Thousandth Herrscher

"What's going on... Recently, rumors have suddenly exploded and spread everywhere online and within the Fire Moth. It's obvious that the Tenth Herrscher is behind this." Mobius said with a frown, "But the appearance of the Tenth Herrscher seems to have occurred much earlier than before."

"Let's review our experience with the Tenth Herrscher case. We first discovered the original individual, the one with the number 0001, a chef," Vill-V pondered. "But this time we observed him in advance, and so far, he has not shown any signs of being the Tenth Herrscher."

"The appearance of the Tenth Herrscher is probably much earlier than we expected." Mobius pressed his temples. "This time, the Tenth Herrscher is very clearly Yu Feng."

"We can't rule out the possibility of a feint," Zhu Yufeng said. "Back in my previous life, the Tenth Herrscher Fire Moth, transferred Kevin and me away from the Fire Moth. Their ultimate target was Mei, and that's..."

"She was also used by Mei..." Kevin lowered his eyes, "... by using the Key of Blankness to kill hundreds of Thousandth Herrscher, but this also caused further irreversible damage to Mei's already fragile body..."

"How has Mei been feeling lately?" Zhu Yufeng asked.

"Well, with Dr. Einstein's help and Lionel's management of the warriors, May doesn't need to be worn down by those complicated tasks like she was in her previous life." Kevin let out a long sigh. "She was supposed to be just a scientist, but in the end, the entire burden of managing the Fire Moth fell on her shoulders. There was no one who could help her."

"What I'm more worried about the Present is that in the previous life, Mei used the Key of Blankness as bait to force the Thousandth Herrscher to appear. But this time, compared to the Key of Blankness, is the construction of the Heavenly Thunder, or the God-Slaying Plan, perhaps their real goal?" Zhu Yufeng said. "Besides that, destroying the management of the Fire Moth will probably still be one of their goals."

"Indeed...it's not impossible..." Mobius sighed and said, "However, Yu Feng, you must understand that even so, you are still one of their targets. The Seventh Herrscher can be considered an exception, but what about the Eighth Herrscher? The Ninth Herrscher? All of this shows that you the Present the target of all the Herrscher to appear next."

"This is clearly a matter of choice. I still believe that we cannot focus all our attention on the rumors because of this. After all, the Thousandth Herrscher are lurking in the shadows, and we must spare some resources to guard against their sudden attacks," Zhu Yufeng said. He didn't care what others said about him, or rather, he never cared.

At least, none of the rumors circulating among the warriors were believed by the warriors at headquarters.

As for the rumors circulating among the soldiers in other divisions, that's really beyond our control; if we tried to manage them, we'd have to devote too much energy to it.

"You're always so careless... but have you ever considered that we can't ignore these rumors, because not all of them are false?" Mobius said. "We will eventually face the Finality, and when that time comes, your true identity will be impossible to hide..."

Zhu Yufeng remained silent.

Elysia glanced at Zhu Yufeng, then looked at Mobius and asked, "So... Mobius, how is Klein doing lately?"

"Klein?" Mobius was taken aback, then said, "Heh...do I need you to remind me? Ever since the Ninth Herrscher incident, I've been keeping an eye on Klein's situation, but just like what Vill-V said, she hasn't shown any characteristics of Thousandth Herrscher so far."

"... Is it possible that there are some things we didn't notice at the beginning?" Kosma said. "For example, the Thousandth Herrscher were originally single individuals, but there was a possibility of contagion. Through some means, they could bewitch ordinary humans and induce them to become new Thousandth Herrscher individuals. In the end, the number of Thousandth Herrscher reached its maximum value of one thousand."

"It's not that it's impossible, it's more like it's very possible," Lilith shrugged. "Everyone who feels hopeless about the future, dissatisfied with the Present, feels the world doesn't need them, feels their existence has lost its meaning, or even just lives a muddled life, could potentially become a vessel for the Thousandth Herrscher. After all, this isn't a precedent that doesn't exist—no, perhaps it should be considered a precedent?"

Everyone else cast questioning glances, while Lilith looked at Zhu Yufeng: "That... [Seele] from the later text?"

Black hope?

Zhu Yufeng was taken aback, and after a while, he remembered. "Indeed, the Thousandth Herrscher tried to entice Seele to join them, but that doesn't prove that the Thousandth Herrscher have the characteristic of being contagious, does it? The Thousandth Herrscher also had that Dominion Theater."

