The silver-white moonlight illuminated the earth, and the body Leo inhabited trembled uncontrollably, as if undergoing some kind of mutation.
By the time this shuddering ended, the entire Kendo Hall had undergone earth-shaking changes.
The Kendo Hall, which was originally situated in the outside world, was now inexplicably enveloped in darkness. However, soon enough, torches appeared all around, illuminating the dark Kendo Hall.
When Leo looked again at the opponents on the ground who had been defeated by the body's original owner, he found that the opponents, who were originally kneeling respectfully on the ground, had all turned into minced remains and severed limbs that were barely recognizable as human bodies.
—Was everything just now an hallucination?
It was only then that he realized everything before must have been the original owner's fantasy. To be honest, while being on the scene was good, without the guidance of text, he could only guess.
Fortunately, he soon understood why the body's owner stopped fantasizing. From the deep, dark tunnel ahead, a handsome young man walked out... himself!
It seemed that for the [Lord Shadow Ninja Zombie], memories of the past had blurred to the point where only hallucinations remained, and the thing she had the strongest impression of recently was her battle with him.
It was just... this first battle was truly one-sided. Watching himself being decapitated by the [Lord Shadow Ninja Zombie] with incomparable crispness, he couldn't help but feel a burst of emotion.
Having the [Shadow Ninja Zombie]'s perspective, he could see his own problems more clearly and intuitively. Therefore, in the area of Kendo techniques, he gained another significant improvement; it was simply like encountering a notebook of corrected mistakes.
Then, the space transformed once again, and the [Tyrant Old Lady] suddenly popped up in front of him. Facing the opponent's fierce and violent fist wind, he could understand that even the [Shadow Ninja Zombie] could not take it head-on.
To be honest, the strength of the two was roughly the same. Before exhausting the energy within their bodies, the battle between them could not end.
The [Tyrant Old Lady] had fierce [Strength] and a certain amount of control. The [Shadow Ninja Zombie] had amazing swordsmanship and possessed [Blur] to dodge physical attacks. Therefore, if these two met, they really could fight until the end of time.
It was a pity that Kiana was like a dazzling beam of light, attracting them all away. Thus, Leo had another chance to re-examine his changes after his first power-up.
—The numerical values increased, but the swordsmanship didn't improve much at all!
If Kiana and the [Tyrant Old Lady] were excluded, and he fought the [Shadow Ninja Zombie] one-on-one again, he felt he would still lose. After all, the [Shadow Ninja Zombie]'s abilities countered him too hard!
The [Shadow Ninja Zombie] possessed the god-tier skill [Blur], which determined that his Kendo must be stronger than the opponent's so he could successfully cut the opponent the moment they exited the [Blur] state. Otherwise, he simply couldn't harm the [Shadow Ninja Zombie].
As for numerical values, he had indeed improved, but obviously not to the point where he could break the boundaries of physics. Of course, the current him could definitely rely on stats to brawl with the [Shadow Ninja Zombie].
But that would really be 'stats for stats' and 'technique for stats'; it couldn't be called a victory of Kendo at all.
And when the [Shadow Ninja Zombie] was killed by the combined efforts of him and Kiana, he also woke up from the illusion in the [Diary]. honestly speaking, in this [Diary] with sharp sword intent, he didn't harvest much useful intelligence.
However, in terms of Kendo, his experience points skyrocketed. Before entering, his [Hokushin Ittō-ryū] was merely [Entering the Hall: 724/1000]. But now—
[Hokushin Ittō-ryū (Entering the Hall: 952/1000)]
These two hundred or so experience points were his greatest harvest! He even had a feeling that the current him finally had the qualifications to decide victory or defeat with the opponent through Kendo.
It was just a pity that with his current numerical values, even if he deliberately held back his strength, the reaction speed brought by [Agility] allowed him to easily suppress the [Shadow Ninja Zombie]. Therefore, even if he had another chance to fight the opponent, it would still be meaningless.
Now, he could only look forward to a fight to the death with Raiden Mei's dead body. After all, that one was also a Kendo master, even much stronger than the [Shadow Ninja Zombie].
