"The liquid nitrogen injection port. It's obvious that he has long been aware of our control measures against him. It seems that the Herrscher of Flame has lost his ability, but in fact, he is just following the trend. Yulandel, do you think that a Herrscher who can destroy a city can be suppressed by you without any resistance just because of the HSN potion?"
"Indeed." Yulandel nodded, and then asked curiously: "If that's the case, Bishop, why don't you control him directly? Instead of threatening him with the Ruler of the Void?"
"Huh~" Otto exhaled and smiled brightly. "To be honest, he is much smarter than I thought. He knows very well that he is under all-round surveillance. As long as he analyzes more, he will definitely discover the details. So this is actually a test of my observation ability."
"And I cooperated with his probing and also responded to him. There is one thing he did not hide, he really cares about the Herrscher of the Void. Whether it was the anger he showed deliberately or the forced experiment, he was actually just using destiny to ensure Kiana's safety. This is also the content of the deal between him and me."
"Transaction? Bishop, when did you ..."
"From the very beginning, from the moment he talked to you." Looking at Yulandel who was thinking with her head down, Otto's smile widened. "He questioned your opinion on the Great Collapse, but his actual target was me. You are just a warrior, and you should not answer this question. And if I deny the fact that I did evil, his evaluation of me will only drop to the freezing point."
"Didn't he awaken during the Great Collapse? Is there something wrong with hating destiny?"
"So, Youlandel, you are just a soldier. As the leader of the organization, whether you can bear the consequences of your actions is the standard to judge whether you are qualified. And seeking benefits is our goal. Even if you kill me, those who died will not be resurrected, but I can help him achieve his goal."
"He said those things on purpose to test my cunningness. I cooperated with his performance and he also showed his sincerity. Otherwise, even if he was underground, he would definitely be able to break through."
After hearing the explanation, Yulandel was still a little confused, "Purpose? As a Herrscher, the purpose is to destroy humanity. The content of the transaction..."
"..." After two seconds of silence, Otto put away the smile on his face, and a little gloom was revealed between his eyebrows. His voice was a little hoarse, and he asked self-deprecatingly: "Bianca, do you think my goal is to save mankind?"
As Otto's most trusted subordinate, Bianca naturally knew that he had only one goal from beginning to end - to resurrect Kallen.
Saving humanity can only be said to be a natural progression on his way to achieving his goal. It is great that Destiny can protect billions of people, but that is only the meaning of Destiny's existence, not the meaning of Otto's existence.
She suddenly understood something.
"Yes, my goal is not to save humanity but to revive Kallen. His goal is not to destroy the world but to protect Kiana. In a way, we are on the same path, both of us are moving towards an impossible goal."
"You should have seen Su Jue's medical records. His life expectancy is less than two years. I don't know if this is the price he paid for awakening his Herrscher. I wonder if you have noticed the obvious black and white mark on his chest."
Yulandel nodded and said, "A natural born stigma awakener, and an extremely rare male carrier."
"We still have not figured out what the stigmata really mean. The World Serpent is right. Our research on artificial stigmata can only be regarded as a poor imitation. It is very superficial."
"The stigmata can connect to the imaginary space and obtain the power of Honkai. Such a mature natural stigmata should be the reason why he can obtain the plague gem from the imaginary space. Perhaps it is the erosion of the awakened Herrscher, or perhaps it is the price of the natural stigmata. He really won't live long, so he will cooperate with me and use the power of destiny to protect Kiana."
"I helped him stop the World Serpent from spying on Kiana, and he helped me find a way to revive Kallen. This is a perfect deal."
……
No one would have thought that such complex information could be revealed in just a few words, and even an unspeakable deal could be reached.
This is a deal between Otto and the Herrscher. If it were known by other people or the Council of Elders, it would definitely cause an uproar.
However, Otto was able to use Kiana to "threaten" a Herrscher to temporarily join Schicksal. Everyone would only think that he was a man of great talent and would not raise any objections.
