Chapter 334

Worried that the girl might pull a knife on him, Jackal had to suppress his idea of suggesting that Mei Shen Gonglin into going to the operating table, and decided to get down to business first.

Is it because the power that can be exerted from a detached core is limited?

"That's right. While they're not entirely unusable, they'd still be more welcome if someone could compensate for them."

Jackal shrugged and said this, while Mei frowned slightly. If this conjecture continued...

"If that's the case, then I should be of greater significance to them. However, the thousand Herrscher never seemed to have any intention of attacking me. The time I went into the theater on my own initiative, they only made some rather passive attempts, so passive that... when I think back on it, I even feel that it was actually using an overly obvious inducement to make me wary, so that I would avoid using the Herrscher Authority, in order to... cover up a certain fact."

Mei said in a deep voice. The girl's mind was very sharp. These doubts combined to give Mei an answer: these Herrscher of Domination clearly had no intention of seizing her power. The reason they acted that way seemed to be just to make her wary.

"They cannot take away the power of the Herrscher of Thunder. That's the answer you wanted. The process by Herrscher of Domination seizes power is essentially just a contest between forces. The strong survive and the weak perish, bringing the loser under their control. But if the object to which they exert their power has greater strength, the seizure will be met with resistance and evolve into a power struggle. If the Herrscher of Domination does not win this duel... what will the result be?"

The Jackal smiled with interest, genuinely curious to know what would happen.

Chapter 156 Mei's Mei

"Although I am very interested in this result, I do not know what will happen. Their actions have already hinted at the answer. The individual puppets are too weak to bear such risks. We can make a conjecture."

Now that the deal is decided, Jackal will tell Mei all the information he knows about the Thousand Herrscher, including his own speculations. Is that what makes it a proper deal?

"When the thousand Herrscher were born, they were arrogant and domineering. Then they chose Shen Gonglin, who had four cores supporting her. Unfortunately, in the contest of power, they lost to Shen Gonglin as expected. Then they realized that although they could defeat half-baked Herrscher, those who were fully awakened, such as Shen Gonglin and you, had the potential to defeat them. So at least for now, they are afraid of you."

Mei nodded in agreement with Jackal's conjecture. She had to admit that this mad scientist was indeed quite clever, which was why Mei had come to her. Although Raven's information indicated that Shen Gonglin others had dealt with the Herrscher of Domination, she could sense that the Herrscher of Domination had not disappeared and that the Domination Theater still existed in some unknown corner.

There is an unknown, real-time information exchange between the puppets, which helps them share senses, intelligence, and the power they have seized. The thousand Herrscher are like being connected by invisible threads, weaving a huge network that connects all the individuals and that... Domination Theater. However, since that's the case, they should also be able to use this network in return, actively visiting their theater before they become stronger.

Mei shared her thoughts with the Mei Jackal, and the brown-skinned mad scientist looked at her with great surprise. His golden eyes, shining through his mask, stared at Mei for a long time. It was hard to imagine that such a combatant could have such a mind. He was completely different from the simple-minded idiot Raven Gray Serpent.

Maybe we'll get along really well?

The elevator stopped on a special floor. Jackal led Mei inside. Looking at the huge device in front of her, Mei was amazed. Sure enough, there were hidden secrets in these secret bases. Mei knew that she had come to the right place.

"This is what you wanted, a device for reverse-accessing the network of a thousand Herrscher. It's easier to understand by seeing it in person than by explaining it... Stand back a bit, oh, I forgot, sorry, it can't hurt you."

Jackal took out a dull-colored core from a sealed cabinet on the side. She pressed several buttons on the control panel, while Mei watched silently behind her. This should be a recovered ordinary core. With these ordinary cores, Jackal could perform basic reverse engineering.

"Contact, this behavior is like a kind of signal. If that's the case, as long as the form of contact is slightly modified and the signal is transmitted back through the core of recycling, the door to the Domination Theater can be actively opened from the outside."

Jackal explained her operating principle, and just as she finished speaking, with a crackling sound, the air seemed to distort slightly as if something was burning. This was the limit that these ordinary cores could achieve.

