The situation was highly unexpected. After reaching 200% Honkai Energy Adaptability, Chen Luo did not receive the expected reward from the Will of Honkai, such as becoming a Herrscher or something similar.
Instead, he seemed to have gained another special ability—handcrafting Honkai Crystals.
However, the crystal in Chen Luo's hand was so small it could hardly be called a Honkai Crystal; it was more of a prototype.
After spending some time, the crystal in Chen Luo's hand grew to about half the size of a fist.
"I wonder if this efficiency is high or low," Chen Luo muttered quietly, looking at the purple crystal in his hand.
"Forget the efficiency for a moment—how did you even manage to handcraft this thing?" The Herrscher of Sentience stared in astonishment at the crystal in Chen Luo's hand.
Her face was filled with disbelief.
Precisely because she was a Herrscher, she understood how utterly absurd it was for Chen Luo to handcraft Honkai Crystals like this.
The key point was that Chen Luo had actually succeeded in making one.
"I just casually made it. Suddenly, I feel this ability might be even more amazing than obtaining a Herrscher core," Chen Luo mused, stroking his chin.
Honkai energy was truly a remarkably perfect resource. Apart from its corrosive properties, it excelled in all other aspects.
As someone with 200% Honkai Energy Adaptability, Honkai energy in Chen Luo's hands simply didn't know the meaning of corrosion.
This skill of condensing Honkai Crystals from the ambient enriched Honkai energy could help Chen Luo quickly produce clean energy.
Moreover, if Chen Luo ever wanted to create puppets in the future—setting aside the body puppets for now—the ordinary puppets would still need an energy core. And this Honkai Crystal was perfectly suited to serve as an energy core.
Chen Luo had seized a few Honkai Crystals from ME Corp, but they were scarce.
Although those Honkai Crystals were slightly larger, Chen Luo had only been condensing this one for a short while. He could continue to grow it larger.
"I have a feeling that reaching 200% Honkai Energy Adaptability shouldn't only have this minor effect," the Herrscher of Sentience analyzed after her brief astonishment.
Although handcrafting Honkai Crystals was outrageous, the fact that Chen Luo could use Primogems to exchange for others' talents was already absurd enough.
"I think so too. But even if this is the only effect, it's definitely worth the effort. I'm investing time, but what I'm gaining are Honkai Crystals. This conveniently solves the problem of energy cores for puppet manufacturing."
"Additionally, it also means I can use Honkai energy in other worlds from now on." At this point, Chen Luo couldn't help but glance at the Herrscher of Sentience.
Perhaps due to the spatiotemporal rift, the Herrscher of Sentience had undergone some changes in this world, allowing her to use spiritual energy. But Honkai energy was more effective in certain situations, such as its corrosive properties.
Holding a Honkai Crystal and absorbing its Honkai energy could help the Herrscher of Sentience recover her strength faster and increase her endurance.
Moreover, weapons like the dual pistol form of the Judgment of Shamash didn't require bullets; they needed Honkai energy. But since their world had no Honkai energy, Honkai Crystals could be used here.
All in all, this was a huge win.
And then... Chen Luo looked at the palm-sized Honkai Crystal in his hand, instinctively made some subtle adjustments to it, and then hurled it with force.
The Honkai Crystal landed inside the window of a small two-story house.
"Boom!"
A violent explosion erupted from the house. The two-story building was completely shattered, and the blast even affected the neighboring houses.
With that single throw, Chen Luo's "Demolition Series" achievement progress increased by three points.
"This thing can be used as a grenade, and its power is far greater than a regular grenade," Chen Luo said with a laugh.
The moment the Honkai Crystal landed in Chen Luo's hand, his Furniture Mastery took effect.
Chen Luo now possessed another special skill.
[Honkai Crystal Crafting and Usage Mastery]
Of course, that's what it was called, but this ability wasn't officially listed on his talent panel because it was essentially still part of Furniture Mastery.
"Although the current situation didn't unfold as expected, I haven't suffered any losses. Let's head back to The Nest first." Chen Luo waved to the Herrscher of Sentience.
