Himeko was thirty years and some months old. In Helia's view, for a thirty-year-old to have a fourteen or fifteen-year-old child, plus the ten months of pregnancy, wouldn't that mean Himeko was only fifteen when she...?
The righteous Helia was quite curious about this matter.
Jun'an, Himeko, and the Chief were all stunned, with the Chief particularly looking at Himeko with an expression of disbelief.
"I'm adopted," Jun'an said.
Feeling that there had been too many misunderstandings lately, Jun'an continued, "Let's not discuss these meaningless things. Since Helia is here, why don't you explain the current situation to my mother?"
"Oh, I see."
Helia had thought she'd uncovered some incredible gossip, but learning that her senior hadn't experienced anything strange, she breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, Jun'an's name clearly came from Hyperion's only captain, and given his young age as captain, it would be hard to explain such treatment in the military if he weren't a love child.
"Chief Atari, let's watch the video while we explain," Helia suggested.
Atari immediately brought over something resembling a CRT television and a console, apologizing awkwardly, "Sorry, this is all we have here."
Although South Africa was originally within World Serpent's territory, its poverty was evident to the naked eye.
"It's fine, as long as we can understand the enemy's general capabilities," Jun'an and Himeko didn't mind. They'd all been through tough times before. Helia began her report as the footage played.
"First, about this mercenary group. They call themselves the Lion Mercenaries and claim to be the strongest mercenary group."
The footage showed a group of mercenaries wielding Honkai energy weapons, causing massive destruction to a city. Even with machine guns and armor-piercing rounds, the local military couldn't inflict serious damage on them.
Chief Atari's forces even deployed tanks, but the exchange ratio was terribly low.
Throughout the battle, only a few weaker members took some hits, though not fatal ones.
The three stronger members, clearly sporting Honkai Beast organs, shrugged off direct tank hits without injury, then turned around and tore the tanks apart with their bare hands, making the battle completely one-sided.
"Among them are three Fusion Warriors, and the rest are Stigmata Awakened, though their Honkai resistance seems poor. They're likely using technology similar to Schicksal's artificial Stigmata," Helia explained.
She took out her device and showed it to Himeko and Jun'an. "Recently, we received intelligence from an informant calling themselves Raven. These people were originally World Serpent test subjects. After World Serpent's collapse, they left and became mercenaries in South Africa."
Jun'an examined the data. There were about twenty people total, but not all were Fusion Warriors or Stigmata Awakened. Many were ordinary armed subordinates.
The strongest had fused with a Judge-class Honkai Beast, while the others had Emperor-class fusions. Their combat capability was roughly equivalent to Fu Hua without Cosmic Blade's energy.
In terms of raw numbers, they were mediocre among Fusion Warriors, perhaps even below average.
But even so, to the Chief, they were unkillable demons. "As you can see, these demons are incredibly powerful! They're like devils straight from hell!"
"We must bring in Durandal! Whatever the cost!"
Helia looked embarrassed, having perhaps oversold Durandal's strength in her previous communications.
She scratched her cheek awkwardly and said, "Chief, please don't worry. Senior Himeko is a renowned Valkyrie of Schicksal who has participated in many Herrscher suppressions. Her achievements rival those of Lady Durandal. I'm confident she can handle this situation."
"I'm not as amazing as you make me sound," Himeko said, then asked after reviewing the data, "Captain, what do you think? Can you handle it?"
Jun'an nodded, "Their strength is around A-rank level, which shouldn't be too problematic. But their leader, the one fused with Judge-class Benares genes..."
Jun'an pointed at his profile, "We've only seen him tear apart some armored vehicles. Can't judge his true capabilities until we meet him in person."
Although Jun'an could generally gauge someone's strength at a glance from experience, this was just footage and documentation – not enough to make a proper assessment.
So he tentatively asked, "Hey Himeko, how about letting me have my Pseudo God-Fire Judgment? If I can't win, I can at least blow up with him."
"Blow up your head!"
Himeko smacked Jun'an's head, "Do you really need to carry a manual nuclear bomb to feel secure?"
This wasn't some fanatical militarism or desperate fight for survival – there was no need for soldiers to charge in with weapons that had a two-meter range but a ten-kilometer blast radius.
"If you can't win, you can retreat, and I can provide support," Himeko said seriously. "Worst case, Kiana can snipe from the moon. Everyone's strong now – you don't need to be at the front line for everything."
Jun'an just shrugged off the lecture. He'd only wanted a weapon. "Fine, I'll listen to you. So where do we find them next?"
If possible, Jun'an wanted to return to Eden soon to collect more Hero Imprints and perhaps gain some abilities from them – one could never have too many skills.
"Let me explain the battlefield situation," Atari brought out a pre-prepared map. "Our country has twenty-five cities. These red flags mark the cities they've captured."
Twenty-five cities – for Africa, where the map was divided into dozens or hundreds of countries, this made them a medium-sized nation.
Jun'an noticed that half their country's map was marked with red flags. "Where are we now?"
"Here."
Atari pointed to a city adjacent to the red flags. "Our capital."
"..."
Jun'an asked helplessly, "So how long did it take them to reach your capital?"
"One month since the enemy hired them," Atari explained. "Initially, we had the advantage, but they ignored international law! They used every despicable tactic – killing children and women, even contaminating our rivers with Honkai energy!"
"If not for this kind young lady helping us deal with that terrible substance, countless of my subjects would have died."
Helia nodded, "This matter hasn't been fully investigated yet. Due to insufficient evidence, it hasn't been reported."
"Good work, Helia," Himeko said, then asked, "Do we know where the Lion Mercenaries are now?"
"They were recently spotted in this captured city," Atari pointed to a location on the map. "If nothing changes, they'll be at our doorstep in two days."
"Alright, I'll scout the area later. A decapitation strike should do it," Jun'an made his decision. "Helia, you'll guide us."
"Going tomorrow? Isn't that too rushed? There are three Fusion Warriors – if we get surrounded..."
Helia hesitated, suggesting, "Maybe we should fall back slightly and gradually wear down their forces."
"This isn't a war of numbers – the individual power gap is too large," Jun'an explained. "Besides, they don't know our capabilities either, which makes a surprise attack meaningful."
"More importantly, they're almost at the capital. In this situation, either we ambush them, or they ambush us. Someone has to strike first."
"Chief, I've brought today's dinner," a soldier entered the tent carrying several bananas and some charred roast pork.
The Chief immediately said, "Let's eat first then. It's almost evening, though I'm sorry we don't have much to offer..."
Before he could finish, the black soldier suddenly smirked and lunged for the Chief's throat. However, his fist stopped abruptly one centimeter from the Chief's head.
The Chief fell backward from the air pressure alone. Opening his eyes, he saw black shadows firmly binding the attacker, trailing back to Jun'an's feet.
Jun'an watched the black soldier struggling desperately in his shadow. "Well, they came faster than expected."
Chapter End