In essence, I am the Ruler of Domination, and this body is merely a puppet controlled by my authority. But that authority also depends on the physical body to exist. If all the bodies available for attachment die, I will die as well.
Having only a single body is simply too dangerous!
Anqi felt a strong sense of threat.
Various confusions and bewilderment were put aside for now; survival was the absolute priority. Driven by this thought, Anqi naturally understood how to use her authority.
Step one, draw in Honkai Energy from the Imaginary Gateway.
Step two, look for a medium that the authority can attach to, such as a corpse or some kind of powerful puppet. Since there were no suitable mediums here, she abandoned using an external medium and instead shaped a physical body using herself as a template.
Step three, drive the authority and dominate this physique.
A faint purple light flickered, condensing in front of Anqi into a humanoid figure with a petite stature yet already graceful and moving curves.
Anqi blinked.
Opposite her, an Anqi who looked like white jade blinked as well.
The two parties stared at identical reflections of each other.
"..." ×2
A moment later, the original Anqi curled the corners of her mouth. The amusing scene finally relaxed her solemn mood a little, and she said playfully,
"Take a few steps!"
"Take a few steps~"
"Walk with bold and fierce momentum!"
"Walk with bold and fierce momentum~"
"Walk a thousand miles in a single day!"
"Walk a thousand miles in a single day~"
"Walk like you've been separated from the world for ages!"
"Walk like... Hey! That's enough, we're all ourselves here, you're not going to drag out the act until the very end and then punch me, are you?"
The clone Anqi walked in a circle with a cute, blank expression while moving her arms and legs on the same side, then rolled her eyes, turned directly around, and walked up to the second floor—completely shameless during the process. After all, they were the same person, and she seemed super unrestrained.
A while later, she came back down wearing casual long sleeves and hot pants. Her slender, white legs swayed with an incredible, sparkling bright color from the motion of walking downstairs, looking almost luminous.
"Although it's myself, and in reality it's still myself, she is indeed a feast for the eyes."
The original Anqi sat on the sofa, watching the clone Anqi sit down across from her.
Throughout the entire process from start to finish, Anqi could feel that whether it was the clone or the original, they were both actually her, sharing synchronized wills, thoughts, and even feelings.
At the same time, however, the original and the clone could each think independently.
To call this situation schizophrenia would not be entirely appropriate. Perhaps it was somewhat like two virtual machines running on a computer: they possessed a certain degree of independent functionality, but essentially it was still just one machine.
The original Anqi and the clone Anqi stared at each other, their expressions gradually becoming identically solemn.
"Bad news, I am the Thousand-Person Ruler. There is a bunch of people I can't afford to provoke who are ready to beat me to death at any moment, and they also have the ability to do so."
"Good news, I am the first Thousand-Person Ruler. Because I haven't spread my authority outward to become a mob of rabble, no one knows I'm a Ruler yet."
Therefore, as long as she stayed hidden and played it safe in a corner, Anqi had a chance to live safely all the way to the very late stages of the plot. How to handle the late stages was a question to ponder later; right now, the primary goal was to hide her identity as a Ruler. As long as her identity wasn't exposed, she wouldn't attract the gaze of those dangerous figures.
The two Anqis thought to themselves, and then simultaneously recalled a dangerous situation.
"Those girls who were torn to pieces!" ×2
Sanely speaking, Anqi didn't sympathize with those bullies who had once done many disgusting things; they were merely a group of underage little brats. Emotionally, neither of Anqi's two sets of life memories had ever experienced anything so cruel, and it was hard not to feel a certain sense of sorrow.
But none of that mattered. What mattered was that those shattered corpses were left out in the alleyway. Even though the location was remote, there would always come a day when they were noticed. By then, with the power of modern technology, her suspicion would be easily determined.
The power of ordinary society could be ignored, but what if those three major organizations noticed these things...
She would die, wouldn't she?
Both Anqis widened their eyes simultaneously and stood up.
The original Anqi, wearing a bathrobe, said decisively,
"It's not too late to mend the fold! We must go now and turn those corpses into our clones! If we continue to exist in their images for a period of time, the trouble won't find its way to us! Move quickly, hopefully it's still not too late!"
Meanwhile, the clone Anqi had already dashed out the door, leaving behind a light, swaying streak of golden hair for the original Anqi.
In truth, there was no need for verbal instructions at all; their thoughts and consciousness were one, and they were the same person.
