Come on, Hai Mo, Come with Me...

"Yes, then I will summon all the Valkyrie to the scene."

"Go and come back quickly! Don't waste time on this. Can't you see we're short-staffed here too? Let those miscellaneous tasks be done by people without research experience. Send everyone who can help to me!"

"It's so chaotic outside..."

"Why isn't Highmore back yet...? The flowers in the house seem to be behaving strangely..."

Wendy pushed her wheelchair to the window and looked at the Valkyrie gathering outside.

"Is this the aftermath of yesterday's Honkai? Why have all these Valkyrie been mobilized?"

Wendy held her breath, focused her attention, and began to try to "listen" to the sounds coming from the wind.

When Highmore first moved in, she began helping Wendy try using the power of the Herrscher Core. Although Highmore wasn't a genuine Pseudo-Herrscher, she had a lot of experience with Herrscher and had some insights into how to utilize this core energy.

With Highmore's help, although she still felt some aversion to the core, Wendy gradually learned to control some Honkai Energy while "blocking" the whispers of the Honkai God.

Over time, perhaps because the Herrscher Core had seeped into her body, she began to gradually feel some so-called "powers".

Although she can only use these powers to do some very simple things, it is already a great improvement for her.

However, as she gained these powers, she also came to understand some things.

She could sense that she wasn't really a good match for this core.

It wasn't that she couldn't control this power, but rather that her body seemed unable to withstand the "cost" of a Herrscher Core.

She had a premonition that even if she truly obeyed the call of the core, she would not be able to fully utilize its power, and might even be harmed by it, just like her legs were now.

If Xia Ling knew about this situation, she would probably find it very familiar, because Welt was actually in a similar situation. However, the Herrscher of Reason's special powers allowed him to forcibly use the Herrscher Core by reshaping his body and Yang Woqizuo.

However, Wendy didn't tell Highmore about this. In her opinion, Highmore was still looking forward to the day when she would fully master the core, and she didn't want to disappoint Highmore.

The Herrscher Core has begun to adapt to her body to some extent. If time is allowed to pass, one day she will be able to achieve a balance with the core. At that time, she may be able to get used to each other, just like she is now.

Perhaps by then she will be much weaker than other Herrscher fully utilize their cores, but so what? She has Highmore, that's enough.

Yes... she has Highmore, that's enough.

But... why isn't Highmore's examination finished yet? Have additional tests been added?

This kind of thing is not common, but it has happened before. Well... let's wait for her.

As Wendy pondered this, her thoughts drifted back to the question of what to eat for lunch. Perhaps because of the recent Honkai, the Valkyrie in the cafeteria yesterday seemed to be giving Highmore a rather unpleasant look.

If possible, she would still like to wait for Highmore to go together, so that she could shield Highmore from those annoying stares, although Highmore herself didn't seem to care much about them.

Wait, I seem to be distracted again...

Wendy shook her head violently, trying to clear her mind of all distractions. For some reason, she had been feeling somewhat restless all day.

Wendy turned her attention back to the wind, continuing to listen for the bustling sounds below.

"Ah... attendance, attendance, I have to be on duty again today."

"With so few people, how can they possibly cover and patrol so many areas? Why not just let the severely affected areas fend for themselves?"

"What? The order from above is to transfer everyone out? Fine, never mind then."

"When will this end...?"

"Didn't the Doctor say he'd already taken care of that guy? I knew something bad was bound to happen with that jinx around. That guy never gave us a friendly look. Who knows if he was plotting to wipe out our entire branch?"

"Honestly, what kind of decisions did those Valkyrie make two years ago? They should have just killed the Herrscher, but they insisted on bringing them back. Then they transferred themselves away, leaving us here to live in fear."

Wait, what are they saying?

As if her heart had skipped a beat, Wendy's mind went blank for a moment.

What does "handling..." mean?

Wendy tried to focus again to hear if there was any more detailed information, but her heart was pounding and she couldn't calm down at all. All sorts of thoughts kept popping into her mind, some of which... even frightened her.

"No... it shouldn't be like this. There was absolutely no warning. How could it be? They must be talking nonsense again. Yes, it must be..."

Forcing herself not to think about the possibility of feeling a chill run down her spine, Wendy quickly rocked her wheelchair, simultaneously controlling some airflow to propel it out of the room.

"I have to go check out the lab building no matter what..."

Although the place is usually heavily guarded, she and Highmore, as "experimental subjects," are allowed to enter and exit some areas. In addition, she just heard that the Valkyrie in the branch seemed to have been transferred out, which means that the experimental building should not be heavily guarded.

She had to go and check on Highmore's safety...

Chapter Forty: Let's go, Highmore, come with me...

Wendy pushed her wheelchair herself, and soon arrived at the front of the laboratory building.

The accommodation area was not far from the laboratory building, and this was indeed initially intended to make it easier for her to travel back and forth.

Trying to calm the unease in her body, Wendy took a deep breath and entered the laboratory building.

Although it was said that all the defensive forces had been transferred, according to the information Feng had given him, for some reason, there seemed to be quite a few more people in this experimental building than before.

No, now is not the time to worry about that...

Wendy closed her eyes and began to communicate with the wind once again, this time searching for the scent of Highmore.

She was very familiar with the scent of Highmore, a scent with the fresh fragrance of sea salt that accompanied her every day.

But...

Why is the scent of Highmore... everywhere?

Wendy opened her eyes, somewhat confused. She had never seen this kind of feedback before. Could it be that she had gone to many places this morning?

Since that's the case... we'll find out by going to take a look. Wendy pinpointed the nearest "Highmore" location to her, which was a room on the third floor.

My wheelchair is obviously not convenient for going upstairs, so, should I take the elevator? But what if I get caught...?

