"I have something big to tell you all," Chen Li said mysteriously to the group.
"Wow, what a cute girl! What's your name?"
"Starting today, I can do whatever I want in this world, reshaping it according to my own ideas, without being constrained by things like time paradoxes," Chen Li continued.
"Your hair is so pretty, and the sharp points on the sides are so unique. Can I touch it?"
"In fact, almost eighty percent of the higher-ups in the Flame-Chasers and the United Nations have been bought by me using the Compulsory Transaction Gold Coin. This means we can use the resources of the entire civilization to save the world without having to worry about being hindered by idiots, morons, and imbeciles from all walks of life."
"Your doll can talk..."
"That's enough, Elysia! Stop flirting with Sirin and listen to me, will you?" Chen Li couldn't take it anymore and slammed his hand on the table.
"Hm? What happened?" Elysia tilted her head and looked at Chen Li.
"Oh, the world's about to end."
"Tch." Elysia didn't believe him for a second.
"The person in front of you is a Herrscher," Chen Li continued.
"For real?"
"The Second Herrscher."
"You're tricking me again. It's not like I haven't seen the Second Herrscher before."
"What if I told you this is the Second Herrscher from the future?" Chen Li said, crossing his arms.
"Eh?"
"Sirin, give them a performance. You know, that thing..."
"...Snap!"
With a sigh of resignation, Sirin snapped her fingers. Three Lances of the Void materialized behind her. The Herrscher of the Void core activated at full power, and space became like a plaything in her hands, eventually coalescing into a tiny bubble.
"Don't underestimate this little bubble in Sirin's hand. This is a World Bubble. In other words, it's a genuine world, even if there's nothing inside it yet," Chen Li introduced.
Creating a World Bubble wasn't an ability exclusive to the Herrscher of the Void, but she was absolutely the most skilled and suitable Herrscher for the task. Sirin had never created one before simply because she didn't know what a World Bubble was. Once she knew, she could make one.
Although Chen Li had wrestled Sirin's personality back from the Honkai consciousness, repositioning her at the midpoint between humanity and the Honkai, her true form was still a Herrscher recognized by the Honkai. Only such a complete Herrscher possessed the authority to generate and command Honkai Beasts and Deadwalkers.
At the same time, she could fully unleash the power of the Herrscher core, using the authority of the Void as if it were instinct. She wasn't like Welt, who had to bear a huge burden when using the authority of Reason.
"It... it really is the Herrscher of the Void." Mobius looked at Sirin with considerable shock, which was quickly replaced by a fervent glow in her eyes.
Mobius had previously studied the body of the Previous Era's Herrscher of the Void that Chen Li had brought back, and had also studied the Herrscher core. Now, a living, communicating Herrscher had appeared right before her.
"Don't look at me like a lab animal. I hate that look. I hate it a lot," Sirin said, having keenly sensed Mobius's gaze and making her disgust perfectly clear.
Honestly, if Chen Li weren't there, and if her personality hadn't been tempered slightly, Sirin would have attacked on the spot.
"My apologies." Mobius raised her hands and apologized readily.
"However, I must declare that I have no intention of experimenting on you. I've already collected the relevant experimental data. I'm just very curious as to why you didn't attack humans on sight," Mobius explained.
She was being sincere. Mobius wasn't an idiot; the Herrscher of the Void that Chen Li had brought over was clearly an ally... although Mobius didn't really have a concept of allies, she very much had the concept of Chen Li being her sugar daddy.
But then again, conducting some psychological counseling probably wasn't against the law, right?
"I refuse to answer that question." Because Sirin felt it wasn't a question at all.
Sirin had only finished reading the plots related to the Second Eruption and Honkai Impact 3rd. She knew nothing about the Previous Era, so she didn't understand what a technological breakthrough a communicable Herrscher represented for them. From her perspective, even the First Herrscher could help humanity fight the Honkai.
"Alright. Then let's get back to the matter of mobilizing the entire civilization's resources to save the world," Mobius said, turning to Chen Li.
"I wasn't lying about that. Right now, I'm the one calling the shots for this civilization! If you don't believe me, you can ask Sakura. She was there at the time and was one of the ones who sold herself."
"That sounds kind of..." Vill-V trailed off, hesitant.
"Ahem, anyway, Sakura, go and help inform those higher-ups later. Tell them they don't need to execute the Fictional Civilization Project anymore."
