"You can save Talulah?" Hearing that Talulah could still be saved, Ch'en's expression became extremely excited. Swire, standing beside her, also showed a similar reaction. Back in the day, Talulah, Ch'en, Swire, and Lin Yushia had been classmates. If Talulah hadn't been taken by Koschei and had stayed in Lungmen, she would likely have become a member of the Lungmen Guard Bureau, perhaps even its future director or Lungmen's governor.
Meanwhile, Ch'en, Swire, and Lin Yushia would have remained in their respective positions, assisting and supporting her. The future of Lungmen would have been shaped by these four.
"Of course. Although Koschei's methods are formidable, unfortunately for him, he had the bad luck of running into me." When it came to techniques like soul possession, Daniel was highly skilled. Moreover, he had now mastered the Taixu Sword Qi, which could even disrupt the consciousness of the Honkai God.
While Koschei could be considered a god, he was nothing compared to the Honkai God.
In fact, Daniel had an idea for solving Oripathy. Originium had consciousness, and the Taixu Sword Qi had a special advantage against such phenomena. If he had enough power, he could unleash a massive Taixu Sword Qi attack across the entire planet, potentially solving Oripathy.
The difficulty lay in the fact that he didn't currently possess such strength. A Taixu Sword Qi attack covering the entire planet would require him to have the power to destroy a planet in a single strike. Perhaps he could achieve this in the future, but it would undoubtedly take a significant amount of time. Still, it was a potential solution.
"Thank you." Although Talulah hadn't been saved yet, for Ch'en, knowing that Talulah hadn't truly changed was already a cause for celebration.
"What is your goal?" Wei Yenwu's voice came through the communicator.
"Governor Wei, not everyone is like you, always seeking personal gain in everything they do. If I had to state my goal, it would be to reduce the tragedies in this world and shatter the chessboards of certain individuals.
"There are always people in this world who refuse to succumb to reality and strive for the light. Take Rhodes Island, for example. For years, they've been saving the Infected. With the power they possess, they could have lived much more comfortably, but they chose this thorny path instead."
Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals—though it might sound strange, a pharmaceutical company needing safe houses equipped with enough weapons to arm a small military unit—was indeed a pharmaceutical company. They were the best and most affordable source of Oripathy treatment.
To put it bluntly, with Rhodes Island's technological reserves, they could easily surpass Rhine Lab if they wanted to. Many people in this world profited from reselling Rhodes Island's drugs.
"I told you the truth because everyone here has the right to know. Now, let's get back to the main topic. Amiya, prepare Rhodes Island for the upcoming rescue mission."
Daniel could handle Talulah, but saving the survivors of Chernobog from the Catastrophe alone was unrealistic. Rhodes Island, however, had considerable experience in this area.
For years, Rhodes Island had been involved in rescue operations across the land, most of which were unpaid, especially those related to Infected incidents.
Originium, while a high-grade energy source, was also extremely dangerous. Accidents involving Originium often resulted in a large number of Infected.
To save costs, some people, despite knowing the dangers of Originium, neglected safety measures. For example, Meteor's hometown was destroyed due to an energy explosion from a logging machine. A noble had coveted the timber resources protected by Meteor's family.
Although Meteor was reluctant, she eventually agreed to help her village due to financial difficulties. The explosion destroyed the entire village, but the noble simply walked away, leaving the village in ruins.
Such incidents were countless across the continent, but no one cared. Although Rhodes Island was involved in rescue operations, there was only one Rhodes Island. Not every disaster site could be reached by Rhodes Island, as was the case with Meteor's village.
"Rhodes Island will be ready." Amiya nodded solemnly.
When it came to rescuing people from Catastrophes, Rhodes Island never hesitated, no matter how difficult or dangerous the situation. This was why Rhodes Island had come to Lungmen.
"How can I believe you can solve the current problem?"
It was no wonder Wei Yenwu had doubts. Just listening to Daniel's description of the situation in Ursus made it clear that it was a dangerous place. Even if Wei Yenwu personally led all his shadow guards there, he wouldn't be confident of success. How could he believe Daniel could do it alone?
