Research Taking an Unconventional Approach

"Lionel, leave the confirmation of this matter to us. Regardless of whether the Ninth Herrscher is Feng or not, the scene needs your command and coordination." Dr. Einstein said in a deep voice, "While you were contacting Annal, I had already sent someone to contact the Fire Moth."

"Is that so... then I'll leave it to you." Lionel pressed his temples, turning his gaze back to Mullstein. If he calmed down and thought about it carefully, there were too many flaws in Annal's words. First of all, there was no reason for Zhu Yufeng, the strongest Fusion Warrior of the Fire Moth, to suddenly appear in Mullstein. If one had to make a far-fetched interpretation based on this statement, it could only be explained as the Fire Moth preparing to spy on some matters concerning the Mu Continent.

But what kind of machines are there in Mullstein? It's just a bustling city on the Mu Continent, nothing more.

Moreover, based on Lionel's understanding of Zhu Yufeng, although his behavior within the Fire Moth was somewhat aloof, he would always act with Elysia, Lilith, or Kevin when carrying out missions. There are almost no records of him carrying out missions alone.

Even if there are instances of solo operations, they are only due to unforeseen circumstances.

The only time Zhu Yufeng went on a mission alone was as a bodyguard for Mobius. In other words, under normal circumstances, Zhu Yufeng would never be alone in a certain place; there would always be someone he knew nearby.

However, for those who don't know him, judging solely from his behavior and speech at the time, it's easy to assume he's a loner.

So, another question arose for Lionel.

Assuming that Annal is indeed lying, that is, assuming that Annal is the Ninth Herrscher, then why would she frame Zhu Yufeng? Speaking of being treated specially, Lionel immediately thinks of the Seventh Herrscher incident. From the moment her identity was exposed to the moment she self-destructed and transferred the Herrscher Core into Himiko's body, the Seventh Herrscher Uriel targeted Zhu Yufeng in both actions.

The first time he revealed his identity as a Herrscher was to catch Zhu Yufeng off guard, and the second time was to take advantage of him when he was off guard, even if it meant self-destruction to take him down with him.

Why would a Herrscher has barely met Zhu Yufeng harbor such murderous intent towards him?

Even if we take a step back and assume that Annal not the Ninth Herrscher, and that the Ninth Herrscher's powers might be linked to disguises to mislead witnesses into thinking that He is Zhu Yufeng, then what is His purpose? And why is it Zhu Yufeng again?

Emotionally, Lionel wanted to believe Annal, but rationally, Annal's words were more likely to be false, and... when she was talking to him, her eyes seemed to contain something else.

"There's no need, Leon... Don't come looking for me again. There's a possibility of a second Honkai outbreak. You can't get too close to this city... Besides, the Ninth Herrscher's Companion Honkai Beast ..."

She knew she couldn't get too close to the city, and how did she know there was a possibility of a second Honkai? There were precedents for second Honkai, but these conclusions required detailed data calculations. Annal's team was almost entirely wiped out because they were at the very center of the Honkai eruption during the first one. Even though their equipment could help Annal make judgments after surviving, it was questionable whether the equipment could still function properly in such a violent Honkai eruption.

When Annal said this, it seemed as if she was certain there would be a second outburst...

If the conclusion is based on the theory that the Herrscher has not yet fully awakened and a second burst is needed to achieve full awakening, then how did Annal know that the Ninth Herrscher had not yet fully awakened this time?

The more I thought about it, the more I realized something was wrong...

Lionel frowned, then another earth-shaking tremor interrupted his thoughts. He looked at the soldier beside him. "Has the Ninth Herrscher's Companion Honkai Beast been confirmed?"

"The 15th, 20th, and 27th Armed Doll squads that entered first have discovered the Ninth Herrscher's Companion Honkai Beast. Now, let's switch to the main screen." The soldier said as he switched the images seen by the Armed Doll to the main screen.

The tremors continued, and every now and then one could feel the intense shaking as the Honkai Beast attacked the Armed Doll squad, shaking the earth.

After thinking for a moment, Lionel said, "Notify the troops currently outside Mullstein to retreat and widen the encirclement. Also, the nearby Armed Doll squads should immediately head to the location of the Ninth Herrscher's Companion Honkai Beast and try to kill it as quickly as possible."

