After helping Klein work the entire day, Yuji finally made it to the evening.
Under Klein’s shy expression, he kissed her on the cheek once, then returned to his own dormitory.
Three months.
A full three months.
Klein was the first one who had only reached this step after such a long time.
The fastest had been Mobius.
The second was MEI.
As for Elysia, she had not even entered the race yet.
The moment he opened the door, Yuji returned to an empty state.
Looking at the empty room, he inexplicably felt a little hollow.
“Sigh, how long has it only been since MEI left? Why am I this sentimental?”
Yuji mocked himself a little.
Humans were just like this.
When they left a group they would feel lonely, but when they returned to a group they would want quiet again.
It was just…
“Why… is my heart this unsettled?”
Yuji suddenly felt panic and sadness.
This feeling was something he could not control or resist.
It was as if… as if something important to him was about to be lost.
Not good!
It’s MEI!
Yuji immediately thought of the Combat Instinct he had already upgraded.
If he had not deeply experienced what this feeling was like right now, he would have almost believed the system’s description of it being only “faint.”
The anxious Yuji quickly ran out of his dormitory and, along the way, dragged Mobius out of her own dormitory.
“Hurry up! No time to explain!”
Mobius still had not figured out the situation.
She had just been about to change into pajamas when Yuji directly barged in.
The completely undressed Mobius was forcibly dressed by Yuji, then taken to the Flame-Chasers headquarters.
“So, what exactly made you this panicked?”
Mobius’s walking speed was not fast, so she righteously made Yuji carry her on his back.
Even when they were almost there, she showed no intention of getting down.
“Are there any more planes to Nagazora City at this time?”
“No. I don’t know what happened, but starting from this afternoon, all transportation to Nagazora City has stopped.”
“It seems it’s not only Nagazora City. Let me check… Most of the planes heading to the Far East are under maintenance… There are also quite a few heading to Shenzhou. So many planes under maintenance, and concentrated in the Far East and Shenzhou…”
As she spoke, Mobius’s voice grew quieter and quieter.
She realized something—the Third Honkai might have already broken out without anyone noticing.
“No, that’s not right. There was clearly no detection of a sharp rise in regional Honkai Energy, and a Honkai outbreak can’t happen without any movement at all!”
“Damn it, any signal contacting Nagazora City has become weak. Something is gradually shielding that place.”
Mobius hurriedly got down from Yuji’s back and directly gathered all the higher-ups she could currently contact, while also ordering all warriors to prepare.
“Beep——!”
Alarm sounds filled the entire Flame-Chasers.
Everyone knew a new battle was about to arrive.
Whether they had been about to sleep or were already asleep, warriors, all kinds of researchers, and all kinds of logistics personnel all hurriedly got dressed and quickly began gathering.
“The governments in the Far East cannot be contacted at all.”
“However, Shenzhou can still be reached. We’ve already contacted their higher-ups!”
Mobius frowned.
She realized this was not simple.
If it had been the previous kind of Herrscher that had no self-awareness and only knew destruction, this situation would not have happened.
Whether it was quietly shielding signals, cutting off all contact with the Far East, or even having no Honkai outbreak at all—none of this was normal.
“With the current situation, all cities in the Far East have been affected to greater or lesser degrees.”
Mobius opened an instrument and specially marked the entire Far East region.
“Here, Nagazora City, as well as places close to Shenzhou. Even Canghai City in Shenzhou has been affected. Although the influence is smaller by comparison, it is not zero.”
Yuji also understood what Mobius meant.
Combining it with the information he already knew about the Third Herrscher, he understood the Herrscher’s intention.
“This Herrscher… she deliberately confused the public’s attention. It’s even very possible that she did this specifically to prevent us from finding her right away!”
Was it possible?
Setting aside the fact that Herrschers were born along with Honkai outbreaks, with a Herrscher’s original consciousness that only knew destruction, could she think of doing something like this?
Yuji could not be sure, but he had to make the assumption that this Herrscher was completely different from the previous ones.
She possessed intelligence!
She had used some unknown method to prevent the Honkai from breaking out and instead made it go silent, cutting off the entire Far East from contact with other regions.
“But there is a very important issue right now—where to send troops. Currently, the influence on Shenzhou is actually smaller, but we cannot rule out the possibility that the Herrscher is deliberately hiding in Shenzhou.”
Those higher-ups who only cared about their own interests would never launch a rescue for the Far East and Shenzhou regions based on mere speculation.
Moreover, since the Herrscher’s location had not yet been clarified, they could not act rashly either.
Because of this sudden situation, Yuji also did not dare to blindly believe the information in his mind.
Whether it was the range of the Honkai outbreak or the Herrscher’s reaction, both had gone beyond Yuji’s expectations.
Even the timing had been advanced this much.
What was even more critical was that MEI had flown to Nagazora City this morning.
In other words, the Herrscher was born today.
The first thing she did after being born was shield signals and stop transportation from entering or leaving—not all at once, but slowly, carefully, for fear of being discovered.
When normal people experienced lag while using the internet, they would only curse at how laggy the network was.
Moreover, since it was not a sudden lag, who would specially go to the police station to report that the network was laggy and that there must be a dangerous person trying to destroy the world?
“There’s no more time. I have to go to the Far East.”
