Calamity

By the time Angela reached the conference room, it was already empty. However, two sheets of paper and three buckets of ramen had been left on the table, while the screen in the center was still on. It displayed: "Honkai has arrived. Please head there immediately. For details, refer to the materials."

Angela walked over, picked up the papers, and examined them carefully. She discovered that they were the materials she and Huang Hao had issued five years ago. Apart from the added location and time, nothing else had changed.

Since she had failed to mark the location in advance (she had forgotten), and had been delayed while helping Pado, no one was there to guide her. She could only follow the navigation.

While Angela hurried along without stopping, most of the Fusion Warriors had already reached the battlefield and begun fighting. Because the materials had been distributed in advance, no one recklessly tried anything. After a warrior had charged in and been instantly taken down, they found a volunteer to drag him back and withdrew one kilometer, setting up a cordon.

But the Herrscher had appeared in the city center, where countless civilians still remained. However, for the sake of making a long-term plan, they ultimately gave up on that area. Although most of them were unwilling, allowing the dead soldiers and Honkai Beasts to continue would only increase the casualties. Thus, most of the warriors left, while some Ace Soldiers and support medics stayed behind so that anyone who escaped could receive immediate aid.

And what about Huang Hao?

"Capture."

Someone raised a cannon and captured Huang Hao's rook. Then, with all the surrounding squares occupied by his own pieces, Huang Hao's king was trapped—checkmate.

"Aw, all the pieces were the same. How did I lose?"

Huang Hao scratched his head in frustration and asked the person opposite him. But there was only Huang Hao in the space. So who was sitting across from him?

The space existed in reality. What did that have to do with thoughts? The opponent was precisely the "Huang Hao" from inside his mind earlier.

That "Huang Hao" spoke leisurely. "You and I are different. You're too impatient. You capture whenever there's a piece to take and occupy every open square, but you're unwilling to sacrifice any other pieces. In the end, you were dragged down and ruined the whole game."

"But keeping your pieces is what gives you strength."

"But the ultimate goal is to win."

Amid their argument (because neither of them could accept losing), the two went back and forth, each getting a word in. In the end, the fake Huang Hao used the excuse that he had "won" to make Huang Hao shut up.

"No matter how much you argue, the result is still the same. Come on, let's play another round."

Huang Hao had no choice. He helped tidy up the chessboard and prepared to play again, but halfway through cleaning up, the fake Huang Hao suddenly raised his head. "Something's coming. Go back and deal with the problem outside first."

"The problem from before... I still haven't figured it out..."

"I mean outside."

As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Hao emerged. He opened his eyes in an instant and began panting heavily as he adjusted. "***... I could've come out by myself..."

"What? Did you see that wonderful scene again?"

Hearing the surround sound, Huang Hao knew that awful thing had appeared again.

Honkai Will: "Are you still thinking about what's outside? I've brought you something good."

It said this and moved to turn on the screen. Huang Hao was too lazy to stop it again and complained, "Don't you have any other tricks? How many times has this happened already? And besides, are you Honkai or the Dominion Herrscher? All you do is attack people's hearts."

"It works pretty well against you."

"Why me?"

"You're a miraculous accident."

He understood. Huang Hao realized that Honkai knew he came from the Imaginary Tree. They wanted hope too.

"Give it up. You can't possibly succeed."

"We can succeed right now."

"This isn't success. It's only a truce."

After Huang Hao said this, he sensed Honkai pause noticeably, but it still brought up the screen and then fell silent.

However, one thing felt wrong to Huang Hao. "Why is Honkai being so obedient? It's actually being pretty nice. If I'd known, I would've paid closer attention to the plot."