"Thud!"

The Loli Demon God landed very safely in the northeastern part of Australia, and the reason for using "very safely" to describe it was—

"Where did this No-Fly Zone come from!"

Her landing was, in fact, a forced one.

Following the direction the crystals had departed, the Loli Demon God pushed southwestward, finally arriving at the long-unseen Australian continent.

There was nothing unusual about the Australian coast.

But as her flight path continued deeper inland, when the Loli Demon God approached the edge of the great central desert...

She was slammed out of the sky by a sudden gravity field!

In the Loli Demon God's understanding, with a "No-Fly Zone" of this intensity, all beings below Emperor-class would lose their ability to fly. Humanity's various aerial weapons, whether fighter jets, missiles, or skyships, would probably be unable to function as intended under the restraint of this gravity field.

"Pah!"

She shook off the sand and dirt covering her.

The Loli Demon God suddenly realized that this venture might have been a bit reckless.

Honkai Beasts could be utilized, and the benefits an Emperor-class Honkai Beast could bring were even greater. During her time as a Deadman, rather than relying on combat power, the Loli Demon God, who navigated the fringes of Honkai Beast legions and human society, had mostly relied on her wits to gain advantages.

But now.

She regretted it a little.

This Honkai Beast, or perhaps powerful Honkai Beast legion, skilled in using [Avatars] and [Gravity], definitely possessed the strength to crush her entire team.

If its/their intelligence was even slightly decent—it didn't even need to match its strength—for her, who was currently being hunted by humans and merely looking for a temporary backer to exploit without any intention of true allegiance, this was truly like a lamb walking into a tiger's den.

But since she was already here...

"Thump!"

A dull impact sounded behind her as six coffins landed simultaneously on the ground, slowly creaking open to a crisp and eerie melody played by the Loli Demon God.

"Creeaak—"

"Bang!!"

A high ponytail, twin horns on her forehead, an exposed underbust, straight-cut hotpants, and a pair of straight-bladed katanas crossed on her back—

Race: Perfect Body · Variant · Shadow Dance Hunter

Level: 55

Abilities: Crimson Edge, Thunder Edge, Gale Edge, Advancing Slash, Dual Blade Flurry, Form of Instant Iron

Attack: 96

Speed: 102

Constitution: 51

Evaluation: Warrior Saint Rinpoche

Beside this highest-tier [Shunninbu Deadman], five other distinct Variant Deadmen emerged, walking or leaping from their coffins.

Two, similar in build to the Loli Demon God, one wielding a greatsword and the other a battle-axe, both seemingly expressionless twins:

[Prototype · Variant · Atrocity Destroyer]

[Prototype · Variant · Atrocity Slasher]

A short-haired, flat-chested girl with bangs covering her right eye, wielding a large bow that surpassed her own size, her collar high enough to hide half her face:

[Perfect Body · Variant · Ranger]

A small figure wearing a cat-eared hood, her aura completely concealed, using claw blades as weapons:

[Perfect Body · Variant · Serval]

And the one who had been with the Loli Demon God since her creation:

[Perfect Body · Variant · Demon God Guard]

These five were of slightly lower levels, mostly between Lv.40-50, but they all possessed a fairly rich variety of abilities.

Their strength wasn't necessarily overwhelming.

But apart from the "twins" who were still prototypes, all Variant Deadmen with "Perfect Body" in their names shared a very important characteristic—

"Damn it!"

"You should have let us out for a fight earlier!"

The "Shadow Dancer," her hand pressing on the hilt of her blade, her ample "southern hemisphere" rising and falling with her "anger," cursed.

"Give it a rest."

"Even I, a ranged attacker, haven't said anything."

"If you can't fly, you'd only be a hindrance up in the sky."

The Ranger very sharply cut off the "Shadow Dancer's" thought.

Precisely so.

The biggest difference with Variant Deadmen lay in their thought processes and behavioral patterns. After being infected and turned into Deadmen, Variants still possessed the intellect they had as humans, but their memories as "people"...

Perhaps only glimpses could be seen in certain verbal tics and habitual actions.

"Captain."

"What do we do now?"

While the Shadow Dancer and Ranger were bickering.

The Serval had silently approached the Loli Demon God, extending her head towards the girl who looked even younger than herself.

"Rustle."

The Loli Demon God stroked the Serval's "ears."

The physical structure of Deadmen and Honkai Beasts was not the same; they retained some of the tactile sensations of humans—mainly in terms of softness—which granted them greater flexibility but also drastically reduced their defense (Constitution).

Compared to Honkai Beasts who excelled at direct confrontation.

Deadmen were more adept at using evasion and shield-type skills to protect their fragile bodies.

This was another important reason why the Loli Demon God was so vulnerable against Quantum Energy weapons.

"Hug a powerful thigh."

"Humans clearly place great importance on what we saw earlier. If we flee in other directions, we'll likely be hunted down like before."

"And certain existences here."

The Loli Demon God sensed the surrounding Honkai energy aura.

Although no Honkai Energy Rift was visible nearby, the concentration of even the dissipated Honkai energy in the air was almost comparable to that near a medium-sized rift.

"...can clearly stop a lot of trouble."

"Will Honkai Beasts help us?" the Serval asked, her ears twitching contentedly.

"That's not important."

"As long as I, the 'strategist,' make them think so... just like I've done before."

"Is that so?"

"Of cour—"

Before she could finish.

The Loli Demon God already sensed something was wrong—the "Is that so?" just now hadn't come from the Serval's mouth, but had resonated directly in her spiritual world!

Deadmen possessed the ability of "telepathic communication," but compared to Variant Honkai Beasts, this ability, which consumed Honkai energy, was not commonly used. As creatures mutated from humans, Deadmen had not lost their ability to speak, and Variant Deadmen, in particular, had all five senses intact.

"Who's there!?"

The Loli Demon God didn't bother searching.

Less than fifty meters away from her, an orange-red figure, like a sun, slowly emerged from burning flames.

"Auth..."

"Authority!?"

The Loli Demon God couldn't help but be astonished.

Although it was very faint, she definitely sensed a part of a Herrscher's aura from this Honkai Beast.

The information obtained through [Appraisal]—the Loli Demon God's [Appraisal] skill was precisely the lower-tier substitute for the [Spiritual Perception] Lu Xing once used—was indeed worthy of her caution.

Race: Emperor Guard · Variant · Scarlet Sakura Crimson Lotus · War Temple

Level: 60

Others: Unknown

A Temple-class wreathed in red flames!

That's right, this was precisely the "former War Knight" that Lu Xing had used his [Exaltation] ability to grant his own attributes to, elevating it from Knight-class to Temple-class!

Creating an Emperor-class was still somewhat difficult.

But creating four such beings at the peak of lower-tier Honkai Beasts... was still well within the capabilities of the Imaginary Emperor.