"But whether it was recipes or myths, they survived in the end." Himeko looked at the tablet in Irene's hand. "My original thought was that the recipes were recorded in stories to be passed down."
"But now it seems it's the other way around—the recipes became the carrier to pass down the stories."
"Either way is fine, right?" Kiana stretched her back, and then her somewhat weary eyes became sharp and capable. "Where do we start searching?"
"We analyze the myths, I suppose." Irene rested her chin on her hand. "However, I estimate it should probably be in the coastal area. After all, the name 'Jiuyou' is quite obvious."
"That makes sense."
"This is tasty, eh." Kiana stuffed various pastries into her mouth like she was swallowing dates whole, her cheeks bulging just like a hamster.
"Don't choke." Mei looked at Kiana with some helplessness. "You were full of motivation when we left, but the moment we got here, you reverted to your true form."
"It is Idiot Kiana, after all." Bronya also sighed, turning her head to look at Himeko. "Speaking of which, is it really here? The place names in Shenzhou's history have changed too many times; it must be hard to verify."
"Sigh, I know, I know." Himeko nodded, looking at the tablet in her hand with a bit of helplessness as well. "But this is information sent from the Shenzhou side, so the credibility should still be quite high."
"Mn, there shouldn't be a problem." Fu Hua, standing to the side, also nodded. "Although place names have undergone many evolutions and changes, there are traces to follow."
"Now, we just need to confirm it."
"If that's the case..." Mei nodded after seeing the two confirm it repeatedly, then proposed a guess. "Could it be in the sea?"
"We've searched on land for so long and haven't found anything suspicious. If it really is here, it seems it could only be in the sea."
Himeko nodded. "We know that, of course, but we also have to consider the geological changes over so many years, so we couldn't skip the land. But indeed, we didn't find anything."
"We'll talk about the issues in the sea later." Himeko took out her tablet. "After all, compared to the land, there really aren't many Honkai energy detectors in the sea."
"I estimate we'll have to search bit by bit when the time comes."
"Eh? Why?" Kiana tilted her head. "The more of those things, the better, right?"
"It's simple: cost control, plus it's unnecessary." Himeko shook her head. Honkai Beasts are almost never born in the sea, and even if they were, they would head directly for the shore.
After all, Honkai Beasts are born to destroy civilization. Since that is the case, sprinkling Honkai energy detectors all over the sea would be wasteful and difficult to maintain.
It is sufficient to deploy Honkai energy detectors only along the coast and in offshore waters. Therefore, large swathes of the ocean are in an unmonitored state.
Irene kept stuffing things into her mouth, yet miraculously, everyone could still understand her words. "So next, we have to map it out bit by bit to find Jiuyou."
"However, I think with the navigation capabilities of that time, even if it was far, it shouldn't be that far."
"Mn, that's right." Himeko nodded. "We have prepared equipment like portable Honkai energy detectors for underwater exploration."
"Who knows, if we're lucky, we might find it quickly. If our luck is bad, I'm afraid we'll have to search for a while. But that's just how archaeology missions are."
"Mn, so perhaps your luck, Kiana, can be of some help." Irene slightly pushed away the plate in front of her. With the increase in her physical fitness, she had indeed become able to eat much more.
After all, as physical fitness rises, more nutrition is needed to maintain one's state.
However, in terms of total volume, she only ate a little more than Himeko. The speed at which she ate, on the other hand, was inherited from Kallen. Heaven knows that when she used Kallen's Possession Card...
Along with the combat skills came various eating techniques. And right now, a certain guy inside her brain was also trying to snatch the controller.
[Wu~] Seeming to sense that Irene was referring to her, Kallen's voice drifted out from Irene's mind. [I really want to switch places with you right now, Irene. I haven't had such a big meal in a long, long time.]
[Absolutely not. With your appetite, my stomach would be stretched out.] Irene's mental entity turned its head and rolled its eyes at Kallen. [Besides, didn't I conjure up a whole table of dishes for you?]
Following Irene's gaze, a table had appeared in the empty plaza of the Palace of Consciousness, laden with all sorts of food.
They were all things Irene had just eaten. Just as Irene could construct scenes within the Palace of Consciousness, food was also possible. As for the taste, it relied purely on Irene's imagination.
