Teasing herself was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. Himeko let out a small laugh before her expression turned serious again.
Now that she had successfully "booted up" her other self, Himeko finally began to share the critical intelligence.
"Before I verify my identity, I need to share more important information with you first." Himeko cut off her other self's budding doubts. She needed to seize the initiative. Whether she believed it or not, instilling the relevant concepts first was paramount.
"Today, December 1st, at six o'clock in the evening, the disaster I spoke of will descend. Whether you believe me or not, please be on high alert during that time.
"In the first moments of the disaster, many people will turn directly into ash. They can't be saved, but they pose no threat, so you don't need to worry.
"The most dangerous thing at the start of the outbreak will be the people who turn into zombies. These people will go through a short transition period. If you see someone start to convulse, get away from them, or kill them on the spot."
"But there will be many such dangers, and you won't be able to handle them all on your own. Tell anyone you see to run. Just keep running."
After saying so much in one breath, Himeko paused slightly to catch her breath. The other Himeko seized the opportunity to speak.
"Are you saying this disaster is a zombie apocalypse? What's the conversion rate? How strong are these zombies? And how infectious are they?
"And most importantly, why keep running? Shouldn't the best way to deal with zombies be to find a fortified position and set up a defensive line?"
Himeko sighed, a hint of helplessness in her voice. "Because in this disaster, the zombies are nothing... The real danger is a type of monster called a Honkai Beast.
"A Honkai Beast will spawn near Chiba Academy. After it appears, it will take up residence at the Nagazora City train station. A week later, it will arrive at Chiba Academy. During that time, any life that approaches the train station will cause it to go berserk.
"Before you acquire a Titan mecha, do not, under any circumstances, attempt to engage it! Remember, absolutely do not!"
This single statement provided her other self with a frame of reference. Zombies existed in movies and TV shows. Although they varied between different works, they were largely the same: decaying bodies with a strong infection mechanism, bloodthirsty and mindless.
A disaster like that was indeed not much to worry about. Even if the initial outbreak had a coverage of over 99%, the remaining humans could still regain the upper hand with existing weaponry.
As a retired major, there was no way she would end up in a situation where she could "only survive under someone else's protection."
So the danger comes from those monsters called Honkai Beasts?
For "herself" to say that "only by acquiring a Titan mecha can one fight it," using the Titan mecha's combat power as a benchmark, the strength of that Honkai Beast became instantly clear.
But... according to what she said, the number of these so-called Honkai Beasts must be very small. Nagazora City was a huge city, and Chiba Academy was in the city center. The nearest Honkai Beast was all the way at the train station?
A monster that a single Titan mecha could handle, and there were so few of them. How did she end up in that...
"You're wondering why a monster like that could push me into such a desperate situation, aren't you?" Himeko accurately read "her" thoughts from the silence. Her voice turned icy as she spoke.
"Because above the Honkai Beasts, there are far more terrifying existences."
"What?" There's an even higher level?
Something stronger than a Honkai Beast, stronger than a Titan. And for her to bring it up specifically, the power gap must be substantial.
Like... something that would require an entire Titan squad just to barely handle?
"You don't need to know about that existence for now. It's not an enemy you're meant to face." Himeko genuinely didn't think information about Herrschers would be of any use to her other self. That information was bait to get Otto's interest; it had almost no practical value for her right now.
After all, they wouldn't encounter their first Herrscher until they reached ARC City. Before that, the Honkai Beasts and Sapphire City's Honkai Emperor were the threats that mattered most.
The phrase "It's not an enemy you're meant to face" spoke volumes about the cruelty of the "future," and in that moment, the minds of the two Himekos were finally on the same wavelength.
"...You said you're me. So how did you get back to this time to call me?" The conversation finally circled back to the biggest question of all. How did her future self return to the present?
This wasn't time travel spanning several generations; this was her from just six months in the future. It was impossible for the world's technology to leap forward enough in six short months to achieve stable time travel.
Especially since the "future" Himeko described was an apocalypse that started tonight. How could a world where order hadn't even been restored suddenly develop the ability to travel through time?
If the answer was "it was an accident," then this Himeko wouldn't believe a word she said.
"...Alright. Remember that enemy I said you didn't need to face?" Himeko sighed in resignation. Explaining the concept of a Herrscher would take far too much time. She had been gambling, hoping to bluff her way past the question.
It seemed there was no avoiding an explanation after all.
"You're trying to say that kind of enemy sent you here?" The voice on the other end cracked, this answer clearly even harder to believe than "an accident."
But at least Himeko's answer was serious. Her tone made it clear that she truly wanted to explain everything, and that attitude itself was part of what made the other her willing to believe.
So even if the answer was outrageous, so ridiculous Himeko couldn't even imagine it, she was willing to keep listening to this "imposter."
"That's right. This is my second time facing this kind of enemy," Himeko confirmed, validating her counterpart's guess.
"And to say 'facing' isn't quite right. It's more like I had the misfortune of running into one. We didn't even come face-to-face before I ended up here."
"Tsk..." The description was enough to give anyone a headache. The other Himeko seemed at a loss for words, letting out a meaningless sound to show she was still thinking.
"So you're saying... you didn't even see who sent you here? Are you saying all of these enemies you mentioned have the ability to send people to the past?"
"This is actually the first time..." Himeko's mouth twitched. The voice on the other end immediately became urgent.
"Then how can you be so sure it was this kind of enemy that sent you here? If it's just your guess, then I can't believe anything you're saying! You'd better give me a reasonable explanation."
