"It's alright, Miss Himeko."
Faced with Himeko's apology, Welt felt that he was the one who should be more apologetic. The meteorite landing site had already been cordoned off by a team led by Tesla. Even so, they had still caught more than ten fanatical alien enthusiasts.
The information Himeko had received came from one of them.
Welt was still not accustomed to lying, especially to a student.
"Actually, when it comes to aliens and things like that..."
"You don't have to comfort me, Teacher Welt."
Himeko clenched her fist and nodded emphatically.
"The moment you saw my news about aliens, you immediately bought a plane ticket to follow me. That's enough to prove your level of enthusiasm is no less than mine!"
"No, I'm really not that interested in aliens."
Welt quickly waved his hands, trying to interrupt Himeko's diverging train of thought.
"..."
"Eh?"
"Then why did you come to New Mexico with me?"
"If it's not for aliens, could it be... because of me?"
"...!"
"No, no, no! You've misunderstood!"
Cold sweat trickled down Welt's forehead.
"I..."
"That's right!"
"I am indeed an alien enthusiast, and I came here precisely to search for any possible traces of them!"
"..."
"Ah, that's a relief."
Himeko stretched vigorously, the smile at the corner of her mouth growing even wider than before.
"Back in high school, even the other members of the astronomy club were only interested in the stars. The moment I brought up the topic of aliens, they all put on 'pseudoscience' expressions."
"I was starting to think no one believed in aliens anymore!"
"I even tried to start an 'Extraterrestrial Civilization Research' club at the university, but I couldn't find a single member."
Himeko took a step forward.
Her imposing figure, which her white shirt could barely contain, was now less than ten centimeters from Welt's own slender frame. Standing on her tiptoes, she stared at Welt with shining eyes from an extremely close distance.
"Teacher Welt."
"Please be the faculty advisor for this club!"
"You're so popular with the girls... I mean, at the university, you'll definitely be able to recruit a lot of members!"
Without waiting for Welt's reply, Himeko had already taken out her phone and held it out in front of him.
"Oh, right!"
"Although it's just the two of us for now, I've already planned our next club activity!"
"NASA just announced a small asteroid, codenamed No. 439. After passing its apogee, it will fall directly into the sun."
"Teacher Welt, you should come too. Let me check the best observation time..."
"Wait a moment."
"Miss Himeko, I haven't agreed yet..."
Welt's "mature" demeanor put him at a clear disadvantage in terms of speech speed and volume. Before he could finish, Himeko was already heading towards the station on her own. Since she hadn't gotten the results she'd hoped for, there was naturally no need to linger in New Mexico.
"..."
"Sigh."
Welt gently pressed his forehead.
What had started as a simple attempt to prevent a student from getting into trouble had somehow evolved into this.
But it was fine.
Stopping Himeko meant that the last "fish that slipped through the net" near the meteorite site was gone. Tesla could now proceed with her research without any worries...
Just as Welt took a step to follow Himeko, who was about to become nothing more than a retreating figure—
"Ding."
---o---
"Who's there!?"
The city of Santa Fe, which in Welt's eyes had been bathed in the light of dusk, was suddenly enveloped by a pitch-black canopy. Not only Himeko, but all the pedestrians and buildings on the street vanished in an instant.
"Tianming?"
A transparent, purple crystal orb appeared in Welt's hand.
The [Mimicked Star of Eden] was his most proficient application of the [Authority of Reason]. Although his body had only recovered to just over sixty percent of its strength since the battle of the Second Honkai Eruption, in all of Tianming, there were probably less than three people, including Otto, who could be certain of victory against him.
Now that both sides had exchanged signals of goodwill, Welt had never expected to be attacked here in North America, on Anti-Entropy's own turf.
"No."
"We are not Tianming."
From the shadows at the edge of his vision, a female voice, incredibly familiar to Welt, reached his ears clearly.
"..."
"Einstein!?"
The shocked expression lasted only a moment on Welt's face.
The next instant, he was certain that the woman before him was by no means Einstein.
Although Einstein was Anti-Entropy's most brilliant scholar and executive, she herself possessed no combat ability. While her robot, Eins, was strong enough to hold its own against an A-rank Valkyrie, Einstein herself lacked the aura of a powerful individual.
