Collapse, survive

Fang Jie added that he was not intimidated by Theresa's aura, nor did he dodge or run away; he met her gaze squarely.

"hiss--!"

Theresa really wants to pick up Judas and beat someone up.

It really was that child, Kiana, or rather K423. Siegfried had come looking for her before. That guy, who was always drunk and looked awful, had lost an arm. He was crying and saying that he had accepted the child, given her his daughter's name, and made a promise that he would protect the one he loved most no matter the cost...

"Zi! Ge!! Fei!!!"

Theresa didn't yell out loud; instead, she took a deep breath and didn't want to say anything.

It's not that I'm blaming Siegfried for leaving Kiana to fend for herself in Changkong City; weren't you secretly taking care of her? If anyone's to blame, it's Otto.

She just... never mind.

Theresa, having lost the will to press Fang Jie further, grew increasingly grim: "Major Himeko, the original plan remains unchanged: execute Operation Bait. However, you are not permitted to venture into Changkong City; you will be in command of the Hyperion!"

"Yes!"

This was an order, and Himeko accepted and carried it out immediately, remaining remarkably calm.

"And what about you, Dean?"

"I?"

Theresa remained silent, only looking in the direction of St. Freya Academy.

—Judas, open the gates!

How could a free S-rank Valkyrie be bound by the earth?

She turned and flew away, as if she had made up her mind.

Watching Theresa leave was too decisive; the lack of further verification of the intelligence was actually reckless.

She's genuinely unafraid of what might happen next that would leave her speechless, blurting out, "What?! The intelligence was fake?"

Of course, this was also Kaslana's intuition, which is why Theresa believed Fang Jie's truth.

Himeko wasn't really inclined to believe it. She glared at him fiercely, quickly issuing orders to have personnel operate the Hyperion. At the same time, she grabbed Fang Jie again, took over Theresa's interrogation, and smiled very kindly: "Speak up, why aren't you saying anything? Is there anything else you want to say?"

Is it too late to let me go now?

I was truly bewitched by you, a woman of great wisdom and integrity, with just a Samsung sword!

However, Fang Jie still gripped the Composite Blade Willow Leaf tightly, his face showing a mixture of joy and sorrow, his lips moving but no sound coming out.

Only when Himeko intended to take him aboard the Hyperion and keep him under guard did his attitude finally become respectful, and he clearly called out, "Himeko-neechan..."

"Don't call me 'sister,' we're not that close!" Himeko interrupted him rudely.

Fang Jie didn't argue with the angry woman, and said, "We must stop the Honkai Fission Bomb from falling in Changkong City."

Seriously? Is this about Honkai Fission Bombs? Those things are meant to destroy Herrschers, and where are the Herrschers now?

He angrily swung the hammer again, bringing an intoxicating, love-like experience that made him lose his head.

Before the Herrscher was even attacked, the innocent Fang Jie was being persecuted. Himeko dared not let go, for who knows if this guy would give up.

"Don't panic!" Fang Jie, still dazed, was exasperated by the collision. "You can contact St. Freya Academy to confirm Raiden Mei and Kiana's safety. The communication disruption didn't only happen in Changkong City, did it?"

"..."

Himeko felt a moment of awkwardness. She glanced at the direction Theresa had flown away. It wasn't that she had forgotten; she had probably been assimilated by Theresa. After all, when Theresa got serious, her imposing aura made it impossible for Himeko to remember these things.

"I know!"

Himeko is very loud.

Realizing this, and quickly operating the communicator to confirm that the connection was working, Himeko breathed a sigh of relief and immediately pulled up the surveillance footage of Kiana and Raiden Mei.

The former was brazenly groping the latter, a truly disgusting sight. The prestigious St. Freya Academy has been corrupted by this lecherous creature…

After a moment of silence, Himeko released Fang Jie, tossing him to the ground from mid-air: "Kid, get lost."

At this time, suspicious persons are not allowed to board her Hyperion. Himeko was a little scared. Not to mention Raiden Mei, Theresa was not blind when she heard Kiana's name change. What kind of expert was she?

