"Dr. Tesla."
"If we can't launch the Silver Bullets, do we have any other way of stopping the Fourth Key of God?" Murata Ryusuke continued to ask.
"Hmph!"
"Who do you think I am!?" Tesla puffed out her non-existent chest and said with her hands on her hips.
"Don't worry. I can repair the launch system in just two days. If things go smoothly, I can even brute-force a decryption of the 'key'."
"Don't you stand around idle either. Headquarters has a backup observation system. Hurry up and use it to find the coordinates of the Fourth Key of God—"
"Huh, are you injured?"
Tesla finally noticed Murata Ryusuke's wound.
"It's nothing, just a small cut..."
"The medical bay is on the right side of the corridor," Tesla interrupted him, then forcefully pushed him out of the control room.
"Go get that wound treated immediately. It'll be bad if it gets infected. You can't help with anything for now anyway, so hurry up and take care of yourself first!"
"..."
"He should be far enough away now," Tesla let out a soft sigh.
"The Fourth Key of God, the Silver Bullets, the mind-controlled guards, and these micro-robots whose systems operate in a way that defies all computer logic..."
"Welt, what do you think?"
"..."
"If this isn't Otto's doing."
Wearing his usual classic brown coat and glasses that covered half his face, Welt slowly emerged from the shadows of the control room, holding the "insect" suspended in a gravity field.
"Then it's most likely—"
"Aliens."
[Neural Implanter]
This was a crucial component of the entire plan.
The Sky People's neural implanters could control the nervous systems of native populations, thereby manipulating their every move.
Many of the planets that weren't discovered and immediately blown up by the Sky People (those with lower levels of civilization) became their colonies. Because their "slaves" came in all shapes and sizes, the Sky People often had to rely on the Neural Implanters to identify them.
---o---
[The Candy House]
The currently existing Shoggoths had no physical form.
The key to them being unobservable, even able to evade the effects of Fenghuang Down, lay in their nature as "mental existences."
The source of the Shoggoths' power was the fortress-sanctuary they had created to fight the Honkai, using the entirety of their technological might and a Herrscher Core: the Candy House. The Shoggoths were not "truants." Immediately after successfully creating the Candy House, they were attacked by the Sky People, forcing them to abandon their physical bodies and preserve their entire race's consciousness within it.
The power of an entire civilization merged with the sanctuary, forming a spatial-dimensional weapon capable of interstellar travel, far more advanced than humanity's current civilization.
This was the Candy House.
"Peppermint, why are you still sitting here so leisurely?"
"Shouldn't you be at the Anti-Entropy launch base!?"
In a corner of the Candy House.
The Shoggoth who had been with Murata Ryusuke was now vigorously licking a large lollipop. This space was filled with all sorts of candies (energy-mental bodies), which was why it was called the Candy House.
With a crunch, it chewed up and swallowed the entire lollipop.
"The launch plan has been delayed."
"We underestimated the Sky People... Their new model of reconnaissance mechs began eliminating threatening weapons before the Scout Star even arrived."
"This is truly terrible," said a Shoggoth with a strange tuft of a beard.
"I never expected the Sky People to evolve so quickly."
"Or is it that we've been too slow?" The Shoggoth called Peppermint poked the bearded one with the stick left over from its lollipop.
"No..."
"We haven't been slow; we haven't moved forward at all!"
"For hundreds of years, all we've done is run and hide in the Candy House."
"..."
"Sigh."
"You're right," the bearded Shoggoth sighed heavily.
"The Sky People are growing stronger and stronger. This planet's civilization is likely doomed. Even though it's a shame to leave, it's time for us to prepare our migration plan..."
"I'm not running," Peppermint interrupted the bearded Shoggoth.
"The Sky People's plan will not succeed. If necessary, I will choose to join forces with the humans."
"..."
"Sigh, I hope you don't regret it."
Surprisingly.
Peppermint did not receive a negative reply. The Shoggoth race had established a rule: stagnate their development and hide throughout the cosmos.
