Chapter 15 - My Good Brother

Faced with Arno's question.

Ethan could only respond with silence—the other eight members couldn't possibly still be alive.

The [Variant Floater-class Honkai Beast] that attacked them, in terms of direct combat power, couldn't contend with the entire Fusion Soldier squad.

Although it was unknown when they were targeted.

But it was clear, the enemy had definitely been tailing them for a long time, only finding an opportunity to launch a sneak attack after the squad split up to carry out their tasks.

Picking them off one by one, never giving them a chance to regroup.

This was the tactic employed by the enemy.

[Variant] types, just as the intelligence mentioned, not only possessed outstanding abilities but were also not inferior to humans in intelligence. They were special Honkai Beast individuals possessing both individuality and commonality, and more importantly, they were threats that absolutely had to be eliminated on sight due to the immense danger they posed to humanity.

Therefore.

By the time this Floater-class formally launched its attack on the Banshee, it meant that the other eight had already perished at its hands.

"Don't worry."

Arno looked at Ethan, who was clearly hesitant, and forced a grin, though he couldn't quite manage a smile as he offered comfort.

"That thing's injuries are no lighter than ours."

"Take it down, and the 'kill credit' for this [Variant] will all be yours."

It was called reconnaissance.

In reality, it was just sending Ethan to "take a look" at the Floater-class.

Honestly, if there had been a choice, Arno would have preferred to have Ethan protect Xiū here while he himself went to scout the Floater-class.

But circumstances didn't allow it:

The end of Arno's lower leg was actually fractured with displacement, sharp bone fragments piercing diagonally through tendons and lodging directly in the muscle.

The pain was bearable, and movement was "unaffected," but he just couldn't move quickly—for a reconnaissance mission, this was an absolutely fatal flaw.

Ethan stared at Arno for a good while.

Finally, he shrugged and agreed:

"Alright, I'll take this job, but..."

Arno knew what kind of character his subordinate was and picked up where Ethan left off:

"If you encounter danger, I permit you to abandon the mission and escape with your life."

"OK."

————

High-frequency vibrating short dagger, Lunar Alloy anti-explosion shield, shoulder-mounted single-soldier missile launcher.

After checking these commonly used weapons, Ethan also took out a rather classic Makarov pistol from the gun case on his side—this thing was useless against Honkai Beasts. As a rare "antique," it was actually something Ethan would only use to end his own life.

There are times when a person is better off dead than alive.

For example, the agony of being transformed into a Fusion Soldier—if he had to experience something similar again, Ethan would rather put a bullet through his own temple.

"Clack."

A rock blocking the path was kicked aside and shattered.

This thing didn't actually hinder Ethan's advance; if it had appeared on a "normal" road, something of this size would at most be kicked about 20 meters away.

But this place wasn't normal.

A battlefield where life and death hung in the balance, a land ravaged by Honkai.

"Sha, sha."

"Tsk."

Looking at the screen on his left wrist, which seemed to have "no signal," the Honkai energy radar had lost its original function and was completely unable to provide him with any early warning.

He clicked his tongue.

Ethan's movements became even more cautious.

Knees bent, body low.

His agile body weaved quickly through the ruins, his center of gravity only a mere 35 centimeters from the ground. The path his feet took avoided, as much as possible, any ground that could make a sound—slightly larger patches of sand, stone slabs that might collapse, were all out of consideration.

His movements were extremely cautious, but his speed wasn't slow.

After trekking for more than a quarter of an hour, Ethan successfully reached the Floater-class's original "landing site." When he looked towards the designated position from behind a hastily piled stone wall...

"Huh!?"

————

Ethan successfully locked onto the target.

The Floater-class was lying obediently on the ground, its occasionally twitching tentacles proving that this creature was not yet dead.

Of course, this characteristic could actually be ignored.

Most dead Honkai Beasts would quickly disintegrate into particles of light; those whose carapaces were still visible were basically alive.

The problem was.

Ethan saw another Honkai Beast.

A spindle-shaped body, hovering wings—undoubtedly, this was a basic Ranger-class Honkai Beast.

Well, perhaps not so basic.

Judging from the intensity of its overflowing Honkai energy and the color of its carapace, it was at least a Hyper Hasty-class—on the front lines of battle against the Honkai, Hyper Hasty-class beasts were extremely common. But for one to appear in this supposedly cleared area, and as a solitary individual, it felt somewhat off no matter how he thought about it.

Regardless.

Ethan used his palm as an axis and his fingers as a ruler, measuring the Hyper Hasty-class nearly 150 meters away. He quickly locked onto its detailed coordinates—compared to Lu Xing's previous so-called "aiming," this speed and precision were worlds apart.

Then he took the black and hefty launcher from his back and began to load it.

Ranger-class beasts were weak.

Even Hyper Hasty-class beasts could be dealt with casually.

Even in his injured state, Ethan didn't think it could harm him.

He was wary of the Floater-class.

Variant Honkai Beasts weren't just brutes that only knew how to "Bang Bang Bang"; they would use schemes to hunt their targets.

What if this was a trap to lure him in...

"Clunk!"

The warhead was loaded.

This time, Ethan used a napalm round with a kill radius exceeding 30 meters—this was an extremely inhumane weapon. The highly adhesive semi-solid gasoline could stick to any object it came into contact with, continuously performing its carbonizing duty at super-high temperatures.

It was mostly used against high-density clusters of Honkai Beasts.

Ethan chose napalm to test the waters, to see if he could startle the enemy into revealing themselves.

Both the Ranger-class and the Floater-class were agile. If the enemy had come prepared, they would definitely be able to dodge this shot.

If they couldn't dodge...

Even a Variant with emotions and thoughts, with its inherent violent impulses, would absolutely not resort to a "self-inflicted injury ploy" to this extent.

So—

"Whoosh!"

Flames propelled the man-made weapon forward rapidly.

"BOOM!!"

Unexpectedly, no accident occurred.

The napalm successfully hit the Floater-class lying on the ground, while the Hyper Hasty-class, about to be engulfed by the sea of fire, vibrated its wings and instantly dodged the encroaching flames.

After streaking through an almost 160-degree super-wide arc, it charged straight towards Ethan!

"Very good."

The instant the missile was launched.

Ethan, having dropped the launcher and picked up his shield and dagger, was already prepared.

The opponent's reaction was typical for a normal Honkai Beast—dodge in time when an attack enters its alert range, then counter-attack any human within its perceivable distance.

In other words...

This was a "normal" Honkai Beast!