Honkai, why do you only throw me into high-level battles?

"Hello, Lin Wei! It's a disaster! We've caused a catastrophe!"

Tesla's panicked voice blared from the phone's speaker.

"We accidentally triggered dormant Honkai energy while exploring a ruin, and now a massive horde of Honkai Beasts is surging towards Southeast Asia!"

Her words were rapid, desperate to convey the urgency, her voice loud, almost frantic.

"What?!"

Lin Wei felt as if struck by lightning, stunned and then suddenly enlightened.

Ignoring the equally shocked Rita, he grabbed the phone and demanded, "Are you saying you're at Eye in Deep City?!"

Could Anti-Entropy's Eye in Deep City have been discovered at this point in time?

Was the Manila Honkai Eruption related to this?

The belated realization filled him with anger. Why hadn't he thought of this sooner?

"Eye in Deep…?" Tesla paused, confused, then said, "We are underwater, but that's not important right now, Lin Wei, you…"

"Crack!"

Lin Wei crushed the phone in his hand, cutting off Tesla mid-sentence.

He didn't need to hear any more. He wanted to kill.

"Rumble…"

A faint tremor ran through the ground.

The shockwave from the Mariana Trench, after crossing the mountains of the Philippines and the vast South China Sea, had weakened considerably by the time it reached Singapore.

The tremor, though minor, added another layer of dread to Lin Wei's already turbulent emotions.

Suddenly, a strong wind howled through the windows, and the sky darkened rapidly.

Outside, surprised shouts could be heard – the weather forecast hadn't mentioned a typhoon.

The two cities, separated by a stretch of sea, now felt worlds apart.

If even distant Singapore was affected, what must Manila be like?

Were Anna and the others safe?

"Damn it…"

Lin Wei bolted for the door, only to be blocked by Rita, who asked coldly, "Mr. Lin Wei, where are you going?"

Her mood was equally foul, and she no longer intended to waste time with him.

But Lin Wei was at his breaking point.

"Get out of my way!" he roared, the black sheen on his cane receding like a tide, revealing the demonic blade beneath.

The stigmata on his back glowed faintly as the crimson blade flashed from its sheath, slashing towards Rita with all his fury.

Rita parried the blow with her scythe, but the force of the attack was far greater than expected, the blade's aura almost bypassing her defense.

Her expression shifted as she dodged, regaining her balance for the next attack.

But Lin Wei ignored her, sheathing his blade and kicking the door open—as violently as Siegfried had done during his "visit"—before sprinting up the stairs.

"..."

Lin Wei's sudden departure infuriated Rita.

Cursing his cunning and savagery, she cautiously gave chase.

Reaching the rooftop, Rita saw Lin Wei standing at the edge, braving the strengthening wind, staring towards the darkened horizon, where thick, black clouds pressed down like a suffocating weight.

"Clap, clap, clap…"

Lin Wei watched the approaching darkness with a strange fascination, clapping slowly.

"Well, well, well… have to admit, that was beautifully done…"

Noticing Rita, he turned, a smile on his face as he addressed the Valkyrie.

"My apologies, Miss Rita, for my earlier rudeness… Let's call a truce for now. There are more pressing matters."

Now understanding the situation, Lin Wei's anger and self-reproach had subsided.

He had been trapped in a narrow frame of thought, limiting his considerations for the Manila incident to local events and potential schemes of the three factions.

But who could have predicted that the cause was Eye in Deep City, an event seemingly unrelated in his memory?

The Eye in Deep, dormant for 50,000 years, had awakened, perhaps due to a surge of quantum energy or some other cause, triggering a catastrophic chain reaction that had claimed Manila as its victim.

That explained the scale of the disaster, comparable to Nagazora, without the emergence of a Herrscher.

It wasn't a typical Honkai Eruption at all!

"Gray Serpent, so this was your true calculation?" Lin Wei sneered.

That explained the attack by Jackal, his absence, Anti-Entropy's inability to contact him… It all clicked.

Jackal had been a decoy, diverting his and Schicksal's attention, allowing Gray Serpent to utilize Cocolia and activate Eye in Deep City without interference.

As for the cost… well, snakes were cold-blooded creatures, unburdened by such trifles.

"Bravo, Mr. Gray Serpent, you've truly impressed me…" Lin Wei's earlier applause had been genuine admiration. "You've won this round. I concede."

Otto's involvement had likely been an unforeseen variable, but even without it, the outcome would have been the same.

Gray Serpent would have manipulated Schicksal's involvement, just as he had in Arc City, by leaking key information about himself or Jackal.