"Alright... I can explain." Himeko felt a headache coming on. Just a moment ago, she'd been lamenting her past self's wasted potential, and now she was getting a headache from her own sharp intellect.
She honestly didn't know whether to be pleased or perplexed.
"First of all, this type of enemy I mentioned is called a [Herrscher]..."
The two of them continued in a question-and-answer format for nearly half an hour until the other Himeko finally understood what a Herrscher was and what kind of enemies Himeko had been facing for the past six months.
Along the way, she also touched upon the Fire Moth of six months later, Himeko's companions, and some basic concepts of the Honkai.
If one ignored the logic-defying abilities of the Herrschers, the logic Himeko presented was extremely rigorous.
And extremely counter-intuitive. Anti-human.
Evolution, Memory, and Theory—Himeko focused on these three because she had been more involved in the fights against them. In the case of Theory, she had almost died at its hands.
Compared to these entities, especially the one called Theory, time travel didn't seem so strange anymore.
So what kind of hellscape does the world become in six months? And what kind of person could build Fire Moth in that hellscape and shelter so many people?
"Let me process this..." It was too much information. Her other self said she needed a moment. After a while, Himeko heard her own, somewhat hoarse voice again.
"So, what do you want me to do? You called me first, and besides me being easier to convince, you must have other requests, right?" a resigned voice came through the phone.
She knew herself well enough to understand why her future self had chosen to call her.
"I need to find Otto. It would be best if he came to Sapphire City to find me. Bring everyone you know and meet me before six in the evening.
"I don't care what method you use—lie or tell the truth, I'll provide any help you need from my end—but at the very least, I must speak with Otto once."
"Fine, I'll do my best." Her other self sighed and then hung up.
With the second part of her plan now in motion, Himeko let out a breath of relief and collapsed onto the bed in the room.
Next step... I need to investigate if Fu Hua and the others also came to this world with me.
At this point, Himeko was walking on uncertain ground.
The worst-case scenario for the previous step was that she wouldn't have been able to get through to "herself," which would have proven that she was in a spatially limited illusion, not the real world.
But checking if the others had "traveled" here with her... that was something she had no control over, nor would it decide anything. It was a matter of finding them if she was lucky, and being out of options if she wasn't.
First, she had appeared in Sapphire City, which was where she "disappeared." The connection between the two almost guaranteed that all the "travelers" would appear in Sapphire City.
And she had woken up at... at her dad's place, another location with a strong connection to her.
So, would the others follow the same rule, appearing in places within Sapphire City that they had a strong connection to?
Himeko's eyes lit up.
She didn't know what strong connections Kallen and Natasha had in Sapphire City, but she knew exactly what Fu Hua's connection was!
The Taixu Martial Arts School!
If everyone's arrival was truly linked to something they were connected to, then Fu Hua would absolutely be at the Taixu Martial Arts School!
Himeko agilely flipped off the bed. After quickly tidying herself up, she grabbed the briefcase of money and stormed out of the hotel room she had occupied for less than an hour.
The current time—6:30 AM.
Less than twelve hours until the Honkai descended.
—
In the modest rental apartment, Kallen dragged the kind "mister" who had been sleeping in the junk pile onto the bed. Then, the woman and the young girl stood by the bed, staring blankly at him.
Wait, he's not an old man, is he?
Kallen blinked. She felt an odd sense of familiarity looking at this guy, as if she'd seen him somewhere before.
But no matter how strong the déjà vu, could it be stronger than the feeling she got from the pink-haired girl beside her?
Although she didn't look quite like the Yae Sakura from her memories, Kallen was convinced this girl had a deep connection to her.
Why wasn't Kallen certain this was Yae Sakura, you ask?
She didn't get that "love at first sight" feeling... Yup, that was the reason.
Kallen scrunched up her face and studied the pink-haired little girl, the "Suspected Yae Sakura," confirming that she felt none of the things she'd felt when she ran into Otto after climbing over the wall to run away from home.
Although Otto claimed it was just the "suspension bridge effect"—her heart was racing from the stress of running away, and she misattributed it to him—Kallen believed it was fate.
Otherwise, why would she have grabbed Otto of all people when she was escaping? Although it was also true that he was thin and weak, looking six when he was nine, which made him easy to hoist up and carry away.
And after seeing the "original story," Kallen knew Otto was just being stubborn. He was practically ready to tear out his heart for her, yet he insisted they were just friends.
He only dared to be friends.
Hmph, that guy was so hopeless. He only dared to act all high and mighty after she was gone. When she was around, he wouldn't even dare to squeak. She had him completely under her thumb.
So, that was fate. Kallen didn't believe in destiny, but she did believe in soul compatibility.
For her and Yae Sakura to have had that kind of relationship in the original story, to the point where she could shout "I've fallen in love with that girl!" as a cover, they must have had a level of compatibility on par with her and Otto's, right?
Urgh... a little less would be fine, too. First come, first served, after all.
But she felt nothing for this little girl, so she concluded this definitely wasn't Yae Sakura!
This was the intuition of a Kaslana!
So who was this little girl? And who was this man?
Why did they both look so familiar?
While Kallen was pondering, Yae Rin was in mourning.
She thought the kind man who'd taken her in had been beaten to death. She had just escaped from the hospital. Was she about to start wandering alone again, only to starve to death miserably in some dark corner?
Yae Rin felt this was probably her fate. She couldn't help but sigh, continuing her silent mourning for the motionless Joachim on the bed.
My sister probably isn't awake yet, right? I wonder what she'll do when she finds out I'm not at the hospital?
Mmm... If I get caught, my sister will probably chop me into mincemeat with a wooden sword, right?