The laboratory was thoroughly destroyed in the ultimate outburst of power, and the power stored within the Stigmata was completely exhausted. Amidst this intense outbreak of Honkai Energy, God knows how many people in the entire industrial zone were infected by the Honkai and turned into the undead. But since they were all personnel participating in the Stigmata Project, they must have prepared themselves for a bad end.
Griseo stood among the collapsed buildings and burning flames as a spatial fissure suddenly opened. She stepped inside and returned to the Theater of Domination.
Outside of Shencheng Pharmaceuticals, Kiana, who had just sneaked in and bypassed the machine guards, looked up toward the place where the explosion had occurred.
Chapter 74: Stigmata Undead
The sudden Honkai incident instantly shattered the peace of Shencheng Pharmaceuticals. Piercing alarm sounds began to echo continuously, stimulating everyone's nerves.
After receiving the defense alert, a large number of patrol robots quickly moved in the direction of the industrial zone, and for a time, the Shencheng building gradually grew empty.
Watching the groups of mecha units passing by below her, Kiana, who had anchored herself to the ceiling using the Spears of the Void, frowned.
Honkai? Why here? She had not sensed the fluctuation of space being torn apart, which indicated that this outbreak was not caused by a Honkai Beast attack. Since it was not a naturally caused disaster, it meant that a massive amount of Honkai Energy had leaked.
At this moment, Kiana realized that she might have already found the answer hidden within Shencheng Pharmaceuticals.
Releasing her grip, Kiana dropped from the high vantage point and lightly executed a roll upon the ground to absorb the impact. Just as she prepared to tail the mecha unit toward the industrial zone, two figures jumped down from the roof of the industrial building and hurried toward her.
Startled inwardly, Kiana immediately abandoned her movement, jumped onto the second-floor glass platform with the help of the first-floor lobby reception desk, and then pressed her body tightly against the wall.
"...Can you still hold on?" A cold female voice drew from far to near. Kiana held her breath and quietly listened to their conversation.
"You came too late. If I hadn't used the serum, I definitely would have died down there."
"Isn't that your own fault? It's not the first time a test subject has gone out of control." The two voices gradually drew closer to the elevator of Shencheng Pharmaceuticals. Kiana exposed half of her body, only to see a woman supporting... a Honkai Beast?
But Kiana quickly reacted that it was not a Honkai Beast, but a human, because a Honkai Beast could not possibly have such a small stature.
What kind of experiments were they actually doing?
At this time, Kiana's mind was filled with doubt. This was her first time seeing a human who could turn themselves into a Honkai Beast while still retaining their own consciousness. If she wasn't certain this was a technological world, she would have suspected she had accidentally wandered into a fantasy setting.
"You'd better heal yourself first. Right now, Schicksal is staring at us like a hawk, and the commotion you caused will probably be discovered soon." Pressing the elevator's descent button, Raven sent Jackal down to the underground backup laboratory. As an important scientist of World Serpent, her role was extremely critical. Now that the Venerable Lord of World Serpent was about to descend, many experiments still required her to resolve them.
"Hah..." Jackal breathed heavily. The effect of the Honkai-beastification serum was fading, and the injuries her body had suffered continuously fed back to her.
This failure was the hardest fall she had ever taken, yet she didn't have the slightest intention of being discouraged.
The stronger the combat power of the test subject, the more it proved that the direction of her research was not wrong. The reason for failure was simply because the preparation was not sufficient enough. It must have been that World Serpent's security personnel were too weak. Once the Venerable Lord descended, she would have him personally—
Interrupting her own train of thought, although Jackal's focus was entirely on experiments, she also knew that if she opened her mouth to ask Kevin to act as a security guard, she wouldn't even need to pick a cemetery; she would be cremated on the spot.
Thus, she shifted her gaze to Raven. Looking at the other's cool feather cloak, a thought popped into her mind.
"Why don't you come and be my security guard then? If a test subject goes out of control again, just use your red claws to scratch it fiercely."
"..." Her complexion gradually turned ugly. Raven glanced at Jackal and was already plotting how to dispose of a colleague without leaving a trace. Just as she wanted to say something, she discovered a figure in the reflection of the elevator doors.
"Who?!" Casually tossing Jackal to the ground, Raven immediately drew her bowstring and loosed an arrow toward Kiana's location.
Thwack—
The arrow was blocked by the Spears of the Void. Utilizing the support of the railing, Kiana directly shattered the window and burst out.
