"Is this the third one..."
Hua knitted her brows, rubbing the edge of the earth pit. The warmth emanating from the touch made her frown even tighter.
Before heading to Australia for the garrison mission, they had to complete the inspection mission in Shenzhou, and this was the last location they needed to investigate.
This was the latest discovered site of abnormal Honkai energy. They arrived here only tens of minutes later, but what they saw was still a pit largely similar to the previous ones.
"Counting this one, the number has reached over a hundred." Immel had brought other instruments this time. He squatted nearby, examining the surrounding environment. "It can be confirmed that this is something from outside Earth, but neither satellite surveillance nor human eyesight has detected any anomaly."
"So, extraterrestrial objects..."
The threat of the Honkai was already overwhelming humanity. At this point, was something that appeared to be an alien creature descending upon Earth?
Aliens were a highly popular and enduring topic of discussion, but now, it might be verified under the worst possible circumstances.
Sneaking onto Earth and leaving no trace—just this fact alone was enough to make one's heart sink.
"Wait... it's hot..." Hua, who had been observing, trying to find other clues, suddenly tensed her face.
High-temperature residue was common, but what fell was not a meteorite but some kind of living, hard-to-detect "thing."
They had overlooked one thing: whether the objects that landed on Earth might attack humanity.
"Bang!"
A cluster of fire erupted from behind Immel. Hua instinctively grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away. The smell of burning and scorching reached their nostrils the next second.
The soaring flames charred the trees behind them. Hua and Immel swiftly drew their weapons.
Under their gaze, an invisible, transparent phantom flashed past. Hua's excellent dynamic vision allowed her to catch the subtle movement. She decisively threw a punch, aiming at the direction the phantom was moving.
"Boom!"
The contact felt metallic and rigid, followed by a sinking, muffled sound that made Hua quickly retract her hand and retreat. However, she was still a step too slow. A terrifying, monstrous force smashed into her fist, then, unstoppable, struck her body along with her arm, sending her flying backward.
Immel raised his pistol and fired four shots at the "thing" that attacked Hua. However, the bullets left not even a scratch on the object's outer shell. The transparent phantom charged straight toward Immel at an unbelievable speed.
Immel had no choice but to drop the computer in his hand and retreat to help Hua, preparing to evacuate with her.
But just as the phantom passed the computer Immel had dropped, it suddenly stopped. Judging from its completely transparent appearance, it was indeed standing still.
Immel had already reached Hua, helping the young woman, whose shoulder was dislocated, and preparing to leave.
"Wait," but Hua suddenly called out to him, "Look over there."
Immel turned his head and saw a strange scene: "Is that..."
A dark, blocky "mechanical arm," seemingly devoid of curves, extended from mid-air and picked up the computer Immel had dropped. Then, as if inspecting it, it flipped the entire computer over in the air.
Finally, it disassembled the back cover and pressed its hand—which was mechanical in style but showed no metallic sheen—onto the power source.
At this moment, the computer screen began to rapidly flash. Almost all the software Immel had installed on the computer were opened simultaneously, and countless characters flashed across the input areas.
After about seven seconds, the screen went black.
Finally, the screen faintly lit up again, with the simplest text box centered in the middle.
[Hello, Earthlings]
...
"Pre-Civilization data?"
Judging from Mei's rare look of surprise, she did not seem to be pretending not to know but was genuinely unaware of this matter.
Lin nodded.
He reported to Mei about the simulated data losing control during the simulation exercise he and Sakura encountered last time. This matter should have been reported to Mei immediately, but she had been conducting closed-door experiments for the past few days, so even Lin visit was without noise.
"Data error, huh... I understand. I will have Prometheus II search the database later." Mei turned her head and spoke softly to the large screen beside her: "Number Two."
"Doctor, what are your instructions?"
The emotionless mechanical voice came through.
"Are you monitoring the backdoor left by the last hacker intrusion?"
"Yes, as per your instructions, I am monitoring the hacker's movements 24 hours a day."
"Has that hacker performed any database intrusion operations recently?"
"No, the backdoor has not been used recently."
"Give me the list of personnel who have accessed and modified the database recently."
"Affirmative."
Lin investigated the simulation room equipment afterward. There was no malfunction, so the problem could only be with the data. The data left by the Previous Civilization couldn't have appeared in the simulation room for no reason, making the possibility of human involvement significant.
Since it wasn't the work of a hacker, it might be an internal staff member.
The Great Purge had already sounded the alarm for Fire Moth. The enemy might not only be the Honkai but also come from within.
"But, is it such a coincidence? We just confirmed the existence of the Previous Civilization here, and you and Sakura encountered this," Mei murmured.
"Confirmed?"
"It hasn't been publicly announced yet, but you should have contact with it later." Mei smiled faintly. "Dr. Einstein discovered the ruins of the Previous Civilization, as well as the Core of the Herrscher of Reason from the Previous Civilization."
"..."
Lin suddenly fell silent.
He looked at Mei's smile, subtly glanced at the large door behind him, and finally nodded wordlessly, indicating that she should continue.
"From the situation, it's similar to the last Herrscher of Previous Civilization you described. We will proceed to analyze the data attached to its Core and use it to create a Side Key of the Divine Keys."
The Herrscher of Reason is a Herrscher capable of analyzing human technology. The Herrscher of Reason of the Previous Civilization was the last Herrscher, so its Core should contain a tremendous amount of technological data, which would undoubtedly be a huge help to current humanity.
This might also be the reason why the mechanical humanoid chose to preserve the Core of the Herrscher of Reason.
However, Lin was concerned about another phrase in Mei's words.
"Side Key?"
"Simply put, it's a Divine Key that is not part of the Divine Key plan. The general direction is set, but the person who will wield it has not yet been determined."
"...I understand."
Lin and Mei discussed a few more things afterward, mostly concerning the Chrysalis Squad and Sakura.
Finally, Lin walked toward the door.
Mei asked from behind him: "Lin, are you training a new recruit recently?"
"...Mhm."
"Her helmet looks the same as yours. Are you trying to cultivate a similar style?"
"No."
Lin walked out of the door under Mei's knowing gaze.
"Are you finished handling the matter?" The young woman stood properly by the door, seemingly having waited for a long time.
"Yes."
Lin looked back at the closed door of the R&D Department.