Time in a collapsing world

"Hey, young man, there is something I want to tell you."

"what?"

Zijing, who had just returned to her residence after being dragged shopping by Yae Sakura and Yae Rin, heard Weiwei say this.

“Found something interesting.”

Weiwei mysteriously dragged Zijing to her laboratory, where a set of abnormal data was displayed on the holographic projection.

"Look at this," she pointed at the waveform that kept jumping on the screen, "Recently, the same Honkai energy fluctuations were detected simultaneously in seven locations around the world, but the strangest thing is..." She switched the screen and a few blurry surveillance screenshots appeared, "Every time the fluctuation appeared, this was captured."

In the picture, a figure wearing a strange smiling mask stood in the center of the Honkai energy explosion, and the exaggerated curves on the mask glowed palely in the darkness.

Amethyst frowned: "A new Herrscher?"

"Not like that." Wei Wei shook her head. "These fluctuations are very weak, and..." She zoomed in on the image. "Pay attention to this detail." Wei Wei zoomed in on the image to the maximum. The joints of the masked man's arms showed a strange reverse joint structure. "Their bone structure does not conform to the evolutionary laws of Earth creatures at all."

She pulled up another set of data: "Even stranger, the individual photographed in the Sahara had a chitinous exoskeleton similar to that of an insect, while the one found in Siberia..." The screen switched to a hunched figure, "but it was detected to contain plant cellulose."

Zijing touched his chin: "You mean..."

"That's right~" Weiwei said excitedly, "The body structure of each of these guys wearing masks is completely different! It's like... it's like they were randomly captured creatures from different planets, and then all wore this ridiculous mask."

Creatures that do not belong to this Earth...

Amethyst immediately thought of them outside.

The main body was deliberately targeted and blocked outside, so could it only send in some "vanguards" who posed little threat?

Amethyst told her thoughts to Vilvi, who obviously had similar guesses. She said she would discuss it with others later and asked Amethyst to spare some time to discuss the new variables together.

Soon, Weiwei left. She became very interested in these newly emerged creatures and went to track their whereabouts with great interest.

Zijing looked at the group chat. Wei Liwei had already sent the latest news to everyone, and the group immediately exploded.

Alicia: "Wow~ These cute little ones wearing masks look interesting~? I never thought that new aliens would appear one day...@千劫"

Qianjie: “…”

Mebius: "Heh... Interesting specimens. Capture a few and bring them back for me to study."

Kevin: "The threat needs to be eliminated immediately."

Sakura: "Be careful, they may be targeting you...@璃"

Zijing looked at the constantly jumping messages and was about to reply when she suddenly received a private message:

Otto: "Can we talk in private? I have made some special discoveries about these 'visitors'."

Amethyst: “…Okay.”

Zijing came to Otto's private laboratory and opened the door to see a figure wearing a smiley mask trapped in a special energy field. The masked man stood motionless, but the exaggerated smile looked particularly creepy under the cold light of the laboratory.

"Did you catch one?" Amethyst walked closer to observe.

Otto swung his wine glass gracefully. "To be precise, it came to our door on its own." He pointed to the surveillance footage. "Just half an hour ago, it disguised itself as a cleaner and tried to sneak into our headquarters."

Amethyst noticed that the masked man's right hand was unnaturally distorted: "What did you do to it?"

"Just some small tests." Otto smiled. "The interesting thing is that there are no signs of life in it, but it can move freely." He pressed a button on the console, and the masked man's chest suddenly became transparent, revealing the squirming black substance inside.

"This is......"

"Some kind of quantum energy body." Otto narrowed his eyes. "To be more precise, it's a 'projection'."

At this moment, the mask suddenly turned to Amethyst with a "click" and let out a shrill laugh: "Hehe... found... you..."

"..."

Otto smiled elegantly and tapped the console with his fingers. The energy field that bound the masked man suddenly contracted, making a teeth-grinding squeezing sound.

"Shh... Be quiet." He said softly, and dozens of hair-thin rays of light stretched out from the energy field and slowly pierced into the joints of the masked man.

The masked man began to twitch violently, emitting an inhuman scream. Otto's expression remained unchanged, and he turned up the intensity of the torture.

Zijing watched this scene but did not stop it. He noticed that whenever the masked man struggled in pain, the arc of his smiling face would become larger, as if he was enjoying the torture.

“Ah…ah…it hurts…it hurts…” The masked man suddenly cried in a child-like voice, but the next second it turned into an old woman’s sneer, “But it’s also…interesting, isn’t it?”

"As you can see, it's crazy."

Otto stopped the torture and said to Amethyst.

"But you have already asked some questions?"

"Well, it didn't hide it."

"..."

Amethyst faced the other party's gaze, which was staring straight at him. It was obvious that its target was him.

"Hehe...you can't escape..."

It was still laughing, but Amethyst ignored it and asked directly how many of them had come in.

"Hehe... a lot, a lot..."

It smiled, "It's very lively outside. Not only the God of Fun, but also other gods... It really makes me curious, who are you... Why are you targeted by so many gods..."

Amethyst and Otto looked at each other, and the "you" the other person mentioned obviously did not refer to Amethyst and Otto.

In addition to Zijing, it is very likely that the other two "Li" are also being sought by these guys.

The masked creatures are most likely followers of one of the "gods", and in addition to them, other "gods" may have also sent their followers to look for "Li".

It's getting confusing...

The peaceful days are gone forever. Amethyst sighed and left the laboratory with Otto, leaving the masked man still laughing wildly in the laboratory.

"I'll pry more out of its mouth."

Outside, Otto said this to Amethyst.

"Yes. There may be a meeting later, and you can come and attend if you have time." Zijing nodded slightly.

"I will."

Although no specific time was specified, Otto agreed without even considering it.

Zijing could still hear the faint laughter of the masked man in her ears, which made her feel a little overwhelmed, but it wasn't all bad.

New variables represent new possibilities, and the crisis on Earth may also see a turning point.