Raiden Mei sat in the bustling operations command center, looking around with bewilderment.
People often said Raiden Mei was anything but ordinary; she even held the title of "Thunder Queen" within Senba Academy.
Her father, Raiden Ryoma, ran the ME Corporation in Japan, giving her a status akin to modern nobility. Within the influence of the ME Corporation, Raiden Mei could do as she pleased...
But now, Raiden Mei felt immense pressure, feeling like nothing more than an ordinary and weak individual.
Serious expressions adorned everyone's faces, and the cacophony of keyboard clicks, communication alerts, alarms, and constant chatter filled the air, overwhelming the girl.
Suppressed, tense, heavy.
Raiden Mei had never experienced this before; she watched as the screen erupted in red flames, and the surrounding glass shattered and scattered in shockwaves. Kiana and her parents entered a massive spatial crack together, their signals disappearing quickly due to interference.
Immediately after, Honkai beasts appeared.
In fact, Raiden Mei had once used a blade to cut through grass mats as a test of swordsmanship in Japan. Of course, she had also cut many other things, even fancifully slashing at metal sheets.
That attempt had left her test blade dull, and her arm slightly numb.
Raiden Mei could even feel that if she exerted more force, the blade would likely snap—after all, the blades she used were no ordinary ones, at worst being high-quality one-piece weapons forged by master craftsmen to suit her.
Even so, the metal sheets only had rather ordinary dents, far from the imagined level of lethality.
She had thought that with years of practicing swordsmanship, she would be able to achieve something more... Only to find modern materials to be so resilient, leaving the girl feeling disheartened.
And now, for the first time, Raiden Mei saw Honkai beasts manifesting from the air, purple lights coalescing into terrifying monsters that roamed the city, crushing everything in their path.
The reinforced concrete walls crumbled before them like fragile tofu blocks, let alone vehicles like cars and buses; even if the Honkai beasts were just passing by, these metal shells would twist and deform, leaving deep scars.
As a girl who had personally slashed at metal sheets, Raiden Mei naturally understood the strength and hardness of modern industrial products, which only added to her fear.
Then, she saw the pink-haired girl with long animal-like ears appearing on the scene, wielding a shining blade and battling the Honkai beasts.
Sakura was like the invincible warriors in novels, slicing these monsters into pieces. Raiden Mei couldn't even comprehend the swordsmanship she used, as it had surpassed the limits of the mundane world, reaching the realm of the extraordinary!
"So... this is... Honkai?
Raiden Mei couldn't help but clench her fists.
In the end, Raiden Mei was just a high school student. Before this, even if she was special, she had never been involved in Honkai-related events or witnessed the extraordinary world.
The girl naturally thought of Kiana.
The white-haired girl clearly knew a lot about these things and had taught Raiden Mei many interesting tidbits. And judging by her parents' exaggerated actions, even in the extraordinary world, they should be quite powerful figures.
Supporting her chin, Raiden Mei made a decisive choice—she wanted to get closer to Kiana, figure out what was going on, and finally return to her home to reunite with her father, Raiden Ryoma.
Perhaps she could hire Kiana's parents to teach her about the extraordinary world?
Obviously, Raiden Mei had no idea about her father's status in the world she considered "extraordinary"; she thought Raiden Ryoma was just an ordinary businessman.
Mobius didn't notice that Raiden Mei had lost control of her expression and was indulging in wild fantasies about the future.
She had let Sakura eliminate the Honkai beasts around the cracks and called in several unmanned drones to set up signal relays, finally establishing contact with those inside the cracks.
Although the signal was still intermittent, at least it was usable.
"Honkai leakage through the cracks has doubled the concentration in Nagazora in just a few minutes..."
Facing this situation, Mobius had no good solution; she could only pray that the vanguard team entering the cracks could quickly resolve the trouble. Otherwise, if the cracks remained open for too long, the area affected by the Honkai would expand.
"Beep beep beep."
The communicator next to Mobius rang, and she stared at the screen without blinking, picking up the signal.
"What's the matter?"
"This is the blockade team. The huge and continuous noise has attracted the attention of the people, and they are gathering at the edge of the blockade area."
Outside the blockade line, a person in police uniform was holding a walkie-talkie, frowning tightly as more and more curious people gathered at the intersection.
"Find a way to drive these people away."
"But, Dr. Mobius, they seem very interested..."
"That's your problem."
Snake sneered, "The money spent by Fire Moths is not for freeloaders..."
"I understand."
The blockade personnel sighed and had the others around them pick up riot shields and batons to form a human wall, driving the curious crowd away.
It was almost dark, the peak time for people getting off work. Many people who were ready to go home were also blocked outside the blockade line, much harder to deal with than mere onlookers.
Fortunately, Mobius had previously prepared well, showcasing fabricated research reports, stating that the natural gas pipelines inside the blockade area had leaked and were currently being salvaged and repaired, posing considerable risk. After that, the majority of people reluctantly left the edge of the blockade line.
The few hysterical and unreasonable individuals left were no longer worth treating with kindness by the blockade personnel; they surrounded them with plastic shields and batons, quickly subduing those who were not thinking straight.
"Why do we always encounter people? The reports clearly stated that it's dangerous inside and that there will even be compensation..." a staff member complained.
"Because humans are like this, greedy, ignorant, and unwilling to adapt."
A disembodied, echo-like voice sounded in the ears of the surrounding staff members. They all turned their heads and saw a figure walking against the crowd, approaching the blockade line at a leisurely pace.
Their bodies instinctively reacted, trembling, sweating, and feeling dizzy. They were like prey targeted by a predator, as well as being in the presence of a superior being, suppressed by their life levels.
Several people secretly raised their firearms, ready to act in case anything happened.
"Stop where you are!"
"Oh? What if I don't?"
Finally, they saw her appearance clearly.
With long blue-purple hair, dressed in a finely crafted school uniform, her eyes seemed to thunder and lightning in the depths, emitting a purple-red glow.
It was a familiar yet unfamiliar face because no one had ever imagined that this face would show such a terrifying expression—like she was enduring something, yet also preparing to bite into something, with a ferocious smile curling up at the corners of her mouth.
In immense astonishment, they couldn't help but exclaim:
"Dr. Mei!?"
"No, call me Raiden... Raiden...Mei!"