Uriel: I Want to Negotiate!

"According to intelligence, the Seventh Herrscher has fled to this area and is hiding in the mountains. Although she was injured by Maple's Black Abyss White Flower in the previous battle, she is still a Herrscher. Don't let your guard down!" Himiko to her team members. "If you encounter the Seventh Herrscher, report Herrscher location immediately and try to avoid direct combat with Herrscher. The other squads of the Fire Moth will provide support soon!"

After the battle with Uriel, the Fire Moth quickly provided support to Australia, cooperating with Australia forces to conduct a thorough search for the Seventh Herrscher's whereabouts. However, just like the Fifth and Sixth Herrscher before them, the Seventh Herrscher seemed to have gone into hiding after escaping, and the usual search methods were once again ineffective.

After giving instructions to her team members, Himiko divided her forces into several smaller squads, which then joined the Australia troops in searching for the Seventh Herrscher in the mountainous region.

As they passed through a cave, a sound suddenly came from inside.

"Long time no see, Captain Himiko."

"All personnel on high alert!" Himiko, immediately connecting to the main communication channel. "This is Himiko. The Seventh Herrscher has been detected at my current location!"

Uriel, supporting herself against the cave wall and clutching her chest, stepped out. She glanced at Himiko's wary expression and the loaded weapons of the other soldiers around her, and smiled somewhat helplessly, "Captain Himiko, after our last parting, I never imagined that our reunion would be like this. It's quite poignant... isn't it?"

Himiko silent. The Seventh Herrscher seemed quite different from any of the Herrscher she had encountered or documented. She didn't appear to be a machine tasked with carrying out the Honkai's mission. Perhaps, as Lilith testified after the Fifth Herrscher incident, the Honkai was constantly evolving, and its Apostle Herrscher were evolving as well. The Fifth Herrscher had attempted to understand human thought, and the Sixth Herrscher, according to Kevin, had tried to simulate human thought. So, the Seventh Herrscher ...

Himiko raised her weapon. Although she and Dr. Uriel had a long -Honkai standing relationship, she couldn't afford to be careless in the face of Honkai. What she feared even more was that the Uriel before her had long been replaced by the Honkai, and the Herrscher with Uriel 'Uriel memories and thought process.

She must be responsible for the future of humanity, or more recently, for the lives of the warriors around her now.

She first fired a shot tentatively; the beam of Honkai Energy pierced through Uriel's body, but Uriel only groaned and did not resist at all.

"What?" Himiko was stunned, and the other warriors were also confused. Although this Herrscher looked injured, why didn't she fight back at all?

"Now, can you trust me?" Uriel smiled bitterly. "Please believe me, Captain Himiko, I have no intention of being an enemy of you, or rather, of humanity."

"Then why did you attack Feng, attack our troops stationed in Australia? Why did you destroy the Australia research institute?" Himiko, staring at Uriel with a serious expression, her nerves taut. Even though the other party seemed to have no hostility at the moment, she dared not relax in the slightest.

"It was just a way for me to protect myself. Feng... he seems to particularly hate Herrscher. The other members of the Fire Moth probably also find it hard to imagine that a Herrscher isn't their enemy, right?" Uriel looked down at his abdomen, which had been pierced by the beam, and said with a wry smile.

Himiko's expression seemed unmoved, but she did not fire at Uriel again. She was considering whether Uriel's words were credible, and then said coldly, "However, according to Feng's testimony, you were the one who first tried to join forces with Su Liyeh to kill him."

"Because I remember you once said he was now the best warrior of the Fire Moth, didn't you?" Uriel explained, "I've found myself seemingly becoming Herrscher. I don't know what I should do. The first person I thought of was Maple. I want to be honest with him about my identity, if he's willing to believe me and vouch for me..."

"If you don't make any hostile moves, I believe Feng won't attack you without permission," Himiko said.

Uriel lowered his eyes. How should I put it? Is it possible that the guy attacked the moment he learned that he was Herrscher? If he hadn't anticipated this, he would have been directly injured or even killed. He didn't intend to give him any time to speak at all.

