After tossing out the fireballs, Flame Willow Xia Ling did not continue the fight. Instead, she headed straight toward the depths of distant Changkong City.
On Xia Ling's side, after taking several activated Honkai Energy fireballs from Flame Willow Xia Ling, the dark yellow shield was already covered in cracks. Xia Ling panted lightly, having used up more than half of the Honkai Energy in her body.
"Sister Xia Ling... what was that?" Mei Raiden asked worriedly from behind Xia Ling.
If Xia Ling had known she was the Third Herrscher, she probably would not have been able to stop herself from calling out her other self to save them.
"That person is terrifyingly strong." Xia Ling looked grave. "She is probably on the same level as Theresa."
"An S-rank Valkyrie?" The group exchanged glances, falling silent for a moment.
"Although she did not intend to kill us, and she does not seem interested in tangling with us," Xia Ling said, hanging Crescent Rose behind her back, "I should still follow her for a bit and make sure she does not attack any of our other students."
"Bronya can fly. She can go with Sister Xia Ling," Bronya immediately volunteered.
"No. You cannot keep up with my speed." Xia Ling refused outright, then directly activated Acceleration Talent.
"But..." Bronya wanted to say something else, but suddenly stopped. "Sister Xia Ling... has she already left?"
Sure enough, Xia Ling's figure before them had already begun to fade away and disappear.
"Then we..." Kiana hesitantly began, "should we follow her, or..."
"We stay here," Bronya said. "On one hand, we cannot catch up with either of them. Going would only cause trouble. On the other hand, Bronya's intuition says that we should listen to Sister Xia Ling's orders right now."
"Intuition?"
"Or perhaps... some inexplicable subconsciousness or habit?" Bronya remained expressionless, but her voice was filled with confusion.
"In any case, Bronya believes we should remain on standby here and send a report to the Hyperion, requesting the Headmistress's support."
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
As Xia Ling trailed far behind Flame Willow Xia Ling, she kept urging her through the system space. "Can you fly faster? At this speed, Theresa is going to come tie you up with Judas' Vow."
"I want to, but I do not really have any flying ability to begin with! I am only hovering and propelling myself by heating the air. I have only practiced for a few hours. The fact that I can fly at all proves I am insanely talented!" Flame Willow Xia Ling snapped. "Stop rushing me! We are almost out of the combat testing area, and you can head back soon enough."
"Fine." Xia Ling was very receptive to advice. She stopped accelerating, stood atop a building, and watched Flame Willow Xia Ling fly toward the center of Changkong City.
Once she entered the depths of Changkong City, the number of Honkai Beasts and wandering Miasma increased sharply. Flame Willow Xia Ling casually melted several Miasma that came close, then changed direction and headed east through the city.
At that moment, Xia Ling also returned to Kiana and the other two.
"Sister Xia Ling, are you all right?" The moment Xia Ling appeared, the three immediately crowded around her, concerned about her condition.
"It is not a big problem. She is strong, but she did not seem hostile." Xia Ling gently shook her head. "And even if we had fought, I was confident I could escape."
"How about your side? Did anything happen? Did you report this to the Hyperion?"
"Bronya has already informed the Headmistress. Just now, the Headmistress posted a notice on the St. Freya internal network ending the training and has begun urgently evacuating the students."
"Oh, right, Sister Xia Ling." Kiana interjected. "Auntie also said that once you return to the Hyperion, you should go straight to the bridge to see her and report the matter in person."
"Xia Ling, are you all right?" The moment Xia Ling returned to the Hyperion, Theresa, who had been waiting for a long time, hurried over and anxiously asked.
"Relax, it is nothing serious. I just chased her for a while and failed to catch up. I used a little too much Honkai Energy." Xia Ling relaxed and flopped limply into a nearby chair.
