Beyond the heavy gates lay wide, paved stone roads branching out in all directions, lined with various shops.
There was a flower shop overflowing with blossoms at its entrance, a clothing store with huge display windows, a bakery with a bread-shaped sign hanging above, a roadside pub with a simple wooden sign...
Small horse-drawn carriages carrying aristocratic-looking Homus trotted slowly down the road.
There were also fruit shops, pet stores...
And in the distance, atop countless steps, stood a colossal statue whose full form couldn't be seen, only the vague outline of two ears visible from here.
The sheer volume of information flooding in from behind the gate overloaded Shu's wide-range scan, causing him to freeze on the spot, staring blankly ahead, overwhelmed.
He only snapped back to reality when an elderly figure leaning on a cane bumped into his leg, making Shu stumble slightly.
Shu was fine, but he looked down in surprise to see that the elder who had collided with him had fallen onto the road and was now rubbing his head.
"Homu! (Grandpa Homu-beard!)" the lead Homu cried out, rushing over to help the frail-looking old Homu up.
"Ho... Homu? (It's you, Homu-blue...)" Homu-beard squinted, looking towards Shu's direction confusedly. "Homu? (Strange... I remember this being the Homu City Gate Avenue. There shouldn't be such a large building here...)"
Building? Is he talking about me?
Shu still hadn't processed all the information from his scan; he was just now registering the number of bakeries.
"Shu!" The three girls hurried over from behind. Seeing Shu's seemingly blank but actually stunned face, Kiana Kaslana immediately prepared to administer her Great Memory Recovery Technique [A slap].
The shield surrounding Shu sensed danger. Shu instinctively discarded the unprocessed information and took a step back.
Seeing Shu react, Kiana didn't follow through with the slap.
"Did you see something just now?" Raiden Mei asked quickly in a low voice.
Shu paused for a moment, then shook his head. "No... It's just that the city walls here are too thick; they blocked my scan. So when I entered the city, the influx of information caught me off guard..."
"I see..." The others breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as you're okay..."
"Shu, what information did you receive?" Bronya Zaychik asked. She had also been observing their surroundings since entering, though relying on her eyes rather than Shu's wide-range scan.
"Nothing particularly useful..." Shu said. "But everything here, from the buildings to the animals, all the food, plants, et cetera, contains Honkai energy..."
There was no doubt; this place was inextricably linked to the Honkai.
However, the Honkai energy distribution was remarkably uniform. The concentration within the Homus was consistent with that in the buildings. According to Ai-chan's data, the margin of error between them was less than 0.1 HW.
This made it impossible to pinpoint the Herrscher or discern the direction of this Honkai phenomenon. To learn more, they would have to delve deeper...
"Shu..." Kiana suddenly nudged him. Shu looked at her, and she pointed towards Homu-beard, who was now being helped up. "Looks like you knocked someone over, oh wait, knocked a Homu over..."
Only then did Shu remember what had snapped him out of his daze. He quickly turned back to the elderly-looking Homu.
By now, Homu-beard had retrieved his cane and was looking at the group, supported by the lead Homu.
"Homu! (Grandpa Homu-beard! It's humans! You bumped into humans!)" the lead Homu exclaimed excitedly.
"Homu? (Humans? Those humans?)" Homu-beard's hunched back straightened instantly, his tone tinged with excitement.
At the same time, the Homus near the city gate heard the lead Homu's words and saw Shu and the others standing at the entrance, towering several heads above them.
"Homu! (It's humans!)"
"Homu mu! (It's the humans who can pick fruit without needing a ladder!)"
"Homu homu! (It's humans like the King!)"
Shu's eyes narrowed slightly, casting a subtle glance towards the last Homu who spoke.
It was a Homu peering out from a luxurious carriage, dressed in expensive clothes, clearly of high status even for a Homu.
Although more exclamations quickly drowned out the aristocratic Homu's quiet remark, Shu clearly caught the sentence amidst the general murmur.
The King is also human?
Shu turned back, frowning slightly.
If the King was also human, then the situation here was almost certainly originating from a Herrscher.
Whether this Herrscher was friend or foe was still unknown, but they had already entered Its territory. Thinking they could just leave now seemed overly optimistic.
Come and go as they pleased? Even the white fog of De Pascal wouldn't allow such a thing so easily. Didn't the fog try to stop them when they attempted to leave De Pascal's range?
Not to mention that arrogant Herrscher of Evolution...
Besides... this railway track passed through this Herrscher's domain. To reopen this route, they had to contain or even eliminate this threat.
In short... regardless, they needed to make contact with the King.
With this thought, Shu looked up towards the distance.
Behind the giant statue, a corner of an exceptionally lavish palace was visible.
Would the King be there...?
"Homu... (Humans, welcome to the Great Homu Kingdom...)" Homu-beard's voice drifted over. Shu lowered his head and noticed Kiana and the others had somehow already crouched down, bringing themselves closer to the Homus' height.
Now he was the only one standing out like a sore thumb. As Homu-beard spoke, all the humans and Homus tilted their heads up to look at him.
Even the Homus in the background stopped their chatter and whispers, staring intently at him.
It felt like being back in the Fire Moth organization...
Shu remained silent for a moment, then chose to stay standing, nodding stiffly at Homu-beard. "Thank you for your kindness."
"Homu homu... (There aren't many places in the Great Homu Kingdom suitable for humans to live. The palace is heavily guarded, and the King has ordered that outsiders are not permitted entry,)" Homu-beard said, tilting his head back.
"Homu! (Grandpa Homu-beard's inn has extra-large rooms suitable for humans!)" a Homu chimed in, having remembered something.
"Homu... (Yes... If you humans don't mind, you could stay at my place for a few days,)" Homu-beard nodded, addressing the group.