"The fish has taken the bait; it's time to cause a scene!"
On the yacht, Lierre's lips curled into a smile as her hands suddenly jerked the fishing rod upward!
The ocean abruptly surged with massive waves, and a colossal shadow rose from the waters beneath the vessel.
The next second, an abyssal maw swallowed the tiny yacht along with tens of thousands of tons of seawater, sinking back into the depths!
Judgment-class Honkai Beast, Chiyou!
The scene shifted.
Inside an elegantly decorated manor.
"So this was Lierre's true purpose for going out to sea?"
Ana scanned the unfamiliar surroundings with curiosity, not showing much panic.
She knew that Lierre wouldn't travel so far simply to catch some fish.
This had to be part of the plan!
Mobius, however, fixed her gaze on Lierre, who was standing at a desk with a brush in hand. "This place shouldn't be the interior of that Honkai Beast. What do you want by bringing me here?"
Lierre quickly wrote out invitations. "You've guessed wrong. We are currently inside that Judgment-class Honkai Beast. Bringing you here is, naturally, to deal with it. But since we're here anyway, why not host a fishing competition? Let's liven things up together!"
Mobius looked skeptical. She pushed open a window and looked up at the blue sky, white clouds, and high-hanging sun.
This wasn't some product of technology; it was a real, existing world.
You're telling me this is inside a Honkai Beast? Are you kidding me!
"Finished!"
Lierre put down the brush and lightly tapped the invitation with her index finger.
In an instant, the single invitation split into dozens of copies, which turned into streaks of light, soaring into the sky and vanishing over the horizon.
Among them, two invitations drifted into the hands of Mobius and Ana.
"To Ms. Mobius (Ana Schariac): As the Mayor of Ancient Fishing Town, the organizer of the 7th Global Unrestricted Fishing Competition, the presiding judge, host, and commentator, I formally invite you to participate in this contest!"
"All participants will receive a 500-gram gold bar as a souvenir at the end of the competition!"
"Death does not exist at the competition site. Any damage sustained during the process is nullified, and pain is 90% immunized!"
"Though there is no death, everyone has a hidden health bar. When the health bar is emptied, you immediately enter a 'Death State.' Resurrection takes three hours, and the time required for subsequent resurrections doubles!"
"The competition will last for three days. The match officially begins next Saturday at 6:00!"
"Every time you catch (kill) a fish (?) of a different danger level, you will earn points for your team. When a team reaches 1,000,000 points, the top three teams will be formally decided!"
"Teams can consist of one person or multiple people. Merging with other teams is allowed mid-competition, and the points of the two teams will be combined and shared (only one chance to merge). When a cooperation invitation is issued, no one can violate the will of both parties; violators will be immediately disqualified, and the organizer is obligated to provide appropriate punishment!"
"In the spirit of fairness, justice, and transparency, the organizer will broadcast the entire event live!"
"Below are the rewards for the top three places:"
"Third Place: Participants will receive a Divine Key, Key of Domination: Xuanyuan Sword *1!"
"Second Place: Participants will receive the Authority of the Fifth Herrscher, the Herrscher of Ice!"
"First Place: Participants will become the next Mayor of Ancient Fishing Town and own the rights to this world (a planet)!"
"Competition first, friendship second!"
"Winner takes all, loser eats dust!"
"—Organizer: Mayor of Ancient Fishing Town, Lierre!"
The first two rewards were not the most important; the prize for first place was the real shocker.
Lierre actually owned a planet?!
She had even placed this planet inside the belly of a Honkai Beast.
The mist surrounding Lierre thickened once more.
Mobius put down the invitation and looked at Lierre again. "I'm joining this competition!"
She didn't care what other good things Lierre was hiding.
But she was determined to have this habitable planet!
Ana's gaze also lingered on the first-place reward, her eyes growing resolute. "I want to participate too!"
