The Eastern Pacific Ocean.
A certain facility, built upon a filled-in reef and absent from any map, was the Flame-Chasers' most clandestine base: The Deepest Place.
This place housed numerous prisoners of extreme danger, as well as a large number of rare Honkai Beast species for research.
The security at The Deepest Place was exceptionally stringent. From elite troops to Fusion Warriors, from Armed Automatons to new-model Divine Machines... it had everything.
Inside The Deepest Place, the security was even more exaggerated than on the exterior, ensuring with absolute certainty that no prisoner could ever escape.
However.
The guards here now were drastically weaker than when the facility was first established.
This was partly because the global situation had grown increasingly perilous, leaving insufficient combat power to maintain such high security standards for The Deepest Place. Another reason was the increased safety factor of the prisoners—with Kalpas "released from prison" and Aponia transformed into a spiritual entity with no memory, the defensive forces required by The Deepest Place were greatly diminished.
Furthermore, the upper echelons of the Flame-Chasers didn't believe Honkai Beasts would be interested in human prisoners or in actions like rescuing their "comrades," so they never reinforced the corresponding protective measures... they even dismantled and relocated the only spatial detection device.
Ever since the continent of Mu had sunk, although some technology had been preserved through communication and replication, a far greater portion of research achievements had been buried at sea along with the continent.
Among these lost technologies was the manufacturing technique for spatial detection devices.
Without the Eye of the Deep, humanity's development and utilization of space instantly regressed a level, and many subsequent theories lacked the corresponding equipment for experimentation.
Among these, spatial detection devices—capable of promptly detecting spatial fluctuations and used to counter surprise attacks from Honkai Beasts (mainly of the Templar-class)—were in particularly short supply. To cope with the increasingly tense front-line situation, the Flame-Chasers had contributed the spatial detection device from The Deepest Place.
And the sole consequence of doing so...
"BOOM!!!"
In an instant, The Deepest Place, with fortifications strong enough to withstand the blast of a high-yield nuclear weapon, was utterly transformed into a ruin flooded with seawater.
A colossal beast stood amidst the crumbling wreckage.
By empowering [Pounce] and [Heavy Strike] with the Authority of the Void, Behemoth had effortlessly destroyed the entire facility with a single blow.
Cheche's mission was simple, and he wasn't worried about causing unnecessary collateral damage.
After all—
"What kind of 'Discipline' do you require?"
A "moth" condensed from psychic energy appeared in Cheche's field of vision. This was Aponia's vessel of will, an extremely special Key of Domination crafted by Vill-V from the core of a Herrscher of Domination who had mastered a weakened Authority of Sentience.
It was also the target of Cheche's trip.
"No."
The concise reply was in Cheche's usual style.
"I do not require discipline."
"You don't?"
The translucent moth wasn't small, but in front of Cheche's terrifyingly massive body, no Honkai Beast would dare call itself "large."
"You do not seem to be one who has come seeking my help."
Aponia's memories had been wiped clean, but aside from the abilities she still possessed, the behaviors ingrained in her subconscious also remained.
"No," he repeated, still terse.
"I have come to take you away."
"Away?"
The moth's voice was filled with confusion.
"If I leave home, where can I go?"
"..."
"This is not your home."
His curved horns began to glow. The guards who had barely survived the initial explosion—mostly Armed Automatons and Divine Machines—all vanished silently into the dark chaos.
Cheche's use of the Authority of the Void was not subtle. Crushing targets with spatial pressure... this was his simple and efficient method.
"Honkai Beasts are free."
Cheche's gaze swept not only over Aponia but across every living Honkai Beast present—most of them were variant species, with some being types that even Lu Xing had never seen.
"Become a member of the legion."
"Or live according to your own will..."
"THUD!"
Frost condensed on the ocean's surface, forming a massive sheet of ice that completely separated the silent ruins of The Deepest Place from the Honkai Beasts.
"The Monarch..."
"Gives you the power to choose."
"CRACK!!"
A frigid wind howled across the land.
The more than forty Herrschers of Domination lying in ambush here were all frozen into ice sculptures in a single breath.
The perpetrator of it all was the "unarmed" Kevin.
"A bait?"
"Not necessarily. Perhaps they truly believed they could eliminate you."
Erwin, acting as his temporary aide, picked up where Kevin left off.
High-level intelligence from the Flame-Chasers had detected around ten "combat-oriented Herrschers of Domination" gathering on island P-19.
The initial estimate was that their target was likely the new base on island P-30—a research institute established specifically for the birth of the [Divine Machine · Avalon], an existence in which Dr. Mei had placed great hope for safeguarding humanity's future.
To protect this facility, Kevin, following orders from the higher-ups, had brought two squads to island P-19 and had indeed discovered the Herrschers of Domination hidden there.
However, the number was not the ten reported in the intelligence.
There were over forty Herrschers of Domination, each possessing the combat power equivalent to an Emperor-class beast and wielding a weakened Herrscher's authority!
Unfortunately for them...
Even without using a weapon, these Herrschers of Domination were no match for Kevin.
Kevin didn't even need to unleash the power that would require his teammates to evacuate beforehand. Forget his Chimera Artificial Eruption state; not a single trace of a Honkai Beast feature from "Over-Metamorphosis" had appeared on his body.
"CRACK!!"
The ice shattered.
The bodies of the Herrschers of Domination all broke into ice fragments and scattered with the sea breeze. All that remained were thirty-nine Herrscher Cores falling to the ground—four of the cores had suffered the same fate as the Herrschers, shattering into pieces like broken glass.
"Leave two people to wait for the logistics team's arrival and assist them with recovering the cores."
"Be careful not to make direct contact... if you don't want to be burned to ashes or driven insane."
The authority passively projected by the Herrscher Cores wasn't overwhelming, but an ordinary person would still be greatly affected by reckless contact.
"The rest of you, with me..."
Kevin's words trailed off as his gaze shifted to the sky not far away.
Spatial ripples gently spread between the sea and sky. From the center of a golden ring that wasn't blindingly bright, a humanoid figure gently flapping its wings flew out.
"So beautiful."
"An angel?"
"What is that!?"
"A Honkai Beast? Or a Herrscher?"
Even the combat squads of the Flame-Chasers had never seen such a form, as if it had walked straight out of a myth.
"Kevin?"
"..."
"Who are you?"
It was definitely a human voice.
But its appearance made it difficult even for Kevin to discern whether this was a secret weapon from the human side or a new form of Herrscher.
"Ziz."
The response was simple and clear.
"Since I am in the right place."
"Then, Mr. Kevin... I have some 'questions' I need to ask you."