Apart from detection, Ryan had barely used any Honkai energy, but his marksmanship was fast and accurate, almost like he had some sort of cheat enabling him to pinpoint where the enemies were.
This level of civilian militia posed no real threat, they didn't even have powered exoskeletons—pathetically weak.
Behind the door was a deep staircase descending down. Ryan scanned his surroundings and confirmed that this was an abandoned research facility.
Without electricity, the security systems had long since shut down, and the heavy doors were all wide open, dismantled cleanly. Forget computers; even the signs had been removed.
So the question remained—why were these people guarding a ruin?
Ryan dealt with a few more guards, capturing two alive, but under interrogation, they knew nothing, only saying that their boss had told them to watch over the place.
Looks like I'll have to go back and have a nice talk with the trafficker. Hopefully, he hasn't run away.
Ryan had indeed raised a red flag, but the power he used was well within human resistance levels. There was no way the other side would panic and flee just because they ran into an elite soldier.
He looked around with interest, spotting some strange sculptures, or trees growing grotesque lumps, bearing fruits that resembled human heads. There were also giant snakes with bull bodies and human legs. The black, silent atmosphere gave off an eerie feeling, enough to raise goosebumps.
"Creaky... it's meaningless."
Ryan wasn't scared. As a scientist, although Honkai energy was "all-powerful," it was fundamentally scientific. There was nothing that couldn't be observed or understood.
These were clearly the hallucinations of a Honkai Beast, devoid of any artistic value, but they looked strange in a research facility.
When did the Fire Moth start practicing such weird rituals? Well, perhaps it wasn't as absurd as it seemed. On Earth, they studied and utilized science. Who knows, in another world, it might be about sword and magic.
Energy has many applications, and who knows—maybe they were attempting to repair themselves through cultivation.
Lost in thought, Ryan reached the bottom of the building. It was a large hall surrounded by various rooms. After walking around, he found a range of facilities.
There were iron cells, living quarters, and shards of glass jars, but the equipment had all been stripped, leaving only the leftover trash from the guards.
Could they really think of this place as a safe haven? While it's easy to defend, it's a perfect secret base, but still...
Ryan felt disappointed but quickly smiled again. Though this place could escape the naked eye, it could never escape the all-pervasive air. He looked inside and felt the airflow pass through the surface, then bounce back.
A secret passage.
Ryan slowly walked over and pressed his hand against the wall. His palm passed through it, the phantom of his forearm washing over.
"Independent power source, mirage system. This seems like a high-level setup."
He took a deep breath, stepped forward, and, like performing a trick, passed through the wall. On the other side, he saw a steel corridor that ended with a tightly shut alloy door.
An A-grade blast-proof door, equivalent to the secret laboratory where Mephistopheles kept the Honkai Beast—its strength was enough to withstand depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds, with a self-destruct mechanism connected. The key detail was the symbol on the door.
Moth wings...isn't that a Fire Moth?
Ryan felt his heart rate subtly increase, clearly sensing there were secrets here he didn't know. Based on how long the place had been abandoned, perhaps even Mephistopheles didn't know.
This door couldn't be breached by brute force. If explosives were placed, the entire facility would likely be blown to pieces. But humans couldn't do it, the Herrschers, however, could.
Ryan placed his right hand on the door, and a flash of electricity quickly burned through the control chip. Then, he pulled out his water bottle, and the hot water floated in the air before swiftly flowing.
As long as the liquid flowed quickly enough, it was capable of cutting through steel without much noise. Ryan snapped his fingers, and the water jet struck the alloy, sparking brightly, slowly cutting out an entrance.
A nauseating odor immediately wafted out from the crack. Even Ryan covered his mouth and nose, the stench so overwhelming it was unbearable. After steadying himself, he bent down and crawled inside.
Inside was a vast hollow, pitch black with nothing visible. In the deep shadows, Ryan face remained expressionless, but his gray eyes held a trace of anger.
He pulled out a glow stick, twisted it open, and threw it forward. His pupils contracted with the faint light.
