A Honkai Beast holding a tablet computer.
This somewhat horrifying scene was unfolding beside a river of blood and a pile of corpses.
The fleeing soldier had successfully "lured" Lu Xing here—he wasn't seeking help from allies, merely hoping these "helpers" could buy him more time.
However.
Doing so was clearly useless.
Crystal-like, resplendent lances streaked across the night sky, each one easily gouging out large holes that penetrated front to back—along with spines and internal organs, all torn into bone fragments and minced meat.
No exceptions.
Having resolved his worries, Lu Xing now held a severed hand, sliding it back and forth across the screen. His own fingertips could easily shatter the computer's screen but couldn't unlock these encrypted devices. Thus, he had to endure the somewhat grimy bloodstains, continuously searching for the information he needed.
Fortunately, the time spent was not wasted.
When Lu Xing had cleared out the "Cyclops" Special Operations Regiment, he hadn't obtained any of the intelligence he needed. Besides the highest-security mobile base being self-detonated from within, all other equipment also had extremely high levels of security, which Lu Xing, lacking any electronic expertise, couldn't crack.
But this place was different.
The device, indistinguishable as civilian or military, was connected to the internet without any obstruction.
The only regret was that most of the information browsable online was local to Australia.
It was as if intelligence from other regions had been deliberately blocked—Lu Xing didn't know if this situation was an isolated case, whether only Australia was unilaterally blockaded, or if the entire world had become this godforsaken mess under the Honkai's influence.
Regardless.
From this moment on, Lu Xing finally had a clear understanding of this world.
TL;DR:
Kevin had not yet reached his apex.
Central and Western Australia were the most severely Honkai-eroded regions worldwide, with nearly three-quarters of the land completely fallen.
The most prosperous eastern coastal region, however, showed few traces of Honkai.
In other words...
"The Herrscher of Flame has not yet been born."
Yes, Himeko had not yet been "born" as the Seventh Herrscher. Kevin had not yet fused with Emperor-class Honkai Beast genes, nor had he obtained his invincible Might of An-Utu.
"Those guys."
"So they were all just test subjects, then..."
Lu Xing naturally thought of his initial human opponents.
Those "Fusion Soldiers" who had modified their bodies with machinery and fought by drawing energy from Honkai Cores—Kevin was the first "finished product" Fusion Soldier in the true sense. Due to the overwhelming power displayed by the Herrscher of Flame, and in order to stop her, Kevin, at the cost of never being able to embrace his loved one, voluntarily accepted the plan to "integrate powerful Honkai Beast genes into his body (using the genes of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast Parvati)."
Upon seeing this intelligence.
Lu Xing, initially satisfied with obtaining the information, immediately sensed something amiss—upon closer thought, if not for the fact he lacked the corresponding function, he would absolutely be drenched in a cold sweat.
The pressure was now on him.
Question: How should a Honkai Beast living on the Australian continent survive Kevin's terrifying power, which could even take down the Herrscher of Flame?
Answer: Leave Australia, without a moment's delay!
The above was the perfect answer Lu Xing delivered to himself in the blink of an eye.
Before seeing this intelligence, Lu Xing had assumed Australia had already been scorched once by the Herrscher of Flame—after all, there were city ruins, Fusion Soldiers, and information about Fire Moth—it looked like a land suitable for Honkai Beasts to live and prosper in peace.
Who could have guessed the reality was the exact opposite.
Considering Kevin only appeared two weeks after the Herrscher of Flame burned Australia, the time it would take for Kevin to fuse with Parvati's genes would be enough for Lu Xing to cross the sea and escape.
"No..."
After the initial panic.
Lu Xing, having calmed down, gradually developed a new idea.
The map obtained from the humans showed that on the central "Defense Belt," separated from the eastern city clusters by an entire grassland, conventional military forces were currently confronting a considerable scale of Honkai Beasts.
If conventional forces could fight Honkai Beasts to a standstill, then neither side's combat power was likely to be particularly impressive.
In other words—
"This place is teeming with mobile mission progress bars."
Lu Xing set his sights on them.
The birth of a Herrscher was a rare opportunity for Honkai Beasts to achieve a leap in power.
Although it wasn't depicted in the games.
But perhaps... perhaps during this process, attendant Emperor-class Honkai Beasts would be born. Emperor-class and Judgement-class beasts didn't appear out of thin air; immense Honkai energy naturally required a corresponding vessel. If he were "chosen"...
Soaring to the heavens in a single step would be within reach!
Even if he didn't obtain such an opportunity.
The terrifying tide of Honkai energy during a Herrscher's birth—precisely because of such immense power, humans with corresponding Honkai energy adaptability would become Herrschers—would definitely give his own strength a significant push upwards.
After that...
Two weeks would be enough time for him to flee the Australian continent.
"Excellent, it's settled then!"
Lu Xing finalized his plan.
Continue eastward, head to the front lines where humans and Honkai Beasts were fighting, and grind mission progress bars until the Herrscher of Flame was born.
After reaping the benefits, immediately flee north across the sea!
Lu Xing's plan was simple and direct, and there wasn't much difficulty in executing it. The human vessel for the Herrscher of Flame was Himeko, the captain of Fire Moth's Fifth Squad. He just needed to avoid this squad as much as possible when they arrived.
After all, anyone capable of serving as a combat squad captain in Fire Moth would not be easy to deal with.
Just as Lu Xing was refining his plan.
A change quietly descended—
Zzzzzip.
"Who's there!?"
In the night sky, shimmering with moonlight.
The sound of a zipper sliding suddenly echoed.
As a rift, its interior resembling a galaxy, appeared, immense Honkai energy, accompanied by a colossal and terrifying figure, slowly materialized in the darkness less than two kilometers away from Lu Xing.
Even from such a distance.
The newcomer's sheer size made Lu Xing feel as if it were right before him.
It was a "monster" hovering in the air—a body of alternating dark cyan and black, an aura of piercingly cold mist, its entire form covered in frost. Slowly rotating floating wings were arrayed all around it, and ferocious, eave-shaped shoulder armor grew upon its inverted cone-shaped torso.
"Ice... Emperor?"
Appearing not far from Lu Xing was none other than the Leader Variant Ice Emperor that had ambushed Vill-V in Mount Isa!
As for its target... that was already confirmed by the voice resonating in Lu Xing's mind—
"Found you."