Eden Wants to Make an Investment

In Elysia and Kevin's view, all they could see was the Herrscher of Death's slender legs kicking helplessly at the air as Kalpas' heavy punches landed. Although the Herrscher of Death still had one hand free, it was completely unable to mount a decent counterattack against Kalpas Calamities' relentless barrage of blows aimed at her head.

For a moment, Kevin even felt like he was watching a "brutal Herrscher torturing and killing innocent girls".

And that wasn't the worst part—the next moment, Kevin saw his teacher appear beside Kalpas.

Then, the force of Kalpas Tribulations' fist visibly increased, and at the same time, another strange aura extended from his teacher and wrapped around the Herrscher of Death.

Ten seconds later, the slender legs that had been struggling helplessly in the air finally stopped moving and hung down in a strange position.

She is probably indeed dead.

"... For a moment, I thought we were the villains."

"Ah... yes, this child is still a real headache."

Unlike Kevin's lingering fear, Elysia's attitude was more like that of a "stepmother" struggling to get along with the child.

At the same time, Mei's indifferent voice rang out. "Although... although there were some unexpected events, it cannot be denied that this was a successful operation."

Even Kevin could hear the barely concealed astonishment in Mei's cold tone.

So, out of curiosity, Kevin turned his head to look at Elysia: "Sister Elysia... how much did Teacher increase Kalpas's power?"

"Judging by appearance, is it around 40% or 50%?"

Elysia was only surprised by Kalpas's fighting style, which was several times more brutal than in the training ground. In terms of amplified combat power, he was definitely no match for Kevin, let alone her.

However, it cannot be denied that this fighting style is truly intimidating.

Kalpas slowly pulled his arm, which had lost all strength in his chest, away, coldly surveyed his surroundings, and then silently nodded to Liu Bai.

"You're welcome." Liu Bai smiled at Kalpas.

He naturally knew why Kalpas nodded at him—the moment he possessed Kalpas, his compatibility with him instantly increased from 40% to 50%.

Do you need treatment?

"No need." Kalpas was completely unconcerned about the black corrosion marks on his chest.

"Let's make an appointment, Kevin, and call Su over."

"Knew."

The ambush team isn't far from here, and without the Herrscher's command, the team will be under much less pressure.

By the way, Kevin is also the captain, so he can go back to the command position.

"It felt just like going out for a walk."

Sakura, who had just disembarked from the transport ship, looked at the bustling headquarters in front of her with a strange expression on her face.

"Hmm... We really have to thank Kalpas this time."

Although that fighting style was anything but flattering.

"It doesn't matter."

Despite having bandages wrapped around his chest, Kalpas still maintained a cold and indifferent expression.

Only Liu Bai, Ying, and Kalpas Jie returned this time; the others are still on the front lines carrying out cleanup work and are expected to be gone for at least one or two months.

"Welcome back." Mei appeared before them, clearly to welcome them.

"He's only been gone for less than a day."

Although there was nothing wrong with what he said, Liu Bai still found it rather strange to see Mei uttering such lines.

After all, the Herrscher of Death's demise was just too quick...

However, only Kalpas could probably pull off such a crazy and aggressive fighting style.

That style of play left everyone, including Mei, who was in the command position, completely bewildered.

"But if we successfully defeated the target, there's nothing wrong with welcoming them, right?"

Mei smiled as she looked at Liu Bai.

"By the way, have the remains of the Sixth Herrscher been brought back yet?"

"Certainly."

As Liu Bai nodded, staff members unloaded the cargo containers containing the Herrscher's remains.

Whether in the Previous Era or the present civilization, the Herrscher of Death is always a golden experimental subject.

Liu Bai inexplicably thought that Otto had also devoted himself to studying the core of the Herrscher of Death for a period of time... Well, after all, things related to life and death have always attracted attention.

"Where's Vil-V? Didn't she come?"

"She is assessing the damage through videos sent from the front lines. The black mist of death does not only harm people, but also corrodes buildings. Originally, Vil-V was quite optimistic that the buildings could still be preserved for easy reconstruction, but now she is probably already overwhelmed."

