A watermelon split open.
But the color wasn't that of ripe red flesh—though there were parts like that—and splattered black "seeds," but rather a white, semi-solid, flowing substance streaked with fresh red.
These things, along with the burst sphere, splattered squarely onto Lu Xing's face, then quickly slid down his smooth surface.
"Ugh!"
A wave of nausea washed over him.
Lu Xing's attack didn't stop; he knew very well that with his current strength, holding back in a life-or-death battle was simply courting death.
The reason he aimed for the head was to trigger the effect of [Power Strike], not because he wanted to see such a scene.
A headshot occurring in reality.
This strong visual impact, for Lu Xing at this stage, was still...
"It seems... it's nothing much?"
Terror.
But what was terrifying wasn't the scene before him, but himself—who, apart from the initial shock, felt no palpitations at all when faced with this gruesome sight, treating it as almost ordinary.
For the first time, Lu Xing truly felt like he had become a Honkai Beast.
The death of a human didn't move him as much as the scene where he had almost killed "Little Purple."
His understanding of "life" had undergone a fundamental change.
"Monster."
"..."
"No, this is a philosophical question."
"What has made me like this is determined by dialectical materialism; it's 'matter determines consciousness,' which has a scientific basis. Matter does not change according to my subjective consciousness."
"But!"
"'Consciousness has an active role on matter.' As long as I don't want to become a monster, I can still live as a human..."
Lu Xing wasn't a bad student.
Facts proved that, at least, his politics grades weren't bad; he had the potential to be an exam-taking ace.
After nearly five minutes of "prayer," Lu Xing finally calmed down and looked at the corpse at his feet, missing an important piece—
"I have to live."
"So, I'm sorry, stranger."
Looting a corpse; the term didn't feel like much when playing games.
But in the real world, searching for useful items on the body of a "former kinsman," splattered with red pulp and white matter, was nothing short of an ordeal.
After a good deal of fumbling.
"Clink!"
The sharp wingtip reversed, aimed at the target. While disengaging the safety, he gently hooked the pin of a grenade—
"BOOM!!"
————
"Ethan."
"Sha..."
"Ethan!"
"Shasha..."
Arno's voice went from calm to not-so-calm, but no matter what, only the static of an unanswered call came from the communicator.
The central plaza wasn't particularly far from here.
On a battlefield, the sound of an explosion carrying for several kilometers was nothing unusual.
Ethan's communication had been cut off since the first explosion. This could be understood as him being in a fierce battle and unable to respond. However, five minutes had passed since the second explosion ended, and there was still no word.
What had happened to Ethan was already self-evident.
"..."
"Just call me Xiū."
Arno remained silent for a moment, looking at Xiū less than two meters away. The girl keenly sensed his awkwardness—facing the current situation, he didn't know how to address her appropriately.
"Xiū."
"I have to go take a look."
Arno directly stated his opinion.
"Assuming that Floater-class is still alive."
"Ethan has probably already been hacked into eight pieces."
"However, although that guy is shifty, his strength... at least when it comes to saving his own life, he has some skill."
"If he truly faced a life-or-death situation, he wouldn't lack the ruthlessness to take a bite out of the enemy."
"The Floater-class's injuries are real, and they will only be more severe now."
"We must seize this opportunity to completely eliminate it—if this Variant escapes, we will face endless pursuit, with absolutely no chance of escaping... You definitely understand better than I do, Honkai Beasts recover far faster than humans."
Arno said a whole lot that was out of character for him.
This was also unavoidable—at this point, he had to clearly explain the stakes to Xiū. After all, this was tantamount to asking her to temporarily abandon her mission and follow him to "rescue" someone.
Bringing back the "dog tags" also counted as "rescuing."
"Captain Arno."
"Don't worry about me."
Xiū stopped Arno from continuing and pulled out a 30-centimeter-long foldable metal blade from her legging, indicating she had sufficient self-defense capabilities—judging from the cold glint, it was another weapon forged entirely from Soul Steel.
"You have far more experience than I do in handling situations like this. Just act according to your own judgment."
"As for me..."
Xiū looked at the data progress bar on her device, which was currently reading information.
"It'll be done soon. I'll head over to help as soon as I'm finished—if you don't mind me being slow, or consider me a burden."
"..."
"Thanks."
After uttering these two words, Arno began to walk with heavy steps towards the central plaza.
"This girl is not bad."
This was Arno's true thought.
After all, in a place like the Biological Research Institute, pure madmen not obsessed with research were far too rare.
————
Lu Xing detonated the grenade.
Fortunately, he dodged quickly enough. Otherwise, given the grenade's blast radius and the intense heat of its explosion, Lu Xing's carapace would have definitely been scorched black—he had initially just wanted to destroy the corpse and erase all traces. After all, based on the corpse's condition, it would be easy to deduce the cause of death and the attacker's preferred methods.
After gaining a clearer understanding of the Previous Era's human technology, Lu Xing began to set up a new ambush.
The human squad had more than one member.
The death of a comrade would inevitably attract new investigators. The unknown would only heighten panic; humans wouldn't rest until they uncovered the truth.
But before that...
Lu Xing looked at the Floater-class Honkai Beast not far away.
This large jellyfish was not among Lu Xing's current evolution paths, meaning its rank was above Knight-class, Rotor-class, or Ballista-class; it was a state achieved through further evolution.
To save it or not?
There wasn't really a choice in this matter.
With the spring occupied by humans, Lu Xing had no other healing methods. Even without humans, the sheer size and weight of this large creature were beyond what Lu Xing could carry.
Therefore, continuing to use it as bait was the best option.
They were both Honkai Beasts, true.
But the other party wasn't a kinsman like "Little Purple."
Not to mention, Lu Xing sensed a considerably dangerous aura from it.
If this creature harbored hostility towards him, or could discover his unique nature, that would be terrible—
With these thoughts.
Lu Xing picked up his spoils of war and, ignoring the Floater-class's "cries for help," went to set up an ambush on the critical path between the spring and the central plaza.