In the final analysis, the [Shadow Ninja Zombie] was just the outstanding one among students, but Raiden Mei was already an existence at the [Menkyo Kaiden] level; the two sides were not on the same standard.
Only—
"Since there is no intelligence in this one, I can only count on the other one."
Turning his gaze to the [Diary] that looked like an account book, his mind moved, and he opened the object. Immediately, he entered an illusion once again.
This time, he was finally not in the first-person perspective, but sortied in the form of a spirit body with a locked third-person view. In his line of sight was a young and beautiful little girl. Looking at that green and inexperienced appearance, she was probably at the stage of just starting work.
—Tongzi, what time have you sent me back to?
Looking at the little girl before him, he was completely unable to associate the opponent with the [Tyrant Old Lady]. Although there was some resemblance between their brows, the difference was ultimately too great, wasn't it?
Seeing this, he couldn't help but lament the wasting away of time. Of course, this wasn't the main point; his attention was soon shocked by the work the little girl took over.
—"Several Guiding Opinions Regarding the Impending Descent of Honkai"!
Of course, this little girl was not some participant, but just a secretary helping to modify documents. But even so, Leo still saw a lot of important intelligence within it.
First, the people of this world knew the news of the impending Honkai descent very early on.
Second, there were no superhumans capable of controlling [Honkai energy] here.
Third, the higher-ups already planned to abandon all ordinary people of no value!
Just these three points made Leo's scalp go numb reading them. What was more fatal was that this little girl didn't seem to feel anything was improper, loyally executing her work.
—Was she brainwashed? Or was she influenced by the surrounding atmosphere, so she believed in the supremacy of the elite in the sky?
To be honest, Leo really couldn't understand. Then, the scene shifted; the little girl had matured slightly, putting on a pair of gold-wire black-framed glasses, and her whole person appeared somewhat more charming.
It was just that the things she was doing were shocking.
—Human experimentation!
Standing in front of a one-way mirror window, she watched with a calm face as a woman in the laboratory wailed in pain and begged for mercy. Yet she didn't soften her heart in the slightest, continuing to watch quietly.
It wasn't until the woman in the laboratory began to show signs of transforming into a [Zombie] that a look of pleasant surprise emerged in her eyes.
—So was it innate indifference?
Seeing this, Leo revealed a thoughtful expression. Then, the scene turned again; the little girl was no longer young, and the black hair on her head had turned into silver threads. The current her finally had a trace of the [Tyrant Old Lady]'s appearance, but was still far from it.
However, this was still not the main point; the main point was the report in front of her.
—"Several Guiding Opinions on Replicating 'Chiba Academy'"!
Through this report, Leo finally understood the full picture of the matter. First, the people of this world observed some important moments of the [Honkai world].
They attempted to replicate those important scene locations, trying to manifest the girls of the [Honkai world] into their world, thereby crossing the impending [Finality] of the Honkai.
It could be said that to execute this plan of theirs, they didn't just build one [Chiba Academy], or even one [Nagazora City], but ten cities! If not for their limited abilities, and the need for resources to replicate elsewhere, they could have even created more.
Ultimately, out of ten [Nagazora Cities], only the current one had the most hope. Or rather, the other nine had already been destroyed by various accidents, becoming paradises for [Zombies] and [dead soldiers].
Therefore, as one of the persons in charge here, she entered the [Canteen] of [Chiba Academy] and became the manager there. Finally, she turned into a monster within [Chiba Academy]!
"This is really... hard to evaluate."
Leaving the illusion in the [Diary], Leo's face revealed a very subtle expression. To be honest, he could understand humanity's madness for the sake of continuing its own existence. But the things these people did had completely trampled on all humanity, becoming mad only for their own survival.
To put it more bluntly, even if their plan ultimately succeeded, the existences that remained could absolutely not be humans. So... they still deserved to be killed!
His killing intent towards these people did not restrain itself because of the opponent's "noble" goal; it even flourished!
What truly made him feel subtle was, exactly what kind of environment was needed to create such cold-blooded existences? Throughout the entire illusion, he didn't find a shred of humanity on the "little girl's" face.