"Damn it, if I had figured it out sooner, I could have stopped this!" Lin Wei thought, frustrated.

He wasn't omniscient; even a transmigrator's foreknowledge had limits.

Without crucial information, how could he have foreseen this?

If even Otto could be outmaneuvered, why not him?

A wry smile touched his lips.

The game of hunter and hunted, of mantis and cicada, had taken an unexpected turn.

The defeat stung, but it was a fair loss.

"Heh, Gray Serpent… I'll remember this. We'll settle this later."

Burying his frustration, Lin Wei turned to Rita with a smile, repeating his earlier proposal.

Regret was useless; action was needed.

"Oh? Seeing no escape, are you ready to surrender, Mr. Lin Wei?" Rita sneered. "If so, please…"

"Miss Rita, let's not waste time. Contact Schicksal HQ… though I suspect communications are down."

Even without a full-scale Honkai Eruption, the effects would be widespread.

Rita tried her communicator, as Lin Wei watched silently.

As expected, it failed.

"..."

Lin Wei felt a mix of relief and disappointment.

Relief for himself, but disappointment for the land beyond the horizon.

What was he even doing?

He could have simply captured Rita, cleaned up, and vanished.

But when the Honkai Eruption occurred, he hesitated.

Rita was the only hope for the survivors; he couldn't be so selfish.

"Alright, Miss Rita, let's be brief. You heard the call," Lin Wei said, turning to face the sea. "That's the Philippines. A major Honkai Eruption. You've seen the effects. We need to put aside our differences. How many Valkyries did you bring to Singapore?"

Rita's Immortal Blades were a valuable asset, and their timely arrival could make a difference for the local defense forces.

"Oh?" Rita raised an eyebrow, surprised and somewhat offended by his bluntness. "Are you so eager to play the hero, Mr. Lin Wei?"

"Hero? Hmph, not interested," Lin Wei scoffed. "And I'm not interested in wasting time on such frivolous topics."

Rita's crimson eyes studied him, weighing his words.

After all, modern Anti-Entropy was… morally ambiguous, to put it mildly.

"That's a nation of over a hundred million people, with cities the size of Singapore. People are dying by the thousands. Your Schicksal Valkyries there are caught off guard, fighting alone, on the verge of being overwhelmed… and you, an S-rank Valkyrie, are the closest reinforcement, the one most likely to bolster their morale and unite their forces!"

Lin Wei turned to face Rita, his expression cold, drawing his blade slightly.

"If, at this moment, you prioritize our petty squabble over your Valkyrie duties, over the lives at stake, then I'll gladly settle things with you here! What do you say?"

Consumed by worry for Anna and the city, he wanted a quick resolution.

"Now, answer me: how many people did you bring?"

He believed that even under this moral pressure, Rita would make the right choice—just as she would a year later in Arc City, facing Kiana, under similar circumstances.

"…Mr. Lin Wei, you're full of surprises," Rita said after a brief pause.

Sheathing her scythe and assuming a more formal stance, she transformed from a fierce warrior back into an elegant lady, her Valkyrie battlesuit somehow enhancing rather than concealing her grace.

"But I'm afraid I'll disappoint you. This is a solo mission, undercover. I don't even have a dedicated transport."

When speaking amicably with peers or seniors, she used "Rita" to refer to herself.

Glancing at the darkening sky, she added with a wry smile, "And in this weather, even air travel is out of the question…"

"Is that so? That's unfortunate…" Lin Wei said, trying to find a silver lining. "At least you summoned your battlesuit before things went south."

With a truce established, he sheathed his blade.

"In that case, I have another plan…" He couldn't stay out of this after all.

"I'm all ears, Mr. Lin Wei. But may I ask…" Rita scrutinized him, a curious glint in her eyes. "Are you really not Mr. Welt?"

Five minutes ago, she wouldn't have even considered it, but now… she wasn't so sure.

She had studied the unredacted records of the Second Honkai Eruption.

The Welt in her imagination, the First Herrscher who single-handedly defended humanity, had possessed the same air of command and power she had just witnessed.

Yet, Tesla had called him "Lin Wei." She was uncertain.

"I told you, I'm not…" Lin Wei said with a wry smile, then, a mischievous glint in his eyes, added, "But if you like, you can call me 'Welt Lin'."

"…Mr. Lin Wei, you jest," Rita replied, rolling her eyes inwardly. "Time is of the essence. What's your plan?"

Moments later, a small aircraft materialized, carrying Lin Wei and Rita towards the darkening horizon.

Rita glanced back at Lin Wei, a strange look in her eyes.

Don't tell me you're not Welt!