The taste of things she had just eaten would be the most accurate. As for the quantity, there was no limit. At this moment, Kallen's cheeks were bulging just like a hamster's, exactly identical to Kiana.
[Mn, but I haven't eaten anything in so long.]
[Alright, stop making trouble, Kallen.] After saying one last sentence, Irene withdrew her attention from the Palace of Consciousness and pushed her plate slightly further away.
"Sorry, I ate a little too much today."
"It's fine, your appetite is only slightly larger than mine." Himeko shook her head. "Everyone should go back and rest for the night. Tomorrow morning, we start preparing for the search work. Be prepared for a long battle."
"If it takes too long, you three will go back and obediently attend class. Leave the rest to us."
"Eh? Doesn't that mean the credits...?" Hearing that they might be sent back, Kiana was initially discouraged, but then she thought about it—the reason she agreed so quickly was because of the massive amount of credits she owed.
"We will definitely still count them for you, but relatively speaking, they just won't be that high." Himeko spread her hands. "With your luck, why not pray a little?"
According to what she knew, Kiana's luck seemed to have always been quite good. She had heard from Bronya before that she would occasionally ask Kiana to help open treasure chests in games.
There was a high probability of getting good items. Although it was superstition, there was no harm in trying; it didn't cost anything anyway.
"Then let's go back." Irene nodded and returned to the previously booked hotel with the others. As for the boat, that would be left to Himeko.
Irene opened the room door. She was sharing a room with Himeko, but Himeko was currently negotiating issues regarding the boat and various equipment and hadn't returned yet.
Since she was going to rest soon anyway, Irene couldn't be bothered to turn on the lights. After entering the bathroom for a simple shower, she threw herself directly onto the bed.
Just like before, she projected her consciousness into the Palace of Consciousness. But before that, she set herself into a state of automatic cultivation of the Taixuan Sword Qi to expand her Honkai energy reserves and physical fitness.
Now that she had Mirror Sync, Honkai energy reserves were very important to her. After transforming, the Honkai energy reserves and physical fitness could stack.
It was just that previously, Irene's physical fitness and Honkai energy reserves were so small they were negligible. But as her main body's combat power gradually strengthened, the Possession Card would also be able to consistently provide sufficient enhancement.
Returning to the Palace of Consciousness, Irene didn't pay attention to Kallen, who was still eating at this moment, but instead found Lixue, who had been silent all along.
"Miss Lixue, I want to know more intelligence. Although this might remind you of past tragedies."
"Please rest assured, I understand." Lixue nodded. "But I do not know much either."
"You just need to help me delineate a rough area." Irene spread her hands, and a map appeared in her hand. "I know roughly that it is in this region."
"But as for where exactly, I might need you, Miss Lixue, to help point the way."
"Regrettably, I cannot help with this." Lixue shook her head. "You do not understand. At that time, it was already about the size of a mountain range. It is simply unrealistic for you to ask me to point out where it might have originally been."
"Tsk..." Irene clicked her tongue lightly. It seemed finding the location wouldn't be that simple. "Can you draw a rough area? Although there are no detectors in the sea..."
"But for something this big, any movement should have triggered a reaction from the entire ocean. If it really hadn't been discovered before, it must have stayed in the same spot without moving."
The original Chiyou's body size was sufficient to cause tsunamis along the coast just by walking in the sea. Not to mention a super-developed Chiyou that continued to grow.
If the opponent were moving, there should have been a reaction no matter what; Schicksal's efficiency wasn't that low. If tsunamis occurred frequently in an area, they would have sent detectors to check the situation regardless.
The greatest possibility was that the opponent hadn't moved at all, choosing instead to devour the seabed directly. And if Chiyou's body size was constantly increasing, it could fill that part of the space.
Only in this way was it possible to gradually grow without causing major tsunamis or similar situations. A rabbit doesn't eat the grass around its burrow, but Chiyou ate the rocks around its burrow directly.
And the depth of the ocean itself was the best screen. Only then could Chiyou have developed until the Honkai energy on its body and its size could no longer be concealed by the sea.
"In that case." Lixue pointed to the map and roughly delineated an area. "In the situation back then, there was no longer any need for a map. The opponent's body was simply too massive."