Raven wanted to pursue, but Jackal's condition was not optimistic either. After a moment of thought, she decided to send this troublesome fellow to the laboratory first.
After leaving the Shencheng Pharmaceuticals building, Kiana immediately rushed to the industrial zone. She had already heard the critical information: this Honkai outbreak was indeed caused by Shencheng Technology's experiments, which meant that those previous outbreaks in Sky City probably had an inseparable connection to them.
Now what she needed was to find the smoking-gun evidence. Listening to the conversation of those two people, this experiment had obviously failed, and even powerful test subjects had appeared. Perhaps she could find crucial evidence from the abandoned laboratory. Moreover, although Shencheng Pharmaceuticals could be ignored, Kiana could not ignore the Honkai outbreak. Once it spread, the entire Sky City would be affected, and those citizens were completely innocent.
The explosion in the industrial zone had indeed attracted widespread attention. A large number of undead infected by the Honkai began to spread toward the residential areas, and as the concentration of Honkai continued to rise, Honkai Beasts in the void were also attracted and appeared in reality.
Shencheng Pharmaceuticals' mecha unit was not weak, but under the endless tide of Honkai Beasts and undead, it still retreated step by step. Meanwhile, the official patrol mecha units and ground disposal troops were also rapidly reinforcing, yet they still could not conceal their declining momentum.
"This is impossible. If it were only the industrial zone, it shouldn't be possible to gather so many undead. And their clothing doesn't look like staff members, but more like ordinary citizens." After participating in the rescue battle, Kiana immediately noticed the differences in these undead. More importantly, she actually saw strange patterns on some of the undead. If she remembered correctly, these should be Schicksal's exclusive Valkyrie Stigmata...
In other words, the disaster that occurred in Sky City was indeed related to Schicksal? Kiana did not immediately jump to a conclusion; she merely reserved her suspicion.
The industrial zone gathering so many civilians was very likely because Shencheng Pharmaceuticals was using civilians for experiments. Those people who were transferred into Shencheng Pharmaceuticals to receive treatment were very likely the victims of this Honkai.
The clues in her mind gradually became clear. Looking at the increasingly fierce flames in the industrial zone, she gritted her teeth and charged straight in.
After breaking into the industrial zone, Kiana was somewhat surprised to find that compared to the fierce flames and Honkai outside, the interior here was quite quiet. Many facilities were still operating, and the structure had not been damaged.
"Did the Honkai fail to reach here? Or are you saying the Honkai outside was actually deliberately triggered by someone?" Matters were gradually becoming complicated. If the outside Honkai was deliberately triggered by Shencheng Pharmaceuticals, what were they hiding?
The interior of the industrial zone was empty. Kiana passed through an electric gate, and a large computer currently in operation came into her view. On the electronic screen, quite a bit of data was still recorded.
"Conjectures and Research on the Stigmata Project..."
Chapter 75: Test Subject
"Stigmata, the most important treasure in human history. It is not a product of natural evolution, but a miracle of previous-civilization biotechnology. Its principle and form of action still have many unresolved mysteries to this day."
"Humans carrying Stigmata possess stronger Honkai Energy adaptability and control, thereby manifesting all kinds of incredible powers."
"However, with the iterative mutation and exchange of genetic genes, the originally complete Stigmata genome was shattered."
"Therefore, although humans nowadays carry Stigmata genes, it is difficult to form a complete pattern, making it impossible to awaken natural Stigmata."
"Schicksal utilizes them through the means of artificially implanting Stigmata, but this is merely a clumsy imitation. Under the Snake's revelation, we have achieved a leap forward in development."
"We have obtained the means to artificially intervene in Stigmata awakening, although this technology carries extreme risks. Once it fails, humans will be reduced to undead, but everything is worthwhile."
"To accelerate the research progress of the project, we chose a densely populated city to conduct experiments..."
The moment she saw these messages, a word popped into Kiana's mind—madness.
"They plan to use an entire city, millions of people, as experimental material. Without a doubt, Sky City was the chosen place."
"No wonder Honkai incidents emerge endlessly; as expected, it's because Shencheng Pharmaceuticals keeps experimenting?" Kiana clenched her fists. Thinking of how many innocent civilians suffered from the Honkai's harm—and even some civilians she had rescued who went to Shencheng seeking medical treatment, only to be deceived into signing voluntary test subject agreements and reduced to test subjects—she felt a intense rage burning within her chest.
