Jingwei—or rather, Fu Hua.
In the fifty thousand years she had lived, witnessing the rise and fall of two civilizations—what was the greatest power she had ever seen?
The Judgment of Shamash? The Judgment-class Honkai Beast Chiyou, capable of swallowing an entire city in one bite?
It should have been the Herrscher of Finality, who effortlessly crushed the Previous Era and destroyed the entire surface civilization.
And now…
A man stood before her.
Telling her that this ship carried hundreds of weapons capable of annihilating stars.
The most powerful, the Fallen Star Lance, could reach across dozens or even hundreds of light years on an astronomical scale, and extinguish stars.
Photoids could easily shatter a planet into pieces.
A dual-vector foil could reduce an entire star system by one dimension—the strike zone eventually covering more than the Milky Way itself.
"..."
The Immortal's emotions were not stable.
She bit her lip, the cold, frosty look on her face betraying a trace of inner conflict.
The worldview she had constructed over thousands of years was collapsing.
Photoids and the Fallen Star Lance—relying on her past vast knowledge, she could barely understand them, treating them as highly destructive kinetic or energy weapons.
But what was a dual-vector foil?!
Reducing space by one dimension? Equivalent to turning Earth and the entire solar system into a piece of paper with no thickness?
Even exhausting her imagination, Fu Hua struggled to comprehend what sort of weapon that truly was.
The concept was too abstract—without having witnessed dimensional reduction, one could hardly envision it.
"You all… built this ship—for what purpose?"
Fu Hua asked.
"Of course, to beat up aliens. We can't just use it to play house, can we?"
"Oh, though sometimes I also throw parties aboard the Eternal Snowfall. You're welcome to join in the future."
Setsuna answered with a laugh.
"Aliens? What kind of enemy requires a ship of this level to face?…"
She still found it difficult to understand.
"Fu Hua."
Setsuna patted her shoulder.
"It's not just Earth in this great universe—or even within the Tree and Sea system—that hasn't stepped beyond its own star system."
"In the future, I'll take you to ride the Astral Express, perhaps? Your worldview is somewhat similar to theirs…"
"And remember, warfare on an interstellar scale is nothing like battles on the ground, destroying a few cities. It's far, far beyond that."
Shwoosh—
The holographic interface projected scenes from wars fought in the Three-Body universe.
Fleets blotting out the sky sailed through the starry sea. Sub-particle lances, more dazzling than the stars, tore through the heavens, annihilating enemy warships.
Photoids split the sun into fragments, the star's collapse sweeping across the entire system, crushing planets into dust.
Unknown alien civilizations were reduced to ash beneath high-energy radiation and orbital bombardment.
Compared to such wars, the battles against Honkai fifty thousand years ago on Earth were utterly insignificant.
"..."
Interstellar behemoths.
Fu Hua finally understood what kind of giant stood before her.
All the technology and achievements of the Previous Era seemed dim in comparison to the Eternal Snowfall.
In the face of a force capable of extinguishing suns and snuffing out stars, any further argument was meaningless.
An interstellar empire had set its gaze upon this world.
"If I now say that in the future I will eliminate the Honkai threat, recruit all Herrschers and Valkyries, and integrate this world into the territory of the Starsea Empire—would you believe it?"
Setsuna sat in the command chair, smiling as he looked at Fu Hua.
"..."
"Astonishing."
After a moment of thought, Fu Hua closed her eyes and gave a faint nod.
This ship had already exceeded her imagination.
Even at the height of the Previous Era, it would have been absolutely impossible to construct a Juggernaut-class starship.
Whether Earth had the resources or not was irrelevant—the technology here was thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of years ahead.
Then another thought struck her:
"Your technology and knowledge are far too advanced beyond Earth. If recklessly imparted, it would cause disaster."
"The Honkai Beasts, yes, I know."
Setsuna gestured that he understood.
Fu Hua's mission was the Project EMBER—to pass on the technology left behind by the Previous Civilization to the current one.
But imparting knowledge beyond the current era would also spawn powerful Honkai Beasts.
