"Wait!"
Hearing the Cat's voice in her mind, Irene abruptly raised her hand, stopping Bronya, who was just about to command Project Bunny to proceed with the original plan.
Irene's movement was so sudden that it startled everyone. They instinctively pointed their weapons at the surrounding darkness, thinking an enemy had appeared. However, although there were indeed various Honkai Beasts on the surrounding floating rocks, none showed any intention of attacking from range or flying over.
"Teacher Irene?" Bronya turned her head to look at Irene, who was inexplicably tense, with confusion. "Teacher Irene, is something wrong?"
Irene did not turn back, nor did she reply. Her gaze was locked dead onto the massive crystal before them. Those azure eyes, belonging to Kallen, were filled with unprecedented shock and disbelief.
[Pardo, are you sure there's someone inside?!]
[Yes, yes.] Pardo nodded frantically within the Palace of Consciousness. [Just now, I saw it. A reflection in one of the cross-sections showed a human silhouette inside.]
[But I can't see anything.] Irene believed that the eyesight she borrowed from Kallen was by no means weak. But if Pardo hadn't suddenly shouted just now, she wouldn't have noticed... no, she still couldn't see anyone inside.
As far as her eyes could see, there was only a swathe of purple. How did Pardo see someone in there?
[There really is someone.] Pardo's voice carried a hint of anxiety. For some reason, Pardo felt that the thing only she had been lucky enough to glimpse just now must be incredibly important.
If they ignored it, she would definitely regret it—regret it very, very much.
[...]
Sensing Pardo's anxious will within the Palace of Consciousness, Irene responded, [I understand.]
Irene turned to look at the others, who were wearing faces full of confusion. "I think I just saw someone inside, which is why I asked you to stop."
"Huh? Someone?" Kiana scratched her head, looking up at the gigantic Honkai energy crystal slowly rotating in the air. "Teacher Irene, you're saying there's someone inside this thing? How is that possible?"
"Even if there is someone, surely it would be a Deadwalker, right?"
"Indeed. Teacher Irene, we can't afford to hesitate anymore." Mei nodded in agreement. The longer they delayed now, the greater the impact on the others, and the harder the disaster would be to control.
"Just wait, just wait a moment." Irene shook her head. She believed in Pardo's words, and she believed in Pardo's luck. With Pardo's luck, perhaps she really had seen something that shouldn't have been there.
Irene already had an idea of what might appear. If it was truly that, and they fired without confirming it, she would definitely be unable to eat or sleep in peace.
"If you want to do it, then do it." Himeko, who was bound to Judah by Irene, looked at Irene and nodded. She believed Irene wouldn't shoot aimlessly. Perhaps the other party really had seen something?
"Mn." Irene nodded. Chains extended from Judah behind her once more, fixing the giant crystal in front of them in mid-air. She then began to control it to rotate in reverse, attempting to find that specific cross-section Pardo had accidentally seen due to her luck.
Under Pardo's guidance and cross-referencing, Irene soon found the only cross-section capable of reflecting the crystal's interior. Following that cross-section to gaze into the depths of the crystal, Irene indeed saw a human figure standing quietly in the center.
Upon seeing the figure deep within the crystal, Ji Lin, who was temporarily residing in Irene's mind, couldn't help but cry out in surprise: [That is Celestial Danzhu!]
But following the exclamation, Ji Lin instantly became confused again. The figure inside the crystal really didn't look like a normal human form.
Aside from being able to make out Danzhu's face, almost nothing else resembled Danzhu. She was like a half-human, half-snake... Honkai Beast.
[Critical Hyper-Metamorphosis...]
Looking at the appearance displayed on the cross-section, this term instantly barged into Irene's mind. Yet, she clearly remembered that Danzhu shouldn't have possessed the ability of Critical Hyper-Metamorphosis.
"Is there really someone inside?" Kiana, standing behind Irene, also saw it, but she looked at the strange appearance of the person inside. "Wait, that's a Deadwalker, isn't it?"
Seeming to sense their confusion, the Xuanyuan Sword in Irene's hand lit up once more. Ji Lin, who was much more transparent than before, appeared again.
"There's a ghost!" Kiana immediately shrieked upon seeing the apparition emerging from Irene. However, it couldn't be helped; at this moment, Ji Lin's image indeed differed little from a ghost.
Fu Hua, seeing everyone's vigilance, immediately spoke up to explain Ji Lin's identity: the warrior who sealed Chiyou back then. It was just that now, her consciousness remained only as a remnant soul within the Xuanyuan Sword.
Seeing that everyone understood, Ji Lin spoke: "The person inside the crystal is the former Celestial Danzhu. She is not a demon, nor a monster."
"Then... then what do we do now?" Kiana's voice was a bit dazed. "After so long, can that Celestial still be alive?"
Fu Hua pursed her lips. Golden feathers flashed in her hand. Hearing that name had stirred up even more ripples within her. She knew that person—she definitely knew her. They were even close friends.
Just like with Ji Lin, if there was still a chance... she didn't know. But if it was possible, she didn't want to give up no matter what. And as she opened her senses to actively probe the surrounding consciousness entities...
She clearly perceived it. Aside from the consciousness signals of their group, there was a faint but familiar consciousness signal right in front of them.
Fu Hua raised her head and looked at the crystal before her. According to Fenghuang Down's detection, that familiar consciousness signal was coming from inside it.
Just as Fu Hua was preparing to speak, the sensations from Fenghuang Down suddenly multiplied. There were fully three consciousness signals overlapping with Irene. And each of those signals seemed slightly familiar.
"We must save her!" Irene said decisively, a trace of resolution flashing in her eyes. "No matter what, no matter if she is still alive, we cannot just shatter a hero's remains like this. At least we have to try!"
"But... how do we save her?" Mei looked at the incredibly hard crystal, her tone carrying a hint of anxiety. "The internal crystal is simply too solid. We have no way to punch through it."
"Unless we have a way to pass through it." Bronya frowned. She also tried commanding Project Bunny to step forward and attack, but it was as useless as Kiana's bullets earlier.
The crystal condensed from 5,000 years of accumulated Honkai energy was not something that could be easily shaken.
Irene's gaze, however, turned toward the frantically anxious Pardofelis in the Palace of Consciousness. Suddenly, Irene thought of a method, though it might be a bit risky.
[Pardo!] Irene's thought transmitted over. [Your Quantization... can you do it? Can you penetrate this crystal for a short time and bring the person inside out?]
[Your Quantization can infect other things, right?]
During training in the spiritual world, she had noticed that not only could Pardo Quantize her body and clothes, but she could actually do it to weapons as well.
[I can, I can do it.] Pardo nodded. As long as the conditions were reasonable, she could indeed Quantize objects along with herself, but that part of the object had to remain in contact with her.
Furthermore, if the Quantization time was too long, that part of the object would fall directly into the Sea of Quanta, which was different from her own nature.
Just as she was halfway through nodding, Pardo suddenly realized what Irene wanted to do.
[Eh?! Pe... penetrate this?!] Pardo was startled, her cat ears shooting up. [Wait, wait, wait. To pass through this thing, I'd have to use full-body Quantization. But I can't do full-body Quantization at all; I can only do partial Quantization.]
[And to pass through this, I'd have to include my head and heart. If I do that, the time limit will be pitifully short. I'm afraid I can't do it.]
[But we have to find a way.] Irene looked at Danzhu inside the crystal. [I believe she should still be alive. At the very least, we can't blow the crystal to pieces as originally planned.]
That layer of sturdy crystal was simply too thick. Visually, it was at least 1.5 meters thick, and the whole thing was 3 meters large. Forcing a way in to carry the person out was impossible.
[Why not use the tail?] Just as everyone was at a loss, Lixue, who was standing to the side, suddenly spoke up. [According to my visual estimation, Miss Pardo's tail is at least 1.7 meters long.]
[If the goal is to touch the person inside, it can be done. And the remaining length should be enough to hook the person out.]
[...] Hearing Lixue's words, everyone's gaze immediately turned to the tail behind Pardo. Right, they didn't necessarily have to pass all the way through; hooking the person out counted too.
"In that case, leave it to me." Having obtained a plan, Irene immediately returned to reality. Since there was a plan, there could be no more hesitation.
She immediately took out Pardo's card. Although the effects Pardo had on her main body hadn't been eliminated yet, now was not the time to hesitate.
As for the Quantization effects suffered by her main body, she could eliminate them later; it wasn't worth stopping at the final hurdle.
"Sister Irene, what are you going to do?"
"Save her, of course." Irene closed her eyes and transferred control of her body to Pardo. Pardo was more skilled at manipulating her body and could control the tail better.
Moreover, Pardo's desire could better unleash her own 'Super Luck' trait. She absolutely had to save her.
Blue particles appeared at that moment and expanded rapidly, gradually enveloping Pardo's lower body and spreading to her tail. Then, Pardo whipped her tail violently toward the crystal.
Just as Lixue had predicted, Pardo's tail was long enough to reach Danzhu inside. The blue particles gradually spread onto Danzhu's body. Once she confirmed it was about enough...
Pardo abruptly yanked Danzhu's body out, curling her into her embrace.
"It worked!" Kiana shouted in surprise. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief seeing Danzhu curled up in Irene's arms. Bronya immediately commanded Project Bunny to send the signal.
Pardo transferred control back to Irene. Irene, disregarding Danzhu in her arms, left together with everyone else.
The Hyperion's main cannon, which had long been waiting for the signal outside, fired immediately. Just as the group left, the Hyperion's main cannon directly pierced through Chiyou's body. The terrifying attack struck that crystal in the center, shattering it directly.
Watching the shattered crystal, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least this proved their strategy wasn't wrong; the Hyperion's main cannon attack was enough to penetrate Chiyou's body and deal sufficient damage.
Only after confirming this did everyone turn their heads to look down at Danzhu, whom Irene had placed on the ground. However, visible to the naked eye, Danzhu's condition was not good.
Her body still maintained that half-human, half-snake heteromorphic form. The areas covered by large amounts of Honkai energy crystals gave off absolutely no sense of life.
Moreover, after being separated from that crystal, one could even sense Danzhu's body becoming increasingly gray, as if she were gradually turning into dust and dissipating like a Honkai Beast whose Honkai Core had been pierced.
Fu Hua immediately stepped forward and placed her hand on Irene's shoulder. The power of Fenghuang Down quickly constructed a mental link between Fu Hua and Irene.
[Irene, you have the ability to contain consciousnesses, right?]
Hearing Fu Hua's voice suddenly sound in her mind, Irene nodded imperceptibly. [Yes, I do. In fact, I have quite a few of Ah-Hua's old acquaintances here. But Ah-Hua, why do you ask?]
[I can sense that Danzhu still has consciousness, but I cannot preserve consciousness. What I am using now is called...]
[The Key of Consciousness, Fenghuang Down. I know. Perhaps you can come to my place as a guest later. So, why not preserve her on your side?]
Sensing Irene's familiarity, Fu Hua paused for a moment, then continued to explain: [Because my Fenghuang Down is no longer complete. The consciousness it can preserve is very limited.]
[And I might need to use Fenghuang Down for any number of possibilities. It is difficult for me to guarantee Danzhu's safety during that process.]
Furthermore, Fenghuang Down was designed originally only as a weapon, not a tool for storing consciousness. Its professionalism in this aspect was truly lacking.
But that wasn't the only reason. She also had to worry about a certain guy—Otto. She had no way to determine Otto's attitude toward this matter, and she had to be in frequent contact with Otto.
Otto could definitely not be called a good person, but right now, he was the only one she could cooperate with to protect Shenzhou. However, Fu Hua couldn't take Danzhu to risk it with her.
[In that case, I understand. No problem.] Irene nodded. She could sense that Fu Hua likely had other misgivings, but her head didn't lack space for one more person anyway.
Moreover, there would definitely be more people in her head in the future. Adding Danzhu now, or even Cangxuan, would not be a problem at all.
[Mn.]
Just then, Irene's communicator rang, and Theresa's voice came through.
"Irene, are you all okay? Do you need any help? Like weapons or something?"
"Oh, we don't need anything in that regard." Irene shook her head, then looked at Danzhu's body. "But we do need a drone here."
"Himeko's physical condition isn't suitable for staying here any longer, and we need two seats."
"No problem."
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