On the vast, open sea, a speedboat tore across the surface. Irene, steering the vessel, glanced at Bronya beside her. "Still no clues?"
"None at all." Bronya shook her head. "There are no significant hollows in the underwater terrain, and no Honkai energy reactions have been detected."
"Is that so? Understood." Irene nodded. "How long until the next Honkai energy measurement point?"
The range of the Honkai energy detector was quite large. Even in the sea, as long as it could detect Honkai energy, they could be fairly certain there was something problematic down there.
At that point, they could investigate more carefully. Of course, there might also be some unexpected harvests. In past Schicksal archaeology missions, digging and digging often led to unearthing an Anti-Entropy secret base or a mechanical factory.
Then, what was originally a relaxed and pleasant archaeology mission would suddenly turn into an encounter battle between two factions. Such things were not unheard of.
"One minute remaining." Bronya glanced at the map. "Sister Irene, you should start decelerating now."
"I know, I know." After nodding, Irene began to slow the speedboat down. Originally, as an ordinary person, she naturally wouldn't know how to drive a boat.
But the Cat knew how. Although the Cat focused on agility and movement techniques, out of the necessity for 'restocking' and other needs, Pardofelis could operate basically all common means of transportation. Naturally, this included boats.
So, under the Cat's tutelage, Irene was able to handle it competently. After all, on the open sea, there was no fear of hitting anyone. One just had to be careful not to capsize. But the prerequisite for capsizing was either jerking the steering wheel violently or the sea surface being very rough.
As long as one paid attention to that, the probability of capsizing wasn't high. And even if it did flip, it didn't really matter. If the boat capsized, the worst case scenario was simply flipping it back over. With the strength of the few people here, such a thing was very simple.
The items on the boat were naturally waterproof. Schicksal's technology hadn't deteriorated to the point where they couldn't even achieve waterproofing.
Meanwhile, outside the cockpit, Kiana was draped over the railing. When they had first set out, she was full of interest, but barely a few hours later, she had already wilted.
"Water... water... water... Why is it all water? There's no activity at all." Kiana wore a look of utter boredom on her face. "And you won't even let me jump in for a swim. This isn't interesting at all."
"If you want to go in the water, just go." Himeko looked at Kiana and rolled her eyes. "We won't wait for you. If you think your swimming speed can keep up with the boat, then jump. I think you actually need a bit of exercise."
"Um, forget it then." Kiana hurriedly shook her head. She only thought it was boring seeing water everywhere; she didn't actually want to swim.
Although Kiana could swim—and as someone possessing the Kaslana Family bloodline, her motor nerves had always been well-developed—keeping up with a boat was another matter. Why swim after a boat when you could sit on it?
She wasn't a masochist.
"Actually, that is indeed a good way to exercise." Fu Hua, who had been standing at the bow observing the situation, heard the commotion behind her and nodded in agreement.
"But now is not the time for such things."
"Right you are." Irene gradually brought the boat to a stop. "Kiana, toss the detector down. And when you throw it, say a prayer. We've wasted almost the entire morning with zero discoveries."
When Irene drove the boat, she had naturally been steering them, intentionally or not, in the direction Lixue had delineated the previous night. But the range Lixue had marked was still too large.
They had wasted a morning without any gains, but Irene wasn't panicked. It should roughly be in this area anyway; if they searched slowly, they would find it eventually.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Kiana nodded and skillfully tossed the detector into the water. After a moment, the detector sank rapidly due to its added weight, while Irene watched the readings on her end.
However, the detector's screen remained perfectly calm. Just as everyone thought there would be no harvest this time either, the detector suddenly emitted a beeping sound.
"Bingo~" Irene looked at the screen. "We have a clue. There's a Honkai energy reaction down there. There's likely something below. If I'm not guessing wrong, it might be Jiuyou."
"Found it at last?" Kiana immediately leaned over the railing to look at the waters below. "That wasn't easy. I'm so hungry; how about we eat first before going down?"
"Bear with it for a while. Eat some biscuits to pad your stomach first; you can't eat a full meal before swimming." Irene stretched her waist and walked out of the cockpit. "Wait a moment, I'm going to transform first."
