Luo Mo quickly walked into the meeting room alongside Su Lu. His expression was solemn as he issued assignments to various departments across the company.
Even though, in the end, none of the proposed solutions were truly effective or practical, the main goal for now was to calm everyone down.
Once there's someone taking charge, the whole company no longer felt like a chaotic mess. People started returning to their respective positions to carry out their tasks—although that underlying unease in everyone's heart hadn't disappeared.
Once the panic had settled somewhat and people were back at work, Luo Mo immediately called for all the Valkyries within the company to gather separately.
The Herrscher of Corruption was inherently part of the Honkai universe. To deal with her, they'd have to start from that angle. Professionals should handle professional matters.
Besides, even though the game was currently on fire (both figuratively and literally), in terms of public understanding of Honkai lore, there actually wasn't that much knowledge out there.
As more people trickled into the room—mainly Anna, Su Lu, and Raven—Luo Mo broke the silence and asked:
"Raven, has World Serpent made any contact with you?"
Still wearing her hood and dressed like a stunning office lady, Raven calmly shook her head. She had integrated quickly with the team and was performing exceptionally well at the company.
As for her paycheck—while it certainly didn't compare to her dangerous, blood-on-the-blade life before—it was stable. More importantly, it allowed her to provide a good environment for the orphaned children in her care.
In short, she was quite satisfied with her current situation.
But the truth was, Grey Serpent hadn't contacted her at all. In fact, ever since she came here, it was like they'd forgotten she existed.
"B-Boss, so it really was the Herrscher of Corruption?"
Su Lu asked nervously, needing to confirm it again.
There had been too many people around earlier for her to speak freely, but now she looked at Luo Mo with wide, anxious eyes. Her hands were clenched tightly.
"This job is going to kill me!" she thought.
Why does working at this company feel like a life-threatening gig?
Why do Herrschers keep popping up like mushrooms after rain, and how did she end up being forced into becoming a Herrscher herself?!
Couldn't employee safety be a little more guaranteed?!
She was suffering in silence.
"Sigh... you already confirmed it yourself. Otherwise, you wouldn't have pulled out that stat sheet…"
Luo Mo paused, then reluctantly nodded.
"But we never added any sort of corruption progress feature to the game. It just showed up in the main interface by itself…"
Su Lu added, still anxious.
Indeed, her reminder made Luo Mo finally notice that in the bottom right corner of the game interface, a "corruption progress" counter had appeared.
And it wasn't just a random number—it looked identical to the system's internal debugging notifier.
Luo Mo suspected this was the system's doing.
Well, at least it was still being somewhat useful.
According to the simple line graph Su Lu had created, the corruption progressed fastest at around 4 a.m., but had slowed down slightly after dawn—though not by much.
Luo Mo rubbed his forehead, deep in thought.
Every minute, a new popup message would appear:
"Your crystals are under attack."
It rang in his ears with an almost demonic rhythm.
This situation wasn't entirely unexpected. He hadn't prepared a full-fledged countermeasure, but it was clear:
It might be time to initiate a real-life version of 'Saving Honkai Impact 3.'
But of course, real life isn't the same as a game.
He still didn't know whether this was all a trap laid by the Herrscher of Corruption.
And even if they succeeded, at best they'd just drive her out temporarily. The Herrscher of Corruption could easily return through the internet at any moment.
Her first target was the game—that much was clear—and that actually worked to their advantage.
But maybe… she hadn't expected to be delayed this long by just a game, caught off guard by something so seemingly trivial.
Originally, he had prepared for the worst-case scenario: a full data meltdown the moment the Herrscher of Corruption appeared.
But then again, if that had happened, would Honkai Impact 3 still be functioning at all?
Probably not.
At least now, they hadn't been completely overrun.
Anna, Su Lu, Raven—none of them could offer the solution he needed right now.
After instructing them to keep playing and try to gather more intel through gameplay, Luo Mo left to move on to the next phase of his plan.
----
St. Freya, Golden Courtyard.
Luo Mo had come here to see if there were any viable solutions. After all, compared to people of this current era, these individuals had already experienced a similar crisis once before. Having previously confronted the Herrscher of Corruption, they might possess in-game-exclusive intelligence not currently accessible.
The most promising possibility—aside from Mei—was naturally Mobius, who had conducted invasive research on viruses herself.
"Rare to see you in such a rush, little lab mouse. However, I hope you're not falling into despair," Mobius said, half-mocking, but clearly intrigued. "To some extent, in the previous civilization, it was the Herrscher of Corruption who destroyed herself."
Mobius squinted her eyes, one pale green finger raised as she observed Luo Mo with interest while explaining. She wasn't just speaking nonsense—because even in the previous era, they had never developed an ideal solution to deal with the Corruption Herrscher.
In an age dominated by digital information, a virus capable of surviving through data was extremely difficult to eliminate. That Herrscher, in her attempt to destroy humanity, had also wiped out her own living environment.
Otherwise, in the game, World Serpent wouldn't have made a point to erase all prior records. The best way to deal with her had been to imprison her from the start.
But now, that option no longer existed.
Currently, the corruption was primarily targeting the Honkai Impact 3 game, but there were clearly signs of corruption appearing in other places as well.
"In our modern civilization," Mobius said while shaking her head in regret, "capturing a Herrscher that can flow freely through digital data is nearly impossible."
"Although we often say Herrschers and human civilization are twin entities—born together and bound together—those words don't always hold water."
"But if we look at individual Herrschers, that philosophy does hold some truth. For instance, the first Herrscher of Reason and the final Herrscher of Corruption—they both have distinct, unmistakable human traits. Their connection to the level of human civilization is obvious."
