According to Mei plan, he should stay out of it for now and not give Mobius and the others a chance to fight over him.
At this stage, it was still good. After the grouping, everyone had a huge amount of work to complete. Blanca had at least taken leave to return to the Golden Courtyard to take care of Griseo, and there were no problems other than the collision at the reception earlier.
With so much work to do, who had time to argue? Honkai wasn't here to watch you play house. If you relax too much, what if you die in battle?
The leisurely life was over, at least for a long time. But Ryan always felt something was off. Why was even he flying off the handle with work?
"These are the surveillance records of several key targets. There's no major problem except for some grumbling."
"This is Major Coleman transfer request. As I expected, he and that serious and rigid Zheng are indeed having a hard time getting along."
"This is Kalpas problem. That Ludicyna has a very good temper. I'm preparing to arrange some opportunities for the two to communicate. At the very least, Kalpas should remember her name instead of using 'get lost.'"
...
Document after document flew by, giving Ryan a headache, but he couldn't just give up. He saw Kevin, wrapped like a mummy, still came to the meeting, endured the pain to shake hands with every team member, and finally passed out and was frantically rushed to the emergency area.
With this idiot being so reliable, how could Ryan slack off?
So he could only bite the bullet and scan through them one by one, pointing to one of them and asking, "Are these Owl, number 005, and Sisophus, number 016?"
These were their files. Ryan had seen them before, but hadn't paid much attention to them at the time. Looking closely at the photos, Owl was a girl with ice-blue hair, who, due to the super-transformation surgery, had hammer-shaped sharp horns growing from the sides of her head, somewhat resembling the horns of the Phantom Sea Dragon.
Sisophus was very tall and thin; describing him as gaunt wouldn't be an exaggeration. He hardly looked like a MANTIS. Due to his reddish skin, Ryan immediately thought of a bloodsucker.
"Is there no problem if these two betray us?" Ryan glanced at them and then spread his hands. "Their mutation level is very deep. Most MANTIS are at least not very different from humans, which is something we specifically requested."
Human, human. Both appearance and soul are equally important. Judging people by their looks is deeply ingrained. Even Sakura cute fox ears are disliked by many, and ordinary warriors with even slight mutations carefully hide them.
"Owl was among the first to undergo the super-transformation surgery, when it wasn't very mature. As for Sisophus..."
"That's a lunatic. He actively requested a triple dose of super-transformation factor injection. He used to look decent, but then he turned into that ghostly appearance." Mobius happened to push the door open. As the chief surgeon, she remembered it vividly.
"That was truly an exciting surgery, allowing me to fully experience how to pull back someone who was actively courting death. So, no matter what problems your surgery encounters, I have extensive experience."
"I'd rather not have any problems." Ryan rolled his eyes. Even without Fire Moth permission, Mobius would inject them frantically out of personal interest.
"Triple super-transformation factor, this guy must be very strong. Fortunately, he's just an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, and his ability is just so-so."
He specifically checked the data. Sisophus's ability was to control liquids, a degraded version of the authority of wind.
This was nothing to worry about. As long as his total energy wasn't stronger than mine, a single authority would be enough to suppress him. However, other MANTIS would still need to be careful.
Ryan didn't think much about it. He wasn't a nanny; he could only try his best to increase their survival rate. He couldn't possibly fight for them.
Next, Mei handed over the latest detection information from the 'Skynet.' With Prometheus's assistance, the tens of thousands of Honkai energy fluctuations always yielded useful information. Mobius and Aponia also didn't leave; they rarely saw Ryan working so seriously.
"Narrowed down to the largest range, and there are still fifteen suspected fluctuations? Can't you be more precise?"
"Honkai isn't stupid now; it knows how to avoid detection. But based on the timing, a Herrscher should descend. If not, then it's very troublesome."
"How many?"
"Unknown, but the total amount won't change. If the individuals are weaker but their numbers are greater, shouldn't you be happy?"
Upon hearing this, Ryan smiled. Authorities were more like skills, requiring Honkai energy, or a blue bar, as support.
Of course, he liked it when Honkai sent meat. It would be best if a hundred and thirteen noob Herrschers descended, allowing him to collect over a hundred authorities.
Regardless of whether he could combine these authorities, the more of these things that transcended physical rules, the better. Who knew when they might have an unexpected effect?
Who would it be?
Ryan fingers tapped the document. Due to the mutation of the Eighth Herrscher, he truly had no confidence in guessing anymore. Perhaps it was a familiar one with a changed sequence, or simply a different authority, or even one that hadn't appeared before.
'It definitely won't be the Herrscher of Binding. I deliberately didn't kill them all. If Honkai is a rational tool, it won't cross paths with its own kind.'
He had planned this for a long time. If he had taken the opportunity to eliminate the Herrscher of Death and the remaining Herrscher of Thousands, the probability of the Herrscher of Binding descending this time would have been extremely high. It wasn't that he couldn't win, but the losses would have been too great.
Even with the most optimistic estimate, at least half of the people he had seen today would die.
