"Heh... What a grand display..."
Squinting into the distance, Gwen could already vaguely make out a field of black dots. Under Rita's slightly astonished gaze, he said:
"Looks like the enemy planned this for a long time..."
During their rush here, Rita had also made a simple assessment of Gwen's physical condition. Though he was indeed well-trained, his raw physical abilities were still somewhat inferior to her own.
However, Gwen was clearly skilled at controlling Honkai Energy, which was why he could so easily keep pace with her. That also matched how he had abruptly appeared inside the tent earlier.
Yet Gwen's exceptional eyesight—his ability to directly spot missiles that she still could not see with the naked eye—made Rita revise her assessment of his physical qualities. He seemed particularly gifted in areas such as vision.
Still, although surprise had briefly shown on her face, Rita had already concealed it before Gwen looked over. Her voice carried a trace of icy resolve as she said:
"After all, anyone daring to make a move against Schicksal won't be some insignificant nobody."
This was her first time formally leading a team on such an assignment, yet they had already come under attack. Though it probably was not her fault, and Overseer Otto was not the sort of leader to casually punish someone over such a matter, Rita still could not help feeling irrepressible disgust and killing intent toward the attackers.
"So, Miss Rita, are you planning to take a look at the enemy once the missiles are stopped?"
As someone from the Previous Civilization, Gwen neither agreed nor disagreed with Rita's words. He merely looked at the equipment exposed in the toolbox she had opened—something resembling a jet ski from his memories—and asked curiously.
"Of course."
Rita smiled. There was a hint of chilling intent in that smile, yet it did nothing to diminish her lovely appearance.
"Simply taking a beating without striking back is not Rita's style."
As they spoke, the overwhelming swarm of missiles had already clearly entered their field of vision. The next moment, they would crash into the shield raised by the Shield Generator.
"Bronya!"
At that moment, Cocolia called out from the yacht, and Bronya calmly pressed the Enter key.
Almost instantly, the virus program installed within the Shield Generator began to operate. The shield immediately lit up red, then vanished in an instant—the eggshell-like barrier that had covered the entire archaeological site disappeared completely, and piercing alarms rang out once again.
"Damn it!"
In an instant, Rita's pupils constricted as that thought flashed through her mind. She no longer cared about the vehicle in her hands. The overwhelming sense of danger made her body move on instinct, rushing at a speed far beyond before toward the place most likely to protect her life—
Originally, as a highly valued A-rank Valkyrie, the armor assigned to Rita, combined with her strength, would have been enough to guarantee her safety beneath the cover of that enormous Shield Generator.
However, before this mission, the third-generation Valkyrie armor Rita had originally worn had been sent back to the laboratory for maintenance and upgrades. What she wore now was merely basic first-generation armor, which was one of the reasons she had returned to carry out this assignment.
Under these circumstances, even against a missile barrage composed mainly of outdated missiles, Rita's life was under tremendous threat. Her instinct for survival made her unconsciously choose to save herself.
"Watch out!"
Of course, after reacting, Rita remembered that Gwen was still beside her and shouted a warning.
But by then, Rita no longer had the ability to rescue Gwen. She could only warn him with words.
Yet when Rita looked toward where Gwen had been, regret welling in her heart as she wanted to see his reaction, she discovered that he was still standing there, looking up at the missiles that had begun their dive.
"Could it be..."
While curling up as tightly as she could to reduce the area of her body exposed to impact and maximize the defensive capabilities of her basic armor, Rita stared unblinkingly in Gwen's direction, wanting to see how this warrior from the Previous Civilization would respond—
From Rita's perspective, Gwen appeared to be calmly observing the missile swarm. In reality, however, he was drenched in cold sweat. If Rita had not moved away, even from several steps off, she would have been able to hear his heavy, rapid heartbeat.
And where Rita could not see, Gwen's eyes had already gone blank...
The next moment, Rita's vision was filled with light, making her instinctively close her eyes.
Rita had not felt the vibrations or smelled the smoke of missile explosions, so she narrowed her eyes and continued trying to look toward where Gwen had been. Yet she could see nothing at all. She only vaguely felt as though she had glimpsed a rotating nebula, and a slight dizziness washed over her mind.
