Pluck!
Bang!
Schlick!
Bang!
After a series of "pokes (serpent tendon)" and "pulls (serpent tendon)" that resembled mechanical movements, Lu Xing, thoroughly satisfied, finally let Shesha, which had been慘遭無數次蹂躏 (brutally ravaged countless times), off the hook.
The System had its limits.
The abilities that could be obtained from Shesha were only the three initially listed.
Shesha's own inherent skills were not on the acquisition list—for example, that initial "Superconductive Wave Thunderclap Cannon" attack. No matter how many times Lu Xing destroyed its Honkai Cores, he simply couldn't find that move in the list.
Finally.
Seeing that there were truly no more snake scales to fleece.
Lu Xing at last stopped trying to pull out Shesha's serpent tendon—given Shesha's current size, Lu Xing probably wouldn't even be able to stuff his thick arm into its serpentine mouth anyway.
Because.
The Herrscher of Thunder's companion Honkai Beast, Shesha, the Judgement-class "Thousand-Headed Serpent," had now become... a "slug" merely about a meter long.
Shesha had plummeted all the way from Emperor-class.
By the time Lu Xing stopped, its strength had already dropped to the level of a Ranger-class... perhaps it couldn't even defeat a Ranger-class.
However.
Looking at the small, trembling snake on the ground—pure white, with jade-green eyes, a smooth body, an elegant form, and a line of emeralds... it was actually somewhat inexplicably cute?
Very good.
Now all that was missing was a Poké Ball to successfully capture the Bengkemeng before him!
"Shesha."
Lu Xing's voice echoed in Shesha's mind.
As for Shesha's reaction... the small snake recoiled its head back with extreme trepidation—for reptiles, this was a sign of being startled.
"Are you lucid now?"
————
More than lucid.
Painfully lucid in this human world!
Shesha was truly, utterly terrified by Lu Xing's repeated killings.
Its current form was the absolute lowest point of its Honkai-life's strength. If it continued to decline, it would probably revert to its primal core state.
[Infinity] was indeed an extremely potent ability.
But the prerequisite for any ability was sufficient Honkai energy to support it.
Lacking Honkai energy, it was now snake meat on the chopping block, treated worse than even a pet reptile.
Moreover, even now, Shesha hadn't figured out just what this Temple-class—no, there was no such Temple-class (Shesha thought with a weary heart)—that had suddenly appeared before it truly was, nor what its purpose was in relentlessly attacking it.
Of course.
Lu Xing would absolutely not tell Shesha that the origin of its tragic encounter was merely an erroneous spatial jump.
"Lucid..."
At this point.
Shesha could only hope that the other party was someone it could communicate with.
Hopefully, not like its external appearance suggested—even intelligent Variant Temple-class beasts were, in Shesha's eyes, generally not very flexible.
The other party asked if it was "lucid"...
No problem!
Shesha was extremely lucid right now, so lucid that it had never had such a profound understanding of its situation: he was the chopper, and I, the snake meat on the block.
"Can't hear you!"
The words had barely fallen.
A colossal roar reverberated through the mental world!
Shesha, already weakened, was nearly scared out of its wits by that shout.
"Lucid!!"
Subconsciously.
Shesha conveyed its thoughts to the other party with maximum intensity—I've lost, whatever you say, goes.
"Mm."
Extending an arm.
His armor-clad fingers, like the great mountain of Buddha's overturned palm, slowly descended—Lu Xing picked up Shesha, which was瘫 (paralyzed) on the ground, cowering.
"Very good."
Lu Xing was extremely satisfied.
Not only had his own abilities increased, but his legion had also gained a fierce—no, a萌 (cute/moe) general.
As long as there was a suitable opportunity, he could just toss Shesha near a Great Rift, and it would quickly recover its former might—the premise being it had to be obedient... and not hold a grudge.
"Plap."
Lu Xing casually tossed Shesha onto his shoulder pauldron.
A snake over a meter long didn't take up much space when coiled; he also didn't need to worry about it retaliating. With Shesha's current strength, comparable to a Ranger-class, forget breaking his defense, if it bit him, it would definitely shatter the fangs it had painstakingly regrown.
"Let's go."
His perception swept the surroundings.
Other than Shesha, there was nothing else here worthy of attention.
If he wasn't mistaken, these ruins should be one of the sites where the Third Great Honkai Eruption occurred: Tianqiong City, Canghai City, or Changkong City.
The first two belonged to Shenzhou, the latter to Dongying.
Considering the major commotion from their earlier fight, perhaps these two human factions had already dispatched teams to investigate.
Staying longer would inevitably lead to trouble—just as Lu Xing was preparing to "open the door," his perception picked up an aura belonging to a Honkai Beast rapidly approaching from the extreme distance.
————
"Emperor-class?"
The aura Lu Xing sensed was at the Emperor-class in terms of power level.
And the attributes it emanated—white and purple electric light flashing in the air—matched the "characteristics" of these ruins quite well.
Such a high-profile entrance.
Made Lu Xing want to see just what kind of wild Emperor-class beast would be so ostentatious.
However.
As the other party rapidly approached.
After Lu Xing activated [Super Perception], the aura that had made Shesha restless now alerted him to something amiss.
"Herrscher?"
Lu Xing first detected the presence of a Herrscher: this Emperor-class Honkai Beast carried the aura of a Herrscher.
This inevitably led him to suspect that the other party was the companion Honkai Beast of some Herrscher.
"No."
But this point was immediately refuted by Lu Xing himself—the power attributes wielded by the other party clearly originated from the Third Herrscher, the Herrscher of Thunder.
The Third Herrscher was already dead.
Any somewhat formidable Servants of the Herrscher of Thunder had already been devoured by Shesha.
"Herrscher Core..."
"Key of God!?"
Lu Xing made his judgment very quickly.
And the truth was just as he had guessed... no, perhaps somewhat different from his guess.
The one flying at high speed towards Lu Xing's location was indeed an Emperor-class Honkai Beast—Ramiel.
————
Name: Ramiel
Level: 63
Abilities: Omitted
Attack: 196
Speed: 235
Constitution: 120
Evaluation: Thunder Angel
————
A humanoid body.
An indigo halo above its head, six pseudo-mechanical constructed wings on its back, and its various body parts connected by spherical energy orbs that served as joints.
The imposing aura emanating from this Emperor-class beast was no weaker than Shesha's had been previously.
However.
Ramiel was not what Lu Xing was focused on—a combat power comparable to Shesha's simply meant turning one spear thrust into two.
His attention was entirely concentrated on the female figure who jumped down from Ramiel's shoulder:
Mobius.
A future member of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, one of the founders of Fire Moth, the great scientist who constantly consorted with death, bearing the insignia of "Infinity."
However.
This still wasn't the main point.
Mobius was not yet a Fusion Soldier; her existence itself was not terrifying.
What truly warranted Lu Xing's attention was the sphere in Mobius's hand, only the size of a makeup bag, yet continuously overflowing with an intimidating radiance.
This was what could genuinely pose a threat to Lu Xing, and it also appeared to be the key to Mobius's control over the Thunder Angel:
The Third Key of God, the Key of Judgment, the Seven Thunders of Retribution!