Chapter 4: Speed is of the Essence

Raiden Mei sat on a chair she had found in the temporary base, her hand stroking her chin.

Since humanity sealed 99% of the Honkai energy on the moon, Earth had finally regained its long-lost tranquility from the Honkai. Humans were busy recovering and healing from the wounds Honkai had inflicted on them.

Until two weeks ago that is.

Welt Yang, the former leader of the Anti-Entropy organization went missing.

Before it happened, He submitted a business trip request to E.T. Studio, and flew to Cairo the next day. He then disappeared after taking a maglev train to St. Fontaine the day after.

Upon learning of this news, Schicksal dispatched Raiden Mei and her Third Squad to St. Fontaine to search for and rescue Welt Yang.

When Raiden Mei arrived at the scene, she found that St. Fontaine had undergone drastic changes. The once bustling tourist city had been abandoned under mysterious circumstances.

Now, strange crystals containing Honkai energy were growing rampant in the city. Invisible barriers blocked off the entire city, electronic signals were disrupted and unusable, and many dangerous mechanical monsters roamed the streets.

Fortunately, this wasn't particularly dangerous for Raiden Mei and her Third Squad. After a series of battles and searches, they successfully found Mr. Welt and his child, and the only way in and out of the barrier, the Sa'ad floating train station, sent them out of St. Fontaine.

"Captain? Captain!" a hand waved in front of her, trying to get her attention.

"Huh? Oh, Carole... What's up?" Mei came back to her senses and asked.

"Captain... Have some food. Although it's just energy bars and plain water... I don't know why Mr. Welt didn't stuffed these things in his suitcase, but he gave us everything before he left. Maybe it's better to be safe than sorry."

The one who spoke was a lively and spicy-looking girl with wheat-colored skin. Her silver short hair sparkled against her skin, and she wore a blue jacket tied around her waist, adorned with many decorative stickers.

Carole Pepper handed a bottle of water and a few bright yellow energy bars to Raiden Mei, who nodded slightly and placed them in front of herself before continuing to stare blankly at the purple-red sky.

"Captain..." Carole called softly, "What are you thinking about?"

Suddenly, Raiden Mei spoke, her brows furrowing as she tapped her chin with her fingertips. "Carole, did you feel that there was something strange about the place we just visited?"

"It did feel a bit strange, Captain..." a steady young male voice sounded. Mei and Carole didn't seem surprised as they turned their heads to look at their teammate.

The boy was dressed in a trench coat-style combat suit, with a large sword strapped to his back in which had a device similar to an engine nozzle at the top of the grip.

"Adam, did you notice anything?"

"We went to retrieve the data from the detection device at the Van Hock Grand Hotel. Since leaving the temporary base, I felt that something was off..." Adam took out his personal terminal. "We had already cleared the monsters around the base, but on the way there, many enemies suddenly appeared... Their strength was much greater than the mechanical monsters we encountered at the beginning."

"Go on," Mei nodded slightly.

"After arriving at the Van Hock Grand Hotel, the detector in front of us also seemed... abnormal." Adam shook his terminal. "Normally, there are no additional light-emitting components installed on the device, but when we arrived, it was glowing like a light bulb! I thought it had malfunctioned."

The corner of the boy's mouth twitched. "I even failed to connect to the terminal to collect data once. The light disappeared, and after the device returned to normal, I successfully collected the data."

Raiden Mei smiled, "You're very observant, Adam. There are some things I didn't notice."

"Haha, the Captain was busy dealing with those mechanical monsters at the time..." Adam scratched his black short hair, then thought of something and said hastily, "Oh, by the way, I left a mark for the Schiksal reconnaissance team on the way, to facilitate the subsequent support personnel and our rendezvous."

"Very good, I have already contacted the Bishop, and the support team is on its way."

"The Fourth Squad cannot be contacted temporarily, the First and Second Squads are heading to St. Fontaine under the command of the Bishop... But it will take them a long time to arrive. I'm afraid the night will be long."

After pondering for a few seconds, Adam asked, "So we're not waiting for reinforcements?"

"Yes, we're not waiting." Mei seemed satisfied with Adam's keenness. "In fact, the opinions within Schicksal are divided into two factions in this operation."

"One faction believes that speed is of the essence and we should act quickly, to seize the initiative and grasp the enemy's objectives and strength information as early as possible. The other faction believes that this opponent is different from the past and we should wait until the forces are fully assembled before taking action to minimize risks."

"And this time, I stand on the side of the main combatants." Mei crossed her arms, her eyes sharp. "All signs indicate that the mastermind behind the scenes has already begun to act. Look at the specially the enhanced monsters we just discovered, and the abnormal phenomena of the detector."

"St. Fontaine is like a time bomb without a timer. We don't know when it will detonate, or what consequences it will have."

"The time left to us may be plenty, or it may be scarce... But Schicksal exists to protect humanity, which means, in the face of choices that involve human lives, we cannot afford to take risks."

"No problem, no problem~ This time, let our Third Squad handle it!" Carole straightened up and clapped her hands. "Under the leadership of the Captain, we will defeat all conspiracies and enemies!"

"Haha, optimism is good, I hope everything goes smoothly." Mei reiterated, "Anyway, this mission doesn't have to achieve any specific goals. Finding the mastermind behind the scenes, stopping their plans, and saving St. Fontaine... It would be great if we could do it all but we need to be realistic."

"Adam, Carole, did you hear that? Let's make sure our Third Squad returns safely! Not a single person less!"

"Yes!" *2

Raiden Mei looked into the distance, suppressing her inner unease, and forced a difficult smile.

---

"Why is there a mark of the Schicksal reconnaissance team here?"

Luolin squatted on the ground, looking at this familiar traces. Following the guidance of the mark, she meandered her way to the Tulip Alley, where she finally saw the mechanical monsters characteristic of the post-Honkai Oddyssey era.

Code 0 - The Fool, a humanoid construct with bizarre characteristics, running on all fours but standing upright to attack with its long claws.

Code VI - The Lovers, a floating mechanical creature that fires long-range attacks and flies at astonishing speeds.

Code VII I- The Strength, a combat unit with four hands but only wielding two knives, capable of blocking attacks and counterattacking, and even teleporting before descending with an attack. In short, it was quite disgusting.

But the Vermillion Knight - Eclipse was not to be trifled with either. After the battle with the Herrscher of the Void, Luolin found her level had actually increased to level 15.

The level increase brought the Vermillion Knight even more stronger physical qualities, higher attack output and defense, and even enhanced output from the Eclipse Armor itself.

Soon, Luolin defeated these mechanical monsters, especially the four-handed two-knife monster attempting to block her weapon which was torn apart by a powerful slash from the Vermillion Knight, and the X-shaped blade light tore the opponent's body and blades into pieces.

The corpses of the monsters dissolved into the air shortly afterward, turning into faint blue light and disappearing.

... That blue color seems a bit familiar.

Luolin shook her body, thinking of something sinister and unpleasant.

While cleaning up the monsters, she also discovered a teleportation point emitting a strong presence in Tulip Alley. She even noticed a room that had obviously been cleaned up by someone, with some supplies from Schicksal inside, already opened and used.

In terms of quantity, it seemed to be prepared for three people.

"It looks like this is the temporary base where Raiden Mei and her squad are took a break..."

Luolin walked around the room for a few laps and finally found a suitable place for her perspective to match the in-game interface.

"Sigh, I'm satisfied... Let me get a blanket and a sleeping bag. I've been walking for so long, I should rest now. I haven't even had time to go to the Memorial Arena or the Inifnity Abyss today."

She was always short of crystals.