In Honkai, But Integrated Strategies Activated

After all, needles don't actively hide, and with Seele protected by Black Seele, she can actively dodge potential dangers.

Because of the Sea of Quantum's inherent instability, Xia Ling could only ensure that her entry point was roughly in the same area each time, but she couldn't guarantee she would find her previous path again.

Thus, Xia Ling was now working on this very thing: a guide on how to find someone in the Sea of Quantum, so simple that even a paramecium could understand it.

Upon realizing that finding Seele herself was unrealistic, Xia Ling informed Duck Duck of the situation and planned to offer her a different kind of help, which was the guide she was currently compiling.

Someday, when Duck Duck went to find Seele in the Sea of Quantum herself, this guide would likely come in handy.

Of course, Xia Ling, who was familiar with the plot, knew that Duck Duck probably wouldn't need something this complicated, but that didn't stop Xia Ling from creating it to boost Duck Duck's affection.

It turned out to be very successful; Duck Duck's gratitude towards Xia Ling was so great that she probably considered Xia Ling family by now.

If Ling doesn't abandon me, Bu is willing to be adopted as an adoptive mother.jpg

While boosting Duck Duck's affection, Xia Ling also took the time to organize this information and sent a simplified version to Welt.

After all, this was more convincing proof of Xia Ling's identity than any other evidence.

Judging by Schicksal and Anti-Entropy's current exploration and development of the Sea of Quantum, while it wasn't entirely impossible to enter, it required perfect timing, location, and cooperation, along with significant funding.

Even Schicksal couldn't match Xia Ling's frequency of data collection.

This meant not being able to spend a large sum of money every month just for reconnaissance and map marking.

In short, with Xia Ling's help, Anti-Entropy's Abyss Eye construction plan was steadily advancing. Thanks to the outstanding contributions of the conservative faction, unlike in the original plot, the Abyss Eye was now almost entirely under the control of the conservative faction.

In return, Welt, in his spare time and at Xia Ling's request, helped her publish several papers.

Of course, this wasn't because Xia Ling was aiming to enter Schicksal's academic circles. Among these papers were some that contained hidden agendas, all published in Schicksal's academic database.

Chapter 25: Sunshine, Beach, Girls, and... Collapse Paradigm?

As New Year's Day approached, the Oceania branch welcomed a long-awaited holiday.

Unlike ordinary people, to ensure that there were always enough personnel on duty within the branch, the staff at the Oceania branch were divided into two groups: one group would have their holiday before New Year's Day, and the other group after.

Naturally, the earlier the holiday, the better. Because of this, the researchers and Valkyries with relatively higher status at the Oceania branch had mostly secured their holiday slots before New Year's Day.

And with the researchers on holiday, it naturally meant the test subjects were also on holiday, and Wendy was one of them.

At this time, Wendy had been at the Oceania branch for nearly a year. Although the researchers were no longer as enthusiastic as when she first arrived, they weren't as dismissive and bullying as they were at the beginning of the main story.

The same applied to the Valkyries. Although she was still somewhat ostracized by them, it hadn't reached the point of overt hostility yet. Therefore, Wendy was invited to join the beach team-building event before New Year's Day.

Even though sitting in a wheelchair made things inconvenient, for the Valkyries with their extraordinary physical abilities, pushing her wheelchair, or even carrying it the entire way, was no trouble at all.

Wendy sat in her wheelchair, gazing at the turbulent sea in the distance and the groups of Valkyries around her, and sighed silently.

Even with grand ideals and the will to fight for all that is good in the world, Wendy was, after all, just a girl nearing 15 years old. Facing such indifference, it was natural for her to feel a little hurt and lonely.

If I hadn't agreed to participate in this plan back then, would I still be at Schicksal headquarters, receiving training and praise, or perhaps shopping with teammates, enjoying desserts and happiness...

Inevitably, thoughts like these had surfaced in Wendy's heart many times, but each time, Wendy would promptly suppress them.

No... Wendy, you can't have such thoughts... You are Schicksal's most promising rising star, the only candidate likely to succeed in this plan... You can't always be thinking only of yourself, and perhaps if the experiment is successful, your situation might change...

From some unknown time, these words of self-comfort began to sound increasingly hesitant. Wendy herself didn't know how much longer she could hold onto these beliefs.

The team-building atmosphere didn't improve Wendy's mood much. She sighed and continued to gaze at the sky in the distance.

It's so beautiful... The sea is always like this, boundless azure, with surging waves... Wait, are these waves a bit too big?

Looking at the giant waves, four or five meters high, Wendy was somewhat surprised. Even though she had been in Oceania for a year, due to her long hours in the laboratory, this was the first time she had seen such a sight.

The local members here must be used to it... right?

In the blink of an eye, the waves had grown to seven or eight meters high. Wendy didn't know if the local personnel were accustomed to such scenes, but she knew that the Honkai energy detectors certainly hadn't.

