Just a moment ago, Leo received good news from MEI—
[MEI: There are only six missing persons in total.]
At the same time, Kiana had also sent the two maidens she found out of the [Honkai Domain] and was rushing towards their location.
And at this moment, they had found another maiden, who was currently being carried on Leo's back.
...This was the best way for him to lower Sakura's guard.
Of course, he didn't fully trust that the person beside him was the real Sakura, after all, Kiana had encountered a "Sakura" over on her side.
But continuing to guard against each other wasn't a solution. Moreover, he still had two lives left; at most, he would just sacrifice this one.
Combined with the confirmation from [Tiny Miracle], he was acting on a foundation of eighty percent certainty.
And now—
"The daughter of your employer has already been sent out. You can leave now, right?"
Although he somewhat coveted Sakura's stats and hoped to keep her here to continue fighting, in the final analysis, Sakura was different from them. If she died, she would truly be dead. Therefore, before establishing a [Bond] with her, he would not risk Sakura's life and safety.
However—
"No."
Shaking her head, Sakura spoke with solemn seriousness: "You all have helped me so much, after all. Leaving now would go against my moral principles."
"Besides, if the monsters here really reached the [Real World], it would... it would also be a threat to me. So no matter what, I must help you resolve the trouble here."
Seeing that the signal on her phone had stopped moving again, she roughly determined that Leo wasn't lying.
Furthermore, Leo had actively taken on the burden of carrying two maidens, severely restricting his own movement. At this moment, if she had any intention of attacking Leo, she had one hundred percent confidence in taking him down.
Conversely, this was Leo showing his absolute sincerity to her. Naturally, she would no longer suspect his identity.
"Moral principles, is it?"
Hearing this term, Leo understood that Sakura wouldn't leave.
Moreover, the fact that Sakura chased them all the way here was likely also due to moral obligation.
If it were an ordinary person, upon discovering that the situation was becoming increasingly complex, they could have completely applied for support from above instead of continuing to stubbornly charge in head-first.
"Mhm!"
Nodding with a determined gaze, Sakura said to Leo: "Actually, the best course of action now is for you to take these three maidens away together, while I go find the final maiden."
"To say something slightly arrogant, you cannot compare to me in speed."
"With my mobility, after finding that maiden, I will regroup with you as quickly as possible."
Since she had confirmed Leo's identity, and coupled with being infected by his spirit, she actively took on this most difficult task.
And, just as she said, this was indeed the best arrangement.
Only—
"No."
Shaking his head, Leo spoke with solemn seriousness: "You fought with me before, so you know I possess a secret art."
"Compared to you staying here, it would be better for you to use your super-fast speed to send them back, while I go find the final maiden."
"Otherwise, once there is truly an unavoidable danger, I still have a way, but you do not."
Although he felt the monsters here probably knew he still had the trump card of [Resurrection], being able to hide a little bit counted for something. That was why he explained it to Sakura in such a roundabout way.
"This..."
Hearing Leo say this, Sakura indeed hesitated slightly.
She had witnessed Leo's [Resurrection] with her own eyes. Although she felt such a thing must come with a heavy price, compared to life itself, any price was surely a trivial matter.
It was just that, to be honest, she hadn't expected Leo to be able to use it again in such a short time... Truly a mysterious man!
But even so, she still wanted to insist a bit. After all, there was no reason for her to pay no price at all while letting Leo pay everything.
She had just opened her mouth, however, when Leo beat her to it—
"There is still someone waiting for you to return, right?"
Seeing Sakura's sense of indebtedness towards him, Leo spoke before she could: "You don't need to worry about how I know your secret, but I hold absolutely no malice towards you two."
"So, for that person's sake, please take them and leave."
"After all, carrying these three with us, it's really inconvenient to fight."
Although, because these maidens were necessary items for the monsters here, the monsters definitely wouldn't want to hurt them during battle.
But leaving aside whether the AOE from a fierce battle would affect these maidens, just having monsters try to steal these maidens while they were fighting would be a troublesome matter.
So the best method was naturally to send them out first.
The only thing Leo couldn't quite figure out was why such important maidens were just placed in this Medical Room maze without any decent monsters guarding them.
Undoubtedly, this was very abnormal!
And regarding such an abnormal place, he was naturally even more vigilant.
Additionally, Kiana had told him that she had examined the bodies and souls of these maidens. It was only after confirming they had no issues that she sent them out.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so rash as to send maidens who had been lying here for so long back to the [Real World]... What if these maidens had already been possessed by the monster big shots?
