Chapter 158: Void Drifter's Cool Rescue! Fu Hua is Actually a MANTIS?
Seeing Sister Rita so confident, the viewers in the livestream thought they were about to see an S-rank Valkyrie show off her divine might, slaughtering the monsters and charging out to blow Raven's head off.
However, a dramatic turn occurred.
Rita Rossweisse, who had just finished her bold declaration and was supremely confident in her strength, was backstabbed by Raven in the very next second. These "lowly pawns" were naturally no match for an S-rank Valkyrie, but what happens if an S-rank Valkyrie loses her control over Honkai energy?
Rita used her own experience to answer this for the audience.
["I've prepared a small gift to see if the elite Immortal Blades can still perform as usual in a desperate situation."]
As a special gas filled the entire lab, Rita donned a gas mask. She appeared dismissive of Raven's tactics.
["Whether it's zombies or poison... these petty tricks only make you look more pitiful."]
[Rita's voice carried a subtle mockery as she spun her scythe, effortlessly bisecting a zombie lunging at her.]
However, Raven let out a cold laugh, looking quite intrigued rather than frustrated that her plot had been "foiled." In the next moment, the Honkai beasts and zombies surrounding Rita began to retreat. Furthermore, their bodies began to shrivel as if their strength were being drained!
At that moment, Raven revealed the truth about the gas. It wasn't tear gas; it was HSN-B46 serum!
The originally calm and composed Rita finally realized something was wrong. HSN-B46 serum could rapidly deactivate Honkai energy in living organisms. Raven and Jackal had modified it so it didn't even need to be inhaled; skin contact alone allowed it to enter the circulatory system, leaving Valkyries as helpless as ordinary humans!
Using a Schicksal-made weapon against Schicksal's own people was a truly bitter irony.
[Holy crap?]
[?? Is Rita actually going to flip the car here?]
[No way, brother, who would've thought Raven had that stuff? HSN-B46 serum.... Meow, back then Fu Hua went through so much trouble just to get one vial for Himeko, right?]
[I can only be glad there's no Schariac Holy Blood, otherwise if they made a God-Slayer Spear, Rita might've dropped dead on the spot.]
[Wait, hasn't Rita not flipped yet? She temporarily lost her Honkai control, but don't forget Valkyries undergo special training! She won't be completely helpless, right?]
[True, and those beasts and zombies can't fight either. Rita can't catch Raven, but if she wants to leave, can they stop her?]
Many viewers felt a sense of unease. Was the Great Teacher Rita really going to fail in such a gutter? But others argued it was too early to judge! The title of S-rank Valkyrie wasn't for show; what if she lost Honkai control?
"I think so too. Rita might not be able to control Honkai energy for a bit, and her combat power might drop, but surely she can still run?" Kiana agreed with the chat. "Regardless, she's a Schicksal S-rank! She holds the same title my mom Cecilia did!"
Kiana had always thought the S-rank title was incredibly cool and often wished she could become one in the game. But looking at things now, that wish seemed unlikely since she was now an enemy of Schicksal; the ranking system had lost its meaning for her.
Though Kiana was dissatisfied with Rita's actions in the game and felt she was aiding a tyrant, she didn't want anything bad to happen when she remembered Rita was her sister Bianca's Vice-Captain. Kiana knew better than anyone how much Rita meant to Bianca. Moreover, Rita was her sister's best friend. Kiana didn't want to see her normally decisive and strong sister pounding the ground in the game crying, "I couldn't do anything"... that scene would be too explosive and would totally shatter Kiana's worldview!
However, things did not go as planned.
After Raven released the serum gas, she sent another "big gift" to Rita—several mechs landed heavily, lunging at her! These "Death Weavers" were mechs specifically designed as killing machines to hunt Schicksal Valkyries, and they were entirely unaffected by the serum!
Having lost her Honkai control, the weakened Rita fell into a passive struggle against the fierce mechs. In the combat stage, this was reflected by Rita continuously losing HP! As for the other Immortal Blades members, Raven had used the same trick, and they were also in dire straits!
Seeing her teammates' comms cut off one by one, Rita laughed out of pure rage.
["...To laugh while watching your comrades fall, you really are a cold-blooded one."]Facing Raven's mockery, a chilling light appeared in Rita's eyes. ["I'm only wondering what methods I should use to deal with you when you fall into Schicksal's hands..."]
Even though she was furious, she maintained her usual composure and elegance, as if she hadn't lost the upper hand at all....
The viewers were dumbfounded. Great Teacher Rita? Aren't you an S-rank? Don't you have a backup plan? Where's your trump card? Where's your exit strategy? Your teammates are all down, you're about to be beaten to death by some spiders, and you're still talking tough? Is your mouth the only part of you that's invincible?
