The faint glow of dawn filtered through the skylight, coating the main hall of the Hyperion encampment in a layer of pale gold.
Fuli was slumped in a grand master's chair embroidered with auspicious cloud patterns. He looked like he had been completely drained of all vitality after wrestling with a succubus all night—pale face, sunken eyes, and his signature crimson eyes, usually brimming with energy, were now dull and lifeless.
Bronya, the earliest riser, was walking past with a cup of instant milk tea. Seeing his state, she paused.
"Brother, did you cheat on us again?"
"What do you mean 'cheat'? And why add 'again'?"
Old Li, feeling like his body had been burned to ashes, nearly bounced out of the chair, only to hiss in pain as sore muscles all over his body forced him to collapse back down.
He groaned weakly, "Hurry up and get your brother something good to eat! I want that latest batch of crops Sauce cultivated on Mount Taixu using Yuan's Farming Technique!"
"Sure."
The little girl casually pressed a button on the side of the chair for him. The precision instruments built into the backrest whirred to life, delivering a targeted massage to his aching lower back. Then, she leaped into the air, flying toward the main body of the Hyperion hovering above.
"Haaah..."
Fuli closed his eyes and let out a long breath.
The chair beneath him was another black-tech product from Massive Electric. It slowly absorbed ambient energy and stored it. Once a user lay on it, it effectively relieved fatigue and stimulated the body's self-healing mechanisms.
Last night's spar had truly been a mix of pain and pleasure for Fuli.
To him, that Fragmentum creation, identical to Jingliu herself, was the best teacher imaginable. With strike after strike of exquisitely perfect and merciless swordsmanship, she had forcefully hacked through the many bottlenecks and confusions in his sword training.
In just one night, Fuli's long-stagnant sword skills had improved visibly, highlighting the importance of having a good teacher.
And this was just a defective product generated by the Fragmentum. He couldn't even imagine how effective it would be if he could spar with the real Flawless Sword Sovereign herself!
The only downside was that this teacher hit really hard.
Jingliu's swordplay had reached the legendary realm where one sword breaks ten thousand techniques. All variations were condensed into one; a return to simplicity that allowed her to ignore almost any of her opponent's tricks and strike directly at the core.
In front of her, even the invincible Gold Cloth didn't dare claim invincibility. Its conceptual defense, which reduced interference by 90%, could only achieve one effect—supporting everything except helping.
It was like a J-10 fighter jet that slaughtered everything abroad, only to return home and pop confetti at the end of a celebration—purely functioning as part of the atmosphere crew.
Of course, it wasn't that Fuli had no other means. At least he felt his Star Saint Dao, which had successively frustrated Wendy and Robin, could still put up a fight.
However, even though he was beaten until he almost cried "Master," the boy never once entertained the thought of using his First Power Rating.
He was here to sharpen his sword skills and seek a breakthrough, not to use every dirty trick in the book to decide life and death.
His little sister was extremely efficient. Before long, she descended from the sky with a few floating Cat Cakes in tow.
"Moyomomoyomo~"
The little creatures arranged the meticulously prepared feast on the table, and the aroma of food instantly filled the air.
"Whoa! Smells so good!"
Kiana came running at the scent. "Eating such a lavish meal so early in the morning? Won't that be bad for your stomach—Fuli, what happened to you?!"
Seeing Old Li slumped in the chair looking haggard, the girl turned pale with shock. "Did those two Generals actually take turns locking you in a dark room last night?!!"
News was all about timeliness.
Her words made it clear that after just one night, the chaotic events on the skyship yesterday had already been embellished and spread by the heavy hands of the media.
For example, a certain Savior of Light who wished to remain anonymous, Houraiji Kyuusyou.
Fu Xuan had specifically warned Houraiji not to spread the truth about her disguising herself as an adult. But she never said Houraiji couldn't gossip about other things!
Besides, if I don't spread it, someone else will. Might as well let me reap the first wave of traffic!
"Dark room? No."
Fuli, activating his Human Immortal Dao to accelerate digestion while stuffing his face, replied, "I went to find the Fragmentum shadow of Jingliu to practice swordplay last night."
"Oh."
Kiana realized what had happened, and immediately joined the ranks of the gluttons.
She had just finished clearing the Superstring Dimension according to Mei's schedule. Even though her strength had reached the Critical Rank after fusing with the fragments of the Holy Lance of the End, she was currently starving, her chest sticking to her back.
