Chapter 219
—A figure that only he could see appeared in the Gray Serpent's visual organs.
Chapter 164. Otto? I'm going to take down Otto!
Before launching this operation, Gray Serpent, the administrator of the Gray Serpent Network, originally intended to travel to the vicinity of the River Thames to win over this man who, in a sense, could be considered the 'strongest man in the world'.
However, after a little thought, the administrator Gray Serpent abandoned the idea.
Even knowing the situation was critical and that it should try to please Su and get Su to help the World Serpent, the Gray Serpent was still very unhappy with the man.
Regardless of Kevin's own thoughts, in the eyes of Gray Serpent's followers, Sue had betrayed their Venerable Lord Kevin.
Ultimately, the reason why the World Serpent is in such a passive position is entirely because the Venerable Lord is not present.
No matter how rational the administrator Gray Serpent was, he couldn't suppress his disgust for the culprit behind this incident.
So this time, the administrator Gray Serpent selected a Gray Serpent from the Gray Serpent Network that was closest to England and had a relatively good temperament to go to the River Thames.
However, even the relatively mild-mannered Gray Serpent couldn't help but let a hint of sarcasm and dissatisfaction creep into his words after he opened them.
However, Su himself has a very good temper.
Furthermore, given the guilt he felt towards Kevin, Sue naturally wouldn't sever his connection with Gray Serpent just because of what Gray Serpent had said.
At this moment, the Gray Serpent, facing the Thirteen Heroes of the Previous Era, realized that he had indeed misspoke after seeing the other's humble face.
After adjusting his mindset, Gray Serpent immediately said apologetically to Su Manhuai.
"Mr. Su, although you and the Venerable Lord may have some disagreements, I believe that as the Venerable Lord's close friend, you would never betray him."
"We do not mean to regard Mr. Su as a 'traitor'. On the contrary, in our view, Mr. Su and Ms. Hua should be our most reliable colleagues."
Gray Serpent, who had been trying to quickly draw both sides into a united front with his words, suddenly sounded somewhat helpless and uneasy.
"We haven't visited before simply because we didn't want to disturb Mr. Su's execution of the Hengsha Plan. But now..."
"—Mr. Su, the situation in this era has reached its most critical moment."
Even though Su knew that the cyborg in front of him still harbored ill will towards him, he showed no dissatisfaction whatsoever. Instead, he spoke calmly to the Gray Serpent.
"Of course I know. In fact, aside from Hua possibly having some health issues, we who have existed for 50,000 years all know very well..."
"—In these years, the Finality will inevitably come to this world, and all life on this world will be destroyed once again."
Very good!
Hearing Su bring up the topic, Gray Serpent felt more confident.
The Finality approaching; this is a serious topic that the remnants of the Previous Era must face.
Now that Su had brought up the topic himself, Gray Serpent certainly wouldn't let the opportunity pass. He immediately took over the conversation and planned to continue urging Su to join the game directly.
"Just as Mr. Su said, the time is almost up."
At this moment, Su could hear impatience, unease, and even a hint of fear in Gray Serpent's tone.
If he hadn't been able to easily sense the lingering malice emanating from the other party, Su Zhen would have thought that the Gray Serpent before him was wholeheartedly begging him to come out of seclusion.
It doesn't matter what Gray Serpent is really thinking.
Sue felt that she had indeed let Kevin down.
It's only natural that Kevin's men dislike Sue because of this.
If the other party's request isn't too outrageous, Su wouldn't mind helping them out.
But... well, I can roughly guess what Mr. Gray Serpent is thinking.
"Now, Miss Hua's Kindling Project failed five thousand years ago, and Miss Griseo's Ark Plan was cut off from contact with you fifteen hundred years ago."
"I believe Mr. Su is a compassionate person with a generous heart, so if your Hengsha Plan had been successful, you should have started taking action long ago."
"But now—has the Hengsha Plan truly succeeded?"
After a sudden change of topic, Gray Serpent's tone surprisingly carried a hint of pleading.
"We know that Mr. Su, as a doctor, does not want to see other lives wither away."
"But now, for the sake of this civilization, some sacrifices are unavoidable—as the original executor of the Stigmata Plan, you should be well aware of this!"
"Yes, that's true."
Good, his brain isn't completely broken!
So--
"It's a pity that if you came here hoping I would help you complete the Stigmata Plan, your hopes may be dashed."
Just when Gray Serpent thought he could strike while the iron was hot, Gray Serpent's next words were like a bucket of cold water being poured on him, forcing him to calm down immediately.
Su, standing before the Gray Serpent, recalled her past memories without joy or sorrow, and spoke to the Gray Serpent.
"I said some things to Kevin when I betrayed him."
"As pioneers, we have no right to act recklessly in this era. Our civilization was destroyed long ago."
"Even if Stigmata Plan succeeds and the survivors become a new species, redefining [humanity], it is not a continuation of civilization at all, but merely sacrificing the current generation of civilization to allow the 'zombies' of the Previous Civilization to eke out a living."
"But--"
Upon hearing Su's incredibly foolish words, Gray Serpent became anxious and spoke with great anger.
"If that's the case, then what is the point of being a pioneer! Even though the Finality near, why are you still like this—"
Even at the very last moment, the Gray Serpent, still maintaining its rationality, did not utter the word it wanted to say.
But for Su, guessing Gray Serpent's thoughts was as easy as breathing.
After all, although Kevin didn't roar with such resentment back then, he did ask Sue the same question.
If they are forced to watch this civilization be destroyed, then what is the purpose of being a pioneer?