Instinctively, Rita closed her eyes, calmed herself, then opened them to a narrow slit and looked toward Gwen's position again. She found that the dazzling light had vanished, and along with it... Gwen?
Where was he?
Her brows furrowed as Rita fully opened her eyes. Only then did she see what had happened, freezing where she stood—
Gwen had indeed disappeared, but between the two Shield Generators stood a Silver Giant. One hand slowly moved before him, and a spiral galaxy-like barrier blocked every incoming missile.
Replenishing Mana... Cough, Replenishing Energy
Rita herself did not know what her first thought had been upon seeing that giant bathed in light. She only knew that when she came back to her senses, all that remained was the most instinctive awe and yearning of a living being.
Anna, who had just rushed out of the tent, was equally stunned—
After Rita and Gwen left, Anna had taken over command and directed everyone to carry out evacuation procedures according to protocol—
Though they trusted Schicksal's Shield Generator, the necessary precautions still had to be taken.
Once everyone had safely taken shelter, Anna, as the second-strongest member of the archaeological team, had prepared to head outside for a look.
After all, Rita still had Gwen, a person who remained suspicious for the time being, at her side...
However, the moment Anna stepped out of the tent, the piercing alarm sounded once more. From farther away, Anna clearly saw the barrier disappear, as well as... the giant emerging from the galaxy.
"That is..."
Her small lips parted slightly. Anna had witnessed the nebula-like light appear, and her eyes were now wholly occupied by the giant standing upon the earth, unable to hold anything else...
Then, beneath the gazes of those two pairs of eyes, the giant raised a spiral galaxy-like barrier with a wave of his hand and blocked every missile in the first incoming barrage.
Several tiny points of light now appeared within the spiral galaxy-like barrier in the giant's palm.
The next moment, the giant violently hurled out the barrier, sending it hurtling into the distance at a speed that Rita and Anna could barely perceive with their naked eyes.
After throwing that barrier, the Silver Giant simply stood in place, as though gazing into the distance. After waiting for a moment, he turned around and gave Rita, who had already risen to her feet, a gentle nod.
Then, just as Rita was preparing to say something in reply, light flickered. The giant vanished, and a streak of light fell to the ground, turning into Gwen's figure as he collapsed.
"Mr. Gwen?"
Seeing Gwen fall directly to the ground, Rita no longer had the leisure to say anything else. She hurried forward and helped him up. After a quick examination, her expression turned grim, and she picked Gwen up before rushing straight toward the tent serving as the infirmary.
Seeing Anna standing outside the tent, Rita immediately called out:
"Anna, hurry and get the doctor. Mr. Gwen's condition isn't good.
Also, have the programmers and mechanics inspect the Shield Generators and restore them as soon as possible."
"Yes!"
Anna, having already regained her senses, immediately accepted the order. Suppressing the unease in her heart, she turned and went to find people—
For an archaeological team, a doctor was essential.
The Schicksal archaeological team, which could very likely encounter life-threatening danger during excavations, carried a considerable amount of medical equipment to ensure its staff's safety as much as possible.
Meanwhile, after receiving news that several of her preset positions, along with the missile units and Titan Unit deployed there, had all been wiped out, Cocolia's face had turned frosty.
Aside from Bronya at her side, no one dared to meet Cocolia's eyes. She could erupt at any moment—
As a warlord, although Cocolia had been trying to clean up her image, some bad habits formed over the years were difficult to get rid of, such as... venting her emotions with human lives...
However, Cocolia ultimately did not erupt this time. She merely said slowly in a voice filled with coldness:
"All personnel, pack up all equipment, erase the traces, and prepare to evacuate."
"Yes!" *N
Though everyone could hear the fury in Cocolia's voice, they could not help sighing in relief as they answered in unison—
At least their lives were safe for now.
As for Cocolia's orders, everyone carried them out eagerly—
It was no longer simply because they feared the intimidation of this enraged executive—
Those who attacked Schicksal could escape easily if they succeeded, taking advantage of Schicksal being occupied with rescue efforts.