Though to be fair, the real heavy lifting was done by the Judgment-Class Kurikara. Right now, the little red dragon had shrunk down and wrapped around its master's fair wrist like an exquisite bracelet, fast asleep with tiny dream bubbles popping over its head.
"Pwah! I'm stuffed, I'm stuffed!"
Thanks to the powerful devouring characteristics of the Human Immortal Dao, Fuli defeated the meager Kaslana glutton and finished his battle at the dining table first.
"Sauce did a great job. The vegetables and rice he grew are top-notch. We should reward him later."
He rubbed his belly in satisfaction, looking around, only to notice a pile of dull metal blocks with zero energy fluctuations stacked in the corner of the hall.
"What are those?"
"Metal killed by alchemy," came Mei's response from his side, her voice as elegant and indifferent as ever. "The result of disassembling and researching the Seven Deadly Sins."
The Seven Deadly Sins I pulled in my last ten-pull?
Fuli blinked.
The Seven Deadly Sins—a complete set of seven alchemical blades from another world. The technology used to forge them was unparalleled, known as the pinnacle of alchemy.
He had handed them over to Mei earlier. The girl had said she could research them to trace the origins of alchemy, a forging technique from another world, and reverse-engineer its secrets.
Ideally, giving them to Mei was high EQ. Realistically, it was paying the "public grain tax."
Eyeing the pile of dead, lifeless metal lumps on the floor, Fuli's mouth twitched. "So you disassembled them into this state?"
"Nonsense." Mei rolled her eyes at him slightly. "I kept the original Seven Deadly Sins in perfect condition. These are just ordinary metal samples I attempted to 'kill' after deciphering the preliminary forging techniques."
The core of alchemy lies in transmutation. Its creators believed:
For matter to ascend to a higher form, it must first undergo death, and then be reshaped.
" Simply put, converting raw materials into primordial dead matter—killing them—and then reshaping that dead matter into a new product through specific methods. The Seven Deadly Sins are masterpieces of this philosophy."
Perhaps to help everyone understand better, the girl picked up a carefully selected piece of dead metal and signaled Kiana, who had leaned in, to inject space-attribute Honkai energy into it.
The white-haired Tuna did as told. Aided by the powerful computational ability of the Herrscher of Thunder's Domain, the metal was rapidly modified.
Soon, a freshly baked item housing the powerful Dimensional Slash skill was ready.
Mei then induced a current to generate high heat, molding it into a portable bracelet shape and handing it to Fuli.
"That is roughly how it works. In my opinion, storing fixed moves is undoubtedly a low-level application of alchemical creations, but people seem to value instant, usable power more. It also sells better."
"It's been less than half a month since you got the Seven Deadly Sins, and you can already do this? Dr. MEI is awesome!"
Taking the bracelet, Fuli shouted "666," lamenting once again that science and technology were indeed the primary productive forces.
He couldn't help but recall his travels with Yunli in the previous loop. The girl from the Artisanship Commission had also lent (read: gifted) him a large number of super-powerful items and top-tier equipment.
Regrettably, those treasures Yunli had poured her heart and soul into forging were all destroyed during Fuli's life-and-death struggle with Shuhu.
If those things were still around, even if he encountered the bastard Herrscher of Dominance later, he definitely wouldn't win, but paying a price to successfully escape wouldn't be much of a problem.
Distracted by alchemy, Fuli's interest in asking about the whereabouts of the Seven Deadly Sins faded significantly.
This played right into Mei's hands.
The alchemical blades were a set, seven originals in total.
The only one she had kept intact was the sharp wakizashi symbolizing Lust. As for the rest...
What? Why keep Lust specifically?
Hehe, take a guess?
"Also, this."
To avoid her boyfriend remembering that topic, the girl handed him another peculiarly shaped ring.
The ring's surface presented a deep, dark silver color, appearing to be forged from some unknown rare metal. Its surface was engraved with countless microscopic, spectral-blue energy circuits, forming a complex and arcane matrix.
"What's this?"
Fuli casually activated the Third Power Rating of Jizo Mitama to read the relevant information.
[Name: Energy Conversion Ring]
[Rank: A]
[Category: Item]
[Effect: Manufactured by the still-young Dr. MEI. It can convert the user's Honkai energy into a specific type of energy the ring has sampled. The conversion process entails a certain amount of loss.
Note: Everyone's Honkai energy has a bias. The converted energy may not be as easy to command as the original; control precision and flexibility will decrease, but this can be compensated for with powerful control capabilities.]
