August 13th.
3:30 in the afternoon.
Su Yu had never in his life seen so many general's stars.
The entrance to the underground conference room required passing through three biometric gates, two full-body scans, and a security checkpoint that nearly had him peeling off the very soles of his shoes.
Along both sides of the corridor, every five meters stood an armed military police officer, their stern, humorless expressions three degrees harder than the Siberian permafrost.
The conference room itself wasn't as grand as one might imagine.
No mahogany table, no crystal chandelier, not even a window.
Just a rectangular room wrapped airtight in heavy soundproofing material, a gray metal conference table in the center, the fluorescent tubes overhead emitting a low, droning hum.
On one side of the table sat five people.
Three generals in crisp military uniforms, the stars on their shoulders glinting under the fluorescent light.
A middle-aged man in a dark suit and gold-rimmed glasses, whose bearing suggested he was the head of some privileged department.
The last was a white-haired old man, not in uniform, but seated in the very center, the other four turned slightly toward him.
Su Yu could guess with his toes that this man was, without a doubt, the final decision-maker who could make all of Shenzhou tremble three times over with a single word.
On the other side of the table was Anti-Entropy's "top-tier negotiation team."
Eden sat at the far left.
Her attire today was extremely restrained.
No haute couture evening gown, no jewelry—just a sharply tailored dark gray suit skirt, her wine-red hair pulled into a low bun at the back.
Welt sat beside Eden, still in his eternal, unchanging standard-issue dark suit and glasses.
A stack of documents lay spread before him, a cup of long-since-cold black coffee at his hand.
Mobius sat at the far right.
This female scientist with "mad scientist" practically carved into her forehead had, for once, worn a formal white lab coat.
But those languid, smiling emerald serpent-eyes of hers were rolling across the several generals opposite, making her look more like a venomous snake coiled on a lab table, appraising the dissection value of its prey.
Su Yu sat in the very center.
He wore a black turtleneck, with a dark casual suit jacket over it.
Eden had picked it out for him.
The air in the conference room was very dry, the AC vent blowing against the back of Su Yu's head.
The white-haired old man spoke first.
"Ms. Eden, Mr. Welt."
The old man's voice wasn't loud, but that composure—steeped over long years at the center of power—made the air of the entire room press down a layer heavier.
"Regarding the Murata Ryusuke case, we've already reviewed the complete internal report. The abilities that girl displayed on Tiger Claw Gang turf did indeed exceed the bounds of our understanding."
His gaze moved from Eden to Su Yu's face.
"But."
The tail of this "but" dragged out long.
"This talk of 'humanity facing total annihilation in half a year'—forgive my bluntness—"
A general seated to his left took up the words.
This man was in his early fifties, square-faced, with thick, dark eyebrows, exuding the iron-blooded gunpowder reek of someone who'd clawed his way out of a pile of corpses.
"I served thirty years in frontline units, led the wildest soldiers, seen every bizarre kind of intel there is. But alien monsters invading Earth, the end of the world—that's a script I've only ever seen in Hollywood's trashy sci-fi flicks."
His gaze swept over Su Yu, carrying an undisguised scrutiny.
"Young man, how old are you this year?"
"Twenty-three," Su Yu answered.
"Twenty-three." The general repeated the number and gave a cold snort.
The subtext in his tone was self-evident—when I was fighting wars, you were still in split-crotch pants.
The atmosphere in the conference room dropped to freezing point.
Su Yu didn't rush to retort, didn't even blink an extra time.
Three months ago, facing an all-star lineup of this caliber, he probably couldn't have gotten his words out straight.
But after being remade by the second-stage Genetic Lock, after being tossed back and forth by a Herrscher, after truly gazing into the Honkai Abyss—this kind of worldly power's pressure looked like nothing more than a paper tiger in his eyes.
He glanced at Eden.
Eden gave a slight nod, signaling him to go for it.
The Number One Big Sis herself had spoken; if he didn't muster some presence, this Admiral gig probably wasn't going to last.
