The Beginning

"...This is absolutely... insane." Einstein rubbed her messy hair, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at the report Mei had given her. "The consciousness within the Herrscher Core is gone?"

The Herrscher of Reason Core, unearthed from the ruins of Previous Civilization, disappeared from the core after arriving at headquarters.

Neither she nor Mei could possibly believe that the Herrscher consciousness had completely dissipated on the way back to headquarters after millions of years. Whether the Herrscher consciousness has completely died is still a question open to debate.

Then there's only one possibility.

The Herrscher consciousness escaped.

"Impossible, how could she leave the core without a body?" Einstein chewed on her coffee spoon, her mind racing. "Transportation personnel? Armed Puppet?"

The two most likely options came to mind.

"I have checked all the Armed Puppet and transport personnel at the time, and I can confirm that they were not possessed by the Herrscher's consciousness."

"..."

The discussion reached a stalemate. If the Herrscher consciousness did not leave through these people's bodies, then where could it be?

They must find the Herrscher's consciousness as soon as possible. Even if she leaves the Herrscher Core, she probably won't be able to use her powers, or at least not the near-miraculous powers she used when she was in the core. But no matter what, she is still the consciousness of an absolutely anti-human personality monster.

"Wait a minute... what if she didn't escape using a ready-made body?" Einstein had a bold conjecture in his mind at this moment.

It was discovered along with the Herrscher Core, but there's something else worth noting.

Upon hearing this, Mei retrieved the containment data for Soul Steel. After glancing at it, she calmly asked, "Doctor Einstein, what was the mass of Soul Steel when you discovered it?"

Einstein gave a number.

Mei fell silent.

Einstein, through her silence, confirmed that his conjecture was correct.

Soul Steel is a metal with high plasticity under special conditions. Even if it loses some of its mass, it can still be reshaped into the exact same form using the remaining parts.

Between the time Einstein first discovered Soul Steel and when it was finally contained, a portion of its mass was lost.

This part is exactly... the mass of an average human being.

"I think I know who it is."

Mei pushed up her glasses.

"You know... wait, you mean you've actually been suspecting someone for a while now?"

"It's less about suspicion and more about finding definitive evidence."

"Then why don't you hurry up..."

"I've already started experimenting on her."

Mei smiled, but her smile was devoid of any warmth.

"Herrscher should be humanity's natural enemy."

Do you want your plans to be discovered by humans?

"If I reveal my plan, you might also inform humanity." Xingcai's voice seemed to vibrate in the air. "Therefore, rejected."

"..."

The girl naturally knew that it was unrealistic to question Xingcai in this way.

But what she wanted to test was Xingcai's logic.

"My next actions will depend on your objectives. If your objectives do not conflict with mine, I will not inform humanity and will assist you."

After hearing this, Xingcai began a process of logical deduction.

This creature with a human-like appearance is not human. According to human data, she has a high degree of overlap with the Herrscher, and there are also some similarities between the Herrscher and Starry Night.

Before long, the conclusion was reached when the logic deduced that the Herrscher were enemies of humanity.

"I understand. Next, I will explain the purpose of my plan."

A disdainful smile appeared on the pretty face beneath the girl's helmet, as if she had already anticipated the level of intelligence of these alien races.

However, she sensed something "abnormal" about what Xingcai had just said.

"My plan."

Why "mine"? This couldn't possibly be a slip of the tongue caused by differences in perception between extraterrestrial and human civilizations.

Could it be that it has a personal plan that contradicts its own race?

No... a race that takes logic as the foundation of everything is incapable of having differing opinions.

Disagreements...?

The girl suddenly understood why it used a term like "my plan," which refers to an individual.

From the very beginning, they were both a "whole" and an "individual".

"My purpose is..."

If we say that the thinking of a race is based on a set of logic, after abandoning their original bodies, they gather their thoughts together and condense them into a huge, indivisible whole, and that whole is also the individual of each star.

So, all the glitter that humans have seen so far is probably just...

"Xingcai" is merely a puppet controlled by the alien entity's consciousness.

From the very beginning, there was only one "Star".

"Seize the Earth's resources and the Herrscher Core possessed by humanity, and transform the separated individual human consciousnesses into a unified whole."

For civilizations of this form of existence, oneness is totality, and totality is oneness. Simultaneously, they will make the most "fundamental" judgment regarding human civilizations, where individual differences are significant—

Let humanity also become the same form of existence.

"If humanity refuses, I will summon Planetary Honkai Beast from the Centaurus system."

"Destroy this planet."

Without any pity or emotion, it was as if a mechanical god had simply issued a divine decree.

At that moment, the girl realized that Xingcai was not a concept of an "alien civilization" that had left its homeland, but rather a civilization with a strong purpose of invasion, colonization, and assimilation...

Alien invaders.

Chapter 75 begins

Sakura's skills are among the best of the best in the Fire Moth. After one major Honkai after another, and with wave after wave of soldiers coming and going, there are not many people who can compete with this female assassin who joined not long ago.

