K424 of the Collapse World

After listening to Otto's words that had already established victory, Claudia remained silent for a moment, and her indifferent expression gradually became gloomy.

"About this, Lord Otto... I'm extremely sorry that our operation failed."

"......What?"

Otto was slightly stunned, wondering if he had heard something wrong. However, Claudia's next words made him fall into silence.

"In fact, the Far East Branch alone has already forced K424 into a desperate situation, releasing its trump card, which is an attack similar to the Black Abyss and White Flower. However, before the troops of other branches arrived, a tide of Honkai beasts suddenly broke out in the southern part of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, including the emperor-level Honkai beasts Sky King and Purple and White Twins. They seemed to attack our fleet with a purpose... Afterwards, K424 took advantage of the chaos to escape and could not be tracked!"

Listening to Claudia's report word by word, Otto's expression gradually turned into a half-smile of indifference, but there seemed to be a quiet flame burning in his eyes...

222 Return to the Far East

"About when did you lose track of K424?"

Although the operation failed, Otto did not show any extreme reaction. He had a strong ability to control his emotions, or in other words, things of this magnitude were not enough to make him angry.

"Just eight minutes ago, Master Otto."

"So, how is Theresa doing now? What is the fleet we sent out doing now?"

"Ms. Theresa is fighting the Emperor-class Honkai Beast "Purple-White Twins". The rest of the fleet is working together to fight against the Honkai Beasts. The battle is currently stable with no major casualties. However, the fleet no longer has the energy to continue searching for K424's whereabouts."

Claudia replied calmly. As she expected, even though the operation that was almost certain to succeed failed, Otto did not lose his temper and vent his anger on others like other senior executives, but calmly understood the situation.

"By the way, you just said that K424 just displayed the ability of the Black Abyss White Flower... or the ability of the Sixth Herrscher?"

"Yes, it's limited to the ability of 'Black Abyss'. It should be the black mist state Houkai energy with corrosive ability, so it's probably correct."

"..."

Hearing this, Otto fell into deep thought. After a brief silence, he chuckled and then shook his head. A fanatical light began to shine in his green pupils.

"Although it's a pity that the operation failed, this information is really an unexpected gain! Let's not talk about why she can use the abilities of other Herrschers... The fact that she can control the Emperor-level Honkai Beasts alone means that she is already a perfect Herrscher. However, a perfect Herrscher would never be so vulnerable. I can only say that she must be a unique existence!"

Otto said excitedly, with a long-lost desire in his eyes...

——Thirst for knowledge

He was completely at a loss for words. The cloned girl who called herself Cecilia had abilities that could not be explained by the theory of Honkai energy that had already been derived. This alone made the experimental subject of great research value. Not only that, she also had a characteristic that Otto was extremely concerned about...

She possesses the ability of the Sixth Herrscher!

The Sixth Herrscher, also known as the Herrscher of Death, is said to be able to replace souls and even reverse life and death. The reason why Otto chose to let the collapse happen instead of ending it was to wait for the Sixth Herrscher to come, and then grasp the glimmer of hope that Kallen could be resurrected...

And now, before the sixth collapse occurs, the mysterious K424 has once again revealed what he is looking for. Even though he has no faith, Otto can't help but start to wonder whether the K424 experiment is the answer given to him by the "God" of this world.

Because he doesn't know what K424's true ability is, Otto won't make a decision easily before the real Sixth Herrscher appears. However, this does not mean that

He would let go of this unique individual who was right before his eyes.

"Haha...k424, I have to say, you have successfully aroused my interest in you again..."

Otto chuckled. His resentment about the failure of the previous operation had dissipated. He was very excited about the information he obtained.

If he didn't catch her this time, he could still do it again. He had plenty of opportunities anyway. If the situation was urgent, it wouldn't be a problem to directly fight Anti-Entropy. No matter what K424 did, she couldn't escape his control.

In Otto's eyes, the whole world is just a chess game in front of him. And this game has not officially started yet, that is to say, before it starts, he can fiddle with the chess pieces in his hand at will. If he makes a mistake, he can turn the chessboard over and start over...