This method might preserve their civilization for a time, but in the end, it was nothing more than a slow death. Everyone knew it was the most "reliable" plan, but not everyone could accept such a compromise.
Peppermint was one of them.
Swoosh.
Driving down a street dyed red by the setting sun.
A particle-like hole appeared on the shoulder of Murata Ryusuke, who was sitting in the back of the taxi.
"Where did you just go?"
A grey furball leaped out from it.
"Nowhere special, just a trip back home," Peppermint said. Just as it finished speaking, the taxi arrived at their destination.
"We're here, sir."
The location wasn't far from the university. It was a rather high-end apartment—when working for Tianming, at the very least, the remuneration was guaranteed.
However...
With Himeko's capabilities, she didn't really need any "support" from her father.
Beside the gleaming silver main door, a small note was tucked behind the small delivery box. The pure white glove that pinched the note was of a perfectly matching color.
"Dad, I have to prepare for a club activity today."
"The key is under the doormat. Wait for me at home for a bit. I'll come back and cook right after class, so look forward to it!"
The elegant handwriting flowed in a single line.
It was clear Himeko had been in a bit of a rush when she left the note.
"..."
Click.
The key turned in the lock.
The apartment was quite spacious. The first thing Murata Ryusuke saw upon entering was a picture frame hanging by the entryway—a photo of a family of three.
A white-gloved hand brushed along the edge of the frame.
The golden glow of dusk revealed the fine dust and lint suspended in the air, yet this frame, the one most likely to be covered by dust kicked up when entering, was completely spotless.
"Ryusuke, I need to talk to you."
Peppermint dropped from Murata Ryusuke's shoulder, its body completely covered by the shadow cast by the photo frame.
"The Sky People are stronger than we anticipated."
"If we proceed with the current plan, I can't guarantee a one hundred percent success rate. Even your own safety will be at risk. We must formulate a new plan..."
His slightly curly brown hair obscured his eyes.
"You're right."
"After all this is over, I still have to atone for the mistakes I've made."
He didn't seem to be listening closely to what Peppermint was saying.
Ding-dong!
Just then.
The crisp chime of the doorbell from outside the freshly closed door interrupted their thoughts.
"Ryusuke."
"Mm."
Peppermint silently hid inside Murata Ryusuke's sleeve—the right sleeve of the hand that was about to grasp the doorknob.
Click.
Screee—
The well-maintained apartment door, which normally wouldn't, let out a "fragile," grating sound.
"Dr. Murata."
"...Professor Welt?"
Their eyes met.
"Professor or 'Sovereign,' you can call me whatever you like."
There was no time, or perhaps no need, to ponder the meaning of that sentence.
"I have some bad news."
"...Please, go on."
"Himeko has collapsed."
"!!"
---o---
Anti-Entropy Headquarters.
The red light of the emergency room turned green.
However, Murata Ryusuke, who was waiting by the door, was not given the chance to see the patient.
"Sovereign, Professor Murata."
"There's one piece of good news and one piece of bad news."
Tesla walked out, her lab coat draped over one arm and a translucent jar in her other hand.
"The good news is, she's out of immediate danger."
"The bad news is, although the surgery successfully removed the machine, some of the cells in her body have been eroded by an unknown type of Honkai energy, and this erosion is still spreading."
"With Anti-Entropy's—no, with humanity's current medical technology, we have no way to stop this erosion for the time being."
"We estimate..."
"At the earliest, her consciousness will completely disappear in three days."
"..."
"Damn it! Damn it all!!"
Murata Ryusuke slammed his fist into the wall beside him. The hard, sharp corner caused his hand to burst into a spray of blood.
"..."
Tesla and Welt exchanged a silent glance. The coincidental nature of the entire plan made Tesla a bit incredulous, but out of trust for Welt's character and the urgency of the situation, she chose to cooperate.
"Dr. Murata, please let me finish."
"—"
Like a life-saving prescription.
Murata Ryusuke, showing a helpless expression for the first time since they had met, stared at Tesla with a wretched look that sent a chill down her spine.