Su Yu stood up.
"Generals."
His voice was very steady.
"I know talk alone is useless. So today, I've brought a bit of 'Truth.'"
He turned his head toward the doorway.
"Please bring in the test sample."
The military police outside the door froze for a moment, glanced at the white-haired old man, and after receiving a slight nod, stepped aside.
Two technicians in Anti-Entropy work uniforms pushed in a flatbed cart.
On the cart sat a dark gray metal plate roughly half a meter square.
"What is this?" The square-faced general frowned.
Welt pushed up his glasses and answered the question for Su Yu.
"GJB-7A high-density bulletproof alloy—currently deployed in the frontal composite armor of your side's newest-generation main battle tanks. This sample was procured through official channels as a test piece, complete with full factory certification and material report."
He opened the document before him and pushed a red-stamped inspection report to the center of the table.
"Thickness: twelve millimeters. Anti-armor-piercing rating: capable of withstanding direct fire from thirty-millimeter caliber armor-piercing rounds."
The square-faced general's brow furrowed even tighter.
"What are you doing hauling in this turtle shell? Planning to peddle a new armor-piercing round?"
Su Yu didn't answer.
He walked to the flatbed cart, extended his right hand, five fingers spread, palm facing down, hovering about ten centimeters above the dark gray alloy plate.
He closed his eyes.
Every gaze in the conference room focused on his hand.
Su Yu's breathing slowed.
He could feel that force within his body—grown incredibly abundant thanks to the stabilization of the second-stage Genetic Lock—surging through his blood vessels.
The feeling wasn't like mobilizing muscles; it was more like unscrewing a valve—as long as he was willing, that torrent could pour out at any moment.
He opened his eyes, a faint dark gleam flashing through his pupils.
His right hand descended.
Five slender fingers, as if grabbing a block of tofu, casually hooked around the edge of the alloy plate.
No deep-breath buildup, no exaggerated posture of bulging veins.
Merely—a gentle squeeze.
"Kchhk—"
The ear-piercing screech of metal being forcibly twisted exploded in the sealed conference room!
The twelve-millimeter-thick GJB-7A high-density bulletproof alloy was kneaded into a ball like a sheet of tinfoil between Su Yu's five fingers.
Metal fragments fell from the gaps between his fingers, clattering onto the steel surface of the cart.
Su Yu released his grip.
That ball of alloy, forcibly twisted into a pretzel shape, slammed onto the cart's surface with a "thud," making the entire flatbed cart shudder violently.
Dead silence reigned in the conference room for three seconds.
The square-faced general's mouth hung half-open, his Adam's apple rolling violently up and down, yet unable to produce a single sound.
The way he looked at Su Yu was like looking at a Godzilla wrapped in human skin.
The middle-aged man beside him with the gold-rimmed glasses—the fountain pen dropped from his hand onto the table, rolled twice, and fell to the floor.
The sound of the pen hitting the floor was clearly audible, but no one cared.
Su Yu patted the metal fragments off his hands, turned around, and faced the five shattered-worldview faces across from him.
"This is my personal strength. Pure carbon-based biological physical strength, without relying on any external hydraulic equipment or armor."
He raised his right hand and displayed his palm.
The palm was completely unharmed.
Not even a single red mark.
"If you still feel this isn't persuasive enough—"
Su Yu looked toward Welt.
Welt took a portable projector from his briefcase, placed it on the table, and pressed the switch.
The conference room lights automatically dimmed.
A high-definition video appeared on the projection screen.
In the footage was the testing ground of Anti-Entropy's underground base.
Su Yu stood in the center of the field, an alloy plate three times larger than the previous one floating before him—a superalloy armor plate.
He raised his right hand, palm facing up.
The air in the footage began to distort.
A force field like a heat wave spread out from his palm.
That superalloy armor plate first emitted a teeth-grinding sound of metal deformation, then, before everyone's eyes, was compressed inward from the middle by an invisible force, folded, crushed, ultimately becoming a fist-sized metal ball.