Mei gestured to the people next to her to move the items to the lab while explaining.

"Speaking of this operation, the first contributor is undoubtedly Kalpas, and the second is Vil-V. Without the Fourth Divine Key created by Vil-V, we might not have been able to defeat the Sixth Herrscher so smoothly."

The key to the victory was that the Herrscher of Death did not gain home-field advantage.

Previously, the Herrscher of Thunder's raging thunderstorms, the Herrscher of Wind's raging hurricanes, and the Herrscher of Ice's icy landscapes had all been experienced by those present once or twice.

Kalpas completely ignored Mei.

However, Mei didn't care, since she didn't really want to deal with "unstable factors" like Kalpas.

If it weren't for Liu Bai, Mei would naturally have chosen to put some effort into winning over Kalpas and stabilizing the unstable factors as much as possible. But now, Mei thinks it's enough to let Liu Bai keep an eye on Kalpas. She only needs to casually make connections to ensure that he becomes familiar with her.

Then, Mei brought up another matter. "Teacher, regarding the fact that the Sixth Herrscher has human flaws... could we pay attention to this point?"

If there's a possibility of recruiting Herrscher for her own use... Mei knows the chances are slim, but if she doesn't try, she wouldn't be herself.

"It's possible, but the likelihood of it being implemented is very low."

Liu Bai understood Mei's thoughts, but he was equally clear about the problem.

The dark side of human nature... or rather, the dark side of the world, is impossible to fully understand.

Was Sirin truly evil by nature? Obviously not; she was simply driven mad by the inhumane experiments at the Tower of Babel.

Not to mention some Herrscher are simply deus ex machina, with the Great Honkai occurring first, followed by the appearance of the Herrscher — Joyce is being specifically mentioned.

However... there are some people Liu Bai could try to help.

"Mei, in that case, how about we start with psychological counseling within the Moth Chasers to Fire organization?"

"Internal psychological counseling? Yes, that's available."

Mei was somewhat confused; how could the military possibly have no psychologists at all?

Moreover, besides the psychologist, the victory celebrations after each win are also a way to relieve stress.

"We need to be more meticulous—that is, to proactively identify problems, rather than waiting for them to come to us."

Liu Bai explained.

"My suggestion is to start by providing psychological counseling to the small teams stationed in the rear."

Liu Bai's words were practically feeding him the food.

As expected, after Liu Bai finished speaking, Mei's face showed an uncertain expression.

Clearly, Mei had considered the biggest problem behind her – Australia.

As a refugee resettlement destination, Australia is undoubtedly a troubled place. Even though production has been organized to resume, the existing contradictions remain difficult to resolve.

Those conflicts, big and small, were giving Mei a headache. To be honest, if she had been involved in this kind of work back then, she might have been able to resolve these conflicts, but now...

The disease has reached a critical stage.

If being deformed is enough to survive, then so be it; it's better than being blown up after a couple of bumps.

If things get out of control, just have Eden go and hold a concert there...

Mei really didn't want to deal with this mess. She thought it was better to live a miserable life than to die. But Liu Bai's words gave her a wake-up call.

If this thing is left unattended, a Herrscher might suddenly appear one day, and then everyone might really "die a good death".

But... the question is, where do I even begin?

"... Let's take it one step at a time. After this Honkai is successfully brought to a close, we'll have Captain Himiko and her senior sister rotate with the other squads... That's all we can do for now."

Chapter 405 Eden Wants to Make Investments

"Settle down..." Liu Bai looked thoughtful.

He also wanted to help Mei in this regard, but he couldn't conjure up land out of thin air... and so on.

Fragments from the depths of Liu Bai's memory were suddenly awakened.

("Well, and they seem to have left the whole of the Americas in a pristine, uninhabited state, much like how we now protect Antarctica.")

Liu Bai's thoughts returned to the bus that had driven to the ruins nearly a hundred years ago.