Kiana was also a bit stunned. she had assumed Rita was one of those who always had a trick up their sleeve, but seeing her so battered, Kiana didn't know what to say.
Beside her, the real Rita cleared her throat, her expression unchanged by her in-game predicament: "It seems I was indeed too lax. I didn't expect World Serpent to possess such precious serum. It appears Schicksal is not a monolith; there must be World Serpent spies hidden within."
"Little Gui thinks Raven and Jackal are just too sneaky," Guinaifen offered her opinion. "I mean, who could've guessed Raven had that? Those Death Weavers were built to kill Valkyries and aren't affected by the serum, meaning they planned this from the very start. Ultimately, Heliopolis is World Serpent's home turf; the odds were against Rita from the beginning."
[True, but Rita is an S-rank, isn't her performance a bit weak?]
[I thought an S-rank's performance would be more prominent, but the myth seems to be breaking.]
[Brother, do you really not know what Honkai energy means to a Valkyrie? Without it, they're no different from ordinary people. The fact that she's held out this long against those mechs proves her strength, doesn't it?]
[Isn't it like a wuxia novel where your pressure points are sealed? No matter how great you are, you're just a little brother once those points are locked, right?]
[Jackal and Raven are so underhanded.... I wonder what kind of freak organization World Serpent is, gathering all these schemers? Gray Snake first, now these two!]
Rita's "car flip" was indeed unexpected, but careful players noticed the buildup. Rita's role in this chapter was like a supporting character who finally discovers a dark secret only to be silenced. Flags were flying everywhere, and her tough talk just added to the "old general on stage" vibe—it was hard not to fail.
Just as the viewers were holding their breath, fearing Rita might actually meet her end there—
The game screen transitioned to a few hours earlier, in a hidden corner at the edge of the city. In a temporary hideout, Kiana was looking over intelligence gathered over the past few days—a map of Arc City pinned with various reports and lines of different colors. In these days, Kiana and Fu Hua had been wandering Honkai disaster sites, digging for clues to find every piece of the puzzle.
Today, they finally found the answer. Surprisingly, the one who first discovered someone was behind the disasters was not Fu Hua, but Kiana. During a zombie cleanup, she saw a face—a woman Kiana had once saved, now turned into a zombie. Originally, Kiana thought the disasters were related to the Herrscher of the Void inside her, but proof showed otherwise; if the Herrscher personality were summoning beasts, they would appear around Kiana. Following Kiana's deduction, all clues pointed to one location—the Heliopolis Life Sciences industrial zone!
This simple yet effective logic went straight to the heart of the matter. Kiana's reasoning actually surprised Fu Hua!
[?]
[No? Is this the Tuna I know?]
[Wait, Kiana, you shouldn't possess such earth-shattering wisdom!]
[I know people grow, but isn't the gap before and after a bit too big? Where did I end up? Is this the hot-blooded, lazy Kiana I recognize?]
Viewers spammed question marks at the calm and deep thinking Kiana displayed. Although they saw she had matured during her clash with Rita, they didn't expect her to look like she'd had a brain transplant! Does such a smart brain really belong to the "Tuna"?
"Hey! What's with all the question marks!" Kiana put her hands on her hips, pouting at the comments. "When this lady gets serious, I'm very capable! I'm not a dummy; I just usually don't want to use my brain! This is my true strength, understand?"
[Does that mean the current President Kiana isn't using her brain at all?]
[Uh, so Old Thief Su Mu really is her external processor?]
[Honestly, as much as I hate him, I admire him.... with a god-tier carry like that, it's normal not to want to use your brain, right?]
[Wait, so what's the deal with the President and the Old Thief? Are they cohabiting? When's the wedding? President, listen to me, the man has talent; you have to seize the chance!]
[No way, are you pushing her into a fire pit? He has talent, but he's clearly traumatized! Look at the scripts he writes!]
"Hey, aren't we discussing the plot? Don't bring that up! I told you nothing is going on between me and that guy!!" Kiana waved her fists at the camera. Her embarrassed and annoyed look only made people more certain that there was something between her and Su Mu. Though she thought he was a good person—gentle, good at housework, a great cook, and skilled at combing hair (even better than her mom Cecilia)—that wasn't enough reason to marry him!
The atmosphere in the stream turned cheerful.
In the game, Kiana reached the industrial zone and encountered the Valkyries trapped by the serum gas. Although time was short, she couldn't bring herself to leave them in danger. She acted decisively, wiping out the zombies in an instant.
However, the rescued Valkyrie struggled to stand, then recoiled into a corner as if she had seen the Grim Reaper. The Valkyrie was Alvitr. She stared at Kiana in terror, telling her not to come closer. Kiana calmed her down and learned the whole story from her. Once she understood, Alvitr suddenly grabbed Kiana's arm, completely forgetting her earlier fear, and pleaded with Kiana to go down and save Rita.
