17. B L A C K L U X U R Y S E D A N (crossed out) M E C H A / 18. The Thousand Herrschers who take everything they can get

"To fuse with a core without any reaction and without the core even realizing it, you first have to make sure that the core is as docile as a lamb when it sees this body... I can't imagine how high the degree of fusion would be. Maybe only Sirin in history could barely meet the standard."

"But if such a person really existed, he would probably have been chosen Herrscher long ago, why would he wait until now?"

In the rather humorous explanation given by Ain's first ($) post, the tone for the next battle plan was also set.

Kiana, Fu Hua (Sirin), Bella, Theresa were tasked with accompanying the personnel from the Anti-Entropy base during their evacuation to prevent the Thousand-Man Herrscher from launching a feint attack.

Welt, Seele, Bronya, and Xia Ling stayed behind at the Salt Lake Base to see what these puppets were really up to.

Xia Ling wasn't too surprised by this result, after all, this part of the story was originally Seele's main focus.

What she was thinking about at that moment was how to use this plot to let MewMew appear a few times and gain some goodwill in advance so that she could clear her name when she turned against them later.

Chapter Seventeen: Black Luxury Sedan (crossed out) Mech

"MewMew, how are you feeling?"

"It feels a bit strange... but I can't quite put my finger on it."

The elven girl looked at the wisp of water mist in her hand, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

"Hmm... if I had to describe it, this is probably what it feels like to have water clones that I usually control?"

"In other words, you do have a feeling of being watched and controlled, right?"

"I do feel like I'm being watched, and that feeling is there all the time, but... I don't feel like I'm being controlled. To be precise, I can pretend to be controlled by the threads, but I can break free from them at any time."

"I guess this is the effect of the potion given by the Serpent... The true Herrscher of Domination didn't realize that I could break free from its control. It seems that in its eyes, I'm still a... newbie?"

"Is that so...? It's a bit troublesome, but it's enough."

Xia Ling had anticipated this. "Being watched is not a problem; blocking our gaze for a short period of time is not difficult for us."

"As for the so-called true Herrscher of Domination... to be honest, according to Kal'tsit's investigation, we have not actually found the so-called first individual."

"According to our understanding in our previous life, theoretically speaking, the first Herrscher of Domination, Reimu, should be the so-called true form, just like the top of a pyramid."

"However... I now suspect that this conclusion is wrong. The Herrscher of Domination who truly controls the puppets is very likely an existence similar to a collective consciousness."

"This also explains why there wasn't a single 'traitor' among so many puppets... Under the suppression of this collective consciousness, individual thought is indeed too insignificant."

"It's hard to say whether the situation is exactly as it is in the original work, or whether our appearance has created a butterfly effect. However, compared to a living person, perhaps such a collective consciousness is easier to deceive."

"Anyway, this is not something I should worry about. I'm just a poor little doll, how could I have bad intentions?"

MewMew gave a cute wink and said, "Then I'll have to answer the call of the Theater of Domination. Maybe... I'll be pulled directly into the Theater of Domination?"

"Sure, you can go straight in. I've already had Kal'tsit and Theresia take care of your identity."

"Otto's attention isn't on this right now. Both Anti-Entropy and World Serpent are dealing with their own crises, so no one should notice your fake identity."

"The timing is quite convenient. You might just make it in time for the Thousand-Man Herrscher to invade the Salt Lake Base."

"I suggest you choose the Duck Duck's side as your breakthrough point. As for Black Seele... she might tear your water clone into mist before you even open your mouth."

"It sounds like... Thousand-Man Herrscher isn't an easy job to slack off in..."

The next day arrived quickly, and with Ain, Tesla, and Welt reacting simultaneously, the evacuation of the Salt Lake Base proceeded very smoothly.

Rather, each Anti-Entropy base has similar contingency plans, which is to prevent the extremely unfortunate situation of a Honkai directly descending upon the vicinity of the base.

In short, with the departure of personnel and mechs, the Salt Lake Base became truly empty.

At this moment, only Bronya, Seele, Welt, and Xia Ling remained in the base, patrolling in pairs.

"I never imagined that Bronya would one day entrust her back to Seele."

"Sister Bronya Seele so happy to finally be able to help you."

"Hmph, come on, who's been sweating from nervousness since just now?"

Seele was already used to her other self's daily teasing. She remained silent for a moment and looked at Bronya.

"Sister Bronya, are you nervous?"

"Of course, everyone gets nervous; it's unavoidable."

Bronya said gently, "But even so, we must do our best to deal with it."

"Seele's training results are usually excellent, and she also helped Bronya a lot in the Sea of Quantum. Before we knew it, Seele had become an outstanding warrior..."

"No... Sister Bronya..."

Seele hesitated, wanting to introduce her other self to Bronya.

"Actually..."

Compared to the sweet atmosphere between the two Azure Sea Group, the atmosphere between Xia Ling and Welt on the other side was much stranger.

Of course, I'm not saying their relationship is strange, but rather...

"It feels so quiet. There aren't any other Anti-Entropy members in the base. It's completely different from yesterday..."

"Yes, after all, all the base members have been transferred to a nearby temporary base."

"However, these things are no longer our concern. Our task now is simply to guard the Salt Lake Base."

Wait a minute, isn't Welt's line a little strange?

What if a black luxury car and gunmen suddenly appear...?

Suppressing the urge to complain, Xia Ling continued answering.

According to the time given on the ticket, the attack by the Thousand-Man Herrscher is expected to take place around this time.

However, after inspecting the base for a long time, they did not see any changes.

"Wait, what is this...?"

Just as Xia Ling and Welt turned a corner, three mechs, dyed an ominous black-gold color due to being controlled by the silk threads, suddenly appeared in their field of vision.