What kind of organization is "Qian Jue" that can attract such talents and even rival Otto's wisdom? This was the first time that Yulandel felt such a strong curiosity.
But this was not something she should consider, as urgent alarms sounded in the deserted city.
"Attention all units, the 42nd experiment of the Second God Key will begin in 5 minutes."
This was an experiment before Su Jue, which consumed a huge amount of materials and energy, forcibly opened the quantum sea and penetrated it, so as to observe the tree of imaginary numbers.
After the countdown ended, a dull artillery bombardment pierced the sky, and bright beams of light illuminated the city in daylight again.
All the sand on the ground began to tremble under this blow. In an instant, the sky was like a broken mirror, exploding into countless powders that fell to the earth.
Behind the mirror, a chaotic space suddenly appeared, and dark and ominous stars rolled over the sky above the city.
"The activation of the God Key is complete, entering the quantum layer, and the invasion of quantum shadow is detected."
Hundreds of shadows emerged from the chaos, and as their figures crossed the sky, time and space seemed to be distorted.
"I'll leave the rest to you, Lord Yulandel."
"Got it." With a slight kick of the heel on the tip of the spear, the spear flew up and fell into his hand. The thought of Su Jue was cleared from Youlan Daier's mind, and she jumped high, killing the battlefield like a comet.
Chapter 159 The Second Experiment
The quantum shadows were endless like the tide. After dozens of experiments, Yulandel knew these monsters almost by heart.
The Quantum Shadow, which was almost a disaster for ordinary troops, was only a minor trouble for Bianca. Following the instructions of the staff, she kept going back and forth to various locations for cleaning.
"The God's Key has reached the threshold and has now broken through the quantum layer. It is about to enter the second stage and begin coordinate observation."
Under this city, ten [Hyperion]-class Honkai energy power reactors are operating at full capacity. With the supply of energy, Thousand Worlds One can break through the barriers of space and open the channel connecting to the Quantum Sea.
During the unstable process of quantum immersion, quantum shadows will continue to appear. Yulandel's task is to eliminate these phantoms and ensure the safety of the experiment.
Afterwards, after breaking through the threshold, Thousand Worlds One will be able to penetrate the quantum sea and conduct the second phase of the experiment.
Leap into a deeper and unknown space, the place where the laws of the universe, the essence and roots are formed - the Tree of Imaginary Numbers.
The energy consumed in this process is unimaginable. Each experiment consumes almost the same amount of electricity as a large city in an entire year.
But this is just a last resort. It is almost impossible to peek into the Tree of Imaginary Numbers as a mortal. Otto's ability to do this is already the limit of what humans can do at present. Only an organization as large as Destiny can afford to support such an illusory experiment.
The observation of the Imaginary Tree lasted only a few dozen seconds before the energy supply was exhausted and the Thousand Worlds One reached its load limit. In these few dozen seconds, the Soul Steel Computer had recorded more than 1 million data nodes, but the node that Otto wanted to find to keep Kallen alive was still a long way off.
Otto knew how difficult the observation experiment was, so he was not too discouraged. According to his speculation, in order to find the target world, it would take at least 8 hours of channel stability. With such an inefficient method, humans would have been destroyed long ago.
"I hope you can give me a surprise, otherwise I can only continue to capture the Herrscher of the Void."
……
Only two days after the experiment began, Otto demanded to forcibly start the next experiment, regardless of the wear and tear of the experimental equipment and the fatigue of the staff.
And this time, it is Su Jue's turn to appear.
After a long time, Su Jue finally returned to the ground. All he could see was yellow sand all over the sky, and every breath of air burned his throat.
His face was pale and weak. The battle in Sky City had taken too much toll on him, and now he was taken to the testing ground just after waking up.
"Su Jue, you should be clear about the experimental procedures." Bianca, who was accompanying her, was holding a lance and had already entered combat status. Even though Su Jue was behaving very docilely now, she did not dare to let her guard down.
