This was a Honkai Beast legion that obeyed Lu Xing.
Compared to those encountered when fighting the Knight Captain, the Knight-class types here were fewer in variety but more elite... As far as Lu Xing could see, he couldn't spot a single ordinary Knight-class.
The entire group had only two variants:
[Frozen Knight] and [Death Horn].
The former was an ordinary variant, corresponding to the "Paladin-class."
Different attributes, similar quality.
One mastered "Fire," the other mastered "Ice"—if described using Assault-class terms, it would be the difference between a "Spacetime Ripper" and a "Spacetime Guardian."
Due to the exaggerated Honkai energy concentration in the space.
Almost all the [Frozen Knights] Lu Xing saw had reached the peak of their strength: Lv.30.
"The upper limit of a Honkai Beast's level is related to its species."
This was the conclusion Lu Xing reached after long observation.
Simultaneously, the presence or absence of affixes, and their differences, would also affect this upper limit.
The more powerful [Death Horn] did not correspond to the "Heavy Cavalry Captain"; their "brother" echelon should be another type Lu Xing hadn't seen before, the [Iron Hoof Horn].
As for the reason why…
Lu Xing couldn't care less!
In Lu Xing's eyes, this imposing army of Knight-class beasts was simply fodder that could be used at will!
The higher the level of a Honkai Beast.
The more experience points it could provide Lu Xing.
Not to mention the vast number of [Frozen Knights], the few [Death Horns] whose levels were close to or even higher than Lu Xing's—mostly between Lv.35 and Lv.40—if all were absorbed, they could definitely allow Lu Xing to level up further.
Doing so would be a reckless waste.
Lu Xing had already killed several Lv.40 Honkai Beasts, and the experience they provided was far less than imagined. Using these affix-less [Death Horns] as mere consumables would be too wasteful.
Lu Xing had a more reliable idea.
Lu Xing found a [Frozen Knight] closest to him.
He found a good angle, aimed at the target, then launched a flying kick, directly booting the humanoid figure on the horse's back to the ground!
The Knight Captain didn't even have a mount yet!
These clueless subordinates were so brazenly sitting higher than their leader, utterly disregarding Lu Xing!
The actual situation was: Lu Xing couldn't command the Knight-class beasts to make their humanoid parts dismount from the horse-shaped beast bodies. The intelligence of the [Frozen Knights] was not high; they could only understand a few types of commands (though they could perfectly execute most combat commands). The advanced "man-horse separation" maneuver was completely beyond them.
Lu Xing could only kick the humanoid figure off the Knight-class's back—it seemed to be stuck on quite tightly, and wouldn't come off without some force—then, he leaped onto the horse's back!
Perfectly centered, steady and firm!
Lu Xing let out a deep sigh.
After less than five seconds of feeling smug, Lu Xing, under the uncomprehending gazes of his subordinates (they were expressionless, after all), sheepishly dismounted.
Lu Xing's situation was, after all, special.
Normal Knight-class beasts still considered their horse-shaped bodies as their true selves.
If he treated one as a mount… setting aside how awkward it felt, Lu Xing's combat power would definitely be greatly diminished. Giving commands to the Knight-class beast beneath him was not a problem, but he couldn't expect these Knight-class beasts to execute them perfectly.
As for the difference…
It was like playing a competitive game with a high latency of 300 ping.
At Lu Xing's current level, 300 milliseconds was enough to determine life and death several times over.
This act of cosplaying a Knight-class Honkai Beast offered no positive benefit to his own combat power.
Its greatest effect was probably to make himself appear more ordinary, and to satisfy his vanity as a Knight-class.
A Knight-class cosplaying a Knight-class…
Why did that feel somewhat off?
Lu Xing lowered the gun-lance in his hand.
Before him, all the [Death Horns] in the entire Knight-class encampment had fallen to the ground.
Lu Xing had not "killed" his own subordinates. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ Nov3lFɪre.ɴet
After all, one could gain experience just by fighting—Lu Xing could certainly distinguish which was better: draining the pond to catch all the fish, or sustainable development.
As for the progress of the main mission…
As long as one's mind worked fast enough, loopholes would always outnumber patches.
After carefully studying the mission description, Lu Xing's line of thinking broadened once again.
Since the mission route was determined by proportion.
He could completely, after dealing with 3333 humans/Honkai Beasts/mechs, find an opportunity to use a large-scale AOE to include all three in the final quota—thinking about it this way, it didn't seem much different from the original plan?
It seemed the System bugs were fixed quite well?
Unless, due to the overly even distribution of types, no reward was given after completing the mission… That, shouldn't happen, right?
The plan was feasible.
But in practice, there was a drawback that could also be called an advantage which needed to be resolved.
While Lu Xing was fighting the [Death Horns], he also issued a command to the vast number of [Frozen Knights]:
The Honkai energy here was too abundant.
Even without fighting, Honkai Beasts could raise their levels as if inflating a balloon, simply by eating…
This was not acceptable!
Honkai Beasts were born to destroy.
If they were not allowed to fight, their levels would stagnate—this drawback affected everyone from the [Frozen Knights] up to the Emperor's Guards.
Lu Xing still vividly remembered the moment the Knight Captain became a "Variant."
Everyone, get grinding!
Honkai Beasts are not permitted to lie flat!
For affixes, for advancement, for becoming the boss's fodder… In short, Lu Xing absolutely could not watch his subordinate Honkai Beasts be so lacking in ambition. At this moment, Lu Xing felt as if he were possessed by the spirits of countless capitalists hanged from lampposts on a snowy night, initiating an unprecedented, all-hands special training.
The [Frozen Knights] were constantly striving to become more delectable fodder for Lu Xing.
And at such times, it was inevitable for "employees" to die suddenly—Honkai energy could rapidly heal injuries, but only if the Honkai core wasn't shattered.
The gladiatorial combat of the Knight-class beasts was just like that.
During the battles, [Frozen Knights] whose Honkai cores were shattered by knight lances due to operational errors brought Lu Xing an unexpected new development:
Main Mission Progress Bar +1.
At first, Lu Xing thought he had misread it, but after this situation occurred repeatedly several times, he finally confirmed one thing:
After obtaining the [Legion Leader] affix.
The kill counts of the subordinate Honkai Beasts in Lu Xing's "legion" would also be recorded by the System in the main mission progress.
The System not only enabled friendly fire but even counted that damage in his output statistics!