"Crack!"
A silver dragon of lightning swam through the clouds.
The solemn crowd paced forward in an orderly manner.
Trickles of rain, pattering against the tarpaulin, slowly dripped down the brims of black umbrellas, quietly dampening the clothes of those in front and behind.
Carnations, hydrangeas, spider lilies.
The vibrant clusters, caressing the remains of the living, blood defiantly beside the path paved with bluestone slabs.
"Sha."
Plastic gently scraped against stone bricks.
Stopping, bowing, nodding — the sa process was replicated by every visitor.
The tombstone, piled high with white bouquets, was Destobier's final impression left upon the Fla-Chasers. She wasn't the first Fusion Soldier to be sacrificed, but she was undoubtedly the most popular among the "ordinary people" within their ranks.
A smiling, pretty face, thoughtfully chosen gifts — these were the shared mories every visitor had of Destobier.
Beneath the tombstone.
Within the heavy coffin, Destobier's body did not lie.
Fusion Soldiers were no longer purely human. The way they departed was no different from the demise of a Honkai Beast; at most… they rely persisted a little longer.
Destobier's body, along with dancing particles of light, had vanished in the foreign land she had visited for the first ti.
The only thing left behind…
Was a Honkai crystal, less than five centiters long, that Trace had barely managed to preserve using a vast amount of Honkai energy.
This was…
Destobier's nto.
Dressed in black attire that starkly contrasted with his usual image.
Standing amidst the crowd, Trace was undoubtedly the most tornted.
The most popular girl in the First Squad, the girl who had once smilingly presented Griseo with a birthday gift, had vanished before his very eyes… Even though he had bid farewell to countless comrades, Trace's heart could find no peace.
"Pa."
A strong hand heavily clapped his shoulder.
Turning his head, Trace's first sight was a familiar, young, and resolute face.
"Trace."
"Kevin."
The Captain of the Fla-Chasers' First Squad, the strongest among the Fusion Soldiers, the future leader of the Thirteen Fla-Chasers of the Fire Moth — Kevin, the "Savior."
"Crack."
White frost materialized on Trace's shoulder.
The rainwater around the two of them condensed into lifelike ice flowers.
This was Kevin's ability.
The genes from the Emperor-class Honkai Beast Parvati granted Kevin mastery over ice. As a price for this power, his body temperature was almost constantly fixed at minus 30 degrees Celsius — everything that ca into contact with Kevin would be eroded and frozen by the power of ice.
Fusion Soldiers could still endure it.
If it were an ordinary person…
Kevin, who had slain the Seventh Herrscher, had been unable to embrace his lover ever since the mont he beca a Fusion Soldier.
"Temple-class."
"Trace, you ntioned a 'pitch-black Temple-class' in your report… I don't want you to relive that painful mory, but to avenge Dessie…"
Crimson and deep azure.
Two streams of light, like flas, flickered simultaneously in Kevin's eyes.
The forr ca from the Key of God, the [Might of An-Utu], crafted from the core of the Seventh Herrscher; the latter originated from Kevin's own abilities.
No Herrscher.
No, at least until now, no living being had been able to escape the greatsword he wielded.
"I need more detailed information."
"Oh?"
From beside Kevin, Mobius, dressed in a black long dress she hadn't worn in a long ti, leaned out.
"A pitch-black Temple-class…"
"Would it be convenient for to join this discussion as well?"
"After all…"
From the pocket of her oversized coat, Mobius retrieved a beautiful cloth doll — a gift Destobier had given her last festival.
Mobius had very few "friends."
Besides a few people from the lab, only Elysia and Destobier would rember these "trivial matters" and prepare gifts for her.
However, from this ti onwards, Mobius would forever receive one less gift during festivals.
"…I never even gave her a gift in return."
On the way back to the Fla-Chasers' base.
Trace diligently tried to recall the situation at that ti.
The three of them walked side-by-side, not too quickly, but it wouldn't be long before they returned to their duties.
The cetery they had just left.
It was the naless monunt the Fla-Chasers prepared for their heroes.
"It killed its own companion?"
"Yes."
Trace recounted his fragnted mories.
"Because of that situation… Dr. Mobius just ntioned it, it should be called 'Overload Hyper-Transformation'?"
"Correct."
The Fusion Soldier project had been in preparation for a very long ti.
i and Mobius had, in fact, already made certain preparations for potential problems in this experint. At this ti, 'Man-Made Honkai Corruption' had not yet presented a concrete example, so in theory, this form, infinitely close to a Honkai Beast, was terd 'Overload Hyper-Transformation'.
"Overload Hyper-Transformation."
"I could feel that my strength was greatly enhanced in that state."
"But my consciousness beca extrely clouded. At that ti, my mind was filled only with the urge to tear everything apart."
"Fortunately…"
Trace didn't continue explaining the reason.
The man's right hand tightly gripped the pendant hanging around his neck — at the bottom of the pendant was a beautiful mory shared by three people.
"I see."
Mobius lowered her head, lost in thought.
The Temple-class Trace ntioned was very likely the one that had given her Shesha's eyeball in the ruins of Canghai City.
If that was the case.
The other party's objective… was indeed to help humans create Fusion Soldiers, and "superior" Fusion Soldiers at that — Fusion Soldiers integrated with the genes of a Herrscher's companion Honkai Beast. Perhaps due to the Herrscher's authority, most of them could awaken peculiar abilities, and their overall strength far surpassed that of ordinary Fusion Soldiers.
If one were to ask why…
Previously, Mobius hadn't been able to figure out the reason.
But after hearing about Trace experiencing 'Overload Hyper-Transformation', she began to develop a new interest in this phenonon:
The Overload Hyper-Transformation, where humans partially transform into Honkai Beasts, might not be the apex for Fusion Soldiers. Above that…
"Trace."
"Would you like to co to my place for a check-up?"
To kill an Emperor-class Honkai Beast in one blow, and still be able to retreat safely after taking a major attack from Trace.
For such an existence, it could have killed both Trace and Dessie at the very beginning. There was no need for such a troubleso maneuver.
Mobius connected many things.
The influence of emotions on Overload Hyper-Transformation, the reason the other party "gifted" the remains of an Emperor-class Honkai Beast… and so on and so forth.
These unknowns.
All made Mobius's body tremble uncontrollably with excitent — whether out of her own curiosity or to avenge Destobier, she was now eager to capture that Temple-class for an "in-depth exchange."
Just as Mobius finished speaking.
A figure in a white combat suit, running from the direction of the base, hurriedly interrupted their conversation.
"Captain!"
The "Captain" here did not refer to Kevin.
As a forr squad leader, the newcor was one of Trace's forr squad mbers.
"Blanca…"
These two simple words made Trace's right hand, clutching the pendant, freeze as if sealed by ti.
"Sister Blanca has collapsed!"
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