Then, Void Archives in his hand, which had returned to its dual-pistol form, instantly transformed into a giant mech, lifting Chen Luo into the air.
Using the Judgment of Shamash earlier had indeed inflicted significant injuries on Chen Luo, but his Honkai Energy Adaptability was there to mitigate it. Combined with the fact that it was an incomplete Judgment of Shamash and the healing from the Tricolor Dango, Chen Luo was now basically free of any lingering effects.
As for the mech... although Chen Luo had never laid hands on the Third Divine Key, he had once touched the Project Bunny and formed a deep friendship with it.
Now, with the help of Void Archives, Chen Luo has successfully constructed a Project Bunny.
This time, Chen Luo unusually did not use a Teleport Waypoint or the bar to return directly to The Nest. Instead, he floated back slowly, partly to enjoy the Project Bunny's service and partly to absorb Honkai energy and condense it into Honkai Crystals.
Under Chen Luo's conscious guidance, countless purple light particles, invisible to others, continuously gathered in the Project Bunny's hand, slowly forming an irregular crystal.
At the same time, Chen Luo instantly summoned back his Vision.
Chen Luo had left his Vision in the Honkai energy reactor at ME Corp for some time. Later, someone—he didn't know who—had taken it for research.
Since it had been soaking in concentrated Honkai energy solution, Chen Luo never retrieved it.
But now that Chen Luo could gather Honkai energy himself, what need did he have for concentrated Honkai energy solution?
Besides, even if the Herrscher of Sentience held it, the efficiency would be higher than leaving it in the concentrated Honkai energy solution.
The tools at Anti-Entropy had been rendered obsolete.
Upon arriving back at the base of the building, it had already taken on a completely different appearance.
The building's metal shell was originally quite sturdy, and later, Raven had performed multiple reinforcements on it, making it even more secure.
Of course, while reinforcing it, she hadn't forgotten to leave a few small openings for the children to pass through.
However, Chen Luo didn't use those openings to enter; instead, he flew straight up.
When Chen Luo returned to "The Nest," he saw Raven watching over a group of children.
In the center of the children were the two new kids Raven had brought back.
There weren't many barriers between the children, and when Chen Luo selected survivors to bring into The Nest, he had specifically asked the tiny version of the Herrscher of Sentience to help pinpoint children with relatively upright moral values.
The reason for this was that Chen Luo had indeed found another survivor but did not bring them back to the survivor base.
Whether human nature is inherently good or evil at birth is a question for another time, but the tiny version, using her Heart Demon Essence ability, sensed a significant amount of malice in that person, enough to prove they weren't a good individual.
For such people, Chen Luo wouldn't go out of his way to eliminate them, but he also wouldn't bring them back to this hard-established survivor base.
Chen Luo felt that this atmosphere of mutual support was excellent. If one bad apple were to spoil the whole bunch, it would be troublesome.
"How about it? Feeling a sense of accomplishment?" After transforming Void Archives back into a pair of gauntlets and wearing them, Chen Luo approached Raven.
"A sense of accomplishment? Yes, there is. After working hard for so long, The Nest finally has a proper form," Raven replied. Even after Chen Luo approached, she didn't immediately turn her gaze to him, instead continuing to watch the children.
This showed that after spending time with Chen Luo, Raven had let down some of her basic guard. On the other hand, it might also be that seeing these children had stirred some emotions within her.
[Ding! commission completed]
[The Nest]: Help Raven establish a safe survivor base in the dangerous Nagazora City, overrun with zombies and Honkai beasts.
Reward: 500 Primogems + [Raven Favorability +30] + Random Item
Difficulty: 3-Stars
Hearing this prompt, Chen Luo nodded with satisfaction.
It wasn't in vain that he had made a point of returning; this commission was finally complete.
According to Chen Luo's estimation, completing this commission required meeting two conditions.
One was having a secure enough base, and the current base was certainly secure enough, especially since Chen Luo had almost completely wiped out the surrounding zombies and Honkai beasts.
The second should be having a sufficient number of people.