But now, with their side suffering such severe losses, the operation had clearly failed. What they now had to face was the furious, full-force pursuit of Schicksal.
For the sake of their own lives, everyone had to work together, at least until they got off this ship.
After giving the order, Cocolia left the area directly with Bronya.
"Bronya, did you make sure the communications were concealed?"
Walking through the ship's corridors, Cocolia, who had spent considerable effort controlling her emotions, asked in the calmest voice she could manage.
"Bronya properly concealed our identities. Schicksal's people will not be able to trace us to this ship anytime soon."
Bronya's little face remained as expressionless as ever.
"As long as we withdraw in time, there will be no problem.
However, it is unrealistic to expect Schicksal not to find any clues at all. We need to watch out for Schicksal's retaliation afterward."
"Mm, well done."
Cocolia forced out a smile and gently patted Bronya's head.
While Cocolia's group aboard the yacht prepared to flee, inside the infirmary of the Schicksal archaeological team—
"..."
Having learned from the accompanying doctor that Gwen's body was not seriously injured, that most of the issues had already been resolved by his own body, and that the only thing they could do was provide energy, Rita did not hesitate. She used every safe energy potion carried by the team on Gwen.
However, even after exhausting the team's entire supply, Gwen's continuously trembling body showed no improvement and gave no sign of calming down.
Although Rita had previously instructed Anna to contact the nearest branch and send an airship for assistance, they would still need to wait another fifteen minutes.
And with Gwen in this condition, no one could say whether he would last until then—
Even though the examination results showed that Gwen seemed to be fine.
What Rita hesitated over now was whether she should replenish Gwen's Honkai Energy—
With the energy potions already used up, the only thing Rita could think of that could quickly replenish Gwen's energy was the omnipresent Honkai Energy.
However, everyone present knew the dangers of Honkai Energy.
Even though Gwen was a Fusion Warrior from the Previous Civilization, and even though there were currently no signs of Honkai Energy corruption on his body, directly replenishing his Honkai Energy without knowing his physical condition could still cause irreparable harm.
"Prepare..."
Knowing she did not have much time to hesitate, Rita quickly made her decision and prepared to directly replenish Gwen's Honkai Energy.
However, just as Rita opened her mouth, a somewhat unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out—
"There is no need to worry about Honkai Energy corruption. Gwen's Honkai Energy adaptability is excellent."
"...Miss Prometheus?"
Rita quickly found the owner of that voice in her memories and asked softly.
Otto—Serious Edition Only
"It's me."
Prometheus's voice was calm as she explained to Rita:
"The Hyper-Evolution Factor within Gwen has already activated. As a Fusion Warrior, Honkai Energy concentrations below Herrscher level are insufficient to affect his body."
"Good."
Rita nodded, greatly reassured, and immediately said to the medical staff beside her:
"Immediately replenish Mr. Gwen's Honkai Energy."
"Yes."
The medical staff, who had long been prepared, immediately stepped forward and began operating—
It might sound somewhat absurd, but most of Schicksal's Valkyries suffered from Honkai Energy corruption and despised it deeply.
Yet in many situations, in order to save wounded Valkyries, doctors had no choice but to use Honkai Energy to sustain their lives and buy time for treatment.
Thus, Gwen could now successfully receive a sufficient replenishment of Honkai Energy.
Very soon, as Honkai Energy was injected, the trembling of Gwen's body gradually weakened until it finally settled down, as though he had merely fallen asleep.
"It seems Mr. Gwen's condition has stabilized for the time being. I'll have to trouble you all to take good care of him from here on.
If the support personnel arrive in ten minutes and I still haven't returned, send Mr. Gwen directly back to headquarters."
Seeing this, Rita breathed a sigh of relief. After instructing the medical staff in the infirmary, she did not forget to say to Anna over the communicator:
"Anna, I need to inspect the enemy's position that attacked us now. I'll leave the camp in your care for the moment. Pay close attention to Mr. Gwen's condition.
If I have not returned in ten minutes, send him back to headquarters as I just instructed. Understood?"
"Understood!"
Anna's response was equally crisp and decisive.
Before you continue