Collapse City: Starting with the Production of an Anime Version of Honkai

"Afterward, Destiny and Anti-Entropy simultaneously ceased their lunar explorations, and went all out to suppress the news, fabricating the illusion for the general public that there was nothing on the far side of the moon."

"In the woven lies, people joyfully celebrated a false victory."

"That's one small step for me, one giant leap for mankind. This sentence is correct; it truly is a giant leap for mankind."

"A giant leap... before annihilation!"

"So real!" Mei murmured to herself, no longer leaning on Kevin, intently watching the movie screen.

"Hey, Yaqing, did Destiny really find something on the moon?" Vill-V asked excitedly. You know, in the past few years, Destiny had really funded the aerospace industry and launched probes to the moon.

Although Mobius didn't quite believe it, she still looked at Yaqing seriously.

Yaqing said helplessly, "Hey, hey, hey, are you really taking the movie seriously? This is just an inspiration. As for Destiny launching probes to the moon, it's just to investigate the difference between lunar soil and Earth soil. If we really found something, how would I dare write it into the movie?"

"You better be," Mobius snorted.

"Mobius-senpai, I never lie."

Yaqing couldn't possibly tell them that he had a dream a few years ago that felt too real and scared him, so he wanted to verify if his world was the same as the one in the dream, so he had Destiny go to the moon to investigate.

Mobius keenly sensed that Yaqing was hiding a lot. She couldn't believe that Destiny had really found something on the moon?

Chapter 22: Memories from 50,000 Years Ago

[Sirin rode Benares to the far side of the moon. Shockingly, the surface of the moon was dotted with architectural ruins resembling ancient Greece. Sirin looked at everything around her in surprise, but Benares collapsed, seriously injured.

Before Sirin could grieve, she saw a golden cube in the center. As if controlled, she couldn't help but reach out to touch it. The moment her fingertip touched the cube, a burst of intense light flashed, and Sirin subconsciously closed her eyes.

When Sirin opened her eyes, she found herself in a pure white space. On a chair with cracks all over its back sat a "person" with simple lines. It had no face, no hair, and no details. Sirin couldn't help but walk towards it.

As soon as Sirin took a step, the "person" suddenly changed, actually turning into Sirin's appearance. Sirin plopped down and knelt, not daring to look directly at the figure.

Human wisdom cannot comprehend God.

This was Sirin's thought. As the Herrscher of the Void, she was afraid of this space, and Sirin's question, her "God" quickly gave her an answer.

"50,000 years ago, in order to eliminate the filthy human civilization, Honkai appeared on Earth once again."

A voice suddenly appeared in Sirin's mind.

Countless fragmented memories flashed in her mind, the appearance of the red-haired woman before her death, the back of a pink-and-white-haired girl wearing a white dress, a girl falling in a pool of blood. The flashing images were very fast, almost impossible to see clearly.

The final scene had a cyberpunk-style architecture in the background. A white-haired man wearing black combat gear pointed the weapon in his hand at a kneeling girl. The girl had short hair and a short skirt, making it impossible to see her face clearly.

"But after countless cycles of reincarnation, their weapons have become more and more powerful, even capable of killing the apostles of God."]

"That's Seele?!" Although she couldn't see her face clearly, Bronya immediately recognized Seele. No longer able to maintain her emotionless face, she leaned forward and gritted her teeth, "Who is that man? How dare he make Seele kneel?"

Speaking of white hair, Bronya suddenly looked at Kiana, who was taking out potato chips from somewhere and eating them like crazy.

"Ooh, murderous aura!" Kiana belatedly realized and hurriedly crawled behind Mei, saying quickly, "Don't think of me just because you see white hair. That's obviously a man."

"I know, but the movie was made by your uncle. The nephew pays for the uncle's debt!" Bronya nearly broke her teeth.

"Mei, save me!"

"That's Kevin, right?" Fu Hua asked doubtfully.

"It must be him. He's so close to Yaqing, how could he not write him into the movie? But he's really getting worse and worse, actually bullying little girls!" Fuhua Shishi slammed her fist into her palm, feeling a sense of shared hatred.