When Sue faced Kevin's question, she gave her own answer.
Today, he chose to speak once again to the Gray Serpent before him, expressing his unchanging thoughts from over a thousand years ago.
"What we pioneers should do is treat this generation of people equally and work with them to find ways to fight against the Honkai."
"Instead of acting like gods and arbitrarily deciding their fate."
"The fate of this generation should be decided by the people of this generation themselves."
"But...!"
At this moment, Gray Serpent forcibly suppressed the resentment and anger in his heart and pleaded with Su.
"I understand that you don't want to see the Stigmata Plan sacrifice these humans because of your kindness, but the Stigmata Plan has changed in the past thousand years."
"Moreover—you and the Venerable Lord One are pioneers who are gods who have surpassed ordinary people."
"Do you think that you and the Venerable Lord shouldn't be like gods, arbitrarily deciding their fate?"
"This idea seems humble, but—to possess Power of God yet fail to fulfill the divine obligation to guide humanity forward, isn't that a form of arrogance?"
Even after Gray Serpent said those words, Su's expression remained unchanged.
Faced with Gray Serpent's explanations and questions, Su calmly gave her own answer to those words.
"Ah, when I was observing other worlds, I probably also saw the current Stigmata Plan."
"To be honest, the current Stigmata Plan is not necessarily much better than the past in my eyes."
"In some ways, this Stigmata Plan is far more terrifying than the Stigmata Plan of the past."
"If you expect me to stand up for the World Serpent and the Stigmata Plan, then—you've come to the wrong person."
At this point, a look of nostalgia and utter resolve appeared on Su's face.
"Even now, I still consider Kevin to be an unforgettable friend."
"But even now, I still don't want to change the answer I chose back then—humanity hasn't despaired to that extent, Mr. Gray Serpent."
"So..."
At this moment, the Gray Serpent could sense that the other Gray Serpent in the Gray Serpent network were filled with murderous intent towards the man in front of it.
Okay, it's not entirely accurate to say other Gray Serpent.
He wanted to make a move too—if it weren't for the fact that he really couldn't hit him and couldn't beat him, this Gray Serpent would have already attacked Su.
"Even now, are you still unwilling to help the Venerable Lord return to this world and save humanity?"
"Yes, I believe in Kevin's determination to save the world."
After uttering this seemingly vague statement, Su added a sentence.
"Therefore, I also believe that the possibility of him causing 'harm' to the world if released is far too great."
"... I see. Well then, I'm sorry to have bothered you."
After confirming that the other side could not be won over to our side for the time being, Gray Serpent got up and chose to leave from the vicinity of the River Thames.
Even at this point, Gray Serpent still dared not offend Su.
After all, although Su is still being stubborn, if the rate of Honkai continues at this level of two Herrscher per quarter, then Gray Serpent thinks...
—At that time, even this pedantic Su might see that something is wrong with the Honkai of this era and start to think about whether his choice was wrong.
Even if there's only the slightest possibility, Gray Serpent doesn't want to give up its plan to win the other party over.
So now—damn it, I have no choice but to put up with it!
After the Gray Serpent left, Su, who was now inside the special World Bubble, leaned against a big tree, a look of exhaustion on his face.
"Alas, Mr. Gray Serpent, how could I not understand your thoughts?"
"However, after Number 17 took charge of that plan back then, although he successfully infiltrated the enemy and helped humanity of this era to fix these Herrscher Authority."
"But at the same time, it also gave Honkai a true 'Will of Honkai'."
"After acquiring the Will of Honkai, the Honkai began to use Android 17's abilities to predict the future and provide combat support to its own faction."
"In my opinion, your actions, Ms. Cocolia's actions, and Mr. Otto's actions were all part of Number 17's plan."
I don't want to activate that backdoor unless absolutely necessary.
But now... sigh, although you say that people of this era should choose their own future, what kind of people have you chosen as your leaders?
Recalling the intelligence he had seen in recent years, Su's composure had completely vanished.
There are currently three anti- Honkai organizations in the world.
The World Serpent, led by Kevin, were leaderless after Kevin was betrayed, leaving the Gray Serpent as their only option.
Then, the administrator of Gray Serpent Network is the kind of ruthless person who is heartless and doesn't know how to hold back when he takes action.
Just before that, it actually tried to release Chiyou.
If it weren't for the efforts of Mr. Siegfried, Ms. Theresa, and Mr. Lin Yu in turning the tide, the number of casualties in Shenzhou after the release of the holders would have been at least 50 million.
In contrast to the Gray Serpent are Cocolia of Anti-Entropy and Otto of Schicksal.
Cocolia, the Anti-Entropy, betrays her teammates and actively triggers the Honkai in Changkong City.
If it weren't for Mr. Lin Yu and Mr. Siegfried, the casualties caused by Miss Mei could have been in the millions.
As for Mr. Otto...
If they can't beat Mr. Joyce, they'll use fission bombs to kill civilians and force him to his death.
Mr. Yang was about to defeat the Herrscher, but his sneak attack resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of people under the Herrscher of the Void's meteor.
When the Herrscher of the Void went berserk, if it weren't for Mr. Siegfried and Ms. Cecilia risking their lives to save others, the death toll would have been at least a billion.
And yet, he hasn't learned his lesson.
The birth of the Fourth Herrscher was essentially due to Mr. Otto's laissez-faire attitude.
Moreover, given Mr. Otto's intelligence, he should know what kind of problems the global economy would face after Singapore, a secular country, was blown up.