As she spoke, Irene took out Pardo's card from her pocket and completed the transformation. Although she also wanted to use Lixue's card, she had only just obtained it, after all, and hadn't really tested it much.
She hadn't learned all the moves either. For now, Pardo's card was a bit smoother to use.
Seeing Irene, who had changed her appearance, everyone looked at her with some surprise, except for Himeko who already knew. Kiana spoke up directly.
"Uh, Teacher Irene, is that you? What is this look?"
"What's wrong? Does it look bad?" Irene smiled at Kiana, then took her diving helmet out of the equipment box and put it on.
Mn, since it was a standardized model, it didn't leave space for Pardo's cat ears. But Irene didn't dare to rashly swim down without being in a transformed state.
That would be more or less risky. Although it was a bit uncomfortable, she would just have to endure it.
"Alright, don't be weirded out. Just treat it as Irene's own special ability." Himeko dragged the equipment box over from the side at this moment and explained to everyone.
"It's a type of Stigmata ability. Weren't you all confused before about when Irene became an A-Rank Valkyrie? In this state, Irene possesses the combat power of an A-Rank Valkyrie."
Fu Hua, who had long since taken her gauntlets out of the equipment box, heard Himeko's explanation and looked up at Irene. Stigmata? No, although she didn't remember exactly what abilities Stigmata had, she could be certain that Stigmata definitely did not include abilities like this.
However, although Fu Hua realized Himeko's words were false, she chose not to expose it. She simply nodded silently and put on her gauntlets.
"It really is magical." Mei looked at Irene. "I didn't expect Stigmata to actually have such abilities. Does this count as some kind of disguise-type ability?"
"..." Bronya silently watched Irene, whose appearance and even physical characteristics had almost completely changed. She was not unfamiliar with Stigmata.
'Power of the Stigmata? A different Stigmata from Seele's...'
"Uh, Teacher Irene, can I touch your ears?" Kiana leaned in at this moment, looking at the top of Irene's head with interest, her hands somewhat mischievously wanting to touch Irene's tail.
"No way." Irene made a cross sign over her chest. "How can you just casually touch a catgirl's ears and tail? Take your hands back, or I'll smack you."
Himeko, who had been smacked by Irene's tail during testing, spoke up: "Kiana, it's best not to tease Irene in this state. I've experienced that tail; being smacked by it isn't pleasant."
"Also, stop playing around. Come over and grab your respective weapons." Himeko took out her Ship-Cleaver from the weapon case. Without the energy supply from the Hyperion, the glow of the blade's edge seemed somewhat dim at this moment.
"Eh? Mn, why is it a Water Spirit Type-I?" Kiana also reached out and took dual pistols from the weapon case. "Mn, it's not even a Type-II, and I actually prefer the Fire Spirit."
"Stop being picky, Kiana. We're going into the sea next; the Fire Spirit won't be of much use." Mei inserted the Lightning Soul into the scabbard on her back, then awkwardly tugged at the armor on her chest.
"However, I'm still not quite used to the style of this armor."
Although they hadn't passed the B-Rank Valkyrie test yet, thanks to Theresa's efforts, they were still able to obtain usage rights for Valkyrie armor.
"Try hard to get used to it." Himeko smiled at Mei, then looked at Bronya, who had put on a set of yellow armor. "Bronya, are you ready?"
"Preparations complete." Bronya glanced at the light screen Project Bunny displayed before her eyes. "System fully activated, status optimal. Can operate normally."
"Alright, everyone strap on your oxygen tanks. We're getting ready to go under." Himeko clapped her hands, then put on her diving helmet. Carrying her greatsword, she was the first to jump in.
Fu Hua followed closely behind Himeko's steps and jumped in as well. Irene originally wanted to follow, but her hand stiffened for a moment just as she gripped the railing.
[Sister Irene, I don't want to get wet.] Pardo was a catgirl after all, and not all cats liked water. Pardo belonged to the category that didn't.
[Pardo, don't make trouble. Besides, it's too late to say that now!] Irene flipped over and jumped directly into the water. [Besides, you won't actually get wet.]
*
Deep Sea Region
Underwater, Irene used Pardo's tail directly as a propeller, spinning it rapidly behind her. Combined with the underwater propulsion pack she wore like Himeko and the others, Irene's speed was much faster than theirs.