One must fight for their pride in life. Although the second and third prizes were more suitable for her, she still wanted to vie for first place!
The town's snack street.
"Delicious! The skills of the chefs here are amazing. Most importantly, it's all free. I don't ever want to leave!"
Kiana's face was covered in grease, and she held a large handful of steaming, fragrant skewers.
"Don't just think about eating. Didn't you read that invitation that flew in? The reward for first place is the ownership of the planet beneath our feet!"
"What? Since when can the Earth be traded normally?"
"Idiot, the planet Sister Mei mentioned isn't Earth. We very likely aren't on Earth anymore. According to the invitation, the ownership of this planet is currently in Lierre's hands."
"You mean... we've traveled through space?!" Kiana was stunned, and several skewers dropped from her hand.
Good grief, just who was her Auntie? To even own a planet as a back garden.
"Why would Auntie give away such a precious planet as a prize?" Kiana expressed her lack of understanding; if it were her, she would never give it away.
Murata Himeko took over the conversation, saying, "Probably because no one can actually claim it. The prerequisite is that a team must reach 1,000,000 points, and the time limit is only three days. The difficulty level is clearly extremely high."
The others nodded, thinking this made a lot of sense.
"No matter how difficult the competition is, I'm joining!" Kiana was the first to take a stand.
This was a competition organized by her Auntie; even if it wasn't for the prize, as a niece, she had to set an example and support the event!
"I won't let Kiana fight alone. Let's work hard together."
"There's currently no downside for us to participate in this competition. In that case, we should definitely fight for at least third place."
Raiden Mei and Bronya made their choices.
Murata Himeko then took off her hand armor and used her greatsword to make a small cut on her palm.
A slight sting followed, but only a string of ancient golden runes appeared on her fair palm; there was no wound.
Truly a gentle world...
The Hyperion.
"A world without death, Divine Keys, the Authority of the Herrscher of Ice, a planet..."
Theresa clutched her chest, calming her shocked emotions. She put down the invitation and looked at Joyce and Wendy, who had also received theirs.
By now, they had finished reading the contents and made their decisions.
The rewards for the top three were simply too enticing, especially the first-place prize. No one could stay indifferent after seeing it.
That was an entire planet!
"Principal, when do we set off to meet Himeko?" Wendy stood up, her eyes full of curiosity about new things.
"No time like the present. We leave now!" Theresa steadied her mind and immediately tore the invitation.
Because this was not only an invitation but also a "plane ticket" to help participants from thousands of miles away reach the arena quickly.
Swish!
White light instantly engulfed Theresa, turning into a streak of light that shot out of the Hyperion and plunged toward the seabed below.
Joyce and Wendy looked at each other, nodded, and tore their invitations as well.
Swish! Swish!
Two streaks of light followed closely into the deep sea.
Schicksal headquarters.
Otto returned two invitations to the pair and instructed, "Durandal, Rita, you must do your best to secure first and second place."
"Understood, Lord Overseer." 2
"Mm, I have great confidence in you, but don't feel too much pressure. The opponents you face may not be simple."
Otto added in a gentle tone, "By the way, if you see Lierre, try to bring her back if possible. Remember, do not use force; she is your future superior."
Durandal and Rita smiled and nodded in agreement.
They already had a good impression of Lierre.
Following that, two streaks of white light flew from the Schicksal floating island toward Shenzhou.
"...The more I understand the miracles surrounding Lierre, the more I can appreciate the insignificance of humanity." Otto stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing toward Shenzhou.
"Oh? Do you see her as a God now?"
"Don't you think she's already very close to the concept of a God, Void Archives?"
"You might be right. I should feel fortunate—fortunate that the human side finally has a True God... She came at the right time, yet she came too late..."
St. Freya Academy.
Cheng Lixue found Fu Hua with an invitation, only to discover that her Master also held one in her hand.
"Master, should we participate?"
