Chapter 116

This drone is Prometheus's sub-unit; with it, Prometheus can maximize its performance without relying on the network.

"Okay, let's double-check one last time."

Ai Yue also activated the power to the infiltration device. As a low buzzing sound rang out, he looked at the drone and asked, "Rose, what's our plan?"

"By reconnecting to the 'simulated Domination Domain,' we can find an opportunity to link with the Cocoon of Finality and attempt to become Herrscher."

Prometheus uttered something extraordinary in a calm tone. "If the plan fails, nothing will happen; if the plan succeeds..."

Prometheus paused for a moment before continuing, "Then, depending on the situation, the corresponding handling plan will be activated."

"Finally, the code name for this operation is 'Otto'."

Ai Yue nodded, then took a helmet from inside the infiltration device and put it on his head. "Well then, wish me luck."

The "Otto Plan" is a plan that emulates Otto Apocalypse in the original storyline, where Otto himself would bear the Herrscher authority to help humanity overcome the most terrifying and difficult challenge of the "Herrscher of Binding."

Of course, given the abnormal situations of the first two Herrscher, Ai Yue couldn't be sure whether the subsequent plot would still match the information he had, but in any case, this step had to be taken.

If this plan succeeds, he may be able to completely unravel the mystery of "power".

As for where Ai Yue got the courage to carry out such a plan, the story begins with the helmet on his head.

Although the plan sounded tantamount to suicide, Ai Yue was full of confidence in it, relying on this helmet.

It may look unremarkable, but it was a brand new project that took Ai Yue's system almost a month to complete.

Its name is "Soul Editor".

77

Chapter Seventy-Seven: I Understood Everything.

When Ai Yue opened his eyes again, he found himself in a world that was both familiar and strange.

He stood on the edge of the floating island, gazing into the distance, then frowned.

As it turned out, his guess was absolutely right; the scene before him was almost exactly the same as the picture Elysia had described.

So there really is a problem here. Perhaps it was because he created such a space that the Cocoon of Finality was able to establish a connection with Elysia. Therefore, before the Cocoon of Finality could potentially affect Elysia, he must find a way to correct this mistake.

But where exactly does the problem lie?

As Ai Yue pondered, he paced along the edge of the floating island.

As he moved, the floating island gradually expanded in size. In addition, the floating islands in the distance became clearer and clearer. If you looked closely, you could even see more floating islands slowly materializing in the distance, as if it wasn't just the island under Ai Yue's feet, but the entire space was constantly expanding.

And that is indeed the case—in order to find the link to the Cocoon of Finality as much as possible through this method, Ai Yue added an additional 120 Herrscher Core of Herrscher of Domination on the original basis.

At this moment, a total of two hundred Herrscher Core are maintaining this area. Although this scale is only one-fiftieth of the complete Domination Domain, the "density" of their power gathered together can make up for the lack of scale to a certain extent.

At least in the short term, this simulated Domination Domain can perform the same function as the original Domination Domain. Unfortunately, Ai Yue himself is not Herrscher of Domination, and his control over this space is very limited. It is difficult for him to interfere with or modify this space, so he can only let it grow wildly on its own.

However, that's enough.

Recalling the extra five seconds last time, Ai Yue's brows relaxed slightly.

He eventually found a clue, but it wasn't in the equipment or the data in the simulated Domination Domain; it was in the Herrscher Core that served as pillars.

Among the eighty Herrscher Core originally used to construct the simulated Domination Domain, one Herrscher Core had an energy reading slightly higher than the others. With the precision of the existing detection equipment, it was impossible to detect. It was only through Ai Yue's electromagnetic force power of the Third Herrscher Core that he was able to vaguely identify it.

Although such a subtle difference may seem insignificant, it explains why the last simulated Domination Domain lasted for five seconds longer—because it received additional power from the Herrscher Core.

But the energy contained in each Herrscher Core is fixed, so why does this one have more energy than the other Herrscher Core?

The answer is simple: at the very last moment when the energy was exhausted, some unknown energy source, through some unknown means, entered the Herrscher Core used it as a medium to extend the simulated Domination Domain for an additional five seconds.

