I am a hero of the former civilization.

He passed by the battered Himiko and gently patted her on the shoulder: "Remember to finish her off."

The woman blinked, then realized that this was not the time to be shocked. She quickly made a gesture, signaling her subordinate to finish off the attacker, while she turned away, her eyes flashing several times.

"Ryan, you are a perfect warrior!"

The man paused, turned around, and smiled faintly: "No, I'm a scientist, just someone who's good at reasoning."

......

Himiko was speechless. She glanced at Adeddo's corpse, which was covered in lacerations, as if it had been torn apart by some enormous force.

This is not just a principle, it's the absolute truth.

"Get things done, don't waste your breath talking to this humanoid monster."

Ryan wasn't in the mood for nonsense. Controlling Honkai energy was extremely energy-consuming, and his body was experiencing uncontrollable fatigue. However, he was in high spirits. He found a broken wall to sit down and couldn't help but smile as he looked at the broken corpse of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast.

Another big step forward! Indeed, the way to explore is to constantly hone oneself and challenge the unknown.

It may not be as simple and direct as devouring, but each time he crosses the threshold, he not only gains power, but also a strong joy that gives him a sense of being alive.

Step by step, I explore the unknown, step by step, moving forward. With each step forward, I gain more.

He opened his hand, and energy gathered in his palm. The Honkai energy, which had been flickering like a flame, gradually stabilized, stretched, stabilized, and solidified, eventually taking the shape of a short sword.

It was like gradually changing from an energy state to a solid state, making Ryan squint his eyes, trying to find the mystery within.

'Energy shaping—this is an ability discovered from Adiedo.'

Ryan stroked his chin, as if playing with clay, repeatedly modifying the energy, and fell into deep thought. After about two minutes, he roughly understood.

"The energy wavelength used to be scattered. I could only concentrate it on a certain object and use the Honkai energy itself to dissolve and cut it. It was essentially the same as burning a person with a torch. Moreover, without Soul Steel, the torch itself could not withstand the burning."

It's now more stable and focused; you can even hear the air being cut when you swing your arm. But the drawbacks are also obvious—

"It consumes a lot of energy, and it is difficult to maintain such a stable structure during high-intensity combat, just like steel that is too hard but lacks toughness."

As a researcher, Ryan wasn't just a brute who knew how to use the ability; he pondered its essence and quickly found an advanced way to use it.

It condenses outside the weapon, forming a light blade for cutting. Sometimes it can even be used to ambush people. Go back and find a suitable weapon at the Far East branch.

Soul Steel has not yet been fully developed, but humans also have overpressure alloys that can resist Honkai energy, but these things are not only expensive, but also very difficult to forge.

It's difficult, but we have to do it. With nearly 500 HW of Honkai energy under my control, making good use of this shaping ability can further enhance our combat power by 30%.

Ryan still had his eye on the Third Herrscher. He estimated that although facing the Herrscher directly would still be a death sentence, it would be capable of posing a threat. Besides, who said it had to be a one-on-one duel?

Just as he was thinking of calling Alicia, the roar of paddles came from the sky. Ryan subconsciously looked up and saw a spectacular scene.

Dozens of helicopters were on their way, their flight paths filling the night sky, and the explosions from the passing fighter jets were deafening. Who knew how many bombs were flying overhead?

Arriving within fifteen minutes isn't slow.

Ryan didn't mock them. In fact, air support had already arrived during the battle, but the two sides were entangled and unable to bomb, which was also a weakness of the army.

A 1,000-kilogram aerial bomb is indeed powerful, but even with laser guidance, it is impossible to hit accurately. Not to mention that Honkai Beasts are not stupid and will stand still and wait to be bombed.

"You guys, grab him right now!"

Ryan suddenly heard Himiko's cry and instinctively stepped onto the wall, where he saw a figure in the center of the pile of Honkai Beast corpses.

It was a ragged boy, lying on the ground like a wolf, rummaging through the corpses of Honkai Beasts as if he wanted to stuff them into his mouth, while the soldiers around him held down his shoulders and dragged him back with all their might.

"Let me go, Mom, sister, I'm going to kill them all, leave no one alive!"

The heart-wrenching cries echoed, filled with despair and rage. This was no wolf; it was a demon.

"What's going on?" Ryan turned to look at Kevin beside him.

"While cleaning up the battlefield, the major found a survivor. They were hiding in the basement, but apart from this boy, everyone else had died from the infection." Kevin answered, glancing at the struggling boy, his eyes filled with lingering fear.

He suddenly remembered something: if May, Sue, and Ryan were all dead, would he end up like that? He shuddered as he thought about it.

"Don't overthink it. We can just take the boy back for psychological counseling and then hypnotize him. But I don't think Moth Chaser will do that."

"What?"

Ryan turned to Kevin and said, slowly and deliberately, "Because he is a rare talent."

The young man was speechless. He knew, of course, that the boy's ability to survive without protection meant he had a high degree of resilience to collapse, and coupled with this hatred, he would never waver.

But is that fair? To make someone live in despair and hatred forever, with the sole purpose of killing and destruction.

“It’s terrifying, isn’t it? You shouldn’t be that kind of person.” Ryan suddenly patted him on the shoulder and gave him a meaningful smile: “There are actually quite a few people like that, but because they work too hard, not many of them survive.”

"Ryan, why do I feel like you're subtly criticizing me?"

"No way, you're so lucky. You have a girlfriend, brothers, and your strength has improved a lot. You're not as powerless as him, unable to protect anything."