Judgment-class Honkai Beasts didn't bother him much, though their constant appearance was still annoying.
"Until we completely resolve the Honkai, our approach to this world will focus on observation and research. We have no plans to pass on advanced technology."
"..."
Fu Hua wanted to say more, but couldn't find the words.
She had absorbed an enormous amount of information in such a short time.
Her once unchanging life had been shattered by this strange visitor from beyond the stars.
If not for that unexpected communication, right now she should have been meditating in Mount Taixuan, or wandering the world to cut down demons and banish evil.
Gradually guiding humanity, alongside the surviving MANTIS, searching for a way to defeat the Honkai.
Yet fate seemed to have played a joke on her.
A starship from another universe had suddenly broken into this world.
He brought with him technology far beyond comprehension, and weapons she had never known.
Whether this was good or bad for human civilization, Fu Hua could not yet determine.
All she could do was take one step at a time.
As the guardian of Shenzhou, she decided she must keep a close watch on Setsuna.
"So then? What do you intend to do next?"
"Hmm…"
Setsuna thought for a moment.
"First, build an observation station, conduct research on this world's Honkai energy, and attempt to construct a mathematical model of this world—to simulate its future direction."
"This timeline is stuck in the middle—awkward. In the future we'll have to go back to the past, and forward to the future, to defeat the Honkai and recover those we need."
To conquer the Honkai world, not a single one could be missing.
Whether the Previous Era, the Current Era, or this in-between 'Saga of the Shattered Swords' timeline.
"!"
"Wait, go back to the past? You mean traveling fifty thousand years ago?!"
Fu Hua slammed her hand on the table, leaning in close, her emerald eyes fixed straight on him.
"Of course. We can change history. I already did it once in the Date A Live world."
Setsuna answered naturally.
"How?!"
Fu Hua leaned closer still, almost pressing right up to him.
A faint fragrance brushed against him.
Unfortunately, given her figure, even lowering his head revealed no enticing view.
"We do have methods of time travel, though they're troublesome."
"Fifty thousand years is a bit much. We'd likely need to combine magical means with Spiritron transfer devices, and it would consume a massive amount of energy."
Setsuna chuckled as he pushed her gently back into place.
"Three thousand years. Would three thousand years be possible?"
Fu Hua placed a hand firmly on his, asking seriously.
"..."
Setsuna paused for a moment.
"You mean…?"
"Over three thousand years ago, Cangxuan and Dan Zhu imparted knowledge far beyond the current era, causing the birth of the Judgment-class Honkai Beast Chiyou."
"I was far away at the time. They sealed it at the cost of their lives. If I had been there…"
Fu Hua's voice trailed lower and lower.
"Hmm…"
"It's possible. But we'd need to simulate that segment of history first, to make sure it doesn't disrupt the later timeline."
Setsuna thought briefly, then agreed.
He could treat it as a favor to Fu Hua—while also testing large-scale temporal jumps.
"Thank you."
Fu Hua bowed her head slightly in thanks.
After witnessing all the strange devices aboard the Eternal Snowfall, hearing Setsuna casually mention time travel no longer seemed particularly shocking.
Perhaps he really could rewrite that tragedy of the past, opening up a different world line?
A peculiar thought crossed Fu Hua's mind:
In their final battle against the Herrscher of Finality, humanity's most advanced technology was like a child's plaything before Finality.
Even with the Moonlight Throne overloaded, and Kevin striking with all his might, they only bought humanity a little extra time before extinction.
The surviving MANTIS had no choice but to hide, pinning their hopes on the new civilization fifty thousand years later.
But what if the Eternal Snowfall had crossed fifty thousand years of time to appear before the Herrscher of Finality and the Thirteen Flame-Chasers?
Her old comrades would surely be shocked.
Perhaps even Finality itself could be defeated.
"Hu…"
Looking at the endless sea of stars outside the window, Fu Hua let out a long breath.
"You should be able to defeat the Honkai, right?"
"No… why do I feel like you're actually more dangerous than the Honkai itself?"
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