Phew... It's good that it's not the Herrscher of Binding. I don't have the conditions to deal with this mini-boss yet.
Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. The Herrscher of Binding was like an anti-magic zone, capable of nullifying Honkai energy over a large area, weakening biological energy, electrical energy, kinetic energy, etc. The approach in the original worldline was to use human lives to break through the limit of this anti-magic zone, and then launch a fatal blow from a long distance.
And then, of the thousands of MANTIS, only thirteen remained. Fire Moth basically lost its ability to resist. You know, people like Andevich and Coleman, even if they couldn't beat Kalpas, there wasn't a significant difference in their tier.
If most of them were still present, facing the End, even if they had to fill it with human lives, they could still incur a 10% loss.
Of course, the Herrscher of Binding descending now would also be fine. The time interval is too short, the accumulated Honkai energy is insufficient, determining that this Herrscher upper limit is not high enough. No matter how powerful the authority, it can still be overwhelmed by a human wave tactic.
Why did he suddenly relax?
Mobius and Aponia exchanged glances. Mobius was a bit surprised, while Aponia remained composed. Mobius didn't want to ask this fanatic, so she simply said, "What are you thinking?"
"Ah, I just felt relieved."
"You know who the Herrscher is?"
"Of course not."
"Then why are you sighing in relief? Do you think you've already won?"
Her words were harsh, but the concern in them was unmistakable. Mobius was afraid he would get carried away; even one wrong step could genuinely cost lives.
"You're stupid! If this Herrscher was fully confident, why would it hide? Why wouldn't it just strike at a city directly? Since it hasn't, it doesn't have an overwhelming advantage. No matter how strong it is, there's still a chance to strategize."
"I just haven't thought of it yet, why call me stupid?!" Mobius eyes suddenly sharpened, but Ryan didn't even bother to respond to her, so she clenched her fists.
She had felt a little apologetic today, but forget it, this bastard deserves it.
At a time like this, she couldn't act unreasonably, because when it came to Honkai, Mei would be very serious, and angering her would have unpredictable consequences.
"It's a good thing you were fast. If you hadn't dealt with the Seventh Herrscher and crippled the Eighth, this time it would have been troublesome."
Amassing four Herrschers at once would be a fatal outcome.
"It should be said that the timing is just right. Eliminating the Herrscher of Death is even more troublesome. Although it's difficult now, there's still a chance." Ryan supported his head, feeling like he was becoming a master of playing with fire.
This fire in his palm couldn't be too fierce, or it would consume him entirely, nor could it be completely extinguished, which would ignite an even fiercer bonfire.
"Prioritize detecting the Ninth Herrscher, then quickly form the combat forces. The scale of this battle is growing, and I can't handle it alone."
"Mobius, you also go and get your people sorted out. Aponia, take over as soon as possible. Transfer the Holy City to the continent of Mu. I need to prepare for further contraction."
Neither of them had any objections, especially Mobius team, which mainly consisted of highly educated MANTIS who could assist her and Vil-V with many experiments.
Just as Ryan was about to ask Mei about the progress of the Sea Of Quanta exploration, Sakura, who had been guarding the door, rushed in. Seeing the few people inside, she saw no need to hide anything.
"Just received intel, the Ninth Herrscher has appeared, coordinates Donggong. This is the satellite image that just came in, and it detected an instant Honkai energy reaction of over 5000HW!"
What?
Ryan instinctively sat upright, feeling a sense of 'wishful thinking,' then took a stack of photos and quickly flipped through them. The others also gathered around.
It was a huge pit, like a scoop had taken a chunk out of a cake. The entire city was cleaner than if it had been burned.
Herrscher of Stars? The worldline circled back again?
Ryan pupils constricted. This was a Herrscher that controlled gravity, with destructive power that ranked among the top three in the original worldline.
The Herrscher of Flamescion burned Australia, and the Herrscher of Stars simply used an artificial black hole to erase the entire continent of Mu. Her strength could be said to be quite astonishing.
But Ryan found it very strange.
According to Honkai's targeted characteristics, doing this would be too straightforward.
What was the use of merely increasing output? 5000HW was not a tier-level increase for him; it was even less oppressive than the Herrscher of Flamescion.
His understanding of authorities shouldn't escape the Cocoon of Finality's notice.
How was this different from sending meat? The Ninth Herrscher was terrifying, but not terrifying enough. The threat was even less than the Herrscher of Domination.
"It seems there's a conspiracy behind this." Mei didn't even need to look at Ryan expression.
There wasn't a single idiot present; they all knew that Honkai was like a life-or-death exam, and each Herrscher was a test question.
Being able to annihilate humanity was the basic requirement. Every time, they had to fight with all their might to pass; it was never easy.
"There must be a conspiracy. The current Fire Moth is stronger, and what makes Herrschers terrifying is their authority. Energy only determines the lower limit, and this Ninth Herrscher is far from enough." Ryan rubbed his temples, looking at the huge scar on Earth, gently tapped it, and pulled out another document.
"And choosing Donggong City to strike is a provocation to me. Also, did you notice that the battle had already begun before the Herrscher alarm was raised?"