On the boundless blue ocean, two small ships sailed quietly.
Although the ships themselves could by no means be called small, compared to the vastness of the ocean, their size was insignificant.
Amidst the rise and fall of the sea, the ships' journey was calm and swift, giving rise to a feeling of tranquility and powerful tension. But if one were to look closer, one would see rows of gunports on the hulls, proclaiming that the purpose for which these two ships were born was not serene years, but brilliant art.
"Mmm~ What a quiet stretch of sea."
Leaning against the deck railing, watching the ebb and flow of the azure tides and feeling the gentle caress of the warm sea breeze on his cheek, Ming Yu couldn't help but stretch and let out a sigh.
For the ever-changing sea, towering waves were common, and violent hurricanes were not rare.
To have such a peaceful environment on a hastily chosen day of sailing was indeed a stroke of luck for Ming Yu. Of course, this was also related to the fact that they were still in coastal waters.
Hearing Ming Yu's words, the pink-haired girl beside him couldn't help but roll her eyes. The statement was true enough, but after just hearing Ming Yu's plan for finding Jiu You, she couldn't possibly connect the tranquil sea before her with the events that were about to unfold.
Glancing nervously at the Valkyries bustling behind them, controlling the ship, Higokumaru pursed her lips and whispered, "Will the people from Anti-Entropy really come?"
"Ah, they will definitely come! And a battle between us and them is inevitable!"
Squinting his eyes, Ming Yu's left hand unconsciously rested on the hilt of Sakura Fubuki as he spoke slowly in a light yet firm tone.
During the Second Honkai Eruption, Anti-Entropy's spies in Schicksal had been planted as high as the A-rank Valkyrie level. There was no reason they wouldn't know about the Far East Branch's operation regarding Jiu You.
One had to understand that before the Second Honkai Eruption, A-rank Valkyries were the absolute top brass and elites of Schicksal. Each one not only possessed superb strength but had also made significant contributions to the organization.
By those standards, more than eighty percent of Schicksal's current A-rank Valkyries wouldn't deserve the title. It would be good if each branch had even one A-rank Valkyrie left.
Within the Far East Branch, perhaps only Himeko met that standard in both strength and seniority.
Although Ming Yu had stressed at the operational meeting that this mission was top secret and strictly forbade them from leaking any information, once a so-called secret is known by more than two people, it ceases to be a secret, no matter how classified.
With Anti-Entropy's intelligence capabilities, it was as if Ming Yu had told them to their faces: "I won't tell you that I'm going to conquer Jiu You!"
At this point in time, Anti-Entropy had not yet fully pinpointed Jiu You's location. The moment they heard that the Far East Branch was about to conquer Jiu You, they would not be able to sit still.
If the Far East Branch didn't have the strength to conquer Jiu You, that would be one thing. But the presence of an A-rank Valkyrie meant it was already possible to snatch something from the hands of an Emperor-class Honkai Beast.
And according to the two organizations' estimates of Chiyou's strength, this level of deployment was more than sufficient.
Even if there was a one-in-ten-thousand chance, Cocolia, who also valued the Stigmata immensely, would not let the Far East Branch comfortably clear the Jiu You instance.
So, not only would Anti-Entropy send people, but it was entirely possible they would mobilize their forces to completely annihilate the Guangzhou Branch's personnel.
From the very beginning, Theresa's judgment about Jiu You was wrong.
She had only seen half of the silk manuscript's content, thinking it was a solo B-rank instance. But she never imagined that Jiu You was not only an S-rank instance but a multiplayer one at that.
Ming Yu couldn't prove Chiyou's true strength to Theresa to make her take Jiu You more seriously. However, he had a way to inform Theresa of Anti-Entropy's existence, letting her know the dangers of the trip to Jiu You.
It was worth mentioning that even after Ming Yu's abrupt actions yesterday, he had yet to face any questions from St. Freya.
But thinking about it, with the intelligence of Himeko and the others, they could surely understand he must have had his reasons. If he truly wanted to go to Jiu You, he could have just gone secretly by himself; there was no need to announce it.