"We should. Wendy has confirmed the second-place reward is real, so there's no reason the first-place prize is fake. And..."
A flash of sadness crossed Fu Hua's eyes. She didn't continue but said to Cheng Lixue instead, "Lixue, let the two of us fight side by side once again."
"Mm!"
Cheng Lixue nodded vigorously.
Two streaks of light soared into the sky, flying toward their final destination.
Anti-Entropy.
Bang!
"Hey, nest-head! Come see what this is!" Tesla pushed open Einstein's door forcefully, waving the invitation excitedly.
"Sigh, Dr. Tesla, when will you spare my door? If you keep this up, I'll have to get a new one again." Einstein sighed helplessly.
"Forget the door! Look at what's in my hand!"
Tesla slammed her invitation onto the desk.
"It seems you also received an invitation to Lierre's competition. I'm glad to have company for this event."
Einstein glanced at it and pulled a matching invitation from her pocket.
"You have one too?" Tesla's eyes widened in surprise, then she patted Einstein's shoulder with delight. "Great! With you added, my chances of winning just went up!"
"Dr. Tesla, having confidence is good, but don't underestimate our opponents this time."
"What kind of talk is that? You shouldn't boost others' morale and diminish our own, nest-head!"
As they spoke, Welt Yang, who was out, proactively contacted Tesla and Einstein.
Soon, they learned that Welt Yang had also received an invitation.
"We're set!" Tesla laughed happily.
With the assistance of two genius beautiful girls like her and nest-head, plus Yang's Authority of the Herrscher of Reason, winning was definitely guaranteed!
Einstein rubbed her forehead, feeling helpless at her old friend's habit of setting flags.
Elsewhere.
"Liliya, let's participate together. If we win the championship, we'll definitely give Mama Cocolia a huge surprise!"
Rozaliya Arin pulled the blue-haired loli beside her, speaking enthusiastically.
Liliya Arin looked at the two invitations that had flown down from the sky and hesitated. "But... won't it be too risky for us to just go like this?"
"What are you worried about! Look at this name, doesn't it look familiar?"
"Mm, Mama Cocolia said Sister Bronya was adopted by a kind person named Lierre... but there are many people with the same name in the world. Could it be such a coincidence?"
"Oh, Liliya, you're overthinking it! There aren't that many coincidences! Maybe Sister Bronya received an invitation too, and we can reunite with her at the competition!"
"Nngh..." Liliya wavered. She missed Bronya, but she remained calm. "I still think it's better to notify Mama Cocolia in advance."
"No way! If Mama Cocolia knows, she definitely won't let us go!" Rozaliya shook her head repeatedly, her long pink hair swaying.
While the two sisters were arguing, Seele Vollerei's voice came from behind:
"Hey, you two, want to hear my advice?"
The Arin sisters turned and found Seele swinging a matching invitation, looking at them with a mischievous smile.
A while later, Cocolia returned to her residence, exhausted.
"Children, look what presents I brought back for you!"
Cocolia carried several gift boxes, forcing herself to stay energetic, waiting with a gentle smile for her daughters to come and greet her.
After waiting for dozens of seconds without anyone appearing, her expression changed instantly.
Ignoring the gifts, Cocolia rushed into the rooms. After searching and finding no trace of the Arin sisters or Seele Vollerei, her face turned deathly pale.
Holding onto a final shred of hope, she opened the surveillance footage. Seeing her three daughters turn into three streaks of light and be carried away, her body shook uncontrollably.
"Lierre, why is it you again...!"
Under the ultra-high-definition view of the surveillance, the contents of those three strange invitations were clearly visible.
Cocolia had clearly protected them so well, yet she still couldn't stop Lierre from taking her remaining three daughters away from her side.
World Serpent.
Gray Serpent took an invitation and found Raven, who had also been selected.
"Let's depart."
"Sure, no problem. But don't forget to pay me double wages at the end!"
"It is what you deserve."
"Good."