[Remark: Where's the ring? (Meaningful look)]
"Remember Origin Strike: Star Shatter?"
Watching the guilty expression on the boy's face as he looked around after reading the remark, Mei chuckled lightly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "General Fu Xuan developed it by combining the infinite principles of all things, uniting the forces of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements to artificially create the 'Grand Origin' state from the Innate Five Tai."
"It sounds simple, but doing it is practically impossible," Bronya, who had tried it, couldn't help but complain. "Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements sound mystical, but essentially, it requires the body's Honkai energy to simultaneously convert into seven attribute tendencies in equal proportions, and maintain precise, collaborative control and instantaneous conversion. Even with Project Bunny's Soulium computer assisting with calculations, and me synchronizing with the Matrix of Prescience, stably converting three attributes is about my limit."
And that was the easy part. The key lay in the precise ratio of various energies and microscopic manipulation. The slightest error would waste all previous efforts. It was simply scalp-numbing.
Thanks to Fu Xuan providing the cultivation method as compensation earlier—equivalent to an open-book exam—Bronya couldn't imagine how she would have figured it out on her own otherwise.
Hearing her complaint, Fuli spoke up.
"Sis."
"Huh?"
"Look at this."
He shared the ring's information with the girl.
"Hiss——!"
She sucked in a cold breath, her light gray eyes suddenly lighting up, then fixing intently on Mei.
Among the Hyperion crew, Fuli specialized in swordsmanship, and Kiana was gradually focusing on developing her Herrscher authorities.
Neither Fuli nor Kiana was interested in learning Origin Strike: Star Shatter. With their brains, they couldn't learn it anyway.
Only the Silver Wolf of the Urals—a passerby who was neither a reincarnator nor a Sequence Herrscher, currently stuck at A-Rank Break—had been silently working hard on this path, relying on her powerful computational ability and logical thinking.
Bronya swallowed hard, her voice trembling noticeably. "Lei... Big Sister Mei, how many attributes can this ring support converting stably at the same time?"
Mei calmly crossed her legs. "One ring can only stably convert one type. But I can make more. If you wear seven at once, satisfying the Yin, Yang, and Five Elements attributes required for Origin Strike: Star Shatter won't be a problem."
The girl wasn't wearing stockings today. Sunlight fell on her soft, fair skin, plating it with a layer of enchanting, gentle light.
She smiled. "In other words, as long as the user's control can meet the core condition of creating a form capable of carrying the 'Grand Origin' state, combined with seven rings operating at full power, theoretically, anyone can unleash that S-A Rank skill known for being uninterferable, imperceptible, and undefendable."
Thud!
"Adoptive Mother is above! Please accept your daughter's bow!"
Metal Gear Bronya, discarding her armor and weapons, surrendered with full ceremony!
"It's not that serious! It's not that serious!"
"Bronya, what are you doing?!"
Fuli and Kiana jumped in fright, hurriedly grabbing her arms from left and right to hold her up.
"Hehe..."
At this point, a pleased chuckle escaped Mei's lips.
Hyperion food chain?
Nonexistent.
A mere little sister-in-law. As the sister-in-law, isn't taming you as easy as turning over my hand?
However, Fuli's follow-up question quickly froze the smug smile on the girl's face.
"For an A-Rank item, what's the cost?"
"Huh?"
Cold sweat seeped from Mei's forehead. She subtly inched toward the door.
"The shop is about to open; I need to go look after the new customers—"
Thud!
"Ugh, eep!"
"Sister Kallen can handle those things."
Fuli propped one hand against the wall, pinning the attempting-to-flee Eldest Miss Raiden in place with a kabedon.
He smiled without humor. "Now, confess honestly. What have you been doing behind everyone's back this time?!"
Are you really going to force me to the point of selling my body to pay off debts?
Thinking about his future self tossing and turning in the beds of countless beautiful sugar mommies, his dignified Partial Multiplier Jutsu reduced to a tool shared by women, and having to use the Star Saint path to make them moan "Hohohoh" like celestial music over and over... the person involved couldn't help but feel sorrow well up from within.
Dammit, looks like I have to teach you a lesson today!
At this critical juncture, a pleasant voice, somewhat youthful but striving to sound steady, came from outside the door, timely breaking the chaotic atmosphere.
"Little Li! I'm here to take you to the Light Cone press conference. are you up?"
It was Bianka!
Fuli was startled and instinctively wanted to step back from Mei.
A glint of cunning flashed through the girl's eyes. Her arms shot out like lightning, wrapping around his neck and pulling him close!
