If he could, Chen Ran truly wanted to build a War God with his own hands.
But he lacked the knowledge.
"Earlier, I learned from Mobius that Flame-Chaser had briefly conducted experiments implanting Herrscher Cores into human bodies. But the results were unsatisfactory, so the project was shelved."
He said, "But I want to try again."
Mei's eyes narrowed slightly.
She neither agreed readily nor refused.
For her now, as long as an experiment involved Honkai, trying again was worthwhile, regardless of its nature.
Mei quickly grasped the design concept behind the Herrscher Core implantation experiment.
It was simple: while retaining one's self-awareness, steal a Herrscher's authority.
The concept and design were not complicated. The problem lay in the materials.
Chen Ran had said that Flame-Chaser had attempted implantation experiments with all kinds of subjects, yet every result had ended in failure. Therefore, the problematic material had to be the Herrscher Core.
At this point in the Pre-Civilization Era, there had yet to be any systematic classification of Herrschers. They had not even observed the Will of Honkai, so naturally, they did not know the conditions for becoming a Herrscher.
Mei was undoubtedly a bold person.
"Although we have no data, every failure was caused by the Herrscher Core's corrosion. So we need something unique that can both seal the Herrscher Core and establish a connection between a person and it."
Chen Ran blurted out, "Soul Steel."
"Exactly. You and I had the same thought."
Soul Steel was a nanoscale metal material. It possessed memory functions and could suppress Honkai Energy corrosion.
Use Soul Steel to encase the Herrscher Core, then establish a connection between the person and the Herrscher Core, allowing the person to wield a Herrscher's power...
So wasn't that a Divine Key?
Chen Ran suddenly realized that perhaps working with Mei had not been quite right.
Mei's thoughts leaped ahead and would not follow his experimental approach.
On the contrary, his attempt to force the impossible was nothing more than a waste of materials.
Chen Ran had to admit that Mei's design approach was the safer one.
Neither of them rushed to begin the experiment. Instead, under protection, they observed the Herrscher Core.
This Herrscher Core, placed deep within Flame-Chaser's underground levels, had an astonishing Honkai Energy concentration of 6300hw.
It was a disaster born into the world.
Yet it was also humanity's current shortcut toward godhood.
Even observing it from a distance made both Chen Ran and Mei feel suffocated.
"It seems the full picture of Honkai is not as simple as we imagined," Mei said. "Perhaps it is not merely a disaster. It is more like a source of power."
"A force that drives civilization forward."
The Divine Right Plan Begins
Although Mei proposed a contact experiment that would use Soul Steel to reduce the corrosive nature of Honkai Energy and encase the Herrscher Core, Chen Ran still rejected it.
The reason was simple.
Soul Steel was expensive!
Even within Flame-Chaser, which was supported by numerous nations, Soul Steel was a resource only a small number of people could access.
At this time, Mei was not yet the Mei of three years later, backed by vast resources. At this time, Chen Ran was merely an external staff member of the First Research Institute.
Being allowed to observe the Herrscher Core was already an unexpected blessing, let alone conduct experiments.
However, Mei had her own method.
"My father sent me a gift from Mu Continent."
Under Chen Ran's astonished gaze, a petite girl slowly took shape.
"This is..."
"Durandal. Mu Continent's latest finished product, and likely the first supercomputer capable of self-learning." Mei did not hide it. "Mu Continent is highly accomplished in computation. I only obtained a computer like this through my father."
She paused, then ordered, "Durandal, observe the core data, then copy it."
"Understood."
This supercomputer before them was not yet the veteran driver who would appear in the story.
Durandal needed to keep learning and growing. She had clearly only just been born.
Chen Ran could not help feeling both startled and delighted.
"Great. I was just worrying about how bad I am at math."
"Math is humanity's natural enemy. With a computer's help, we can save a lot of time." He paused, looked at Durandal, and said, "Little Durandal, if this experiment succeeds, big brother will take you to see pretty girls."
"?"
Durandal clearly did not yet understand what that meant.
Although she possessed language and comprehension modules, she had not yet absorbed enough information.
Mei said helplessly, "Stop wasting time."
Given their current conditions, they could naturally only conduct the implantation experiment through a computer.
