Blood, tinged with a dark green halo, splattered across the ground.
Shredded flesh burst outward like shrapnel from a firecracker.
"Mobius..."
Mobius always managed to deliver an unexpected surprise: she had used her own body as a shield, positioning herself directly behind Dr. Mei!
Dark green "ribbons," like countless tiny snakes, surged from beneath Mobius's hair and skirt, wrapping tightly around the Emperor's arm. The Honkai energy was entirely converted into a roiling magnetic field, dissipating the terrifying, immense force into nothingness...
...at the cost of her own body.
In terms of sheer volume, Mobius's entire frame was smaller than one of the Imaginary Emperor's fingers.
A simple thrust.
Although Mobius had managed to control the vast majority of the force, and the physical contact was limited to an area the size of a "fingernail," it was still...
With her lower abdomen as the epicenter, everything from her throat down to the bend of her knees—her body, which had been modified by Honkai energy countless times—was obliterated. All muscles, organs, fascia, and bones, save for her still-twitching spinal column, exploded into unrecognizable fragments upon contact.
Pfft!
Lu Xing casually flicked the filth from his fingertip.
Mobius's body, just like Sakura's before, tumbled into the ruins amidst the swirling dust.
A common tactic.
This seemingly life-sacrificing blow was nothing more than a common tactic for Mobius.
Having fused with Shesha's genes, Mobius's research into "Infinity" was immeasurably deeper than its original owner's, so much so that even Lu Xing was far from being her equal. Lu Xing had no intention of wasting time on her for now. His current target...
Swoosh!
All four arms were raised simultaneously.
The golden patterns on them grew even brighter as four colossal fists closed in from four different directions, tightly encircling the three remaining survivors.
On the surface of the iron fists, now tilted at a thirty-degree angle, the light rapidly transformed into soaring golden flames!
A divine smash!
"Dawnbreaker · Quartet!!!"
Bang—
The fists had just begun to move when a needle-like pain pierced his mind!
Turning illusion into reality, this was Su's ability: [Neurotoxin]. It used psychic power to alter the nature of Honkai energy, contaminating it into a tangible neurotoxin with effects ranging from paralysis to death, capable of influencing or even controlling a target's actions.
Su had not made physical contact with the Emperor.
The insidious poison had come from the Honkai energy that had previously spread throughout the area. Riding along this current of power, Su had silently laid his trap.
Su intended to use this power to halt the unknown Honkai Beast's movements, and perhaps even...
Pfft!!
Crimson blood sprayed from his mouth!
Su's brain felt as if it had been struck by a sledgehammer. A terrifying psychic power, from both within and without, had viciously hammered into his mental world!
A very interesting ability...
But it was useless!
Su's psychic power was indeed strong; in a pure contest of minds, he might not necessarily be weaker than Lu Xing. However, thanks to the "seed" buried deep within his heart and genes, Lu Xing could use his [Thought Interference] ability to effortlessly break through Su's assault.
And seizing the opportunity Su had created—
Crack... crackle!
By the time Lu Xing launched his attack again, all four of his arms were already covered in a thick layer of ice!
"The Flame-Chasers..."
The Emperor's gaze swept past Vill-V.
"You do have a few tricks up your sleeve."
[Ingenious Box · Boisterous Armament]
This was the name of the semi-enclosed exoskeleton Vill-V was wearing. Its offensive and defensive capabilities were negligible in Lu Xing's eyes. The ability that had truly locked down his movements came from the core loaded into the "Armament":
Prototype · Fifth Key of God · Key of Stagnation · Slumber of All Things.
Within this armament was loaded a Key of God created from the core of the Herrscher of Ice.
However, this Key of God had not yet been finalized and could only appear in its incomplete, "prototype" form.
A Herrscher Core was naturally powerful. In the hands of a scientist, it could exert even greater effects.
But... while its power was immense, the Honkai energy it consumed was equally substantial. Moreover, this was not the final form of the Fifth Key of God.
Even if Vill-V's Honkai energy reserves were sufficient...
BANG!!
The frost shattered, and the flames roared high!
The "stagnation" lasted only for a brief instant. The next moment, the iron fists once again descended with unstoppable might—
BOOM!!!
The armament scattered.
Vill-V's prized creation was hammered into a pile of scrap strewn across the ground.
Su was sent flying by the shockwave. If not for the shield of psychic power he had raised at the critical moment, his entire body would have been blasted to pieces.
As for Dr. Mei, who stood at the very center of the impact...
WHOOSH!!
A fierce gale howled.
The crystal-like arms slowly flew back to Lu Xing's side.
"I see."
Among everyone present, the only one still standing... was, unexpectedly, Dr. Mei, who should have been as helpless as a chick waiting to be trussed!
An interweaving of navy blue and pure white.
A combat suit, clinging perfectly to her curves, showcased Dr. Mei's figure in stunning detail.
No.
This suit, which resembled a Flame-Chaser combat uniform, was fundamentally something different. Lu Xing could feel the Honkai energy that Dr. Mei had "absorbed" earlier circulating across its surface. An even greater magnitude of Honkai energy was continuously surging forth from some point in the void.
[Blank Key].
"So the change has already begun..."
The [Blank Key].
Through the use of armor (a battlesuit), it connects the human body to a Herrscher Core and Imaginary Space, thereby allowing it to draw a continuous stream of Honkai energy.
In short, it allowed a human to possess power rivaling a Herrscher for a short period.
This was a by-product Dr. Mei had created "incidentally" while researching the Keys of God. In the original story, the [Blank Key] was supposed to have been completed during the appearance of the Tenth Herrscher, the Herrscher of Domination. Now, that process had been advanced by several months.
As for the weapon that had just stirred up that gale...
Its hilt was pitch-black.
The blade was shaped like a wing of alternating black and white feathers, with deep cyan air currents flowing over it.
The tachi-shaped weapon looked remarkably like the 3rd Sacred Relic, but the Honkai energy surging within it was filled with the aura of a Herrscher. That's right, the power source embedded in this weapon was none other than the Fourth Key of God!
The reason New Zealand's environment could not be restored and the reason for the disruptions in global real-time communication were one and the same: for her research on the [Blank Key], Dr. Mei had removed the core of the Herrscher of Wind from its satellite.
By manufacturing enough [Blank Keys] and coordinating them with the Keys of God... it was just as the Flame-Chaser representative had said in the meeting. This, like the Quantum Energy weapons, was a critical field of research that could determine the very survival of humanity.
But!
The arms returned to Lu Xing's side.
The Flame-Chasers were remarkably resilient. Su was staggering back onto the battlefield, his eyes swirling with an iridescent mist as countless feathers began to rise within them, the phantom of a green-gold peacock on the verge of becoming solid. The green-haired loli, now countless times smaller, emerged slowly from the shadows, her body covered in fine scales. Her left arm was a series of pinpricks from where she had just injected herself with potent Honkai energy stimulants.
Overload Metamorphosis.
It seemed the third plan was about to be realized.
But these were all just side dishes. Lu Xing's objective for this trip remained, without a doubt, the Dr. Mei before him.
"A Herrscher..."
The Honkai energy halo around him rippled with intersecting streams of light.
Facing Dr. Mei, now transformed into an artificial Herrscher, Lu Xing decided to send her off with the greatest respect.
"So what?"