In the original timeline, Wei Yenwu's distrust of Rhodes Island stemmed from this. Even then, without knowing the details of Chernobog, he didn't believe Rhodes Island had the capability.
For those unfamiliar with Rhodes Island, it was hard to understand their strength. Even Daniel wasn't entirely clear on Rhodes Island's full capabilities, especially regarding their elite operators. After all, no one knew how many elite operators hadn't been implemented yet.
Take, for example, the old lady from Laterano, or Sharp, who could hold his own against the Black Knight. Then there was the mysterious medical department, where even Touch could fend off the Platinum-ranked assassins of the Armorless Union.
Under these circumstances, Wei Yenwu naturally wanted to solve the problem himself. Lungmen was everything to him, and he couldn't let it be destroyed by war.
Even in the original timeline, if Rat King hadn't intervened to stop Wei Yenwu, he might have gone to Chernobog himself.
"Then it's my strength. If I say I can solve the problem, I have the power to do so. Let me show you."
As Daniel spoke, his right hand began to glow with faint traces of lightning. Raising his hand, a beam of lightning shot into the sky.
This spectacle startled everyone present. In fact, not just those present, but many in Lungmen were also drawn to the towering beam of light.
The lightning beam pierced the clouds, spreading out rapidly. Soon, a massive lightning qilin, hundreds of meters long, appeared in the sky.
Although Daniel hadn't invested much time in lightning-based immortal techniques due to not having obtained the Thunder Spirit Pearl, with the Water and Earth Spirit Pearls in hand, he naturally prioritized studying those techniques first.
Even so, having mastered the Thunder Release: Kirin technique and combining it with lightning-based immortal techniques, it was easy for him to perform the Immortal Technique: Kirin. Besides Kirin, he was also researching other techniques like Thunder Dragon Rising.
"Governor Wei, I believe you can see this even from Lungmen." As Daniel controlled the qilin roaring in the sky, he spoke into the communicator.
"Thunder techniques? Who are you?" Wei Yenwu's voice came through, heavy with concern.
"In a way, I'm also from Yan. Isn't this level of strength enough to solve the current problem?"
"Someone here can use thunder techniques, and on such a scale? Let's go."
While Wei Yenwu was shocked by Daniel's ability to use Yan's secret techniques, in a quiet courtyard in Lungmen, others were also amazed. Four figures quickly left the estate, heading toward the location of the qilin.
"Seriously? I just came here for some hot pot. Do we really need such a spectacle?"
At the same time, in a hot pot restaurant in Lungmen, a woman with white hair, red dragon horns, and dressed in white and red clothing sighed as she looked out the window at the distant qilin.
Moments later, the white-haired woman picked up a folding fan beside her, left a few blue Lungmen Dollars on the table, and disappeared from the restaurant.
"Boss, boss, look at that!"
At a bar named "The End of the Earth," a young Forte girl holding a shield shouted toward the inside of the establishment.
"What's all the fuss about?" A black penguin, holding a bottle of expensive wine, wobbled out of the bar.
"Boss, isn't that amazing? Maybe there's some incredible treasure over there!" The Forte girl exclaimed excitedly.
"That's no treasure." The penguin said thoughtfully.
"Why is there a Catastrophe? Where are the Catastrophe Messengers? Why hasn't the city moved yet?"
As the penguin and the girl watched the qilin in the sky, the streets outside the bar erupted into chaos, with people running in all directions.
"Ah, right, it's a Catastrophe. Boss, what should we do?" The Forte girl seemed to realize the situation belatedly.
"Don't worry, it's not a Catastrophe. It has nothing to do with us. Let's go back and keep drinking." The penguin wobbled back into the bar.
"Enough! I believe in your strength. Stop now."
Having witnessed Daniel's power firsthand, Wei Yenwu's tone became much more respectful. Such strength was on the level of a Catastrophe. Just the presence of the qilin had already caused chaos in Lungmen.