"This should be the spatial rift leading to the Domination Theater, but it is still very weak and lasts for a short time. That's why I need more cores like this, especially the special individuals you brought. As I mentioned before, these special individuals behave strangely and are on the fringes of the group. I'm afraid the other puppets also regard them as outcasts, which makes it easier to tamper with them without being noticed."

Like caressing a beloved toy, the Jackal touched the three core boxes that Mei had brought with great care, knowing that they would surely allow him to advance his research further.

"How long will it take to open the door to the Domination Theater?"

Mei had no intention of commenting on the Jackal's perverted behavior. Mei didn't quite understand the woman's feelings. In her opinion, holding Shen Gonglin was much more interesting than touching these strange cores. But now that she needed the jackal's help, she could only ignore the woman's perverted behavior.

"Hmm, it'll probably take two days."

"That's too long, an hour, please."

"... Raiden Mei, you might not have a concept of this, but we have so much to do: determining the size and location of the rift, and how long it will last. All of this requires patience; it can't be done overnight..."

Jackal explained to Mei with some helplessness, "What does this girl think scientific research is? An hour? Even if I killed Jackal, I couldn't do that. She seems pretty smart, but this isn't how you bargain. You're going to haggle for an hour straight. This Raiden Mei must be a pro at grocery shopping."

The vegetable market is notorious for its peculiarities.

"I can only accept one day... Hmm? The core seems a little different from before?"

As if realizing she had gone too far in haggling, Mei took a step back. But then she noticed that the core of the special individual in the box seemed to have shrunk. Yes, that's right, it had indeed shrunk!

"Huh, the core? It's disappearing?"

Jackal also noticed the situation, and while she was still surprised, Mei had already taken action. Her reaction was faster than Jackal's. The girl snatched the box from Jackal's hand and placed it on the lab table. Then she squeezed past Jackal and started operating the machine herself. Jackal's eyes widened as she watched her steps.

"Hey! Raiden Mei, what are you doing!"

"That's how it is, right? I watched you demonstrate it just now and accidentally memorized it. Let's start the experiment now. Quickly, thank you for your assistance, Dr. Clio."

Mei skillfully pressed each step, making a decisive move. This was the only chance; the core was disappearing, and if she didn't seize this opportunity, she might not have another chance to continue.

"Are you crazy?! This is the worst time ever!"

The Jackal glared angrily at Mei. Did this girl even know what she had done? How could she be so willful? Who taught her to be like this?

"This is the only chance. Sorry, I only watched you do it once and you remembered it. Goodbye."

A crack flashed through the space, and when the Jackal opened his eyes, Mei had already disappeared before his eyes. The Jackal's clenched fist slowly loosened. Raiden Mei... your body is a valuable experimental subject. Don't hurt it. You must come back intact.

Honestly, she has such a gentle face, yet she acts so radically. Or are all the Herrscher of this generation like this? They're all so rebellious and unwilling to listen to anyone.

Chapter 157 The Doll's Past

Ugh, I'm so tired, so tired.

At the Salt Lake Base, in Kiana's bedroom late at night, the girl forcefully threw herself onto the bed. During training, she had been lost in thought, chatting with many people, and before she knew it, it was this late. She realized that she was indeed not suited to thinking about complicated issues.

Also, Shen Gonglin is still drunk at this point and can't even talk to him. It's so infuriating! This boyfriend is so unfit. No one else treats me as well as I do. Everyone is so considerate of me. Even when I ask strange questions, no one laughs at me. They all give me serious answers. Everyone is caring for me and helping me in various ways. I'm so lucky.

If only Shen Gonglin woke up, I really wanted to sleep with him tonight. Maybe I should sneak out and sneak in a little nighttime? It wouldn't matter if someone found out, given their relationship, it would be perfectly normal for them to be naked together.

Kiana was eager to try, but just then, a heavy voice rang out outside the door. In this deep underground place, it was always quiet during rest time, which made the sound even more unnatural. Kiana immediately became alert.