The entire process took no more than five seconds.
The scene switched.
The second video.
The interior of an abandoned building.
The surveillance camera's image quality wasn't sharp, but it was enough to make out the glaring white light in the center of the frame.
A humanoid silhouette appeared out of thin air within the white light, crashing heavily onto the ground.
"This is an actual recording of spatial teleportation technology," Welt's voice sounded in the darkness. "The teleported subject is an advanced combat operative from... another dimension. Teleportation distance: across the planar barrier."
The video ended.
The lights came back on.
The air in the conference room had changed.
That condescending scrutiny had vanished.
In its place was a silence mixed with shock, wariness, and a certain primal fear.
The white-haired old man tapped the table lightly twice with his fingers.
"These... are all real?"
"If you feel the video could be faked," Su Yu smiled faintly, "I can demonstrate again right here on the spot. But for everyone's safety, I'd suggest you all step back three meters."
No one laughed.
The white-haired old man looked at Su Yu for a long time.
He turned his head, looking at the square-faced general beside him.
That old soldier who'd fought his whole life was, at this moment, staring dead at that lump of scrap metal.
He understood clearly that if that hand had crushed not an armor plate but a human head, it would have been even easier than crushing a ripe watermelon.
"Continue." The white-haired old man turned his gaze back to Su Yu, his eyes now carrying the respect only a negotiating opponent could command. "You came here today—what is it you want?"
This time, it was Mobius's turn to take the stage.
She rose from her seat, walked over to the projector, and swiped a fingertip through the air.
A complex mecha design blueprint appeared on the projection screen.
"This is the concept design of the 'Titan' single-soldier combat mech."
"Total height 2.8 meters, self-weight 1.2 tons, equipped with a micro fusion battery, seventy-two-hour endurance. Armed with a thirty-millimeter rapid-fire autocannon and a close-defense laser array."
"To put it simply, the firepower output of a single Titan is equivalent to a full-strength mechanized infantry company."
Before the big shots had finished digesting this staggering data, her slender fingers slid again.
A colossal steel deity—imposing enough that merely looking at the blueprint felt suffocating—occupied the entire screen.
"This is Wotan, a twenty-meter-class giant decisive-battle weapon."
Mobius didn't bother reading out those dry parameters; she simply let this steel behemoth's blueprint linger quietly on the screen for five seconds.
Five seconds was enough.
The eyes of those generals opposite, the instant they laid eyes on Wotan, collectively lit up green!
After all, Gundams are the ultimate romance of all human males.
"These technologies..." The middle-aged man with the gold-rimmed glasses breathed rapidly. "You're willing to share them?"
"Of course," Welt took up the words, "but there's one precondition."
He pushed up his glasses.
"These anti-Honkai mechs aren't toy tanks. They're not something you can just pull in any random person, push a few buttons, step on the throttle, and drive."
"The Titan's neural docking system deeply and directly links the pilot's nerve endings to the mech. The terrifying overload generated in high-mobility states—an ordinary person sitting in it would be brain-dead within three seconds, without even the necessity of resuscitation."
He looked at those unpredictable faces across from him and threw out the killing blow.
"Wotan goes without saying. Its core drive requires the pilot to possess an innate resistance to a special type of energy. A person without this resistance who sits inside will be burned to ashes by the energy circuit the instant it starts up."
The conference room went quiet for a few seconds.
"So." The square-faced general forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart, his voice low. "What kind of people do you need?"
"The strongest physiques among all humanity, the most tenacious wills, and—" Su Yu raised a single finger, "one-in-ten-thousand special resistance."
"You mean, you need our elites?"
"Not only need them—we need the very best."
Su Yu pressed both hands on the table.
"But I don't need you to enter wartime status right now; that would only cause panic and accomplish nothing."
He pulled a document from his pocket, placed it on the table, and pushed it across.
"This is my bargaining chip: designating Arc City directly as the 'Anti-Entropy Anti-Honkai Special Defense Zone.'"