Before him was a massive pit that resembled a reservoir, filled with layers of corpses. Due to the sealing, the bodies hadn't decayed much, but they had lost their moisture, now resembling dry wood.
Men, women, old people, and children were stacked on top of each other in layers. Countless faces were contorted in agony resembling mental torture. Even though Ryan had witnessed many horrors, he instinctively closed his eyes.
"This is the Fire Moth's secret research facility, and it has nothing to do with Mobius. She wouldn't be so unsightly."
Ryan made a near-final decision. Now, only three questions remained.
Who owns this facility? What kind of results have they achieved? And why was it abandoned?
At this point, Ryan almost forgot why he had come to Northern Europe. His thirst for knowledge even overshadowed his desire for power. He turned on his flashlight and walked onto the iron bridge above the pit, peering down.
He roughly estimated that there were tens of thousands of bodies. The time of death seemed to be months ago. Based on the sculptures, this didn't look like a normal research facility.
Ryan knew that the Fire Moth had never stopped researching the integration of humans and Honkai. The results now were Mephistopheles' Fused Warrior program, but that didn't mean there weren't other paths.
Some of these would never be made public, like the hidden factions within the Fire Moth. Then, he remembered something Mephistopheles had mentioned when he took the Herrscher core.
She had only said a word at the time, but it stuck in his mind. Now, it resurfaced in his mind.
In remote places, there are secret research facilities...
"Looks like the belief faction is more likely. With so many deaths, there has to be some result, and if there's a result, Mephistopheles should know about it—unless they intentionally hid it, or the result is one that humans cannot accept."
Ryan calmly walked over the bodies, scanning the agonized faces. Suddenly, he paused and raised his flashlight.
Someone was here.
The flashlight was merely a cover. Ryan infused a small amount of Honkai energy into the moving air, constantly probing the surroundings. So, when he sensed something abnormal, he immediately reacted.
In less than a second, Ryan saw the person—a figure dressed in a linen robe, like an ancient monk. But just a moment later, the figure vanished without a trace.
Ryan slowly lowered his foot, the figure gone, as if it had melted into the ground. In that instant, Ryan knew that even his lightning authority couldn't catch it.
The surrounding area was eerily quiet. Ryan relaxed his foot, but the muscles remained tense, his scalp tingling.
Though it was a fleeting glimpse, Ryan had a familiar feeling.
The Herrscher's presence.
"Sure enough, the Fire Moth has sent someone to investigate."
The pitch-black room remained void of figures. In the flickering electronic lights, a voice suddenly rang out.
"Is it a Fused Warrior?"
"Doesn't seem like it. Probably a secret agent from the intelligence department. My people couldn't find any relevant data. This must be a highly confidential mission, one directly under the authority of Carius."
The room fell silent for a moment before an old voice slowly responded.
"Find a way to drive him away. If not, eliminate him. We can't lose Northern Europe—it's a precious testing ground. It's key to whether we can end childhood. But be careful. I don't want the council to catch wind of this."
"We'll ensure success, sir. By the way, how's the experiment progressing?"
"He's still uncontrollable, but the authority he's showing is exactly the one we've been seeking. It will take time." The old voice paused, filled with endless longing. "I'm certain this is humanity's only path. Destiny is our ally, just like sweeping the pure-blood faction into the trash heap."
"Those foolish beings have no idea."
"There's no way to fight back. They've twisted the Fused Warrior program."
"Only by merging with God can we solve this. That's the only way."
"With the emergence of the Fourth Herrscher, we have uncovered the pattern. There is a great will that watches over the world."
"Correct. This is something the research committee, those mere mortals, will never understand."
"With this knowledge, we can even call forth new Herrschers!"
The voices became scattered, sounding both mad and persistent, before eventually falling silent again.
The room remained eerily still for a long time, until the sound of dialing broke the silence. After a few busy signals, a cultured voice came through.
"What do you need?"
"I need information. I want to know what tasks all the Fused Warriors are carrying out, where they are, no matter their security level."
There was a long silence on the other end, followed by a sigh of relief.
"As you wish."