Technology and Ruthless Tricks

"Please show me your passport."

Although Gu Yan had lost his passport, with the current level of technology, verifying someone's information was extremely simple.

"Please read this agreement carefully and sign it."

They took the documents from the person in charge, read them carefully, and signed their names without asking any further questions.

The contents were nothing more than an agreement to keep the truth about the nuclear strike confidential. Otherwise, they would be held responsible.

After all, letting ordinary civilians know that an inhumane individual capable of crafting nuclear bombs with her bare hands existed would cause extremely serious panic.

Although the existence of the First Herrscher had been disclosed to the top officials of every country, everyone generally believed that she was merely a special case. Moreover, her current area of activity was limited to the western regions of the Beautiful Country, so most other countries were unwilling to provoke her.

However, upholding the principles of humanitarianism, they would not provide military assistance, but they would still contribute to rescue efforts.

As for the constantly appearing Honkai beasts and Deathsworn, they only existed within the Herrscher's area of activity as well. People initially concluded that the Herrscher was the source of these disasters.

Everyone had the illusion that as long as the Beautiful Country eliminated the First Herrscher, everything would be completely over.

The lack of intelligence was extremely serious. After all, if the Beautiful Country could barely resist the First Herrscher, there was no way the matter would end there.

After the two signed the agreement, they could not return home immediately. They had to wait until the search and rescue operation was over before flying back.

"Brother Gu, could you have done what you just did?" Zhao Qi had finally found his ability to speak again.

"I guess so."

If Gu Yan possessed powerful offensive abilities and combined them with his own energy output, he could indeed have done it.

Although he could not do it now, that did not stop him from bragging to his good brother.

Xu Muchi had already landed on the ground and entered the tent that had just been set up.

She had to remain ready at all times to deal with any unexpected situation.

Although she was a transmigrator, she did not know exactly what Honkai and Herrschers were. She had only encountered those terms before transmigrating and had never deliberately learned about them.

After living for three thousand years, she had truly had enough. When she transmigrated to this world, she had possessed a system that helped her cultivate, grow, and even attain immortality. But after only a few years, the system had been erased by some existence. Her growth had come to a halt, and she had not advanced an inch for a thousand years.

She only wanted to return to her original world!

The system had once told her that time flowed differently there. A thousand years in this world would be no more than an instant there. As long as Xu Muchi returned to her original world, she could treat everything as though it had never happened and continue living her life.

Therefore, she wanted to go back!

In this world, Xu Muchi was immortal. Everyone and everything she knew and was familiar with aged and died before her eyes, while she alone remained unchanged.

Loneliness and bitterness—that was the immortality of a single person.

So when she heard the term "Herrscher," she had harbored a trace of fantasy.

If this was the world described in that Honkai game, then even if she could not return home, she could at least let her family know that she existed!

It clearly made no sense, but for some inexplicable reason, she agreed when the authorities asked her to escort them.

What a pity. This was not that world, though she did not know it.

As soon as she entered the tent, before she could even find a place to rest, Xu Muchi suddenly turned around and walked out. Her peerlessly beautiful face was filled with gravity.

Her instincts told her that something was about to happen!

Not far away, Gu Yan was helping set up a tent when he suddenly stopped as well. His heart rate rose sharply for no reason, and he began gasping for breath.

Thump, thump. Thump, thump!

Acting on instinct, he even felt an urge to turn around and run.

"What's wrong, Brother Gu? Are you already worn out?"

Zhao Qi was carrying two crates of supplies and was confused by Gu Yan's condition. Why did he suddenly look as though he had overexerted himself?

No one answered Zhao Qi, and the atmosphere at the scene became strange.

Two aircraft had already landed, while another continued circling in the sky as it waited.

Gu Yan did not move recklessly. He had just felt something lock onto him, so he followed that sensation and looked toward the distant sky.

There was nothing there except the blue sky, thin clouds, and the transport aircraft that had circled into his field of vision.

Boom!

The transport aircraft suddenly exploded. The sound of the explosion came several seconds later, breaking the silence among the group.

"Stay alert!"

Someone shouted, and everyone immediately went on guard.

The sounds of guns being loaded rang out. Xu Muchi gripped her longsword tightly, while Gu Yan bent his body slightly, Ice Cones ready to fire as they guarded against a possible attack.

Silence. Terrifying silence.

