Himeko was currently aged thirty years and some odd months.
From Helia's perspective, a thirty-year-old person having a fourteen or fifteen-year-old child, adding the ten months of pregnancy... didn't that mean Himeko was only fifteen when...?
In short, the upright Helia was quite curious about such matters.
Jun An, Himeko, and the Chief were simply stunned. The Chief, especially, looked at Himeko with utter disbelief.
"I'm her adopted son."
Jun An felt like there had been far too many misunderstandings lately. "Let's drop all this nonsense. Since you're here too, Helia, please brief my mom on the current situation."
"Ah, is that so."
Helia thought she had stumbled upon some major gossip. Knowing her senior hadn't experienced some strange ordeal came as a relief.
After all, Jun An's name clearly seemed inherited from the Hyperion's sole Captain. Coupled with Jun An becoming a Captain at such a young age, it would be hard to explain receiving such treatment in the military if he weren't an illegitimate child.
"Chief Atari, let's proceed with the briefing while watching the recording."
Prompted by Helia, Atari immediately brought over a device resembling an old CRT television and a console unit, saying awkwardly, "Apologies, our conditions here are rather basic."
Although South Africa was originally within World Serpent's sphere of influence, its development was visibly lagging; poverty was apparent.
"It's fine. As long as we can get a rough idea of the enemy's strength, that's enough."
Neither Jun An nor Himeko were picky; everyone had endured hardships before. Helia began her report based on the displayed footage.
"First, concerning the mercenary group, known as the Lion Mercenary Group. They proclaim themselves the strongest mercenary group."
The screen showed a group of mercenaries wielding Honkai energy weapons, rampaging through a city. Even though the local army employed machine guns and armor-piercing rounds, they still couldn't inflict significant damage.
Chief Atari's forces had even deployed tanks, but the casualty exchange ratio was far too low.
After one battle, only a few weaker individuals 'ate peanuts' (got shot), and it seemed non-fatal.
Meanwhile, three powerful men, visibly bearing Honkai Beast organs, even tanked several direct hits from tank shells without apparent injury. They then proceeded to tear the tanks apart by hand, turning the entire battle completely one-sided.
"Among them are three MANTISes. The rest are Stigmata Awakeners, but their Honkai energy resistance seems poor. They are likely using technology similar to Schicksal's Artificial Stigmata."
Helia took out her own device and showed it to Himeko and Jun An. "We recently received intelligence from an infochant calling herself Raven. Investigations revealed these individuals were originally World Serpent test subjects. After World Serpent collapsed, they left the organization and became mercenaries in South Africa."
Jun An looked at the data. There were about twenty individuals in total, but not all were MANTISes or Stigmata Awakeners; there was also a contingent of subordinates armed with guns, seemingly ordinary people.
The strongest among them was fused with a Judgement-class Honkai Beast, while the others were fused with Emperor-class beasts. Their displayed combat power was roughly equivalent to Exalted Immortal Fu Hua without the Sword of Taixu.
In terms of raw stats, they were merely average, even somewhat low, among MANTISes.
Yet, even so, to the Chief, they remained unkillable demons. "You've seen it! The power of these devils is simply too immense! They are like demons crawled straight out of hell!"
"...We must request Lady Durandal's assistance! Money, no matter the cost, is no object!"
Hearing this, Helia looked embarrassed. After all, she had been the one hyping up Durandal's strength, perhaps a bit too much.
She couldn't help but scratch her cheek, saying, "Chief Atari, please do not worry. Senior Himeko is a renowned Valkyrie of Schicksal who has participated in the subjugation of numerous Herrschers. Her achievements are on par with Lady Durandal's. I believe she can certainly handle this matter."
"I'm not quite as divine as you make me sound," Himeko said after reviewing the materials. She turned to Jun An. "Captain, what do you think? Are you confident?"
Jun An nodded. "Their strength is roughly A-rank level. Dealing with them shouldn't be too difficult. The problem is their leader, the guy fused with the genes of the Judgement-class Honkai Beast Benares..."
