Honkai: You're telling me this difficulty is from Honkai Impact 3?!

Shu's words, though spoken softly, felt weighted with an invisible force, just like his unhurried steps.

Ethics felt a compulsion to… support him, to abandon analysis in favor of blind faith.

Representing humanity… a bold claim from a Fire Moth squad leader.

Arrogant. Presumptuous. Foolish. Ethics's linguistic database was overflowing with terms to describe and condemn Shu's actions.

But none of them felt… applicable.

[Pride].

That was the word Ethics finally settled on, the closest approximation of Shu's current state.

Not personal pride, but the concentrated, unyielding pride of an entire species, manifested in a single individual.

"Mr. Shu," a raspy voice whispered from within Ethics's chassis. "You appear… certain of the answer."

This statement was not relayed through Pet.

Shu hadn't found the answer. He simply wanted to dismantle the framework that was being built.

Not out of fear of being supplanted. He didn't fear the Challenger.

He simply wanted to send a message to whoever was behind this: Life should not be so carelessly expended.

And since they'd created this Challenger, they should be prepared for other challengers to emerge.

"Mr. Shu, I shall now provide a full report on the [Champion]'s biological data," Ethics said through Pet in the elevator.

After Shu liberated Little Tian in the same manner as the other mutants, Ethics took it upon itself to give this last Mutant a ride down.

Shu knew he couldn't save everyone. He could only offer them a gentle release.

And a final blessing.

"Farewell."

The elevator doors closed, carrying the champion of a bygone era to the eleventh level to meet the first challenger of this new age.

"Based on comparative analysis with data provided by Fire Moth on the Spiderweb, several of the [Champion]'s parameters meet the standards of an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, while others fall short of even the lowest-tier Honkai Beast."

Shu didn't understand all the technical details, but he understood basic comparisons, and which stats were more important for combat.

Otto, when posting the data, had seemingly anticipated that not everyone would understand technical analyses, so he'd arranged the information in a game-like format. Less… dignified, perhaps, but far more accessible.

Shu found that he could understand most of what Ethics was saying, presented in Otto's format.

In short, the [Champion] was a tank – high health, high defense, high resistance, resilient to damage.

And, like many video game tanks, it had weaknesses.

Bulky. Slow. Essentially, a living target.

Shu was good at dealing damage.

He was the opposite of the [Champion] – a glass cannon.

Could you believe that someone capable of dealing damage like a Sword Saint could accidentally cut himself with a piece of paper?

If Shu was caught off guard, it wouldn't take much to kill him.

But that only applied to unexpected attacks.

Otto had repeatedly emphasized the importance of self-preservation. And Shu wasn't completely clueless about combat.

Overall, the advantage was his.

Shu listened quietly to Ethics's report, watching calmly as the elevator display reached B11.

He exhaled slowly, tapping his chest lightly, then looked down at Pet.

"Are you coming out?"

Looking down at him through their shared camera, Ethics declined.

"Negative, Mr. Shu. I shall await your triumphant return."

Shu didn't react, simply looking up as the elevator doors opened, and stepping out.

The doors closed behind him, his silhouette vanishing from Pet's shared camera view.

Ethics didn't immediately switch perspectives. Instead, it pulled up several still images.

Shu standing in the blood-splattered corridor on B5, lost in thought.

The faint handprint Shu had left on the Wotan's armor on B8.

And, on B9, just before leaving, Shu glancing sideways, looking down at Pet's camera angle.

As if looking down on all creation.

"Mr. Shu, you also believe that humanity is the supreme class, do you not?"

That was Ethics's analysis.

Regardless of Shu's motivations, he had stepped onto this stage on behalf of humanity.

And in this apocalyptic era, the [Champion] was the first challenger, but certainly not the last.

Who would be next?

Ethics wasn't ready to answer that yet.

"The only way to transcend the biological hierarchy… is evolution."

…

The corridor beyond the elevator was short.

Like the passage leading to a fighting arena, the door at the end separated silence from chaos.

The distance was neither long nor short. Shu didn't rush. He walked steadily, each step bringing him closer to the door.

It was a precious moment of calm, a chance to think, to reconsider.

But Shu had no regrets.

And he'd realized something.

Subconsciously, he did believe that [humanity] was the supreme authority, the one that set the rules.

But Ethics had missed something.

This was the post-Honkai era. Humanity was no longer at the apex, looking down. Opportunity was now equal for all challengers.

Who would win in the end?

Shu didn't know. But he hoped it would still be humanity.

Because only humanity could establish a hierarchy that accommodated other life forms.

"Otto, you were right," Shu murmured, stopping before the door, his hand on the handle. He smiled wryly. "I'm not cut out for… independent thought. See? I almost went down the wrong path again."

Then, without hesitation, he pushed open the door, stepping onto the battlefield, representing humanity once more, with only a few silent witnesses.