In short, he had guarded against everything he could.
Unless he abandoned these maidens and beheaded them right on the spot, there was definitely no way to do better than he had.
But his goal was to save people, and it wasn't a "Russian-style rescue," so these maidens had to live!
"F-Fine then..."
Gripping the long sword in her hand tighter and tighter, Sakura spoke up: "Then I leave this place to you!"
After speaking, she actively took the two maidens from Leo's back onto her own.
To be honest, taking three maidens away was a bit troublesome, but with her physical constitution, she could fly as if walking on flat ground even in this situation.
"I'll be back in a flash!"
With astonishing speed, she vanished from Leo's sight, leaving only a pink silhouette behind.
"It seems she already trusts me..."
Watching Sakura's retreating figure, Leo muttered to himself.
To be fair, when he mentioned that someone was waiting for Sakura, he was a bit afraid she would go berserk.
But clearly, his accumulation from the moment they met until now had not been in vain. Sakura chose to trust his words, understanding that he indeed held no malice toward the sisters.
Precisely because of this, after taking over the three girls, Sakura felt at ease leaving her back to him.
— truly vigorous and agile!
If it were him, he couldn't achieve such speed while carrying three maidens. Even Kiana couldn't do it!
[Leo: MEI, guard the [Teleport Anchor] for a bit. Sakura should arrive shortly. Kiana, help guide the way, or just lead her back directly.]
The [Teleport Anchor] could only be used by maidens who had formed a [Bond] with him, so if MEI wasn't there, Sakura wouldn't be able to send the maidens she was carrying out.
[Kiana: I've already met her... Her speed is really fast.]
[Kiana: Forget it, I'll take her back for a trip.]
Although she really wanted to hurry and support Leo, the MEI guarding the [Teleport Anchor] had no combat power.
If she encountered a Sakura impersonated by a monster, things would be very troublesome. After all, the current [Teleport Anchor] had no defensive capabilities.
Of course, she wouldn't say these words out loud. After all, no matter how low her EQ was, she knew this would be another form of hurt to MEI.
Only—
[MEI: Mn, I'll wait for you guys.]
With her intellect, how could she not guess it just because Kiana didn't say the latter part?
It was just that things being as they were, she could only accept it.
At the same time, she also wanted to research Sakura... How did this guy become so strong without [Stigmata]?
After she finished her research, she had confidence she would become strong quickly.
According to Leo's phrasing, she could be considered as entering the Dao through technology!
[Leo: No need to rush. Worst case scenario, I'll just meet up with you guys at the [Teleport Anchor].]
Sensing the atmosphere was a bit subtle, he hurriedly cracked a joke.
However—
[Kiana: You are not allowed to make that kind of joke!]
[MEI: You are not allowed to make that kind of joke!]
Almost in unison, the two of them opposed Leo turning death into a joke.
[Leo: ...]
[Leo: I was wrong. I will persist until you arrive.]
Although he got scolded, he also felt the deep care Kiana and MEI had for him, so he could only hurriedly apologize.
Afterwards, there was no more sound in the [Mind Unification], and he concentrated on searching for the final maiden.
"Heh~"
Letting out a light chuckle like a silver bell, Raiden Mei popped out and said: "Really now, to change the atmosphere, you didn't need to put yourself at risk, right?"
She naturally knew Leo said that intentionally, the goal being to make Kiana and MEI unite against the "outsider"!
Additionally, although her current identity wasn't a "maiden," as Leo's weapon, she was also connected to Leo's soul. Naturally, she could hear the "voices" in the [Mind Unification].
It was just that usually it was Leo conversing with Kiana and the others, and she didn't have a good place to butt in, so she just didn't speak.
"Then what else could I do?"
Seeing his little trick seen through by Raiden Mei, Leo couldn't help but say: "Before MEI truly gains power, this is a slippery slope that can't be touched."
"It's not that serious."
Shaking her head, Raiden Mei said: "MEI has already accepted her own flaws. If you guys keep acting like this, it will instead make her feel even worse."
As MEI's [Parallel Time-Space Isotope], she could naturally understand MEI's feelings.
Although there were differences between them, the essence wouldn't change.
That was why she had the confidence to speak up for MEI.
"Alright then."
Not refuting Raiden Mei's words, Leo laughed: "Then you go tell Kiana. I certainly won't do it proactively."
One thing was one thing. Although he understood Raiden Mei's argument and believed MEI would turn this "unwillingness" into motivation.
But to really make him do it, he wasn't that stupid!
"Uh..."
