Chapter 27 - Signs of Human Habitation

"Ah, it died."

In the time it took Lu Xing to go over and say hello.

The Honkai Beast he had finally encountered just died like that.

This was definitely Lu Xing's fault — imagine an acquaintance greeting you from behind, not with a pat on the hand, but by revving up a chainsaw to your shoulder. What kind of feeling would that be?

In short.

With one swipe of Lu Xing's wing, the Ranger-class Honkai Beast, identified by [Appraisal] as only Lv.5, had its noggin directly caved in by Lu Xing; as luck would have it, the depth and angle of the indentation perfectly coincided with the location of its Honkai Core.

And then the Ranger-class just died.

As the fourth Honkai Beast Lu Xing had encountered, this Ranger-class successfully let Lu Xing experience what "ordinary" truly meant.

"..."

There were still several other Ranger-class Honkai Beasts nearby.

After a sweep with [Appraisal], Lu Xing judged all of them as "no threat."

Ranger-class beasts below Lv.10 all had stats in the single digits; they weren't even qualified as Honkai energy supplements.

The Ranger-class he had accidentally injured... accidentally killed just now was an example.

The Honkai energy that dissipated from its Honkai Core after it died was extremely thin in both quantity and concentration. Lu Xing tried taking a sip and found that, let alone leveling up, he didn't even have the tangible feeling of having absorbed Honkai energy.

In other words.

The path of trying to level up by "killing smurfs" was now completely blocked.

"As expected, I still need to look for Knight-class beasts, huh."

Knight-class, Rotor-class, and Ballista-class—these three were the targets Lu Xing wanted to encounter. It wouldn't be bad if there were Ranger-class beasts that had evolved to the level of "Black Demon" either. Only they could allow Lu Xing to continue completing his quests.

To be honest.

It wasn't that Lu Xing hadn't thought about completing all three quests at once, like before.

After all, the reward of "Level +3" was extremely tempting, and with more skills and abilities, the tactical options available would also become more diverse.

But he couldn't do it.

The prerequisites for the three quests—chasing/controlling/withstanding—were somewhat contradictory, unlike before where there was at least some common ground.

Lu Xing's chosen target was the "Attack +3" reward, [Strike].

Because a "BUG" had occurred during the completion of the second quest, his evolution path had not been locked. In the System's original branches, [Strike] should have corresponded to the subsequent evolution reward for a Ballista-class Honkai Beast.

Now.

Lu Xing, hoping to evolve into a Knight-class, also had the possibility of unlocking the [Strike] ability.

However, this choice was actually made out of helplessness. Lu Xing had already learned the [Dash] skill, which corresponded to the Knight-class itself. Completing that quest would most likely unlock a random skill. And the masochistic requirement of "Branch Two" was a very difficult target for Lu Xing, who didn't possess any defensive abilities.

In summary.

He could only try to find a way with "Branch Three."

Regardless, Lu Xing at least possessed the control-type skill [Power Strike]. Battering an opponent to the point of exhaustion without killing them... He didn't know how the standard for "exhaustion" was determined; for now, he could only take it one step at a time.

————

This was still the edge of the city.

Judging by its scale, it was more appropriate to describe this place as a "town."

Lu Xing didn't blindly venture deeper. Instead, he first sent his underlings to scout ahead. These so-called "underlings" were the surrounding Ranger-class beasts that lacked much independent consciousness. Without any higher affiliation, they would obey the commands of higher-level kin.

Their intelligence was low, and they lacked adaptability.

But they wouldn't slack off; they would diligently carry out any orders given. Capitalists would weep at the sight; even Klein's marionettes would shout "Comrade!"

Lu Xing himself was more casual.

He found a suitable spot by the roadside, then dug a pit and buried himself in it.

It was fine at night, but during the day, his pitch-black body was too conspicuous. In the city ruins, covered in grayish-white sand and soil, he could easily be discovered by enemies.

He hadn't been lying comfortably for long.

The "scouts" he had sent out all returned one after another. The reason for using "all" was that out of the total of 11 Ranger-class beasts Lu Xing had commanded, only 2 returned alive. Since the total number had become two, then the description using this adjective was not problematic.

Incidentally.

The task Lu Xing had given them was a rather vague instruction: "Return if you encounter a different kind of creature."

Anything too complex, the Ranger-class beasts wouldn't understand.

Even such a simple request required Lu Xing to "attach" a small portion of his Honkai energy to the Ranger-class beasts as a "connection channel." This was the correct way to use the passive ability [Servant Domination] inscribed in his DNA, and it was also how Lu Xing knew the other 9 had died.

"Dead..."

"Which means, there are humans in that direction."

Honkai Beasts usually didn't attack their own kind. "Infighting" would only occur if they were [Variants] or if they belonged to different, conflicting superior hierarchies.

For Ranger-class beasts, which were essentially starter zone mobs, to be killed.

It was almost certainly at the hands of humans.

And considering the levels of these Ranger-class beasts—the higher the energy level during a Honkai outbreak, the higher the level of the Honkai Beasts that appear—this place was very likely the site of a small-scale Honkai Eruption.

But this line of thinking had a flaw.

The Ranger-class beasts were eliminated not long after they left, indicating that the humans weren't far from the city's edge. Looking at their cleanup speed... the standard procedure would be to clear out all surrounding low-level Honkai Beasts as well, as these creatures could become eyes and ears for the enemy.

Coupled with the dilapidated state of the surrounding area—

"Humans are trying to reclaim control of this city."

This was the answer Lu Xing arrived at.

But the conclusion he had just reached was immediately overturned.

If they wanted to reclaim control, wouldn't dispatching elite troops like Fusion Soldiers to just steamroll through be the end of it? This was merely the site of a small-scale Honkai Eruption; there was no need to dilly-dally. The fact that Ranger-class beasts had returned alive to report meant there were still traces of Honkai Beasts in the town.

And they were Honkai Beasts of a different type than the Ranger-class.

Going to the human "occupied zone" was impossible. That would neither align with Lu Xing's goals nor would it prevent him from potentially courting death.

Lu Xing decisively dug himself out of the ground.

After dismissing the two lucky survivors—ordering them to patrol in a straight line towards the desert—he began to follow the tracks left by the two returning beasts.

What exactly had happened in this city?

Lu Xing prepared to witness it with his own "eyes."

Soon.

Without even taking 5 minutes, as Lu Xing gradually moved deeper into the city ruins, he saw the new target of his Honkai-life:

A Knight-class Honkai Beast!