After half a day of fierce fighting, one corner of the South American continent extending into the Atlantic had collapsed. From any perspective, this was highly significant.
This was humanity's first direct confrontation with Honkai, unlike previous Herrscher purges or large-scale cleansing operations.
Both sides, under somewhat equal conditions, deployed large forces for a direct engagement. The quality of their personnel was extremely high, and it was also the first time the nascent Fire Moth had roared.
The weakest Honkai Beasts were large chariot types; low-tier assault types didn't even qualify to participate. On the human side, there were numerous MANTIS, even exceeding human capabilities, and even Herrschers and the Supreme Commander of the Fire Moth appeared on the battlefield.
The most peculiar thing was that, in most people's impressions, this was the first time a Herrscher appeared without launching an attack. At least on the surface, this mythical monster was seemingly scared off.
Honkai was nothing special; the situation looked great! So some people found it strange. Why, in such a favorable situation, were ships full of people still being transported to Mu Continent and Shenzhou? Shouldn't they press their advantage, first eliminate South America, this largest tumor, then clear the rest of the world, returning a pure and blue world to everyone?
Actually, the strategic significance was precisely the opposite of what they thought. Ryan wanted to use this 'nail' to attract the Herrschers' attention, otherwise, how could he transport that group of people from Europe?
Only by concentrating the population could he face the End without worries. Otherwise, if the population were truly concentrated in one area, it would be impossible to destroy it without restraint.
Building fortresses, rotating troops, transporting personnel, resettling refugees, allocating supplies...
Each of these tasks was enough to make one's head spin, involving military, civilian affairs, and other aspects. But these were no longer Ryan concerns. Mei, the workaholic, would naturally handle them. The lights in the entire administrative district hadn't been turned off for days.
"I just need to stand out at critical moments and act as a mascot. Consider it a final perk," Ryan comfortably leaned back in his lounge chair, enjoying the artificial sunlight and sipping some juice through a straw.
That's how it should be. If he had to fight to the death, strategize, and handle all kinds of affairs, what was the point of the Fire Moth? It would be better to just be a Flame-Chaser and fight for his life in the Finality war, which would be worthy of his human identity.
"That's right, professional issues should be handled by professionals. Mei said so!" Elysia clapped her hands lightly, looking very pleased, only to see Ryan sit up and glare at her fiercely.
"Uh, did I say something wrong?"
"You're not like me. Aren't you ashamed to dump the troops on Himeko?"
"Himeko is a professional! She handles everything perfectly, I don't need to interfere at all." Elysia wrinkled her nose, very unconvinced: "Besides, Ryan, you're slacking off too! Mei does everything, and you even tricked Kevin into helping."
"What do you mean 'tricked'? That kid volunteered! And I'm not slacking off," Ryan leaned back into his lounge chair, sighing wistfully: "I'm constantly thinking about humanity's future, every single moment."
"Griseo, don't ever learn from lying adults like this, or you'll become ugly later."
"Mhm, mhm, Big Brother Ryan loves to be lazy, and Teacher says that doing so will make one useless."
Tsk, these little kids don't understand anything.
Ryan wasn't so childish as to get angry with Griseo. He had a legitimate reason for returning. As Mobius said, he should return.
Staying on the front lines for too long would have an impact. For ordinary people, it didn't matter; at most, it would just add a bit of chuunibyou-like exhaling.
But a single thought from him could affect the fate of too many people. Being a slacker actually had benefits. If it were a more stern Supreme Commander, the remaining two billion people would have been put to use long ago.
Hyper-mutation surgery, bio-chips—the Fire Moth also had these things. When human lives were treated as numbers, many decisions were not difficult to make.
Mei tolerating his rest probably also wanted to put a shackles on herself. That woman, if pushed too far, was capable of anything.
He yawned, and a dangerous plan was immediately vetoed, even if it was more efficient. He then glanced around.
The Golden Courtyard was missing many people. Kevin and Sakura had gone to the front lines for rotation. Aponia hadn't returned from the Holy City. Eden and Su were in recovery from surgery. This was normal. Everyone's primary identity was that of a warrior. Like Ryan and Hua, they stayed under the guise of recovering from injuries.