"Well, Lord Otto. According to the proposal of the 'Watcher', we can obtain the location information of K424 again, but the price is her exposure. Lord Otto, do we need to crack the intelligence and capture K424 again?"

Seeing the joy on Otto's face, Claudia tried to ask. At this time, her voice had returned to its previous calmness. While debugging the communication system, Claudia took out her communicator and waited for Otto's order.

"Well... forget it. Taking action under such circumstances means completely defeating the ME Company. It's not worth it to do such a thing now. Anyway, don't rush. Now is not the time to activate those hidden chess pieces. Let them continue to keep an eye on K424. I want to see if she can bring me any more surprises if I give her some more time."

Otto thought about it, and finally shook his head and rejected Claudia's proposal.

"Then let's leave it at that. There's no need to attack K424 again for now. By the way, Claudia, how is the battle going now?"

"At present, the Honkai beast tide has been defeated. Only a few low-level Honkai beasts are fighting with the fleet. The emperor-level Honkai beasts have escaped."

"Well, this is really bad. We dispatched so many troops, but didn't achieve any substantial results. I feel a little... a little uncomfortable."

Otto said with a smile, but there was no sign of discomfort in his smiling expression. After a slight hesitation, Otto breathed a sigh of relief and moved his hand to the upper right corner of the communication screen.

"Then let's have the combined fleet withdraw in order. By the way, Theresa should have engaged K424 directly. Did she have any special reaction?"

"Ms. Theresa...she ignored orders in the middle of the battle and tried to negotiate with K424, but failed. Other than that, she didn't do much."

"Is that so...Okay, let Theresa report the details of the battle later. Other than that, there's nothing else to do, Claudia. Also, please pay attention to your physical condition. Although you have retired to the second line, overwork will also damage your body. Please pay attention to it. I don't want to lose a capable subordinate so early."

"Yes, I understand, Lord Otto."

After receiving Claudia's response, Otto turned off the light screen in front of him, stretched his body, and walked forward along the passage again. However, compared with his gloomy look just now, his expression now vaguely relaxed a lot.

"It really took up quite a bit of time. I almost forgot that the fairy lady is still waiting for me. I hope she won't get impatient..."

At the junction of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean, the originally empty sea and sky are now occupied by densely packed warships.

However, it was not these that were more noticeable. Turning his gaze downward, he could see that above the sea, a layer of Honkai beast debris was floating shallowly, occupying almost a thousand-meter-wide sea area, and the number was unimaginable.

On a large warship at the forefront of the fleet, a little silver-haired girl stood on the edge of the upper deck, looking at the huge black shadow slowly moving away into the horizon with a complicated expression.

Emperor-level Honkai beast, the king of the sky...

"What a bad fate, I run into these guys again. Sigh... If I had taken the time to wipe them out all at once last time, I wouldn't have had so much trouble this time."

She muttered to herself, put down the huge cross on her back, let it fall on the deck, and then slowly stretched. At this time, her nun's clothes were full of holes and blood, and the sleeve of her entire left arm was missing. However, there was no sign of injury on the girl's body.

She turned her head slightly and looked at the red-haired woman who was dismantling the armored energy tube not far away, her brows slightly furrowed.

"Wait... Jizi, your fusion armor's energy output has exceeded the limit, right? Are you trying to show off again?"

Hearing this, Ji Zi, who was breathing slightly, raised her head, supported her Corona Greatsword, and stood up as if she was relaxed.

"Huh... No, there is no problem with this level, Theresa. But then again,

Ming has already suppressed her, but why are there so many Honkai beasts coming to disrupt the situation all of a sudden? "

Theresa's eyebrows twitched when she heard the woman in front of her clumsily change the subject. She was about to say something, but when she looked down, she saw the tattered nun's uniform on her body. In the end, she couldn't say anything reproachful and just sighed.

"To control the Honkai beasts, that should be the ability of the Third Herrscher... I once fought against the Second Herrscher, and she also had the same ability. What a mistake, that guy..."

Thinking back to that strange Herrscher girl, Theresa couldn't help but frown again. The girl's voice gave her an inexplicable sense of familiarity. That soft and warm voice, I must have heard it somewhere before...