"Over the next six months, all defensive fortification construction and heavy-industry conversion costs in this special district will be fully covered by Anti-Entropy and the Eden Foundation—not a single cent needed from the national treasury."
As if to corroborate his words, the "Number One Big Sis" Eden opened her mouth at precisely the right moment:
"The infrastructure funds will be advanced in full, interest-free, by the foundation under my name. First-phase budget: fifty billion. Subsequent investment to be determined as circumstances warrant—no upper limit."
Fifty billion for the first phase alone, with no cap on follow-up investment? Those words were, admittedly, a bit too audacious.
As this exaggerated figure came crashing down, the corners of the mouths of those several big shots opposite visibly twitched.
But Eden did indeed have the capital to be audacious; the phrase "wealth to rival a nation" became concrete in this very moment.
"In exchange." Su Yu struck while the iron was hot, raising three fingers. "We need the authorities to provide an unconditional green channel in three areas."
"First, special-case land approval and resource allocation authority. We need to link up Arc City's underground transportation network. Go through the normal process, and by the time the approval documents come down, the daylilies will have already gone cold."
"Second, we're developing a game called Honkai Impact 3rd. This game's nationwide promotion and distribution absolutely cannot face any obstacle in terms of licensing numbers or censorship—it must have a green light all the way onto everyone's terminals."
The bespectacled middle-aged man keenly seized on the blind spot: "A game? What does that have to do with saving the world?"
"It concerns the survival of all humanity, but explaining it now would involve higher-dimensional logic. Once you see the finished first-test build, you'll naturally understand."
Su Yu unceremoniously stonewalled past it, then immediately raised a third finger.
"Third—and this is the most core demand."
"I want you to immediately begin large-scale 'Honkai energy resistance testing,' with the relevant technology provided by Anti-Entropy."
"From all of Shenzhou's most elite special forces, ace flight squadrons, even ancient martial arts family clans, draw a batch of the top human elites and secretly send them to Arc City to undergo Anti-Entropy's hell-tier selection and testing."
"For the first batch, I only want five hundred people."
The square-faced general's brow twisted into a knot.
"Your appetite is far too big. You want me to send the whole army's treasured darlings, the very tip of the spear's point, all onto your private turf to be lab rats?"
"Let me correct that—not onto my turf. Arc City is still Shenzhou's territory; we're merely building a breakwater on behalf of all humanity."
Su Yu shot back without yielding an inch.
"And everything I've said has one prerequisite—possessing excellent Honkai energy resistance. If none can be found, then select other elites with strong physiques and firm wills."
"What's more," he added, "for you, this is a business deal guaranteed to profit without loss."
The white-haired old man's fingers stopped tapping; he looked at him deeply. "How so?"
"If, half a year from now, no alien invasion occurs at all, proving I'm a madman."
Su Yu spread his hands.
"Then congratulations—you'll have freeloaded epoch-transcending single-soldier mech technology, freeloaded Ms. Eden's urban infrastructure investment, and freeloaded a batch of super-soldiers whose potential we've squeezed out."
He paused.
"But if, six months later, the Honkai truly tears open the sky."
"Then this batch of mech pilots who've adapted to the doomsday battlefield in advance, and this Arc Special District armed to the teeth with heavy metal, will be this land's most indestructible shield!"
"No matter how you calculate it, you don't lose out—isn't that so?"
The conference room fell into a long silence.
This was an open stratagem—a scheme woven from era-transcending interests and the crisis of life and death.
The white-haired old man closed his eyes.
Those generals and officials opposite began exchanging opinions in low voices.
Their voices were pressed very low; Su Yu couldn't make out the specifics, but from their expressions and gestures, the debate was fierce.
Yet from the square-faced general's actions—nodding frequently, shaking his head several times—along with the fervent gaze that drifted from time to time toward that lump of "scrap metal" and those "mech blueprints," the scales had already tilted.