But...
The Einstein before him was different.
His Herrscher's intuition told Welt that he might not be able to win against this fake Einstein.
However, something even more astonishing was yet to come.
Appearing in his line of sight next... no, it was more like he hadn't sensed his aura at all. A man, whom he only noticed after he had actively "revealed" himself, appeared side-by-side with "Einstein."
"Joyce..."
Welt Joyce.
The First Herrscher, the Herrscher of Reason, who had entrusted the Herrscher Core to "Joachim Nokianvirtanen (Welt Yang)," passing on both the name "Welt" and the responsibility of "protecting humanity."
But...
Joyce, who had been grievously injured protecting him in the Battle of New York, had long since...
"Sorry."
Welt Joyce slowly raised his right hand.
Colorless, transparent crystals converged on Welt Yang from all directions.
He prepared to use the Star of Eden to block the "attack," but he received no response from the [Authority of Reason].
"I'll have to ask you to take a nap for a while."
With a whisper that seemed to sound right next to his ear, Welt Yang gently fell backward to the ground.
"Thud."
---o---
"Eh?"
"Aren't you going to talk to him first?"
"According to the intel, he should be able to understand our actions and would most likely cooperate."
Einstein's figure flickered unnaturally before reverting to the form of Himeko.
"And here I was, using a special image projector to try and build some rapport."
"..."
"Then you should have turned into Tesla."
Welt pointed out Himeko's "mistake" with pinpoint accuracy.
"But I can't imitate Dr. Tesla's personality. Tsundere may look simple, but it's very difficult to mimic it to the bone. On the other hand, I saw the Vice-Chamber Head's tone and style many times when I was your bridesmaid."
"..."
"Could it be that Teacher Welt was a little moved by that 'date' scene just now? And my passionate—"
"Ahem, ahem!"
Welt coughed until his face turned red... of course, it was also possible the cause and effect were reversed.
"Alright, alright, just kidding."
Himeko patted Welt's back forcefully.
"What's the plan now?"
"Are we going to enter Anti-Entropy directly using 'Yang's' identity, or should we ignore them for now and wait until I 'knock myself out' before making a plan?"
Welt thought for a moment.
"Let's stick to the original plan."
"Himeko, for now, please help 'watch over' Mr. Sovereign."
"I'll use his identity to make contact with your 'other self.' The 'Sky People' the Apostles mentioned should be appearing soon."
"..."
"I can do that, but..."
Himeko extended a slender index finger, pressing it against the faint dimple that appeared when she smiled.
"No sneaking snacks while you're on a business trip—"
Before Welt could retort.
"Ah!"
"That wasn't me just now, that was Sister Einstein specifically telling me to remind the Chamber Head!"
"So, even 'I' am not allowed~"
"..."
"Understood."
From what Welt knew of Einstein, she would never say something like that.
Anywhere outside the classroom and the research lab, this student of his was a veritable little devil.
---o---
North America, an airport reception room.
"Friends from Anti-Entropy, you're late."
Sitting on a row of chairs, Murata Ryusuke, with a large suitcase in hand, looked up and spoke to the two approaching figures.
"Hello, Dr. Murata."
"I'm Einstein from Anti-Entropy, and this is Dr. Tesla."
Einstein took the lead in greeting him.
"Sorry, it took us a little longer to get here. We had to make sure you weren't being followed by anyone from Tianming."
As Einstein spoke, she and Tesla sat down on the sofa opposite Murata Ryusuke.
"It's alright."
"Dr. Einstein and Dr. Tesla, I've long heard of your reputations."
Murata Ryusuke picked up the teacup on the table and drank it in one gulp. The lack of steam indicated he had indeed been waiting for a long time.
"Since you two have come to see me in person, I presume you have agreed to my previous conditions."
"We will guarantee your personal safety."
Tesla, sitting directly opposite him, took over the conversation.
"On the condition that you haven't lied to us."
"..."
"Of course."
From the suitcase beside him, Murata Ryusuke took out a silver metal box the size of a briefcase. With two overlapping "clicks"—
"This is the key to the Fourth Key of God."