Understanding the reason Leo did this, Raiden Mei couldn't help but fall silent.
"Alright, don't you worry about it."
Seeing that Raiden Mei also wanted to do her best, Leo laughed: "Everyone is slowly growing. No one stays unchanged forever."
"It's just..."
Looking ahead, he assumed an Iaido stance and said: "It needs a little time!"
Just as he was chatting with Raiden Mei, he sensed a change in the Medical Room.
Previously, this place was a maze pieced together by sickbeds covered in pink curtains one by one.
But now, the sickbeds suddenly became orderly, placed one by one on both sides. A long road appeared in front of him, and at the end was a room with a light on.
A sign hung above the room, reading—
Operating Room!
What the heck, where does a school medical room get an operating room?
Now he finally understood why there were no decent monsters in the entire medical room... the monsters were performing surgery!
"I wonder if I can make it in time..."
Pursing his lips, he couldn't help but hope this surgery would be done a little slower.
But just as he decided at the start, if the maiden in the operating room was already turning into a monster, then he could only strike with a killer blow.
It was just... even so, there was no reason for those monster big shots not to dispatch some forces to guard this place, right?
He felt things weren't that simple, so he didn't rashly charge toward the operating room. Instead, he walked step by step toward it, fearing some trap might appear in the interim.
"Mn..."
Seeing Leo was about to encounter the BOSS, Raiden Mei stopped speaking and drilled back into the long sword.
At the same time—
[Raiden Mei: He's at the BOSS room door. Have you guys arrived? @Kiana]
As long as she thought strongly of a person, she could achieve the effect of an "@" in the [Mind Unification].
[Kiana: J-Just sent off... Sakura, Sakura ran... too fast... I almost... almost... couldn't keep up...]
At this moment, she was already out of breath. She really hadn't expected Sakura's speed to be that fast.
And fast was one thing, but she was tired like this, yet Sakura was only slightly panting... How did this child train to become like this?
To be fair, she even wanted to research Sakura a bit!
[MEI: Can you wait for them?]
[Raiden Mei: No can do. That is an operating room. If he goes in late, perhaps the surgery will already be completed.]
[Kiana: T-Then we will rush back as soon as possible.]
Understanding the urgency of the situation, after explaining the situation to Sakura, she saw Sakura had already transformed into a pink silhouette.
—She has to chase again!
Taking a deep breath, she hurriedly followed.
[Raiden Mei: Mn.]
Only after relaying the news from this side on Leo's behalf did she focus her attention on the outside world.
At this moment, Leo arrived in front of the operating room door without any obstruction.
—Unexpectedly... open and aboveboard!
Seeing no traps on the road before the BOSS room, he couldn't help but feel this [Honkai Domain] was finally acting human for once.
However, counting the many games out there, there really weren't many games that placed traps before a BOSS room; instead, they all designed some supply points.
And since he didn't get a chance to rest, this could be considered an even trade-off.
"Shing!"
The long sword was quickly drawn and sheathed. He slashed the door in front of him directly open.
As he expected, behind the operating room door was not a surgery room, but a vortex.
—This must be the vortex Sakura spoke of, right?
Sakura had told him how she arrived here.
Seeing this, he couldn't help but hesitate a little.
After all, no matter how one looked at it, this seemed like a trap.
—Perhaps their goal, from the very beginning, was to hunt us?
No, perhaps initially they indeed wanted to find suitable physical bodies, but changing to hunting us now was also very reasonable!
After all, in that case, he could understand why such an important place would have no monsters guarding it.
It was just... if one does not enter the tiger's den, how can one obtain the tiger's cub?
Steeling his heart, he walked in.
He actually wanted to know what the opponent had prepared for him.
Moreover, as long as the opponent still had a maiden in their hands, they had the opportunity to go to the [Real World] to trouble him.
Precisely because of this, rather than being sought out later, he might as well settle things with the opponent now.
—With two [Resurrections] remaining, what was there to fear!?
Only what he didn't know was that as he entered the vortex, this vortex vanished along with him.
At the same time—
[Temporary Instance: ???]
Looking at this line of small text before his eyes, he understood he had completely switched to a different space.
And this place was very small, even smaller than the Kendo Hall from before. Furthermore, the vast majority of the space was used to house devices.
Modification devices!
In front of his eyes, a maiden was being modified.
However, unlike the flesh and blood flying everywhere he imagined, the maiden was just quietly soaking in a nutrient solution tank.
Through the bubbles floating within, one could see the entire nutrient solution tank was operating.