"Yes, I defeated a lot of Honkai Beasts this time. My record is second only to Major Himiko. I will definitely be able to protect Mei in the future!" Kevin immediately withdrew his gaze, full of confidence.

Through these five days of bloody battle, he suddenly realized that he was very strong, and believed that if that Adiedo came out again, he would not be dumbfounded.

"Congratulations on graduating from basic training. And didn't you forget to say you'd protect your brothers?"

"You're incredibly strong, why would I need to protect you?" Kevin rolled his eyes and muttered, "If only I could control Honkai energy, I could definitely stop this tragedy from happening again."

"What, you think you can save the world?"

"It's not that great, but if we have the ability, wouldn't it be better to protect more people? We'd be more motivated to safeguard the happiness of all humanity!"

He truly is a passionate young man, a born hero.

Ryan didn't discourage Kevin. Kevin's abilities were no less than his own, and his strength had improved noticeably. As long as Kevin didn't become a madman, Ryan didn't bother to interfere.

"Then let's take a good rest for a while, change our gear, and once we're all packed up here, we'll continue our journey."

"Where to?"

"Didn't you want to be a hero?" Ryan turned his head and raised his fist. "Of course, it's to keep hunting and save more people."

After saying that, he ignored the bewildered Kevin and rushed to clean up the scene.

Ryan's idea was actually very simple: while he was still around, he should try to improve Kevin's strength as much as possible. After all, this guy seemed sunny, but if his mental support collapsed, he would be more terrifying than anyone else if he turned evil.

He vaguely remembered that Mei would also become a thorn in the side of certain forces. He wondered if, due to the butterfly effect, Mei might be assassinated. That outcome would be even more terrifying than that of a fanatical savior.

If Kevin became a Herrscher...

Ryan stopped thinking about it; the image was too beautiful for him to bear. He looked up and saw Himiko walking over, holding a satellite phone and cursing.

"That brat is really ungrateful. How can you just eat the corpses of Honkai Beasts?"

"People like that don't live long. They can't accomplish anything with hatred alone. By the way, why are you so angry?"

"I was just about to have a beer to cool off when that brat knocked it over!" Himiko complained bitterly, but thankfully, as a reliable adult, she didn't get angry with a teenager and simply tossed the satellite phone over.

"Hey, someone's looking for you."

Ryan took it, somewhat puzzled: "Is it on top?"

"I can't be bothered with them, I hung up on them a long time ago." Himiko waved her hand dismissively, then suddenly became serious.

"It's one of our own."

own people?

Ryan hesitated instead. He didn't want to have too much contact with the younger generation of the Firemoth, lest he get caught up in the power struggle. As the saying goes, it's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. This kind of thing is very troublesome.

Just as I was about to hang up, I heard a familiar voice on the receiver.

"Hey, hey, hey, honestly, why does the signal get so bad at times like this?"

Ryan was slightly taken aback by the lively tone.

Alicia?

Chapter Thirty-Seven: I Want to Be a Lawyer

Fighter jets roared, and countless helicopters landed all around, instantly turning the mountain village into daylight with searchlights.

Ryan was clearly taken aback. This was too much of a coincidence. He had just been about to look for Alicia when she called. If he didn't already know what kind of person she was, he would have thought there was some kind of conspiracy involved.

"Hey, hey, hey, I can hear you talking. Ignoring others is very impolite."

The microphone volume increased slightly, and Ryan blinked before finally bringing his ear closer.

"Hey, it's too noisy here. Let me find a quieter place."

As he walked, he gestured to Himiko, who immediately went to direct the operation, while Ryan himself headed towards the huge crater in the center of the village.

"Now that's settled, just tell me what's on your mind."

"It's nothing, I just called to congratulate you. I heard you defeated Adiedo, which really helped me a lot." Alicia's voice was still cheerful as she answered herself, "I was supposed to cut short my vacation to come to Japan to help out, so I owe you a favor. I'll treat you to a meal next time."

Ryan's lips twitched, and he didn't know where to begin complaining. Using satellite communication to contact him just to congratulate a friend, this reason was too... too Alysia.

"Uh, thank you."

"We're friends, why be so polite? Besides..."

"Also, I wanted to ask why your vacation is so long, it's been more than a month."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, and Ryan could almost see the pink-clad girl scratching her head, trying to come up with a reason.

"Oh dear, don't pry. I was helping to eradicate the Honkai in Shenzhou, definitely not because there's so much delicious food here." Alicia's tone was like she was being coquettish, as if it had a magical power that instantly made people forget any thoughts of blaming her.

"I bet you're very busy. Maybe I shouldn't bother you any longer?"

Suddenly, she blurted out those words again, and Ryan vaguely heard a voice from across the room saying, "Miss, your noodles are ready."

This Alicia is really hard to keep up with.

Ryan rubbed his throbbing head and quickly called out, "Wait, I have something important to ask you."

"Business?"

In a noodle shop in Leicheng, Shenzhou, Alicia held the phone between her shoulder and chopsticks with a snap, swallowing hard as she looked at the noodles covered in red oil.

"Ryan, can you hurry up? I'm pretty busy right now."

Busy slurping noodles, huh!

Ryan gritted his teeth and went straight to the point: "You were the one who defeated the Second Herrscher, weren't you?"

“Yes, I should say I delivered the final blow.” Alicia skillfully used her chopsticks, picked up a few noodles, and gently blew on them. “The battle reports are all in the database, so don’t say I’m bragging.”