Irene glanced at the map, then looked curiously at Lixue again. "Mn, it's hard to understand just by talking. How about you tell us what it was actually like back then?"
"It's still early right now."
The situation of a Bubble Universe couldn't be applied to the Proper World, but it was good to master more intelligence. Besides, Irene was also very curious about what kind of terrifying growth Chiyou had achieved in Lixue's world.
Lixue nodded and began to recount the intelligence she knew regarding that Chiyou. That Chiyou actually didn't have any so-called movement; it seemed to simply stand up from the sea.
Like an immovable fortress, it stood there enduring all their attacks, then counterattacked with the purest Honkai energy bombardments.
The Honkai energy overflowing from Chiyou directly spawned large batches of Honkai Beasts to attack them.
An unshakeable absolute fortress. Attempting a decapitation tactic was useless because Chiyou itself, as the core, was that immovable fortress itself.
"Sigh, I really don't know what exactly the situation was over there with you guys." After listening to Lixue's description, Irene admitted that indeed, if Chiyou really grew to that extent, defeating it would be almost impossible.
Originally, defeating Chiyou involved a bit of luck. With the protagonist team pointing the way, they were able to use a precise bombardment to directly shatter the Honkai energy core,
causing Chiyou to stop moving immediately. But in Lixue's world, let alone finding a chance to enter, even if they entered, the high-Honkai energy environment inside wasn't a place humans could stay.
In that case, precise bombardment became empty talk. With full-scale fire bombardment, Chiyou's size and the ultimate physical defense brought by high Honkai energy were enough to be called an unfalling wall.
And Chiyou didn't just take the beating. That guy was practically covered in cannon barrels; a casual strike was a Honkai energy bombardment far exceeding the strongest main cannons of humanity at that time.
Even when she and her Master joined forces to use the Sword God, they couldn't shake it. And she had taken a direct hit from a Honkai energy bombardment to protect her Master, who had entered a weakened state.
Her memory ended there; she wasn't clear about what happened afterward.
"Looking at it this way, that Chiyou, as a Vipralopa-class Honkai Beast, was probably developing towards the Planetary-class." Irene crossed her arms.
"Planetary-class?" Pardo tilted her head. She was very familiar with the Vipralopa-class; the Honkai Beast Elysia-nee fused with, and the Honkai Beast genes A-Mo fused with, were Vipralopa-class.
But what was this Planetary-class? She had never heard of it.
"It's harder to explain this; I can only tell you the concept." Irene looked at everyone. "However, the ability is actually in the classification name. Planetary-class: a Honkai Beast possessing abilities on a stellar scale is a Planetary-class Honkai Beast."
The so-called Vipralopa-class Honkai Beast refers to a Honkai Beast that, apart from normal Honkai energy accumulation, possesses a unique method to rapidly accumulate Honkai energy.
For example, Vishnu, which makes up part of Theresa's genes, is a Vipralopa-class Honkai Beast. And Elysia's Maheśvara is also a Vipralopa-class Honkai Beast.
As for the Planetary-class Honkai Beast, it hasn't actually appeared in Honkai Impact 3rd, but comes from Jhana in the Honkai Gakuen 2 worldview.
And just as its name 'Planetary-class' implies, its combat power can be directly benchmarked against a planet. Just in terms of size, Jhana is fully 4,000 kilometers long.
Its attack power is such that, even in a weakened state, merely the Honkai energy leaking into the water can destroy Divine Machines. Its shockwaves, even when deflected by the Brilliance Covenant, are terrifying Honkai energy bombardments capable of piercing the moon.
Of course, the Chiyou in Lixue's story naturally wasn't that tough. It just showed that perhaps it was developing in that direction. Compared to a true Planetary-class, it was still far from enough.
Moreover, the situation of a World Bubble cannot be applied to the Proper World. The Chiyou in their world wouldn't have this opportunity or time.
"Mn, that really is terrifying." Irene crossed her arms, looking at the approximate area Lixue had drawn. Although the range was still large, it was better than nothing. Luck would have to cover the rest.
"However, it won't have the chance to grow to that extent again." Irene put away the map. "Since it could develop to that extent, we will strangle it directly in the cradle."
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