The Humanity of a Herrscher

"I have sent several messages to Rome, but there has been no response so far... Of course, there is also the possibility that the warriors bravely sacrificed themselves to resist the Herrscher."

Mei casually revealed the reason why she suspected the place was beyond saving.

The meeting room fell silent once again.

Even Kalpas, who was present, had experienced at least one Honkai. Although Kalpas didn't think about it much, everyone else knew how terrifying it was.

"... For a moment I didn't know whether it was more serious to have the entire peninsula completely destroyed or to have the entire peninsula wiped out."

Vil-V gave a somewhat awkward smile, perhaps preparing to tell a lame joke, but at the moment no one could laugh at all.

Kevin ignored Vil-V's completely unfunny joke and looked at Mei: "We can't wait any longer. We absolutely cannot let the fog spread. If this life-stealing fog were to spread throughout the world, the consequences would be unimaginable."

"So, you're planning to parachute directly into Rome?"

"..."

Kevin listened to Mei's question without saying anything.

Mei looked at Kevin, who remained silent, and pointed to another city on the map.

"Vaduz, I will force her to go to Vaduz."

"...force?"

"Vil-V, maximizing the power of the Fourth Divine Key can change the climate, right?"

"... You want to stir up a typhoon?" Vil-V immediately understood Mei's meaning. "Can those fogs be blown away?"

"Able."

"Can."

Liu Bai and Mei answered in unison.

Mei glanced at her teacher with some surprise, then explained, "The fog is spreading in the direction of today's wind."

Liu Bai nodded in agreement—in fact, the reason Liu Bai knew about this was that the future Fu Hua had a move specifically designed to counter the Black Abyss's death mist—the principle of the move was to use fist techniques to create a gale.

"I'm not sure if there are any traps belonging to the Sixth Herrscher inside Rome, so just to be on the safe side, Vil-V and I will use the Fourth Divine Key to create a typhoon to disperse the fog on the outside and induce the Sixth Herrscher to a certain extent."

"What if the Sixth Herrscher sees through the plan? This plan is practical, but it's not very clever, is it?"

"Then it depends on what action she chooses after she sees through it—if she chooses to go in another direction, there will be fully armed squads in other directions to intercept her; if she stays put, then use the Fourth Divine Key to create a storm and slowly advance inward."

"Could you just blow away the fog in Rome?"

"Theoretically, it is possible, but as I said before, the Sixth Herrscher might set traps in the city. After all, we know nothing about the Sixth Herrscher's abilities except for the black mist. Logically speaking, Rome is probably already a dead city and there is no possibility of saving it. There is no need to risk using it as a battlefield."

Mei patiently answered Kevin's questions.

Kevin nodded with a hint of reluctance on his face.

He had to admit that Mei's reasons were very convincing. As a strategic commander, Mei was cold and somewhat unsettling, but her arrangements were indeed quite sound.

"By the way... you chose Vaduz as the battlefield because there are also Moth Chasers to Fire units stationed there, making it easier to evacuate the civilians, right?"

Mobius looked up and asked.

When will the evacuation be completed?

"Within three hours, the residents have received extensive disaster preparedness training. With the help of the garrison teams, the entire city can be evacuated within three hours. If we just need to clear enough battlefields to maneuver, one hour will suffice." Mei had already completed the corresponding calculations.

The Previous Era had been Honkai up by the Honkai all the way up. It's one thing if they didn't learn their lesson once or twice, but this is the sixth time. The existence of the Honkai has been public knowledge for many years. If they can't even manage an emergency evacuation during peacetime, then they've lived in vain.

However... with the Herrscher right in front of you, this kind of evacuation training is useless.

This kind of existence is completely unreasonable to mortals.

"I'm fine now."

Mobius nodded, and Kevin stopped asking questions, instead adopting a serious expression.

"Alright, let's proceed with the battle plan. Hen and Kosma, you two immediately contact your squads remotely and move to the appropriate positions—I'll send you the positions after the meeting."

"Yes!" Hen nodded calmly.

Kosma, the vice-captain, looked puzzled, but his long-standing military habits made him suppress his confusion and nod in acceptance.

"Hua, you must return to Australia immediately to assist Himiko in maintaining stability."

"Is it none of my business...?" Hua nodded. "Understood."

"Elysia, Kevin, Sakura..." Mei stared at Mobius for a while, but finally chose to look away.