"That is good, that is good." Theresa finally let out a sigh of relief, then turned to Kiana and the others. "You three go gather with the others first. Himeko should already be waiting for you in the lounge. Xia Ling, come to my room and tell me exactly what happened with that woman who suddenly appeared."
Xia Ling followed Theresa into her command room aboard the Hyperion. Theresa handed Xia Ling a glass of water, then softly said, "Go on. Tell me exactly what happened."
Xia Ling nodded and calmly recounted everything, from discovering the high-energy reaction, to blocking the other party's casual attack, to failing to track her down and returning.
"From what you are saying... at the very least, she did not seem to be a Herrscher or Pseudo-Herrscher, right?" Theresa leaned back in her chair, deep in thought.
"That is right. Judging by her behavior, she clearly possessed complete independent rationality. And her Honkai Energy did not have the chaotic feeling caused by a Herrscher's excessively high energy level."
Xia Ling said with certainty, "So we can basically conclude that she is definitely not from the Honkai side."
"Does that not make things even more troublesome?" Theresa gave a bitter smile. "Someone at that level could easily conceal the Honkai Energy fluctuations around her. She did not show herself when I organized the teachers to clear the area before, yet she suddenly appeared during the students' combat test."
"And according to you, she made a symbolic attack against you, then left on her own. Was that not a show of force?"
"It sounds like another organization found something in Changkong City, then used the students to warn us not to interfere?" Xia Ling speculated, then casually raised a possibility. "Theresa, I read in the books these past few days that the only organization capable of standing alongside Schicksal is Anti-Entropy. Could it be them?"
"..." Theresa frowned and fell silent for a while before answering, "Honestly, it does not seem likely. The Third Honkai Outbreak itself was caused by Anti-Entropy's radical faction. If Changkong City held something valuable, they should have made a move before Anti-Entropy triggered the Third Honkai Outbreak, rather than acting now after Schicksal has taken over."
"More importantly, I have not heard of Anti-Entropy having a female member this powerful for so long..."
"Forget it. Xia Ling, go back first. Let me think about it some more." Unable to make sense of it for the moment, Theresa looked up at Xia Ling. "After something like this happened, those children will definitely be curious about why the training was stopped. You and Himeko can come up with an excuse to get them through it. Do not let this matter spread. As for Kiana's group, I already told Himeko to remind them."
"As for this... I will investigate for the next few days. If that does not work, I can only ask Grandfather whether he has any clues."
After Xia Ling left, Theresa sighed, leaned back, and muttered to herself, "It cannot be Anti-Entropy. Then who could it be? Could it be that World Serpent Grandfather mentioned to me in private before...?"
"I think you may need to stay hidden for a few more days."
After leaving the office, Xia Ling spoke with Flame Willow Xia Ling through the system. "I have tried my best to steer Theresa's thoughts toward Anti-Entropy and World Serpent, but judging by her expression, if she cannot find anything herself, she will probably tell Otto about this."
"You made sure to describe my appearance in detail, right?"
"Of course."
"Then there is no problem." Flame Willow Xia Ling sounded utterly confident. "Most World Serpent cadres have undergone the Elysian Realm trials, and the outstanding ones possess techniques similar to artificial Honkai outbreak. Having some animal traits is perfectly normal. On top of that, Sigfried has experienced a similar atavistic transformation, so Otto must have researched this sort of thing."
"As long as Theresa relays every detail about my horns and tail, Otto will immediately associate me with World Serpent."
"By the way, did Theresa say when she would personally come to Changkong City to investigate?"
"No, but definitely not today. She needs to calm the students and suppress the news first. If something happened today and Theresa disappeared on the same day, even an idiot would see how serious it was."
"Then I need to put in some overtime before she comes." Flame Willow Xia Ling had rested enough by now. Carrying the detailed map of Changkong City that Xia Ling had copied from the Academy, she prepared to set out.
"You are going to look for the Nest's location already?"
"That is right. The location described in the original story was the shantytown in Changkong City's East District. That address is already specific enough. It should not take much effort."