The earthquake caused by the Ninth Herrscher's Companion Honkai Beast shaking the earth is constantly increasing in amplitude. Troops stationed outside the city are too close to the earthquake source, which will cause unnecessary casualties.

However, this only made Lionel's heart sink even further.

As is well known, the characteristics of the Companion Honkai Beast are extremely similar to those of their Herrscher. Therefore, the abilities of the Herrscher can be inferred from the abilities of the Companion Honkai Beast. For example, the Companion Honkai Beast Vayu of the Fourth Herrscher can create hurricanes, and the Companion Honkai Beast Surya of the Seventh Herrscher can release high temperatures. The initial power of the Third Herrscher was also inferred from her Companion Honkai Beast Yanluo.

Although there are exceptions, such as the Third Herrscher's companion Honkai Beast Shesa, whose main characteristic is infinite regeneration, and which also has the ability to use lightning, it cannot be said that it is unrelated to the Herrscher of Thunder.

In this way, it is highly likely that the Ninth Herrscher's ability is unrelated to changing appearance. Moreover, isn't the power of changing appearance rather useless for Herrscher, who are like humanoid natural disasters? After all, the other Herrscher Authority are capable of destroying the world at will, and if it is explained by illusion, then it would be absurd to overlap with the power of the Eighth Herrscher.

Therefore, if we speculate based on the characteristics of its Companion Honkai Beast, the true power of the Ninth Herrscher is related to earthquakes... Moreover, the Herrscher abilities that have appeared so far are also related to the power of the self, such as lightning, gales, and flames... It's just missing an earthquake.

The root cause of tsunamis can be attributed to the effects of hurricanes and earthquakes, so they are not included here for the time being.

"Sir!" a soldier exclaimed, "The Honkai Energy concentration inside Mullstein is rising!"

"What?" Lionel turned his gaze to the Honkai Energy detector, where the Honkai Energy concentration, which had been decreasing over time after the Honkai outbreak, began to rise again.

At this rate, a second Honkai outbreak is only a matter of time.

"Can you still contact Hen, who's inside searching for the Ninth Herrscher?" Lionel asked. "Tell him to evacuate from Mullstein as soon as possible, and prepare to use heavy weaponry to wipe out Mullstein!"

We can't worry about how many survivors are left inside; we must find the Ninth Herrscher as quickly as possible, by any means necessary!

"No!"

A sharp shout came from the communication terminal, and Lionel was startled. "Your Majesty?"

"Mullstein possesses crucial experimental data and results from the Mu Continent's secret research on Honkai. Facilities can be rebuilt if lost, but the data and results must be recovered first," the king said in a deep voice.

Lionel paused for a moment, but immediately ordered the Armed Doll troops to retrieve the experimental data and results.

However, he soon realized something was wrong. The coordinates given by the king were very close to the mission location that Annal was heading to, and it was an underground research institute. In other words, this Great Honkai might have been caused by the Mu Continent itself? At the same time, Annal's exact location seemed to be becoming more accurate.

Moreover, he had never heard of or seen any documents related to the plan, which meant that... this was a secret research project belonging to His Majesty the King. However, the fact that he, as the highest-ranking person in charge of the Honkai Organization on the Mu Continent, was unaware of this matter could only mean one thing: he did not have His Majesty the King's trust enough.

"Although I knew this day would come, when it actually happened, I still felt a little..." Lionel smiled bitterly to himself, then contacted Hen, who was on his way there, and asked him to go to the underground research institute. He also reminded him to be careful if he encountered Annal.

"No, although your judgment is indeed correct, aren't you being a little too cold to your fiancée?" Hen complained speechlessly from the other side. "No matter what, she is still your fiancée. She has helped you a lot during this time. Even Feng is not as heartless as you."

"I was merely making a rational judgment based on the facts." Lionel lowered his eyes, his hands on the control panel already clenched tightly. If he could, he certainly wouldn't want to say this, but...

He was destined to be a failed fiancé.

On the other side.

Dr. Einstein looked at Mobius on the screen, frowned, and said, "So, Feng went on a mission? Kevin? What about Elysia or Lilith? They've all gone on missions?"