At that time, a man with a slightly frivolous smile was explaining things about the Previous Era to Joyce, who knew nothing about it.

Yes, the Americas, a continent of great importance in modern civilization, was a desolate wasteland in the Previous Era, with only a few research stations. It was not until the end of the Previous Era that larger-scale research buildings were constructed.

This is why the current civilization's Anti-Entropy can be so abundant—although North America doesn't have many relics, each one is incredibly valuable.

Moreover, according to Tesla's explanation at the time, the Americas in the Previous Era had fewer Honkai reactions... Well, if that's the case, the research institutes in the later stages of the Previous Era may have been moved to the Americas to make up for the losses on the Mu Continent.

No, it's not that simple. The Yellowstone Ruins at that time clearly still contained a certain number of architectural elements that belonged to a refuge, and there were even slogans like "For the next generation" written on the gates deep inside...

Incidentally, the most valuable item in the Yellowstone Ruins is the Ninth Divine Key, the Stars of the Past —also known as the Eden Star.

Well... actually, if you put it that way, the Yellowstone Ruins were still working more than 1,500 years ago—at least partially working. After Sue and Kevin finished fighting, Sue probably first put the Eden Star, whose pistol stabilizer was damaged, into the Yellowstone Ruins, and then recorded some things about the Previous Era before locking himself in the Second Divine Key.

... Thinking about it, I suddenly felt like beating up that kid Kevin.

After sighing, Liu Bai looked up at Mei and asked, "Mei, what do you think of the Americas? It's mostly uninhabited land, isn't it?"

"The Americas..." Mei showed a hint of interest, but after thinking it over, she shook her head. "We don't have enough manpower for large-scale infrastructure construction right now, and time is of the essence."

That's still a primeval forest. Although there's less Honkai Energy reaction there, does that mean there's no danger in a primeval forest?

More importantly, there are simply not enough people available to cultivate a primitive continent right now. Even if we could find the manpower, how long would it take to start from scratch and build up the infrastructure?

To put it bluntly, if this period exceeds one year, it will be beyond Mei's acceptable range.

While the Americas Honkai Energy, a large-scale influx of people could lead to just as many problems as other continents. Moreover, the chaos and unpleasantness of the development process could be just as numerous, and the conflicts might even be more bloody than those currently existing in Australia.

Even in a civilized society, there are always bottom lines to be maintained – after all, whatever you do can most likely be found out if you want to investigate.

And that primitive continent, almost devoid of any trace of technology...

If we're talking about strong organizational oversight, what's the difference between that and the current Moth Chasers to Fire troops in Australia for stability maintenance?

Ultimately, the problem was the tight timeframe. Mei admitted that her teacher's suggestion was actually very good, but with the time constraint, it became completely impractical.

Let's not talk about fifty or a hundred years, but if we extend the time to ten years... no, even just five years of recuperation, then Mei could leisurely carry out various preparations and directly invest manpower and resources in industrialized land reclamation.

The problem is that there is no real time for "rest and recuperation" right now. Even after defeating the Herrscher, battles against Honkai Beast and Death Soldier are still taking place all over the world.

Why is the post-disaster reconstruction progressing so slowly? Isn't it because of the hundreds, even thousands, of Honkai Beast and tens of thousands of Death Soldiers in the ruins of the destroyed cities?

Do you really think she doesn't want to do anything? Many of those refugees are her relatives and friends!

"... Let's leave the Australia situation alone."

Mei's eyes were filled with a resolute coldness.

"Instead of letting the Herrscher randomly select people, it would be better to create an artificial landing point. If I had a choice, I would even hope that all future Herrscher would land in Australia."

Mei is more ruthless and decisive Otto.

What trolley problem? It doesn't exist!

What's wrong with saving 1,000 people when 999 die? This saved one more!

Even if the next question in the Honkai is 499 and 501, she will choose 501!

She would only die more if she didn't make this choice!

Even if all that's left in a multiple-choice question is a single, lonely 1, Mei will still keep going!

If we don't keep going, we won't even be able to keep that tiny 1!