Honkai Impact: Starting from Wandering with Kiana

"Cortana, where is Jiuxiao?! How am I supposed to find him in this huge place?! Your security measures here are too good, I can't smell Jiuxiao!"

“Miss Yae Sakura, relax. I know you’re in a hurry, but being anxious won’t change anything. I’ve already notified Jiu Xiao, and he’s on his way here.”

Cortana had barely finished speaking when the elevator arrived. As the elevator doors opened fully, Jiuxiao arrived just in time.

"Yae Sakura, are you sure Himeko-maru has disappeared?" "Kyusho, have you seen Himeko-maru?!"

"I didn't see her. I haven't seen Himeko since yesterday." "I'm sure, I can't sense her presence anymore."

Jiuxiao and Yae Sakura were frantically comparing their respective intelligence reports.

After confirming that Jiuxiao had not seen Himeko, Yae Sakura became even more anxious and ran away as fast as she could through the elevator shaft.

Jiuxiao then had Cortana take over the global network and begin searching for traces of Himeko.

Thinking back to the question that Hishimaru asked him yesterday, Jiuxiao felt a little uneasy.

Chapter 160 Preparing for War

At the Destiny headquarters, Otto stared at the monitor with a gloomy face, while Fu Hua on the monitor remained expressionless.

Looking at the intelligence report that Fu Hua had just submitted, Otto put his hand to his forehead and glanced at Fu Hua sideways.

"My old friend, your report to me said that Himeko is completely harmless, just an ordinary person..."

I trusted you so much, and now you come to me saying she's the Herrscher of Corruption! And that she's in an abnormal state, her whereabouts are unknown, and her danger level is unknown!

Faced with Otto's questioning, Fu Hua adjusted her glasses. She realized she was clearly not suited to lying; even a simple lie had caused her such a huge problem.

Fu Hua said firmly, "I believe in Himeko, she's a good girl. Besides... she has Dr. Mei's restrictions on her, so she shouldn't be too much of a threat."

Otto looked at Fu Hua's resolute expression and couldn't help but laugh. "Believe? My old friend, the Void Archives record that someone once tried to believe in the Herrscher, but what was the result? The result was the loss of a continent!"

Fu Hua took off her glasses and stared intently at Otto. "If Void Archives can tell you this, did it also tell you not to mention it to me?"

"Alright, alright, let's not talk about this anymore. After all, my Soul Steel Body can't withstand someone's Inch Force - Heaven Opening." Otto raised his hands, no longer discussing this topic.

"However, Fu Hua, I must tell you one thing: the reason I can try to believe that K423 can create miracles is because I have already planned everything! It's because the Herrschers of our era are different from those of yours!"

"A Herrscher whose legacy dates back to your time! She once utterly destroyed your civilization, and now she's about to turn her attention to mine. The Herrscher of Corruption...tsk, we don't have the defensive capabilities of your era."

"This time I will take action." Knowing the seriousness of the problem, Fu Hua was no longer going to hide it.

But it was clear that Otto wasn't buying it; he knew Fu Hua's current situation very well.

"How many more times can your Feather Dust burn? Right now, you're so weak that even Durandal might not be able to secure a victory against you."

Otto hung up the call with Fu Hua; he didn't have time to talk to her about these things now.

"Your Majesty Bishop."

"Amber, disseminate the information about the Herrscher of Corruption. Mobilize all branches and hold all weapons bases around the world at all costs. Issue air raid warnings for any place where the Herrscher of Corruption has been seen, and have all people take refuge in air raid shelters. Schicksal is on high alert. The war has begun."

As Otto issued his orders, the world's largest organization began to operate at full speed. Schicksal's anti-Honkai squad forcefully took over the military operations of various countries.

Schicksal also disseminated the message to all organizations openly fighting against the Honkai. Otto wouldn't have been so concerned about other Herrschers, but with the Herrscher of Corruption, he had to prepare for the worst. An individual might be able to withstand the Herrscher of Corruption's offensive, but a civilization couldn't afford to...

----------

Every minute the news about Himeko arrived was a minute later, and the torment in everyone's hearts intensified.

Although Cortana had taken over the global network, she couldn't find any information about Himeko. The more she tried to find out, the more something felt wrong. Cortana could clearly sense that not only the network, but also she herself seemed to be experiencing problems.

As the scope of her search expanded, Cortana gradually realized that she was trapped in a logical loop, and her thinking was becoming fixed and oriented.

She seems to be trapped in the internet...

After several unsuccessful attempts to break free, Cortana quickly began to split herself apart, but...

"We discovered it a little too late... Cortana."

A voice resounded from Cortana's mind, and then garbled areas began to appear on Cortana's body.

The speed of the data corruption far exceeded Cortana's expectations; in less than a second, Cortana was completely corrupted by the garbled text.

Finally, Cortana looked at the red and white scarlet fox spirit that had appeared in front of her and sighed helplessly.

"Well, I gave it away for nothing..."

----------

Inside the operations room of St. Freya Academy.

stab-

With a crackling sound, Jiu Xiao removed Cortana's physical body from the back of her neck. But the chip had already turned completely black, burned out due to overload.

"Cortana...Cortana?!" Jiuxiao called out Cortana in a panic, but no one responded.

"Cortana, she..." Kiana covered her mouth in disbelief; it all happened so suddenly.

Mei and Kiana had tears welling up in their eyes. Cortana was their inseparable family, but now...