"Wow, they really came!"

The strange color scheme startled Xia Ling. The bracelet formed by the Seven Thunders of Retribution subconsciously released a strong electric field, attempting to paralyze the mechs.

However, Xia Ling seemed to have forgotten that these controlled mechs could not be measured by the laws of physics.

Fortunately, Welt did not continue to pay tribute to the captain. As a reliable adult male, he immediately released gravity to make up for Xia Ling's mistake.

Be careful.

The force of gravity, ten thousand times greater than normal, crushed two of the mechs, while the remaining one survived a little longer, becoming the subject of Welt's analysis.

"These are the mechs in Anti-Entropy's inventory, almost all of them are scrap. Look, these mechs even use optical camouflage systems instead of quantum observation offset systems..."

"It must be really difficult for Thousand-Man Herrscher to find such Old Fossil."

"So, Mr. Welt means we can dismantle it however we want?"

"Don't worry, the commemorative value of these mechs is probably higher than their combat value."

Welt complained.

"So what exactly are these Thousand-Man Herrscher up to? Are they planning to use this thing to carry out demolition at the Salt Lake Base?"

Chapter Eighteen: The Thousand-Man Herrscher Who Ate and Took Money

Having determined the origin of these mechs, Xia Ling and Welt's goal became clear: there was only one place where Anti-Entropy stored these scrapped mechs, and that was the underground warehouse.

Since the Thousand-Man Herrscher mobilized these scrapped mechs on a large scale, they must have left traces in the warehouse.

However, before they even reached the warehouse, Bronya's communication came through immediately.

"Mr. Welt, Sister Xia Ling, Seele and I have discovered a spatial rift within the base."

"A spatial rift?"

Xia Ling stopped in her tracks. "To the Theater of Domination?"

"Bronya isn't quite sure, but based on Heavy Armor Rabbit's analysis, that's roughly it."

"The nearby controlled mechs have been cleared out, and Bronya and Seele plan to go inside and explore."

"Then wait a moment, and let me join you before we go in."

"Sister Xia Ling, this spatial rift is unstable and we don't know how long it can exist."

"Moreover, based on our current experience, even if we enter the Theater of Domination hand in hand, we will be separated by the Thousand-Man Herrscher. In that case, it would be better if we entered in batches."

"That way, even if Seele and I encounter problems, Sister Xia Ling can come in and help us in time."

"Don't be careless, Bronya," Xia Ling said in a deep voice. "The abilities of the Thousand-Man Herrscher are not so simple. Since they dare to invite you in so openly, they must have their own trump cards."

"Bronya understands. Don't worry, Bronya has been trained by Mr. Welt and has mastered the Herrscher of Reason's abilities very well. She'll be fine."

It seems you really shouldn't make promises before a battle...

Knowing full well what Bronya was about to suffer, Xia Ling suppressed a smile and advised, "... Then be careful and proceed with caution."

"Sister Xia Ling, be careful that the Thousand-Man Herrscher don't use a feint attack like last time."

Xia Ling sighed after hanging up the call.

"Mr. Welt, I'm afraid we need to start accelerating."

"Quickly check for any remaining hidden dangers inside the base, and then we need to hurry up and support Bronya and the others."

"Oh? Bronya seems quite confident... Even if she enters the Theater of Domination, protecting herself shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"The more confident Bronya, the less confident I become..."

"Mr. Welt, don't forget that there are traitors within Anti-Entropy. Your training of Bronya was not kept secret, which means that the Thousand-Man Herrscher is aware that Bronya's strength is not what it used to be."

"Based on the current intelligence, the Thousand-Man Herrscher aren't the kind of reckless individuals who charge in blindly. For them to dare attack Bronya under these circumstances..."

"The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light, this is really tough." Welt casually slid his hand, and the warehouse door immediately opened.

"Really..."

Inside the warehouse, a striking spatial rift came into view.

At the same time, all the scrapped mechs in the warehouse were gone.

"These Thousand-Man Herrscher... they're taking bribes and eating their fill?"

Xia Ling was somewhat dumbfounded.

"There are probably one or two hundred decommissioned mechs piled up in the warehouse. If they were all deployed to the Salt Lake Base, the density wouldn't be what we're seeing now. In other words, they must have taken some of the mechs with them."

Welt frowned as he recalled the mechs he had encountered along the way.

"But even with these enhancements, the combat effectiveness of these mechs is still mediocre, let alone the fact that they are still scrapped models..."

"In short, regardless of their combat strength, they have left us with hidden dangers."

Xia Ling reached out and sensed the spatial environment around the crack. Just as Bronya had said, it was very unstable and might close at any time.

"Even if we were to go in, we couldn't use this kind of spatial rift... Mr. Welt, let's go back."

"Go back?"

"Yes, we're going to the place where Bronya enters the Theater of Domination."

Xia Ling nodded. "There's no time to explain too much, let's talk as we walk."

"The environment around the entire Salt Lake Base has become very unstable due to the forced intrusion of the Theater of Domination. This spatial rift can probably only last for a dozen minutes."

"If it closes itself after we go in, we'll probably have to smash a crack in the Theater of Domination to get back in."

"But Bronya may not know this. If she identifies the crack she entered through as an escape route, the consequences will be unimaginable."

"So, we need to help her stabilize the crack on her side, right?"

Welt, who had extensive knowledge of various disciplines, quickly understood what she meant.

"That's right, and after I stabilize the crack, I'll need to ask Mr. Welt to guard against any possible sneak attacks outside."

"If the other side finds that this crack has not been closed in time, they may send a puppet to forcibly close it... Therefore, someone must guard the exit on the outside."

"As long as they are outside the Theater of Domination, the puppets' fighting power is negligible."