Ignoring her, Su Jue's Honkai energy was rising, and he exuded a dangerous aura. The burning heat wave spread rapidly, and even the yellow sand under his feet was forged into transparent glass by the high temperature.
Just as Youlandel was about to take action, Su Jue suddenly laughed.
"Don't be nervous, it's just a warm-up."
"Attention all personnel, the 43rd experiment is about to begin."
The broadcast signal was transmitted to the communicator. Su Jue was involved this time, and Otto also specially made a soul steel body to be responsible for the protection.
With a loud bang, the power reactor began to operate at full capacity, the sky was pierced again, and quantum shadows continued to fall down like dumplings.
In the original plan, only the Herrscher of the Void was the most suitable person to open the door to imaginary numbers, but now that person has not been caught, they can only place their hopes on Su Jue.
"Mr. Su Jue, please start." There was a hint of severity in his voice. If Su Jue dared to fool him, Otto would definitely make him pay the price.
pat-
A crisp snap of fingers sounded on the battlefield, and a small flame was born in his hand. The next second, the small flame turned into a sky-wide flame wave. After burning all the yellow sand, the uncomfortable dimness completely dissipated, and the flames gathered, finally forming a giant sword held in Su Jue's hand.
This body does not have the Plague Gem, but it is because of this that he can connect this place with the Domination Theater. The flames are just a disguise, and the theater is the real one that opens the door.
The body tilted, and the huge flaming sword in his hand suddenly exploded, burning a deep hole in the ground. Su Jue looked up in the direction of the surveillance camera, and he knew that Otto must be watching him from behind.
So he laughed, and even his eyes turned the orange-red of the Herrscher of Fire. He inhaled, then spun around and slashed.
"Flames, burn!"
A 40-meter-long giant sword swept across the sky, and even Bianca, who was fighting with the Quantum Shadow, had to retreat. The moment the high temperature and flames touched the mirror, they far exceeded the instantaneous output of the power reactor and completely pierced it.
The moment he saw this scene, Otto chose to directly leap along the crack that was cut out.
This time, there is no need to consider constructing a space channel at the quantum level, but to directly pierce the membrane of the world and reach the imaginary space.
"The Herrscher of Fire can actually penetrate the imaginary numbers. No, it should be him who can penetrate it." Otto, who was always calm in the face of emergencies, couldn't help but reveal a hint of surprise, and immediately began to observe the imaginary space.
Of course, this passage was opened intentionally by Su Jue. Due to his control over the theater, it was actually easier for him to open the passage than Kiana, the Herrscher of the Void. And because the theater was close to the Tree of Imaginary Numbers, he could also more easily touch the authority granted by the Will of Honkai.
However, Su Jue did not want Otto to discover the theater, so the passage he opened was just another location near the tree. This was also the information he deliberately exposed to Otto - although he could penetrate it, he could not guarantee the accuracy of the location.
But even so, it is much better than Otto's method of brute force through resources, and because the data of each observation is not complete, Otto will have to find him next time to open the door, which ensures his position in Otto's heart.
"This way, Kiana won't have to worry about being hunted down by Tianming."
"I didn't expect that you would actually reach a cooperation with the Bishop because of Kiana." Yulan Dell, who came to his side at some point, sighed a little. Because of skipping the quantum layer, there were only a few quantum shadows that she needed to deal with, so she had the leisure to greet Su Jue.
"This is not a collaboration, it's just a transaction."
In fact, it was not even a transaction, but just a bait deliberately thrown out by Su Jue.
Otto was an old fox, and Su Jue couldn't let him down with lies. Playing the role of a surly and irritable Herrscher with no scheming would not dispel his suspicion. It would be better to directly reveal the same insidious traits as him, which would make him face himself.
For people like them, a transaction with a clearly marked price is far more reliable than cooperation.
But what really made Otto unable to refuse was the fact that Su Jue could open the door, which was also the bait he offered.
As long as the hope of resurrecting Kallen is placed in front of him, even if it is a trap, he will jump in without hesitation. As for whether Su Jue really wants to protect Kiana or not, it seems insignificant.