"Uh... what if Seele is also a Herrscher?" Kiana said cautiously.

"Impossible!!!" Bronya immediately denied, "Seele has such a gentle nature, how could she be a Herrscher who wants to destroy human civilization! Even if..."

Himeko, slightly more sober from the alcohol, noticed that there was a frame in the flashing images that looked particularly like herself. She smiled, thinking she was overthinking it.

Golden Courtyard, everyone looked at Kevin. Kalpas was the first to speak, "Heh, Kevin, is this your persona? Specially bullying little girls?"

Kevin was also stunned. This scene wasn't in the dubbing. He was clearly a warrior guiding his juniors, and quickly said, "Impossible! Yaqing clearly said my persona was a hero! You're right..."

Kevin looked at Yaqing's seat, but where was he?

"Where's he?"

Elysia raised her little hand and said, "Yaqing just got a call and went out to answer it."

"Ah?!"

Yaqing, who had left the cinema, received a call from Seele. As for why Yaqing knew Seele, that's a long story.

"Hey, Seele, what's wrong?"

"Yaqing-niichan," Seele's gentle voice also carried a hint of resentment, "We clearly agreed that the character based on Seele wouldn't appear so soon..."

"Seele, that's not you, that's another you."

It would have been better if Yaqing hadn't explained, but the explanation made things explode. The Seele on the other end seemed to have changed into a different person.

"Ha, Yaqing, what do you mean by that?"

"Long time no see, 'Seele'."

"Don't change the subject. You better explain properly why I would be kneeling in front of that man!"

"To meet Seele."

"Huh?!"

Without further explanation, Yaqing hung up the phone. He realized that there were hardly any normal people around him. Mobius was inherently insane, Elysia was a hardcore lesbian, Vill-V had multiple personalities, Seele had a split personality, and Kosma was a chuuni shut-in.

Far away in a Siberian orphanage, 'Seele' nearly crushed her phone, gritting her teeth as she said, "That bastard!"

"Other me, don't be angry..."

"One of them seems to have discovered the origin of the five parallel truths."

The screen showed Mei in a white lab coat and glasses. Behind her was a girl whose face couldn't be seen, only her figure, with her distinctive spiral curls.

"One of these origins is the holy land of God on Earth. Through the other four truths, she gleaned a secret of the gods."

Yaqing had just returned to his seat when he heard Mobius's sarcastic voice from behind his chair, "Ah! The secret of God..."

As a scientist, Mobius acknowledged Mei's intelligence, but she absolutely refused to admit that the other woman's intelligence surpassed hers. Mobius didn't believe in God, but when she heard the movie say that human intelligence couldn't match God's, she felt a pang of jealousy.

If Mei could glimpse the secrets of the gods, did that mean she had already exceeded the limits of humanity?

"Is that me?" Mei asked curiously, then looked at Kevin. "Kevin, is this what you wanted to tell me before I saw you?"

"Ah? Yes." Kevin was at a loss for words. He couldn't reveal his role in the movie, and he really didn't know that Yaqing would include Mei in the film.

This was a pure backstab from his good buddy.

Kevin's resentful gaze made Yaqing uncomfortable, so he grabbed another handful of popcorn from Elysia's bucket.

"That figure looks familiar! It's Mei!" Kiana exclaimed, her eyes wide. "And that back view looks like Bronya."

"No, it's not me," Mei said.

Bronya was still angry.

"Relying on an incomplete understanding of the truth, she built a huge structure on the moon. But her plan failed, and the last apostle of God completed her mission!"

A huge figure stood in space, the Earth in her palm like a toy. Her eyes were cold.

"However, she also permanently sealed a portion of God's power on the moon."

Hearing that God's power was also on the moon, Sirin understood the meaning of 'God'. She promised 'God' that she would completely eliminate the filthy humans in order to beg for God's power.

'God' reached out and touched Sirin's forehead with her index finger.

Four gem-like cores descended, making Sirin an unprecedented Herrscher with five cores.

"God grants me a crown, guiding lightning as arrows. Shatter all things, King of Conquest!"

"God grants me authority, wielding endless storms. A thousand miles in an instant, King of Desire!"

