"Miss Acheron!"
Himeko suddenly heard the transmission on her internal channel. She looked up toward the north of Nagazora City and indeed saw the silhouettes of five massive warships.
"Cocolia, the culprit who triggered this Great Honkai, has deployed her fleet," her voice carried a sense of urgency. "Schicksal and Anti-Entropy have already sent elites to intercept them, but can your Golden Great Tree withstand a direct hit from warship-level firepower?"
Four S-Rank combat powers trying to stop five warships and the hundreds upon hundreds of Titans on board meant someone would surely slip through!
First of all, Welt and Durandal could definitely solo one warship each. The current Super Goose wasn't in her final form yet and still needed to grow, and Welt's injuries were always a problem; otherwise, they could have just torn right through.
But as for Siegfried and Rita... things were a bit awkward.
The former could do it if he risked his life, but for the latter, it was a very close call.
Fortunately, the Hyperion was also here; moving up to hold off one warship wouldn't be much of a problem.
The turning point would be whether Durandal and Welt could finish off their respective targets before Rita and Siegfried reached their limits.
"The Anti-Entropy fleet is still in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, rushing here at full speed, and Schicksal's main force has only just passed the Sinai Peninsula. They simply won't make it in time..."
Himeko spoke frantically. If Cocolia's warships truly managed to break through to this area, everything would descend into unpredictable chaos.
What if a stray shell caused the Honkai Energy constrained by the Herrscher of Thunder to leak? What if her attack on the Herrscher of Thunder provoked her, forcing her to the opposite side of humanity? What if she simply didn't want to live anymore and launched a kamikaze attack, steering the warships recklessly into them like 9/11?
She said so much, but the core message was simple: she wanted the Herrscher to withdraw the Honkai Energy first.
Otherwise, the Far East would truly suffer. What? You say Cocolia wouldn't go that far?
Don't be ridiculous. She dared to trigger a Great Honkai; was there anything that lunatic wouldn't dare do?
"Why are there only five?" Unlike her urgency, Xia Yu merely curled her lip slightly. "I've waited all this time, and she only brought this many people?"
She thought Cocolia would put on a grand show, with at least a dozen warships... but this was it?
She felt that drawing her blade for this was almost a waste.
On those five warships... several Gray Serpents were controlling the automated networks, fully intending to go kamikaze.
"Cocolia, remember the deal between us," one Gray Serpent said while looking at the video feed of Cocolia.
Indeed, Cocolia herself was not on these five warships. she was lying in ambush in the offshore waters with her Unmanned Titan units, waiting for the five warships to launch their offensive before picking the right moment to enter the fray.
In other words, those five warships were merely cannon fodder used to attract attention.
Originally, she didn't have the technology to control all five warships. The world was not closed off; as soon as Anti-Entropy detected her conspiracy, they spread word of her actions throughout the Siberia Branch.
Very few people were still loyal to her now. After all, wasn't the Siberia Branch's rapid rise built on everyone's hatred for the Honkai?
Now that she had pulled this stunt, her prestige had collapsed under the headquarters' propaganda. She couldn't even find enough crew to pilot the warships.
In the original plot, she had managed to shift the blame cleanly, pinning everything on Raiden Ryoma's mismanagement of ME Corp. All her plans were carried out in secret, known to very few, which was why she could retain power.
Raiden Ryoma was also incredibly unlucky, forced to take this massive blame, leading to him being imprisoned in the story and reduced to a background character. (Otherwise, I truly can't fathom how she could remain in power after doing something like this... wouldn't the people of Siberia revolt? Having personally experienced the Second Great Honkai, they should be the group that hated the Honkai most at that time...)
It must be said that Dr. Einstein's move had struck Cocolia's lifeline, nearly turning her into a general without an army... which was why Schicksal and Anti-Entropy hadn't paid much attention to her existence lately.
A Cocolia with no troops was nothing to fear.
Who knew where she found the people to get the warships running... Dr. Tesla's eyes were nearly popping out; she never thought Cocolia had this kind of technology...
But Cocolia's method was simple: she went to Gray Serpent.
Originally, Gray Serpent didn't want to get involved, but she simply offered too much.
"Cocolia, you'd better not be lying to me," Gray Serpent said to Cocolia over the comms. "That Acheron... did she really come out of the Sea of Quanta?"
"Where else? I cross-referenced a lot of intelligence before discovering this," Cocolia looked exhausted, but the light in her eyes hadn't diminished in the slightest. "Bronya said there was news of Seele, telling me that your Sovereign had taken my daughter under his protection. Where else could her news come from?"
"Only that Acheron. She is the only outsider who has contacted Bronya. Her origin is mysterious, and she even knows more about you than I do!"