"Have you ever seen him come to meet people with the Black Abyss White Flower in his hand?" Uriel said. "I tried to tell him that I was Herrscher, but he didn't seem to want to believe me at all. I had no choice but to fight back to protect myself."

"But you destroyed the research institute and created the Titan Unit, that's an indisputable fact." Himiko said, but she was starting to think. If what Uriel said was true, then Feng was in big trouble. In that case, the responsibility for the losses of the Australia research institute and the sacrifices of the soldiers could almost be directly attributed to Feng.

It's also possible that this was Uriel's scheme, a way for her to sow discord among the Fire Moth.

"I still stand by what I said: I need to protect myself," Uriel said sincerely. "I must demonstrate my strength in order to gain leverage in negotiations with the Fire Moth, right? I believe that Feng isn't the only one with this idea; many others probably share Feng's sentiment and find it difficult to accept that a Herrscher would become their companion. So, during this time on the run, I've also come to understand that negotiations require leverage, and my strength is my greatest leverage."

"Nonsense!" a soldier suddenly shouted angrily, raising his gun at Uriel.

"Stop him!" Himiko immediately sensed the soldier's intention. As she shouted this, she lunged forward, tackling the soldier to the ground just as he was about to fire, causing the bullet's trajectory to deviate. However, the bullet still struck Uriel. Uriel remained calm, the intense heat of the flames destroying the bullet before it even touched her.

Seeing this, the other soldiers immediately tensed up again, pointing their guns intently at Uriel.

"Look, Captain Himiko, this is my power. I could kill everyone here, but I didn't, because I didn't want to," Uriel said. "I really didn't want to hurt you."

"You're talking nonsense!" the soldier pinned down by Himiko shouted. "Honkai is the enemy of humanity! We can never coexist with a Herrscher!"

"Keep an eye on him." After Himiko turned her gaze to Uriel again. "If what you say is true, we cannot give you complete trust. However, I think it is necessary to consult with the higher-ups regarding your punishment."

Logically speaking, Himiko was also reluctant to believe that a Herrscher would be willing to coexist peacefully with humanity. However, what Uriel said seemed to make sense. On the seemingly endless road of fighting against the Honkai, coexisting with the Honkai might really be a way out for humanity.

Therefore, even if the possibility was extremely small, Himiko dared not take the risk.

Moreover, Uriel is the first Herrscher to be able to communicate freely with humans in this way, which can be considered a direct communication between humans and the Honkai. Before there is any evidence to prove that Uriel really intends to be an enemy of humans, she has no right to deal with Uriel.

This is because the moment she discovered Uriel, she opened the main communication channel and spoke with Uriel, which could be heard by other squads and even the command center.

She could indeed act first and ask for permission later, but the memory of Uriel's past relationship with her when he was human, and Uriel's current behavior, made her hesitate. If she could, she actually wanted to...

"Well..."

Himiko sighed almost imperceptibly.

On the way to support the other squads, Zhu Yufeng listened to the conversation between Uriel and Himiko through his earpiece, his face darkening. He didn't believe a single word Uriel said. There were precedents for this kind of humanization. Did they really think the Ninth Herrscher had been lying low for so long, hiding in some remote mountain forest? Did the Mu Continent have such places for her to hide? The leader of the Tenth Herrscher was Laguar, a high-ranking member of the Fire Moth. Before Mei lured her out with a scheme, no one knew her true identity.

This explains why the Herrscher of the Previous Civilization were not like humans who couldn't disguise themselves. The wish Elysia made was for a "Herrscher of Humanity" who could understand the beauty of humanity and was willing to fight for humanity, rather than an Apostle who carried out Honkai missions.

The Herrscher of the Previous Civilization, apart from Elysia, were essentially carrying out Honkai missions, no matter how well they pretended to be human. As for someone like Seele, probably no one would suspect that it was the Herrscher Core that was influencing her.

As for Uriel, who could have become the Seventh Herrscher at some unknown time, Zhu Yufeng dared not believe how deeply she had been affected. He would rather kill the innocent than let the guilty go free.

