Peerless Elegance

Su's words caused Kalpas to reveal a thoughtful expression, a rare occurrence even through his mask.

"... I don't care."

After a brief moment of thought, Kalpas conceded.

He also felt that the assassin named Immer was to his liking, and that it was better for him to follow him than for him to be assigned to someone else's team.

"Let's bring Kosma along too, he's got plenty of free time."

The damage caused by the Eighth Herrscher was not significant; the loss was practically zero—even though the minds of tens of thousands of people had been destroyed by the Eighth Herrscher.

However, compared to the previous Herrscher, the loss of "a mere tens of thousands of people" is completely acceptable, and it did not cause widespread building damage.

So this time, the logistics team was the main one who was busy, while the frontline troops were relatively idle.

"Kosma? No problem."

Kalpas did not refuse regarding Kosma, and he had a good impression of Kosma. Although he was not Fusion Warrior, his strength had surpassed that of many others.

"That's Kevin's vice-captain." Sue said with a strange expression, "You just poached that kid Kosma from Kevin's team like that?"

"What's the point of not digging? What's the point of Kosma being the vice-captain? He could have been the captain a long time ago."

Compared to berserkers like Kalpas Calamity whose leadership ability is almost zero, Kosma has real leadership ability, and it's not low at all. He's a veteran from the third Honkai Impact 3rd era, and when Kevin wasn't around, he was essentially the captain.

However, due to the nature of combat, Kevin led teams much less frequently after becoming Fusion Warrior, often engaging in solo raids while leaving the team primarily to Kosma.

What's with the vice-captain act? With that kind of leadership, go be the captain!

Kosma is only missing a Honkai Beast.

"Kalpas, on this trip, while you're at it, find some Honkai Beast for Kosma... I think Vishnu is pretty good."

"...That's Judgment-class Honkai Beast, right?" Su's expression was subtle when he heard this.

Judgment-Class Honkai Beast are basically equivalent to Herrscher.

Although Kalpas has a record of killing Herrscher in a single battle, for a solo player, Judgment-Class Honkai Beast is even more difficult to kill than Herrscher.

The increased vitality and defense provided by their massive size are no joke; without special effects, relying solely on melee combat would be terrifying.

"Are you dead?" Liu Bai glanced at Su.

If you really encounter this, and Kalpas can't defeat him, won't you go and help him?

Although the Judgment-Class Honkai Beast have strong vitality, they can still be defeated by a group of people ganging up on them.

Vishnu's combat power was only at the Judgment-class, and even if he was slightly stronger than Bella, he wouldn't be much stronger. He was later classified as being at the Apocalypse-Class simply because his abilities were so special that they couldn't be defined.

If we say it's at the Judgment-class now, its combat power definitely doesn't meet the Judgment-class threshold.

It's not that these people are truly unable to defeat Judgment-Class Honkai Beast. As long as they're not Herrscher, it doesn't matter if they're Emperor-class or Judgment-class; they can kill them with a few moves.

And to be honest, the Herrscher's strength right now is only in its special effects...

While their combat power is still overwhelming for ordinary Fusion Warrior, it no longer constitutes a crushing defeat in terms of quality against these top-tier Fusion Warrior; rather, they are outmatched in terms of special effects.

Currently, any Herrscher with maxed-out special effects can clear out an entire area.

Even without resorting to fancy tricks, the Eighth Herrscher could absolutely slaughter several cities.

"...Okay, that makes sense." Su nodded somewhat awkwardly.

If you can't beat them, gang up on Honkai. There's really no need to talk about chivalry when dealing with the Honkai. Besides, "hunting" is one of the traditional tactics in human genes!

"I'm leaving."

Kalpas didn't know if he had heard Liu Bai and Su's conversation. After seeing that his application had been approved, he turned around and left.

"That guy... really has no intention of fitting in at all?"

Su felt a headache watching Kalpas leave indifferently.

Su felt that Kalpas's personality somewhat affected unity.

Although his future teacher's wife, Mobius, wasn't exactly a friendly or sociable person, at least she could talk to people!

"It's alright, there are quite a few people who are on good terms with Kalpas." Liu Bai stroked his chin. "For example, Ying?"

"I actually think Sister Ying's perspective is a bit off..." Su had always felt that Ying's theory about Liu Bai and Kalpas being father and son was the most ridiculous thing he knew before today.

"Kosma?"

"That kid's a bit of a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) type, he probably thinks Kalpas's mask is cool?"

"Um... Immer?"

"Teacher, you've never seen that person before, have you?"

"... Danzhu?"

"Huh? Huh?" Su looked bewildered.

"Danzhu and Kalpas discussed figurines and plush toys some time ago, didn't you know?"

"Oh, you mean the incident where Danzhu was thrown out by Kalpas? There's no way Kalpas could get along with someone like Dr. Danzhu, who's a die-hard anime fan." Su spread his hands towards Liu Bai.

Although Kalpas plays with wood carvings and rag dolls, he is not on the same wavelength as Danzhu. Kalpas finds Danzhu's nonsense more annoying than flies.

Kalpas was already quite polite by simply throwing Danzhu away instead of kicking him.

"Kalpas's wood carvings and rag dolls seem to have a strong sense of ritual... He could never understand Dr. Danzhu's reclusive mindset."

"It's not like those anime/manga otaku eat your rice..." Liu Bai's lips twitched slightly.

Are these comments discriminatory towards Danzhu or against otaku?

The AoE range is a bit too broad!

"Well... at least there's still Aili."