"That's right." Mobius said calmly. "You're not trying to deal with the Ninth Herrscher, so you're asking us for help? Well, I'm really sorry, we don't have the capacity for that right now."

Dr. Einstein stared into Mobius's eyes, then cut off the communication and fell into thought.

What she can now determine is that Zhu Yufeng, Kevin, and Elysia are definitely not in the Fire Moth right now, and are very likely in the Mu Continent!

The fact that the Fire Moth almost mobilized their entire elite force was unbelievable to Dr. Einstein. No matter how much the Fire Moth were at odds with the Mu Continent, they wouldn't act recklessly at this time, sending out their elite forces to carry out a Honkai cleanup mission. So there was only one possibility: they had already sent their elite forces to the Mu Continent.

Although Annal's words were full of loopholes and many parts could not be explained by common sense, if she was not wrong and Zhu Yufeng was indeed the Ninth Herrscher, then the Fire Moth's large-scale deployment, even disregarding the bans on the Mu Continent, to send its top combat forces to the Mu Continent could not be inexplicable.

That is, they already knew that Yu Feng had become the Ninth Herrscher, and therefore they had to be on high alert.

After all, the Ninth Great Honkai has only just begun, Mu Continent immediately imposed a tight seal on all information related to the Ninth Herrscher. It's impossible for the Fire Moth to know any inside information about the Ninth Herrscher. Moreover, Mu Continent itself hasn't even figured out the specific powers of the Ninth Herrscher yet, Fire Moth has already "eagerly" dispatched its top combat force...

However, while contacting the Fire Moth, she also obtained information from the King about the secret experiments being conducted by the Mu Continent in Mullstein, something neither she nor Lionel knew about!

At the same time, this experiment emphasized that they wanted to replicate warriors like Zhu Yufeng or Kevin, and use them as a basis to create artificial, controllable Herrscher.

Is it really because the Mu Continent couldn't replicate the Fusion Warrior technology of the Fire Moth, that it started to gradually resort to unorthodox methods...?

Dr. Einstein let out a long sigh, maintaining his composure as he addressed those around him. "Continue to monitor the changes in Mullstein for the Fire Moth... there is still no conclusive evidence to prove that the Ninth Herrscher is Maple."

If there are any signs that Kevin and the others have infiltrated the Mu Continent, we can turn a blind eye. After all, the Herrscher are the enemy of all mankind, and it would be foolish to fight among ourselves when facing a common enemy.

As for the King... that's beyond her control. Even her superior, Lionel, was unaware that the King was conducting a secret experiment. What could she say? What could she do?

The most ridiculous thing is that Lionel Ketu doesn't even know the basic details of this experiment yet...

Dr. Einstein suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for Lionel's plight. Lionel was undoubtedly loyal to the Mu Continent, but even Lionel ultimately failed to gain the King's trust... Indeed, the King was getting old; he wanted to hand over the entire country to his successor, and as a result, he became increasingly suspicious.

At the same time.

Zhu Yufeng had already entered the Mu Continent, shifted his gaze towards the direction of Mullstein, and his expression became somewhat strange.

"What's wrong, Feng?" Elysia looked at Zhu Yufeng with some confusion.

Lilith's gaze also became quite strange. She exchanged a glance with Zhu Yufeng, and after confirming that the other person had the same feeling, Zhu Yufeng spoke somewhat uncertainly, "I don't know why, but I have a strange feeling, like there's something related to me there..."

"Be bold, what if it's... a child?" Even Lilith was a little unsure. "After all, you and I are both having this strange feeling... similar to... a bloodline calling?"

Elysia: "???"

Can anyone tell her what happened?!

"Mu Continent... surely they wouldn't be so heartless as to use my and Lilith's somatic cells to create a child for me and her, would they?" Zhu Yufeng seemed to have thought of something. "Mostima did report that Mu Continent was trying to conduct research on my, Kevin's, and other people's somatic cells..."

Mullstein's underground research institute.

Hen silently stared at the little girl who looked no more than 10 years old, who was glaring at him with hostility, and at the broken embryos and other intact embryos beside her. He was now wondering what exactly was going on!