"The Deepest Place?"

"Elysia, you don't mean to say you're going to..."

Suddenly hearing mention of the Deepest Place, everyone present was somewhat perplexed. Aponia, attached to the Might of An-Utu, spoke up directly.

"That's right."

"I want to bring Qianjie out."

The future sixth of the Flame-Chasers, "Asura," "Decimation," Qianjie.

Qianjie did not belong to this civilization.

He was an outlander who had fallen to an unenlightened corner of Earth for unknown reasons, and his strength was evident to all—even before undergoing the Fusion Soldier surgery (which he still hadn't), Qianjie possessed the power to single-handedly confront and kill the Fifth Herrscher, the Herrscher of Ice, in a single blow.

The Herrscher of Ice wasn't particularly strong.

Qianjie was also severely injured after his solo kill of the Herrscher.

But this feat alone was enough to make him a demon in the eyes of many—Qianjie's temperament was perverse and rebellious, making it exceedingly difficult for him to get along even with ordinary people.

Due to all of this, Qianjie became a frequent guest of the Deepest Place.

"This is very dangerous."

"He might be a powerful combat force, true, but for us, Qianjie's existence is also a huge threat."

"No one can guarantee that he won't turn on 'our own people'."

Jona raised an objection.

The Fusion Soldiers gathered here, clear-headed enough to participate in the meeting, included the familiar faces of Kevin, Su, Elysia, Aponia (in spiritual form), Sakura, and Mobius, as well as Trace, Vill-V, Jona, and Mira, totaling ten people.

As for the others, the number lying in sickbeds was no less than those currently out on field missions.

"It's alright." Elysia said.

"Aponia has already placed a Discipline on him."

Aponia, her name mentioned again, slowly stated:

"But Elysia."

"Discipline is not omnipotent. The restraining effect of Discipline on Qianjie... 'Thou shalt not harm the innocent' cannot prevent Qianjie from killing."

Elysia gently shook her head in denial:

"No, Aponia."

"We don't need the Discipline to be fully effective... As long as those higher-ups are willing to believe it, that's enough."

"Alright!"

"Let's stop talking about Qianjie here."

"Anyway, whether we bring him out or not, the fact that we are severely damaged cannot be changed—hmm... The equipment damage was all caused by the Cosmic Juggernaut crashing."

"Su."

"You'd better be prepared to compensate, okay?"

"Success!"

Mu Continent, within a subsidiary laboratory of the Eye of the Sea Abyss.

Beside the colossal spatial gate connecting to the Sea Abyss (the entrance to the Quantum Sea), in neatly arranged transparent pods nearly ten meters high, shadow-like, dark-red energy was slowly writhing—but no matter how they changed shape, they were firmly confined within the chambers, unable to leave.

"Doctor!"

"We've finally succeeded!"

"This is a meritorious achievement that will shine for ages!"

"With this power, repelling the Honkai is just around the corner!"

The entire laboratory was enveloped in an atmosphere of excitement and joy.

Through ceaseless research, day and night, they had further analyzed and deconstructed the "Spear of Longinus." They had finally manufactured (or perhaps, collected) a highly controllable power, one capable of completely neutralizing Honkai energy, and even serving as an energy source to drive the cores of Armed Dolls:

"Quantum Energy."

According to experimental data, if more than 1,000 Armed Dolls had their cores converted to devices driven by Quantum Energy, they could effortlessly sweep away all existing Honkai Beasts on Earth—even curing Honkai Sickness would no longer be an extravagant hope.

Such an achievement...

"What remains,"

"Is the matter of battlefield testing and mass production."

When the crowd had calmed down somewhat, the "Doctor," who was in charge of the laboratory, leaned against a railing and spoke slowly.

From the laboratory to military applications, and then to civilian life.

Technological development follows its own inevitable laws—without external driving forces, transforming laboratory products into societal productivity requires a considerable amount of time.

Fortunately...

One couldn't exactly call this situation "fortunate," yet no other word seemed to fit—with the Flame-Chasers severely damaged, the success of this research on the Mu Continent meant that the probability of the plan being approved quickly and moving into large-scale production would significantly increase.

"Mentor."

"Should we publish the relevant papers immediately?" an assistant asked, his voice tinged with excitement.

However, faced with his assistant's question, the Doctor unexpectedly shook his head.

"No."

"Wait a little longer."

"First, contact the military to conduct small-scale trials. Once the results are 'controllable,' then we will announce the success of the experiment to the entire world."

There were some things the Doctor did not elaborate on.

After all, if the Honkai were to be successfully eliminated... then the existence of this power would become an important guarantee for the re-division of "spheres of influence."

However, at this moment, they were still unaware of what enormous changes a civilization capable of utilizing "Quantum Energy" on a large scale, or perhaps one that assimilated with "Quantum Energy," would bring to the Honkai.

Huu.

The summer night was departing, and early autumn was on its way.

The wind shifted from sultry to crisp and refreshing.

Lu Xing, having returned empty-handed from the Atlantic, was back on the Australian continent.

Cheche was, "as usual," lying beside the Honkai Energy Rift. Sheshe, with temporarily nowhere else to go, had "slid" onto Cheche's head.

It had also realized.

This Emperor-class "Companion Honkai Beast" before it was completely different from the insidious and cunning Emperor—this thought was extinguished by Sheshe itself the moment it surfaced—Cheche was a truly honest and good-natured partner.

The Emperor's "communication" and "transportation" at the Imaginary Space level had transformed the nascent formation into a true Honkai Energy Rift.

Therefore...

Swoosh!

The dense Honkai energy swirling around them, like a hundred birds returning to their nests, surged madly into Sheshe's body!

The Emperor had given the word, so it naturally had no more scruples; recovering its strength was the key—Cheche was already at the peak of Emperor-class, and more Honkai energy was of no use to it. It lay here merely enjoying the sensation of being immersed in Honkai energy.

High-ranking Honkai Beasts held no "legion duties."

Although Cheche carried the Emperor's aura, other members of the legion did not dare to rashly approach this unfamiliar face—this allowed Sheshe ample opportunity to monopolize the Honkai energy of the entire rift.

Though currently weak, Sheshe's upper limit was, after all, clearly defined.

With the storm-like intake of Honkai energy, Sheshe's body rapidly inflated like a balloon; and as its body grew larger, its originally solitary head... sprouted another with a "pop," as if uncorking a bottle!

Lu Xing habitually paused high in the sky.

Though his gaze was fixed on Sheshe, his thoughts had already shifted to the new mission interface.

Mission: Destroy a city / a country / a continent

Reward: All Stats +3/+6/+9, Level +1/+2/+3, Unlock one [Honkai] quality item (Note: destroying a city or country yields one item; destroying a continent yields three items).