As for the safety of the front line, he still had some confidence. After all, besides him, no one was an absolute kill target. The Herrschers didn't need to risk being ambushed by forcing an attack. And with Kevin there, unless two or more Herrschers gathered, they simply couldn't be overwhelmed.
'After being baited a few times, they should have learned their lesson by now. What they see isn't necessarily real, and yet the Herrscher of Domination can't even get close to me.'
Ryan smiled silently. Even if he openly patrolled the globe now, the Herrschers wouldn't be able to confirm his identity. The same trick had been played several times, and trying to confirm the target's authenticity was more troublesome than killing him.
The success rate was probably around 40%, after all, he also had to consider the possibility of the Herrscher suddenly going berserk.
"Big Brother Ryan, is Daddy okay?" Griseo suddenly cuddled onto his lap, hugging his knees and looking up with her innocent face.
"Don't worry, there are four detachments of uncles and aunties helping. Those bad guys won't dare to make a move," Ryan picked up Griseo and placed her on his lap, gently stroking her hair.
[Ice], [Salvation], [Crimson], plus Sakura and the remaining [True Self]—to overwhelm this combat force, they would have to deploy their entire might. According to the news from the front, both sides were continuously clashing at the contact line, and the front line was instead continuously extending deeper into the continent. Due to the intense fighting, the Herrschers had already begun to mobilize Honkai Beasts from other continents.
They couldn't punch the Herrschers to death, nor could they let them comfortably accumulate strength. This balance was truly difficult to grasp.
Griseo nodded her little head. She didn't understand what a detachment was, but she believed Ryan words. These days, everyone had been taking turns looking after her, inadvertently instilling in her the belief that 'Ryan is omnipotent.'
Holding the soft loli, Ryan gently rocked the rocking chair, quickly dispelling the worry from Griseo face. She cheered like she was on a swing, her giggles echoing in the garden.
"Too noisy."
Kalpas, who was building a wall by the flowerbed, turned his head. He saw Griseo and a smiling Ryan, and was momentarily stunned, finding that the executioner-like coldness this man had when he first returned had vanished without a trace. It was as if the smell of blood had also been washed away, transforming him from a man-eating shark into a lazy fish.
"Hmph, obviously unreliable. What kind of Supreme Commander is that?"
"Oh, some people said yesterday they wouldn't look at Ryan again until they'd killed him, but broke their vow today?" Elysia suddenly poked her head out from the flower bushes, smiling at Kalpas.
He was still full of killing intent yesterday, because Ryan wouldn't let him deploy. This was actually a good intention. The South American front needed careful management, and a hot-tempered person like Kalpas would surely cause widespread havoc, which would then disrupt the balance by continuously committing forces.
"None of your business. You women will never understand." Kalpas raised his chin, ignoring Elysia. In truth, he had already accepted this kindness, but of course, he would never admit it.
Hehe, what a tsundere.
Elysia certainly wasn't angry. She rested her chin on her hands, squinting as she scanned around, sensing that the atmosphere in the Golden Courtyard felt off.
Although few people had gone to the front lines, the war had affected everyone. Everyone had to go through that perilous situation, and naturally, everyone was anxious. For example, Pardofelis had promised to help feed her fish, but spilled all the feed on the ground, clearly very afraid of the battlefield.
And Hua, swinging on the swing and mumbling to herself, had almost driven her crazy these past few days, constantly dragging her into discussions about which details weren't done well, and how to improve them.
Regardless of whether they participated, everyone saw the battlefield footage. It was truly a sea of corpses and blood, a scene of utter devastation. In a pitched battle of that scale, unless one was as powerful as Ryan, individual strength was negligible. A moment's carelessness could lead to demise.
No, even Ryan, if careless and simultaneously attacked by those few Herrschers, wouldn't last more than a few rounds before having to break out.
Amidst war, how could one not be worried? But was worrying useful? Why couldn't they face the challenge with a relaxed mindset?
Suddenly, she made up her mind.
Clap, clap, clap.
A clear clapping sound suddenly echoed. People throughout the garden instinctively looked up and saw Elysia jump onto the flowerbed, with an angry Kalpas beside her.
"Bastard, I just finished laying those tiles!"
"I'm sorry! I'll help you later," Elysia stuck out her tongue, instantly deflating Kalpas aggressive stance. Then, seeing that everyone was looking at her, she puffed out her chest slightly.