"People who get caught up in emotions are really stupid. Fortunately, I am not swayed by emotions."
Su Jue couldn't help but sigh.
"Then why did you choose to trade with Otto?" Bianca asked curiously with a puzzled look on her face after listening to Su Jue's words.
"..."
You idiot, don't say anything.
Chapter 160: Reverse Entropy
Unlike the deserts of North Africa, China seems much warmer at the turn of spring and summer. The mist condenses into fog, and the morning glow shines through the gaps in the treetops. The two converge, as if time has frozen, and a meter of sunlight is fixed in the long river of time.
The green fingers stretched out as if wanting to touch the faint light, but stopped the moment they reached out of the window.
The heavy curtains were drawn, and no light could penetrate this dark world anymore.
The girl by the window was like a quiet sculpture, with her soft white hair falling like a waterfall. Kiana stared blankly at her fingertips, not knowing what she was thinking.
Click.
The door was gently pushed open, and Raiden Mei walked in from outside, with an imperceptible anxiety between her brows, but when she looked at Kiana, she immediately regained her usual gentleness.
"Kiana, Theresa and the others were attacked. I'm afraid the Hyperion can't come to pick us up." Seeing the Honkai erosion becoming more and more serious, Mei's eyes were full of heartache.
But after contacting Anti-Entropy, two days have passed and still no one has come to pick them up.
In such a huge organization, the only ones willing to accept the Herrscher of the Void were his former companions.
Now that Theresa had an accident, he and Kiana could only risk being discovered and go to Reverse Entropy to seek help, just like... a stray dog.
For some reason, after hearing Mei's words, Kiana felt relieved.
Hiding her wrists covered with cracks in her sleeves, she shook her head with a pleading look in her eyes. "Mei, I... don't want to go back."
"But the erosion of your body has become more and more serious. You can't hold on relying on these medicines alone." The special medicines provided by Su Jue were neatly placed beside the bed. Although these pills could relieve the symptoms, facing the increasing Honkai energy in Kiana's body, the effect was getting worse every day.
"Kiana, don't be stubborn anymore and come back with me." Putting her hands on the girl's shoulders, Mei looked into her eyes.
Mei understood that she was worried that the Herrscher of the Void in her body would harm her companions, but now was not the time to think about that. She saved Sky City and now needed someone to save her.
Kindred sacrificed so much of his life to save Kiana from the clutches of the Fates, and now it is his turn to inherit their will.
Facing Mei's gaze, Kiana turned her head away awkwardly, not daring to look at her.
Even if she followed Mei back to Anti-Entropy, what would that mean? It was just a change of place to lie down. Kiana knew the condition of her body very well, and it was completely beyond the reach of treatment.
Besides, he could lose control at any time, like a time bomb, threatening his companions at all times. Even if he tried his best to control himself, what would other ordinary people think? Would the anti-entropy people dare to keep a Herrscher by their side?
Fear, terror, disgust.
Kiana has seen enough looks like that in the past few months, and she doesn't want Mei to bear the same fate with her.
Now, she just wanted to chase her own light and bring him back while she was still able to move.
Say goodbye to him and die peacefully.
It was just a small action, but it made Mei feel annoyed.
"Kiana, you've changed. You've become mature, silent, and learned to carry everything on your shoulders. But we are friends. Remember what you once said? As long as Mei is here, there is the power of a hundred people. I just want to help you, to be your strength, to make you feel better, just like before, happy."
Holding Kiana in his arms, tears rolled down Mei's eyes.
From a heartless and optimistic fool to the worried person she is now, how much pain has she experienced and how much malice has she suffered.
“Mei…” Kiana sighed deeply as she felt the clothes on her shoulders gradually getting wet. “I can’t go back anymore. After the Herrscher of the Void awakened from my body, there is no place for me in this world anymore.”
"During this time of wandering, I saw countless people being displaced and their families destroyed because of the Great Collapse. These are sins that I cannot erase. It was the Herrscher in my body that caused all of this."