This is why Prometheus failed to detect the problem—because this method of energy transmission is beyond the comprehension of current human technology, and Prometheus, as Artificial Intelligence, is indeed unable to detect it using existing methods.

Of course, none of that matters anymore, because Ai Yue is now certain that only the Cocoon of Finality can accomplish this.

Therefore, if he repeats this process and extends the duration of the simulated Domination Domain, he has a chance to encounter the same event again.

This time, he is ready to face the Cocoon of Finality.

Thinking of this, Ai Yue couldn't help but give a self-deprecating smile.

Although he said he was well prepared, he wasn't actually 100% confident, otherwise he wouldn't have made such a thorough plan.

If he succeeds, or if this attempt never even touched the Cocoon of Finality, then everything will be as if nothing happened. But if the plan fails completely, then the follow-up measures he left behind can support the Moth to Fire in completing its attack on itself.

So rather than saying he was prepared to face the Cocoon of Finality, it would be more accurate to say that this time he chose to trust his friends.

Next, we'll see how the Cocoon of Finality will connect with this space.

As Ai Yue, he lightly tapped his foot, and his entire body floated up as if weightless, flying towards the floating island above.

This is something that can't be done in reality, but this is, after all, a world he created himself. Although he can't interfere too much with the construction of the simulated Domination Domain, he can still give himself a little bit of privilege.

Unfortunately, Ai Yue circled the simulated Domination Domain several times but couldn't find a single suspicious trace.

Time passed second by second, and when Ai Yue heard a special ringing sound in his ear, he finally gave up the search.

This ringing signal indicates that the energy supporting the simulated Domination Domain has been largely exhausted, and in the coming days, it will rapidly collapse and eventually disappear completely.

However, Ai Yue did not choose to leave this space, because the last anomaly should have occurred after he left.

He has now ruled out the possibility that the simulated Domination Domain itself is problematic, and now he just needs to wait and see how things develop.

And so, Ai Yue stood on the floating island in the center of the domain, watching the surrounding space begin to collapse and disintegrate from the edges, and shrink toward the center with an unstoppable force. He couldn't help but feel as if he were standing on a small island that could only be exposed at low tide, watching the rising tide swallow him up little by little.

However, nothing happened until the island beneath their feet collapsed, leaving only an area of less than ten square meters.

This isn't right, was it like this before?

Ai Yue finally couldn't hold back any longer. Looking at the constantly collapsing ground beneath his feet, a thought flashed through his mind.

It didn't last long enough. If it could have lasted a little longer, maybe...

The moment this thought crossed Ai Yue's mind, the ground beneath his feet stopped collapsing.

Ai Yue lowered his head in disbelief and suddenly closed his eyes.

The next second, centered on him, time seemed to rewind, restoring the space that had disappeared.

No, this is not restoration, but a complete reconstruction!

Ai Yue opened his eyes again, looked at the completely transformed world in front of him, and a strange smile appeared on his face.

"I see..."

78

Chapter 78 Who do you think we should fight this time?

In the First Research Institute, Mobius's hand suddenly trembled, and the glassware in his hand suddenly fell to the ground with a crisp sound of shattering.

The sudden noise drew everyone's attention to her in the laboratory.

"Doctor, what's wrong?"

Klein, who was standing nearby, asked with concern, "Ever since you came back from Doctor Ai Yue's place, you seem to have become a little absent-minded."

"It's less about being absent-minded and more about being restless."

Eden had clearly seen through Mobius's state of mind. "Mobius, what are you struggling with?"

"Over there with Ai Yue."

Mobius frowned and made way for the robot vacuum cleaner. "I have a feeling he's hiding something from me."

Then she looked at Hua, who was waiting to the side, and said, "Hua, you must have noticed it too, right?"

"Huh, is there?"

Hua blinked, looking somewhat bewildered, but then realized, "I don't know if Doctor Ai Yue is hiding something, but he did act rather strangely when he saw us off today."

"Too eager, right? It's like they can't wait for us to leave."

Mobius hesitated for a moment, then turned and walked out of the laboratory. "No, I have to go back and take a look."

The few people left in the lab looked at each other, and finally Eden said, "Without Mobius, it will be difficult to continue the experiment. Let's go and take a look."