222 Return to Far East >>

(Oh right...! Putting aside Kuroyuki Shiraha's abilities, her temperament is somewhat similar to Cecilia's. Could it be...?! No, that's impossible! And they're not too similar. But apart from Cecilia, this gentle familiarity...)

A guess suddenly flashed through her mind, and Theresa's eyes suddenly focused. After a brief trance, she secretly clenched her teeth, then silently bent down and pressed her hand on the surface of the cross on the deck.

(No, no matter what... She is now a Herrscher, the enemy of human civilization! There is absolutely no doubt about this! Instead of thinking about those baseless speculations, let's use actual data to analyze the information of the Third Herrscher...)

"Himeko, go back and take over the control of Hyperion and return to the base according to the headquarters' order. Also, back up the data of the battle with the Third Herrscher just now, and then delete all the originals!"

"Hmm? Aren't you going to upload that combat data to headquarters?"

Hearing Theresa's order, Ji Zixian turned her head away in astonishment. Although it was not the first time that the principal disobeyed the headquarters' order, concealing the battle data between the Herrscher... This kind of thing was really serious.

"That's fine. Just tell them that the Hyperion's hull was severely damaged and that the data storage system had some malfunctions, which led to the loss of combat data. By the way, use this as an excuse to apply to the headquarters for a subsidy for the warship's maintenance costs."

Theresa said this without changing her expression, and fell back, sitting on the flat cross, with her back to Jizi, staring blankly at the horizon in the distance.

Looking at the azure blue sea where the sky meets the water, her heart gradually calmed down.

"Okay, Jizi, if you think it's okay, then go back to command the work. Just follow the order and return to the ship. I want to stay here for a while."

"Is it okay? Theresa, after the battleship is launched, the external wind pressure will be very high. I suggest you wrap the Judas chain around your body."

"......Why?"

"I'm a little worried. What if you get blown away by the sea breeze? My colleagues from other branches are all here. I don't want to stop the ship to salvage the principal who fell into the water in front of everyone."

"..."

"Okay...just pretend I didn't say anything. In that case, I'll go back first."

Seeing Theresa rolling her eyes expressionlessly, Jizi sighed in frustration, then turned around, walked into the elevator on the deck, and returned to the interior of the battleship. She could see that the principal of St. Freya must be worried about something at the moment.

(It’s probably because of the third Herrscher… Maybe meeting the Herrscher again brought back her past memories… Well, let her cool down in the sea breeze by herself, but I hope she doesn’t really fall…)

After Jizi left, Theresa continued to sit on the outer deck of the battleship. Her previously calm and confident blue eyes were now filled with gloom...

"If she is someone I used to know... she has similarities with Cecilia, a familiar voice, and her appearance and age... Kiana? No, Kiana is not like that, and she can't be a Herrscher! Moreover, Kiana has been confirmed to be a 'failure' of Kaslana and Shaniyat, so Grandpa Otto has no reason to attack her! Therefore, Kiana should still be under house arrest at the headquarters of Sentence..."

As Theresa muttered to herself, the warships in the sky began to evacuate one by one, and the Hyperion she was sitting on also moved slowly and gradually accelerated.

As the cold wind from the shop made her silver hair flutter, Theresa felt her mind become unusually clear.

"Wait... I remember that the body of the Second Herrscher Sirin should have been recovered by the headquarters, and the headquarters only released the news that Cecilia had died in the battle, but what actually happened after that is completely unknown!"

Theresa's lips moved slightly, and suddenly, she felt as if she was close to the edge of the truth...

"Grandpa Otto... Isn't it those complicated and strange experiments that he likes to do the most? Even the 'me' now is the same as him at that time using the genes of Honkai Beasts.

If the remains of the Second Herrscher and Cecilia are recovered, what will Grandpa Otto do under this premise? Could it be that the Third Herrscher...!"

With this conjecture, Theresa's eyes suddenly filled with fire. She couldn't help but clench her small fists, and her breathing began to become rapid. But after a brief excitement, her mind was forced to calm down by the cold wind outside the battleship. With a sneeze, the inferences that had been connected before also became a little fuzzy.