"Um..." When Liu Bai mentioned this, Su showed an embarrassed expression, "Well... Teacher, you came out late and may not have seen it, but when Sister Eden brought Aili out, Kalpas showed murderous intent."

Due to the special circumstances, Su conservatively used the title "sister" instead of "teacher's wife".

"...?"

"It felt like the kind of murderous intent directed at Elysia... If Eden hadn't been there, I was afraid Kalpas would have made a move."

"No matter what, it shouldn't be that kind of thing... probably." Liu Bai really couldn't imagine that scene. "But Kalpas is going to carry out a mission, so there's no need to worry about any conflicts that might arise later."

"Your thinking seems a bit like giving up..."

"Don't worry about such a small thing, Su—by the way, aren't you going to rescue people?"

"Most of them are already brain dead, and even if I become Fusion Warrior, I can't save them... I actually suspect that their minds have been devoured by the Eighth Herrscher."

Su sighed.

"Forget it, let's not talk about me anymore. Teacher, you're really amazing. You managed to handle the situation with the teachers' wives even after something like this happened."

Su was full of admiration. He thought there was going to be a fight inside, but it seemed that everything was peaceful.

"Solve my ass."

Liu Bai slapped Su on the head.

"I can only say that this group of people... is acting a bit strange today, like they're a little guilty."

Liu Bai stroked his chin. To be honest, although he knew that the atmosphere of romance in his family was quite contrived, it still felt a little strange that it had just passed by like this.

"Mobius is beating Mei up inside right now, do you want to go check it out?"

"What am I looking at..." Su shook his head without hesitation.

Although he was quite curious as to why Elysia, the one being judged, got away scot-free, while Mei, who presided over the trial, was beaten up by Mobius.

However, it's sometimes better not to know too much about certain things.

Knowing too much can cause happiness to slip away... especially since one of the two people involved is my own senior sister, and the other is my mentor who taught me.

Why get involved? If you really want to get involved, you might as well call Kevin over, let him go in and do something stupid, and then you can subtly probe from the sidelines.

Yes, Sue is already researching other uses for Kevin.

Where are you planning to go later?

"Go back and teach Gretel. Anyway, I don't have much to do lately... and I can also lower my profile a bit."

"Fine."

Su nodded; there was absolutely nothing wrong with trying to lower one's profile.

"Then I'll slip away too; I need to lay low for a while."

After all, he had lied at that time. Although he wasn't held accountable because the matter was too serious, who knows when his senior sister and Dr. Mobius might realize it?

They're running away, running away.

Liu Bai watched his student run away, but he himself wasn't in a hurry to run.

A short while later, Sakura, Pardo, Vil-V also came out.

"Master? You're still here?" Sakura asked, somewhat surprised.

"We've been waiting for you. We want to ask Vil-V something."

"Me?" Vil-V paused for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, what's up?"

"Didn't you take care of the move at Golden Courtyard? How's it going now?"

"Um... the Golden Courtyard is mostly finished."

Vil-V clearly hadn't expected Liu Bai to ask that question, and she was visibly taken aback before answering.

She usually takes charge of the Golden Courtyard during her vacation time after exploring the Sea of Quanta, since building things isn't difficult for her anyway.

"How much of the work is 'generally completed'?"

"That's right, it's just missing the interior decoration, but I feel like it doesn't make much difference whether it's decorated or not—the materials Eden provided are a bit too luxurious."

When Vil-V thought of Eden's inhumane investments, she couldn't help but click her tongue.

"However, according to the original plan, there are still some designs that need to be added later, mainly for defense and security measures. What, Liu Bai, are you in a hurry to use them?"

"I am a little anxious."

Liu Bai nodded.

"After all, Herrscher are appearing at an alarming rate these days; there have already been two Herrscher this year alone."

His addition clearly accelerated the Herrscher of the Previous Era somewhat; if things continue like this, the remaining Herrscher might all emerge within two or three years.

In other words, at the very least, the final battle will take place in two or three years.

If things go smoothly, it might only take about a year... The remaining time is so short that it's enough to make one's sanity evaporate.

"Don't worry, the current Moth Chasers to Fire will be able to complete their relocation in about a month or two." Vil-V showed a confident expression. "As for the Herrscher... Mei said before that she would use Prometheus to calculate the Honkai, so we can only wait for good news from her... although she is currently being beaten to a pulp by Mobius."

"... You guys are just watching the show?"

"You can't really say it's just watching a play, because there might not be a time like this again in the future."

Chapter 428 Unparalleled Elegance

A month after the Eighth Herrscher incident, Mobius's laboratory welcomed a rare guest.

"Hey, isn't this Hen? What's he doing on a stretcher?"

Although Hen was carried in covered in blood, Mobius was a very experienced doctor. He could tell at a glance that although Hen's injuries looked serious, he was actually not seriously injured.

Given its bear-like body, it should be able to stand up after the medicine and bandages are applied.

"How did you get yourself into this state? Did you encounter Emperor-Class Honkai Beast all by yourself?"

Although Mobius disliked Hen, he wouldn't take revenge on him for personal reasons. He gestured for Blanca, who was pushing a cart with tears in her eyes, to bring the person in.

"What if I said it was even worse than that?" Hen forced a bitter smile. "I encountered Herrscher whose ability is related to gravity."

Mobius paused in his motion as he prepared to put on the white coat.

"The Herrscher?"

"Yes, Herrscher." Hen sighed. "And very strong. Kevin and the others have already gone to provide support."

"No... I mean, how come a new Herrscher has appeared now?"