She couldn't tell the difference; she really couldn't tell the difference.

I think you're a Herrscher too.

Fang Jie flipped over and stood firmly on the ground, incredulous that she had actually let him leave. He had been determined to tell her all those things.

"Then I'll go."

Himeko responded with her back turned and a very unladylike middle finger.

It was a truly dramatic shift in impressions, both for both of us; she stopped calling me "handsome guy" altogether.

In this cold and ruthless world of decay, only this knife retains a sliver of warmth.

However, she's ruthless, but I can't be ungrateful. I'll shower her with gold coins next time we meet.

"If you need anything, you can come find me at Qianyu Academy. Goodbye."

He was going to continue to the place in Changkong City where the Honkai energy was most concentrated.

Chapter Nine: Hoping for a tail and wings

"Changkong City is becoming increasingly dangerous."

Fang Jie, speaking in a somber tone, consistently viewed the Honkai Beasts and the assassins as the primary threats, and Otto as a long-term threat, running away the moment he saw Otto's face...

It wasn't until Himeko mentioned the Honkai Fission Bomb that he suddenly realized that humanity in the Honkai world also posed a significant threat.

These people were genuinely terrified by the second Great Collapse, and their first thought upon the recurrence of the Collapse was, "Blow it up!" Even without using Collapse Fission Bombs, conventional artillery barrage would be terrifying.

In other words, ordinary people cannot penetrate Changkong City at present, and it takes time to mobilize naval artillery, so it is not as efficient as directly using Honkai fission bombs.

"I think... I can't hold on much longer."

Imagining himself being bombarded by artillery fire, Fang Jie pondered how he could withstand it. He didn't have the imaginary shield of a Herrscher; he was still made of flesh and blood.

'The only options are probably to teleport away, or... unleash the full power of Honkai Impact 3rd to absorb the kinetic and potential energy of the projectiles.'

Holy crap, I think I can actually hold on!

A sense of unease lingered, yet a strange, indescribable eagerness also stirred within me.

This feeling was as if he had just acquired the Composite Blade: Willow Leaf, and had been cutting down trees, grass, reinforced concrete, Honkai Beasts, and zombies all the way...

If you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Let me try out the knife!

"No, no, Fang Jie, how could you have such an arrogant idea? At least start with bullets..."

That's right, just a little bit of testing.

He didn't try to suppress his feelings at all; instead, he focused on improving the success rate of resisting artillery shells.

Fang Jie, who had some understanding of the Taixu Sword Qi, the number one divine skill of Honkai Impact, knew well how mental state could enhance combat power.

It sounds a bit mystical, but in simple terms, it means maintaining a competitive spirit. Fear, hesitation, wavering, and retreat are all unacceptable. You must forge ahead, never admit defeat, and dare to face the opponent head-on even when you know they are strong. You must possess and cherish this belief.

Of course, even if he did understand the Taixu Sword Qi, the most taboo thing about the Taixu Sword Qi is "going into demonic possession", so he doesn't practice true qi (Honkai energy). This is quite different from his current path of enduring Honkai energy enhancement and storing true qi (Honkai energy) in his body.

That's all for now, enemy spotted ahead.

About a mile away.

Temple-class, no, Chariot-class.

The real Honkai Beasts don't have a uniform model like in the game; each one is unique and active on the grand stage of destroying civilization. The one right in front of you is one of them.

Even with its enormous size, comparable to a temple-level creature with a length exceeding 100 meters, it had no shield and walked on all four limbs.

But this doesn't mean the threat is smaller than that of a Temple-class. This size can easily destroy cities, break through defenses, and wreak havoc simply by passing by, even without doing anything.

He's very strong; even with Himeko's single-handed strike, he could only instantly kill troublesome Honkai Beasts.

But this time, Fang Jie wanted to give it a try. If it didn't work instantly, he would kill it himself.

He wanted to protect his beliefs.

"spring."

Words have power. Speaking the names of techniques openly and confidently can adjust your mind and body, enhance self-suggestion, accelerate the adaptation process, and improve the efficiency of execution.

Fang Jie believed this and put it into practice.

