem. And it seemed most likely to be the latter.
"Immer, is the Honkai energy reaction still there?" Lin asked Immer, who was monitoring closely.
"No change whatsoever... Wait a minute!"
Immer's surprised exclamation caught Lin's attention.
"The Honkai energy across Turin has suddenly doubled! It has reached the standard for a small-scale Honkai Eruption!"
"Plop."
Something hit Lin's helmet.
He looked up and saw a piece of hail falling right in front of him.
"..."
Lin silently watched the hailstorm intensify.
"Captain." Immer said with difficulty, "The Honkai energy in Turin is maintained at the level of a small-scale Eruption, but the temperature has risen."
"...Issue a warning, tell residents not to go out in the hailstorm."
Lin crouched down, picking up a piece of hail that hadn't completely melted, and illuminated it with his detector.
After a brief flicker, an extraordinary level of Honkai energy appeared.
With the three squads' positions as the center, the hail spread like a plague until it covered the entire city.
...
"Hail again?"
Anna, standing with Hua, excitedly reached out to catch a piece of hail. Although it stung her hand, she was still overjoyed to bring the crystal-clear ice to her eye for a look.
"Miss Anna, please don't touch the hail."
Having received the notification, Hua swatted the hail from Anna's hand and said to her seriously: "The Honkai energy content in this hail exceeds the normal level and will be harmful to your body."
"Yikes—" Hearing Hua's words, Anna shook her hand as if she had touched something dirty, then pressed down her beret and retracted her hands into her sleeves.
"Will Honkai energy turn people into monsters? I heard the Old Man say that if you're eroded by Honkai energy, you might turn into a monster without humanity." To ease her nervousness, Anna looked anxiously at the hail shattering in front of her and asked Hua.
When Hua heard this question, the first person she thought of was Lin.
Will the Captain also turn into a Honkai-infected?
"Not necessarily. If the adaptability is too low after being eroded by Honkai energy, the person won't be converted into a Honkai-infected or a Honkai Beast. They will die after the brain or heart is eroded." Hua didn't know why Lin allowed Anna to participate in the operation, but since she was someone Lin approved of, Hua told her the truth.
"What if the adaptability is high? Will they become a creature like a zombie?"
Thinking of the Honkai-infected whose head was crushed, its pale skin and purplish-pink blood made Anna shudder.
Hua recalled the file she saw when she joined the squad: "That is only the lowest level of Honkai-infected. If the adaptability is high enough, they will be converted into high-level Honkai-infected, or even lower-level Honkai Beasts, which are incomparable to ordinary Honkai-infected."
Anna asked like a curious child: "Lower-level Honkai Beasts? Does that mean there are also higher-level Honkai Beasts?"
"Yes, higher-level Honkai Beasts are independent entities, and they are creatures composed of pure Honkai energy. Their destructive power is stronger than lower-level Honkai Beasts. If left unchecked, they can destroy a city in half a day."
"Huh? Then, then is the Old Man fighting Honkai Beasts all by himself now? You should hurry and help him."
"...Don't worry. No Honkai Beast has appeared yet, and the Captain has experience in battling higher-level Honkai Beasts." Hua shook her head. "Furthermore, if the Captain hasn't given the order, I must remain on standby and follow orders."
"Alright..." Although Anna was still worried, since Hua said so, and the other person had much more experience than her, she stopped worrying unnecessarily and continued the previous topic: "Is the Old Man very powerful, since he has experience battling higher-level Honkai Beasts?"
"Yes, the Captain has individually defeated two higher-level Honkai Beasts and two Herrschers. He can resolve ordinary Honkai Beasts with relative ease."
"...Another term I don't know." This was Anna's first reaction after hearing the word Herrscher. "Herrscher? This word seems out of place compared to Honkai-infected and Honkai Beasts. Could it be a species similar to a BOSS?"
"Yes."
"As expected of me."
"Herrschers are also a product of the Honkai. They are only born during large-scale Honkai Eruptions and are the most concrete manifestation of the Honkai. They can control Honkai Beasts and Honkai-infected, and their emergence is a devastating blow to human society."
Hua only used the most straightforward terms to explain the existence of Herrschers. In reality, Herrschers were far more complex than this superficial messenger of the Honkai.
But Anna indeed had quite a strong talent, and she immediately noticed a problem after hearing the description.
"'They'... Does that mean all Herrschers are female... No, are they all human females?" Anna asked, pinching her chin and frowning.
Hua looked at her in shock: "You..."
"Hua."
At this moment, Lin returned, interrupting their conversation.
Then, under their astonished gaze, he fell straight onto the ground.
Motionless.
"Captain!" "Old Man!"
...
When Lin woke up again, he was already in the Third Branch infirmary.
The dizziness in his head and the soreness all over his body made him feel as sharp as if a knife had been stabbed into his forehead the moment he woke up.
His helmet was still on, but his armor had been removed.
"You're finally awake."
Elysia, standing by the bedside, lacked her usual playfulness, and her voice was heavy.
Waiting for Lin to wake up with her was Heng, who was now looking at Lin with a tightly furrowed brow.
"What happened to me?" Lin tried to prop himself up from the bed, but he found that his strength had vanished as if sucked dry, and a feeling of powerlessness permeated his limbs.
Elysia sighed: "You collapsed on your way back."
"..."
"Lin." Ato questioned Lin severely at this moment. "What is going on with your physical condition? How is your Honkai energy erosion rate at 15%?"
It seemed that after the examination, Heng had also learned about Lin's condition.
15%? Then the culprit behind this collapse seemed to be Honkai energy erosion.
When the Honkai energy erosion rate reaches 15%, the infected person will experience physiological discomfort. Clearly, after the baptism of the hailstorm just now, Lin's Honkai energy erosion rate had broken through the 15% mark.
"Why are you still on the front line when your erosion rate is already at a dangerous level!"
Ato tone was accusatory.
And Lin, he just stared at him without saying a word.