The distinction between the original and the clone was also meaningless. They were both Anqi, and no primary or secondary distinction existed. Even if one of the Anqis died, she would only temporarily lose an independent thread of thought. Anqi would still live on, without any other impact.
Taking advantage of the time it took for one Anqi to leave, the other Anqi who stayed behind in the house frowned and thought for a moment, and her body instantly vanished from the room.
This was a dark world where up, down, left, right, and even the passage of time did not exist. There was an indescribable, chaotic, hazy, and ambiguous feeling.
Some architectural fragments floated in the void. Some looked like pieces of unknown palaces, some like slices of high-rise buildings, and there were also many inexplicable objects, all of which were data segments of the real world mapped into the Imaginary Space, lingering on the edge of reality and illusion.
Anqi held the straw of a milk carton in her mouth, standing in the void as her purple eyes blinked gently.
The knowledge about the Imaginary Space that came with the Ruler's authority gradually became clear in her mind. Anqi could only stay quietly, trying her best to translate it into content she could understand.
After a short period of digestion, Anqi's eyes lit up. She stretched out her palm, and an intangible domain expanded in all directions centered on herself.
Soon, a vast spatial region was brought under her control.
Under Anqi's will, the pile of architectural fragments enveloped by the domain moved closer, merged, reorganized, and refined, quickly forming a vast circular platform resembling an archaic and magnificent ancient temple.
The stage was still far from the boundaries of the domain, but it was already broad enough to be described as spectacular.
"This is the Theater of Domination!"
Anqi muttered to herself. Whether it was her understanding of the original work or the knowledge inherent to the Ruler's authority, both were telling her the essence and characteristics of this domain.
It was a controllable spatial domain, and also the place where authorities were plundered, drifting in the vast and boundless Imaginary World. Only the Thousand-Person Ruler could freely enter and exit it by virtue of her authority.
And this brought her an incomparable sense of security!
"Sirin, the Herrscher of Void, is still slumbering. Even if Anti-Entropy and World Serpent have the technology to touch the Imaginary Space, it's impossible for them to find my domain in the boundless Imaginary World! This is the ultimate life-saving talisman!"
As long as a single clone hid safely within the Theater, it wouldn't matter if all the clones in the outside world died; Anqi would still be alive.
"Hahaha!"
Anqi opened her arms and laughed heartily.
Despite the existence of Otto Apocalypse—in the ultimate plan meticulously brewed by that great mastermind and pure-love battle god, the Dominion Authority also seemed to play an important role, and he might have already obtained Chikai Ichijo, which undoubtedly constituted an inescapable, huge threat—
This still did not prevent Anqi from breathing a sigh of relief. This was probably the first time since waking up that she felt at ease, feeling she finally had the foundation to stand firm in this world.
Following pleasant laughter, Anqi snapped her fingers, and her authority activated. Slender, youthful humanoids condensed within the purple light.
Ten, twenty, thirty.
A hundred, two hundred.
Countless bare Anqis manifested. The scene was very quiet, yet suddenly gave a feeling of bustling crowdedness.
"Slap!"
Wearing her bathrobe, the original Anqi looked at the repeating and boundless sea of white in front of her and couldn't help but forcefully cover her face.
"Slap! Slap! Slap!"
Covering their faces at the same time were all the Anqis present in the space, as well as the single Anqi currently in the outside world rushing toward the crime scene.
Although they were all herself, and although they were all rare beautiful girls, this scene made Anqi feel a slight touch of trypophobia.
Chapter 3: Heaven-Sent Righteous Beautiful Girl
"I somehow feel my body has become sluggish and heavy."
After easing her emotions, all the Anqis involuntarily tried to move their hands and feet, and one after another complained about their condition.
"My brain feels a bit hazy, too."
"The me outside almost fell over!"
"Could it be because there are too many of us?"
"Should we reduce the number?"
"Won't that hurt?"
All the Anqis looked at each other in dismay.
However, this state was indeed not good; it felt like if they kept holding on like this, they would all pass out.
Anqi was afraid of pain, but she was also rational. To survive, she first had to figure out this Herrscher power she was relying on for self-preservation.
Thus, after a brief hesitation, 100 Anqis clenched their fists simultaneously and instantly shattered the heads of their nearby peers with a single blow.
"Ugh... So gross, I feel like throwing up."