"Dominion Theater?" Mobius asked. "What's that?"

"It's the main base among the Thousandth Herrscher in the later chapters, a relatively isolated Imaginary Space," Zhu Yufeng recalled. "They conduct their schemes and plots through the Dominion Theater, and within the Dominion Theater, they can strip weaker Herrscher their powers..."

"Unfortunately, only the Herrscher of Reason was truly affected," Lilith added.

Elysia remembered Zhu Yufeng's introduction, the Herrscher of Reason... Ever since Kevin confiscated her driver's license, she's been getting humiliated non-stop...

If the Kevin in the later text is just like the Present Kevin, he will do all sorts of bad things!

"It does sound quite different from the Thousandth Herrscher we encountered," Mobius pondered, looking down. "However, we've never really understood why they can communicate with each other in some unknown way. Perhaps the Thousandth Herrscher might also exist in a something like the Dominion Theater?"

"However..." Zhu Yufeng thought for a moment, and it was indeed possible, but he still felt it was necessary to say, "This is indeed possible, but the Thousandth Herrscher mentioned later, they must exist in the form of puppets. After their Herrscher Core are retrieved, they will automatically return to the Dominion Theater. Only by eliminating them all at once and destroying the Dominion Theater can we achieve this. But when we encounter the Thousandth Herrscher, it's not like that."

"Indeed, if we encounter a Thousandth Herrscher and they are killed, we can recover the Herrscher Core." Vill-V nodded. "However, we should also consider that as the Herrscher's targets gradually become more Yu Feng, their forms and other abilities may be slightly different from those of their previous incarnation."

"If Kosma's guess is correct, and considering that the appearance of the Thousandth Herrscher this time is much earlier than we remember... could it be that the first Thousandth Herrscher was born shortly after the sinking of the Mu Continent?" Zhu Yufeng frowned and said, "Then it does make sense... but, a second Herrscher being born so soon after the Herrscher of one..."

"The Herrscher of Ice and the Herrscher of Rock in the following text are just like two birds with one foot in front and the other behind, aren't they?" Lilith said casually.

"That's for special reasons, and there's a special relationship between the Herrscher of Rock and the Herrscher of Ice. They were almost lovers, but then their love turned to hate..." Zhu Yufeng suddenly fell silent, because if we're talking about someone who has a connection with the Ninth Herrscher, Annal, Fire Moth the Present have one.

"I remember Lionel was Annal's fiancé, right?" Kevin asked.

"Suspected by the king, vilified by other families, all his efforts were in vain with the sinking of the Mu Continent. He was also such a typical Mu Continent soldier who was proud of the Mu Continent." Lilith said, holding the back of her head with both hands. "Having suffered so many setbacks, he certainly has the potential to become Thousandth Herrscher."

"According to you, my past life experiences don't seem too different," Zhu Yufeng retorted, squinting. "However, we can't rule out that possibility. I'll have Beifengge keep a close eye on things. If it's Beifengge, he'll definitely notice Lionel's odd behavior in time."

"Even though the Tenth Herrscher may have appeared in a different form this time, they still managed to do the same thing as in the previous life, creating a rift called suspicion between people." Aponia, who had been silent until now, sighed softly.

Everyone fell silent.

Regardless of whether Lionel is an individual member of the Thousandth Herrscher, the fact that they began to doubt the identities of others proves the success of the Thousandth Herrscher.

After that, everyone suspected that someone around them might suddenly become Herrscher, and everyone was wary of others.

"We can only do our best to calm the shock caused by the Thousandth Herrscher," Su said. "As long as we control the spread of the news and keep the matter of the Thousandth Herrscher within the Fire Moth, then there might still be a chance for things to turn around."

The seeds of doubt can only grow in suitable soil. This is why the effects of the Thousandth Herrscher in the Previous Civilization and the Thousandth Herrscher in the post-civilization era are different. The Previous Civilization had just experienced the huge blow of the sinking of the Mu Continent. Coupled with the destruction caused by the first few Herrscher, people's fear and confusion about fighting the Honkai were amplified. The current civilization... the Second Herrscher with the best record in the current civilization destroyed the entire Siberia. That's true. However, there was a full ten years between the second and Third Herrscher. This time was enough for Schicksal and Anti-Entropy to cooperate in calming down the turmoil brought about by the Herrscher.

When the Thousandth Herrscher of the modern civilization appear, how many ordinary people will still remember the disaster that once struck Siberia?