Therefore... artificial... humans?
This was his best guess! In addition—
"Who provided them with such technology?"
To be honest, he simply wouldn't believe that that world knew so many things relying solely on itself. Whether it was knowing the Honkai descent in advance, or being able to observe the [Honkai world], none of this looked like something a world unable to birth superhumans could accomplish.
Of course, what was more critical was that the technology of that world didn't look very high either. At least from what he saw, the technology of that world was roughly the same as his current world, with no particularly peculiar existences.
It could be said that unless this world's technology tree was crooked to the extreme, he didn't believe a civilization capable of observing other worlds would only display this level of technology. Anyway, he would just assume for now that there was an intelligence provider.
And—
"Could it be... [Schicksal]?"
In the reports handled by the little girl, he learned the name of the organization the opponent belonged to. It was just that in the [Diary]'s illusion, he didn't see more information, so naturally, he didn't know if the [Schicksal] the opponent belonged to was the same [Schicksal] he knew.
Therefore, he still needed more information. But even so, he had already sorted out the general situation; he would just discuss it with MEI during breakfast. Presumably, with the opponent's clever brain, she could provide him with more organized trains of thought, which would be better than his brain that was currently starting to gradually get sleepy.
Finally—
"Time to check the rewards!"
Rubbing his hands together with a bit of excitement, he was also very curious about what the surprise grand prize [Tongzi] hinted at would be. After all, this was the system's first time giving such a hint; it would be strange if he didn't care.
Thus—
[Congratulations player for completing the Instance Mission: Long Distance Relationship? No!]
[Maiden Satisfaction: 200%!]
[Congratulations player for obtaining mission rewards: "Mind Unification", Honkai energy *5]
[Ability: Mind Unification]
[Description: No need for words; she knows your length, you know her depth!]
[Effect: When the player and a maiden with whom a bond has been formed are in the same Instance, they can communicate through thoughts.]
[—We are one in mind!]
"It's actually... a communication method?"
Looking at the new ability before his eyes, he was quite satisfied. After all, in future [Instances], there would definitely be numerous abilities capable of separating them. Not to mention, there might be monsters that could imitate them.
If they had this ability, such things would be impossible in the future. Moreover, during battle, the two could transmit thoughts to each other, achieving even more tacit cooperation without even needing eye contact. In this way, enemies would be even less able to find their slightest flaw.
—Another god-tier skill!
It had to be said, this was indeed a surprise grand prize. It was just a pity that because Raiden Mei was still just a tool, she hadn't formed a [Bond] with him; otherwise, he really wanted to see if Raiden Mei's dead body could also transmit thoughts.
Shaking his head, he temporarily threw this inexplicable notion out of his mind. Now, he just wanted to have a good sleep. After all, during the day today, he still had to try to solve the problem of the third year.
To be honest, presumably with his current amazing numerical values, solving this matter shouldn't be considered a problem.
However—
"What do you mean someone among the third-year students contracted an acute infectious disease, and more than half the students entered the hospital?"
When Leo woke up and received a call from the teacher saying he didn't need to go to school, he couldn't help revealing a solemn expression.
Undoubtedly, the acute infectious disease was definitely fake. After all, he only heard of students entering the hospital, but didn't hear of teachers entering the hospital. And... how could only third-year students get hit?
Regarding such obviously fake information, he naturally didn't believe a single word.
And—
"I checked."
Standing in front of the computer, MEI, who had woken up long ago, said, "It wasn't broadcast on the news, and students of other grades are attending school as usual."
Although this could also be regarded as the school wanting to suppress negative influence, facing an acute infectious disease, even if the school leaders' brains had problems, they couldn't make such a decision... unless they didn't want their pensions anymore!
In short, these words of MEI's could be considered to have completely verified Leo's guess.
"Let's act."
Revealing a face full of enthusiasm, Kiana said, "Anyway, we also have to solve the [Real World] problems first."
Although it was precisely because of this that things seemed suspicious, combining it with those monster big shots who were furious last night, it wasn't surprising that accidents would occur in the [Real World].
In short, it was time for them to make a move!
________________________________________
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