"A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Murata Himeko. I am one of the Predecessors from the Previous Era. You can call me Su. I suppose you could consider me a doctor."
The voice of a gray-haired young man with perpetually narrowed eyes arrived before he did. Hearing this voice—both strange and familiar—Fu Hua turned to look behind her in disbelief.
A man dressed in a dark green short-sleeved shirt, with a gray, kasaya-like shawl draped over his left shoulder, approached. His long gray hair was tied back in a ponytail.
"Su..." Fu Hua's expression was complicated as she watched her old comrade slowly walk toward them.
"It's been a long time, Hua," the young man said, greeting his old friend first as he reached the group.
"...It has been a long time, Su," Fu Hua replied, her expression still conflicted as she faced her companion from ten thousand years ago.
"Ah, and Mr. Joyce," Su continued, "Kevin asked me to express his gratitude to you..."
"...Gratitude?"
"He found the punches you landed on Overseer Otto Apocalypse's face extremely satisfying..."
As Su said this, he glanced at Fu Hua before turning his gaze back to Joyce.
"Oh, that? No need to thank me. I enjoyed it immensely myself. It was quite stress-relieving, actually."
Joyce rubbed his hands together, savoring the memory of the scene—
-
Otto had rammed his fighter jet straight into Arahato's cockpit, where he and Joyce immediately began brawling.
These two were a volatile mix: one had survived a Honkai Fission Bomb blast years ago, while the other's entire private collection was now at risk of being blown to smithereens by his opponent. They were sworn enemies, and their meeting only fanned the flames of their hatred. With no words to spare, the two men immediately started throwing punches.
Neither was a street brawler by trade, so their clumsy fistfight was hardly a display of martial prowess. The brawl spilled from Arahato's cockpit to the ground below, then all the way into the Schicksal Overseer's Office.
Amidst the stalemate, a turning point emerged. In their chaotic struggle, the two men accidentally triggered a hidden mechanism in the office, revealing a massive collection room concealed behind a wall. Lost in the heat of battle, neither noticed the newly opened chamber.
Naturally, their fight tumbled into this room, which was crammed with a dazzling array of collectibles. What followed was a scene so legendary it would be immortalized in the annals of both Schicksal and Anti-Entropy history—
In the midst of their brawl, Joyce happened to glance up and his eyes fell upon a life-sized figurine of a young, white-haired girl. Of course, there were also countless smaller and chibi-style versions, along with a massive pile of murals and posters—all featuring the same girl. Many of them appeared to be limited-edition collector's items.
At that moment, Joyce blurted out instinctively—
"You golden-haired loser! How old are you, still lusting after some little girl?! Have you no shame?!"
Stunned by Joyce's roar, Otto froze for a moment. It took several punches to his Soulium face before he snapped back to reality.
Shit. My old friend saw something he absolutely shouldn't have.
As expected, several more punches landed squarely on his face.
"Welt Joyce, you don't know a damn thing! This is my wife!"
The Schicksal Overseer, having thrown all pretense to the wind, roared back and swung a punch of his own.
"Cut the shameless crap, Otto! Look at your age, and then look at how young that girl is!"
"Even 'robbing the cradle' doesn't begin to describe you!"
"Fucking hell! She was my fiancée back then! We even had a child together!"
Blinded by rage, Otto Apocalypse completely lost his composure, blurting out all sorts of nonsense. The only saving grace was the excellent soundproofing of the Schicksal Overseer's Office, which prevented any of the chaos inside from leaking out. The Immortal Blades Valkyries, stuck guarding the entrance—unable to enter or leave—heard nothing but silence.
"Fiancée? You even had a child?!"
"So that's how it is, Dog Otto! As a champion of justice, I can no longer stand by and watch—!!!"
His head spinning from the fight, Joyce had completely forgotten the existence and origins of a certain blonde girl. All he heard was that this scum of the earth had gotten a young, unmarried woman pregnant before marriage, and that it had happened "back then."
His rage meter instantly maxed out. Joyce once again summoned his three Stands—Past, Present, and Future—turning the fair one-on-one fight into a "martial virtue-rich" four-on-one beatdown. Of course, all the "martial virtue" was on Joyce's side; in the eyes of the Anti-Entropy Leader, the Schicksal Overseer had now become a creature more despicable than frog piss.
Overseer Otto, realizing the ridiculously ambiguous statement he'd just made, tried to explain but was immediately drowned in a storm of four pairs of steel fists.
-
"Hmm... I might have misjudged Otto, but he deserved it."
"Anyway, it felt so good—"
Savoring the memory to the very end, Joyce, sitting on a constructed plastic chair, excitedly slapped his thigh, looking like he still hadn't had enough.
"Why does it sound like you just delivered 'justice' to Dad... He's still alive, right?"
Snow's lip twitched as she sat in another chair, glancing sideways.
"Of course! I told him I'd guarantee not to beat him to death, and I always keep my promises—"
"He's probably just barely breathing."
Joyce scratched his chin, sounding uncertain.
"Just barely breathing? Oh, then it's fine."
Hearing that her father was still alive, Snow immediately turned her attention to the group gathered around the table, joining their conversation.
"Here's the situation: becoming a MANTIS requires the genes of a high-level Honkai Beast—at least an Emperor-class Honkai Beast to start."
"All the gene samples from the Previous Era have been used up. We'll need to create new ones, but with Miss Muninn and Mr. Joyce's help, we can skip the more tedious production processes—though if Ms. Himeko wants a bit of ceremony, we can certainly arrange that."
"Back in our time, there were indeed warriors who used the High-level Honkai Beasts they hunted as samples for their own modification surgeries—"
Su, now clad in a doctor's white coat, tapped on the documents spread across the table. He was explaining to the surgery's subject—Himeko—the various traits that would result from integrating different Honkai Beasts with a human.
"Miss Himeko, you're the type of warrior who prefers to charge into battle personally. So, let's first rule out psychic-type Honkai Beasts. Your personality also leans heavily toward aggression and offense, so we'll eliminate most of the defensive-type Hyper-mutation Factors as well."
"That leaves us with these few..."
Su pushed forward images of a handful of Honkai Beasts. His eyes then fell on one labeled "Asura," and he decisively crossed it off.
"One Kalpas is more than enough..."
"How about Himeko uses a factor similar to mine?"
Fu Hua frowned, looking at the still considerable number of Honkai Beast factor options, and offered her suggestion.
"Hmm, I agree, Hua. Given Miss Himeko's personality... a Honkai Beast with high regenerative abilities and strong offensive capabilities would be a perfect fit for her."
Su nodded.
"Alright, let's go with this one," Himeko declared, slamming her hand on the table to finalize the surgery plan. "Even a Valkyrie with a STEM background like me can't make heads or tails of this stuff. I'll just trust you professionals."
Immediately, everyone turned to look at Benares, who had been watching the drama unfold from the sidelines—
"Wait... why are you all looking at me...???"
The Dragon Girl sensed something was terribly wrong.
"Pin her down! We need materials!"
"I'll handle the tail!"
Wait, did someone just say something weird?
"Stay away from me!!!"