The magnitude 7.6 earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula in early 2024 of the parallel world perfectly demonstrated the Far East government's utter incompetence in disaster response. Compared to the people of Shenzhou next door, who were eating piping hot noodles shortly after suffering a similar disaster, the people of Ishikawa Prefecture were still living a miserable existence of scavenging for their next meal some seven or eight months later.
Of course, this isn't brought up just to take a daily jab at the Far East government for being inhumane—who asked such developments to be so commonplace in capitalist nations?
One can still recall the famous words blurted out by Tim Boyd, the mayor of Colorado City, when the Texas power grid collapsed under a cold wave, leaving millions of families without water or electricity in the dead of winter:
'Folks sitting at home in the cold without power or water need to think of ways to survive on their own, rather than lazily holding out their hands for handouts from the government!'
Given these classic examples, even though more than half an hour had passed since the final showdown between Fuli and the Herrscher of Thunder, it was both reasonable and logical that the Far East authorities still hadn't sent anyone to take over Nagazora City.
However, one cannot look at things from only one side.
Setting facts aside for a moment, even if the Far East government actually possessed the hyper-efficient disaster response capabilities seen in movies, it would still be incredibly difficult to implement effective measures in the short term. This is because every electronic component on Honshu Island has been either shielded or interfered with by the secondary effects brought about by the birth of the Herrscher of Thunder.
After all, modern society is essentially composed of electricity. Currently, the Herrscher of Thunder is the Herrscher capable of causing the greatest destruction to the social structure.
Looking further into the future, once digitization and virtualization cover the planet's surface, that honor will fall to the Herrscher of Corruption.
And since Nagazora City was currently in an unsupervised, "Ultimate Freedom" state, the lack of legal control naturally bred quite a few dirty things twisting, wriggling, and crawling around in the shadows.
Things like chaos, violence, smuggling... and Mobius.
"The visible enemy is never frightening. The truly frightening enemy is the one you cannot see!"
"Doctor is saying things that sound impressive but make no sense again."
Klein, on the other side of the holographic screen, sighed.
"Who would have thought, Klein? This street is actually so quiet."
The green-haired beauty strolled through the streets of Nagazora. The setting sun pierced through the gaps in the high-rise buildings, shining on her exquisitely beautiful profile. It stripped away her usual imperious aura, replacing it with an indescribable air of innocent naivety.
Klein remained unmoved.
"If you are referring to why there are no large-scale riots or unrest in Nagazora, to the point where you—dressed like a naive college student—can walk normally on the street without being kidnapped by criminals popping out of a corner to be a bandit's bride... I believe the conversations with those survivors earlier already explain it."
Mobius looked shocked. "No way, really? Shouldn't you be saying something like, 'The Anti-Entropy troops stationed in the Far East have all gone to the East China Sea to confront the Schicksal and Taixuan Fronts, but those matters have nothing to do with us anymore'? And then I would follow up with, 'Everyone is saved, the Herrscher of Thunder has been defeated, so I need to work hard too!'... Isn't that how it goes?"
Klein kept a poker face. "Please don't use the rotten 'Flower of Hope' meme at a time like this."
Mobius mumbled complaintively, "Besides, look at what those survivors were saying! Things like 'It's all thanks to that Lord that Nagazora could stabilize so quickly!', 'Yeah, if she hadn't stepped in to bring order to the chaos, who knows what would have happened!', and 'Ai-men!!!'... Are you sure this isn't some new evil cult taking the opportunity to evangelize? Furthermore, making an entire city of people calm down and obey orders upon a first meeting... that's clearly in the realm of supernatural abilities, right?"
Klein suggested, "Should we investigate? It might be a new Stigmata Awakener that emerged in the Great Honkai environment."
"We'd need an opportunity for that."
Mobius stretched her waist lazily. "That peculiar 'Miss Pink Elf' vanished without a trace after the sky cleared up, leaving behind plenty of guys who treat her as their dream lover, crying as if they want to die."
"It's a pity all electronic devices were disabled at the time. Otherwise, we could have at least known what she looked like."
To be honest, Klein also wanted to meet this person. Someone who could make millions of strangers willingly bow down and submit with just a few words? What kind of incarnation of Pure Beauty was that? Capture her for research!
"Enough about that."
Stepping into the suburbs, Mobius bent down and pinched a handful of dust containing intense Honkai energy.
Klein leaned forward anxiously, a tactical tilt. "Doctor! Please wear your protective suit!"
As purely research-type personnel, Mobius's base combat capability was weaker than a chicken.
The gadgets she carried could easily deal with two or three A-Ranks, but highly infectious Honkai energy didn't care about that.
"Relax. After the Meta-Morph Surgery, this little bit of infection will heal naturally."
Letting the dust scatter in the wind, Mobius glanced at her left hand, which was faintly stained with purple veins, and muttered to herself, "Strange. Clearly, if that little savior named Fuli hadn't arrived, she would have died. Given Theresa's naive personality—which is completely unlike that old coin-counter Otto—why didn't she choose to activate the Elysion Pedion?"