Mobius is not a professional soldier after all. Although she has combat ability, she lacks combat experience. There is no need to let her participate in this kind of situation.

"Yes! What am I responsible for?" Elysia tried to ease the atmosphere with a relaxed tone.

"The three of you are the main characters on the battlefield. Kevin and Elysia, you two will be the main attackers on the front. Sakura, you will cooperate with the teacher to fix the Purging Thunder Purification into sniper rifle form for rear support."

"No problem."

Sakura nodded calmly. Although her main profession was a swordsman, she had been fighting against the Honkai for so long that she was also skilled with firearms.

To be honest, before she acquired the Purging Thunder, her swords were really not as useful as firearms...

She was also lucky. The Purging Thunder is a God Key that selects specific people. Although the restrictions are not strict, the side effects of forcibly using it are deadly. She is the only one who can reliably use the Moth Chasers to Fire.

"But what about the waves of Honkai Beast and Death Soldier that accompany the Herrscher?"

"Leave it to the other teams nearby," Mei replied. "That's why you need to take down the Herrscher as soon as possible, otherwise the other teams will be under a lot of pressure."

Although Herrscher don't seem to have any command-related skills, it's already troublesome enough that they can lead a large number of Honkai Beast and a massive number of Death Soldier in one direction.

The Herrscher's mindless F2A attack is enough to give most ordinary units of the Moth Chasers to Fire a run for their money.

"I'm fine too."

Ying nodded in acceptance.

As for how to separate the Herrscher and the Honkai Beast?

Isn't that simple?

Use the Purging Thunder of Purification to openly glance at the Herrscher's head—they are always quite sensitive to lethal factors and are dedicated to eliminating anything that might threaten their lives.

So far, Sakura has never encountered Herrscher first reaction after being spotted by her is to run away.

Just like in a shooting game, if a cheater gets shot at out of the blue, their first reaction isn't to find cover, but to raise their gun and fire back—Dare to Lao Tzu? Lao Tzu lock you down!

Yes, that's the Herrscher's mindset. If you aim at him and he poses a deadly threat, the Herrscher won't think about backing down and assessing the situation first. Instead, he'll move around while charging forward...

Sakura often laments that the Purging Thunder don't have a head-locking function...

Or rather, their own boss couldn't create a lock-on function—well, here's a side note: Liu Bai's ability to grant the Fifth Divine Key a certain degree of rewind functionality isn't essentially because he possessed the God Key, but rather because he possessed the God Key's built-in medical module. This, combined with the God Key's inherent ability to freeze, creates this effect...

While the sniper rifle form of the Purging Thunder looks quite convincing, it cannot be denied that this thing is actually a whole, and even contains a small amount of the consciousness of the Herrscher of Thunder.

Sakura also tried adding some accessories, such as Weakness Detection, Damage Amplification, and Range Extension, but she couldn't get the Guaranteed Hit effect. The only thing that could give her a Guaranteed Hit effect was the bullets... Well, given Liu Bai's distance limitations, a Guaranteed Hit within 50 meters is actually not very effective against Herrscher, especially since it's just a Guaranteed Hit, not a headshot.

"The rest of you... just do your jobs. Does anyone have any questions?"

"Attack first, take me with you." Kalpas raised his hand, exuding a violent aura.

"... Who brought him in?"

Mei sighed; in her view, Kalpas was an uncontrollable factor on the battlefield.

"...Me." Sakura raised her hand somewhat shyly.

Since they were all family (Liu Bai's child), Ying took Kalpas along after seeing him looking for a meeting room.

It doesn't really matter; Kalpas's actions of asking around (threatening) will eventually lead him to the lab.

Mei sensed the violent aura emanating from Kalpas Jie's gaze and immediately made a decision.

Although it is an uncontrollable factor... it is indeed a reliable fighting force.

"Approved, but on the battlefield, you must obey orders."

"Snort..."

Chapter 403 The Humanity of the Herrscher

"Sakura, are you in position?"

"In place."

Holding the Purging Thunder in its sniper rifle form, Sakura calmly replied to Mei on the walkie-talkie, while waving to Kevin and Aili on the street below.

As for Kalpas, he was sitting behind her. Mei was reluctant to throw a battle-crazed Kalpas like Qian Jie into a team with Kevin, so she simply had him protect Ying, who was currently the weakest in terms of individual strength. Liu Bai was also there.

Mei seriously doubted whether Kalpas would obey her orders if the teacher were not present.

