Utterly Unhinged

Not everyone is as confident as Mobius. Blanca was genuinely quite nervous about the Gray Serpent... well, it could also be because she's getting older and more timid.

"May I ask who this Liu Bai you mentioned is...?" Gray Serpent asked in a rare hoarse and unpleasant voice.

After being pulled from the destruction pool by Mobius and fitted with mechanical organs and limbs to prolong its life, Gray Serpent did not bask in the joy of survival. Instead, it frantically absorbed the knowledge around it like a sponge.

He discovered that his creator, Lord Mobius, only felt a strange, inexplicable emotion when mentioning the name "Liu Bai".

"Your father."

Danzhu lay back in his chair, cracking sunflower seeds as he spoke with an air of nonchalance.

"...?" Gray Serpent's brain was momentarily stunned by Danzhu's words, but then Gray Serpent realized that it was a joke. "Please don't make such jokes, Lord Danzhu."

"Hmm... it's a joke for Dr. Mobius, but it's not for you— Dr. Mobius is like your mother in a conceptual sense, right?"

Danzhu's face revealed a mischievous expression.

"..."

Although something about what he said didn't sound quite right, Gray Serpent, whose knowledge was currently limited to self-taught common sense, couldn't find a point of rebuttal for a moment.

Of course, it still didn't sound right.

"Danzhu, do you want to die?"

Mobius sighed. Well, how should I put it?

Although Danzhu was stirring up trouble, the idea of Liu Bai being the father and her being the mother was still very much to her liking.

But the problem is, every living thing your biologist creates is considered the mother of all living things.

Don't try to confuse the concepts of creator and parents!

If you want to use your parents, then you should at least pour out the same kind of feelings as your parents, but... sorry, Mobius says she is a cold and heartless woman.

She was never a sentimental scholar; she wasn't that affected.

If Danzhu hadn't spoken so pleasingly, Mobius would have been prepared to make Danzhu experience the full extent of suffering.

"Waaah, you threw her into the disposal pool, couldn't you be a little gentler? Doctor, you can't be a good mother like this."

"I was being gentle enough by pulling him out of the disposal pool."

Mobius rolled his eyes at Danzhu, then looked at the Gray Serpent.

"Alright, stop listening to Danzhu's nonsense. Liu Bai is the de facto leader of our Moth Chasers to Fire, but he's been quite busy lately, so you might not be able to see him."

"A leader..." Gray Serpent was secretly surprised and firmly memorized the name.

As for seeing... Gray Serpent didn't have that kind of extravagant desire.

After all, the other party is the de facto leader of the Moth Chasers to Fire, so it's normal for him to be extremely busy.

Gray Serpent had a very clear understanding of his own position; he was clearly not yet at the point where the other party would make a special trip to take a look at him.

Moreover... the identity of Lady Mobius's husband is enough to put pressure on the Gray Serpent, not to mention the intriguing identity of being the "actual leader."

It's better not to meet.

"By the way, Gray Serpent, while I'm writing this report to you, go next door and learn from those two kids. You can learn almost anything you want. But if you go in and find a woman who's about my height and has a sinister vibe, come back right away. She's not someone to mess with."

"I see."

Three months later.

"Oh... the Mechanist Cult? Gray Serpent has come up with some really interesting things."

Mobius looked at the letter the Gray Serpent had sent back, a look of interest on his face.

"And a whole group of people gathered there... tsk tsk tsk, are these people that free?"

"Perhaps it's because of despair that they want to rely on faith to fill and soothe their hearts?" Danzhu commented on the matter very seriously. "You can't blame them. This idea isn't strange. It's just that the Mechanist Cult itself... Dr. Mei seems to have received reports about this organization recently."

"What, you want to endorse Gray Serpent? Do whatever you want. If Gray Serpent gets killed, it means he's incompetent."

Although Mobius thought the Mechanist Cult was low-class and stupid, he was actually quite satisfied with the speed at which Gray Serpent was causing trouble.

After all, this is the first time Gray Serpent has caused trouble. If he can escape Sakura's pursuit, he will probably become more and more skilled in the future.

Yes, Sakura.

Without any hesitation, this cleanup work will most likely be left to Sakura.

Sakura is naturally strong against people and has the ability to teleport, making her perfect for carrying out precise cleanup work.

I just don't know how Gray Serpent will manage to escape from Sakura's blade.

Mobius opened the next letter, another from Gray Serpent —only Gray Serpent would deliver letters to Mobius.

"Oh, self-replication?" Mobius's eyes lit up. "Creating one's own sub-individuals... no, individuals with the same authority and coexisting consciousness, huh... inspiration from Prometheus? Not a waste of time, it seems Sakura won't be able to defeat the Gray Serpent."

Anyone who can pull off this kind of maneuver must know the principle of not putting all your eggs in one basket.

How do I kill Sakura?

Sakura's brain could never catch all the Gray Serpent.

However, if even one individual is overlooked, the Gray Serpent can continue to self-replicate.

The Gray Serpent's body is not as precious as Prometheus's; it can basically be copied however one wants.

Very good, Mobius was also very satisfied with the second letter.

Danzhu pursed her lips; she was beginning to feel that this self-replication operation was getting a little nasty.

Just as Mobius opened the third and final letter, Liu Bai suddenly appeared beside Mobius.

"Oh, the boss is back?"

Mobius hadn't seen Liu Bai for three months. When Liu Bai appeared beside him, he subconsciously spoke in a resentful tone.

"Um... isn't this Vil-V's office?"

