Following Himeko's suggestion, the Starry Sky Expeditionary Force headed toward the platform in the support module.
The reasons varied, but Himeko was absolutely certain.
Once Herta detected the anomaly, she would undoubtedly rush to assist.
The train could only dock at the platform upon entering the space station, and the area was spacious with low population density, making it suitable for engaging the colossal Doomsday Beast in a drawn-out battle.
"...The train hasn't arrived yet."
Gazing at the empty platform, Dan Heng's voice carried a hint of gravity and an inescapable worry.
The latter was largely due to the two gray-haired individuals.
It was as if they had... well, no, these two genuinely had mental issues.
They hadn't settled down the entire way to the platform. Stelle swung her baseball bat, smashing and tapping at everything in sight, occasionally prying loose parts from equipment.
If it weren't for the fact that the equipment was already damaged due to the Legion's invasion, Dan Heng would never have stood by and watched his future teammates vandalize the space station's property.
But Stelle didn't stop at random destruction—she gleefully collected fuses and other components, muttering to herself, "Crystals!" "Hehe, pretty crystals!" "You were born to be devoured by your big sister~!"
Caelus's episodes were less frequent compared to Stelle's, but that didn't mean his mental state was any more stable.
On the contrary, when Caelus had an episode, it was a full-blown crisis!
One so severe that even someone as composed as Dan Heng couldn't handle it!
For instance, he would stack boxes and stools to reach high places, painstakingly use a yo-yo to hook potted plants from the upper walls of the space station, and pluck a handful of leaves and soil.
When passing through the waste disposal area, he would dig out pungent trash bags, leftover food, half-finished bubble tea, and discarded drinks.
Finally, as if completing a challenging puzzle, he would meticulously mix the leftover food, spoiled-smelling beverages, leaves, and soil in a specific sequence.
Then, with a beaming smile, he would gaze at the indescribable concoction, murmuring things like, "This amount of crystals was worth the effort," and other phrases Dan Heng couldn't comprehend.
He would then plunge his hand into the unnameable mixture, grab a handful, and squeeze it tightly, leaving Dan Heng's mind reeling.
However, the observant Dan Heng noticed that despite handling garbage, dirt, and foul-smelling drinks, Caelus's hands remained completely dry and free of residue.
When he released his grip, the unnameable substances slipped through his fingers, leaving his palms clean and tidy.
Both Stelle and Caelus had mentioned "crystals," which piqued Dan Heng's curiosity.
But in his eyes, those items were clearly just mixed garbage and scrap parts.
To determine whether the issue lay with Stelle and Caelus or with himself, Dan Heng braved the disgust and took a close sniff of Caelus's unnameable creation.
The stench was overwhelming—no further explanation needed!
The odor nearly triggered a physical reaction in Dan Heng, confirming that the problem wasn't with him.
Recalling how Caelus's hands remained spotless after handling the mixture, Dan Heng even dipped his finger into the garbage blend to verify.
And then...
He washed his hands ten times while running away!
Case closed.
The problem was with these two!
Given the urgency of the situation and time constraints, Dan Heng didn't delve further into Stelle and Caelus's conditions. The top priority now was to stop the Doomsday Beast.
In Dan Heng's eyes, Caelus, who seemed to have lost his mind, was equally surprised that the system had even stitched over the puzzle treasure chests from the Star Rail world.
Find the puzzle fragments and piece them together to obtain the treasure chest.
Moreover, due to Aha messing up some functions, the ways to obtain this type of treasure chest weren't limited to just "puzzles"—other "mini-games" had also been derived.
From Dan Heng and March 7th's horrified expressions and repeated attempts to stop him, Caelus could somewhat guess what those fragments appeared as in others' eyes. But expecting him to give up crystals just because of a mere difference in perception was clearly impossible.
After all, in his eyes, those things were just puzzle fragments and crystals
Crystals are so shiny!
"I'm going to take a look over there."
While everyone was on high alert, March 7th ran toward the edge of the platform, from where she could see the situation outside the space station.
"Roar~!"
At that moment, a thunderous roar erupted alongside a hurricane-like gust.
A gigantic dragon-like creature stretched out its silver-black skeletal frame, its ink-blue membranous wings gliding through the depths of space.
"Is this the Doomsday Beast?"
Caelus stared at the monster outside the viewport, his expression gradually shifting to "what the f*ck."
There was a difference between enemies in the game and monsters that existed in reality.
Taking Honkai Impact 3rd as an example, according to the lore, even the stunted Chariot-class Honkai Beasts were at least 10 meters tall, while the more typical ones were several dozen meters. The Honkai Emperor, the pinnacle of the lower-tier Honkai Beasts, stood a full 100 meters tall.
And above them, the Emperor-class and Judgment-class were several hundred meters tall, yet in the game, they appeared only slightly larger than the Valkyries.