But that only applies to those "at the very top of humanity".

As mentioned before, even the seemingly clumsy large Honkai Beast can move at speeds comparable to a car with the accelerator floored. With a mere gesture, they can cause mountains to crumble and the earth to split. Humans are almost no match for them, and fighting them relies more on "experience."

What Sakura lacks is precisely the "experience" of fighting against large monsters with peculiar abilities.

"Bang!"

After using a grappling hook to grab Sakura, who was about to be crushed into mincemeat, Lin grabbed Sakura's arm with one hand. Her once strong hand muscles were now so weak and powerless, more like a girl's hand than ever before, with large areas of burned skin peeling off half of her cheek.

Sakura had already reacted and tried to dodge, but she was still hit by the attack.

Heart rate, blood pressure, organs...

Lin quickly assessed Ying's condition and concluded that it was serious and required immediate treatment.

While dodging the Honkai Beast's attacks, he decisively took out a syringe, plunged it into Sakura's neck, and then swung out the grappling hook to retreat quickly.

The grappling hook, such outdated equipment, should have been phased out by now. The constantly improved high-mobility Jetpack is faster over short distances and can fly briefly in the air. However, Lin still asked the Research and Development Department to add it when making his new armor. For him, having a backup plan was already a habit.

In hindsight, keeping it is the right thing to do.

Lin instantly distanced himself from the Honkai Beast and landed next to their transport plane. There was no time to take off; he had to find a place to settle Sakura before fighting the Honkai Beast.

"Bang!"

The tentacles lashed out at Lin, who leaped away, and the transport plane beside him was split in two.

Wrong...

Was this Honkai Beast deliberately sabotaging the transport plane?

Lin hadn't noticed it at first, but now he realized that this Honkai Beast wasn't as Honkai Beast as the others. It calmly hid underground, ambushing and devouring two Emperor-class Honkai Beasts, prioritizing the inexperienced Sakura, and destroying their escape routes...

And then there's the method of flexibly combining different abilities to launch an attack...

Lin's gaze darkened.

These... no, this Starburst, it's not some exile who escaped because its home planet was contaminated by Honkai Energy at all; it's a genuine planetary raider.

These races with a collective consciousness have a strong desire to assimilate other races. After completing the racial transformation, the only thing that Xingcai retained was their desire to continue their race. So they abandoned their emotions and began to invade other planets.

It may not be able to match its research into spacetime technology in terms of military force, but it is enough to make it difficult for humanity to resist. What it wants to do is to obtain all of Earth with minimal losses.

Starting with the Fire-Chasing Moth, a human-led organization, they slowly infiltrated and transformed humanity, turning the Earth, inside and out, into a planet of starlight.

As for the Honkai... having already experienced a civilization Honkai, it has ample experience in dealing with it. The only thing it cannot control is the Herrscher, Honkai creature that did not appear in the Honkai of its home planet. Therefore, the Herrscher Core must also be obtained.

Moreover, it seems that the Herrscher can communicate.

However, when coincidences come together, common sense and reasoning are shattered.

"Is this what it means to be a creature that has abandoned emotions..." the girl murmured as she slowly stood up.

"The way Xingcai exists is superior to that of humans; the unpredictable nature of emotions can lead to..."

"Bass!"

The star's body instantly split in two.

The azure viewing window silently watched Xingcai's body fall. She knew that even if this individual died, it would not have any impact on Xingcai's collective consciousness.

The true form of a starfish does not reveal itself upon death, and its combat ability is significantly weaker when it has not shed its outer shell.

Therefore, the girl's surprise attack was highly effective both times.

"..."

So what's next?

The girl coldly examined the blurred corpse; even if she left it alone, it would be difficult for anyone to discover it.

But she was considering something else.

Should I tell the other humans? Although my identity will be exposed, based on my behavior, at most I'll just be isolated for observation and research.

So, should I say it?

Lin's face flashed before my eyes.

No...

For some reason she couldn't explain, she felt a resistance to revealing her identity, a resistance she hadn't felt when she first woke up in this era.

The earth crashed down on Sakura, and she groggily woke up. The tearing pain in her body immediately invigorated her spirits upon waking.

The swirling clouds, the hazy, confused mind captured images of a night sky torn apart.

The high temperature and the smell of burning filled her nostrils, and she couldn't tell whether it came from herself or from the surrounding environment.

"Boom!"

Something shook the ground, like a small earthquake, and after a heavy thud, all was quiet.

What happens?

Her memory was still stuck on Lin's urgent orders and the sudden surge of purple lightning into her body. Her memory was fragmented at that time, but that didn't stop her from guessing what happened afterward.

She fainted, and Lin would likely choose to fight the Honkai Beast to protect her.

So... is the battle over now?

Sakura was right; the battle was indeed over.

Lin collapsed to his knees, too weak to even breathe. His injuries were even worse than Sakura's; his entire body, from his left hand to his left shoulder, was gone—parts bitten off and devoured by the Honkai Beast.

This Honkai Beast has three cores.