You Need Your Own Resolve

Saint 7308 Research Institute

"Ryusuke, Ryusuke, this is bad! Something huge happened!"

Ryusuke Murata had been in the laboratory researching how to repair the Fourth Divine Key when Mint Candy suddenly jumped onto his shoulder.

"What happened? Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on Himeko? What could possibly go wrong?" Ryusuke smiled, but his gaze was icy.

"I just finished watching a movie and got bored, so I went out to play. Then I suddenly detected a powerful Honkai Energy reaction—over 200HW—near the theater." Before Mint Candy could finish, Ryusuke grabbed her and headed for the institute's operations room.

When the operations room screens were activated, quite a few people were already inside because of the recent intrusion. Mint Candy had no choice but to hide in Ryusuke's pocket first.

"Director Ryusuke."

The staff members passing by all greeted him. Ryusuke merely nodded with a cold expression, leaving them somewhat awkward.

"What's going on? Director Ryusuke looks so serious!"

"Maybe he ran into another problem at work."

"Then why is he in the operations room?"

"How would I know? Come on, let's go."

Ryusuke simply opened a screen and brought up the data panel. A map of the entire Earth appeared before him. He quickly pinpointed Himeko's location, and satellite positioning and scans confirmed it: a high concentration of Honkai Energy had appeared around that area.

The energy level was no longer the 200HW Mint Candy had mentioned. It had already broken through 500HW, yet instead of spreading outward like radiation, it was showing signs of contraction.

"Is a Herrscher about to be born?" Ryusuke froze, staring at the panel as he muttered. The operations personnel around him noticed it as well, and the entire room immediately sprang into action.

"America G047 Base, this is Saint 7308. A high-concentration Honkai Energy reaction has been detected in California. Energy levels have exceeded 500HW and are still rising. Dispatch a Valkyrie combat squad immediately."

"Calling headquarters, this is Saint 7308. A high-concentration Honkai Energy reaction has been detected in California, America. A Herrscher is suspected. Send reinforcements immediately."

"A high-concentration Honkai Energy reaction has been detected in Las Vegas, America. The energy level has reached 200HW. Wait, the energy reaction has disappeared."

"Don't make false reports!"

The operations room instantly erupted into chaos. Ryusuke was squeezed away from the console and could only stand behind the others, watching the energy level of the red dot on the screen rise without end.

Ryusuke's expression turned grim, but he could not leave this place. Left with no choice, he once again asked Mint Candy to go there. "Mint Candy, sorry for the trouble, but I need you to make another trip."

"But I can't deal with that creepy thing either. It looks exactly like you humans, but it doesn't have any thoughts." Mint Candy sat in Ryusuke's pocket eating candy, sounding helpless. She had originally wanted to use her abilities to get rid of that creepy thing herself.

Ryusuke bit his lip. "You don't need to. Just take Himeko away. I'll contact headquarters and have that monster dealt with as soon as possible. Please."

Seeing how resolute Ryusuke was, Mint Candy knew there was no way to persuade him. She sighed. "Sigh, no helping it. We're friends, after all. I'll make another trip, then!"

With that, Mint Candy jumped into a wormhole.

Ryusuke squeezed his way in, took over the workstation of the person contacting headquarters, and said directly, "I am Ryusuke Murata, person in charge of Saint 7308. I request that headquarters contact Lord Bishop."

A burst of static suddenly came through the communication line. Then blue light flashed across the screen, revealing a blond man seated upon a throne. Holding a wineglass, he looked at them through the screen, his green eyes filled with calm indifference.

"My dear Director Murata, what is it?"

The moment the man appeared, the entire operations room fell silent. Only his voice and Ryusuke's could be heard.

Ryusuke Murata stood before the screen and looked at the man. "Lord Bishop, high-concentration Honkai Energy has appeared in California, America. The energy reaction has reached 500HW and is still rising, but it has not erupted directly. A Herrscher is suspected to be forming."

The blond man straightened slightly, his gaze seeming to pierce through Ryusuke's body. "Do you understand what you are saying, Director Murata?"

His voice was low. Everyone in the operations room looked at Ryusuke, not daring to breathe loudly. Ryusuke's expression did not change. "Bishop Otto, based on this continuously contracting and rising energy reaction, the birth of a Herrscher is not impossible. Compared to past incidents, once this energy erupts, it will sweep across all of California in an instant. If we do not act now, it will be too late."

