Chapter 1281 Limitations
"The boss has personally taken action against Anti-Entropy, and it seems the situation is under control." Siegfried whistled, looking at the blurry footage shared on his communicator of Walter's relentless bombardment of metal barriers in City B. His tone was tinged with envy and a hint of resentment. He carried the (fake) Heavenly Judgment and kicked at the pebbles at his feet with utter boredom.
As one of the top combatants chosen by destiny, and the current head of the Kaslana family, when had Siegfried ever fought such a frustrating battle? The enemy was an intangible, unsharp "ghost fire" that specifically attacked people's consciousness. His brute strength and the destructive power of the Heavenly Judgment (pseudo) were completely useless. He could only follow behind Fu Hua and the Valkyrie squad as a guard, watching his wife use the Black Abyss White Flower to do everything she could, and she contributed more than he did.
It felt like being forced to sit in the audience and watch a play, with no way to use all your strength; it was incredibly uncomfortable.
"Okay, I understand." Fu Hua, who was standing to the side, seemed to have just finished a communication somewhere. She was completely unaware of the turmoil in Siegfried's heart. She just frowned slightly and pondered for a moment before turning her clear and calm eyes to Siegfried.
Siegfried's heart skipped a beat when she looked at him: "W-what are you doing?" Why did that look give him a bad feeling?
“Mr. Siegfried,” Fu Hua’s tone was as serious as ever, even carrying a rare hint of solemnity, “There is a very important task that I need to entrust to you…”
"Uh, a mission?" His premonition came true, and Siegfried felt a chill run down his spine. The "important mission" Fu Hua spoke of with that expression—even a fool could tell it wasn't as simple as just slaying Honkai Beasts.
“Yes.” Fu Hua nodded, her honesty unsettling. “It’s quite dangerous, but absolutely necessary. It requires people with strong mental fortitude and unwavering willpower. My companions can’t come to support us right now…” She paused, her gaze sweeping over the other Valkyries busy around her and Cecilia coordinating in the distance. “Of all those present, only you and Ms. Cecilia have the mental strength and willpower to meet the requirements.”
Cecilia?
Siegfried's heart skipped a beat. Send his own wife into danger? What a joke!
Almost reflexively, he straightened his back and pounded his chest loudly: "Leave it to me! So, what do you want?" Danger? When has Siegfried Kaslana ever been afraid of danger! Cecilia absolutely cannot be allowed to go!
Fu Hua seemed unsurprised by his reaction and nodded: "Okay. Now, please close your eyes, relax, and don't resist my guidance."
"Close...close your eyes?" Siegfried, though full of questions, did as he was told and closed his eyes, muttering to himself: This mission is so mysterious...
Just as Siegfried was being taken away by Fu Hua on a "mysterious mission," the situation in another city, marked as Z City, was also reaching a critical juncture.
Based on intelligence gathered from multiple sources and trajectory tracing, the "Herrscher of Consciousness" who escaped after being injured by Fu Hua in City A is highly likely to have infiltrated City Z and used the mental fluctuations of the city's dense population as cover and springboard to try to hide himself, or even to perform some kind of restoration or transfer.
Destiny reacted swiftly, immediately imposing the highest level of external lockdown and internal martial law on City Z. Using a small invention created by an unknown magician and a long-haired man, the Valkyrie team conducted preliminary investigations and provided psychological reassurance door-to-door, attempting to uncover the invisible threat.
Inside the command center, the A-rank Valkyrie captain in charge was in a state of utter disarray. The blockade was complete, but Z City had a population of millions. While the things that flamboyant woman brought were very useful, pinpointing a highly skilled concealed consciousness within such a massive population was like finding a needle in a haystack. Even more troublesome was the fact that no one could guarantee that, in the gap between the issuance and execution of the blockade order, that thing might have already slipped away.
"Report! The third round of mental health scans in the East District is complete; no obvious abnormalities were found!"
"A small-scale panic has occurred in the western district, suspected to be influenced by the enemy's psychological fluctuations. The situation is being handled!"
"The energy tracking signal completely dissipated upon entering the central business district!"
Bad news kept coming. The Valkyrie captain rubbed her aching temples, feeling immense pressure.
Just as she was about to order the fourth, more time-consuming, deep mental resonance scan, the door to the command center was silently pushed open.
A figure walked in.
He was a tall man dressed in an elegant black overcoat, holding a seemingly ordinary black umbrella, the tip of which lightly touched the ground. He wore a silver mask that partially obscured his face.
The Valkyries in the command center immediately became alert. They had never seen this person before, but the fact that he could break through the outer perimeter security and enter here silently spoke volumes.
"Who are you?" the Valkyrie captain asked in a deep voice, her hand resting on the sword at her waist.
The man holding the umbrella didn't answer her question, but simply traced the tip of the umbrella lightly on the ground twice, making a soft "tap, tap" sound. His voice came through the mask, carrying a strange magnetism:
"Gentlemen... are you limiting your search too much to 'humans'?"
Before the Valkyries could react, the umbrella-wielding figure vanished into the doorway as if it had never existed, disappearing into the shadows before everyone's eyes.
"Wait!" The Valkyrie captain took a step forward, only to find the corridor empty.
But she no longer cared about investigating the identity and purpose of this mysterious visitor. Those words exploded in her mind like a thunderclap!
Is your perspective... too limited to "human beings"?
Exactly! Mental fluctuations, consciousness carriers… why must it be humans? Besides humans, there are countless animals in the city! Birds, insects, stray cats and dogs… even rats!
The Herald is a consciousness entity that can attach itself to or influence any living being with basic neural activity!
As the Valkyrie captain suddenly realized what was happening, in Z City's complex, labyrinthine sewer system, a dark, damp, and stale stench permeated the air. A small group of a dozen grayish-brown rats darted rapidly along the edge of the filthy waterway, their movements strangely synchronized, a stark contrast to the chaotic movements of ordinary rats foraging or fleeing.
Just as they were about to pass through a fork in the road and head towards a main pipeline leading to the outskirts of the city—
Boom! !
The thick concrete road surface above suddenly exploded! Shattered stones and dirt poured down like a waterfall!
The ear-piercing roar of chainsaws, like the howl of a demon, ripped through the silence of the sewers!
A lithe figure fell with the falling rocks, and the chainsaw in his hand, with its exaggerated shape, high-speed spinning serrated teeth, and dangerous sparks, cleaved the leader of the rat swarm with perfect precision, the one that was slightly larger and whose eyes had an abnormally eerie blue light!
"grumble--!!"
The piercing, distorted squeal of the rat abruptly ceased. The rat's carcass, along with the faint, eerie blue spark within its skull, was pulverized by the ferocious saw teeth!
As the smoke and dust cleared, Velvet stood there, one hand holding the still-whirring chainsaw, the other casually smoothing her slightly disheveled hair. She stood amidst the rubble and sewage, a smile a mixture of excitement, triumph, and a touch of madness on her face, looking down at the mangled mass of flesh and blood at her feet.
"Found you, little mouse!"
Her voice echoed through the sewers. The remaining rats, having lost the control of that faint blue spark, instantly reverted to their instincts, shrieking and scattering into the deeper darkness.