"Ah, but Boss, this plan was just formulated. After extensive refinement, it's just taken a basic shape..."
"Boss" was the current title Chen Li had stipulated for his subordinates. He'd change it when he thought of a cooler one.
"Because I have already obtained the results of the Fictional Civilization Project in the future. So after traveling back to the present, the project can be stopped," Chen Li said.
Since Chen Li wasn't going to let the Previous Era be destroyed, there was naturally no need to leave a gift for the next civilization.
And more importantly, you couldn't generate Fiction Value from the same event twice.
"Understood, Boss."
"What exactly is going on? Can you explain in detail?" Elysia asked curiously.
"Of course." Chen Li snapped his fingers, and two Miracle Cards appeared before him. Letting them witness the miracle directly would make the explanation much easier.
"I'll transfer the plot related to the Honkai to you all later; you can watch it carefully. In short... after today, everything will be different," Chen Li said confidently.
...
After a preliminary briefing, everyone had examined Chen Li's two Miracle Cards and gained a basic understanding of the current situation.
"So... Little Li, you were worried that your appearance would cause changes in the Herrschers who appear in the Current Era's future. So, before you had too great an impact on this world, you traveled to the future, fixed the order in which the Cocoon of Finality would spawn Herrschers, and while you were at it, you severed the connection between the Previous and Current Eras, turning two civilizations that were originally in a cyclical relationship into ones that can interact with each other?" Elysia mused thoughtfully.
"And the reason the Herrschers of the future civilization are the same as the Current Era's is because we implemented a project to allow the next civilization to learn from our experience and better cope with them?" Mobius was more concerned about this.
Because Mobius knew that a plan like this, one that would only be formulated in a near-hopeless situation, meant that in the original timeline, their current civilization was still destroyed.
"And unlike the Previous Era, the Herrschers of our civilization—meaning me—can choose whether or not to fight for the Honkai because someone gave us the right to choose," Sirin said, looking at Elysia.
Sirin had no idea about this before, which was why she was so surprised.
"I'll get shy if you keep looking at me like that." Being stared at by Sirin for so long, Elysia couldn't help but cover her face with her hands.
But Chen Li felt that Elysia was just trying to stop herself from smiling too smugly.
Elysia: As expected of me.jpg
"But I have a question. Since MANTISes can live for 50,000 years, what happened to our comrades who survived into the next civilization after you severed the connection between the two?" Vill-V was a bit puzzled.
"I don't know," Chen Li said quite frankly.
"You don't know?"
"I'm only responsible for paying the price. The logic problems are solved by [Myriad Phenomena Severance]," Chen Li shrugged.
"How can you be a Curio Forger if you don't know anything?"
"Is that my fault? Isn't it because not a single one of you survived into the future? Maybe things have already changed, but we just don't know it," Chen Li said.
"..."
Of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, only four survived into the next civilization: Kevin, Su, Hua, and Griseo.
The first three hadn't even joined the Flame-Chasers yet, and the only one they could interact with, Griseo, was still a child.
And as for everyone present: Sakura, Vill-V, Mobius, Elysia... they all died, one more tragically than the last.
"So sorry we couldn't live to see the future," Mobius said casually.
"It's okay, I forgive you."
"???"
"Speaking of which, where's Kalpas?" Elysia asked. She had arrived a bit late.
"Oh, he's still in the kitchen cooking."
"Is anyone there? Dr. Mobius?" an anxious voice called from outside Mobius's lab.
Hearing the call, Mobius got up to open the door. She had no idea why this group insisted on holding their gathering in her lab. Did it look that unoccupied?
"What is it, Hen? We're discussing something very important here," Mobius said upon seeing Hen enter the lab after passing verification.
"Griseo, it's Griseo..."
"What's wrong with Griseo?"
"Griseo, she's been entangled by something strange."
"Huh?"
"A phantom of an adult woman appeared behind her. It looks a lot like Mr. Knight and also a bit like Griseo herself. Although the phantom is slowly fading, it can't be observed by any instrument other than the naked eye, so I rushed over to find you, the knowledgeable Dr. Mobius."
"Oh, I know this episode," Chen Li suddenly raised his hand.
"Griseo must be shouting that she's possessed by an evil spirit, while lying in a cell saying she's very dangerous and that you shouldn't let her out or she'll hurt you, right? And I bet that right now, her face just screams 'invincible'," Chen Li said with absolute certainty.
"???"
---o---