Upon seeing Mobius, Liu Bai instinctively asked a question in return.

Danzhu and Blanca silently covered their faces upon hearing this.

Boss, you've really messed up with that statement!

There's no doubt we stepped on a landmine!

However, Mobius wasn't angry; instead, he had a strange look on his face. "You... you really have been working non-stop for three months."

Liu Bai was clearly a bit too engrossed in his research, which led him to subconsciously make a mistake in the teleportation.

What does this tell us?

Liu Bai was going to Vil-V's place, but then he realized he was on his own.

It's subconscious!

Win!

Mobius puffed out his chest, but seeing Liu Bai about to turn and leave again, Mobius immediately changed the subject. "Liu Bai, have you thought of a way out?"

"The most basic things have been taken care of—the plan itself, and the core hardware of the plan."

When Mobius brought up this topic, Liu Bai stopped to answer.

"Basically, it's a few shelters plus simple hibernation pods. If you're lucky, you can pack up a civilization; if you're unlucky, you can probably still have around ten thousand people."

"... Isn't the gap between your upper and lower limits a bit too large?"

Can a civilization be compared to a few thousand people?

"Moreover, if civilization exists, so too will Honkai."

"Because good luck is only the theoretically optimal solution."

This is the case where Mei and Mobius are able to completely bypass the Herrscher of Finality mechanism.

In the worst-case scenario, Mei and Mobius exploited a loophole, or they simply used a clever trick.

"Under normal expectations... a million people. If the number goes any higher, even abandoning the original technology could lead to Honkai."

The "civilization" attribute of the Previous Era must be eliminated. "Civilization" is probably one of the criteria for determining the Finality, and it is highly likely that this cannot be bypassed.

Furthermore, technology must be abandoned, and even the preservation of clothing must be carefully considered. Only a small amount of primitive resources can be left in the shelter to prevent the Honkai from occurring in large numbers in the early stages of civilization.

Why not use World Bubble?

After hearing Liu Bai's words, Mobius showed a puzzled expression.

"While the World Bubble is relatively stable, if we extend the timeframe to 50,000 years... of course, it's not impossible if the location is chosen well."

Liu Bai replied without much thought.

"However, there is another issue: the transport capacity of the Chariot of a Thousand Worlds. Although it is a locomotive, transporting goods is not something that can be done by simply attaching any carriage to it. Finally, there is the question of whether a large number of outsiders will have any special impact on the World Bubble..."

Although Previous Era had begun to utilize the power of the World Bubble, its effectiveness in providing refuge remains somewhat uncertain.

"That makes a lot of sense." Mobius nodded seriously, indicating that he had no further questions.

Liu Bai had already considered everything very carefully; after all, their main strategy at present was not to seek refuge.

Mobius then looked at the last letter that the Gray Serpent had delivered to him.

However, upon seeing this, Mobius frowned.

"Discovering... a particular ideology within the population?"

Here's a joke: the author had written 3,700 words by 11:30 PM, then closed his eyes and slept until 4 AM...

Chapter 438 Inhuman and Depraved

"Trends of thought? What does that mean?"

Liu Bai's expression changed slightly after hearing Mobius's words.

"Um... Gray Serpent said they discovered a few humans with a fanatical tendency toward Honkai, and their individual strength has also increased. However, they are not particularly powerful, nor do they show any tendency to Death Soldier."

"It sounds like Herrscher." Upon hearing this, Liu Bai immediately understood that the Herrscher of a Thousand should be online, but it hasn't reached its peak yet.

Yes, this is quite normal. For example, in the current civilization, if we only look at the order of their birth, the Herrscher of a Thousand probably started their clandestine activities around the time of Sky Dome City, but there were several Herrscher between their activities and their outbreak.

The Herrscher of a Thousand of the Previous Era were probably not as gentle as those of the current civilization, but the harm they caused must be taken seriously.

Although the Herrscher of a Thousand are notoriously weak in individual combat, they are still not people that ordinary people can defeat, especially since they also have barely usable intelligence and powerful disguise abilities. If they cause trouble on all sides, the Previous Era would not be able to handle it.

"Herrscher..."

Mobius looked thoughtful.

"Although according to Gray Serpent's description, this kind of person's combat power is not as good as that of Herrscher, Gray Serpent still couldn't figure out the Herrscher's identity. Moreover, the use of the word 'individual' by Gray Serpent means that although there are not many of these people, there is definitely not just one."

Mobius did not question Liu Bai's deduction, but quickly sorted out the logic, and then Mobius realized how terrifying this thing was.

A non-single Herrscher can blend into a crowd...

But why not just one? Is this a characteristic of the Herrscher this time?

Mei's calculations indicate there are a total of fourteen Herrscher, and that guy's deduction couldn't be wrong. But now there's a plural of Herrscher... which means that these Herrscher actually represent "one"?

That's their thought process...

No, perhaps there's no need to think about it anymore.

With Prometheus before us and the Gray Serpent after us, there's no need to discuss how these multiple yet unified individuals think.

It is highly likely to be a thought network; even if there are some errors, it is definitely not far off.

So, according to this ability template... Mobius's face turned pale.

If the individual is weak, and the thinking is Gestalt or honeycomb, then it is obvious what other abilities it will possess.

--copy.

When quality cannot provide an advantage, quantity becomes the only viable option.

If she were a normal individual, then the final piece of this puzzle would definitely be a copy!

It's unclear whether this replication is infection or creation... No, considering it's the worst-case scenario for Herrscher, it's very likely both.