Moreover, this guy made his identity clear from the beginning, and during the previous battle, his killing intent towards him was genuine. Zhu Yufeng didn't think that Uriel would have another epiphany during these few days of escape. Therefore, he had already guessed what Uriel wanted to do.

Uriel clearly has some understanding of his and Elysia's Herrscher identities, although she seems to think of herself as merely Herrscher -like being... But in any case, Uriel's goal is to destroy humanity's trust in Herrscher, just like the Sixth Herrscher did in her final counterattack!

After that, humanity no longer trusted the Herrscher, Elysia became even more hesitant about her Herrscher identity. Then, the Tenth Herrscher added fuel to the fire, causing a loss of trust between humans and Herrscher, and among humans themselves, ultimately leading directly to the Twelfth Herrscher Incident.

"I should have just shot her dead..." Zhu Yufeng murmured.

Elysia glanced at Zhu Yufeng, then lowered her eyes and remained silent. She shared the same opinion as Zhu Yufeng. Zhu Yufeng had indeed given her a report on the situation during his battle with Uriel, but he certainly wouldn't mention his Herrscher Zhu Yufeng. He only told her and Lilith about it later. This was also why they all confirmed that Uriel had no intention of negotiating peace with humans.

If she or Lilith had been there at that time, they might have been able to kill Uriel much earlier...

She wanted to save more people, so she went to the Eden concert venue ahead of time to prepare, but she never expected that the Seventh Herrscher would be Uriel, and that she would be a Herrscher body like Seele and the others... Was she deceived by her previous experience? Or was this a butterfly effect brought about by their subsequent actions?

Uriel is now undoubtedly preparing to destroy humanity's trust in the Herrscher. If a battle with the Finality is to follow, Maple, himself, and Lilith's Herrscher identities will inevitably be exposed, and then...

"I don't care," Lilith said with a nonchalant expression. "There are so many humans, there will always be some idiots with underdeveloped cerebellums or completely underdeveloped brains, and there will also be people who are willing to believe in us."

Yes, when she thought everyone would be angry because she had hidden her Herrscher identity, they all chose to believe her without exception. Of course, one guy knew from the beginning and trusted her unconditionally from the start.

"Thanks, Lilith." Elysia smiled.

Lilith smiled in response, "If I really want to express my gratitude, I'd prefer you to call me 'older sister'~"

Elysia: "... Then forget it."

I'll return the favor to her. Thank you.

Soon, the order came down from above the Fire Moth: accept the Seventh Herrscher's conditions and begin peace talks.

Peace talks my ass! No way! Today, even if he disobeys orders and gets to the scene, he'll still kill Uriel. Even if he's likely to be exiled afterward, it doesn't matter. At least the World Serpent is still around, so he won't be punished too severely. At most, it'll just be a note on his file.

Zhu Yufeng thought to himself, but at that moment, Mobius's voice came through the communication device. "Yu Feng, the Seventh Herrscher currently requests that you be present to use the Abyss Flower to heal her. The damage caused by the Black Abyss can only be completely healed by the Abyss Flower. You must also be careful with your behavior, do not act impulsively, and do not harm the Seventh Herrscher."

Zhu Yufeng slowly typed out a question mark: What is Mobius doing...?

"Humanity always has to shed enough blood to learn a lesson," Lilith said from the side. "I'm afraid this order was forced upon them because they were trying to bring down Mobius. His Majesty the King of the Mu Continent, who's addicted to playing the game of checks and balances, should be happy to see the current situation."

The matter of Xila was forcibly suppressed thanks to the efforts of Lionel and Beifengge, but those who opposed Mobius would certainly not give up so easily. The idea was roughly that if you create Fusion Warrior, I will win over the Herrscher. They did not want Mobius to weaken their voice, and the king of the Mu Continent did not want to see Mobius's faction dominate.

Zhu Yufeng and Elysia both fell silent. Finally, Zhu Yufeng spoke up and replied to Mobius, "I understand."

Mobius's plan is likely a temporary concession. If Uriel causes trouble later, this concession will become a death knell for those who want to negotiate.

However, the price will inevitably be a considerable number of sacrifices.

Zhu Yufeng only thought about it for a moment, and once he understood, it was nothing. He didn't care about these things.