On the other side.
Unlike Mei, who was being dragged around every day by Kiana to play, Bronya and the others were different.
Theresa, Himeko Murata, Shigure Kira, and other teachers of St. Freya were more focused on gathering information about the Starsea Empire.
They requested an educational dossier and read through the Starsea Empire's chronicle, territory, population, and more in great detail.
A super empire spanning across dimensions—it was simply unimaginable to them.
What they had seen in the world of Honkai was merely a negligible vanguard of this vast empire.
At the same time, most of their attention was spent studying the Starsea Empire's technology, wanting to figure out just how far Earth lagged behind.
—Theresa still remembered her mission: to explore extraterrestrial civilizations and find clues about the Starsea Empire.
Though the process... turned out quite differently from what she had imagined.
Click—
After touring the starship assembly plant, docks, and berths, Gudako led them to the Research Division.
"Wow—"
What came into view were rows upon rows of little girls, all around Theresa's apparent age.
Some were pointing at holographic interfaces, calculating complex data; others were hard at work in laboratories, operating massive machinery hundreds of times their size.
"All your researchers are... kids?"
Theresa was utterly amazed.
"That's right—most of them are. They're the backbone of the Starsea Empire's scientific research. You can find their names in the records you've been reading."
As they toured the Research Division, everyone marveled at the countless pieces of advanced equipment.
Soon, they encountered several unbelievable figures.
Tesla, Einstein, Edison—scientists from the Honkai era who had vanished long ago—were now here, guided by swarms of nanobots as they discussed concepts so advanced that they were incomprehensible.
"I believe that through simulation and manipulation of imaginary singularities, it should be possible to manufacture artificial Herrscher cores..."
"That's too troublesome. I suggest the Commander directly uses the power of Finality to separate new Herrscher authorities—it'd be much simpler."
"This way, we can achieve multiple reuses of the same Herrscher authority! As long as the output exceeds 80% of the original, mass production becomes feasible!..."
"!!!"
Theresa stared at those familiar faces, her pupils trembling violently.
"You... you're the long-lost Einstein, Tesla...! Kiana mentioned you before."
"Because of your sudden disappearance, Schicksal's scientific development regressed by decades! Even now, we still haven't fully deciphered the theories you left behind!"
"Ah?"
Einstein scratched her head and looked down at the little girl.
"You guys really are that weak? Besides, my theories have flaws—they're not applicable under superluminal or higher-dimensional conditions."
"If you kept developing based on my old theories... the limit wouldn't be very high. You'd probably struggle just to reach the threshold of light speed."
"No wonder your ships are so primitive. You haven't even unlocked curvature drive technology yet, have you?"
"..."
Himeko and Theresa took a heavy blow to their pride.
Theresa suddenly regretted not paying attention when Kiana once brought up those wild, imaginative theories years ago. If she had taken them seriously and contacted real scientists, perhaps... things would be different now.
These geniuses leaving Earth for the Starsea Empire was an irreparable loss for Schicksal.
"But... why did you all—?"
Theresa couldn't understand. She had assumed they'd been kidnapped, but it clearly wasn't the case.
"Schicksal wasn't suited for us."
Tesla's reply was short and blunt.
"With all the shady nonsense Otto was pulling... tch. Good thing I bailed early. Otherwise, who knows when I'd have been used and tossed aside like garbage."
"The Starsea Empire's level of technology is incredible. Working here with bright young minds is way better than dealing with a bunch of outdated fossils back on Earth."
"..."
Theresa wanted to argue back, but couldn't find a single word to refute them.
"Oh, right!"
Suddenly remembering something, she took out a stone tablet and handed it to Grey nearby.
"May I ask... does the thing drawn on this have anything to do with the Starsea Empire?"
"Oh?"
Grey revealed a surprised expression, taking the stone tablet for a look.
Beside her, Fu Hua also showed a nostalgic smile.
"This was left by the ancient Shenzhou ancestors back when we went to rescue Cang Xuan and Dan Zhu. You still have it, huh?"
"Ah... I remember this was drawn by the Youxiong Tribe. It records how we helped them eliminate a Templar-class Honkai Beast."
"!!!"
"You were on Earth as early as 2000 BC?! And five hundred years ago, during Schicksal's eastern expedition—it was the Starsea Empire that stopped their army, wasn't it?!"
"the Immortal Phoenix, it was you who defeated the Schicksal expeditionary force and Karen Kaslana?!"
Theresa was stunned. To see people from millennia, centuries, even decades past standing before her—she felt as though time itself had come undone.
In truth, Schicksal's exploration of extraterrestrial civilizations had largely begun because of these very events.
The Starsea Empire's influence on Earth stretched across thousands of years of history.
"Hmm... strictly speaking, that's true," Grey said casually. "But we came through time travel."
