Bites the Dust

After the holiday ended, everyone returned to the base and began carrying out the plan Mei had proposed.

Mei handed the plan over to the others to execute, while she herself took the artificial intelligence AI Prometheus to the moon.

Through the ruins on the moon, Dr. Mei deduced that there were fourteen Herrschers in total, and that humanity was trapped in a cycle repeating every fifty thousand years. In the end, humanity would be destroyed by the Herrscher of the End.

A few days later, Mei returned from the moon. The moment she landed, she learned that Ling was suspected to be the twelfth Herrscher.

Although Ling had shown no abnormalities, Flame Chasers had indeed detected unusual Honkai Energy Fluctuations.

For a time, everyone in the Golden Courtyard became targets of public criticism.

"Are you trying to shield a Herrscher?! Shield the culprit responsible for humanity's destruction?!"

"Hand over the Herrscher! Hand over the Herrscher!"

The remaining Fusion Warriors surrounded the Golden Courtyard, shouting loudly.

Chiyou stood silently at the entrance, suppressing his rage.

"Dr. Mei is back! Let Dr. Mei judge this fairly!"

"Everyone, calm down first and listen to me."

After Dr. Mei arrived at the Golden Courtyard, she calmed everyone down and stated that Ling would be detained for observation for a period of time.

Although everyone was still dissatisfied, Mei's prestige spoke for itself. They could not continue making a scene, and after Mei gave her assurance, they left for the time being.

After dispersing the crowd, Mei sighed and walked into the Golden Courtyard.

"Come on, Ling, open your mouth."

"Ah... mmm, cake really is delicious. Hehe."

"...Can't you two sisters show a little sense of urgency?"

"Ah, Dr. Mei. So, did you gain anything from your trip to the moon?"

"...I did gain quite a lot."

Afterward, Mei gathered everyone and told them what she had deduced on the moon.

Upon learning the truth, everyone felt both heavy-hearted and relieved.

Heavy-hearted because of the Herrscher of the End.

Relieved because only the Herrscher of the End remained.

Afterward, inspired by the lunar ruins, Mei proposed to Vill-V and Mobius the concept of the strategic weapon, the Moonlight Throne.

"I've finished talking about what I gained, so... is Ling really a Herrscher?"

Everyone nodded in unison.

Mei glanced at Ling. Ling noticed and gave Mei a foolish grin.

"Fine, let's leave it at that for now." Mei held her head helplessly.

Thinking that the Golden Courtyard now housed two current Herrschers and one former Herrscher, Mei felt another wave of exhaustion.

Although she was puzzled by Ling retaining her humanity, with Elysia's precedent before her, Mei simply treated Ling as another special case.

Afterward, Mei announced to Flame Chasers that Ling would be placed under house arrest in the Golden Courtyard, with Elysia watching over her.

Once Elysia's name was brought up, everyone settled down for the time being.

Mei, Vill-V, Mobius, and the other researchers began developing the Moonlight Throne.

"Hey, are we really going to do this?"

"Tch, don't you know what house arrest means? That Herrscher is probably hiding in there, eating and drinking well every day!"

"Since they don't want to make a move, why don't we do it ourselves?"

"This is all for humanity!"

"That's right, for humanity, eliminate the Herrscher!"

Ling's continued survival had worn away everyone's patience. Driven by both their hatred for Herrschers and the rules, they chose to sneak into the Golden Courtyard and assassinate Ling.

Perhaps hatred had blinded them. They encountered no obstacles all the way through the Golden Courtyard, yet they did not sense that anything was wrong.

Following the names hanging above the rooms, they found Ling's room.

Seeing Sakura's name hanging on the room next door, someone came to their senses.

"Something's wrong! They're the very best warriors. How could they possibly fail to notice us?!"

"Ha! They must have gone stupid from vacationing. The Herrscher is inside. Let's rush them together!"

Ignoring the protests from those behind him, the leader impatiently pushed open Ling's door.

"Hm? Who's shouting in the middle of the night? Huh? Why is my door open?"

Awakened by the noise, Ling rubbed her eyes. Seeing no one at the doorway, she assumed the wind had blown the door open and walked over to close it.

"Something's wrong! They're the very best warriors. How could they possibly fail to notice us?!"

"Ha! They must have gone stupid from vacationing. The Herrscher is inside. Let's rush them together!"

"Hm? Why is someone shouting again? Eek, could there be a ghost?"

Ling shuddered and ran to Sakura's room, knocking on the door.

Sakura immediately opened it.

Ling scratched her head and said to Sakura, "Sis, I want to sleep with you."

Sakura said nothing and stepped aside to make room. Ling slipped inside.

"Last night, I heard shouting twice. Did you hear it too?"

"Twice? Sakura, you heard it twice?"

Sakura shook her head. "I only heard it once."

Yoshikage Kira said nothing. As usual, he sat calmly on the sofa, reading.

Killer Queen, Third Bomb: Bites the Dust.