Strange, everyone should be asleep at this time. Did something fall down? The sound was like something rolling on the floor, a mechanical and monotonous sound, with an unsettling and eerie quality. Kiana became alert and, gripping her gun, slowly and silently moved to the door.

There was no sign of life or hostility outside the door, but she couldn't let her guard down. Once danger was confirmed, she had to notify everyone immediately. Kiana prepared to attack, and then the girl suddenly pulled open the door. However, what was lying at the door made Kiana's eyes widen in surprise.

A doll? Why is this happening? Shouldn't it already be...? In an instant, a bright light flashed in Kiana's eyes. When her vision returned, Kiana realized she was no longer at the Salt Lake Base, and this place was...

Domination Theater?

Before the shock had even subsided, a strange laugh that seemed to come from nowhere stopped Kiana from thinking. The girl entered battle mode, becoming extremely vigilant and wary of her surroundings.

"Who is it!"

"Hehe, you know the answer already~ Kiana, you're here, you've finally come, we've been waiting for you for so long... Haha, are you shocked? The operation was clearly a success? All the puppets should have disappeared? Want to know what happened? You really want to know, right?"

The puppet appeared before Kiana. Its familiar appearance and eerie tone of voice confirmed it: this was the Herrscher of Domination. The previous battle had failed!

The puppets and the Domination Theater haven't disappeared either... No wonder Bronya's Herrscher of Reason powers haven't returned. But why is that? Are there some that slipped through the net? Or are there more than a thousand of them? No, now is not the time to think about these things. We need to catch up with this Herrscher first and then take her down.

Without further hesitation, Kiana roused herself and rushed into the Domination Theater with the doll. The Kiana was waiting there leisurely, and when it saw Kiana catching up, it clapped its wooden hands excitedly.

"Hehe, you're here! You've caught up! We knew we weren't wrong, you're the one who's most qualified!"

The doll changed its tone, and the attitude, as if speaking to an acquaintance, made Kiana frown. Qualifications? What does that mean?

"I know you, Kiana. The hero who saved our city, Kiana!"

The doll continued clapping, and Kiana gleaned some clues from its words, ultimately saving its city...

"You are... someone who lives in Sky City?"

Kiana voiced her speculation, and the doll became even more excited. "Yes, that's right, that's exactly it!"

"Yes, yes, we've met before, hehehe... Don't you remember me? But I've always wanted to see you again, and I've always wanted to thank you in person."

The doll began to tell its own story, clearly longing to see Kiana again.

"Back then, I was just an ordinary middle school student, growing up in the suburbs of Sky City. I had never left. But one day, a monster suddenly broke into the school, shattering my peaceful life. The campus was reduced to ruins, and my friends, classmates, and teachers were all buried under the rubble. I listened as their cries for help grew weaker and weaker, until they fell silent. All I could do was cry on the sidelines. Maybe my life was going to end here. Maybe no one would come to save us. I thought to myself, and then I slowly closed my eyes."

The doll's voice suddenly filled with sadness. As it narrated, Kiana thought of such a scene. Perhaps such a scene was commonplace in the Honkai, but hearing it still made her feel sad.

"Just then, you appeared. You smiled, patted my head, and said, 'It's okay, you did a great job, the rescue is coming soon.' You didn't look much older than me, but your smile was firm, brave, beautiful, and dazzling. Behind you was a particularly handsome boy who was your boyfriend... At that moment, you were like a ray of light shining on me. I wiped away my tears and mustered the courage to stand up again. Although the school was reduced to ruins, I was still alive."

As the doll recounted what had happened to it, its tone was filled with hope. However, Kiana's expression did not relax. Dolls are all collections of negative consciousness. If its life were really as it described, how could it have become a doll?

However, to be fair, it's true that it's a boyfriend; taking Shen Gonglin out for a stroll certainly satisfies Kiana's vanity.

"To me at that time, you were the embodiment of hope. I believed that as long as I worked hard, everything would be alright. But I was wrong."