"——Ah! Um... No, it's too early to draw a conclusion now. All this is just my guess. Well, empty talk is useless. We must find evidence... Ah!"

After her mind cooled down, the chill in her body became clearer. Theresa sneezed, shivered slightly, curled up, picked up her cross, and walked towards the elevator at the rear of the ship. She had temporarily put aside her previous well-founded guesses.

Theresa didn't know that she was almost sure of the truth, but there was nothing she could do about it. Humans would always guess the cruelest truth unconsciously, and then deny it in self-consolation. Theresa naturally couldn't guess that the truth about the "Third Herrscher" was even more shocking than she had imagined...

me club, rooftop helipad...

With a slight buzzing sound and slightly rising smoke, a small high-tech aircraft appeared in the air above the empty apron, slowly descended, and stopped steadily on the surface of the specialized glass.

Kiana opened the hatch and jumped out of the cabin.

"We're here, Sister Shilis."

"...Um."

Lan Feng nodded, hugged the bag tightly in his arms, and carefully climbed down the short ladder of the aircraft, standing on the surface of the apron. His ill-fitting high heels stepped lightly on the glass plate, making a crisp sound.

It was at this time that Kiana noticed the inexplicably shabby formal suit on Lan Feng. She looked at the purple-haired girl who was half a head taller than her with a puzzled look, and finally her gaze stopped on the girl's high heels.

Kiana suddenly felt a little concerned. She clearly remembered that Shirley didn't like the kind of clothing that affected her movements, but why was she dressed like this this time?

Since the girl was not in any danger this time, Kiana swallowed the previous reproaches, and then felt relieved and focused on the details that did not need to be paid attention to.

"Sister Shilis, I remember you weren't dressed like this when you left...?"

"Dress up? Oh, because the previous outfit was broken, so I just found a random one... Sorry, Kiana, I have something important to do next and I have to go find Aiyin. Let's talk later."

In her depressed mood, Lan Feng didn't care about her shabby clothes at all. As she spoke, she took the dark blue crystal out of her backpack and carefully checked whether it was damaged. After a moment, she breathed a sigh of relief and checked the other crystal that sealed her hair before walking towards the elevator.

"Eh... is there something important? Then... Sister Sis, can I go with you?"

"Ah."

Looking at Kiana trotting up to enter the elevator, Lan Feng nodded without hesitation. Anyway, there was no need to hide Xi'er's affairs from Kiana, so it was no big deal to let her go along.

Standing side by side with Kiana in the elevator, Lan Feng hesitated for a long time and turned towards Kiana.

"Um, Kiana...can I ask you a question?"

"Huh? What?"

"What do you think of those who abandon their companions in battle and flee alone?"

223 The Girl in Search of Kaslana

Hearing Lan Feng's words, Kiana frowned slightly, with a little light flashing in her eyes. Noticing her expression, Lan Feng's expression wavered a little.

"Don't speculate what happened to me, Kiana. I want to hear your true thoughts... He has the ability to solve the problem, but for some reason he abandoned his partners. What do you think of such a person?"

Lan Feng added, staring at Kiana in front of him. Although she had no expression on her face, Kiana could tell from her slightly fluctuating pupils that she was obviously pretending to be calm...

(Real thoughts...?)

Kiana was silent for a moment, looked at the gloomy eyes of the purple-haired girl beside her, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"About this... For me, abandoning my companions and running away alone is absolutely unforgivable."

"..."

Kiana whispered, and caught a glimpse of the purple-haired girl's slightly clenched left hand from the corner of her eye. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and after a brief hesitation, her tone changed.

"However, I cannot forgive such a thing, but that is purely for myself. I will not impose such values ​​on others. Leaving a companion in danger does not necessarily mean that you do not value your companion. It may also be that there are more important things to do than the safety of your companion. Or, it is your companion who asked us to leave..."

The elevator door had opened, but the two girls remained where they were, without moving at all.

Kiana closed her eyes and no longer paid attention to Lan Feng's actions.

"In this case, abandoning a partner is not a shameful act. I will never despise people who do this, and sometimes I even hope that others can do the same."