Collapse City: Starting with the Production of an Animated Honkai

"I just don't think it's that simple." Theresa didn't believe Yaqing would make such a foolish mistake as forcing a happy ending. Besides, if Cecilia really managed to redeem Sirin, her moment in the spotlight would be completely gone.

"Mr. Welt certainly wouldn't believe that humans could redeem a Herrscher who wants to destroy the world. At least, after his failed negotiations with Sirin, he gave up on that path," Bronya said.

"But isn't he a Herrscher fighting for humanity himself?" Little Knowledge asked, puzzled, scratching her head.

"That's what I... I couldn't understand either, but I just realized, Mr. Welt must have inherited the Herrscher core from Uncle Joyce. He wasn't the original Herrscher," Bronya said, taking a sip from her coffee cup.

But everyone tacitly knew that the coffee cup was filled with milk tea.

"Then why would Welt Joyce choose to fight for humanity?" Little Knowledge asked again.

Bronya's pretty face froze.

"Crunch, crunch."

A crunching sound came from somewhere. Little Knowledge looked in surprise at Kiana, who had somehow produced a bag of potato chips from nowhere. No wonder she felt like something was missing earlier.

When Kiana saw Little Knowledge notice her, she quickly put a finger to her lips and reluctantly shared half of the chips.

The scene shifts to the outside world, a stark contrast to the beauty in the illusion. In reality, Valkyrie Lewis is leading her troops, struggling to resist a large horde of Honkai Beasts. As Lewis orders a retreat, Anti-Entropy's Dr. Tesla personally pilots a mech to join the battle and provide support.

This is the cooperation agreement reached between the acting commander Theresa, who has returned to the battlefield, and the two doctors from Anti-Entropy.

Tesla pilots the Tianfu to support the southern front, Theresa and Judah's Oath support the northern front, while Einstein remains somewhere, constantly debugging the "prototype," trying to convert Ahalato's engine into the Moonlight Throne.

Einstein understands very well that the hastily made prototype only has one-tenth of the power of the original, so it must be used at the right time.

"The right time? The situation is only going to get worse!" According to Tesla's prediction, in about two hours, their forces and Destiny's forces will likely be completely wiped out.

Einstein, as if waiting for someone's message, suddenly seemed to sense something and abruptly looked up.

"Tesla, do you see it?"

"Yeah... He's back."

Tesla was already in tears.

In their sight, Welt's figure reappeared, pointed to a certain place, and then slowly disappeared.

The scene cuts to a flashback, to another plan of Welt's before Ziegfried and Welt went to the moon: to have Sirin absorb the First Herrscher core, while his consciousness hid within the core, using the thoughts of 300,000 people to interfere with Sirin.

This was a gamble, and his life was the stake.

"Truly worthy of being an opponent who can stand against Destiny, he can even plan his own life." Otto poured the wine from the decanter into a wine glass, gently swirling it. "To be honest, I don't hate people like that. On the contrary, I respect him very much."

"Huh?" Kallen asked, puzzled, "Otto, isn't your character in the story the big bad? As the big bad, shouldn't you hate those warriors who fight for humanity?"

"Kallen, the Otto in the story wouldn't sacrifice his own life to protect humanity, but he respects those warriors who sacrifice their lives to protect humanity."

"I don't understand."

"It's better if you don't understand." Otto smoothed Kallen's somewhat messy long hair, his eyes filled with love.

Ahalato's massive steel body raced across the ashen earth, piloted by Dr. Einstein. She was approaching the Second Herrscher and would take action in 30 minutes.

Einstein told Tesla to lead Destiny's warriors to evacuate the Siberian Snowfield in 30 minutes.

The only response she received was Tesla's silence.

After a long while.

"Hey, don't die, bedhead."

Hearing Tesla's choked voice, Einstein made a promise.

"Definitely."

"Tesla, Joachim, we will definitely meet again."

"Hey, hey, hey, bedhead, why does it feel like you're entrusting your affairs?" Tesla suddenly had an ominous premonition. She grabbed Einstein's shoulders and shook her vigorously.

"Dr. Tesla, it seems you're a bit smarter than you are in the story," Einstein sighed.

Chapter 44: Dragon-Slaying Battle

The scene shifts to the northern front. After Ziegfried was forcibly taken offline by Sirin, even with Shigure Kira's support, they couldn't gain any advantage against Benares.

"Hey, Kira, are you okay?"

Shub asked, a little worried, listening to Shigure Kira's heavy breathing.

Sweat dripped from Shigure Kira's pretty face onto the ground. She struggled to stand, and just by holding Abyss Flower, she could feel her body being eroded.

Shigure Kira was about to be eroded to death by Abyss Flower. Shub had the dual-gun form of Judgement of Shamash hanging on her waist. Both of them were eager to find Ziegfried and Cecilia.

Bella hurled a thick lightning pillar, carrying terrifying force, towards Shub and Shigure Kira. At this critical moment, several golden chains blocked their path.

Shub looked at the strong nun who was holding the chains.

"Does Abyss Flower recognize its master? Why doesn't Judgement of Shamash do that?" Seeing Shigure Kira about to be eroded to death, Cat was surprised.

"Sister Pardo, have you forgotten?" Ling reminded her, "When Judgement of Shamash turns into a greatsword, it unconditionally burns both the enemy and the wielder to death."

"That's right." Cat asked curiously, "Yaqing, the Divine Keys are so harmful to the human body, why were they created?"

Yaqing said, "Divine Keys were never meant to be used by ordinary people. If they are forcibly used, the side effects are very obvious."