The doll's tone suddenly turned sour, and Kiana became even more serious. She knew that the turning point had arrived.

"Being the survivor made me the target of everyone's hatred. The children in the neighborhood all went to the same school, and I was the only survivor. Most of the families around me lost their blood relatives forever in that disaster. They supported and encouraged each other, but they drifted further and further away from my parents. Why was I the only one who survived? This voice spread little by little and eventually turned into hatred."

Chapter 158 The Inherent Flaws of Humanity

Those who survived became the sinners?

Upon hearing the doll's account, Kiana's eyes widened instantly. She wanted to refute it, wondering if she had made a mistake in saving her. However, her intuition told Kiana that it was true, something she must have personally experienced. The human heart is truly a complex thing.

"Why am I the only one who survived? This sentiment spread little by little, eventually turning into hatred. No one was willing to give us shelter, no one was willing to provide my parents with jobs, and even disaster relief applications were postponed for various reasons. The disaster didn't break us, but our fellow human beings did. My mother cried every day, and my once hardworking and enterprising father started drinking heavily and became irritable. One day, I heard him muttering to himself after drinking..."

"If only she had died in that disaster too."

The doll continued recounting what had happened to her, and the sorrowful tone made Kiana believe that this was indeed what had happened, but the girl's heterochromatic eyes remained resolute, and that was not an excuse.

"At that moment, something inside me cracked, and then a voice whispered in my ear... Welcome to the Domination Theater."

The doll stood up, as if it weren't the one who had been kneeling on the ground, weeping with her face covered. The threads controlled the doll to make very stiff movements. It slowly approached Kiana, and its small body exuded an unbelievable sense of despair.

"I often think that if you hadn't saved me, I wouldn't have suffered so much, and my parents would have had a better life... Long after that, I heard about you. You stopped the bomb and saved the whole city, but my ordeal continued because of it. Your self-righteous heroic act brought me even more pain. The depravity of people is far more terrible than disaster! In such a world, there is no true salvation from the very beginning!"

The doll's voice turned hysterical as it approached Kiana, loudly questioning her. "Does she know how much pain she has caused others, lost in her heroic dreams? Is she the source of all this suffering?"

"Since living is more painful than dying, why did you save me? Since the future is darker than the present, why did you urge me to look to the light? Since you consider yourself a hero, why... did you save those bastards who tormented my parents and ruined their lives? Finally, here, I found the answer. Look, everyone in this theater is like this, everyone in this world is like this: blind, impulsive, selfish, pathetic, not understanding what they want, not knowing what they should do, just letting others manipulate them, being a pathetic actor, a fool. I want to thank you; you threw me onto this stage of despair just to tell me this..."

The doll spoke incessantly, and Kiana heard it all. However, the girl was not disturbed by these words. Her heterochromatic eyes remained bright throughout. She was no longer the impulsive Kiana of the past. Now, she was good at thinking. Although she could not be as absolutely rational as Bronya, she understood what she needed to believe in.

"Kiana, Kiana, I am no different from them, and you are no different from them either, such a despicable... ugly... member of humanity."

"Are you done talking?"

The doll wanted to continue its long-winded explanation, but Kiana had no intention of listening anymore. The twin pistols spun in the girl's hands, and Kiana gently gripped the handles. They were cold and hard, yet they gave her a sense of security. She knew what she had to do and would never be fooled by these dolls.

"Since you say that saving you was a mistake, then I'll send you to your death. I won't be fooled by you. You are the Herrscher of Domination, not a human. You amplify the negative emotions in these people's hearts and lead them to extremes, but you are just a clumsy puppet that imitates human thinking. The human heart is definitely not such a simple thing, and your host, that girl, is definitely not such a fragile person!"

Two dark gun barrels were pointed at the doll in front of her. Kiana was ready to fight. The doll, seeing Kiana's reaction, stopped its plan to talk. Sure enough, this girl was a simple-minded fool who didn't understand such a truth. However, even so, it had other ways.

"Say what you will. It seems you still don't understand the details of the situation. Come on, come on, I have many, many more stories to tell you."