"Irene, slow down a bit. Don't get separated from us." Seeing Irene swimming faster than them, Himeko pressed the communication button. "The situation ahead isn't clear yet."
"I know, but I think ahead should be the place we're going." Irene stopped her forward motion, pointing to the ocean trench ahead and the somewhat peculiar rocky cave entrance on the trench.
"Is that Jiuyou down there?" Himeko looked through her diving mask at the deep trench below.
But just then, alarms sounded inside the masks worn by Himeko and the others. Kiana immediately alertly drew the dual pistols from her waist, her gaze turning toward the direction indicated by the system warning.
In the pitch-black waters, several dark shadows swam over rapidly. They were several sharks that had been infected by Honkai energy and had begun to transform into Honkai Beasts.
"Aquatic Honkai Beasts. They're hard to deal with here..." Himeko frowned as she watched the rapidly approaching sharks.
Himeko's greatsword was too cumbersome in the water; it would only drag her around in circles. Mei's tachi was the same—it lacked good leverage points in the water.
Bronya's Project Bunny created too much commotion and lacked agility underwater. For these sharks, the threat wasn't that significant.
"Leave it to me." Blue lines gradually appeared on Irene's hands. Amidst the outlining of the blue lines, Starry Judah was constructed in Irene's hand.
"Eh? Isn't that Auntie's Judah?" Kiana, who hadn't been trained by Theresa any less due to her grades, immediately recognized the weapon appearing in Irene's hand. "Except, why does it feel a bit strange?"
"This is also one of my abilities." A light chuckle came from Irene's communication channel. "However, the quality of the Judah in my hand can't compare to Principal Theresa's. But for this situation, it's enough."
She could use the skills she knew even after transforming. Therefore, she also focused on improving her main body. This way, after transforming, her combat style wouldn't be restricted to the abilities of the Possession Card.
A golden light flashed in Irene's eyes. The starry lances originally encasing Starry Judah instantly shot out, driven by chains. Seeing the charging dark shadows, the brainless sharks wanted to open their mouths and bite directly, but this gave the lances an opportunity, piercing through the sharks instantly.
"Done." Irene dismissed the Judah in her hand, which had completely abandoned its Binding ability and specialized in hardness and sharpness. "Easily solved. Let's continue swimming down."
"Was it that easy?" Kiana scratched her head. She hadn't expected this group of sharks to be so stupid, opening their mouths without dodging and letting the lances skewer them.
"Probably because I'm relatively lucky." Irene smiled, then pointed downward. "Anyway, hurry down. Time waits for no one."
"True enough." Himeko nodded and took the lead swimming down into the trench. Beneath the trench, there were quite a few architectural complexes slumbering in the sea.
"Is this Jiuyou?"
"It should be." Fu Hua tried to push up her glasses from the side but only touched the faceplate of her diving helmet. Her gaze through her fingers stared straight at the architectural complex below, as if wanting to penetrate the dust and sand accumulated upon it.
She imagined their possible appearance a thousand years ago, piecing together their potential grandeur, wanting to find even a trace of memory in her heart.
But regrettably, looking at these buildings, Fu Hua had absolutely no impression. The ashes of memory in her mind didn't stir in the slightest.
"That over there should be our destination." Irene pointed ahead to a cave that looked like a giant mouth split open on a cliff face. "Ready to swim into the giant beast's maw?"
"Mn, let's go." Himeko nodded, waving to the others behind her. "Let's go. We're preparing to enter Jiuyou."
After ending the communication, Irene shifted her attention to the Palace of Consciousness.
[Sister Irene, is that thing really still alive?] Pardo looked at the stone cavern ahead. She didn't sense any flowing Honkai energy.
If a Honkai Beast were still alive, there couldn't be no traces of Honkai energy flow. The energy they could feel right now seemed to be just dissipated Honkai energy.
[It is definitely still alive, Senior Pardo.] Lixue's eyes were full of vigilance. [Otherwise, it wouldn't have become what it was later.]
While swimming forward, Irene spoke in her heart: [Then let's go directly into the giant beast's belly and take a look. Let's see the insides of that Vipralopa-class Honkai Beast.]
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