"God grants me a brocade robe, dispensing the wine of death. Sweet dreams, King of Tranquility!"

"God grants me a sword, immortal flames entwined. Wildfire spreads, King of Pestilence!"

Under Sirin's reverent words, she raised her hand, and the ruins completely turned into gravel, which she threw towards Earth as meteorites.

"Let the bells of doomsday toll!"

Chapter 23: Why Do Birds Fly?

Four meteorites streaked through the atmosphere, landing in the Mariana Trench, Moscow, Los Angeles, and a final one whose location was not clearly specified. The global death toll exceeded ten million, causing worldwide panic.

The movie scenes were very compact, but they specifically showed a shot of a purple-haired young woman hugging her young daughter tightly under a city's large screen, watching the announcement on the screen with concern.

In the three days after the meteorites fell, Ziegfried constantly sought to see Otto, but all he received was Amber's cold refusal. Faced with Otto's inaction, Ziegfried could do nothing but feel anger.

Rage filled his mind, preventing him from thinking straight. Ziegfried stormed into Welt's ward, questioning whether they were just going to sit and wait for death, only to be told that Anti-Entropy had already launched a counterattack.

Silver bullets couldn't hit a Herrscher with spatial abilities, and long-range explosions would malfunction due to large electromagnetic pulses, becoming space junk.

Tesla and Welt suspected that Sirin on the moon had gained new power and was learning how to use it.

The disaster effects that Destiny and Anti-Entropy cooperated on shocked all the viewers of the movie. The extremely realistic scene was amazing, breaking through the barrier between animation and reality, making people feel amazed and a little scared.

"Using meteorites to attack is so cool," Kevin praised, his eyes shining.

"Cool!" Kosma echoed.

"That's more like it," Kalpas nodded. "That's more like what an enemy of humanity should be like."

"Putting aside the Herrschers, I'm more curious about the Previous Era. They already had the ability to seal God, so how did they disappear?" Mei said.

The plot that had appeared so far was all about the power and prosperity of the Previous Era: the Star of Eden, which could create black holes, Judah, which could lock onto enemies at extreme distances, and the equally famous Judgement of Shamash.

Regarding Mei's curiosity, Yaqing looked at Kevin and smiled. "Kevin, tell me, why do birds fly?"

"What?" Kevin was stunned.

"Heh." Mobius sneered dismissively, taunting, "Yaqing, you're really regressing as you live. How could such a simple question come from your mouth? Birds fly because their bones are full of pores, making them light and strong. At the same time, birds..."

"I wasn't asking you, Senior Mobius." Yaqing looked at Kevin and repeated, "Kevin, why do birds fly?"

Kevin's mind went blank, and he subconsciously said, "Because they must fly to the heavens."

"When the Doomsday Star descended in the Cretaceous period, only free birds could jump out of predetermined destruction," Yaqing said. "And this is the epitome of the Previous Era."

"You mean the Previous Era was destroyed by the Herrschers?"

"The Previous Era was destroyed by humans," Yaqing said softly.

Only Elysia clearly heard.

[Sirin on the moon granted Benares a pseudo-Herrscher of Thunder core, enlightened its intelligence, and elevated it from a Honkai Beast to a pseudo-Herrscher. The massive body of the dragon-type Honkai Beast transformed into the form of a young girl. This was the source of the abnormal electromagnetic pulse that Anti-Entropy investigated.

The newly human Benares was puzzled as to why Sirin would stop attacking humanity and instead guard the moon.

"Are you doubting me, Benares?" Sirin turned her head, her golden eyes indifferent.

Benares was startled and quickly lowered its head, not daring to look directly at Sirin.

Sirin walked up to Benares, squatted down, and stroked Benares's cheek. The reason she gave was that humans were like ants and could not be dealt with by simply throwing a few meteors. Moreover, humans were treacherous and cunning, and Sirin admitted that she had lost to human cunning.

Sirin discovered that the ruins on the moon were inscribed with a large amount of knowledge from the Previous Era, including knowledge about the Herrschers. Sirin wanted to learn this knowledge to better master Herrscher power.

"Oh, right, Benares, come help me with a little favor."