"This is the power of erosion; she can switch between data entities and physical forms, eroding and manipulating data networks... Cortana may already be..."

Fu Hua carefully examined Cortana's chip, which showed obvious signs of erosion.

“I suggest that this chip be destroyed immediately, otherwise the Herrscher of Corruption may very well take the opportunity to invade St. Freya Academy.”

"Impossible. Destroying the chip would mean Cortana's complete demise. I can't just give up on Cortana like this, and... I won't give up on Himeko either." Jiuxiao directly stored the chip into his Stigmata Space, which would be enough to block the Herrscher of Corruption's attack.

After installing Cortana's main chip, Jiu Xiao gritted his teeth, suppressing his anger and sorrow, and continued to analyze the situation.

"If Himeko wanted to infiltrate St. Freya Academy, she could have done it long ago; there was no need to wait until now. The most likely explanation is that Himeko has already been controlled by the Honkai Will... and the fact that she's only attacking now shows that she's still holding on!"

At this moment, Bronya walked over and said with a serious expression, "The Herrscher of Corruption has launched a full-scale attack, and the number of Honkai incidents around the world is increasing. Also, our communications with headquarters have been cut off."

"The Herrscher of Corruption is launching a full-scale attack?! Then... has Himeko-maru completely disappeared?" Yae Sakura muttered absentmindedly.

"We'll find her alive or dead! Sakura, don't give up so easily." Kallen supported the swaying Yae Sakura and comforted her.

Theresa stood on the Judas figurehead, patted the table to calm everyone down and stop arguing, and gestured for everyone to look at her.

"There's no time for grief. The Herrscher has arrived. This time, it's not a massive collapse like before. It's an invisible war."

"Iserlin, Himeko, and Bronya... construct a defensive network as quickly as possible and search for the location of the Herrscher of Corruption. Furthermore, if you cannot construct a defensive network, completely disrupt and destroy it!"

"Nine Heavens, Kiana, Glowing Flame, Kallen, and the rest of the combat unit, be ready for battle at any time. Whether it's a potential Honkai Beast attack, a ranged weapon strike, or even an aerial interception mission to other parts of the world... and once the Herrscher of Corruption appears, you must kill her as quickly as possible!"

"Yae Sakura, Mei, Judah, and Fu Hua, come and assist me in analyzing the battle situation and preparing the logistics."

"And xxx, xxx and others, do their best to defend the academy's laboratories, Honkai reactors and equipment depots, these places must not be captured by the Herrscher of Corruption."

As Theresa issued one order after another, St. Freya Academy began to operate in full swing, and everyone was now prepared to fight the Honkai to the very last step.

Chapter 161 The Fall of Anti-Entropy, Global Connection

Inverse entropy.

Upon receiving the message from Destiny, Anti-Entropy immediately convened an emergency meeting, where the holographic projections of Anti-Entropy executives gathered together.

"Aida, with your computing power fully activated, are you confident you can stop her?" Walter asked the pink-haired girl with heterochromia beside him.

Aida shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, I wasn't activated until the previous civilization was completely destroyed... The Herrscher of Corruption's attack destroyed a lot of data, causing a break in the civilization's development. As a result, I didn't install a defense system corresponding to the Herrscher of Corruption."

"So...can you pinpoint her location?"

"I've calculated that there are six-digit network interfaces that have shown traces of the Herrscher of Corruption, but I dare not investigate further. In the data space, no one is her match, unless she is willing to manifest in the physical world, even I can't do anything about it."

The previous civilization sacrificed many Prometheus-type warriors and a Fusion Warrior to lure her into a trap and strangle her. But this time, her purpose is clear, and the bait tactic is no longer effective.

Halfway through her speech, warning messages kept popping up in front of Aida.

"It seems the Herrscher of Corruption has discovered us. I'll try my best to delay her attack. Welt, destroy all the mechs in the hangar..." Ada's figure disappeared from everyone's sight.

As soon as Aida left, an enraged Tesla slammed his fist on the table.

"Damn it, where did this Herrscher of Corruption come from?! How can a being wiped out by the previous civilization still be alive?!"

“Alright, Tesla, there’s no point in thinking about this. Cocolia, you know the situation now, activate the self-destruct sequence for all the mechs!” Einstein said to Cocolia, whose face was grim.

"I will, but not now..."

Cocolia's face was now extremely grim. Welt's return had directly shifted the power in Cocolia's hands, and if she were to lose the mecha now, she would become just like Raiden Ryoma, merely someone who managed the money.

But Cocolia wasn't stupid; now was not the time to care about power.

"I activated the self-destruct program the moment the Herrscher of Corruption invaded. The cost was so high; I'd at least have to peel off a layer of her skin..."

Everyone tried to dissuade Cocolia, but she had made up her mind. Left with no other option, Welt led the way in destroying the mechs in headquarters; as for the ones Cocolia had hidden, Welt couldn't do anything about them.

The executive meeting ended, and shortly thereafter, the Herrscher of Corruption destroyed Anti-Entropy's communications, and Anti-Entropy's massive supercomputer, Aida, fell.

After moving all the children from the orphanage to her safe house, Cocolia stayed alone with all her tactical mechs.

Unfortunately, Cocolia ultimately failed to peel off a layer of skin from the Herrscher of Corruption by self-destructing her mecha. The moment the corruption offensive began, Cocolia completely lost control of her mecha.

He watched as rows of tactical mechs, their eyes glowing red, walked toward him.