There were still quite a few documents inside the computer, which also included some specific test subject forms. These data were displayed before her without any protection whatsoever, simply as if someone had deliberately wanted her to see them.
But now was not the time to think about this so much. These data truly existed, so who guided her no longer mattered.
She continued viewing the test subject forms. These test subjects only had simple numbers and photos, without any recorded names. However, when she saw two familiar photos, as if struck by lightning, Kiana's entire body trembled.
"Griseo..."
"And Su Jue's... mother."
After Griseo had been missing for so many days, Kiana still persisted in tracking down her clues because a shred of wishful thinking still remained in her heart—as long as she tried hard enough, she could bring her back. However, when she saw this file, and saw the densely packed experimental processes written at the bottom of the file, that last shred of wishful thinking was also torn to pieces.
As if out of a morbid sense of humor, this computer specially recorded complete videos and audio recordings of the completed experimental process.
Listening to Griseo's painful screams while undergoing inhumane experiments.
Watching her body tissue being sliced open, studied piece by piece.
Watching her being injected with a special Honkai serum, her entire skin torn apart by the Honkai and soaked in blood.
Watching her once-vibrant body gradually ravaged under the effect of drugs, her skin covered in densely packed needle punctures, the sutured threads making her like an undamaged ragdoll randomly patched together.
Until the end of the experiment, the young girl's screams grew fainter and fainter, and her body gradually lost response, yet the experimental personnel still did not let her go. Instead, they experimentally transplanted Honkai Beast limbs onto the girl's body, attempting to transform her into a monster.
Her mind was filled with these cruel images, yet the continuously flashing memories spliced the starry sky, the young girl, and these images together, constantly attacking her thinking and dragging her sanity step by step into the abyss.
Ultimately, it transformed into that night, that lost and wandering little girl standing lonely by the roadside, waiting for her help. Yet she had ruthlessly chosen to leave.
The gold in her eyes grew increasingly rich. Sirin, who had been suppressed for a long time, began to revive, and even the Honkai Energy in the air was climbing step by step.
"No!" Just as her sanity was about to snap, a Spear of the Void pierced through her palm. Kiana forcefully pressed her bleeding hand against her right eye, as if her strength had been drained away.
"No, not here... He is still in this city."
Even if the world was darker still, there were people she needed to protect waiting for herself.
Strong self-blame and remorse intertwined in her heart, but along this journey's path, there were still people illuminating the road ahead for her, whether it was Himeko or Su Jue...
"At least let me atone for my sins to him in person..."
"Kiana, if you've made a mistake, then try your utmost to make up for it. If the result can no longer be changed, then make yourself better and never commit the same mistake again."
In a trance of spirit, Kiana seemed to see that figure who had lit up the sky holding her body.
"Kiana, don't give up."
"Himeko-sensei..." Tears fell along her cheeks. Kiana wanted to hold that figure, but it could only dissipate like foam.
Her crumbling spirit was yanked back from the edge of the cliff. Kiana, sitting limply on the ground, propped up her body and looked at the computer before her. A Spear of the Void directly pierced through it.
After the computer collapsed, the electronic chip storing the information was also ejected. Kiana wiped away her tears and took the chip into her hand. Looking at Shencheng Technology once again, her eyes were already filled with hatred.
Pitter-pat—
Pitter-pat—
Just as Kiana prepared to leave this place and completely destroy Shencheng Technology's conspiracy, the sound of bare feet stepping on ceramic flooring echoed in the empty hall.
A petite figure stepped out from the darkness. Her entire body was shrouded in a baggy white coat, making even her facial features impossible to see clearly. But judging from her exposed forearms and bare feet, her body had been severely eroded, and her walking posture was no different from the undead.
Gathering her thoughts, which had been previously filled with pain, Kiana picked up the Spear of the Void in her hand. She could not give up yet, nor could she fall here—at least not until she destroyed Shencheng Technology, after which she would spend the rest of her life in atonement.
"Undead or enemy?"
To Kiana's voice, the petite figure gave no reply whatsoever. Instead, miscellaneous items such as railings and tables around her began to twist and break. Subsequently, they were lifted into the air by an unseen force and shot flying toward Kiana.
Chapter 76: Good Night
Boom—
Driven by violent power, the flying equipment directly smashed into the wall into a sky full of debris, but under Griseo's control, they once again turned into countless bullets, blanketing toward Kiana.
