“Ha ha… Finally showing up, huh… Fu Hua, is this the place you mentioned?”
But Fu Hua shook her head.
“No, not yet. The real secret is on the lowest floor. You still need to keep going…”
Fu Hua’s gaze swept over the equipment ahead. She paused for a few seconds, and a subtle change came over her expression.
“Wait a minute, these instruments… I recognize these symbols… Let me take back what I said earlier. The things on this floor are also very important for you two. Search carefully. You absolutely must find…”
Before Fu Hua could finish her sentence, her body, just like before, dissolved into countless particles of light and faded away.
“Hey!”
Himeko was feeling curious and surprised by the scene before her, but Tesla’s sudden loud voice really gave her a fright.
“What was that just now? You were just staring off into space, and you didn’t react when I called you.”
“Staring off into space… Tesla can’t see her… What exactly is going on here?”
“Oh, never mind that. Come take a look at the records I found. As an A-rank Valkyrie, you’re definitely more familiar with Schicksal than I am.”
[– Record Number: TBOS-2000-0106]
[Success. Although there were some unexpected incidents, the ‘Herrscher Killer’ has fully proven its worth during the Second Eruption. Cecilia’s blood has undoubtedly achieved an extremely high level of completion. I am just one step away from completing the Schariac Holy Blood.]
There was no doubt about it. This was Otto’s voice. But Himeko seemed very unfamiliar with the experiments this Overseer had conducted. It was even her first time hearing the term ‘Schariac Holy Blood.’
“Cecilia… is that the former S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, Cecilia Schariac? Wasn’t she…”
Tesla nodded with a serious expression.
“Correct. Cecilia sacrificed herself during the Second Eruption 17 years ago. To prevent the Herrscher from going berserk and causing a disaster, she used her own blood to neutralize the Honkai energy. She was a brave and great person… Wait a minute. Her blood… neutralized Honkai energy?”
Tesla thought of something and continued reading.
[– Record Number: TBOS-2014-0007]
[Why? It’s already been 14 years, yet research on the Holy Blood has made no progress. I’m just one step away… No… Could it be that I’m still too impatient? I’ve already waited over 500 years…”]
“Hmm… Looks like Otto’s research has hit a bottleneck.”
[System prompt: ■■■■, ■■■■■■, ■■■…]
“What’s going on?”
Tesla waved her hand dismissively.
“Minor issue.”
In a moment, the previously corrupted record reappeared before the two of them.
[– Record Number: TBOS-HV-0001]
[Dr. Magi… he was a true genius! The HSN-B46 serum he designed can actually deactivate the Honkai energy within a living body and allow it to dissipate through the body’s circulation.]
[His original intention was to treat those Valkyries, but I recognized the true value of this serum at a single glance. It is the ‘final step’ I’ve been searching for all along to complete the Holy Blood.]
[Ah, what a pity… The Doctor is no longer with us. I would have truly loved to invite him to raise a glass and celebrate with me.]
“Dr.… Magi?”
Hearing this unfamiliar name, Tesla instinctively looked over at Himeko beside her, only to find that Himeko, just like her, wore a blank, puzzled expression.
[– Record Number: TBOS-HV-0538]
[Using the ratio derived from formula (HSN-f-032), after mixing the HSN-B46 serum into the Holy Blood sample, the solution turned bright red.]
[Experiment Log, First Trial: The three test groups, in order, consisted of an ordinary human female, a C-rank Valkyrie, and an infected female Honkai zombie. All were 18 years old. Height, weight, and various vital parameters all fell within standard human ranges.]
[After injection, the ordinary human female showed no abnormal reactions. The C-rank Valkyrie, however, lost the Honkai control ability she had gained through modifications.]
[But the most interesting was the third group… The Honkai zombies began showing signs of distress and rampage. A few individuals lost consciousness. Among those who lost consciousness, weak brainwaves were detected again in every case. To confirm this hypothesis, more experiments are needed. Unfortunately, producing the HSN-B46 serum requires a massive amount of resources, which severely slows down the pace of the experiment.]
“That’s it? Dammit! Can’t you just write it all out at once? What were the actual results?!”
Tesla’s mood right now was like a student facing a difficult problem, having no idea how to even begin solving it. She’d finally managed to get a hold of the answer key, but all it said for the problem was: “Omitted.”
“There’s only one record left. Please, just give me something useful for once!”
[– Record Number: ■■■■-■■-■■■■]
[Haha — Hahahahahaha…”]
Hearing Otto’s bright, yet strangely manic laughter, the kind you’d let out after getting three golds in a ten-pull, both Tesla and Himeko jumped.
“What is up with this record?!”
[Whew! Yes! I succeeded!]
[After injecting the mixture of Holy Blood and serum, the Emperor-class Honkai beast began to weaken at a visible rate. At the same time, the Honkai energy inside it started to slip out of the main body’s control. Ultimately, the Emperor-class Honkai beast, a being composed entirely of Honkai energy, turned to ashes in an instant.]
[It’s finally complete. This is humanity’s God-Slaying Spear!]
[Everything is ready. K-423 has entered St. Freya Academy according to plan, and my informants are in place. And now… the God-Slaying Spear is also firmly in my grasp.]
[So next… it’s just a matter of waiting for the harvest…”]
All the records finished playing. Tesla hesitated, then looked over at Himeko, wanting to say something. But the words… she had to start somewhere. Just as she was hesitating, Himeko spoke up first.
“The God-Slaying Spear… can we make it now?”
Himeko extended her right hand. In it, she tightly clutched a red serum. On the other end of the test tube, clearly written, were the letters *HSN-B46*.
“I think… it’s time for this to come in handy.”
Samples of the Holy Blood were available right there on that floor of the lab. The only thing they lacked was this scarce serum.
“You… you’d better not get your hopes too high. The amount of this serum is way too small. I’ll only have one chance to try.”
“Meaning… there’s still a chance of success.”
Himeko shoved the serum into Tesla’s hand, then turned her back.
“To be more efficient, I’ll go explore the next floor. I’m leaving this medicine to you!”
“Wait a second!”
Tesla called out to Himeko, who was about to turn and leave, and tossed a mechanical device over to her.
“What’s this…?”
“Spare parts for your Valkyrie armor. I just found them. You’ve been fighting your way here; your gear must be pretty beat up, right? Go on. But for heaven’s sake, don’t die in there. I won’t have the time or energy to fish you out.”
“Ha. Don’t worry about it.”
After quickly making some simple repairs to her armor, Himeko turned around and walked off with a swagger, disappearing from sight.
After confirming Himeko had gone down, Dr. Tesla began her experiment. Wearing gloves, she picked up a syringe filled with a purple liquid.
“It’s currently 15:44. The sample has been prepared according to the procedure. Next comes the testing phase.”
With that, she injected the entire contents of the syringe directly into her own arm.