Theresa prepared the bitter gourd juice and snacks, excitedly ready to watch her highlight reel.

"Auntie, don't get so worked up." Kiana said, giving Theresa a deadpan stare.

"Mind your own business," Theresa retorted, unwrapping a bag of bitter gourd-flavored chips.

The scent of bitter gourd made Kiana and Little Knowledge, who were sitting on either side of Theresa, wrinkle their noses. They leaned back in unison, flipping over the back of the sofa, each returning to their respective havens—one to Mei's embrace, the other clinging to Fu Hua.

[Theresa knew she needed to deal with Bella quickly. Just as she was hesitating whether to unlock Judah's Oath's true power, Einstein's instructions came through her earpiece: she had to ensure Ziegfried and Cecilia's weapons reached the battlefield within fifteen minutes.

Shigure Kira handed Abyss Flower to Theresa, and Shub tossed over the Judgement of Shamash, instructing Theresa to rendezvous with Anti-Entropy and return the weapons to Ziegfried and Cecilia.

Until then, the two of them would handle Benares.

"But…" Theresa started to say.

"Don't worry."

Shub and Shigure Kira stood shoulder to shoulder, their warrior-like demeanor inspiring confidence. They assured Theresa, "A battle-hardened Valkyrie won't fall in a place like this!"

Theresa chose to trust them, using Judah's chains to secure Judgement of Shamash and Abyss Flower. Standing atop Judah's Oath, she left ahead of them.

"Nicholas, Kira, promise me you'll come back alive!"]

"Next up, it's my highlight reel!" Shub grinned, showing off her shark teeth, and puffed out her chest proudly as she typed on her phone.

"Is it really worth trading your life for a highlight reel?" Cheng Lixue typed back.

Shub: "Lixue, you're the last person who should be saying that!"

Salome: "Lixue, you're the last person who should be saying that!"

Patrick: "Lixue, you're the last person who should be saying that!"

Rita: "Lixue, you're the last person who should be saying that!"

Shigure Kira: "Lixue, you're the last person who should be saying that!"

Cheng Lixue stuck out her tongue, suddenly realizing something was off.

"Kira, why are you in this group?!"

Everyone else caught on as well.

Far away at the Anti-Entropy headquarters in Northern Europe, Shigure Kira was also in a movie theater. Her Destiny colleagues around her didn't mind her texting on her phone.

"You all went to the Far East, leaving me alone in Northern Europe. That's so unfair!"

Shigure Kira was fuming. After taking a day off, she returned to the company only to find that the team she had been with for years had been disbanded, and all her familiar colleagues had been sent abroad, leaving her feeling excluded.

Cheng Lixue: "Wasn't that the President's arrangement?"

Salome: "@Shigure Kira, Kira, didn't the President ask you? She asked if you wanted to go to the Far East, but you wanted to stay at headquarters."

If she weren't in a movie theater, Shigure Kira probably would have jumped up in anger. She furiously typed, and her rage was palpable in every word.

Shigure Kira: "You guys are so unfair!!! How was I supposed to know you all wanted to be sent to the Far East? No one even told me beforehand! And the Siberian Snowfield team is disbanded. What if Director Cecilia comes back?!"

Cheng Lixue: "Uh… Kira, I have something to tell you, but promise you won't get mad."

Shigure Kira: "Lixue, tell me!"

Cheng Lixue: "We've already met Director Cecilia in the Far East. We even had dinner and went shopping with Little Kiana. And Director Cecilia told us that she has no plans to return to work."

"Ah!!!" Adding insult to injury, Shigure Kira let out a pig-like wail in the quiet movie theater, drawing the ire of her colleagues.

[Noticing the cross that had been making her uncomfortable leave, Bella was about to breathe a sigh of relief when she suddenly realized that Theresa was heading towards Sirin.

"You won't get near Queen!"

Lightning gathered in Bella's palm.

But she was trapped by colorful threads. Enraged, the lightning formed a barrier around Bella, throwing the leaping Shub back. She transformed back into the dragon-type Honkai Beast Benares, opening her mouth to gather an energy beam.

Shigure Kira, in Benares's path, had blood trickling from her lips, wearing an eerie smile.

"Heh, this is what we've been waiting for!"

On Benares's back, Shub raised her weapon, stabbing it fiercely into the crimson wound. To force Bella to revert to Benares, Shigure Kira had used herself as bait, all for the sake of the wound left by Judgement of Shamash.

"Monster—die!!!"]

"Bella!" Sirin exclaimed in panic.

"Sirin, I'm here." Bella, sitting next to Sirin, looked blank, still reveling in the coolness and beauty of her dragon model, completely oblivious to her impending exit.

"It's okay, go play." The bit of emotion Sirin had felt vanished without a trace in the face of Bella's clear, idiotic gaze.

"Okay~" Bella trotted off to the kitchen and brought back three cups of cola.

"Thank you, Bella," Cecilia said with a smile.

Bella held the tray with both hands, her manners like a maid.

"Bella, how did you know I was thirsty!" Sirin grabbed a glass and chugged it down, letting out a burp.

[Next came Bella's memories. As a Honkai Beast, she had gained human emotions and received her most important thing from Sirin: the name Bella.

The scene shifted. Shub, using high-frequency cutting, inflicted massive damage on Benares, but also caused irreversible damage to her own body. Just as she was about to succumb, a striking blue light merged with crimson.

"Salome…"

Shub looked up. Salome's phantom gave her a gentle smile. Together, they grabbed the still-under-development high-frequency weapon and plunged it into Benares's body.]