"Actually, while we were operating on that girl."
"Our satellites intercepted a strange signal. The source of this signal... was, unbelievably, Asteroid 438, which is on a trajectory straight towards the sun. It was using an ultra-high frequency communication that had been encrypted multiple times."
"That's the Sky People's [Scout Star]!"
"..."
"Sky People? Scout Star?"
---o---
"I see."
In the familiar Conference Room 3.
Murata Ryusuke told Anti-Entropy everything he knew about the Sky People. With Peppermint's permission, he even revealed the source of his intelligence: the existence of the Shoggoths.
"If I'm not mistaken."
"It must be this signal that's controlling the erosion process inside the girl's body."
Tesla put down her tablet, but her brow remained tightly furrowed.
"To shoot down the asteroid."
"With the Silver Bullets temporarily unavailable, we need at least five days of prep time. Even if we gamble on the expertise of our technical team, it would be difficult to compress that time to under three days."
"Unless..."
Tesla glanced at Welt. The look contained more concern than a question or thought about the plan's progress.
"It doesn't matter!"
"As long as it can save my daughter, I'm willing to take any risk!" Murata Ryusuke emotionally took over the conversation, even though he wasn't the one being asked.
"..."
"Any ground-based weapon."
"While approaching the target, its trajectory could very likely be interfered with by the Scout Star, not to mention the potential Sky People forces hidden within."
"To ensure a reliable hit on the [Scout Star]."
"We need you—"
"To go to space."
---o---
BOOM!
The glare of the engine plume lit up the deep space.
Having detached from its booster rockets, the spaceplane "Valhalla" had already entered its designated orbit.
"Fourth Key of God operating normally. Ship's trajectory has been corrected."
On the massive screen in the Anti-Entropy headquarters conference room, images of the Valhalla and the Fourth Key of God were displayed separately.
"This is all we can do."
"Make your move now, before the second wave of interference occurs."
"..."
"Roger."
Inside the Valhalla, Murata Ryusuke was rapidly operating the control panel.
"As expected of Dr. Tesla."
"Using the Key of God to counteract the Scout Star's interference... a truly genius idea."
Although she only had a day, and less than two hours to familiarize herself with it, Tesla had successfully managed to control the Fourth Key of God to achieve an unexpected result.
"Professor Welt."
"The coordinates for the [Scout Star] are directly in front of you. Please prepare for combat."
"...I see it."
Atop the Valhalla.
Welt stood ramrod straight. It sounded as simple as "directly in front," but the actual distance between them was considerable.
Crackle!
Pitch black and dark crimson.
Lightning of two colors converged in Welt's hands.
What started as a palm-sized sphere of energy began to expand continuously as Welt raised his hands, until it became a heavy missile with a volume comparable to the Valhalla itself—
A Silver Bullet, replicated by the Authority of Reason.
Fwoosh!
A stream of fire shot far behind him!
"Alien invaders."
"This is—"
SWOOSH!!!
The Silver Bullet transformed into a cross-shaped star of light.
"—Humanity's return gift!"
BOOOOM!!!!!
---o---
"Good work, Professor Welt."
Inside the Valhalla.
Murata Ryusuke rushed out of the cockpit and hurried to greet the returning Welt.
As the two drew close—
"..."
"Are you alright? You look pale."
Welt was pressing a hand to his forehead, the sweat on his skin clearly visible.
"It's nothing."
"I just overexerted myself a bit. I'll be fine after some rest."
After all, replicating a Silver Bullet with the Authority of Reason was no simple task for "Welt," especially since he had not fully recovered from the Second Honkai Eruption five years ago.
"Target asteroid has gone completely silent."
Tesla's voice echoed through the hangar where the two men stood.
Rustle.
After the sound of paper shuffling.
"We just received a report from the sickbay."
"The erosion on that girl's body has stopped, and her cells have begun to self-repair. It shouldn't be long before she regains consciousness."
"You can rest easy now, Dr. Murata."