Ryusuke stared fixedly at the person on the screen, the man named Otto Apocalypse.

Otto's eyes flickered. He glanced at Ryusuke, took a sip of the wine in his hand, and smiled. "If that is the case, it is already too late to dispatch a Valkyrie force. The only option is to launch missiles now and erase that entire area. But I leave that decision to you, Director Murata. I trust your judgment. However, America is Anti-Entropy territory. You need your own resolve as well."

After placing his wineglass onto the tray held by Amber beside him, Otto cut off the communication himself. The image on the screen changed into coordinates, centered on the energy reaction, with everything within a thousand meters marked in red.

Pale hands covered the console. Ryusuke fell silent, while the operations room became noisy. Most of them were urging him not to press it.

After all, the area was currently only about fifty square meters. But once Ryusuke pressed that button, this would no longer be an ordinary incident, because the authorization Otto had granted was clearly not for one or two missiles.

To destroy a Herrscher, they would have to strike it directly with maximum firepower and obliterate it completely.

His hand trembled slightly, but Ryusuke still pressed the launch button. After a brief moment of thought, he had made his decision.

"Target locked. Coordinates confirmed. Authorizer: Otto Apocalypse. Executor: Ryusuke Murata."

As the people in the operations room watched towering objects rise one after another from America G047 Base, like immense towers, they watched those towers vanish into the horizon amid dazzling flames. Their voices seemed to have been stolen away.

"Hey, Saint 7308! What the hell are you bastards doing?!"

"You'll be judged for this!"

Amid the horrified stares of those in the operations room and the furious curses from America G047 Base, Ryusuke silently left.

At the Anti-Entropy base, Einstein had just assisted Welt in dealing with that Clone I in Las Vegas when she suddenly heard Tesla curse, "Those Schicksal bastards actually launched missiles directly! They've completely lost their minds!"

"What?" Einstein was shocked as well. Why would Schicksal make such an unwise move now?

"Tesla, what did you just say?!"

Welt Yang, who was still in Las Vegas, heard her words with his extraordinary hearing and hurriedly asked. Before him was a massive pit, so deep it seemed bottomless.

There were dark-red fragments and scraps inside the pit.

Einstein took a look, then directly operated the screen before her, using radar and satellites to determine where the missiles launched from America G047 Base were headed.

She also obtained an approximate range for the impact point of each missile.

Once she confirmed the coordinate ranges, Einstein sent them to Welt Yang. "Alliance Leader, go deal with the California situation first. I've sent you the coordinates. Tesla and I will see whether we can intercept these missiles in advance."

Welt Yang glanced at the coordinates he had received:

37°22'13"N

122°02'26"W

Blue light immediately appeared around Welt Yang, assembling piece by piece like building blocks until it formed an aircraft. Under Welt's control, the aircraft actually began to fly.

The huge pit here was soon filled in by the engineering team that rushed over, and they even put up a sign reading: Construction in Progress.

All surveillance footage had failed, and there were no witnesses. It was as if nothing had happened.

The aircraft Welt Yang had constructed using the authority of the Herrscher of Reason arrived above California ten minutes later.

The continuously gathering Honkai Energy naturally could not escape Welt's senses. He soon spotted Li Ming locked in battle with Clone I.

Although he had heard from Cocolia about this student's capabilities, he was still astonished. Li Ming was actually fighting Clone I on even terms with his mortal flesh, and even seemed to be gradually suppressing Clone I.

Seeing this, Welt stopped worrying. He found a high point and began using the authority of the Herrscher of Reason to search for and eliminate the missiles Schicksal had launched.

However, a sudden disturbance nearby distracted him. He scanned the surroundings, yet found nothing amiss.

Meanwhile, over at Himeko's side—

Seeing Li Ming and that monster leave, Himeko ran downstairs once she was sure there was no danger. But just as she reached the ground floor, Mint Candy rushed over from Ryusuke Murata.

After looking around, Mint Candy spotted Himeko, who had just come downstairs not far away. The moment she jumped onto Himeko, Himeko suddenly fell unconscious.