Who was the enemy? Where was the enemy?

No one knew.

"Such boring resistance."

A contemptuous voice rang out above everyone's heads, and the intruder's figure appeared out of thin air—

Ji held a deep-blue spear in her hand. Her chestnut hair hung loosely around her shoulders, and her eyes were filled with indifference. She stood atop a colossal creature and looked down at everyone like a queen.

The colossal creature was a thousand meters long, with a wingspan of eight hundred meters. Its entire body shimmered with a silvery metallic luster. It was unmistakably a Mechanical Dragon!

A construct of the Herrscher of Reason—the Mechanical Dragon, Morr!

Now that was some technology and ruthless trickery!

Ji swept her gaze across the area. When her eyes passed over Gu Yan, she stopped. Her expression shifted, and the corners of her lips curved slightly upward.

Just as expected, he was a Herrscher whose core had not yet fully formed! He could also be called her little brother!

As for those firearms, she chose to ignore them.

"Open fire!"

Unlike what Gu Yan knew, Ji possessed not only the Herrscher of Reason's "construction" authority but also the ability to "perceive." Thus, even though she had never studied Chinese, she could communicate without any difficulty.

Bang, bang, bang!

Clang, clang, clang!

The bullets were all blocked by a shield. Ji waved her hand lightly, and hundreds of floating cannons were constructed, bombarding the people on the ground while deliberately avoiding the area where Gu Yan stood.

The expected explosions never came. The floating cannons' attacks were blocked and devoured by an unknown defense.

Xu Muchi held two fingers together, her expression calm. She had been the one to do it just now.

"Hm?" Ji was somewhat surprised.

She blocked it?

Cold sweat poured down everyone's foreheads. From the moment the constructs were created to the moment their attack was blocked, barely a blink had passed. Repeatedly dancing on the brink of death was not an enjoyable feeling.

Gu Yan furrowed his brows. He did not know which of the two women was stronger, but he knew that the Herrscher of Reason would not care about ordinary people's lives. If they fought, she would certainly have no reservations.

Time for me to take the support role!

"You all go first!" Xu Muchi clearly knew that the situation was unfavorable. Since she had agreed to this escort mission, she had to take responsibility for these people.

"No. I refuse."

At some point, Ji was already hovering alone in the air. As she said those words, Morr lay across the group's escape route, its throat emitting a low rumble. It was unclear whether that was the sound of its engines or a warning.

Tsk. What a troublesome situation.

One powerful enemy of unknown strength and a Mechanical Dragon capable of optical camouflage.

They had not attacked directly yet. There were two possibilities: either they had vicious personalities and were toying with them, or they had not come to hurt anyone.

While Xu Muchi was pondering this, Gu Yan had already quietly approached the two women facing off.

Hm? What was this?

Xu Muchi was surprised to discover that all her abilities had suddenly improved, and her spiritual energy recovery had also increased by nearly half. With all these enhancements, she roughly estimated that her strength had increased by forty percent!

Moreover, none of these effects had any side effects!

What? Is this world playing the spiritual-energy-revival game too?

Even while facing a powerful enemy, she could not help looking back.

That foreign exchange student—a Support-Attribute Ability User? This support ability is already at the pinnacle. And the support from everyone else is completely useless to her now. The difference is like heaven and earth!

Ji was surprised as well. When she saw Gu Yan approaching, she thought her good little brother was going to follow her, which was why she had not attacked yet. She was even quite pleased.

He really understands his big sister!

However, Gu Yan stopped when he was about fifty meters from that woman. Immediately afterward, the woman's aura suddenly surged.

Ji: ???

What filial piety.

Gu Yan was also stunned. After approaching, he had thrown his buffs over, using Strong, Giant Strength, Swift Steps, and the others all at once. He had set their duration to the current maximum of five hours, and then...

Ding! Plunder effective. Constitution +200. Acquired abilities: Mustard Seed Space, Levitation.

Acquired buffs: Breath Concealment, Shadowless, passive Ancient Martial Arts Mastery Lv. 98.

Due to the target's unknown energy, converted into an increase of 800 HW to Honkai Energy output.

I refuse to believe this happened without persistence and hard work!

No, why are both of these women staring at me?

(At present, the ability would actually be more accurately called Imitation or Replication. However, after becoming the Third Herrscher, the ability will change. Only then will it truly qualify as Plunder.)