At first, Chen Luo wasn't sure, but now it seemed the requirement was having more than 10 people.
This coincidentally was also the requirement for completing the [Apocalypse Redeemer] achievement.
"By the way, Raven, now that The Nest is built, what are your plans? Have you thought about how you'll handle them in the future?" Chen Luo pointed to the children in front of them, who were gradually accepting the two new children.
"Maybe I'll save up for a few years, buy a private island villa, and take them all to live there? But their Honkai dependency is a problem. At least for now, I can't take them out," Raven said with a sigh.
"Listen to me, forget about buying some private island villa. Wouldn't it be better to establish an orphanage somewhere else? Rename it the Raven Orphanage," Chen Luo suggested earnestly.
"Why would I establish an orphanage?" Raven shot a glance at Chen Luo.
"The main point isn't whether to establish an orphanage or not; it's that a private island villa seems rather uncertain. What if the sea level rises dramatically one day or something? Wouldn't the private island be submerged?"
"What are the chances of such an extremely unlikely event? You, my friend, just like to fret over imaginary troubles."
"..." Looking at this stubborn Raven who completely refused to listen to advice, Chen Luo could only think: you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.
Afterward, Chen Luo turned his gaze back to the group of children.
Chen Luo was, after all, someone who had helped build the entire "Nest." Moreover, the number of children he had rescued alone, or jointly with Raven, definitely exceeded the number Raven had rescued by herself.
To say that Chen Luo had no concern whatsoever for the children in this survivor base after establishing it would be impossible.
Actually, Chen Luo had also considered suggesting that Raven send these children to St. Freya Academy.
But whether St. Freya Academy would accept these children was one problem. Additionally, these children were very important to Raven.
Sending all these children to St. Freya Academy would almost sever the connection between Raven and them. Raven herself, being a World Serpent agent and a mercenary, had an inherently delicate identity.
For Raven, giving her a more steadfast hope and belief might be more important than giving her money.
Besides, the children brought to The Nest were all good kids, so there was no need to worry about raising any ungrateful individuals.
"So, Raven, I have two suggestions. I wonder if you'd like to hear them," Chen Luo suddenly said.
"Hmm, what whimsical ideas do you have now?" Raven turned her head to look at Chen Luo.
"Both of my suggestions are about these children. Want to hear them?"
"Go ahead then. I happen to have nothing to do right now," Raven nodded.
"The first suggestion: I can help you find a home for these children. What do you think about St. Freya Academy? I'm on pretty good terms with the Principal there," Chen Luo asked.
Entrusting them to St. Freya Academy was actually a very reliable idea, provided that one ignored Raven herself.
Just look at how Himeko and Theresa were willing to accept Raiden Mei, a Herrscher they had almost never met before. This shows that St. Freya Academy is different from those flashy organizations like Schicksal and Anti-Entropy.
Moreover, St. Freya Academy is a school that trains Valkyries. These incomplete Stigma awakeners should receive good care at St. Freya Academy, both in terms of treatment and training.
And even if Theresa couldn't help them purely out of regard for Chen Luo, Chen Luo could offer something else in exchange.
Or he could simply sponsor them; after all, Chen Luo had collected quite a bit of gold.
"You mean that Valkyrie school?" Raven's heart stirred slightly.
Raven had also heard of this school.
In all fairness, the school might be good, and there was Chen Luo's guarantee.
But if they were really sent to St. Freya Academy, she would probably never see them again.
Visiting would also be quite difficult, given Raven's sensitive identity.
Of course, it was also possible that World Serpent might use this as an opportunity to have Raven infiltrate St. Freya Academy as a spy.
Don't say it isn't possible—it really could happen.
After all, St. Freya Academy currently housed two Herrschers.
"What's the other suggestion?" Raven instinctively didn't immediately agree to this suggestion.
If she really had a choice, Raven didn't want to choose this option because she didn't quite trust St. Freya Academy.
This was the wariness every mercenary should have.
"The second suggestion: Raven, would you be interested in purchasing some Honkai Crystals?" Chen Luo opened his hand.
There, a purple crystal lay quietly in his palm.