"Alright!"
"Very spirited!"
Nearly two weeks had passed since Lu Xing arrived in this space.
The progress bar for the main quest was about to reach the one-third mark—counting the Honkai Beasts Lu Xing had eliminated while crossing the central desert region, over three thousand had now fallen to him and his subordinate Knight-class beasts.
Meanwhile, the number of Honkai Beasts under Lu Xing's command had plummeted from two thousand to less than fifty.
With the continuous energy tides released by the Honkai energy fissure, new Honkai Beasts constantly "rode the tide" into this space. In just one short week, the number of Knight-class beasts under Lu Xing's command had doubled.
An increase in numbers should have been a good thing.
But not for Lu Xing—the explosion in Honkai Beast numbers signified the approach of the "Great Honkai Eruption," and at the same time, the excessively large quantity made them difficult for Lu Xing to control.
Han Xin commanding troops—the more, the merrier.
Lu Xing commanding horses—more than ten, and there's no peace.
That's right, the maximum number of Knight-class beasts that could actually assist Lu Xing in battle was only ten—any more were either too weak or he couldn't manage them effectively.
Lu Xing had absolutely no talent for playing RTS games.
Forget two thousand Knight-class; even with a CTRL+1 control group of just twelve units, he only knew how to F2A.
To solve this problem, Lu Xing, deciding to go all out, chose the most appropriate solution:
Drills!
He took his subordinate Knight-class Honkai Beasts and went directly to the Chariot-class's encampment to "pay a visit"!
Many of the newly born Knight-class were "whiteboards" (common/basic).
To strengthen them as quickly as possible, Lu Xing proactively initiated battles with the Chariot-class.
Unless their respective Herrschers were hostile to each other, most Honkai Beasts would not attack their own kind. However, when Honkai Beasts felt threatened, their suppressed destructive nature meant they wouldn't sit idly by and await death—even under pressure from a Leader or even an Emperor.
Just like that.
In just one short week, Lu Xing led his Knight-class in no less than five assaults on the Chariot-class "headquarters." The newly born Knight-class, or unlucky Ice Knights, were all blasted to smithereens by the coordinated attacks of Chariot-class and Ballista-class beasts.
And those that survived…
Less than one-fortieth of their original number, had all become elites—this was a Knight-class unit composed of thirty "Death Horns."
[Race: Legion Guard Death Horn]
[Level: 40]
[Abilities: Ice Dash, Lunge, Pounce, Winter's Strike]
[Attack: 55]
[Speed: 55]
[Constitution: 30]
[Evaluation: Fatherly love, filial piety]
————
That's right!
These thirty "Death Horns" had already surpassed Lu Xing in level!
Lu Xing's combat encounters were actually far more numerous than these subordinate Knight-class beasts, but for some reason—he suspected that while the affix had raised his level cap, it had also further increased the experience points needed to level up—his level had only barely increased by 1, now just reaching Lv.38.
Of course.
This didn't stop Lu Xing from being able to unhorse the puppets of all the "Death Horns" in less than thirty seconds in a formal battle, one spear thrust each.
Besides these Lv.40 "Death Horns."
The high-intensity battles had also cultivated four somewhat different individuals among this large group of Knight-class:
[Race: Legion Guard War Horn Magic Knight]
[Level: 42/42/41/44]
[Abilities: Frostflame Dash, Spiral Lance Kill, Winter's Strike, Hellfire]
The appearance of these four individuals exceeded Lu Xing's expectations.
[Magic Knight]
The highest-ranking existence among Knight-class Honkai Beasts. Generally, they hold the same rank as an [Absolute Zero Knight Captain].
Considering the "Magic Knights" were already a higher level than Lu Xing, even with the [Legion Leader] affix effect, if Lu Xing couldn't defeat them, it was very likely the tables would be turned, and the guest would usurp the host!
Fortunately.
Lu Xing hadn't shot himself in the foot.
His understanding of "Magic Knights" was quite thorough—Magic Knights weren't further strengthened in a single attribute but were Honkai Beasts that mastered both "Flame" and "Ice" attributes. Once its Knight Lance hit, it could simultaneously inflict both "Burn" and "Frost" negative effects on the target, making it a very troublesome opponent.
Unfortunately, it was useless.
Against opponents a "mere" five or six levels higher than himself, Lu Xing didn't even need to use superfluous moves—buffed by the speed of [Dash] and the power of [Power Strike], the "Magic Knights" couldn't even touch the hem of Lu Xing's clothes.
Without the threat of a domain aura, these fellows were no match for Lu Xing at all.
————
Returning to the present scene.
After a [Magic Knight] and a [Honkai Skyrend (Chariot-class Variant)] exchanged a blow, Lu Xing watched the Chariot-class unleash a circular sound wave with its [Roar] and silently snarked in his heart.
The situation was already different from a few days ago.
Lu Xing's unconventional actions had attracted the attention of the Ice Emperor.
Facing the current BOSS and future scapegoat, Lu Xing unabashedly expounded on "the importance of elite troops acting as a spearhead to tear open enemy formations in war," blah blah blah.
Whether the Ice Emperor understood or not, in short, after enduring a bout of verbal persuasion (or rather, mental persuasion), it acquiesced to Lu Xing's actions—or perhaps, it never had much intention of interfering with a Variant's activities in the first place.
As for the Chariot-class leader, that Variant over level 50…
Facts proved that not all Variants possessed keen minds and perception, at least not the one currently beneath Lu Xing—
The Knight-class and Chariot-class were fighting with great gusto, but their battles were no longer the bloody slaughter they were at the beginning.
Now, they looked more like actors in an arena.
The hundred or so Honkai Beasts mixed together (Chariot-class, Ballista-class, and Knight-class) were obediently forming a not-so-standard circle around them.
"Cheche."
Sitting cross-legged on the hard, smooth, curved "floor," Lu Xing patted downwards forcefully with his right hand—this time, he truly used force, even needing to buff it with [Power Strike] if necessary to achieve the effect of a "greeting," after all—
"Shiro..."
A dull voice responded to Lu Xing's call in his mind.
Lu Xing had given the Variant Chariot-class an easy-to-understand and easy-to-raise name:
"Cheche."
The other party, when addressing him, used "Shiro"—Lu Xing hadn't told it his human name, and as a codename, "Shiro" or "Little Bai" was quite good… no other reason, it just rolled off the tongue.
"Cheche" was a very "lying flat" Variant.
Although he didn't know how it had awakened its "self," even after becoming a Variant, "Cheche's" lifestyle was no different from that of an ordinary Chariot-class.
As for "using its brain," that was something it would absolutely not do.
Therefore.
After a few rounds of Lu Xing's coaxing back and forth, "Cheche" very easily became Lu Xing's close friend—
By serving as his temporary mount.