However, before that.
"It seems," Lu Xing mused, "there are still some loose ends to take care of."
He recalled two of the Space-Time Crystals (let's use this term from now on, Lu Xing decided). The gap in the patrol area was quickly filled by new crystals orbiting the Great Rift.
In just these few short minutes, as soon as the Space-Time Crystals teleported to the target location, new information was relayed back—quantum signatures, extremely similar to the VF-0s eliminated earlier, were rapidly approaching the crash site at sea.
Buzz.
Invisible mental energy spread out. His [Super Perception], which had an extremely wide range, was focused by Lu Xing into a "straight line," extending directly towards the target sea area detected by the Space-Time Crystals!
"Go and rest," Lu Xing addressed the Loli Demon God's group. "There are no houses here, but at least there's enough Honkai energy to go around. Just don't disturb the other Honkai Beasts when you're replenishing—some of the little ones have just been born and might not be in the best of moods."
"From now on..." he added, a hint of something in his tone.
"Things will get very busy."
The moment his voice fell, his body, still in the [Big Universe] form, began a new transformation. As Honkai energy deconstructed and reformed him, Lu Xing entered the [Knight Captain] form for the first time in a long while.
"Cheche."
RUMBLE!!
Tremors came from the ground beneath. Cheche's enormous horn transformed entirely into a streak of light, flying rapidly towards Lu Xing, who was changing into his [Knight Captain] form!
And in the process—
"Neigh!"
It transformed into a warhorse form named 'Radiance'!
This was Lu Xing's ability, [Species Iteration]. When channeled through Cheche, it could successfully create a warhorse-type Honkai Beast suitable for a Knight-class. Apart from its color changing to a dark gold that perfectly matched Lu Xing himself, its appearance was no different from the [Midnight's Atajina] era.
As for the reason for choosing the [Knight Captain] form to further test the strength of quantum weapons:
"So many old faces today..." Lu Xing thought.
"Quite a few, indeed."
————
Above the Pacific Ocean.
A six-engine 'X'-wing heavy interceptor from Shenzhou, codenamed 'Chongming,' was rapidly approaching the target sea area at Mach 15. Its mission was to recover the wreckage of the two VF-0s shot down by an unidentified flying object.
The black boxes of the crashed fighters contained extremely important experimental data.
However, the Chongming was not the protagonist of this mission. The four Armed Dolls aboard the Chongming, who had undergone quantum modifications, were the key.
And these four were none other than RWBY, whom Lu Xing had fought as a Knight Captain during the Battle of Sydney.
"ETA to target sea area: 23 seconds."
"Request permission to decelerate?" The pilot's voice came through the headset.
"Negative. Maintain this speed." Crescent Rose, folded into a long rectangle, was quietly slung behind her back. Ruby (Reaper), adjusting her hood slightly, rejected the pilot's suggestion.
"Alright." The pilot gave an 'OK' gesture towards the rear of the cabin. "Be mindful of the time. This aircraft will return to the target sea area in 97 seconds. Please complete the recovery work as quickly as possible. After all..."
The pilot recalled the intelligence received before departure.
"Apart from speed, we have no way of dealing with those 'black things'—"
BOOM!!
————
The speed of the Space-Time Crystals was indeed not fast (relative to Mach 15). After all, they were, in essence, just individual components of the Imaginary Emperor's greater whole.
But!
Once the Space-Time Crystals fully transformed into [Subspace Lances], the situation changed drastically. Unlike the Subspace Lances of the Herrscher of the Void from fifty thousand years in the future, Lu Xing's Subspace Lances could not be generated out of thin air; instead, he used Herrscher authority to construct them based on the Space-Time Crystals.
The black, white, and gold tri-color configuration remained unchanged, but their main body would be predominantly pitch-black.
These were true weapons of destruction and slaughter—even without activating their spatial traversal ability, the [Subspace Lances] could easily exceed Mach 20 for atmospheric flight.
As for a combined attack from two Subspace Lances... no terrestrial aircraft manufactured with current human technology could escape their assault. Structural defense was indeed a logical countermeasure, but a crucial prerequisite was that the destructive power of a Subspace Lance was comparable to an attack from an Emperor-class Honkai Beast. There were likely very few creations of civilization capable of withstanding an Emperor-class Honkai Beast's attack without being destroyed.
However—
CLANG!! CLANG!!
Amidst the piercing clash, the Subspace Lances were violently knocked away!
Above the sea surface, the Armed Doll squad, in two pairs, warily eyed the slowly rotating Subspace Lances in the distance.
A threat of this level seemed to be just a bit lacking against quantum energy-driven Armed Dolls. Using an invisible energy field as a shield and for support, the Armed Dolls hovered steadily above the calm sea surface.
"Was this what shot down the VF-0s?"
"Slightly different, but we probably haven't found the wrong target," Schnee (Piercer) picked up where Ruby (Reaper) left off.
"Can you identify it?"
"Negative. Nothing in the database... The closest match in structure is only 37.22%, and that's the [Space Pierce] used by the enemy during the Second Herrscher Annihilation War."
"These two weapons... their (mathematical) model is far more complex than [Space Pierce]."
"..."
"Whatever it is, let's just fight it first!" Yang's (Smasher) direct approach broke the squad's silence. "If I can snatch one of these back, I'd like to see who in the research institute dares to call me a brute then!"
"That's exactly what a brute would say, hey!" Belladonna's (Hunter) retort had just begun when a sudden change occurred with the Subspace Lances, making everyone's nerves tense up again—
Whoosh!
The Subspace Lances, like paintbrushes, traced two symmetrical arcs in the air, golden spatial ripples spreading out layer by layer from the very center!
"Neigh!"
Knight, lance, warhorse, greatshield.
An incredibly familiar figure appeared before the four of them!
"N-No way..."
"This guy is still alive!?"
Yang and Belladonna's jaws dropped in shock—back when they fought the Black Knight, if it weren't for the Flame-Chasers' help, the four of them would have likely suffered a crushing defeat.
Now, they were indeed countless times stronger than before. Although they were still adapting, with the support of quantum energy, the four of them together were strong enough to suppress most Emperor-class Honkai Beasts. This was also why Shenzhou and the Mu Continent, despite knowing the mission's danger, still chose to send them here.
Among the first batch of Armed Dolls equipped with prototype quantum engines, they were definitely among the strongest in combat power.
But—
Although the Black Knight was merely a Knight-class individual separated by Lu Xing, with the aid of his lance and the Subspace Lances... dealing with Emperor-class Honkai Beasts was not as simple as just suppression for him.