29. When You Gaze into the Abyss / 30. The Thousand Herrschers: You think we're the ones who failed?

"At that point... they will have no choice but to confront us head-on."

"Xia Ling."

Two days later, Xia Ling suddenly received an urgent message from MewMew in the system channel.

"Your previous plan was to use Kiana as bait to lure out Thousand-Man Herrscher, right?"

"Yes, you know this part of the story too, MewMew."

"That's right, but unfortunately, the plot may be about to change."

"The Thousand-Man Herrscher just held a vote, and their conclusion is consistent with the original work: they've taken the bait, it's free, so why not take it?"

"Uh... so there's no change?"

"Let me finish," MewMew said anxiously. "They are indeed going to eat this bait, but... not Kiana."

"Instead, it Herrscher of Consciousness."

"Are they going to target Herrscher of Sentience?"

Xia Ling was taken aback. "That makes sense... After all, the mental state of Herrscher of Sentience isn't very stable."

"Fu Hua and I are deliberately avoiding the topic of her possibly being a Herrscher, and the rest of the base is unaware of this."

"That's why... although Herrscher of Sentience doesn't say it on the surface, she must be struggling a lot inside."

"So, are you going to tell Ain to suspend the plan? You know, Sirin's condition is unstable."

"No need, the plan will proceed as scheduled."

Xia Ling waved her hand. "Herrscher of Sentience's condition is unstable, isn't that just right? We can correct it for her."

"And the Thousand-Man Herrscher have provided an excellent opportunity."

Chapter Twenty-Nine: When You Gaze into the Abyss

"The journey to the Arctic is already halfway complete..."

"But the enemy doesn't seem to have appeared yet, Sister Bronya."

Bronya and Seele stood at the stern, on guard against any potential enemies.

"Things must be planned slowly; haste makes waste... I'm sure the Thousand-Man Herrscher understands this principle as well."

Xia Ling's voice came through the communication.

She was currently in a group with Bella, providing protection for the Hyperion.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I might have to take back what I just said." Xia Ling's voice suddenly paused, and she added, "The other person seems to be the kind who can keep their composure, but not completely."

In Xia Ling's view, a large number of mechs were approaching from all directions.

"That's right, a large number of mechs have appeared on the radar... The Thousand-Man Herrscher has probably brought out all their assets this time."

"Xia Ling, can you hold off a portion of them?"

"There are too many to handle, Dr. Tesla... However, I should be able to clear out this entire area."

Xia Ling stood on Bella's body, the Seven Thunders of Retribution in her hand reflecting a dangerous light.

"After all, I'm not some kind of class template that can't attack air units!"

Under Xia Ling's sniping, large swarms of mechs fell like kites with broken strings.

At the same time, the puppets on the stern also began to land.

"Hey, isn't that the little guy who lost his motorcycle and the little black-and-white princess? They're looking for their driver's licenses on the deck."

"Hehe, I forgot to tell you, the Herrscher of Reason's abilities are really useful... but I think I've used them a little too much these past two days? I hope the poor Little Duck hasn't been overwhelmed by the core's load."

"A large number of mechs and an unknown number of puppets have appeared in the stern area, but we can still handle them for now."

Bronya ignored the other party's taunts and, after reporting the situation, set up the Heavy Armor Rabbit's defensive stance to provide support for Seele.

After all, the main combat force in their group is Seele, who has fully unleashed her Stigmata.

The same scene was also seen on the bow, deck and other parts of the Hyperion, where a large number of various mechs and Honkai Beast swarmed around the people guarding the perimeter like locusts.

Ultimately, however, the Thousand-Man Herrscher can only access older-style mechs. Although they may seem impressive, in actual combat, eliminating these mediocre fighters is not difficult.

Only...

"Sister Bronya, the mechs on the deck have been cleared, but for some reason, the radar still shows the presence of enemies..."

"Because they used the mechs to buy time, most of them were just puppets, who have already taken the opportunity to sneak into the ship's interior!"

Tesla's somewhat distorted voice came through the communicator. "Are these guys slippery eels? They actually chose to crawl into the ventilation ducts..."

"Alright, Bronya, Seele, you two quickly return to defense. The Thousand-Man Herrscher didn't choose a direct assault; judging from their route, they probably opted to shut down the power and defense systems..."

"So, they're going to attack Kiana?"

"That's right. It seems they're not stupid, and they haven't saved us much trouble. We... will most likely have to carry out the second half of the plan."

Meanwhile, inside the ship.

"How are you feeling, Kiana?"

"No problem, Headmaster."

Kiana was inside a makeshift electromagnetic barrier. Although it was a decoy plan, necessary precautions were still required.

"You're really good at keeping your composure... If it were before, you probably would have already rushed out and beaten up those puppets."

"After all, I'm not the same person I used to be..." Kiana smiled sheepishly. "Besides, this was a plan I came up with myself, so I should carry it out to the end."

"Giggle giggle..."

Before the words were even finished, the eerie laughter of the doll echoed throughout the empty cabin.

"Have the dolls actually infiltrated this place?"

Theresa quickly took out Judah, and the golden Divine Key unfolded in the cabin, illuminating the somewhat dim environment.