Terra and the Honkai world shared a similarity: both were prone to natural disasters. In the Honkai world, if a volcano erupted, a snowstorm hit, a flood occurred, or a meteor fell without an obvious cause, it was likely the work of the Honkai.
Similarly, in Terra, the cause was often Originium. The difference was that here, it was Originium causing the disasters.
Not everyone recognized thunder techniques. To the ordinary people of Lungmen, this was a sign of an impending Catastrophe. Not only were the streets in chaos, but even the powerful and influential in Lungmen were frantically calling Wei Yenwu, asking why the city hadn't moved despite the Catastrophe.
Under normal circumstances, the wealthy and powerful avoided contact with Originium, so they weren't afraid of Oripathy. But if a Catastrophe struck, it would be a matter of luck for everyone.
Mobile cities were built to evade Catastrophes, so under normal circumstances, they didn't move. Only when a Catastrophe approached would they relocate.
Catastrophes were unpredictable, which was why Catastrophe Messengers were needed. A city as large and prosperous as Lungmen required at least a dozen Catastrophe Messengers.
To combat Catastrophes, people on this land had formed alliances, similar to the Crisis Contract. Rhodes Island was one of the signatories of the Crisis Contract.
In such a situation, if rumors spread that Lungmen couldn't predict Catastrophes, many people would avoid this unsafe city.
"Mr. Shen, please stop now. People in Lungmen are already spreading rumors of an impending Catastrophe." Kal'tsit's voice came through the communicator.
The Rhodes Island ship docked at Lungmen's Fifth District had also seen the qilin in the sky.
"Sorry, I'll stop now."
Kal'tsit's words caught Daniel off guard. He hadn't anticipated this reaction. Originally, he had planned to summon the Divine Dragon, given that this was Yan. However, considering that Yan's royal family was associated with the dragon and that a certain giant beast was also a dragon, he decided against it.
*Boom!*
The lightning qilin transformed into countless bolts of lightning, completely obliterating a nearby hill and leaving behind a crater dozens of meters wide and nearly ten meters deep.
"Alright, everyone can start moving now. FrostNova, let's go. It's time to stop the war in Lungmen." With that, the group split into three teams and began their respective missions.
Amiya led Rhodes Island back to their ship to discuss the next steps with Kal'tsit and the Doctor, so they weren't on the same path.
Although Ch'en's group and Daniel's group were both heading to Lungmen, one was the Lungmen Guard Bureau, and the other was the Reunion Movement, so they couldn't travel together.
"Stop the war? How do you plan to do that? The war has already started. It's not something you can just stop. Of course, if you kill both sides, that would stop it." On the way to Lungmen, W suddenly spoke up.
"The anger, hatred, and fury in the hearts of the Infected have been ignited by Talulah—no, according to you, Koschei. It's not so easy to extinguish."
W's words caused FrostNova and the Yeti Squadron to fall silent. Having experienced the tragedy of Chernobog firsthand, they knew W was right.
Strictly speaking, the Reunion Movement was on the verge of splitting. The events in Chernobog had made many realize that the Reunion Movement wasn't an organization fighting for the survival of the Infected. It only brought destruction.
For people like Alex and Mephisto, filled with hatred, this was perfect. But for those Infected who simply wanted to survive, it was a different story.
For example, Big Bob and Mudrock had already left the Reunion Movement.
"Then we'll take those who are willing to leave."
Daniel was well aware of the issue W raised. Many in the Reunion Movement were no longer pure victims but had become perpetrators—rioters.
Such rioters were difficult to persuade. Daniel wasn't a saint; he didn't aim to save everyone. Even Rhodes Island didn't have such ambitions. In war, Rhodes Island showed no mercy to enemies, even if they were Infected.
In fact, now that Daniel had saved FrostNova, he could have ignored Mephisto and Faust in Lungmen and gone straight to Chernobog to find Talulah.
But FrostNova didn't want to abandon her fellow Infected who were only trying to survive but were forced to fight.
"I thought you wanted to end the war directly." W spoke up again.
"I never intended to save everyone. I'm no savior. In fact, I'm just giving them a choice. Whether they take it is up to them, not me."
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