"Ah~ and then there's this Herrscher here who wants to become human," Mobius added with a smile as she glanced at Elysia, the corners of her mouth curling up mischievously. Despite her soft smile, Luo Mo felt a subtle chill—though perhaps not unfamiliar, considering Mobius's infamous reputation.
"Hmm? Did I do something wrong, Dr. Mobius? ♪"
Elysia replied sweetly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear with a tilt of her head. She was clearly unhappy with Mobius's tone—almost like she was being described as some kind of pest. "I'm clearly very lovable—people like me a lot. This must be your tsundere side acting up, Dr. Mobius."
"So… you don't have any concrete solutions?" Luo Mo asked seriously, eyeing the small green-haired scientist.
"Not really," Mobius admitted. "I do have a cloned version of the twelfth Herrscher from the previous civilization—the Virus Herrscher—but if I throw it into the network, it would just end up spreading corruption itself. There'd be no difference in the result. The game wouldn't be protected either…"
She paused, thinking aloud.
"Although I can't understand how the corruption is operating, I do believe sacrificing a portion of information from this world to eliminate a single Herrscher is a pretty good trade. After all, we can always rebuild it again."
She tapped her finger against her lips, her pupils gleaming with the desire to uncover deeper truths. She looked at Luo Mo as if she were about to devour him—figuratively and intellectually.
"But even with half a day passed, the Herrscher of Corruption still hasn't completely consumed the game. Clearly, there are secrets within this game that I completely underestimated."
"Even the final nuclear bunkers of the previous civilization couldn't last more than a few seconds against the Herrscher of Corruption… yet this game still stands. Luo Mo, tell me—why is that?"
Her smile deepened, eyes burning with curiosity as she stared at the calm, composed Luo Mo.
She wanted to consume him—not physically, but mentally.
If she could devour the knowledge within him, she might uncover even more secrets.
"Huh, you may have a point," Luo Mo replied thoughtfully.
"The game hasn't collapsed despite the corruption—and even though the Herrscher is using my own appearance..."
"Sigh. Beautiful girls always get stalked by people like that," Elysia chimed in teasingly. "Sometimes, when faced with a fan's obsession, even I find it hard to cope. ♪~"
She returned to her usual self, then looked surprised at Luo Mo.
After that, she recalled the moment she launched the game and saw herself transformed into the ship's commander—it had shocked her, to say the least.
As for who that really was? Of course—it was Mei.
Elysia had actually thought she was misremembering things. Turns out, it was the game that had a problem.
"..." Luo Mo remained calm and composed. Even though Mobius looked at him like a hunter sizing up prey, he didn't seem intimidated.
It was just that…
Maybe the reason the game hadn't been completely corrupted yet... was because of his crystal reserves.
After spending so much time together, he had come to understand the system. Its defense was excessive, but its offense was lacking. Even in situations where the crystal was abundant, it still couldn't proactively destroy the corrosion and render it useless. He was quite frustrated, letting out a long sigh, his eyes filled with disappointment.
"Ah, don't you have any good ideas either?"
"There really isn't a perfect solution," Mobius admitted. "But it seems like the game itself has already given us the answer. Do you think those stages were deliberately left there, unable to be deleted?"
"No, not at all. Logically, once the corrosion reaches that point, everything should revert and become part of her once again. Those stages may actually be specific corrosion nodes—converted by some mysterious force into their current form. Maybe… you can try using the game's mechanics to fight back?"
"…Use the game to save Honkai Impact 3?" Luo Mo asked in astonishment. Even though he had entertained the idea before, it still felt absurd. This was a game without a quit button.
"Rin might be able to offer some help," Mobius added with a chuckle. "Using the corrosion of one civilization's Herrscher to counter the corrosion of this one's Herrscher—that's quite interesting, isn't it?"
She pulled out a dark green vial from her chest and casually swung it around. "As it happens, she should be able to control this part of the power that once belonged to her."
She murmured softly, making Elysia beside her widen her eyes in shock.
"Something so dangerous—why, why are you carrying that around?!"
"Because I knew he would come here eventually," Mobius replied. "Just being prepared in advance."
"But remember this," Mobius' face turned serious, her golden pupils staring directly at Luo Mo. "Unlike the completely isolated Elysian Realm, where data is scarce, Rin's ability to control the virus is limited. The best she can do is seal off this section of Honkai Impact 3, to ensure that when the corrosion is defeated, it cannot escape."
"This is also why I said at the beginning that there's no good solution to the corrosion. Unless you don't mind me wiping everything from the net and mass-producing the virus, I really don't have a better plan."
She took a few small steps back as she spoke. Clearly, she knew the other party would never agree to her method—but saying it out loud meant she was also preparing her own kind of safeguard.
At the very least… this world wasn't so bad, right?
---
On the internet, the name Honkai Impact 3 once again surged to the top of the trending charts.
Following that came an official announcement from Schicksal and the game's developers, alongside mobilization from Schicksal HQ itself.
[Thank you all for your continued support! Honkai Impact 3 will soon launch a brand-new event—"Save Honkai Impact 3"!]
[This is an event without an exit button. But if you're willing, why not try forming a dev team and help save the nearly-collapsing Honkai Impact 3!]
(Absolutely do not let the bottom-right progress bar reach 100%. If it does... the game might actually be saying goodbye for real.)
[Let's go together with Kiana, Mei, Bronya, Sirin… all of them, and save our game!!]
[Thank you all for staying with us all this time. As a token of our gratitude, we'll be giving every player ten free pulls and Fu Hua's new equipment suit in the next event. Please look forward to the details!]
[Let us hold hands with the game, and together overcome this final enemy—and take back our beloved Honkai Impact 3!]
(T/C: Hmm... if HI3, HSR, GI, and other gacha games get virus attack. Then maybe all players can get Free rewards after it fixed~)