"Beep—Alarm, alarm, all units pay attention, high-energy Honkai reaction detected, high-energy Honkai energy reaction detected—"

"Calculating Honkai energy level—This Honkai is predicted to give rise to a Pseudo-Herrscher, all units please immediately prepare for— ? ¨2 ?κ ... "

Before the broadcast could finish, the Honkai energy detectors, which the Valkyries habitually carried with them, began emitting ear-piercing, indistinguishable static and garbled code one after another, before falling completely silent.

Following the monstrous waves, one Honkai Beast after another began to emerge.

"What... what's happening?"

Wendy stared blankly at the chaos before her, momentarily at a loss.

Oh, she was only at a loss, as her legs couldn't move.

One hour ago, on the seabed of the sea area where Wendy and the others were located.

"Stop swimming, stop swimming. You sure are having fun in the water, aren't you? If I didn't know better, I'd think you were some kind of mermaid."

Flame Willow stood on the seabed, surrounded by a nearly transparent "membrane" that formed a spherical space.

"But it feels really comfortable underwater. It makes me feel like I'm home."

Highmore stopped in front of Flame Willow, her fish-fin-like ear decorations swaying slightly. "And if you want to see, as long as you provide some energy, I can evolve into a mermaid form, you know?"

Looking at Highmore's slender legs wrapped in white silk, Flame Willow fell silent for a moment.

"How about it? Sea Creature cells, pretty amazing, right?"

Highmore casually spun around. Just as she was about to continue exploring, her body suddenly froze.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Wendy. It seems they've already reached the beach." Highmore closed her eyes uncertainly, extending her senses through the cells she had previously left in marine life.

"Mhm, that's right, it's Wendy. Green and black hair, sitting in a wheelchair."

After a moment, Highmore opened her eyes.

"Then shall we get ready too?" Flame Willow asked impatiently.

"Don't rush. I still need a little time to prepare. What, is it that uncomfortable staying inside my 'body'?"

Yes, the biological membrane filtering oxygen for Flame Willow at this moment was also Highmore's masterpiece, made from some Sea Creatures tissue shed from her own body.

"What kind of suggestive talk is that... Besides, it's uncomfortable because I'm in the sea, okay?"

"Don't worry, we'll be out soon."

While observing the situation on the beach, Highmore took out something Xia Ling had given her: a key carrying an ominous black aura.

"According to Xia Ling, we are one. Ya should also be able to use this key, although the effect will be a bit weaker."

Highmore inserted the key into the seawater before her and gave it a gentle twist.

In the sea, it was as if a door had opened out of nowhere. The seawater instantly distorted, and all sorts of Honkai Beasts began to emerge from the ocean one after another, advancing towards the nearest human presence, which was the Valkyries on the beach.

"I need to save more Honkai Energy. I'll have to make a personal appearance later, so Flame Willow, you handle the timing for releasing the Collapse Paradigm. Let me know when the time comes."

"Okay, you go ahead with peace of mind," Flame Willow said with a look of grief. "We won't forget your contribution."

"?"

"You're getting sentimental, aren't you?"

With that, Highmore, carrying Flame Willow, moved towards the sea surface along with the tide of Honkai Beasts.

Seeing the towering waves approaching the shore, Highmore's figure had already disappeared. Flame Willow closed her eyes and began to call out to the system.

"System, activate Collapse Paradigm - Quantization."

[Collapse Paradigm - Quantization, activated. Current target: entire coastal area.]

Following the system's voice, from the Valkyries' perspective, on their communication devices and detection equipment screens, numbers turned into obscure garbled code, and the electronic alarm sounds became hoarse and distorted.

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Birth of a Pseudo-Herrscher

Collapse Paradigm - Quantization: Blurs the boundaries between numbers within a region. Humans within the region will lose the ability to recognize natural numbers.

If the effect deepens, Flame Willow can also choose to use a more powerful Quantization Deepening. Quantization Deepening will blur the concept of numbers, and humans within the region will completely lose the ability to use numbers.

However, this would shorten the duration of the Collapse Paradigm, and the Quantization Deepening ability alone might even cause the death of some Valkyries.

At this stage, if any Valkyrie were to die in this minor Honkai outbreak, it might have a counterproductive effect on Xia Ling's plan.

After releasing the Collapse Paradigm, Flame Willow immediately turned around and, using the interference of the Collapse Paradigm on electronic devices, quietly left the area.

Strictly speaking, Flame Willow's mission was largely complete up to this point. However, considering the possibility of the plan failing, such as Oceania deciding to kill Highmore on the spot rather than capture her, Flame Willow still needed to stay for a couple more days.

This way, if the plan failed, she could still help Highmore escape.

Although theoretically, Highmore, who had already reached Elite 2, possessed the combat power of an S-rank Valkyrie, she naturally couldn't display such strength. Otherwise, the Oceania Branch would likely not dare to conduct experiments on her and would immediately request reinforcements from headquarters to release Durandal.