Yuji’s heart was extremely anxious.
He had personally watched MEI board the plane to Nagazora City.
Had only three months of comfort made him this dull?
It was not entirely Yuji’s fault.
No one had expected the Honkai to break out at this time, and so silently, while also secretly using small tricks.
“How are you going to go? Without transportation, you can’t get there.”
“Right now the only way is to force the Herrscher out. But the price may very well make the Herrscher act in desperation and drag the entire Far East down with her. Even East Asia may not be spared.”
Mobius grabbed Yuji, who was about to leave.
“Is there no better way?”
“There might be, but… we currently have no other choice.”
After Mobius finished speaking, she quietly looked at Yuji.
This severe question was raised once again.
“Should we wait for the Herrscher to accumulate power and destroy more places, or kill the Herrscher in the cradle and try to limit the damage to only the entire Far East accompanying her?”
Yuji also had no good solution.
This boomerang thrown out at the moment of transmigration had finally returned to him.
“At this point, let’s just save as many as we can!”
Yuji immediately made the decision.
While the Herrscher had not yet reacted, they would urgently rescue the Far East.
“You forgot one thing—without signs of a Honkai outbreak, those higher-ups will never allow the soldiers to move out.”
Mobius interrupted Yuji’s fantasy.
Right now there was only one choice.
They had to force the Honkai to break out, otherwise…
“Damn higher-ups!”
Yuji smashed his hand hard against the door.
Even though both the door and his hand were damaged quite a bit, there was nothing he could do.
His heart was also struggling greatly right now.
Without forcing the Herrscher out they could not send troops, but forcing the Herrscher out would cause the entire region to be buried with her.
Moreover, if they could not find the Herrscher in the first moment, the harm caused would also be incomparable to the currently stealthily developing Herrscher.
Yuji immediately thought of something.
Herrschers were born along with Honkai outbreaks.
This was something the Flame-Chasers had already researched.
In other words, a major Honkai outbreak must have already occurred.
It was just that it had not been discovered.
As long as they could prove that a major Honkai outbreak had happened, the higher-ups would send troops for rescue.
Yuji then told Mobius his idea.
“It’s possible, but right now there isn’t much time left until the higher-ups arrive. Once they come, if they don’t hear a reason, they won’t wait for you to get results.”
Mobius also somewhat regretted her earlier impulsiveness, but it had been a subconscious action.
Yuji took out his phone and called Klein.
“Hello, Klein, where are you right now?”
“I’m on the way over. Has a major Honkai outbreak occurred?”
“That’s right. Klein, right now I have a very important task for you.”
“As long as I can do it.”
Then Yuji told Klein his idea and request.
“Try to stall the higher-ups as much as possible? I understand.”
Yuji took a deep breath, then hung up the phone.
“Alright. Looking at the time, our task now is to find traces of a major Honkai outbreak within a short fifteen minutes.”
Hah… Yuji’s heart kept pounding.
Mobius took out all the recent traces related to the Honkai.
She did not let any possibility go.
Yuji and Mobius continuously analyzed those data.
“Nothing… nothing… still nothing!”
Yuji’s eyes never left the data for even a moment, afraid of missing any detail.
His mind spun rapidly.
“Damn it, you idiot, use your brain! MEI praised you so much… saying you’re a genius. Where’s your genius right now?!”
Whether Yuji cared about MEI’s praise or not, at this moment he had to accept it.
Whether he was truly a genius or not, he had to force himself to become a “genius.”
“Think carefully… A Herrscher cannot appear out of thin air. A major Honkai outbreak is also inevitable. These are already certain, unless…”
“Mobius, hand me that mission report next to you!”
Taking the report Mobius handed over, Yuji immediately began reading.
“Today’s mission action: Clear Honkai in the suburbs of Nagazora City. Discovered a new type of Honkai Beast, photos attached. The instrument measuring Honkai Energy details briefly malfunctioned. Temporarily rated based on the strength and number of Honkai Beasts.”
“Mission Log 2: Clear Honkai Beasts along the coast of Canghai City. Also discovered a new type of Honkai Beast, photos attached. Details consistent with the previous log.”
Yuji had never seen this kind of Honkai Beast before, but its form made him feel unusually familiar.
“This is… an octopus?”
Yuji looked at the similar appearance, then thought of the signal interference that had more or less affected the entire Far East, as well as the details in the mission reports.
He instantly understood.
Both regions were the Herrscher’s smoke screen.
The purpose was to draw everyone’s attention onto the land.
“This Herrscher is even playing schemes within schemes… using the Far East and Shenzhou as distractions.”
“In reality, she was born at sea.”
Mobius also noticed this point and added following Yuji’s words.
“The regional Honkai detection devices were affected by the Herrscher, and all the movements are under the ocean. Even the Honkai Beasts were controlled by the Herrscher and did not act wildly. This guy… what exactly does she want to do?”
“Five minutes left?”
Mobius glanced at the time, a little surprised.
“It seems MEI’s evaluation of you should be raised a bit.”
As she spoke, Mobius took off Yuji’s coat and put it on herself.
Because she had been in a hurry, when Yuji dressed her she had not worn much.
When Yuji grabbed clothes he had also just randomly taken a shirt and long pants.
“I’ll go deal with those higher-ups. You go find Elysia.”