Like children found in a game of hide-and-seek, the puppets surged out from behind pipes and walls on all sides, surrounding the two.

"Oh dear, isn't this our bait lady? Poor thing~"

"Hmph, so you've taken the bait too, haven't you?"

Kiana took out her dual pistols.

"If the fish eats all the bait, then it's not considered hooked!"

The dolls suddenly lunged towards Kiana's location.

This time, the puppet's actions can be described as completely disregarding casualties.

Theresa has only eleven chains, but there are hundreds of dolls.

No matter how efficient her kills were, she couldn't stop the puppets from relentlessly closing in on Kiana.

At that moment, the dolls that had already infiltrated the power system also acted simultaneously, cutting off the power supply to Kiana's room.

In the darkness, a doll appeared behind Kiana.

"Hmm..."

Kiana's vision suddenly went black, and the strange sensation and dizziness she felt told her that she had been teleported into the theater by the Thousand-Man Herrscher.

"Ugh, I'm so tired of saying that."

"However, for your sake, I'll say it again."

"Kiana, Kiana —welcome to the Theater of Domination— "

"The bait has sunk into the fish's belly."

"Tesla, Kiana's signal has completely disappeared. The Thousand-Man Herrscher has successfully teleported her into the Japanese 'Sphere' (5R) Theater."

Looking at the mess in the cabin, Theresa showed no panic or frustration. She opened the communicator and quickly reported the situation.

As all the remaining puppets and mechs of the Thousand-Man Herrscher disappeared along with Kiana, the Hyperion's power system was restored in a short while.

"Okay, so far, things are going exactly as we planned... Next, all we need to do is shut down the electromagnetic barrier and wait for Kiana to Hyperion into the Theater of Domination."

Tesla's voice is eager to be heard.

"I prepared a specially made mecha to isolate the Herrscher of Domination, just waiting for them to take the bait!"

"Biting hook... slipping neighbor umbrella IV Barba feeds water chestnut - dream o... sigh."

Xia Ling stood on the bridge of the Hyperion, looking down at the busy crew members.

"But we're the ones who really took the bait..."

"The Thousand-Man Herrscher of this generation are really troublesome."

Xia Ling looked at the two red dots that were constantly moving on her terminal.

"Fu Hua and Sirin are still near the deck... Let's go to the vicinity of their location first."

"That way, I can track them down and enter the theater the moment they're brought in..."

Chapter Thirty: The Thousand-Man Herrscher: Do you think we are the ones who have failed?

"Hehe, you think you can get away with it without using Herrscher power?"

"Even if we kill you, we can still get two cores and a fresh puppet!"

Kiana's figure flashed quickly across the theater, occasionally turning back to fire a couple of shots. The gun in her hand was also a special product of Anti-Entropy, not only extremely powerful, but also specially treated, making it very suitable for the Kaslana family's close-combat gun fighting style.

Kiana ignored the dolls' taunts and simply dodged their attacks, moving forward and constantly shifting between platforms.

Her progress was not driven by a clear objective, after all, she had never been to the Theater of Domination before.

Based solely on Xia Ling and Bronya's descriptions, Kiana had no idea where there was a space that could accommodate Hyperion- type aerial warship.

"This place isn't quite right either; I need to find a more open space..."

Wiping the sweat from her brow caused by the intense exercise, Kiana looked around.

The different platforms that Theater of Domination are often separated by walls, making it impossible to see the situation of other platforms around. For her, whether the next platform meets the requirements is like opening a blind box.

However, this time, Lady Luck seemed to have "favored" her once again.

After switching platforms again, Kiana's field of vision suddenly opened up.

This was an exceptionally spacious location, with even the theater's dome seemingly endless in height. Due to the platform's vastness, even the puppets that had come to follow seemed rather sparse.

"This is it!"

Kiana's heterochromatic eyes shone brightly with golden light, and even her other blue eye showed signs of turning golden.

"Your Herrscher of Domination, you've fallen for my trap!"

A golden portal opened instantly in the sky, revealing the front of the Hyperion's main cannon.

"What? How could you...?"

Kiana's actions seemed to have completely panicked the Thousand-Man Herrscher. The swarm of them frantically attacked the spatial gate created by Kiana, but the attacks from the old-fashioned mechs they controlled were somewhat laughable against the Hyperion's energy defenses.

As the Hyperion fully entered the theater, Kiana finally breathed a sigh of relief, her body suddenly going limp.

Even for her, teleporting the Hyperion along with everyone on board was an extremely physically demanding task.

Fortunately, the cost of this teleportation was much lower than she had originally anticipated. She had guessed that she would faint immediately after the teleportation, but now she even retained a considerable amount of combat capability.

"Kiana, can you hear me? How is it?"

"Received, Dr. Tesla, communication has been restored."

"Great! Hyperion, begin airdropping support mechs!"

Tesla's voice was filled with undisguised glee. "This was specially made for you bunch of puppets. Try hacking another one if you dare!"

"Phew, it worked! That really scared me to death..."

Theresa, dressed as Twilight Knight, jumped down and landed beside Kiana, immediately protecting her.