But the application of Herrscher Cores was not limited to the Divine Right Plan.
Mei's mind was deep and calculating. Clearly, she had considered far more.
Chen Ran did not particularly care about that.
Now that they had Durandal, his observation of the Herrscher Core could become much more detailed.
Next, he needed to observe Wendy's Herrscher Core within the simulated scenario.
For the following period, Chen Ran was extremely busy.
Not only did he need to assist Mei in observing the Third Herrscher Core, he also had to observe Wendy's Herrscher Core, and the latter was even more difficult than the former.
The Divine Right Plan experiment had been suspended, but Chen Ran did not tell Wendy immediately.
After reentering the simulated scenario, he eagerly said to Wendy, "The experiment is about to succeed. The chief director said your experiment has been handed entirely over to me, and I already have an idea."
Wendy blinked her eyes, as though confirming the good news.
After a long while, she smiled sweetly. "Really?"
"Of course it's true."
Chen Ran took a deep breath, trying not to give himself away. "Don't let my carefree appearance fool you. I'm actually full of talent. The chief director tested me a little, then couldn't wait to hand the position over to me."
"You really are full of it."
Wendy still smiled, but her voice was somewhat weak.
Chen Ran blinked and said, "Fine, fine. If you say I'm full of it, then I'm full of it. After all, people never want to believe a genius telling the truth. But from now on, you have to listen to me."
He said seriously, "I need your cooperation. Are you willing to trust me?"
The boy's gaze was steadfast and bright. Wendy looked into his eyes, as though trying to confirm something.
"What if I said I wasn't willing..."
"Then I'll pester you, harass you, and keep at it until you are."
Chen Ran said it without hesitation.
What a joke. Wendy was tied to his reward. How could he give up halfway? Otherwise, what had been the point of all this simulation time?
Wendy chuckled. "Are you like this with every girl?"
"Ah, for now, I'm only like this with you."
Who knew whether the people he met later would be in circumstances similar to Wendy's? So he could not make absolute promises.
He said, "Since I was little, I've been taught the three secrets to success."
"First, persistence. Second, shamelessness."
"Third, persist shamelessly."
Wendy laughed, her eyes curving into crescents.
"Alright. I'll cooperate with you."
Although the Oceanic Branch had suspended all support and work related to the Divine Right Plan, perhaps out of guilt, or perhaps because they had nowhere else to place Chen Ran for the time being,
Chen Ran was still tacitly allowed to take care of Wendy, and the branch did not stop his salary or benefits.
But no one envied him.
Because of the experiment, nearly everyone here knew that Wendy had the Gem of Desire inside her, and that the two of them had also survived an assassination attempt.
It could be said that Wendy was now a bomb that could explode at any moment.
Someone proposed retrieving the Herrscher Gem from Wendy's body. However, because the rejection response had disappeared, the gem had instead fused with Wendy, making it difficult to remove.
Unless they were willing to risk the gem exploding.
It could be said that if the experiment continued, they would take the most critical step of the Divine Right Plan.
But no one knew why the experiment had suddenly been suspended. They silently carried out their superiors' orders.
All data related to the Divine Right Plan began to be archived and sealed away.
In response, Chen Ran could only use his final move.
[Establishing communication with the Far East Branch.]
That night, Chen Ran escorted Wendy back to her room.
The boy wore his usual cheerful grin, saying that he would definitely complete the experiment before bidding her farewell.
Wendy knew it was a lie.
After Chen Ran had been called in by the chief director, someone else had contacted her as well.
The Divine Right Plan had been canceled.
The reason was that it was foreseeably doomed to fail.
Wendy did not understand what "foreseeably" meant, but she knew she probably would never stand again.
Schicksal's orders were strict. Once it decided not to invest resources, it would follow through.
Yet whenever the boy saw her, he remained cheerful, his face alight as he declared that he had taken full control of the Divine Right Plan.
Wendy knew he was lying.
But what did that matter?
Even a dream that would shatter at a touch was beautiful at this moment.
She had no desire to read or go to the training grounds.
And Chen Ran gradually became busier as well, as though they had come to a tacit understanding and reduced how often they met.
He no longer liked joking around. There was an unresolvable sorrow between his brows, and he spoke to her less and less.
Before you continue