"And the Gray Serpent that interfaced with me before—he must have gone to contact Acheron and then been tampered with by her, leading to your losses."
"Think about it. She knows your Sovereign, she knows you, and she knows the current situation of Seele who is still in the Sea of Quanta... doesn't that provide the answer to where she, with her mysterious origins, comes from?"
Hearing this, Gray Serpent fell silent.
It was precisely because of Cocolia's arguments that they disconnected from the Gray Serpent Network and used World Serpent technology and their own computing power to help her pilot the warships for battle.
Regardless, for the serpent, welcoming back the Sovereign was the most important thing. Any information regarding the Sea of Quanta could not be ignored!
Even if this was a one-way mission. Gray Serpents weren't born to pilot warships; by forcibly taking over the command systems, they were consuming their own mechanical lifespans every second.
All of this was to pave the way for Cocolia, to trigger a massive battle between the Herrscher of Thunder and the current personnel in Nagazora City, and then seize the opportunity to capture the target.
Achieving this would be difficult, but not hopeless.
As long as they shattered that tree and allowed the massive amount of Honkai Energy to leak, turning the Far East into a dead zone, then the Herrscher of Thunder—as the one who hoarded all that Honkai Energy—would be held responsible.
The serpent would then stir things up in the shadows; they could always get them to fight.
It was better than doing nothing. Even if they failed, it would only cost five Gray Serpents. In any case, it was Cocolia's painstakingly hoarded resources being spent; Gray Serpent didn't feel any pain.
"Five ships, that's a bit tricky," Siegfried said, looking at the warships in the sky. "One for each of us, and that warship up there can take one too. It's up to you, Welt."
He looked at Welt beside him, encouragingly, "Act like a senior for once and show that junior back there that humans aren't pushovers!"
"I have no problem on my end, Miss Durandal..." Welt turned to Durandal.
"I have no problem either, but Rita..." the latter looked at Rita with concern.
As Rita felt everyone's gaze focusing on her, the perfect smile on her face looked like it was about to crack.
"I... I..." She stammered for a bit but just couldn't say she had no problem.
That's a warship! Satellites had captured images showing it was packed with Anti-Entropy Titans! How am I supposed to fight that?
In reality, Rita could do it. Those Titans were planned by Cocolia and Gray Serpent to be deployed midway, dropping into Nagazora City to attack Valkyries and stir up chaos. When the time came, she would be facing an empty warship and a Gray Serpent struggling to maintain control.
But Rita didn't know that. Looking at Cocolia's posture, she thought the woman was launching an all-out assault and that she would have to face a dense army of regular Anti-Entropy Titans. How could she not feel outmatched?
"I'll finish my side as quickly as possible," Durandal patted her shoulder in encouragement.
"You just need to hold them off, Rita," Theresa's voice came through the comms. "I'll be there soon!"
"I... Rita will surely do her utmost," what else could Rita say?
Seeing this, Siegfried prepared himself to lose another arm if things went south.
"Everyone, they are approaching Nagazora City. It's time to head out," Welt nodded, gripping his Divine Key as he looked at the distant fleet. "For the continuation of humanity..."
"Wait, emergency announcement!" Before he could finish, Durandal pressed her earpiece, a look of bewilderment appearing on her face. "Headquarters is ordering us not to approach Cocolia's warships under any circumstances!"
"The Herrscher of Thunder will take action personally!"
"What?" Hearing this, the group looked at each other in surprise.
"She's taking action?" Rita suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. "That works... that works..."
At least she wouldn't have to fight hundreds of Titans.
With that person's strength... five warships might not necessarily threaten her.
"The Herrscher of Thunder..." Welt's expression was solemn. "Let me see the power of this junior."
On the ME Corp rooftop, Xia Yu let go of Himeko's hand.
"Have them stay far away to avoid collateral damage," Xia Yu looked up at the distant fleet. "I will handle this myself."
"Sister Acheron," Kiana moved closer with concern as she saw the warships. "Those big guys... will it really be okay? Maybe we should just run?"
"Aunt," and Mei... no, the Herrscher of Thunder looked up from her arms, her eyes sharp. "I can..."
"No, you can't!" Xia Yu gave her a look. Sigh, such a proud and confident Herrscher of Thunder, yet once she crawled into Kiana's arms, she couldn't seem to get out...
In truth, it was because her previous confrontation with Xia Yu had completely shattered her self-confidence. When she first appeared, she thought she was invincible, but even after using every ounce of her strength, she couldn't break free from Aunt's embrace. The latter had even looked at her with an expression that said, 'Good girl, try a bit harder.'
It had nearly driven the child into self-isolation. Coupled with the status of her identity, how could she not be well-behaved? Try switching to someone else, and you'd immediately find that the haughty Herrscher was back.