And the reason Theresa remained silent was likely that she was waiting for his final explanation.
In terms of the plan itself, Ming Yu's method was still incredibly crude, not at all sophisticated. But Anti-Entropy had no choice but to follow his script and play along with his performance.
Any conspiracy or scheme has the potential to be thwarted, but a direct, overt ploy is the most difficult to counter. And Ming Yu, who held the advantage in the grand scheme and intelligence, was using just such a blatant, overt ploy.
At this point, what was important was no longer whether Ming Yu wanted to conquer Jiu You. It was that he had appeared here, and at the same time, Anti-Entropy believed he had the power to do so.
And that was enough for Cocolia to make a move to crush him.
As he pondered, a voice suddenly sounded in Ming Yu's ear.
"Captain, we have arrived at the first marked location."
Turning his head, Ming Yu saw that Wei Ying had appeared behind him at some point, nervously reporting the ship's progress.
After yesterday's operational meeting, Wei Ying no longer dared to see Ming Yu as a harmless young man. She knew very well that a fierce tiger resided within this seemingly gentle man.
"Oh, then just have the fleet stop here."
Snapping back to reality, Ming Yu waved his hand and said casually.
"Huh?"
Hearing Ming Yu's words, Wei Ying's mouth fell open, and she cried out in surprise.
The map Ming Yu had given them marked an area of water, not a single coordinate. This proved that Ming Yu himself didn't know the exact location of Jiu You, only a general idea.
If they were to explore such a large area of water, more hands would certainly make the work easier. Even if they encountered Honkai Beasts, the branch's Valkyries were not completely defenseless. But from what Ming Yu was saying, he intended to explore it all by himself.
Even for an A-rank Valkyrie, it was impossible to do a better job at this than so many people from the branch, right?
But Ming Yu, who had already made up his mind, clearly had no intention of explaining to the Valkyrie who was flustered in the wind.
Turning his gaze to Higokumaru, Ming Yu said gently, "Stay safe. I'll be right back."
The girl was slightly taken aback, but she quickly understood what Ming Yu meant and offered a gentle smile, saying softly, "You be careful too, Big Bro Yu."
Nodding, Ming Yu placed his left hand on the railing and vaulted over the side of the ship.
"Dan—"
Wei Ying, seeing this, shouted in alarm. If something happened to Ming Yu here, she, as the person in charge, would surely be held responsible.
But before the word "gerous" could leave her lips, she saw a figure in red armor leap into the air, flying several miles in an instant. Eight small engines on its back emitted faint blue flames, leaving eight long blue streaks in the air.
"Quantum Transmission!"
Wei Ying's heart skipped a beat. She quickly recognized the technology that allowed Ming Yu to switch to his armor in an instant, and she was deeply shocked by his background. To have such equipment, Ming Yu was definitely not just a newly promoted A-rank Valkyrie who had gained the favor of the branch chief.
Ignoring Wei Ying's surprise, Ming Yu, piloting the Soul-Etching Armor, flew quickly to a position about three nautical miles from the ship and stopped steadily on the sea surface.
Slowly closing his eyes, Ming Yu immersed his consciousness into Jizo Mitama. Honkai Energy imbued with the power of corruption continuously seeped and spread into the seawater, catalyzing the zombification of the fish schools.
Chiyou's kin claimed Jiu You as their territory, and what Ming Yu had to do was to create a batch of his own kin to seize the Honkai Energy-rich areas in the sea.
They didn't need to be too strong, just strong enough to attract the attention of Chiyou's kin.
This was the search method unique to the Key of Corruption.
But just as he had catalyzed the first batch of Honkai Beasts, Ming Yu felt several objects flying towards him at high speed, landing in the sea around him.
With a series of deafening booms, the seawater beneath Ming Yu's feet exploded, sending up columns of water dozens of meters high.
Ming Yu's eyes snapped open. As the white curtain of water gradually fell, five black silhouettes on the distant sea surface came into view of his blood-red eyes.