Wendy stood in front of the elevator with a nervous heart.

With a soft click, the elevator doors slowly opened, and two people dressed as assistants appeared before Wendy.

Oh no... we've been found out...

Wendy's back was covered in cold sweat.

The two people were clearly dressed as Dr. Ryan's assistants, but they didn't comment on Wendy's appearance. They didn't even glance at her, and instead hurriedly carried a bag of things out.

Strange... Aren't they Dr. Ryan's assistants? Or are they temporary? Judging from their appearance, they don't seem to know me at all, and... there's a strong smell of blood.

With a sense of relief that she hadn't been discovered, Wendy quickly pressed the elevator button for the third floor.

We're almost there...

As the elevator doors slowly opened, Wendy arrived at the third-floor corridor, a place she had rarely been before. However, it seemed to be a place where animal specimens were made.

Dissection, specimen preparation, specimen display... The location she sensed was on the inner side of the third floor, but the names of these rooms along the way had already made her body tremble slightly.

At this moment, her unease had reached its peak. Her emotions screamed for her to get away from this place, while her rationality compelled her to confirm a certain outcome.

Following the wind's guidance, she arrived at the door of a room without a number.

Wendy's fingers gripped the armrests of the wheelchair so tightly they turned white.

She pushed open the door.

This appears to be a semi-private production room used to produce specimens previously displayed in the specimen showroom.

There were still bloodstains on the floor of the room, and the familiar smell of blood reminded Wendy of their recent brush past each other.

She stared blankly ahead, and on the table in the room was a specimen that was only half-finished.

She covered her mouth, a physiological urge to vomit filling her body—the kind of feeling one instinctively wants to distance oneself from when seeing something one doesn't want to accept.

Inside the transparent box before me was a beautiful blue-purple fin-like tissue, adorned with elegant coral-like patterns.

Of course she recognized what it was. She had touched this beautiful pattern countless times while playing with Highmore. She knew it came from Highmore's ear, where the skin felt very smooth.

She even knew that it had excellent elasticity, and when fully unfolded, it was like a blue-purple veil, while when the Highmore was shy, it would often shrink together, twitching slightly like a real fish fin.

She no longer wanted to look at the labels on the specimen box, nor dared to look at them.

As for the scent of Highmore on the top floor, the same as here, and the black bag that just brushed past me... what they represent is self-evident.

Wendy tried to say something, but then she suddenly realized that she couldn't make a sound.

With trembling hands, she removed the specimen box, the biting wind tearing it apart and taking out the specimen inside.

The specimen did not appear to have undergone air-drying and plastination; it remained as soft, delicate, and resilient as before.

Wendy held her in her arms, just like she had once held Highmore. She slowly closed her eyes, not wanting her tears to fall on them.

Her ears were filled with all sorts of chaotic sounds, some carried by the wind, some from her own heart, and... whispers from the so-called "Honkai God" that she could no longer control.

It doesn't matter anymore...

Wendy no longer wanted to think about the consequences of forcibly merging with the core; all she wanted now was power.

He could use... the power of revenge.

When Wendy opened her eyes again, all that remained was a chilling coldness.

Wendy reached out and gently used the solidified Honkai Energy Crystal to fix the coral-like fin-shaped pattern to the side of her ear.

The flowing wind gently lifted her body, and as she stood up, the Honkai Energy detection alarm resounded throughout the entire Oceania Branch.

She gently stroked the tattoo on her ear, as if she were stroking her lover.

"Let's go, Highmore, come with me..."

"Choose our burial goods."

Far East Branch, St. Freya Academy.

"This is... an emergency mobilization alert?"

Xia Ling raised her head and looked at the ceiling with a puzzled expression.

"Wait, dude, is Oceania really this slippery? Wendy found out so quickly?"

Xia Ling heard Highmore's incredulous voice in her mind.

"I've only been dead for a few hours, they can't possibly be using my corpse to harass Wendy, can they?"

"It's hard to say... Maybe Wendy and you are telepathically connected and she just figured it out on her own?"

Xia Ling sighed, "Anyway, let's go to the Hyperion first, then find Theresa and ask about the situation. If we hurry, we can reach Oceania in a few hours."

Schicksal, Headquarters on the Floating Island.

"So it really did explode? Hmph, I knew it."

Otto looked at the report Amber handed him and let out a cold snort.

"Your Lord Bishop, judging from the energy level of this Honkai, it's highly likely that Herrscher- level enemy has appeared. We need to..."

"No need. You can tell from the number of dead and injured that Miss Wendy is clearly still conscious."

Otto, "Let Durandal and Rita go, and let one of Schicksal's fleets also go out."

"Fleet?"

"The main concern is preventing Anti-Entropy. The conservatives of Anti-Entropy are all talented people. They can glean some information from the casualty reports. At most, they'll just let Welt pass. But those radicals are all lunatics. Let the fleet stop them and leave the stage to our Miss Wendy."

"Oh, if Theresa and the others want to go, don't stop them. I remember Wendy seems to have always maintained contact with the St. Freya Academy."

"Durandal can stay with the fleet to ensure minimal damage, while Rita can travel alone to Oceania."

"Oh, and also, call them both over here, I have some instructions."

Anti-Entropy, New Zealand.

"Xia Ling, regarding this matter in Oceania, do you need me to send Sigfried... Ah, no, you don't need to?"

Tesla's voice was full of doubt. "What do you mean by 'preparing to take over the radicals' territory'? You mean, don't get involved this time?"

"Yes, this incident is not a simple Herrscher descent. Otto is keeping a close eye on this place. Welt is not here, so there is no need for us to get involved."

"However, I may need some technical analysis and support from the Doctor later. Please prepare a highly secure communication line for me."