—Elysion Pedion, the Zeroth Power of the Oath of Judah.
When activated, jagged, massive golden gears appear in the sky, establishing a constraint field with a radius of 100 kilometers. Within this field, all Honkai energy is nullified, and other energies like electricity and internal energy are weakened.
Even though the Elysion Pedion can only last for a minute at most, and even though this effect applies to all units within the barrier, including Theresa herself, regardless of friend or foe...
As long as the Elysion Pedion was activated, the Herrscher of Thunder's doom would have been sealed.
"Doctor."
"Mm-hmm?"
"I have a not-so-mature hypothesis."
"Spit it out. We're close enough."
"The Honkai beast factor you had your eye on from the start wasn't Sesha, but Vishnu inside Ms. Theresa, right?"
Klein said, "As your assistant, I naturally assumed that the Honkai beast factor you wanted to fuse with via Meta-Morph Surgery would be Sesha, the Judgement-Class beast recorded in Previous Era data as possessing infinite resurrection abilities."
"However, in reality, betting that Sesha would be born in the Third Eruption just like in the Previous Era is, in itself, a very unwise move."
Setting aside the Herrscher of Thunder, up until now, the Current Era had only produced two confirmed Judgement-Class beasts.
Chiyou and Benares.
The latter descended as the Herrscher of the Void's companion beast, just like in the Previous Era.
But the former?
Shenzhou, five thousand years ago.
Meanwhile, the First Herrscher, Welt Joyce, was born in 1950s Berlin. These two events couldn't be further apart.
"The Herrscher of Thunder wouldn't necessarily create the same companion Honkai beast as in the Previous Era. The probability is, at most, fifty percent."
Klein said seriously, "A fifty percent chance with zero return on failure... I don't believe you would make such a losing trade, Doctor."
"The data on a Herrscher's birth is also precious, you know?"
Mobius corrected her. "Do you believe that if people knew I held the world's only complete data fully observing the birth of the Herrscher of Thunder, those lunatics stuck at academic bottlenecks for god-knows-how-many years would sell their houses and children just to trade for even a few scraps from my fingers? They wouldn't hesitate for a second to lick my feet."
With these things, she and the Life Faction she led could finally shed the "candidate" title and officially become the Sixteenth Executor of Anti-Entropy.
"But stopping at that level doesn't fit the style of the Doctor I know."
Klein continued, "Therefore, I believe your initial target was absolutely not Sesha, with its mere fifty percent birth rate, but Vishnu inside Ms. Theresa, which possesses the possibility of infinite evolution."
"Huhu, go on?"
The assistant lady felt a bit happy receiving confirmation. "In your initial scenario, upon stumbling into the outbreak of the Third Eruption, Ms. Theresa's personality would dictate that she order Murata Himeko to lead the team away. Subsequently, she would recklessly activate the Elysion Pedion and kill the newly born Herrscher of Thunder with thunderous force."
"After that, whether due to a counterattack from the Herrscher's companion beast or structural collapse caused by the weakening of the Vishnu factor in her body, Theresa herself would also meet a fatal end."
Klein took a deep breath and said, "At that point, having rushed to the scene, you could extract the Vishnu factor from her body, fuse it with yourself through Meta-Morph Surgery, and become a great existence capable of infinite evolution."
"Besides that, needless to mention obtaining the Herrscher birth data, you would also indirectly kill the Far East Branch Captain and St. Freya's Principal, drastically reducing Schicksal's influence in the Eastern Hemisphere."
"Hmph."
Snakey hmphed.
"That is why you unscrupulously triggered this Great Honkai. Because doing so truly had a hundred benefits and not a single harm. Even the number of victims wouldn't come close to the millions originally planned by Executor Cocolia."
She wouldn't have the blood of countless ordinary people on her hands, nor create the boundless gore of burying an entire city.
Nor would she need to worry about the truth being exposed and accounts being settled in the future.
Four birds with one stone. Four eagles with one arrow.
"Hmph."
Snakey grunted again. If she had a tail, it would be pointing straight up at the sky right now.
"Unfortunately, you messed up."
Splat!
The tail hit the ground and shattered.
Klein kept a straight face. "For some reason, Ms. Theresa refused to activate the Elysion Pedion even unto death. Your beautiful wish of killing four birds with one stone collapsed instantly. If that Mr. Fuli hadn't turned the tide and killed the Raiden Makka Pakka turned Herrscher of Thunder, we would definitely be surrounded tightly by Dr. Tesla's liquidation squad right now."
Reckoning! Reckoning!
Given Theresa's personality, the probability of activating the Elysion Pedion in that situation should have been an undoubted one hundred percent.
Logically, there was no flaw. But who could have guessed that this unlucky child's memories regarding the Elysion Pedion had all been wiped by a certain grandfather who cared for his granddaughter?
