Victims

In the ruins of a city, Ji stood atop a high-rise that was still mostly intact. She withdrew her gaze from the distance, her emotions trembling faintly.

Part of her consciousness had merged with the God, so she knew many secrets. For example, she still had fifteen fellow Herrschers who had yet to be born.

There were fifteen more Herrschers.

At present, the Honkai across the world was still exceptionally "gentle." No unusual Honkai Energy reaction could escape Ji's perception.

Just now, Ji had detected a high-concentration Honkai Energy reaction, one far beyond that of any Honkai beast at this stage. This made her extremely interested—even excited.

We are all children of God...

Whoosh—

I must not get too excited. It hasn't been confirmed yet. It could also be that some powerful little fellow was born.

Ji had the strange feeling that she had become an elder. She even wanted to protect these existences whom others regarded as monsters, viewing them from the perspective of an "older sister."

"In any case, I have to go take a look. I can't let that little fellow feel lonely."

After all, we have already been born into this world—

"Morr! Come with me to Jinshan City." Ji called softly toward the distance before leaping forward.

"Roar!" A roar came from the thick smoke and flames in the distance, as though answering her.

We were born into this world, representing God's will.

"Stop staring. Someone that powerful doesn't like being watched. Look at that lovestruck face of yours!"

Inside a military transport plane, a veteran teased the young man beside him.

"Company Commander, you're making fun of me again! I'm just curious. Why doesn't that person take a plane? She's very powerful, but we're going to the Beautiful Country. That's an entire Pacific Ocean away!"

The young man gave an honest grin, seeming to realize that his behavior was a little foolish. His face was full of embarrassment.

"You fool, do you think you're the only one who knows the journey is long?"

The veteran laughed and scolded him without any real annoyance.

"Why do you think she came along? These planes are bringing tens of thousands of our compatriots home. She's following us to ensure our safety!"

With her traveling outside alongside them, any emergency could be resolved immediately.

The veteran closed his eyes and pretended to nap, ignoring the young man's shock and admiration. Yet inwardly, he was terribly curious as well.

What had the Beautiful Country done to provoke such a disaster? Had they really encountered aliens?

Ding! Plunder activated. Constitution +10. Buffs acquired: Intermediate Healing, Giant Strength. Honkai creature upgraded to LV13

Giant Strength: Strengthens the limbs, doubling strength.

Boom!

"Cough, cough. Why are there so many monsters? I feel like I wasted the first half of my life. Foreign countries are seriously exciting! Dying eight times a day is practically a low estimate!"

The clouds of dust obscured their vision, and the two took the opportunity to move away from where they had just been.

Gu Yan and Zhao Qi had already encountered several Assault-class Honkai beasts. With the two of them working together, they had dealt with them without the slightest pressure. But just after emerging from the cave, they ran into this fellow—

A ten-meter-tall Tank-class Honkai beast.

(Honkai beasts are divided into lower and upper tiers. The strength of lower-tier Honkai beasts is judged by their size, while they are graded by form. Upper-tier Honkai beasts are Emperor-class and Judgment-class.)

Gu Yan had already learned through Plunder that there were Honkai beasts outside, so he reacted quickly and grabbed Zhao Qi, narrowly dodging the Honkai beast's hammering blow.

But Zhao Qi's worldview seemed to have suffered a severe impact.

"What a pain!"

Trying to bully an honest man? Even a support like me has a temper!

Several Ice Cones appeared out of thin air around Gu Yan. Honkai Energy clung to their tips, and with a light flick of his finger, the Ice Cones shot out at a speed exceeding that of rifle bullets.

Its low intelligence did not allow it to feel fear. The Honkai beast let out a howl, its enormous body charging forward.

However, no twist occurred. After the Ice Cones pierced through the Honkai beast and precisely destroyed its energy core, the ten-meter-tall monster crashed to the ground.

As a half-baked Herrscher candidate, knowing exactly where a Honkai beast's energy core was made perfect sense!

"Brother Gu, you're incredible! You took down such a huge thing in one shot! From now on, you're my true brother, born of different parents! No one can change that!"

"Although you're praising me, I can't bring myself to feel happy." Mainly because it involved two grown men. It just felt strange.

Gu Yan did not say the latter part aloud. They were good brothers, after all. Leaving the other man some dignity was good for everyone!

"I understand. Brother Gu is worried about the country and its people, saving the world, unable to sleep at night..."

The corner of Gu Yan's mouth twitched. As expected of Zhao Qi.

I absolutely refuse to believe your goddess didn't label you "Simp Number One."

No, if he let Zhao Qi continue, he might not be able to control his fist.

"That's enough. There are too many people beneath us, and there are several more air-raid shelters nearby. More monsters will be drawn here. It's unrealistic for us to wait here for rescue. Who knows if there are even more troublesome ones?"

Seeing Gu Yan turn serious, Zhao Qi tactfully shut his mouth.

"I suggest we continue east, away from the urban area, and find an open place with a clean water source."

Jinshan City was on the western coast. Heading east would take them upstream along the river, which should not have been contaminated by radiation.

The technology of this world was somewhat more advanced. Zhao Qi's phone was still intact. As long as he sent out a distress signal and kept carrying it, rescuers would have little trouble locating the two of them.

"Why don't we just go to another city? As two Ability Users, it shouldn't be difficult, right?"

Zhao Qi was puzzled. If they could rely on themselves, why did they have to wait for someone else to rescue them?

"We need to recognize our position, Zhao Qi!" Gu Yan's expression grew solemn, and his voice became heavier.

"We can't explain what happened today. The people of this country and the media of this society won't care!"

"It's enough for us to act as victims. This isn't our country. After something this major, the fact that the two of us are Huaguo citizens who emerged completely unharmed will cause public opinion here to swallow us whole, bones and all!"

Put plainly, the two of them simply lacked sufficient strength and background.

Was Zhao Qi strong? Perhaps he had potential, but he could not even defeat an Assault-class Honkai beast right now. He was far from being someone others needed to fear.

Was Gu Yan strong? Perhaps. He might be able to wipe out ten or twenty teams of Ability Users at present, but how did that compare with the Herrscher of Reason? People liked to squeeze soft persimmons. If you were softer, then sorry—the blame would be handed to you. Better carry it properly.

The Beautiful Country could not do anything about the Herrscher for the time being. They needed a conspicuous target to divert their people's anger, and the two who had escaped on their own were the perfect targets.

You had the ability to save yourselves, so why didn't you save anyone else?

Another world—the game about the Honkai—had mentioned a similar story:

Why were you the only one who was fine?

Everyone else died. Why were you unharmed?

Why wasn't it you who died?

"Disaster did not break us, but our fellow human beings did."

The dead were innocent, and the survivors were innocent. But anyone who survived among a group of dead people was guilty.

Therefore, the two of them needed to maintain the position of a vulnerable group. Ideally, they should wait for rescue from Huaguo—

After all, the local military could not spare the manpower, while Huaguo was racing against every second in its rescue efforts. Their own compatriots were ultimately more trustworthy.

Zhao Qi fell silent. He was not stupid. Gu Yan's words were harsh and realistic. Neither of them had the strength or background to back themselves up.

At least, not now.