Then—
"You indeed came."
A person wearing a white lab coat, acting with the style of a researcher, stood with his back to Leo very calmly.
At this moment, he was operating the tablet in his hands, with absolutely no intention of turning around.
"Can we communicate?"
Regarding this, Leo naturally wouldn't relax his vigilance; the hand gripping his blade tightened instead.
But he didn't rush to attack, because even though the opponent had his back to him, he still felt a sensation of being locked onto by the opponent.
What was even more fatal was that, clearly the opponent looked full of openings, yet his intuition told him that as long as he made a move, the outcome would be decided instantly.
—Either he dies, or he perishes!
The pressure was too great!
"Of course."
Continuing to bury his head, the researcher said: "After all, that you could arrive in our field of vision proves you are qualified to communicate with us."
"Even communication requires qualifications... you guys really are arrogant."
Using a teasing tone, Leo tried to mobilize his own aura, attempting to risk his life for a strike.
After all, the longer he dragged this out, the more likely the maiden soaking in the nutrient solution would be converted by the opponent.
If that happened, then his initial goal would still have failed.
Only—
"I advise you not to make a move."
Sensing Leo's agitation, the researcher said: "That way, we can still chat for a while."
"Otherwise, I can only dispose of you as a defective product."
"Additionally, you can also rest assured. Even this maiden does not meet our requirements. I am merely recording data so that the people outside can send better materials next time."
Only then did he stop operating the tablet in his hand and turn his head to look at Leo.
—That's right, he only turned his head, and it was a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn!
At the same time—
"Hiss!"
Upon seeing the opponent's face, Leo couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.
There was no helping it; the opponent's appearance truly dropped one's SAN value too much.
Rows upon rows of eyes grew densely on the opponent's face, leaving only a mouth.
But even inside the opponent's mouth, there were densely packed eyes...
What kind of dense-eyes monster is this?
—His Trypophobia was about to flare up!
"I'll speak frankly too."
Seeing Leo looking like he wanted to close his eyes but couldn't, the Dense Eyes Monster said: "Every one of my eyes represents a life."
"Precisely because of this, they sent me here to converse with you."
"As for how many lives you have, we do not care. We are only very interested in your growth speed."
"So, as long as you are willing to let us research you, then there will be a seat for you in the future world."
"How about it?"
"Interested?"
After speaking, one of his hands also flipped over, extending toward Leo.
And on that hand revealed from the sleeve, there were also densely packed eyes of varying sizes... no wonder the opponent dared to be full of openings.
"Become a monster like you guys?"
Letting out a sneer of disdain, Leo shook his head and said: "I'll pass. I can't let go of my character modeling."
After speaking, he continuously spurred the [Honkai energy]. Within his deep black pupils, signs of purple lightning emerged.
But conversely, his whole body no longer emitted [purple thunder].
However, this wasn't because his power was suppressed; rather, it was a sign that he could fully control his own power... no longer wasting a shred of energy!
Under the immense pressure of this Dense Eyes Monster, he forced himself to achieve it!
It had to be said, a life-and-death match was the only shortcut to becoming stronger.
Only—
"Have you made your decision?"
Letting out a helpless sigh, the Dense Eyes Monster revealed a look of regret.
"Then I will give you one chance."
After speaking, it continued to pose in that manner full of openings, as if it really intended to let Leo have one move.
Only—
"Die!"
Suddenly, all the eyes on its body emitted red light shooting toward Leo.
However, fast as its movements were, Leo's movements were faster.
"I certainly won't trust a monster like you!"
Acting before the red light was fired, Leo had already moved. He wouldn't believe a single word from these monsters.
He didn't even listen to the words about the maiden in the nutrient solution being a defective product.
Therefore, he had been adjusting his state from the very beginning, striving to gouge a piece of flesh from the opponent even if he lost this life!
Thus, when the Dense Eyes Monster's red light attack pierced through his body, his long sword, radiating a cold chill, also successfully slashed onto the opponent's body.
And very craftily, using the mirrored surface on the long sword, he tried his best to reflect that red light onto the opponent's body.
It had to be said, the damage brought by this reflection of his was even greater than the damage from his long sword's slash.
In an instant, quite a few eyes were eliminated!
Only—
"Truly a foolish generation."
Looking at Leo, who had collapsed on the ground and been shot into a honeycomb by its red light, the researcher, who had been sliced into several segments, emitted a voice of disdain from the ground.
And as one eye on its body disappeared, it climbed up from the ground.
—[Trypophobia Syndrome!]
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