The golden Herrscher eyes stained with scarlet blood flared with light. Kiana bit her teeth hard and directly opened several spatial passages, swallowing the flying fragments.
"An entirely unseen power, what on earth is she?" In Kiana's impression, most Valkyries fought using their own physical abilities. For an existence like this who fought entirely without physical movement and relied solely on her ability, the one most familiar was naturally the Herrscher of Void herself.
Hum—
The air was squeezed by the Herrscher's power, emitting a dull buzzing sound. Kiana raised her hand, and a large number of Spears of the Void shot out from the opened spatial passages, dissipating in collisions with the debris controlled by Griseo.
Seeing that all the debris she could control was shattered, Griseo gently raised a hand, and the pillars of the entire hall began to tremble. Peeling cement debris sprinkled continuously, as if tightly grabbed and yanked by an invisible hand.
Not giving her the chance to demolish the building, Kiana directly pinned the supporting pillars with the Spears of the Void. The Herrscher of Void's power was stronger after all; for Griseo to demolish the building was still too laborious. But Su Jue was not someone so rigid either—since the building couldn't be dismantled, she would simply transfer the battlefield.
The rescuing mecha units outside were still fighting the undead, and the Honkai Beasts gradually emerging from the void were continuously gushing out like locusts, leaving nothing alive in their wake. Even hard cement was something these Honkai Beasts would go up and bite a couple of times to taste.
Just as one of the not-so-bright Chariot-class Honkai Beasts prepared to charge at a utility pole, an extremely strong energy shockwave instantly plowed the ground flat, and that Honkai Beast along with numerous mecha units were directly vaporized, forming a massive trench one meter wide.
The mere aftermath of the battle between Kiana and Griseo was completely something Honkai Beasts and mechas could not withstand. At this moment, Griseo was completely suspended in the air, behind her countless rocks lifted by psychokinesis.
The next instant, these rocks smashed down like meteors, the powerful impact directly destroying the space Kiana could stand on and forcing her to use the power of the Herrscher of Void even more frequently. Unfortunately, the current Kiana was still not a true Herrscher and had to rely mostly on close combat; in such an open space, it was extremely easy to be suppressed.
Having no other choice, Kiana gradually fell into a disadvantage. Because of the previous stimulation, her mental state was already somewhat unstable, and frequently using the Herrscher power only aggravated her symptoms. Dense Honkai cracks spread continuously, and even Fu Hua, who had already fallen into self-isolation, could no longer sit still, attempting to use Feather Dust to alleviate the erosion.
Regrettably, she was powerless now too, left with only an awareness body, while Kiana rejected her. She could only watch helplessly as Kiana was submerged in the bombardment.
The final huge boulder fell, and Kiana made no further movement. Su Jue, suspended in the air, watched quietly, then turned and left.
Griseo, wearing a white lab coat, was as nimble as an elf. Her fair little feet lightly landed on a Honkai Beast's head, then she stood on tiptoe once more and drifted away toward the distance.
As for the Honkai Beast she had stepped on, it had already turned into fine powder along with the ground it stood upon.
With Griseo's victory, nothing could block her advance. Along the way, whether it was Honkai Beasts or undead, all were crushed to pieces under her power, until she stopped in front of a female undead.
Her delicate little hands were full of cracks, and even her fingertips were completely shattered. Griseo raised her hand, wanting to touch that female undead.
Having had her vocal cords severely damaged, she seemed to be gently murmuring something, yet the next second, a spatial hum sounded. A purple spacetime passage was torn open, and a flying Spear of the Void directly pierced through her.
At this time, Kiana's Herrscher transformation was already very severe, but she still propped up her body and said with an exhausted voice, "She is some child's mother, you cannot hurt her."
The undead, who had already lost her will, raised her head—it was precisely the appearance of Su Jue's mother.
Griseo's chest was pierced by the Spear of the Void, and the spraying blood splashed onto the undead's face. The white lab coat enveloping her entire body finally came apart. However, she merely lowered her head to look at the Spear of the Void impaling her chest and continued marching toward the undead, the blood-stained white outer garment finally flowing down her hem onto the ground.
Hiss—
Yet another Spear of the Void flew over, pinning her in place.
"Get away!"
Kiana, pushed to her limits, hunched her body and advanced step by step toward the two of them.
"Since becoming an undead is already unavoidable, at least let him see his mother's complete appearance."
Then.
She saw a flash of pale blue short hair beneath the white lab coat.
And that little girl who was looking blankly at her.
Before you continue