The three quickly followed Mobius to the research institute's lobby, only to find Mobius still there. Eden was about to ask something when he saw Mobius turn around with a grim expression, "The Teleportation Gate to the Star of Light has been closed."

Upon hearing this, not only Eden and Hua, but even Klein realized that something was wrong.

The Teleportation Gate being closed means that Ai Yue is refusing to allow anyone to travel to the Star of Light experimental base via the Teleportation Gate. Without this convenient means, it will take at least three hours to travel from the Moth to Fire headquarters to Australia.

"So what do we do now?"

Eden asked, "Shall we go see Dr. Mei?"

"Mei may not have a solution either; she might even know less than I do."

Mobius frowned and took out his phone. "I'll ask Aponia. That guy can at least pinpoint Ai Yue's location."

However, before she could even operate her phone, a call came in first—the screen displayed Aponia's number.

"Mobius?"

As soon as the call connected, Aponia's voice came through, her usual calm and collected tone replaced by panic. "I... I can't sense Ai Yue anymore. Are you still on the Star of Light?"

"No, I returned to the Moth to Fire a few hours ago."

Mobius's face darkened. "Furthermore, the Teleportation Gate to the Star of Light has also been closed."

"That's why I wanted to ask Ai Yue about this..."

Aponia wanted to say something more, but her voice suddenly became muffled, and then another voice came through the microphone, "Hi, Mobius, how are you doing?"

"You sound very calm, Elysia."

Mobius, of course, recognized the voice and let out a cold laugh. "Looks like you know more than we do, don't you?"

"Actually, no, Ai Yue just asked me to stay with Aponia today."

Elysia said, "But he really didn't want me to tell you about this... Now it seems he really is acting alone again?"

"He may not have said it outright, but I don't believe you could have been completely oblivious to it."

Mobius clearly didn't trust Elysia's words, but she also knew that now was not the time to dwell on it. "Never mind, besides that, what else did Ai Yue tell you?"

"No, really."

Elysia said very sincerely, "He said that we just need to take it one step at a time, and May or Rose will inform us of the specific situation."

The call abruptly ended as soon as he finished speaking. Mobius thought Elysia had hung up on him and was about to get angry when another figure suddenly appeared on his phone screen, "Dr. Mobius, please go to Dr. Mei's office immediately. I will explain Doctor Ai Yue's plans and experiences there."

That was a virtual avatar of Prometheus —and not only Mobius's phone, but everyone present except Klein received a message from Prometheus.

"Let's go."

Without hesitation, Mobius turned and walked towards the door. "Klein, the research institute is in your hands now."

"I see."

Klein nodded, not feeling resentful for not being notified—after all, there was nothing she could do to help at the moment. "Doctor, you need to stay calm and not act impulsively."

A moment later, Mobius and his two companions arrived at Dr. Mei's office, where, in addition to Aponia and Elysia, who had just been on the phone with her, many other people were waiting.

Kevin, Cosmo, Desdrobia, Sakura, Kalpas, and even the long-lost Vill-V arrived at the scene. In addition, there was a computer on Dr. Mei's desk, and the computer screen showed a video communication with Su.

"Now everyone's here, right?"

Seeing Mobius and the others approach, Aponia immediately asked, "Rose, how is Ai Yue now?"

"I can only say that Doctor Ai Yue is still alive for the time being."

Prometheus said in a calm tone, "As for other matters, before I speak, I need to show you something."

As she spoke, a projection appeared before everyone, displaying a world map, with a crimson vortex appearing in the location of Australia.

This real-time map shows the global concentration of Honkai Energy, and the crimson vortex represents only one thing—the "Great Honkai," which is enough to give birth to Herrscher.

"Great Honkai occurred in Australia? How did Ai Yue foresee it?"

Mobius paused for a moment, then assumed that Ai Yue had sent them away because of this, but quickly realized, "No, the Great Honkai means the birth of Herrscher, but right now Ai Yue is the only living person in Australia, isn't he?"

Everyone's expression turned solemn, but no one spoke, because none of them wanted to admit a terrifying truth.

"Yes, that's what I wanted to say."

Prometheus said calmly, "The Herrscher born this time is Doctor Ai Yue."