Chapter 80: The Celestial Ones Strike
[2005, California Institute of Technology Student Cafeteria
Murasaki Ryuusuke covered his mouth with a handkerchief, coughing violently. The cloth was visibly stained with blood.
When he saw his daughter approaching with food, he hastily tucked the handkerchief away. As they chatted, an alert sounded on his phone—a hurricane had been detected near Houston. Ryuusuke seemed to recall something and immediately stood up, saying he needed to meet an old friend. Himeko sighed in resignation but understood her father's work:
"Alright, go ahead. When you come back tomorrow, you have to try the dishes I make~"
The girl smiled as she saw her father off. "Don't worry, Himeko. Dad will definitely come back."
"...That's right. Dad will definitely come back."
]
[March 7th]:"Why does this feel like a death flag? Could he actually be a good guy?"
[Stelle]:"No way, right? Maybe he's just putting on an act to deceive people?"
[Kiana]:"What if the aliens he made a deal with aren't the bad ones—what if he is?"
[Dan Heng]:'Not enough information. Let's keep watching.'
[2005, Anti-Entropy Headquarters Conference Room "...The emergency shutdown protocol has been activated. The system will remain locked for 72 hours. During this time, I'll attempt to crack the system and cancel its attack plan."
Einstein spoke confidently, but after all this time, she still hadn't managed to break through the system's defenses.
Instead, both she and Tesla were left panting from exhaustion. At that moment, Murasaki Ryuusuke arrived, wearing an apologetic expression. He claimed he hadn't expected Otto to set a trap in the key—it was entirely his fault. The two doctors, who had already placed their full trust in Ryuusuke, naturally didn't blame him. After all, everything was Otto's fault. Since a software solution was no longer viable, Anti-Entropy decided to take a brute-force approach—attacking the Fourth Divine Key directly with Silver Bullet missiles. Then, Ryuusuke smiled, as if his goal had been achieved. He told the Anti-Entropy members that while the Fourth Divine Key's coordinates were hidden, he knew how to locate it. Tesla, unable to wait any longer, immediately left for New Mexico. Einstein, however, felt something was off and decided to inform the leader as soon as possible.]
[March 7th]:"The moment I saw Ryuusuke's scheming grin, I knew he couldn't be a good guy."
[Stelle]:"If you can't hack the software, just attack the hardware—such a straightforward hacker method."
[Silver Wolf]:"That's the most common tactic in cyber warfare."
[Vill-V]:"Heheh, my programming is just that powerful!"
[Honkai Star Rail · Welt]:"Shave Otto bald and throw him into a nuclear reactor? For Otto, that's a fitting end."
[Tesla]:"I changed my mind—Otto *** shouldn't die so easily."
[2005, Schicksal Headquarters – The Overseer's Office
Amber reported to Otto that the Fourth Divine Key had been activated and asked if it was part of his plan.
Otto denied it—after the key was stolen, even he couldn't control the Fourth Divine Key anymore. Amber suggested that since peace was hard-won, they should clarify the situation with Anti-Entropy. Otto dismissed the idea, fully aware of how low his credibility was with them. The priority now was identifying the culprit. Otto pulled up Murasaki Ryuusuke's file—aside from himself, Ryuusuke was the most familiar with the Fourth Divine Key. But Otto was puzzled—he had already used Fenghuang Down to scan Ryuusuke's memories and found no signs of betrayal.]
[Stelle]:"Murasaki Ryuusuke never had any intention of betraying them—because you can't betray someone you were never loyal to in the first place."
[March 7th]:"A man who played both Schicksal and Anti-Entropy—what is he after? Surely not just being a guide for the Celestial Ones?"
[Murasaki Himeko]:"How much of what Father said about caring for me was real?"
[March 7th]:"Anti-Entropy and Schicksal were on such bad terms back then—how did they avoid outright war?"
[Honkai Star Rail · Welt]:"Simple—we waited until Otto died and Theresa became Overseer."
[Theresa]:"I really become Overseer? I wonder how well future me handled it..."
[Honkai Star Rail · Welt]:"Probably exhausting?"
[Theresa]:"For Schicksal's sake, I don't fear hardship!"
[2005, New Mexico Launch Site
A guard at the heavily fortified military base instinctively swatted at a mosquito—only to find a red mechanical octopus in his hand. "What… is this?"
The worker stared curiously at the strange creature.
But soon, the machine burrowed straight into his body! .........
Tesla brought Ryuusuke to the launch site. The moment they entered, the gray furball on Ryuusuke sensed something wrong. Just as it was about to warn them, the compromised guard aimed his gun at Tesla. Ryuusuke's expression darkened as he shoved Tesla aside—only to take a bullet to his own arm instead. He pushed Tesla into the control room while dragging his injured body away to lure the pursuers elsewhere.]
[Herta]:"This is the Celestial Ones' technology? Pathetic."
[Jing Yuan]:"Indeed doesn't seem advanced enough to threaten the Xianzhou."
[Guinaifen]:"He's acting way too convincingly! Without an omniscient view, anyone would be fooled."
[March 7th]:"Compared to the alien on him, I trust him even less."
[Honkai Impact · Welt]:"Sigh… back then, we were all dancing in his palm."
[Injured and unable to rely on his alien companion to interfere with their minds, Murasaki Ryuusuke had only one option left:
The gray furball bit down on him— "Make it quick.
Your body can't sustain this power for long."
Dark green tentacles sprouted from Ryuusuke's body as his eyes turned crimson. He instantly slaughtered the controlled soldiers and retrieved the red octopus from their corpses. The furball explained that this was the Celestial Ones' latest reconnaissance model and urged him to check the control room—their target was likely the Silver Bullet missiles. Dragging his wounded body inside, Ryuusuke found Tesla unharmed—but the control system had indeed been hacked. Tesla blamed Otto and Fenghuang Down for this mess. After noticing Ryuusuke's injury, Tesla rushed him to the infirmary. Once alone, she muttered: "He should be gone by now."
"The Fourth Divine Key… Silver Bullet missiles… berserk guards…"
"...And machines we've never seen before."
"What do you think, Leader?"]
[Stelle]:"What do you think, Leader?"
[March 7th]:"What do you think, Leader?"
[Honkai Star Rail · Welt]:"Right now? I think while sitting down! You two clowns are giving me flashbacks to teaching at St. Freya."
[Kiana]:"Mr. Yang still remembers us after all this time? Yay!"
[Bronya Zaychik]:"Bronya doubts he has anything nice to say."
[Otto]:"Seriously? You knew about extraterrestrials and still pinned this on me?"
[Tesla]:"Who knows if this is some new tech of yours or something else entirely?"
[Honkai Impact · Welt]:"If something goes wrong, blaming Otto is right nine times out of ten."