"Once you find it, you do not need to leave immediately." A mischievous smile appeared on Xia Ling's face. "Hide near the Nest. Then, even if Schicksal finds some traces, Raven can take the blame."
"If you keep this up, Raven is going to throw a tantrum." Flame Willow Xia Ling could not hold it in either. "The next time Raven comes back, she will find out her home has been robbed, right?"
"Actually, because of certain mutual understandings, even if this reached Otto, he would not do anything. On the other hand, if Theresa kept suppressing the report and insisted on investigating by herself, then she might really uncover something."
"So we still need to put a little more pressure on Theresa later."
The two quickly reached an agreement on the matter.
Then Xia Ling hurried off to find Himeko, Kiana, and the others. They began discussing how to fool the students into thinking this had merely been an ordinary accident.
After rejecting Xia Ling's "gas pipeline explosion," Kiana's "someone fainted from hunger because they did not eat enough at lunch," and Bronya's "the Headmistress was rushing back to buy a newly released Hormu doll," Himeko, out of options, decided to use a malfunction in the Hyperion's energy system as an excuse. It received unanimous poor reviews from the others.
Meanwhile, Flame Willow Xia Ling avoided most of the Honkai Beasts and arrived in Changkong City's East District.
Although she could narrow down the Nest's location to the shantytowns of the East District, Raven was one of the world's top mercenaries. With so many children involved, Raven would not carelessly build the Nest out in the open.
And for the children's safety, there were likely countless surveillance and defensive devices around the Nest.
Xia Ling was not a professional intelligence agent, nor was she skilled in reconnaissance or counter-reconnaissance. But that did not mean she had no way of locating the Nest.
According to the main story, Raven returned to the Nest only once every month or two, bringing back supplies and medicine.
But even with Theresa's brain, anyone would know that the supplies Raven brought alone could not be enough for such a large group of children. Nor could she drive a truck over every time to transport supplies.
Besides, precious carrying space would naturally be prioritized for the medicine and daily necessities the children needed.
Therefore, the children in the Nest would also go out in batches every so often to search for food and supplies.
And to ensure the children's safety to the greatest extent possible, Raven would definitely clear every Honkai Beast and Miasma near the Nest whenever she returned.
That made things very simple. Flame Willow only needed to assess the remaining supplies and monster distribution around the shantytown to easily narrow down the Nest's general location.
From there, she could use the system's detection of Honkai Energy and evaluation of living conditions. Or, if necessary, she could simply stake the place out for several days. One way or another, she would find the Nest's exact location.
With a method decided on, Flame Willow quickly began acting.
"Hmm... the shops here have basically not been looted. I need to check the next one."
Leaving a storefront supermarket, Flame Willow opened the map and marked a large cross over the area before heading toward the next region.
Several hours later, Flame Willow stared thoughtfully at the map, now packed with dense markings.
"I can basically determine the Nest's location now..."
She connected the areas without cross marks one by one, forming a modestly sized circle. Looking at the region, Flame Willow frowned. "This area... has Raven been taking in these children for several months already? Their activity range is this large?"
"And..." Looking at the detection area, which was almost extending beyond the safe zone, Flame Willow frowned. "Why has the direction of their exploration nearly exceeded the safe zone?"
"These children are not very obedient either..."
So, the host planned to be a babysitter here for a while?
Watching Flame Willow search for supplies, seemingly intending to stay in the area, the system asked curiously.
"My goal is to fight Raven, not necessarily to make an enemy of her." Flame Willow tucked away the horns and tail that had emerged from her high-speed movement. This was also one of her Elite 2 abilities: she could disguise her body as that of an ordinary person without consuming large amounts of Honkai Energy.
"Besides," Flame Willow let out a creepy little giggle, "these children are so cute, especially Little Kong. It makes me want to hold her in my arms and pet her."
