"Your mission (Destroy a city) has been completed."

"Your level has increased to Lv.61 (Forced)."

"You have obtained the item [Link Core]."

Name: Link Core

Type: Consumable

Grade: Honkai (Purple, Epic)

Effect: Undiscovered

"What is this thing?"

A giant arm extended, and the item that appeared in Lu Xing's hand was a sphere merely a meter in diameter.

The sphere was made of some dark-red metal, its surface covered with irregular holes. A rather strange Honkai energy circulated back and forth through these openings, making the sphere appear as if it were alive and breathing.

He had never seen anything like it.

Initially, he had thought the three items provided by the system would all be weapons of different types—after all, Lu Xing now had four arms. To utilize them all, he would need at least three more weapons. Although [Radiance of the Rising Sun] had awakened into Cheche's body, it could still transform back into its lance form when needed.

Since even [Spiritual Perception] couldn't identify the function of this item...

Swoosh.

Lu Xing casually tossed it into a rift in space-time.

If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't dwell on it; this was his consistent style.

This item had appeared in his inventory, and it emanated an aura related to Honkai energy, meaning it should ultimately be beneficial to him, or at least not harmful.

Since that was the case, he might as well leave it be—once the subsequent few mission objectives were completed, he would probably have a chance to understand its true nature.

Now, the warm-up was complete.

It was time to make some advance preparations for the sinking of the Mu Continent.

The disaster in New Zealand served as a colossal warning to all of humanity: the death of the Eighth Herrscher did not mean the erosion of the Honkai had weakened. A Honkai Beast capable of inflicting such a degree of devastation was undoubtedly Judgement-class.

"A certain Judgement-class Honkai Beast is currently targeting humanity."

This fact would inevitably fray the nerves of all major powers—the first to bear the brunt would be the Mu Continent, being closest to New Zealand.

With the Flame-Chasers severely damaged, if the Mu Continent adopted a policy of retrenchment, it would undoubtedly recall a large number of Armed Dolls, currently supporting various parts of the world, for its own homeland defense.

When that time came...

What would the Flame-Chasers, whose base had suffered a direct attack, do?

Would they dispatch their remaining Fusion Soldiers to various parts of the world to fill the void left by the departing Armed Dolls? Or would they concentrate all their combat power in one place, to guard against another surprise attack from the Honkai side?

The former, put nicely, was called "breaking up the whole into parts."

However, doing so would essentially give Lu Xing the opportunity to defeat them one by one; it might even present a "decapitation strike" opportunity on a silver platter—Sakura, wielding the Third Key of God, was definitely not weak. Her ability to fight Qianjie (before his super-soldier surgery) to a standstill, the same Qianjie who had eliminated the Herrscher of Ice, was proof enough of her strength. However, she didn't seem strong enough to protect Dr. Mei from Lu Xing.

Simply put, as long as Kevin wasn't present, Lu Xing had a very high probability of eliminating Dr. Mei.

And Dr. Mei's death would directly herald the end of the era—civilization might not even last past the Tenth Herrscher, the Herrscher of Domination (the Thousand-Man Herrscher).

The only thing to worry about with this plan was the "aftermath"—Heaven knew what Mei's death would turn Kevin into.

If they adopted the latter approach...

Relying on the major powers to organize their own forces to resist the Honkai, civilization might collapse even more swiftly than with the first option.

Lu Xing did not deny the strength of the major powers. From Shenzhou alone, Lu Xing had witnessed the terrifying power possessed by this familiar yet alien ancient nation.

However, this strength was limited to dealing with lower-tier Honkai Beasts.

High-ranking Honkai Beasts possessed the power to "raze cities." If one couldn't match them in individual strength, numerical superiority was meaningless.

For example, the Shenzhou fleet Lu Xing had once encountered. The current Lu Xing wouldn't even need to use [Atomic Breath]; relying solely on the power of [Dawnbreaker], he could achieve their complete annihilation within three minutes without sustaining any damage himself.

As the severity of the Honkai continued to deepen, the number of high-ranking Honkai Beasts would not remain as scarce as the "mere handful" they were now.

When that time came...

"What choice will you make?"

"After Australia, is it New Zealand now..."

In the pitch-black conference room, only the dark-red words "SOUND ONLY" were clearly visible.

"What are the losses?"

"Much lighter than Australia, but there are still 150,000 direct fatalities from the natural disaster..."

Before the speaker could finish, someone else interrupted him.

"This is no natural disaster!"

Spherical image projections, densely packed, appeared above the circular conference table.

"A natural disaster..."

"Wouldn't be an attack descending from the sky like this."

Partial footage of the [Atomic Breath] had been captured from multiple angles.

"..."

"Silence is useless. We must consider the reality—over 4 million refugees are not so easily accommodated."

The silence persisted for a long time before a voice finally picked up the topic again.

"No large-scale Honkai energy readings?"

"None."

"The Mu Continent has no precedent for accepting foreign populations. If the Honkai Sickness incidence rate is below 7.5%, Shenzhou can take in these refugees in Southeast Asia."

The speaker directly stated their position—Shenzhou and the Mu Continent had always maintained good relations, and they also knew that no one else could possibly handle this mess.

As for New Zealand's suzerain state... Great Britain's closest territory to them was Australia, which had already fallen during the Seventh Herrscher incident.

"7.5%? Shenzhou's domestic incidence rate is only around 6%, isn't it!?"

"Then will you take them?"

"..."

"That's enough, both of you. We didn't gather here to argue."

A rather aged voice interrupted the dispute.

"The representative of the Flame-Chasers."

"The Fourth Key of God... If I recall correctly, the initial purpose of its development was to control the planetary environment, wasn't it?"

"With its help,"

"Is it possible for us to suppress the ongoing disasters in New Zealand?"

"..."

"Regrettably."

The representative of the Flame-Chasers, after a brief silence, responded to the old man.

"The Fourth Key of God indeed possesses such a function."

"However, due to certain experiments, it cannot be mobilized at this time... Please understand."

The old man was clearly somewhat dissatisfied with this explanation:

"Certain..."

"Are they more important than helping 4 million people restore their homes?"

Even though only voices were present, the representative, occupying the seat symbolizing the Flame-Chasers, felt gazes and pressure from all directions.

"..."

After a dead silence, came the affirmation of a belief that should not be shaken:

"Compared to the survival of humanity,"

"The homes of 4 million people... are dispensable."