"Three hours ago, an unidentified armed group emerged in Mohan City, forcibly breaking into the local Schicksal branch and declaring the city's independence with slogans like 'Power to the People,' 'Oppose Schicksal's Dictatorship,' and 'Freedom for the City.'
"At the same time, White Light City, a thousand kilometers away, experienced a similar upheaval. The local Anti-Entropy branch faced attacks. While the defensive forces there were adequate to prevent a complete takeover, they have withdrawn to their base to avoid further damage, temporarily unable to quell the unrest.
"The Anti-Entropy branch in Nursery Rhyme City, the closest to White Light City, is dealing with mass food poisoning incidents at the local Anti-Entropy university and several affiliated high schools. Parents are protesting en masse, and the branch staff is preoccupied with rescuing students and addressing the parents' concerns, leaving no capacity to provide support.
"In several cities across the Americas, a new Honkai Cult has surfaced. This cult proclaims its leader to be a Herscher chosen by the Honkai God and preaches doctrines such as: the Honkai is a divine trial, Honkai Beasts are messengers of judgment, and Honkai-induced deaths are punishments for sinners. According to them, only faith in the Honkai can cleanse one's sins and ensure survival through judgment.
"Meanwhile, in Northern Europe, a Honkai research institution has emerged, explicitly opposing the Honkai Cult. Adopting a rational and objective tone, they assert that the Honkai is a natural phenomenon akin to solar storms—disastrous when misunderstood but a cosmic gift driving civilization's progress when properly studied. They claim that Honkai Beasts and the Honkai-corrupted are merely weaker mutations of Herscher entities that can be guided and tamed. Their demonstrations of tamed Honkai Beasts have garnered considerable attention and support.
"So far, within a single day, there have been armed uprisings in 127 cities worldwide, with most groups rallying under banners of independence and democracy. Additionally, over 300 cities have experienced various irregular incidents, paralyzing nearly half of our grassroots and mid-level manpower. Meanwhile, countless organizations are emerging with bizarre rhetoric, often leveraging the authority of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy's shared involvement with Herschers. This makes it exceedingly difficult for us to refute their claims unequivocally.
"The underlying discourse seems to converge on one theme: ways to coexist harmoniously with the Honkai. It appears the Herrscher of Thousands aims to destabilize the foundations of our anti-Honkai efforts by challenging them ideologically."
The current situation was chaotic—military uprisings flourishing, Honkai theories competing for dominance, each event feeding into the next. It left one clueless about where to begin.
"Sigh…"
Einstein rubbed her temples, her pale, delicate face framed by faintly tinted lips reflecting exhaustion and frustration as she closed her eyes.
Things had escalated far too quickly.
After the previous meeting, Einstein had only managed to inform the regional leaders about the Herrscher of Thousands through an emergency remote conference. Before she and the others could devise a comprehensive plan, a wave of sudden incidents swept in, completely derailing her pace.
Einstein had initially assumed that the Herrscher of Thousands would rally a resource-rich faction to mount a grand rebellion. While rebellion had indeed occurred, the problem lay in its scattered nature. With uprisings breaking out in the east and west, and strange organizations spouting confusing doctrines, identifying a clear target was impossible.
Though Einstein had considered direct decapitation tactics, she had no idea where to start.
She couldn't possibly send Sigurd and Welt—their trump cards with no apparent weaknesses—to deal with each issue one by one, could she? What if the Herrscher of Thousands had hidden their real intentions, luring out their strongest assets to exploit their absence?
"Don't worry. Isn't this the scenario we anticipated?" Welt patted Einstein's shoulder and spoke calmly.
His eyes, too, flashed coldly. After all, with chaos erupting on this scale and countless innocents—including students—getting caught in the crossfire, it was only natural for him to be furious.
However, Welt understood that anger and impatience alone would achieve nothing. At this moment, the priority was to come up with effective and thorough countermeasures.
"Sigurd, how are things on your end?"
"The worker bees have intercepted plenty of information and are analyzing it… Here it is. Suspected individuals linked to the Herrscher of Thousands have been identified—201 in total. Hmm? One of them has been taken down. The captor is… Durandal?"
Sigurd closed a series of data windows before him, his eyes narrowing slightly. Instead of contacting Durandal directly, he immediately connected to Hera's communication channel.
"Durandal, was this your doing?"
"You think I'm a god who can foresee the future? It's just a coincidence. Durandal happened to be on vacation and ran into her, so she captured her. Lucky for us."
"I've marked some suspected targets and synced the data to you. Have the Valkyries assist in either capturing or eliminating them. Any additional intel?"
"Matches what I have here. Nothing to add. Proceed as planned."
"My communication channel remains secure—beyond the Herrscher of Thousands' reach. Sync with me during interrogations."
"Understood."
At this point, knowing Sigurd's penchant for efficiency, the figure of Hera on the screen smiled and raised a teacup in a gesture of farewell.
Sigurd nodded and ended the call.
"Dr. Einstein, Welt, the more strained our grassroots forces are, the more critical command and communication become. Keep the situation stable and minimize conflicts and losses. I'll handle capturing the Herrscher of Thousands."
"Understood."
"Got it."
Einstein and Welt responded in unison.
Sigurd glanced at them before tilting his stiff neck.
Crack!
With the sound of shifting bones, Sigurd spread his hands as an array of virtual windows materialized around him.
<+>
In the United Americas, the Honkai Cult's pope, who had just concluded her sermon and secured the official support of half the state governments, returned to her opulent room. As she tore off her ornate golden and jade robes, a young face, cold and brimming with malice, was revealed.
"Ha! My task here is complete. What about yours— Wait, something went wrong already?"
The red-haired girl, petite in stature, approached the window, her expression dark as she stared into the distance.
[It was Durandal herself. Looks like escape is impossible—what a pity~~]
[No matter. Our plan is to set the wheels of change in motion. Once it starts, it can't be stopped. A few captured individuals won't affect the grand scheme.]
[That's not the issue! In Welt's unexpected incident, we didn't reveal any information, yet they still managed to catch one of our operatives so quickly. Could they have been aware of us all along?]
[…It must be a coincidence, right?]
[Don't be naive. We're up against those who control most of civilization's power and toy with Herrscher abilities. Extreme caution is only prudent.]
[Cut the chatter. Let's accelerate our operations. And I'm proposing a vote: let's not waste energy preserving that unlucky individual's consciousness. Since she's captured, let her fend for herself.]
[Agreed. Every bit of our strength is precious; there's no need to waste it on failures.]
[Damn it!!! You sons of— beep— beep— beep—]
The final curse came from a certain unfortunate individual currently being held by Durandal.
However, the pope simply sneered disdainfully, raising her head with a smug, gloating smile.
The next second, the pope, along with over a hundred co-conspirators wreaking havoc worldwide, looked up to see dark storm clouds forming ominously above them.
And in unison, they muttered—
[Beep—]
<+>
Tn: If you want to see more chapter of this story, please go to my Patreon[1], just for $5 each month, you can read till the latest chapter.
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