Guided by the threads, the doll suddenly leaped into the distance again. Kiana quickly followed, but she felt a pang of bitterness in her heart. She had saved the child, but had put her in an even more difficult situation... Had her efforts brought about a worse outcome?

Despite her unwavering resolve, Kiana still felt a sliver of doubt after hearing the doll's words. If it were Shen Gonglin, she certainly wouldn't be acting this way. Sometimes, she really envied Shen Gonglin; that kind of intense self-confidence wasn't something just anyone could achieve.

As Kiana navigated through the Domination Theater, she arrived at a grand hall. She stood in front of the doll, or rather, the doll was deliberately waiting for her there.

"Hehe, you've caught up with me again. As a reward, I can give you one chance to ask a question, but only once."

Unperturbed by being blocked, the doll generously gave Kiana this reward. She couldn't wait to know Kiana's question; what valuable question would this girl ask?

"... Is your host, that girl, still alive?"

However, Kiana's question was completely unexpected for the doll. What? She thought Kiana would ask something interesting, but it was this kind of question. How boring! But this also proves that cracks have already appeared in her heart. Kiana is starting to doubt herself.

"Alright, alright, it's a boring question, but I'll answer you anyway. We're much more honest than humans, aren't we? Well... I'm still alive, but I'm ostracized by everyone around me and neglected by my parents. My heart is slowly breaking down. It's worse than death. It's all your fault. You saved those bastards who tormented me. Those people don't deserve to live. You should have let that bomb blow them all up."

The doll gestured wildly, saying that if all those people died, she and her parents wouldn't have to suffer that kind of torment.

Chapter 159 Trial

"I wouldn't do that. Even if I had to choose again, I would still stop that disaster."

Kiana was not swayed by the dolls in making her own choices. Even knowing the truth, if she were given the choice again, she would still stand firm in her original decision and do what she believed was right. This is Seele told her. If she hadn't faced her own heart and made that choice, she wouldn't be Kiana.

"Then you are their accomplice! Accomplice! Executioner!"

The doll berates Kiana, who still doesn't realize she's done anything wrong. It's unbelievable! She's already told Kiana about the unfair treatment she's suffered, so why is Kiana is just too stupid.

"They spread their pain of losing loved ones to the survivors, which is the evil in people's hearts. But you also said that they support and encourage each other, striving to get out of the shadows as soon as possible and try to live on, which is the good in people's hearts. Everyone has kindness in their hearts, and this will not be a reason for me to give up on saving them."

Kiana voiced her thoughts: Could it be that she would stop liking Shen Gonglin just because he turned bad? That's impossible. Even if he has a wicked side, Kiana has always liked him, hasn't she?

"Haha? What is that? Your own defense? Well, that's true, after all, you yourself are the greatest evil."

The doll's voice was full of malice. It began to hover around Kiana, having talked so much about itself. Now it was time to talk about Kiana.

"How should I address you? Kiana? Experiment K423? Or... Herrscher of the Void, Sirin?"

The puppet's voice was filled with the smug satisfaction of its plan succeeding. This was its original goal. Because they were weak, it needed a powerful ally. And it was time for that ally to make its appearance.

"What! Your goal is...?"

Kiana suddenly realized this possibility and instinctively felt uncomfortable. Could it be that the ultimate goal of the puppets, which had been created so much, was actually the Herrscher of the Void?

"Hehe, you got it right, you got it right. You should have noticed that we can visit people who have the potential to become our companions, but her consciousness is suppressed too much by you... or rather, by Shen Gonglin. We can't tie the threads around you, so we can't invite her to our theater. Therefore, we've decided that no matter what the cost, we will pull you into our theater. Each of us is weak, but as long as we gather everyone's strength, we will definitely be able to create an opening for you!"

Just as the villains proudly announced their scheme, the puppet said smugly, "Your little traps, tricks, even firing cannons in our theater, we don't care. Because from the moment you entered the theater, we have already succeeded. Come on, let's choose a suitable location. It's time to bring the play to a close."