The instant Himeko collapsed, a wormhole framed like a doorway appeared. Vine-like things extended from Mint Candy's body and dragged Himeko into the wormhole.

"That should count as completing Ryusuke's task, right? No, I have to make him bring me more food later. Doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, toffee..."

Mint Candy sat on the ground and caught her breath. Dragging Himeko in just now had taken quite a bit of effort.

Then Mint Candy saw the person she least wanted to see. "Great, now I've got a headache coming."

Welt Yang used satellites to lock onto those missiles. Einstein and Tesla had also intercepted most of them after obtaining America's approval, but unfortunately, several missiles had fallen outside the locked coordinate range.

Fortunately, Welt had just identified the trajectories of the remaining strays. All he needed to do now was destroy them.

Several cannon barrels appeared out of thin air, along with shells.

At Welt's command, the barrels aimed toward the sky. Then, when the missile trails could faintly be seen on the horizon, Welt fired. Blue cannon fire shot straight into the heavens like brilliant meteors.

However, most people in California did not witness this awe-inspiring sight. A disturbance had suddenly broken out around the DreamWorks theater earlier, and the area had been surrounded by the security force. The encirclement kept expanding, and California began issuing public notices telling everyone to hide.

They might not have believed it, but the gunshots were real. With such a huge disturbance going on, even an idiot would not run over there to get themselves killed.

Thus, those hiding at home naturally had no chance to see the blue cannon fire streaking across the sky. But those who did have a chance to see it had already been frightened into hiding when they saw the missiles.

That left only the security force and Li Ming.

Director Fiss stared at the cannon fire piercing the sky and intercepting the missiles, his mouth wide enough to fit two lightbulbs. After recovering, he roared into his radio, "You saw that thing, didn't you, you bastard?! What the hell was that? And why are there missiles?! You people—"

Though Director Fiss was agitated, the voice on the other end remained cold. "Everything is classified. Director Fiss, you have no authority to inquire."

"No, you ****, you damn—"

Even Director Fiss, who normally had a good temper, could not help swearing.

But the other side did not give a damn and simply cut off the communication.

He had originally wanted them to use that weapon to support this side, but before he could say it, something went wrong with Li Ming. That monster suddenly erupted, and the situation where Li Ming had been suppressing it was instantly reversed.

And the pressure did not remain within fifty meters. Even the security force was caught within the gravity field. Caught off guard, Fiss was slammed to the ground, feeling as if an elephant were standing on his body.

He barely raised his head, only to find all the surrounding team members had collapsed. Some were in such pain that they wanted to scream, only to discover that they could not make a sound at all.

Director Fiss's heart skipped a beat. What had happened?

The gravity field's sudden eruption caught everyone off guard. Li Ming looked at the core right before him, but he was powerless to do anything.

And as the light the core emitted grew increasingly intense, Li Ming discovered that his HP and SP were being consumed faster and faster.

Only ten seconds had passed, but Li Ming felt as if ten years had gone by. It was as though that core had drained away both his physical strength and mental energy.

At the same time, Candlelight Armor: First Light on Li Ming's body glowed faintly red, seemingly synchronizing with the core.

Li Ming had a premonition that once the light of Candlelight Armor: First Light completely synchronized with the core's glow, he would probably die.

The armor's internal energy system began issuing repeated warnings. "Warning. Armor energy has lost 30%. Armor energy will be completely depleted in 20 seconds."

Did he only have twenty seconds left to live?

Under the gravity field's pressure, Li Ming felt as though even his thoughts were being suppressed by gravity. His thinking was slow and sluggish.

He only vaguely saw a flicker of blue light pass behind that monster, but what concerned him more was the red, unknown substance writhing like blood vessels across the monster's cheeks and neck.

He had initially assumed it was a special effect of this upgraded Code??? Clone I. But then he noticed a red mechanical creature, like an octopus, slowly moving toward Code??? Clone I's pupil.

Before Li Ming could take a closer look, black light flashed. A huge pit appeared beneath Code??? Clone I's feet, and the entire Clone I was crushed into fragments like dust.

Only half a shattered core remained before Li Ming.

Staring blankly at the half-gem before him, Li Ming suddenly took a sharp breath, and his mind began racing.

"What the hell was that just now?"