Sydney.
Inside the Grand Theatre, soon to be commissioned.
Around a massive, red-lacquered, circular wooden table, the members constituting the "Joint Anti-Honkai Task Force Headquarters"—who were also the commanders of the support troops sent to Australia from other continents—were all gathered.
Led by the most powerful factions: Shenzhou, North America, and the Mu Continent.
Joined by nations that had previously suffered Great Honkai Eruptions (Dongying and Great Britain), they had assembled here with utmost speed, spearheaded by the United Nations (with The Flame-Chasers taking the lead).
"An unprecedented scale."
A feminine mechanical voice, which could be described as "pleasant," emanated from one side of the round table. The speaker was from the Mu Continent, but her body was not biological; rather, it was composed of a dark silver metal similar to that of an Armed Doll.
To be precise.
She was an Armed Doll with fully autonomous thought capabilities, not merely a spokesperson relaying the consciousness of a higher (human) authority.
This was what made the Mu Continent unique.
The entire continent was governed jointly by humans and machines (Armed Dolls that had gained self-awareness), the harmony between carbon-based and silicon-based lifeforms so seamless it was almost uncanny.
The representative of the Mu Continent.
An Armed Doll with a feminine appearance, addressed the holographic projection hovering above the round table.
"Group action."
"Purposeful."
"Possessing tactical thinking and strategic foresight."
"Such an existence is vastly different from the 'Great Honkai' as we understand it."
"Compared to the 'Fifth Honkai' that occurred a year and a half ago, which only affected a single commercial street... I'm afraid we must re-evaluate the threat posed by this phenomenon."
Though produced by mechanical gears and a mechanical voice, the Mu Continent representative's tone was still full of magnetism.
"The reason for the abandonment of Western Australia is something everyone present is well aware of."
"While we have been constantly studying them... has not the Honkai, in turn, been learning from experience and continuously advancing?"
————
"We definitely have to fight."
"The question is, do we need to attack or defend?"
Shenzhou's representative raised the most critical question.
Regardless of how the Honkai Beasts had evolved, their purpose in coming here would not change: to stop this massive Honkai Beast legion.
If conditions permitted.
They were also to eliminate as many Honkai Beasts on the Australian continent as possible... at least to clear out the central-eastern regions.
"Offense offers a greater advantage."
"After all... compared to defense, everyone here should be more proficient in attacking."
"But the problem is, having lost the Australian local forces, taking the offensive means exposing the city clusters behind us, defenseless, to the Honkai Beasts' view—I trust none of you have forgotten their ability to deploy large-scale forces spatially."
As he said this.
The Shenzhou representative lightly tapped the projection on the round table—it displayed footage of the Honkai Beast legion teleporting out of thin air.
The middle-aged man's gaze then shifted to the Mu Continent representative beside him.
Among all the powers present, only the Mu Continent possessed mature spatial technology—the Mu Continent had constructed an ultra-large-scale spatial device, the "Eye of the Abyss" (which would become the Sea of Quanta City 50,000 years later). This device could open spatial wormholes within the planet (though only leading to the Abyss), representing the pinnacle of spatial technology in all of human civilization.
"The assistance the Eye of the Abyss can provide is extremely limited."
"To be precise, the only assistance is in 'calculation'."
The Mu Continent representative nodded.
"Moreover, with such a vast distance separating us, we cannot successfully track their movements the moment spatial fluctuations begin; if we wait until the spatial fluctuations coalesce, the Honkai Beast legion will likely have already appeared above our heads."
"Therefore..."
The Mu Continent representative summarized.
"I am more inclined to establish a defensive line in Sydney."
"This way, at least when disaster strikes, we can save more lives."
The Mu Continent had a sparse population, and they were indeed the faction among those present that cared most about life (whether human or machine).
At the same time.
They never shied away from a fight.
————
"That is to say."
"You favor a defensive strategy."
The representative from North America's Pretty Country, whose brow was already somewhat furrowed, knitted them even tighter.
Their original "overt" objective was to protect Australia's remaining cities and people; a steady course of action was certainly not a problem.
However...
Setting aside such platitudes.
The human species was still more adept at offense—among all invented equipment, even defensive weaponry often substituted specific attacks for limited defense.
"In that case."
"Let's cut to the chase and directly discuss how to deal with these things."
The North American representative paused, then continued.
"First, this."
"The Quillspike-class Honkai Beast moving at an altitude of ten thousand meters."
The image on the round table zoomed out, and the visuals and textual data concerning the big jellyfish were maximized.
"All over-the-horizon strike capabilities."
"Whether it's the 'Forerunner Project' or the 'Cleanup Operation,' both have been rendered completely ineffective due to this thing's existence."
"Even if the situation no longer permits the continued use of nuclear weapons."
"If we can't take this thing down, the operations and attacks of our aerial armaments will be threatened from above—at such an altitude, taking out a 'long-range laser matrix platform' capable of intercepting projectiles flying at over Mach 20... any of you want to try?"
If it weren't at such high altitude, this problem wouldn't be too difficult; if the enemy hadn't made prior preparations, then it could be negotiable.
However, when all the above conditions were met...
Wanting to shoot down the Quillspike-class Honkai Beast from the sky was indeed an extremely troublesome matter—it required simultaneously satisfying high power, high speed, and strong penetration capabilities to have any confidence in threatening the Quillspike-class in the heavens.
"Leave it to us."
Shenzhou's representative took up the topic again.
With a casual wave from the middle-aged man, an image of a massive "Skyborne Warship" appeared in the vision of all attendees.
"I'm guessing none of you want this job—this is a 'Large-Scale Anti-Honkai Skyborne Armed Platform,' with its main engine designed by The Flame-Chasers (an early experimental version of the Moonlight Throne), corresponding technical specifications provided by the Mu Continent (gravity generator and controller, anti-erosion armor, and anti-Honkai energy main cannon), and overall integrated construction managed by Shenzhou..."
"The Taixu Warship."
Aside from the Shenzhou representative.
Even the Mu Continent representative, who had participated in the construction of this type of skyborne warship, looked as astonished as the representatives from other countries at the various data displayed on the projection—compared to the data they had provided, this warship named "Taixu" had its various specifications more than doubled!
"We'll take care of the Quillspike-class."
"As for the remaining ones..."
The Shenzhou representative wiped the image of the Quillspike-class, along with the intelligence on the Taixu Warship, from the round table.
"You guys can divide them up, right?"