"Hey, watch that lecherous grin of yours. I joined the channel to hear what is happening over there, not to listen to you going into heat." Xia Ling, who had just entered the communication channel created by the system, said speechlessly.
"Ahem, all right, all right. I lost my composure." Flame Willow wiped away her smile and said seriously, "These children have limitless potential. It would be too tragic if they died in a place like this. I do not know why their supply routes have shifted so far, but protecting them a little while avoiding pursuit will not hurt."
"And if Raven 'accidentally' finds you, that would be even better, right? You could improve your relationship at the same time." Xia Ling instantly saw through what her other self was plotting.
"Hehe, after all, we will definitely go to the Elysian Realm in the end. That is this year's goal." Flame Willow laughed. "It would not be good to make things too awkward with Raven. We might be colleagues in the future. Seeing each other every day would be so embarrassing."
In the abandoned city, beneath the shadows of the streets and alleys, a little purple-pink-haired head peeked out. After cautiously looking around, she silently slipped out along the wall.
A moment later, after confirming that the surroundings were safe, the purple-pink-haired little girl turned back and quietly called, "Lyle, come over!"
The moment she spoke, a white-haired little boy darted out from the corner and quickly followed behind her.
After confirming that her companion had not fallen behind, the girl pulled out a crumpled map and began determining their next route.
These two children were naturally Little Kong and Lyle, two important characters among Raven's children.
Not far behind the two children, Flame Willow sat on the edge of a tall building, watching them from afar.
After two days of observation, Flame Willow had successfully spotted traces of Lyle during one of the outings. Following him for an entire morning, she finally found the Nest's location.
And during the following days of tracking, Flame Willow, who had completely grasped the children's exploration routes, also discovered why they had changed direction.
Several Chariot-class Honkai Beasts had wandered over from somewhere on the other side.
So, for safety's sake, Little Kong thought that even continuing in their current direction all the way to the edge of the safe zone was better than facing those Chariot-class Honkai Beasts, which could appear at any time.
Little Kong did not know where those Honkai Beasts had wandered in from, but Flame Willow, with a complete map, understood perfectly well.
Because St. Freya Academy had cleared out a large area of Honkai Beasts while preparing for the test, causing a huge commotion, those Honkai Beasts had probably been "driven" from their original territory and begun wandering around.
As for why they had been driven away rather than killed on the spot, perhaps the Valkyries in charge of the cleanup had not been strong enough, or perhaps there had been too many and some had slipped through the net. In any case, those Honkai Beasts had escaped.
However, Raven's next return date was drawing closer, while Little Kong and the others were increasingly short on resources. Little Kong had now reached the very edge of the safe zone Raven had originally designated, so it was no wonder the two children were so cautious.
For safety's sake, Flame Willow became the two children's hidden bodyguard. After casually eliminating those Honkai Beasts, she hid somewhere close enough to intervene but far enough that they could not spot her, silently watching them.
Over at St. Freya, according to Xia Ling, during dinner on the night they returned, Kiana casually brought up the attack. Xia Ling seized the chance to exaggerate Flame Willow's strength once again.
After Xia Ling thoroughly manipulated Theresa, Theresa secretly called Otto that very night. Then, the next day, Theresa issued a symbolic order to search Changkong City.
Since it was only a symbolic search, there naturally was not much pressure. Not to mention Flame Willow, who had hidden in advance, the search drones did not even spot Little Kong while she was out gathering supplies.
"Ah, being a babysitter is so boring. Raven, Raven, when are you finally coming back?" Flame Willow sat by the edge of a building and muttered softly.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Flame Willow's gaze sharpened. In her senses, a Ranger Miasma was silently approaching the two children, while they seemed completely unaware.
"Tch. Looks like I need to work overtime."
After grumbling under her breath, Flame Willow vanished from the spot.
Elsewhere, Little Kong and Lyle were still rummaging through a small convenience store.
Before you continue