Inside the opened metal box lay a purplish-black cube that emitted a red halo.
"The file next to it contains Tianming's plan to use the Fourth Key of God to create a hurricane and attack the East Coast of America."
Murata Ryusuke laid out his biggest bargaining chip without any reservation.
"Dr. Murata."
"May I ask you a question?"
Neither Einstein nor Tesla reached for the items on the coffee table. Instead, they posed a question to Murata Ryusuke.
"Please, go ahead."
"After you contacted us, the relevant departments in Anti-Entropy conducted intelligence gathering."
Einstein stated a fact in a calm tone.
"For the past few years, the Fourth Key of God has been used to restore the ecology of Siberia. There has never been any intelligence to suggest it would be used as a weapon—just as it has done for tens of thousands of years before the 'Current Civilization' was even born."
It was true that the Fourth Key of God had only recently been discovered, but Anti-Entropy's intelligence penetration of Tianming was by no means poor. At least twenty percent of the data on Otto's desk would, one way or another, enter Anti-Entropy's field of view... regardless of whether this was a deliberate leak by the "Bishop" or not.
"..."
"Sigh."
Murata Ryusuke sighed.
"I know this is hard to believe."
"But please believe me, everything I've said is true."
Murata Ryusuke, dressed in a white lab coat, stood up.
"An equipment that can repair the damage caused by Honkai energy—can it truly not be used as a weapon?"
"The Moonlight Throne."
"I believe that's what it's called. Although it's not a project I was involved in, I have heard of its existence."
"The key to the Fourth Key of God can connect directly to the Key of God's main computer."
"From there, you can find the attack plan... The 'authorization letter' from the Bishop should be enough to convince you."
Murata Ryusuke turned around, as if the bargaining chips on the coffee table had lost all value to him.
"Wait!"
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Until this matter is clarified, you must stay at our base. Otherwise, we cannot guarantee your safety."
Tesla also stood up, her voice audibly rising by several degrees.
"Ah."
"My daughter is attending a university nearby."
Murata Ryusuke seemed unconcerned by Tesla's attitude.
"We haven't seen each other in a long time. Now that I have the chance, I plan to go see her."
Before Tesla could speak again.
"I've heard that Anti-Entropy, unlike Tianming, has great respect for human rights and freedom, and wouldn't resort to imprisonment."
"Who said anything about—"
"Wait, Dr. Tesla."
Einstein gently patted Tesla's shoulder and stepped between them.
"We also need some time to study the Fourth Key of God."
"Before that, let Dr. Murata go and reunite with his daughter... Do you require us to provide covert protection?"
"...That won't be necessary."
"This is Anti-Entropy's territory, after all. If anything were to happen, I would definitely call for help immediately."
With that said.
"Then, if you'll excuse me."
"..."
Until Murata Ryusuke had disappeared around the corner of the airport—
"Nest-head."
"Do you think he was telling the truth?"
"The very fact that he was able to steal the key to the Fourth Key of God from Tianming without Otto noticing is already incredible."
"Indeed."
Einstein nodded in agreement.
"But there's no need to worry too much."
"North America is Anti-Entropy's territory, after all. Whatever he plans to do, he cannot escape our sight."
"And right now, the most important thing..."
"Is to verify the authenticity of this 'key'."
---o---
At the same time.
In the outer space of the solar system.
From an asteroid indistinguishable from a rock, a fragment broke off and fell towards Earth on a predetermined trajectory.
This was the [Scout Star] of the Sky People, used to search for other civilizations in the universe.
To avoid detection by advanced civilizations, they were disguised as rocks, and their final destinations were all set to be stars or black holes.
During their long journey, the reconnaissance units within the [Scout Star] would continuously observe the planets along their path and react differently based on the level of civilizational development:
For planets with a low level of civilization, the [Scout Star] would transmit their coordinates back to the frontline base responsible for deploying them. These planets would need to "mature" before being "harvested." But when an advanced civilization was detected, especially a planet with military strength far exceeding that of the Sky People, the [Scout Star] would proceed along its original route into a star or black hole, choosing self-destruction.
And now, the scout dispatched by the [Scout Star]... had reached its destination.