"Still, our strength is huge. A skull should be quite a sturdy thing, but it actually managed to get smashed to pieces with a single punch!"
"Yeah, just as expected, the loss of an individual doesn't bring any extra burden, and the pain is just for a fleeting moment. As for other aspects... it's as insignificant as shutting down a virtual machine program on a computer. It seems we can consider a suicide-rush tactic."
After a flurry of flying flesh and blood, a total of 100 Anqis remained on the scene, including the original body, chatting noisily about their feelings and judgments.
As for the other half of the bodies, they turned into individual Herrscher Cores, which silently merged into the Theater.
The slightly furrowed brows of the Anqis finally relaxed.
"So, this is why the original Thousand-Person Ruler scattered the cores?"
Every time a clone was created, an extra thread of thought and an additional combat force were added. Theoretically, no one would be willing to actively share this power with others; how great would it be to keep it all for oneself?
Could it be that the Thousand-Person Ruler of the original worldline had broken through human selfish nature and willingly shared the authority that should have been exclusively enjoyed for the great enterprise of destroying the world?
How could that be possible!
Creating clones first required consuming Honkai Energy to shape or strengthen the possessed medium. However, the existence of the Imaginary Gateway dictated that the Herrscher's Honkai Energy was inexhaustible, meaning it was essentially consumed at zero cost.
Yet invisible burdens such as spirit, willpower, and thinking could not be avoided.
A person's carrying capacity was limited. Too many clones would drag down the collective thinking and active capabilities, so the number of clones a single person could create was very limited.
As for an entity like the Thousand-Person Ruler, on an individual basis, perhaps a fully armed S-rank Valkyrie could wrestle with them; as Herrscher entities, they were practically pathetically weak. Even if thousands of them were added together, they would probably be unremarkable compared to other full-form Herrschers—this was why the original Thousand-Person Ruler dispersed the authority. It wasn't because the first individual was selfless, but rather to gather enough combat strength to challenge the protagonist team; she simply had no other choice.
Of course, it was also possible that the original Thousand-Person Ruler consisted of multiple individuals right at awakening, and the authority was dispersed from the very beginning.
Anyway, regardless of all that, the current first Thousand-Person Ruler was Anqi, and she had no intention of scattering the authority to others. After all, so what if she gathered a thousand individuals? There were quite a few existences in this world capable of dealing with the Thousand-Person Ruler!
Keeping a low profile was the primary secret to preserving one's life.
"The limit I can bear is only 30? That's way too few!"
In the real world, the Anqi about to arrive at last night's crime scene slowed her footsteps. Standing at a street corner not far away, she pressed her temples with a headache while observing whether there were any special figures like police around the alley.
Anqi toyed with her golden locks, unable to help but sigh. No wonder the Thousand-Person Ruler had to gather into the so-called mob of rabble.
Even with a full quota of members, the Thousand-Person Ruler still encountered setbacks everywhere while executing their plan; what could mere 30 individuals accomplish? As probably the most normal Herrscher of this Era, if she didn't disperse her authority, they wouldn't even be able to play the game at all.
"Yet it's already been a whole night, and nobody has discovered it yet. Is this place really that remote?"
Anqi frowned slightly, instinctively feeling something was wrong.
Just after observing from the corner for a while, relying on eyesight far exceeding that of ordinary mortals, she indeed did not discover any special surveillance or setups.
"Resolve it sooner and gain peace of mind sooner; there's no time to dawdle anymore."
Anqi knew very well that the longer she delayed, the more likely that bloody, cruel scene would be noticed by someone.
Now she could only turn those remains into her clone individuals as quickly as possible.
As long as she disguised herself as these delinquent bullies and continued to live for a period of time, and then later found an opportunity to make them reasonably disappear, no one would notice Anqi's abnormality.
Clinging to this thought, Anqi confirmed that the streets on both sides were empty, then tiptoed into the alley.
A bloody stench permeated the alley.
Enclosed by high walls on both sides, the alley itself was deep enough that it was hard to notice anything unusual without walking inside. She hadn't expected that the bullying site meticulously chosen by those little delinquents to prevent discovery would actually make it convenient for Anqi to clean up the scene.
First, I have to piece all the corpses back together so there's at least a human shape; only then can the Dominion Authority successfully attach.
Anqi made a bitter face among the limbs and severed arms, feeling both resistant and helpless.