The posture was too perfect. So perfect that if they actually kissed, it wouldn't look out of place at all.
Especially right in front of Durandal!
Thinking of the Paladin's expression upon seeing this, Mei's cheeks quickly flushed with a sickly crimson hue!
Today, let's see who dares to bully Mei!
God dared.
"It seems our abrupt arrival has disturbed everyone."
A gentle female voice, wrapped in a strange power, echoed through the spacious main hall.
—Word Spirit. The soul of language, the spiritual power residing within words.
Legend has it that the founder of this ability was Aponia, the Discipline, ranked third among the Thirteen Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era.
Like the other Flame-Chasers, her genetic information was transcribed by Dr. MEI into the genetic factors of hundreds of girls.
They were protected in hundreds of stasis pods, reawakening in the Current Era tens of thousands of years later to pass on the corresponding Stigmata genes to descendants of the current civilization.
For example, Kafka of the Stellaron Hunters was a master of Word Spirit arts, relying on voice to interfere with and influence living beings. Her total bounty was 10.899 billion, and Little Li wasn't even a fraction of that.
Or the one before them, Famine Knight Incresion of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse.
As the leader of the Schicksal delegation for this festival, this beautiful nun with pale purple hair reaching her waist and an exceptionally broad chest was standing quietly beside Smol-randal.
"Please do not be nervous. We mean no harm."
As the words fell, an invisible binding force seemed to materialize.
Mei's forceful embrace froze, as if someone had pressed the pause button.
The little goose seized the opportunity, dashing forward with a single stride.
First, she snatched Little Li from the girl's demonic claws, protecting him tightly in her arms. Then, she glared furiously at her love rival, who wore a look of regret.
"Ah! It's you!"
Kiana also recognized the visitor, pointing at Incresion and yelling.
"It is me. It has been a while, Miss Kiana."
The beautiful nun responded with a warm, gentle smile.
During the Third Eruption, it was she who used the power of Word Spirit to send Kiana to Fuli's side in time to intervene in the battle between the Herrscher of Thunder and Theresa, sounding the horn for the counterattack.
However, what left the deepest impression on the white-haired Tuna was undoubtedly the opponent's impressive, lethal-weapon-grade bosom.
Can't win. Absolutely can't win.
Bronya, having calmed down slightly, asked, "You're here to take my brother to the press conference?"
"Yes!"
Smol-randal, baring her teeth at Mei like a little beast protecting its cub, answered.
"Not entirely."
Incresion shook her head gently, her expression turning slightly grave. "I am here to find one of my companions, Duke Ironmaiden, the Death Knight of the Four Horsemen."
"That Death Knight?" Bronya was confused. "If you're looking for her, why come to our Hyperion encampment?"
"I suspect she is lurking nearby."
The nun was extremely certain—nine times out of ten.
"Why do you think—"
The little sister wanted to press further, but Fuli, knowing the details of that female pervert, felt a jolt in his heart. Afraid the conversation would reveal something, he hurriedly interrupted.
"Sis, please pull up the surveillance records around the encampment."
"Sure."
Kallen appeared and snapped her fingers. Several virtual screens unfolded in the air, rapidly cycling through surveillance footage from various parts of the encampment.
Soon, the figure of the Death Knight appeared on screen.
At 2:00 AM, under the cover of night, the Duchess, who held lofty status and prestige across Europe, infiltrated the Hyperion encampment like a ghost.
With practiced movements, she avoided the patrolling Cat Cakes and accurately located Fuli's room.
After entering, she exhaled hot breath and began rummaging through boxes and cabinets with near-fanatical zeal.
Watching the footage, Fuli's face twitched.
Especially when he saw Ironmaiden grab a set of men's clothing, he felt his soul leave his body.
"Isn't that the clothes I changed out of two days ago?!"
Just as he was staring in shock, Ironmaiden in the surveillance footage did something even more astonishing.
As if finding a peerless treasure, she pulled a pair of men's boxer briefs from the pile of clothes, dancing with joy, a look of near-religious fervor on her face.
Then, without hesitation, she took off her own lace panties and ruthlessly pulled that pair onto herself!
Time seemed to freeze in that moment.
"..."
Incresion, who had maintained her gentle smile: "..."
All the other girls witnessing this earth-shattering scene: "..."
The entire Hyperion encampment fell into an unprecedented, deathly silence.
As if all sound had been swallowed by a sense of sheer, ultimate absurdity.