The same applied to the Doomsday Beast. In the game, it seemed only about ten meters in size, but in reality, even without considering its wingspan, its main body was several hundred meters long!
Its streamlined shell gave off a sharp impression, contradicting its massive size yet feeling anything but clumsy.
A truly worthy weapon against celestial bodies!
"It actually chased us here."
A crimson figure emerged from the platform's elevator passage—it was Himeko, who had rushed from the main control section to join the others.
It seemed she hadn't been wrong. Stelle and Caelus were key to this incident, and the Doomsday Beast was targeting them.
"So what if it's a bit bigger?"
Caelus stared at the Doomsday Beast for a few moments, silently extended his clenched right fist, raised his middle finger, and beckoned: "Come at me!"
March 7th, who had just drawn her composite longbow, snapped her head toward Caelus, eyes wide.
Are you that brave?
That was the look one gives a tiny ant prancing around in front of a dragon. Seeing this, Caelus immediately panicked
"Don't look at me, you're the dragon!"
"March, aren't you here to deal damage? Hurry up and attack!"
Caelus's words caused the Six-Phase Ice arrow gathering between March 7th's slender fingers to instantly dissipate.
"Roar—!"
The dark matter-driven core engine in its chest emitted an eerie black glow as the Doomsday Beast tore through the support section's outer protective shield with its claws and dove rapidly toward the taunting follower.
"Watch out!"
A feigned cry of alarm. In reality, Seele had begun gathering her strength the moment Caelus made his provocation.
The instant the Doomsday Beast launched its attack, Seele stomped the ground.
Entering a quantum state akin to a phantom sea spirit, she collapsed the probability at the last moment and pushed Caelus aside, narrowly avoiding the rapidly descending dragon-like behemoth.
"Help me, other me~!"
Seele once again gathered energy to strike at the Stigmata.
Auto-battle, activate!
"Too slow...!?"
Taking control of the body, Dark Seele immediately voiced her complaint—she had been separated from Seele for a full three hours, fifteen minutes, and thirty-four seconds!
But before she could finish grumbling, she was left dumbfounded by the sight of a colossal shadow blotting out the sky as it charged toward her.
[???]
[What's going on?]
How had the enemy gone from small fry to this disproportionately massive monster in just three hours?
Amidst her shock and confusion, Dark Seele sensed White Seele's fear through their mental link and clicked her tongue in annoyance.
Channeling the power of the Stigmata, she concentrated it into Obsidian Cut. The gleaming blade of her scythe transformed into a crimson moon, sweeping forward like a dark red tide.
[Other Seele, you don't actually expect me to take this thing down, do you?]
It wasn't that Dark Seele was afraid of the fight—well, maybe just a little.
If this Doomsday Beast were placed in the Honkai Impact 3rd universe, it would be, at the very least, at the peak of the Judgment-level, and nine times out of ten, it would qualify as an Apocalypse-level threat.
Even if she could fully control and unleash the Stigmata's power—which she couldn't, as she could only briefly tap into a fraction of it in this body—she still wouldn't stand a chance against this thing!
The scythe strike, which concentrated most of the power Dark Seele could currently muster, didn't harm the Doomsday Beast, but it was enough to alter its diving trajectory.
[Other me, just hold on a little longer. Reinforcements who can handle it will be here soon.]
With its charge redirected, the Doomsday Beast descended from the sky and landed heavily on the empty platform.
The impact echoed like the shattering of heaven and earth, its terrifying weight causing the entire support module to tilt slightly!
"Daring to lay a hand on my little bro? I, the Galactic Baseballer, will pound you to your knees!"
The title that popped up from her "subconscious" felt fitting to Stelle. She swung her baseball bat, shimmering with a pale blue light, and smashed it forward.
Her courage was commendable, but the effect was minimal—after all, the size difference between them was just too great. Stelle's bat struck the Doomsday Beast's fingernail.
The result was like an ant trying to mate with an elephant—no matter how hard it tried, it was useless.
Stelle was sent flying backward by the Doomsday Beast's backhanded swipe.
"So strong, can't beat it. Caelus, it's all yours!"
After tumbling twice on the ground, Stelle shook her head as she got up.
"Such deep sibling affection!"
Even in such a situation, March 7th couldn't resist quipping.
Just then, Dan Heng, who had been brandishing his spear, suddenly retreated. Seeing this, March 7th was momentarily stunned, then seemed to realize something. A smirk curled her lips as she drew her bow and released the string.
"Watch this~!"
The moment the Six-Phase Ice arrow left the bow, a blinding light erupted in the starry expanse. A blazing golden energy beam descended fiercely through the area the Doomsday Beast had broken through.
It was Himeko's orbital cannon!
"Hehe, Himeko and I are so amazing!"
Watching the explosion caused by the combination of her arrow and Himeko's orbital cannon, along with the Doomsday Beast's agonized roar, March 7th proudly placed her hands on her hips.