On his way to the arsenal, Ryn suddenly paused and stayed where he was. Ryn put away his frivolous smile and looked seriously at the combat mechs before him.
These mechs...
The combat mechs didn't care. Their electronic synthesized voices shouted, 「Honkai energy reaction detected, commencing annihilation operation,」 and they charged forward.
Ryn pressed down on a charging combat mech with his left hand, and his right hand pierced through its chest armor, pulling out the control core inside.
Then he activated his Heat Vision and swept it across all of them. One by one, the high-tech combat mechs turned into molten red iron, hissing and emitting white smoke as they came into contact with the air.
He looked at the control core in his hand. It should have been an electronic circuit board, but now it was enveloped in Honkai energy, beating like a human "heart," thump, thump, thump.
Ryn, who had walked over, saw this heart and immediately understood what had happened. She couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"Honkai energy... can it even corrupt and assimilate mechanical lifeforms?!"
"Yes, these mechs have been corrupted by Honkai energy. In a way, they can be considered Honkai Creatures now."
Ryn crushed the control core in his hand, then drew his Star Sword and stabbed it through the floor beneath his feet, revealing a path to the level below.
"Keep up. Bronya and the others are underground."
After saying that, Ryn jumped down first, and Ryn followed closely behind.
——————————————
Here in the arsenal's control room.
Himeko and Seele were facing a relentless stream of combat mechs, and they were gradually finding it difficult to cope.
After repelling another wave of combat mechs, Himeko stood in front of Seele with her sword.
"Seele, go wake up Bronya. If we continue like this, we'll just be cornered and killed here. We have to break out."
"Wait a little longer. Big Sis must still be trying to find a way. Let's just hold on a bit..."
Seele still believed in Bronya and wanted to give her more time, but Himeko interrupted her and rejected her request.
"We can't hold on any longer! This is not the time to be emotional! Go now!"
"...Wait for me..." Seele glanced at the reassembling mech forces, then turned and ran towards Bronya.
But Bronya had already uploaded her consciousness into ME Corp's system. Helpless, Seele could only stand by her side and call out Bronya's name over and over again.
However, Bronya still didn't wake up, but Project Bunny did.
「Warning, Honkai energy reaction detected on Bronya. Please sever the connection immediately!」
"Project Bunny? What's going on? What's wrong with Big Sis?!"
「Bronya's mind is being eroded by the Honkai. You must... as soon...」
As if sensing Project Bunny's call for help, Young Mei directly cut off the connection between Bronya and Project Bunny. Having lost Bronya's power source, Project Bunny completely shut down and became unresponsive.
"Project Bunny! What's wrong?" Seele anxiously patted Project Bunny's frame, but the non-operational mecha was now just a piece of scrap metal...
"Damn it, what on earth happened?!"
Seele was burning with anxiety, but she was completely lost right now. She couldn't just forcibly sever Bronya's connection to ME Corp's system; that would turn Bronya into a vegetable.
Himeko, hearing the commotion from Seele's side, turned to look at her, only to find Seele standing there dumbfounded while Bronya remained in her connected posture. She couldn't help but roar in anger.
"Seele! What are you doing? Wake Bronya up!"
"Bronya has been corrupted by Honkai energy! I can't wake her up!"
"Honkai energy? Dammit, has this entire arsenal been contaminated by Honkai energy... No wonder the Honkai Beast army just happened to attack ME Corp. It was all a trap..."
Himeko's face was grim. She had been fighting since dawn, and the long battle was starting to take its toll on her.
"What will happen if we forcibly sever Bronya's connection to this place?" Himeko looked at Seele and said coldly as she started walking towards Bronya.
"No, doing that will burn out Big Sis Bronya's brain..." Seele spread her arms to block Himeko's path.
"Move! Even if Bronya becomes a vegetable, it's better than all three of us dying here!"
"No! Himeko, just hold on a little longer... I can definitely wake Big Sis up!" Seele said to Himeko with determination. She already had an idea of how to wake Bronya. "Right now, I'm the only one who can reach Bronya! Please trust me one more time, Himeko!"
"Quantum State?" Himeko immediately guessed what Seele was planning. "You can't control that power! Don't forget you disappeared for a while during the Great Honkai Eruption!"
"That time, it was Bronya who found me and brought me back. Now, it's my turn to bring Big Sis Bronya back!"
"Troublesome..."
Himeko gritted her teeth, raised her greatsword, and charged at the combat mechs again.
"Make sure you come back before I die! If you let me die alone, I'll never forgive you."
"Okay..."
Seele resolutely activated the ability she was reluctant to mention, collapsing herself back into a Quantum State.
In the moment before she completely vanished from the material world, Seele successfully entered ME Corp's data space.
But she was not Project Bunny, nor did she have a data chip in her brain like Bronya.
In this vast data space, the girl who had suddenly broken in was instantly lost.
The girl could only run continuously, shouting Bronya's name at the top of her lungs.
——————————————
"Three minutes... huff..."
Without Seele to share the pressure, the weary Himeko was struggling, gasping for breath.
...
"Five minutes..."
A mistake, and Himeko's back was slashed by a mech's blade. Blood soaked her cape.
...
"Ten minutes..."
Himeko's consciousness was fading. Blood flowed past her eyes, making it difficult to see the situation in front of her. The greatsword in her hand felt heavier than usual... so heavy that she could barely hold it.
"Looks like it's my turn to bring up the rear..."
"What, giving up already? Hah!"
Bang—
The ceiling above the reassembled and attacking combat mechs suddenly shattered. Debris and smoke disrupted the mechs' sensors.
Ryn and Ryn seized the opportunity, wielding greatswords and striking down from above, chopping and dicing the several dual-wielding blade mechs into pieces.
"Oh my... have I fallen so low as to rely on others..." After seeing who had arrived, Himeko could no longer hold on and knelt on one knee, leaning on her greatsword.
Ryn gave Ryn a look, and Ryn nodded, immediately running over to support Himeko and check her injuries. Ryn, on the other hand, continued to fight, slaughtering all the remaining combat mechs.