Barbie had positioned Luo Shu's ambush on the highway south of Tokhtamysh, a road winding through the valley with a slight counterclockwise tilt. To the northeast stood the majestic Muztagh Ata, while to the southeast loomed K2, the world's second-highest peak. Beyond the eastern ridge lay China's G314 highway, barely forty kilometers away.
This was the choke point—the last chance to stop Prester John before he reached Pakistan's Kashmir, where his full Tier-5 power would unleash catastrophe.
But the white bone spear that downed the Black Hawk? That wasn't the real threat.
The true danger was his conversion ability.
Like a certain strategist from the Three Kingdoms, Prester John was a charismatic demagogue. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were peerless warriors, yet Liu Bei only thrived after Zhuge Liang—the real "miracle worker"—joined him.
Similarly, Prester John's mass conversion turned populations into zealots overnight. That was what made him Keter.
Luo Shu wasn't afraid of the bone spear. Its targeting mechanism was obvious, and its speed (~4 Mach) was dodgeable with Unobservability. But an area-of-effect conversion wave? That was a hard counter to antimemetics.
The Trap
Luo Shu took cover beneath an overhanging rock, briefing Jianjia:
"Stay distant. Keep him in your Hume-boost range—and don't look at us."
"What's your plan?" she pressed.
"Trust me. Just suppress him and protect yourself."
His vague concern worked. Women, after all, often valued care over logic. Jianjia nodded, retreating to her own hiding spot.
"Don't peek!" Luo Shu shouted after her.
Some explanations were better left unsaid.
Barbie's voice crackled over comms: "500 meters!"
At the road's bend, a figure emerged—sprinting.
200 meters.
100 meters.
Luo Shu activated two abilities:
Psychic Static (to counter conversion).
Unobservability.
Jianjia struck first. Mist swirled as reeds erupted, entangling Prester John.
The king tore through them effortlessly.
Expected. If she could solo him, they wouldn't need me.
Prester John turned toward Jianjia's hiding place and intoned:
"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—"
Luo Shu yelled, "Hey! Over here!"
No reaction. Unobservability worked too well.
The prayer continued. Mental pressure mounted—like facing the Possession Mask, but subtler. Where the mask erased minds, Prester John rewrote them.
Luo Shu's Psychic Static and 10% Anomaly Resistance held, but Jianjia's reeds flickered.
Time to act.