After the stage, two choices appeared: save Rita first, or investigate intel first. Guinaifen played both and found that while both lead to the industrial zone to help Rita, investigating first reveals secrets about Class Monitor Fu Hua. In the archives, Kiana found info on Project Stigma, followed by observation records of a MANTIS from the Previous Era! The person in those records was... Fu Hua!
Fu Hua was also startled that her records were there. Facing Kiana's surprised gaze, she sighed. She had held too many identities and names in her life; she didn't know where to start or couldn't say. Her memories were fragmented and full of gaps. Fu Hua deduced that the person behind Heliopolis was someone from her own era!
In Senti's stream, she also looked surprised: "Old Timer, you're really a MANTIS? Holy crap." Though she was surprised, she wasn't shocked. Fu Hua's chronicles had already mentioned she was a Pioneer. When Kevin's Previous Era plot came out, people speculated she might be a MANTIS soldier of the Moths too.
In the Honkai 3rd world, "all things can be Honkai-fied," meaning anything slightly supernatural could be tied to it. The "Celestial" in Jingwei the Celestial just meant she possessed power so vast it appeared divine to humans. Ultimately, it was just a title of respect from the people of Shenzhou.
[So MANTIS soldiers can all live that long? Kevin is like that, and so is Fu Hua.]
[I wonder if any other MANTIS survived.]
[Probably very few. Fu Hua was an executor of a plan with Cangxuan and Danzhu, and she was the only MANTIS in the 'Seeds of Fire' plan.... most likely the majority perished with the Previous Era, right?]
[LMAO, I thought Otto living 500 years was 'undead,' but it turns out MANTIS soldiers are the real immortals!]
Senti's eyes widened as she looked at Fu Hua. "They say a turtle lives a thousand years and a tortoise ten thousand! Old Timer, looking at your lifespan, how many turtles and tortoises have you outlived? Now you really are an 'Old Timer'—no, you're older than a fossil!"
Fu Hua's mouth twitched. How is that a fitting description? The phrase seemed to describe animals, but it was actually mocking people for becoming "old foxes" with age! No, is this how a sister acts? Does this kid need another lesson?
In the game, after investigating the intel, Kiana moved to the lower levels. Just as Rita was trapped, Kiana arrived in time to drive off the approaching Death Weavers.
["It seems, Miss Maid, you've made a choice."]
["Only a temporary one."]
["You should have enough strength to break through for now, right, Miss Maid?"]
Even though they were enemies before, they were now on the same side. Raven wasn't surprised by Kiana's appearance; she had sensed someone pulling the strings from the start. Under Kiana's cover, Rita fought toward the exit. As time passed, her body grew heavier, and even her scythe felt dull. She contacted the Eos to evacuate, but the darkened list of crew members told her the hope of escaping via the ship was gone. Faced with the surrounding zombies, Kiana used her Herrscher powers to open a void portal, urging Rita to jump in.
["My apologies, Miss Kiana. Allow me to handle one last matter for today."]Rita's tone remained elegant, though laced with exhaustion. ["After all, a maid's duty is to clean."]Her calm words carried an undetectable rage. [#Eos, autopilot activated. Command: 'Clean'. Target: Current coordinates.#]
As Rita's command fell, the Schicksal transport ship Eos became a missile from the heavens, plummeting toward Rita and Kiana's location. Seeing the incoming ship, Kiana was so shocked she couldn't even speak; her mature Void Drifter facade broke in a second, and that "intellectual" look vanished as she reverted to the original "Tuna" for an instant!
The industrial zone hit by the Eos was a mess of debris and wreckage, with the broken ship lying on the ground like a giant sword shattered into pieces!
[Holy crap? Sister Rita is too cool for this!]
[She's so violent! A black-bellied violent maid, I love it!]
[I didn't expect Rita, who always looks so composed and smiling, to have this side to her?]
[I can only say: Battle High! They almost killed her in there; of course she's going to leave World Serpent a gift! Smash them harder!]
Watching Rita decisively order the Eos to crash into the Earth, turning the industrial zone into a wasteland, the viewers were amazed and felt it was a job well done! Heliopolis was a hypocritical hellhole—pretending to help the city while conducting hideous experiments in secret! Rita's move might not have destroyed Heliopolis completely, but it certainly made them pay a price!
In Senti's stream, she had her mouth hanging open: "Rita is so fierce? Are we sure she hasn't lost her mind to rage?"
Beside her, Fu Hua shook her head and analyzed: "While there was certainly an element of venting, the crash of the Eos would cause a massive stir that Schicksal could not ignore."
Senti seemed to realize, looking at Fu Hua with surprise: "Old Timer, you mean... this was also Rita's way of calling for help?"
END OF CHAPTER
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