"Alpha Squad has reached the designated location. Should we evacuate the public immediately?"
Spaciel pondered for a moment. Given the special nature of the Sixth Herrscher, his idea coincided with that of the squad leader asking the question: could they confirm the Herrscher's status without alarming her prematurely?
Currently, the Councilman, having flown on the same transport plane as the Sixth Herrscher, was still alive and reached the Fifth Branch. Furthermore, there had been no large-scale casualties after the Sixth Herrscher landed in the city. Perhaps, as Lin said, the Herrscher's personality corruption rate wasn't high, and she still retained a certain amount of her original persona.
Coupled with the fact that the Sixth Herrscher's power, Decay, caused annihilative damage to living organisms, they had to be extra cautious. Otherwise, in an instant, humanity would be scattered like ash in an incense burner.
However, Spaciel would not have any expectation that the Herrscher might still retain her original consciousness. Even if there truly were special Herrschers in this world who could retain their human consciousness, the probability was as small as a universe-ending explosion.
But one more point needed consideration: whether Lin's conjecture was accurate or mistaken.
Will the Sixth Herrscher truly be here? What is the probability that she is a personality corruption type? How much of her original persona has she retained?
All of this was unknown.
In the flash of lightning as he stared at the complex information, Spaciel had already made a decision.
"Evacuate, but try not to cause mass panic."
Perhaps this was the quietest major Honkai outbreak… No, so far, even the Honkai Energy reaction in the city was calm. Aside from the birth of the Sixth Herrscher, this didn't resemble a major Honkai outbreak at all.
And currently, the Sixth Herrscher's Honkai Energy signature was nowhere to be found. If they hadn't previously captured a Honkai Energy reaction far exceeding that of a High-Class Honkai Beast, and if the Councilman hadn't made close contact with the Herrscher, they would likely start doubting whether the Sixth Herrscher had truly been born.
Spaciel suddenly remembered a saying.
Death itself is silent.
…
After receiving Spaciel's order, the Fifth Branch squads began the evacuation mission. They cited safety concerns due to aging facilities as the reason for dispersing the amusement park visitors. They didn't force visitors to leave, merely closed most of the rides, letting them depart voluntarily.
After confirming that visitors were leaving in an orderly manner and had not caused any disturbance inside the amusement park, they began searching the entire amusement park in groups of three, focusing mainly on the densely wooded back-hill area, which was the most likely place for hiding.
"Alpha Squad, no target found."
"Bravo Squad, no target found."
"Charlie Squad…"
Reports kept coming to Spaciel. He frowned slightly, his expression of anxiety deepening.
Not finding the Herrscher was not truly good news.
The combat capability of the Fifth Branch squads was inferior to the headquarters' elite, but their equipment was on par. Searching the entire amusement park with detectors and still not finding the Herrscher meant that the Sixth Herrscher's Honkai Energy signature could not be detected by conventional methods. It was highly possible that the Sixth Herrscher would need to be found by the naked eye.
"Where else hasn't been searched?" He paced back and forth in the command room. As the overall commander, he had the highest authority, so the people around him were waiting for his next command before splitting up to execute it.
"Nowhere. All facilities have been closed. There are still a few people outside the facilities, but no abnormality has been found."
"…"
This report silenced everyone in the command room.
It meant that Lin's prediction was wrong. They needed to re-evaluate the Sixth Herrscher's status and start the search for her location from scratch.
However, just then, a voice familiar to Spaciel sounded in the communication: "Search inside the facilities, especially the indoor facilities with scene arrangements."
"Dr. Einstein?" Spaciel asked with some surprise. The voice was precisely that of Einstein, who had left a deep impression on him at the Mu Continent academic symposium, and whom he had visited with Karen after the symposium to discuss research on quantum mechanics.
She had later joined Fire Moth, but since Spaciel was in the Far East and Einstein was in Mu Continent, the two hadn't met again.
"Dr. Spaciel, long time no see. However, now doesn't seem to be the time for idle talk. I was ordered to assist the Fifth Branch. Starting now, I will work with you via remote communication to face the Sixth Honkai outbreak."
Einstein's voice didn't sound relaxed. She had just gone through the headquarters' assassination and purge events and had privately rushed the development of the battle puppets. She was in a state of deep fatigue, and everyone could hear the strain in her tone as she forced herself to keep up her spirits.
However, Spaciel didn't pay attention to this. He switched the communication with Einstein to a private channel, glanced to ensure no one was watching him, and then quietly asked: "Dr. Einstein, who gave you the order?"
Spaciel's nerves were sharp. The few high-level executives remaining after the major upheaval should not have recovered in a short period of time. He was very familiar with those people. Spaciel had countless confrontations with them at headquarters meetings because of their ideological differences. Even though they were the elite of humanity, they possessed more managerial talent, meaning they could gain more power and benefit for Fire Moth.
Mobius, who had co-founded Fire Moth with them, was uninterested in this so-called distribution of power and was collectively guarded against by them, which is why she was stripped of real power, retaining only the title of "Founder."
This fundamentally different way of thinking indirectly led to their disregard for individual human life. Their perspective led them to focus on humanity as a whole, ignoring distinct individuals.
Spaciel's reason for concluding that the order was not given by the remaining high-level executives was precisely because he was too familiar with the thought patterns of these politicians. When facing double crises, internal and external, they would first focus on resolving the internal crisis. Thus, the command for the major Honkai outbreak was likely handed over to someone else.
"Dr. Mei."
"…"
Spaciel shook his head, saying no more. For now, he had to focus on the real human crisis. Even if there were other unforeseen changes at the headquarters, it was not within his jurisdiction as the head of the Fifth Branch.
Besides… Dr. Mei might be more suitable.
Thinking of the long-haired girl who displayed such extreme rationality years ago, a hint of gloom unconsciously deepened in Spaciel's eyes, but he quickly concealed it again.
Ending the private communication, he brought Einstein's communication back into the command room: "Why search indoor facilities?"
"After Herrscherization, a Herrscher's original clothing disappears, replaced by clothing made of special Honkai Energy, often skirt-like, conspicuous, and brightly colored, which would allow her to be immediately spotted in a crowd."
"However, there are already people in the amusement park who wear unusual clothing, so her attire might not stand out as much. Furthermore, with scene arrangements in the indoor facilities, she might be mistaken for staff and thus not cause a disturbance."
And a Herrscher wouldn't care about the human excuse of "aging facilities" at all.