What about the Previous Civilization? The Mu Continent the Present only been submerged for a few months, and the news of Australia being burned down to only one-third of its original size has only been around for a little over two decades.

The Herrscher closest to the current civilization's Thousandth Herrscher that caused the greatest destruction was the meteorite Herrscher sank a small island... What impact could that have on human morale?

Suspicion and wariness only existed during the period when the Thousandth Herrscher appeared. Moreover, because of the knowledge left by the Previous Civilization as a lesson, Schicksal and Anti-Entropy made corresponding arrangements for the appearance of the Thousandth Herrscher. Otto was also able to use the Dominion Theater to achieve his own goals.

After the incident involving Thousandth Herrscher, everyone in the current civilization knows that there won't be any more Herrscher like the one with Thousandth Herrscher, so what's there to be afraid of? The Previous Civilization didn't know that.

A combination of factors resulted in the same Herrscher having different effects on two civilizations.

Thinking about this, Zhu Yufeng's heart was filled with helplessness. If the Mu Continent were to continue... well, it would be better not to continue. If the Mu Continent were to continue, and Thousandth Herrscher rushed to the Mu Continent court, it would immediately trigger a human civil war. Even after the civil war ended, the suspicion between people would still be considerable.

Regardless of whether the Mu Continent sinks or not, the Thousandth Herrscher can cause enormous damage to human society.

In Previous Civilization times, one could only choose the lesser of two evils.

Now that it has been confirmed that Thousandth Herrscher have appeared, it is indeed time to take measures.

The measures taken... Humanity is in the open, while the Thousandth Herrscher are in the shadows. Based on this alone, there is only one path in front of everyone: to lure the snake out of its hole. This is the same for both Previous Civilization and current civilization.

In the Previous Civilization used herself as bait to lure the main force of the Fusion Warrior away from the Fire Moth, creating a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to induce the Thousandth Herrscher to appear. Although Mei subsequently entered the countdown to her death, in reality, without Mei's sacrifice, the Thousandth Herrscher would have remained lurking, eventually inducing internal division and destruction within humanity.

The first time the current civilization fought against the Thousandth Herrscher was the same. Anti-Entropy could only use Kiana as bait to lure Kiana Thousandth Herrscher into the Dominion Theater, and then use this to locate the Dominion Theater. Although they didn't manage to completely eliminate the Thousandth Herrscher in the end...

The current civilization's Thousandth Herrscher ultimately lost to Kiana's burst of power. I wonder if they can be considered to have brought about their own downfall by creating such a powerful figure.

This time, having noticed the appearance of Thousandth Herrscher, what should the corresponding bait be?

"The Present Mebius is no longer fighting alone, and while the Void Key can be considered a great weapon for humanity in the fight against the Honkai, I think nothing is more interesting to the Thousandth Herrscher than the God-Slaying Plan," Mobius the Present. "Regardless of whether they know about the God-Slaying Plan or not, we do need to bring it up to stabilize morale."

"So the Present ignore their rumors about Feng?" Kevin asked.

"There's nothing we can do about it. After all, they're hiding in the shadows, and we can't control them," Zhu Yufeng said. "Even if they were targeting me, a few thousand more wouldn't be enough to defeat me. So we can't use Mei's old strategy of using me as bait to lure them out."

"No, it's not impossible." Vill-V looked at Zhu Yufeng. "The God-Slaying Plan ... is not only for the Finality, but also for you."

"Either kill the Finality or kill me?" Zhu Yufeng chuckled. "That's certainly a substantial bait."

When talking about the Thousandth Herrscher, besides Klein, one can't help but think of Thousand Qianjie and Immer.

Zhu Yufeng once asked Qianjie what he would do when the Thousandth Herrscher attacked again.

Qianjie simply stretched out his hand and gripped it tightly, saying, "I don't care if he's a Thousandth Herrscher or a hundred-person Herrscher. Even if he's going to die, Immer should fight and die in the end."

"I remember I also died at the last moment of battle in my past life."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Yufeng felt a gaze from behind Qianjie's mask that seemed to pierce through him. Qianjie chuckled and said, "You... really think you died honorably? Dragging your half-dead body, you saved a bunch of useless guys. Do you really think you died honorably? You're just like that woman Elysia, shamefully leaving before all of us!"

"At least I... from beginning to end..." Zhu Yufeng said, looking at Pardo and Seele, who were practicing against each other in the training field.