"Speaking of which..." Because she was relatively free as a sniper, Sakura looked at Kevin and Elysia below and suddenly thought of something else. "Speaking of which... the main combat strategy for this operation is to have Liu Bai assist Kevin or Aili, right?"

Sakura had no doubt that a Fusion Warrior and a Herrscher, after receiving Liu Bai's amplification, could perform a speedrun on the Herrscher.

"That's right," Mei replied calmly.

Although the boost only lasts for ten seconds, in this kind of battle, ten seconds of super-doubled all attributes is enough to completely overwhelm the other side.

"However, there's no need to rush. After all, the powers involved by the Herrscher who appeared this time are... very interesting?" Mei's tone showed a slight emotional fluctuation. "They even involve death, so we must be careful... Besides, don't you think death is more conceptual than the ice, wind, and lightning powers from before?"

"Hmm... but probably not as good as the First Second Herrscher, right?"

Sakura nodded first, then remembered the first and second minor characters. Although they were minor characters, their abilities were still quite advanced.

"Or perhaps death, like the Second Herrscher's space, is a more advanced concept than elements?"

"I didn't say more advanced, I meant the level of abstraction," Mei corrected. "But... maybe that's part of the randomness of the Honkai?"

Liu Bai listened to the two's discussion and subconsciously nodded.

After all, the combination of ice, wind, thunder, and fire would be the most harmonious, but ironically, thunder, wind, and ice are ranked third, fourth, and fifth, while fire is ranked seventh, and there is even some overlap between fire and ice.

Moving forward, there's the seemingly lofty and abstract concept of "emptiness" and "reason." Moving forward, concepts like "domination," "constraint," and "erosion" become increasingly abstract.

This is clearly not a normal sorting. After all, if someone is manipulating it, the more abstract the ability should be placed later. Explaining it with randomness is quite reasonable.

"Let me interrupt your conversation," Kevin's calm voice rang out. "Is the black mist starting to move?"

Mei's voice was silent for a moment on the walkie-talkie, then it rang again.

"That's right, it's moving. The Sixth Herrscher is carrying the black mist of death and moving in your direction."

Kevin, standing on the street below, gazed at the moving black mist and silently gripped the anti- Honkai heavy machine gun in his hand.

"I think I should still ask Dr. Vil-V to make a custom melee weapon."

Kevin weighed the heavy machine gun in his hand, feeling a little unaccustomed to its light weight, as it was the first time he had ever handled such a heavy machine gun.

Like Sakura, Kevin was also a close-combat enthusiast at first, after all, he learned swordsmanship from Liu Bai and had a dream of becoming a hero.

However, once on the battlefield, Kevin was beaten to his senses. What a load of nonsense! Unless there is no other choice, avoiding close combat with Honkai Beast is the best option. Just carry a pulse sword to deal with special situations.

In close combat, if a mistake is made, there is no time to react. A single mistake can result in death, while with Honkai Beast, a mishap can likely lead to a recovery as if nothing happened. The danger and the reward are completely disproportionate.

Moreover, firearms also have excellent cover support and mopping capabilities. To be honest, ordinary people, even the best warriors, should not use melee weapons to fight Honkai Beast and Death Soldier. If an ordinary person is surrounded, even if it is Sakura wielding the Purging Thunder in sword form, they will still be trapped.

In Sakura's current hands Purging Thunder, in its sword form, is more like a weapon against people.

However, if it's Fusion Warrior like him... he might very well become a killing machine on the battlefield.

The biggest difference between firearms and melee weapons is that the maximum damage a firearm user can achieve is limited by the firearm's limits, while the maximum damage a melee weapon user can achieve is limited by the user's limits.

Of course, some special weapons are not included in this list. He heard that Vil-V is researching some new generation weapons, and who knows what strange tricks she might come up with.

"By the way, Sister Elysia, would you like to have a sword or gun custom-made for us too?"

Kevin looked at Elysia was holding a pair of Honkai Rifles.

"Hmm... well, we'll talk about that later."

Elysia wiped her pink-painted rifle with a handkerchief.

"I'm a little reluctant to part with my Pink Fluffy Rabbit ~"

"..."

What kind of Nuo ghost name is this...?

Kevin's eye twitched. Sorry, he shouldn't have chatted with Elysia about such things on the battlefield.

Kevin had realized that unless the topic was related to the war, he would never get a reliable answer from his future teacher's wife.