The discussion lasted nearly twenty minutes.
Throughout, Su Yu's expression showed no great change.
Had it been himself three months ago, facing so many big shots—if not fear and trembling, then at the very least he could never have been as relaxed as he was now.
But now?
This kind of negotiation actually made him feel somewhat... bored.
Before the Honkai, these illusory things were as flimsy as paper.
This was an earth-shaking change in mentality.
Kiana had originally been quite worried about whether Su Yu would be nervous, but at the time Su Yu had merely patted Kiana's palm and said with a smile, "I'll be right back."
And now he was indeed performing exactly as he'd boasted before Kiana earlier.
Expressionless, his inner heart utterly without a ripple.
He even felt a bit like laughing.
This fierce discussion finally came to an end.
In the end, the white-haired old man opened his eyes.
He looked toward Su Yu.
"The 'Arc City Special Defense Zone Joint Act'—secretly takes effect."
The white-haired old man stood up, came around the table, and walked up to Su Yu.
He extended his hand.
Su Yu straightened his body and gripped it firmly.
"In three days at the latest."
The old man's voice could be heard only by the two of them.
"The first batch of five hundred elites, selected as the best of the best from the entire army, will arrive at Arc City under the name of a secret intensive training camp."
He looked deeply at this overly young yet overly dangerous supreme commander before him.
"Comrade Little Su, I hope your Anti-Entropy's mechs are worthy of the finest lads and lasses under my command."
Su Yu smiled faintly, the grip in his hand betraying not a hint of timidity.
"Rest assured, they'll be reborn anew."
The handshake ended.
The white-haired old man made no further meaningless interrogation, and with his generals and think-tank in tow, filed out of the conference room one after another.
They understood clearly that no matter how deep the secrets hidden behind this young man ran, at least on the front line of resisting disaster, they were already an alliance with deeply bound interests.
The heavy blast door slowly closed behind them, emitting a low pneumatic hiss.
Only at this moment did the sound of breathing finally emerge in the conference room.
"Fifty billion sunk in on just the first phase..." This wealthy woman who never lacked for money sighed helplessly. "If Fuxi saw this bill, she'd probably haul off her Golden Courtyard and flee in the dead of night."
The key was, she still couldn't tell Fuxi that this money was being spent on "resisting the Honkai"; she'd also have to figure out a way to hoodwink this secretary.
Welt calmly put away the holographic projector and drained the last of that bitter cold coffee. "Rest assured, Ms. Fuxi's stress-resistance has always been a miracle."
Mobius, meanwhile, had already sauntered over from her chair.
She circled halfway around Su Yu, her emerald eyes flickering with a fanatical investigative hunger.
"Su Yu, just now when you crushed that alloy plate, I observed that the contraction frequency of your right arm's muscle fibers had increased another twelve percent compared to last time in the lab."
"It seems the second-stage Genetic Lock's unlocking of carbon-based life's potential is even more profound than I imagined..."
Su Yu's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help retreating half a step.
"...Doctor, when did you take measurements off me? Are your eyes fitted with built-in X-ray scanners, or did you secretly activate a Sharingan?"
"From the very moment you raised your hand~" Mobius licked her lips, smiling like a villain. "For an outstanding biologist, the naked eye is the most precise instrument."
Su Yu wisely chose to shut his mouth and stopped discussing anatomy-related topics with this dangerous snake.
He walked to the conference room door, his hand resting on the handle.
In three days, five hundred elites would arrive at Arc City.
Among these people would be future Titan pilots, would be Wotan's qualified candidates, and might even be—the world's first true "living-world Valkyries."
Su Yu pushed open the door.
The armed military police in the corridor now looked at him with eyes completely different from when he'd come in.
It was a somewhat subtle gaze, mixed with awe and curiosity.
Su Yu strode out into the corridor's ghastly-pale light.
The Starfire Furnace—just like the name the System had bestowed upon this plan, among these five hundred people would be born the starfire capable of setting the plains ablaze.
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