"I have an announcement! Spring is coming in two days. What does this season make you think of? Everyone, put your brains to work."
"Spring is the beginning of the year, suitable for practicing martial arts and breathing exercises?" Hua answered immediately, and then her hand was pulled by Vil-V.
"Spring is the season of reproduction. All kinds of creatures start mating, looking vibrant and full of life."
"That's right, the cats should be calling now. Sister Vil-V is right," Pardofelis hid in a corner, seemingly afraid of being scolded by Ryan.
Except for Rin and Griseo, everyone else had completed their surgeries. Only she had backed out repeatedly at the last minute, making Mobius teeth itch with frustration.
'But my success rate is the lowest, and I'm really afraid of dying!'
What a mess.
Ryan patted Griseo head, too lazy to explain what mating meant, and turned his gaze to the equally astonished Elysia, wondering what she was up to.
"Ahem, you're all right, but you haven't hit the nail on the head." Elysia lightly coughed, making her mood cheerful again: "In this season, we should dispel the winter's cold and commemorate it with a snowball fight! We can't feel the beautiful four seasons down here underground, don't you think it's a bit boring?"
As expected, she wanted to play. No, she realized the atmosphere was a bit strange and deliberately jumped in?
Ryan was very smart and immediately knew what Elysia was thinking. The big show was beginning, and everyone, including him, was a little nervous.
As expected of the political commissar, always concerned about everyone's psychological state, wanting everyone to face even the most terrifying future with a smile.
However, others weren't so smart. Hua was a bit puzzled: "There's a hot spring right here in the Golden Courtyard. Why go outside? Besides, there's a war going on at the front. Wouldn't it be bad for us to slack off here?"
"The atmosphere is different! And this isn't slacking off, it's proper psychological conditioning. Only by facing challenges with the most relaxed mindset can you unleash one hundred percent of your combat power. Am I right, Supreme Commander?"
Meeting Elysia gaze, Ryan instinctively nodded, thinking to himself that he had fallen into her trap. His casually given reason for slacking off was remembered so clearly.
"Boring! At a time like this, we should be tense, every muscle taut, constantly accumulating killing intent, and then unleash it all when we step onto the battlefield!"
"Kalpas, a snowball fight is also a battle, you know. You can win or lose within the rules," Elysia looked at him with a grin.
Kalpas was momentarily stunned. His masked face probably turned red, but he only said coldly: "Hmph, sounds interesting."
"But Sister Mei definitely won't agree, right?" Pardofelis weakly raised her hand.
"She will definitely agree, because it benefits Kevin. Although the Herrschers cannot approach, their scouts still exist. They can determine that someone is in the Golden Courtyard through resource consumption and other indicators. But if we leave, they'll be afraid of being ambushed instead," Ryan explained, rolling his eyes at Elysia who wore a 'why didn't I think of that' expression.
"I was planning to take you all out these two days anyway, to find a place to hide. I even booked the tickets."
He spoke vaguely about tickets, but he actually meant finding a specially made submarine to hide deep under the sea, maintaining contact with Mei via antenna, secretly observing the Herrschers' response, and then making a move that would be later but arrive sooner.
Everyone suddenly understood. When the Herrschers realized that all the powerhouses in the Golden Courtyard had moved out, their first reaction would be that there was a conspiracy, a desire to ambush or raid them, and they wouldn't dare to encircle and kill Kevin and the others. Even if a fight broke out, most of their energy would be spent on vigilance.
In short, the Herrschers had suffered several losses already. If they still weren't on guard, wouldn't they be idiots? At this point, it was about predicting their predictions.
Elysia blinked, then clapped her hands again during the awkward silence: "Ah, yes, yes, yes, that's exactly what I was thinking! This is called—"
"Self-deception!" Pardofelis chimed in, and then got a tap on the head.
"Idiot, that's called combining reality and illusion," Ryan corrected, simultaneously increasing the safety rating from 40% to 80%.
Anyway, they were going to find a place to squat down. Elysia suggestion didn't seem so bad after all? But he always felt her intentions weren't so simple?
He remembered that wish list. Whatever it was, he decided to fulfill Elly's wish first.
"So, it's decided happily! Everyone, prepare tonight," Elysia suddenly raised her arm, her face flushed with excitement, masking the worry in her eyes.
"Tomorrow morning, come with me to battle!"