Fenghuang Down's memory modification wasn't simple deletion. The current Theresa, unless she could break the seal and remember it herself, would simply look bewildered and say "What are you talking about? I don't understand" even if someone screamed "Principal, use the Elysion Pedion!" right in her face.
This is what you call: The moment Theresa grows up, Otto feeds her her favorite Fenghuang Down.
Mobius puffed out her chest confidently. "The Conservative Faction's encirclement? Don't worry, I could definitely run away with you!"
"Please reflect more on your own behavior!"
"Fine, fine."
Snakey shrank her neck resentfully.
One second later... "Reflecting over!"
Klein facepalmed helplessly, suddenly feeling the urge to resign and let someone more capable take over.
Senior Blanca! It's amazing you managed to stay in this position for two and a half whole years!
"Alright, Klein. Complaints over, time to start working."
Mobius put on her B-shaped plastic-steel goggles. "Hurry up and send me the location where Sesha shed its skin earlier. Since the Vishnu factor is still alive and kicking, we have no choice but to go eat the cold, hard, pre-prepared meal."
"It's already displayed on your lenses."
"Thoughtful."
Mobius snapped her fingers. Aided by her electromagnetic levitation boots, she sped toward the location where Sesha shed its scales, following the navigation.
Twenty minutes later, she arrived at the destination.
Even though she had observed the battlefield through other means earlier, seeing it with her own eyes now caused Mobius's breathing to hitch for half a beat.
"Co! Co! Li! A!"
She gritted her teeth. "Why did you have to hit it so hard?! Do you have 'Insufficient Firepower Phobia' just like those guys from the Taixuan Front?"
How did Fuli describe the surrounding environment when he saved Theresa?
They were standing on a platform, and surrounding the platform was a bottomless abyss.
They were originally on flat ground. Those craters were entirely the result of high-density coverage from the Belobog fleet's artillery.
"Go down and take a look, Doctor. There might still be some scraps left."
Klein kept a straight face, but even knowing it was wrong, she couldn't help but want to laugh.
Pfft.
"You laughed, didn't you! Detestable Klein! Just you wait, I'll punish you properly when we get back!"
Snakey bared her fangs and brandished her claws, pulling a round drone out of her pocket and dropping it down.
The drone possessed the ability to monitor and feedback thermal and Honkai energy readings. Once it detected an unfamiliar energy source, it would feed the data back to the plastic-steel glasses Mobius was wearing.
"Kabedon! Chabao is happy to serve you!"
The round white drone stared straight at Mobius with the camera in its center, which resembled a human eye.
Snakey snapped, "Why are you looking at me? Go detect unknown heat sources!"
"Behind you, Doctor!"
Klein's urgent, short shout rang out.
Shing!
A crimson snake tail pierced through Mobius's holographic image.
"Chabao was staring straight at me just now, which naturally proves the unknown heat source it saw was right behind me."
The person in question, whose body appeared on the other side, smiled with malicious amusement. "Someone panicked just now. I won't say who."
Realizing she had been played by this wicked woman again, Klein didn't have time to be annoyed. She looked closely:
It was a towering dragon-snake covered in crimson scales, its body length approaching twenty stories. Its pupils flowed with a deep color resembling magma, its majestic dragon horns were as hard and pitch-black as metal, and its upright posture cast a shadow over the earth that blotted out the sun.
However, upon closer inspection, the body constructing its structure had a flickering, indeterminate quality, as if it were about to extinguish yet not. It was like fireworks streaking across the night sky during a summer festival—brilliant but fleeting.
"A dragon-snake Honkai beast born from Sesha shedding its flesh? No, that's not right! This illusory feeling... what exactly is it?"
Mobius cried out in shock, then immediately answered her own question neurotically. "What else could it be? A residual thought of the Herrscher of Thunder."
A cunning rabbit has three burrows. As the Herrscher of Caution who knew when to advance and retreat, it was excusable for the Herrscher of Thunder to leave an avatar outside.
Just now, the avatar sensed the death of the main body.
It didn't even spend a moment mourning the death of the main body! Of course, the avatar didn't have time to mourn!
Mei, having reclaimed the Herrscher of Thunder, would inevitably become aware of this dragon-snake avatar she left behind. If it didn't find a way to transfer itself soon, it would also be completely slain by her!
Originally, the avatar was contemplating how to retreat. The surrounding dozens of miles were polluted by the Great Honkai; let alone humans, there wasn't even a Honkai beast around, making possession impossible.
Fortunately, Mobius insisted on coming over to deliver welfare and warmth to the family, sending such a large chunk of delicious meat right to its mouth.
"Then I'll unceremoniously accept your body!!!"
"Indeed, I'll just have to... unceremoniously accept it, hehehe~"
Pink-green eyes flashed with a bewildering light. Facing the dragon-snake avatar lunging at her, Mobius licked her sexy lips coated in glamorous lipstick.
"Isn't that right? My dear little lab rat~"
...