Meanwhile, on the beach where Wendy was, the Valkyries had gathered and were covering each other as they put on their Valkyrie armors.

Yes, for Valkyries, who could be deployed at any moment, even on vacation, if the number of personnel exceeded a certain threshold, they would carry a certain amount of weapons and armor for immediate deployment. Furthermore, within a certain range, there would always be mobile supply points for replenishment.

Due to the influence of the Collapse Paradigm, all electronic equipment in the area was experiencing interference, and the numbers on the detectors appeared as unintelligible garbled code in the Valkyries' eyes.

"Everyone, consolidate your lines! Logistics Valkyries and those who just ranked up to B-rank, move to the inner circle for ranged support!"

In the battle line, a Valkyrie who appeared to be older shouted.

Although described as older, she was actually only in her early twenties and was likely an A-rank Valkyrie.

This Valkyrie clearly held considerable prestige in the Oceania Branch. Under her command, the Valkyries immediately began to reorganize their lines in an orderly fashion, with Wendy and the logistics Valkyries being protected in the center.

For a time, facing the Honkai Beasts emerging continuously from the sea, the Valkyries' formation managed to form a certain counter-offensive momentum.

"Something's not right..." Wendy silently watched the Valkyries fighting before her. However, at this moment, her heart held no sorrow, only a deep sense of doubt.

After transplanting the Gem of Desire, although Wendy had lost the ability to walk due to Honkai Energy erosion, her sensitivity to Honkai Energy had sharply increased. At this moment, she could clearly feel the Honkai Energy concentration in the area rapidly decreasing.

Even though a Honkai outbreak had occurred, this level of Honkai Energy concentration did not match the scale of the Honkai Beast tide, let alone the instrument malfunctions caused by such Honkai Energy interference.

After pondering for a while, finding everything to be suspicious, Wendy quietly tugged at the clothes of a nearby logistics Valkyrie.

Seeing the other party turn around in confusion, Wendy hesitated before slowly stating her guess.

Although Wendy was not well-regarded among the Valkyries in Oceania, even setting aside Wendy's current situation, her status as a former A-rank Valkyrie alone meant that they dared not dismiss her opinion.

As the information was passed forward, the leading A-rank Valkyrie soon received Wendy's conjecture.

"So... behind these Honkai Beasts, something else might have been born, absorbing a large amount of Honkai Energy..."

This battle-hardened Valkyrie was clearly experienced. With Wendy's reminder, she immediately thought of a phenomenon: Pseudo-Herrschers.

Although this phenomenon had not occurred frequently since the Second Honkai, it seemed that with the outbreak of the Third Honkai, the phenomenon of Pseudo-Herrschers had become active again. Recently, the Far East Branch alone seemed to have published several papers on Pseudo-Herrschers.

But if a Pseudo-Herrscher really appeared here, why didn't she attack us along with the Honkai Beast tide... Could it be that she hasn't fully awakened yet?

As her thoughts raced, the experienced Valkyrie immediately had an idea.

"Mia, you'll temporarily take command. Unleash a round of firepower, then consolidate the front line and just hold the position. The remaining three, follow me!"

"Captain Olivia, where are we going at this time?"

The three Valkyries who were called out had clearly worked with Olivia for a long time, and without any hesitation, they instinctively broke away from the formation.

"We're going for a decapitation strike," Olivia said gravely. "A Pseudo-Herrscher may have been born behind the beast tide. While this Pseudo-Herrscher is inexplicably inactive, we'll try to see if we can eliminate her directly!"

Thus, under the cover of a sudden burst of suppressing firepower, Olivia and her three teammates quietly bypassed the front line, breaking through the encirclement of Honkai Beasts and advancing towards the sea behind them.

Activating the Valkyrie armor's shallow water combat module, Olivia and her three teammates sped across the water. At the same time, she said to her teammates, "Something's not right... Our surprise attack was too smooth. These Honkai Beasts are completely uncoordinated, acting purely on instinct."

"That means, if a Pseudo-Herrscher has indeed been born, she must be unconscious right now!"

"Wait, Captain, look there!"

Behind Olivia, one of her teammates exclaimed.

There was no need for her to say it; Olivia, who was already close enough, could see it too. On the vast, azure sea, a pale blue cocoon of light was rapidly absorbing the surrounding Honkai Energy. Inside the cocoon, something was continuously pulsing, as if it possessed life.

"This is it..."

"Captain, should we attack directly?"

"Yes, we'll directly... Wait, the situation has changed. Prioritize defensive preparations!"

Just as Olivia was about to give the order to attack, she noticed that the situation before her seemed to have shifted.

The pulsing of the pale blue cocoon suddenly intensified, and for a moment, the cocoon erupted with strong Honkai Energy fluctuations.

With a tremor, the outer shell of the cocoon silently melted away, revealing a delicate girl with ash-blue hair within.