As winter turns to spring, the body is activated, resulting in a burst of enhancement.

His blood began to boil, his heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and a massive static electricity erupted—Fang Jie couldn't control the energy in his body well, so it was released violently, crackling incessantly, more noisy than a thousand birds chirping at the same time.

All of this instantly transformed him from a neglected 'small Karami' into an enemy in the perception of the giant tank Honkai Beast.

"Roar!!"

It roared fiercely, not as a beast's display of power, but as the most forceful and immediate attack.

The sound waves almost solidified, carrying fluctuations mixed with Honkai energy, and enveloped us completely.

The sound wave suddenly dissipated, leaving only the cracked ground, as if struck by lightning, and a rather urgent yet clear sigh.

"Don't talk about martial ethics."

We Honkai Beasts have no martial virtues; we only want to kill you or be killed.

On the left!

It was a body leaning forward, almost touching the ground, leaning against the wall. At first glance, it looked just like a cannonball that had been launched, flying more than ten meters before touching the ground and launching again.

This is fast enough to keep up with the speed of the Akina Mountain racing legend who's been taking advantage of him.

It even starts up faster.

Generally speaking, Formula One (F1) cars can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 2 to 3 seconds. Supercars, on the other hand, can complete the 0-100 km/h acceleration in under 2.7 seconds.

Fang Jie reduced this acceleration process by another second and maintained a slightly lower sustained high speed.

This is Honkai energy, so any undead that survives the erosion of Honkai energy without being reduced to ashes is more ferocious than any animal on land.

Strength surpassing a bear, speed surpassing a leopard, body coordination surpassing a tiger… and even more wondrous, bordering on supernatural enhancements: the eyes of an eagle, the hearing of a bat, the vibration sense of a spider, the heat vision of a rattlesnake…

Honkai energy is not just energy; it also contains a vast amount of information and data. The erosion of Honkai energy is also the loading of information, which will manifest itself when it is integrated into the genetic chain to a certain extent.

Fang Jie, on the other hand, first and foremost obtained the chain that gradually transformed the human body into a container for Honkai energy, thereby containing and utilizing Honkai energy. This was also the basic modification for Honkai energy erosion, obtaining a new energy device at the cellular level, allowing every cell to absorb and release Honkai energy.

Compared to this change, the effect of releasing electricity is really nothing; it's just that the visual effect is more prominent than [body enhancement], but at this moment, the support for the battle is undoubtedly the latter.

Faster, faster!

Run freely, without restraint.

Weird.

Oh no, my foot slipped!

Even though it was a dry, solid cement floor, or even just stone, it gave him the feeling of muddy ground.

This caused the body, which had evolved over millions of years to adapt to upright walking, to revert to crawling on all fours.

Fortunately, he was holding a knife, so he would only have to land on three limbs at most.

repeatedly bouncing through the air, Fang Jie's figure seemed to be flying close to the ground rather than running, but he had drawn his knife and was holding it with both hands at his sides in a strange stance, as he had to land and fly again from time to time.

That posture made him look less like he was about to swing his sword and more like a cavalryman charging at high speed on horseback, slashing once and then running away.

We've started making contact.

The contact time between the two moving at high speed was extremely short. Fang Jie kept circling around his back, while the Honkai Beast with Temple-level strength kept aiming at him, trying to trample and collide with him...

It appears to be spinning in circles, but in the process it flattens a tall building, creates ruins, causes the earth to tremble, and roars sound waves that envelop the surroundings.

Faster, faster!

Having been pinched by Kiana and headbutted by Himeko, Fang Jie knew that his strength was not enough to compare with these real monsters; only speed mattered.

It was like tumbling and crawling, with no way to grip the ground with its feet. Its body, which was crushing the ground, frequently lost its balance in mid-air, trying to keep its body leaning forward and touching the ground. Sometimes it even had to reach out its hands to support itself in a pathetic posture that tore the earth apart.

However, ordinary people cannot see it. Ordinary people may not be able to keep up with his movements and can only see the afterimage due to the visual afterimage effect.

But the Honkai Beasts can see clearly!

It's easy.