"If we wish, we can appear at any point along the timelines of the past, present, or future."
"So from your perspective, it may seem like a vast stretch of time, but for us, it's just a brief traversal through higher-dimensional space."
"Ah..."
Theresa and Himeko could barely grasp the concept. They hadn't even figured out the basics of curvature drives yet—time travel theory was far beyond their scope.
Their minds lagged for a while before they could understand the basic idea.
"Wait!"
"What about the Honkai?! With your technology this advanced, surely you'd—"
Before Himeko could finish, Grey and Einstein both gave her the kind of look one might give to a primitive native.
"There's no more Honkai."
"You've noticed it too, haven't you? For the past two years, the remaining Honkai energy on Earth has been steadily diminishing. No Honkai Eruptions, no new Herrschers born."
"The source of the Honkai has already been destroyed by the Commander—or rather, they've merged into one."
"!!!"
Under the wave of yet another earth-shattering revelation, Theresa was left speechless.
"You mean... you've defeated the Honkai?!"
"Yes. Completely, once and for all. From now on, all Herrschers are subordinates of the Commander and part of the Starsea Empire."
Grey shrugged.
"Actually, we just wrapped things up recently. We only got back from the Imaginary Space not long ago. The time distortion effects there were a bit beyond my expectations."
Himeko and Theresa wanted to argue, but against reality, any words seemed meaningless.
Humanity had spent thousands of years fighting the Honkai—using it, resisting it—and yet, the Starsea Empire had simply brushed it aside as if it were nothing.
As unbelievable as it was, the situation on Earth and the consistency of the scientific theories presented by these researchers left no room for doubt.
"Uh... this..."
Theresa fell into deep self-doubt.
The founding purpose of St. Freya Academy had always been twofold: to combat the Honkai and to search for extraterrestrial civilizations, especially the Starsea Empire...
Now, the Starsea Empire had been found—an alien overlord, watching them from above.
And that alien overlord had conveniently erased the Honkai in passing.
So what purpose did St. Freya even serve now?
"Well, you can still train the Commander's harem—ah, cough, I mean, continue cultivating Valkyrie forces."
"There are plenty of places in the vast multiverse to explore, after all," Grey said nonchalantly.
"..."
Theresa thought for a long time, then asked the one question that concerned her most.
"Then... may I ask, what does the Starsea Empire intend to do in this universe?"
"We intend to conquer it—to bring it under the Empire's dominion."
The answer came as no surprise.
"Ah!!! I knew it!"
"Then... then... what about us...?"
Theresa was so shocked she could barely string her words together.
"Oh, don't worry," Grey reassured her. "We have plenty of experience conquering worlds."
"Under the Empire's rule, we'll use advanced technology to give them a better life..."
"A better life...?"
Theresa blinked.
She really hoped to avoid any conflict with the Starsea Empire. Even a fool could see that Earth currently didn't even have the right to resist.
In reality, they could only submit to whatever decisions were made.
Still, she thought—if Earth could receive support from interstellar-era technology, humanity might truly usher in an age of rapid advancement.
The Starsea Empire, after all, seemed to be human as well, and with Kiana's connection, surely they wouldn't make things too difficult for her.
She just didn't know how they viewed Earth.
"Then, regarding Earth's administration in the future..."
Just as she was about to speak—
Beep—
Suddenly, on the holographic starmap before Grey, a bright red dot flashed into view.
"Whoa whoa whoa—!"
"Report, Grey-sis! From our scout planet's data, we've pinpointed the general location of the Sky People—about 2,000 light years from the Solar System! There's another scout planet sent by them!"
The excited voice of a research loli came through.
"What?"
Grey slammed her hand on the table, instantly contacting several shipgirls and quickly mobilizing a unit of Angeloids.
"Second Expeditionary Fleet, move out. Illustrious, Formidable—I'm counting on you."
"Blow up the Sky People's ship and drag it back. If possible, locate their homeworld as well. Those troublemaking pests—just blast them with Photoids if they resist."
"Capture a few aliens alive and send them to the Life Sciences Division for study. Any extras, toss them into the Honkai Beast breeding grounds. Later, we can feed them into the Synaptic Lathe."
"Understood."
Whoosh—
Several massive shipgirls, followed by a group of cheerful little ones, leaped into the starry void, manifesting their full hulls as they soared into the distant cosmos.
They all loved fighting in space.
"..."
After issuing the emergency orders, Grey turned back to Theresa.
"My apologies for the interruption."
"You were just asking about Earth's treatment and governance? Don't worry, we—"
"Waaah—!"
Tears welled up in Theresa's eyes as all her worries came flooding out.
"You're not going to put us in a zoo for exhibition, are you?! I swear, I can't jump through fire hoops or walk tightropes!!..."
—
—
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven