In just a single week, the Honkai: Star Rail players suffered a disaster they would never forget.
Their painstakingly constructed Capitols were gone—destroyed with cruel precision and perfect timing.
A full week had already passed.
That meant city recruitment pools had refreshed.
So when players finally fought their way back and reclaimed their cities, what greeted them was a cruel reality—
The Capitol was gone.
Rebuilding it would cost 10,000 gold.
But at the same time, the city now had troops available for recruitment.
Rebuild the Capitol… or recruit soldiers?
You could only choose one.
And either choice hurt.
[Sampo]: Brothers, help meeeee—my Capitol is gone.
[Sunday]: Same here.
[Robin]: Mine too…
[Lynx]: Waaaah, the other side is so mean.
[Asta]: Help! My Capitol got smashed twice.
[Feixiao]: What's going on?
[Topaz]: Hu Tao did this. Everyone be careful—don't wander too far from your cities.
[Boothill]: Hell, if we don't go out, how are we supposed to develop?
[Jing Yuan]: Everyone hang in there. Their situation should be similar now.
[Fu Xuan]: How do you know?
[Jing Yuan]: Bronya has already broken into their heartland.
[Feixiao]: So Bronya is smashing their Capitols too?
[Jing Yuan]: …Yes. Everyone hold on. Don't engage enemies alone in the wild.
[Seele]: Alright. Bronya—how's the situation on your end?
[Bronya]: Hang in there, everyone. I've captured six cities so far and recruited their high-tier units. Even if they retake them, they won't have much combat power left.
[Yukong]: Well done.
[Serval]: That's impressive!
Hearing that Bronya was causing just as much chaos on the other side, morale immediately lifted.
If Hu Tao wanted to smash Capitols—
Then it was only fair Bronya did the same.
Let's see who collapses first.
[System]: Attention—Player Aventurine has been eliminated by Hu Tao.
The notification hit like a hammer.
[Lingsha]: Another one caught by Hu Tao?
[Herta]: Just what kind of city did Hu Tao choose? This is ridiculous.
[Seele]: Bronya, keep going! If you meet Hu Tao, don't let her escape!
[Luocha]: Exactly—if you run into her, take her out immediately.
[Dr. Ratio]: No. If you encounter Hu Tao—run.
That made Seele unhappy.
[Seele]: What do you mean by that? Are you saying Bronya can't beat Hu Tao?
[Dr. Ratio]: Hu Tao's troop numbers are abnormal. They are very likely far stronger than Bronya's.
That answer immediately put Jing Yuan on alert.
[Jing Yuan]: …You were with Aventurine earlier, weren't you?
[Dr. Ratio]: Yes. I suggested testing Hu Tao's strength. Aventurine carried all of our troops—mine, Topaz's, and Lady Jade's included. He didn't even get the chance to retreat.
That was the key problem.
Originally, even if Aventurine lost, retreating should have been trivial.
But from engagement to elimination, there was no escape attempt.
That left only two possibilities:
Hu Tao's army was so overwhelming that retreat was impossible.Hu Tao possessed an artifact that prevents retreat.
Dr. Ratio believed both were true.
After eliminating Aventurine, Hu Tao didn't even return to her city—she continued pushing deeper into the map.
That meant the battle cost her almost nothing.
And Aventurine's army had consisted mostly of fast units.
Retreat should have been a single click.
Yet it never happened.
Conclusion:
Hu Tao's army was abnormal, and she definitely had a retreat-locking artifact.
[Jade]: Confirmed. Our combined forces equaled roughly four cities' worth of troops over two weeks. Even so, Aventurine stood no chance.
[Topaz]: That was terrifying. We've lost our combat power—everything else is up to you now. I'll quietly trail Hu Tao this week.
[Jing Yuan]: Understood. Please be careful.
Jing Yuan's unease deepened.
From all reports, Hu Tao was far beyond normal parameters.
Even with Bronya's current army of recruited elites, victory was no longer guaranteed.
[Silver Wolf]: …By the way, did anyone choose the Necropolis?
That single sentence made Jing Yuan's heart skip a beat.
[Serval]: I didn't.
[Herta]: Neither did I.
[Ruan Mei]: I considered it, but ended up choosing the Elemental city.
One denial after another.
[Silver Wolf]: …We're screwed. We may be facing an undead apocalypse.
[Jiaoqiu]: Explain?
[Silver Wolf]: In games, undead factions rely on overwhelming numbers. Fighting them is like facing a natural disaster. And their troops usually come from the dead bodies of enemies.
[Herta]: If this was so important, why didn't you say it earlier?!
[Silver Wolf]: How was I supposed to know the game would be this unbalanced?!
She had looked at Necropolis before—she just didn't like it.
In her experience, games at least pretended to be balanced.
Who knew Heroes of Might and Magic played this dirty?
[Kafka]: Silver Wolf takes full responsibility.
[Blade]: Agreed.
Among all players, Silver Wolf understood games the best—and yet she neither warned anyone nor picked Necropolis herself.
And instead she chose Tower.
Unforgivable.
[Jing Yuan]: Then… in other games, how do players counter undead factions?
[Silver Wolf]: Either find specific counter-artifacts—or brute-force them with even more troops.
[Jing Yuan]: I see. Then the deciding factor may lie with Valerius.
[Ruan Mei]: Agreed.
[Jing Yuan]: Everyone, take action. Don't leave too many troops in cities. For now, avoid Hu Tao at all costs.
The situation had escalated too suddenly.
Jing Yuan had prepared countless strategies—
But none of them accounted for absolute numerical supremacy.
Against raw force, even the best tactics break.
In the following days, Hu Tao noticed something strange.
Players in the wild were disappearing.
Cities she captured were already empty—every last troop had been recruited.
Not even scraps remained.
"This is weird… where did everyone go?"
Previously, she'd constantly run into wandering players.
Now?
Nothing.
She could capture cities easily—but the moment she left, they were retaken.
"Hu Tao," Paimon suggested, "why don't we take a city and stay? If we hold it for seven days, the owner gets eliminated."
"And spend seven days doing nothing?" Hu Tao frowned. "That kills my growth."
For Hu Tao, time meant skeletons.
She wouldn't waste a week just to eliminate one player.
Still… Paimon's idea sparked something.
She couldn't do it—
But her teammates could.
A grin slowly spread across Hu Tao's face.
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