Jun An pointed at his file. "He only tore apart a few armored vehicles by hand. We can't determine his specific strength from this footage. We'll have to see him in person."
Although Jun An possessed the ability to roughly gauge an opponent's strength based on experience at a glance, this was just a recording and some visual data; it was impossible to judge much from it.
So, Jun An tentatively asked, "How about you give me my Pseudo-Heavenfire Holy Kiana, Himeko? If I can't win, I can at least take them out with me."
"Take your head out with you!" Himeko rapped Jun An on the head. "Do you only feel secure carrying a manually-detonated nuclear bomb around?"
This wasn't some fanatical militarism, nor was it a desperate time for national survival requiring soldiers to charge forward with weapons having a two-meter range and a ten-kilometer blast radius.
"If you can't win, you can still retreat. I can provide support too," Himeko stated seriously. "Worst case scenario, Kiana can take a long-range sniper shot at Earth from the moon. Everyone is strong now; you don't need to be the one charging headfirst into everything."
Having received a lecture, Jun An just shrugged nonchalantly. He only wanted a weapon. "Fine, have it your way. So, where do we find these guys next?"
If possible, Jun An wanted to return to the Elysian Realm soon to re-collect the Flame-Chasers' Signets and also ask them for some abilities. More skills couldn't hurt, after all.
"Let me explain the battlefield situation," Chief Atari stepped forward, unfolding a prepared map. "Our nation has twenty-five cities. The places marked with red flags are the cities that have fallen to the enemy."
Twenty-five cities... For a region like Africa, where the map was divided into dozens, even hundreds, of countries, this nation was already considered small to medium-sized.
Jun An looked at their national map; a full half of it was already marked with red flags. "So, where are we?"
"Here." Chief Atari pointed to a city directly bordering the red-flagged territory. "Our capital."
"..."
Jun An asked wearily, "So, how long did it take them to reach your capital?"
"Counting from when the enemy nation hired them, about one month." Chief Atari stated, "Initially, the battle was actually in our favor. But they don't abide by international law! They used every despicable tactic imaginable! Not only did they kill women and children, but they also dumped materials contaminated with Honkai energy into our rivers!"
"...If it weren't for this kind-hearted young lady helping us deal with that terrifying substance, I don't know how many of my subjects would have died."
Helia nodded in confirmation. "This incident hasn't been fully investigated yet. There's insufficient evidence, so it hasn't been officially reported."
"Mm, you did well, Helia," Himeko praised, then asked, "Do we know where the members of the Lion Mercenary Group are currently located?"
"Their most recent appearance was in this fallen city near us," Atari pointed to a city on the map. "Barring any surprises, they will likely attack our doorstep within two days."
"Alright then. I'll swing by there later for a look. A direct decapitation strike should do it." Jun An made an immediate judgment. "Helia, you lead the way for us."
"Go tomorrow? Isn't that a bit too rushed? Besides, there are three MANTISes over there. What if you get surrounded..." Helia hesitated, suggesting, "Perhaps we should retreat slightly and gradually weaken their effective forces?"
"This isn't a war decided by numbers; the difference in individual power is too great," Jun An explained. "Besides, if we don't know their situation, they don't know ours either. That's precisely why a surprise attack is meaningful."
More importantly, the enemy was practically at the capital's gates. The current situation was either we strike them first, or they strike us. Someone had to seize the initiative.
"Chief Atari, I've brought today's dinner."
A soldier entered the tent from outside, carrying several bunches of bananas and some rather charred-looking roast pork.
Seeing this, the Chief immediately said, "Let's eat first then. It's almost evening now. Though we don't have much to offer..."
Before the Chief could finish his sentence, the dark-skinned soldier suddenly let out a cold smirk and lunged, grabbing for the Chief's neck. However, his fist stopped abruptly, hovering just a centimeter before the Chief's head.
The force of the punch alone knocked the Chief backward onto his rear. Opening his eyes, he saw black shadows tightly binding the attacker, the tendrils originating from beneath Jun An's feet.
Jun An looked at the man struggling fiercely within his shadow. "Ho. They got here pretty quick."