Chapter 138

Prometheus asked, "Theoretically speaking, I don't need to be the blueprint for this, right?"

According to Prometheus, even without himself, Ai Yue could create a soul using his memories, and because there were no other "extraneous things," such a soul would be more like Ai Yue himself.

"No, creating souls and growing crops are actually based on the same principle. Both require soil, seeds, and nutrients to bear fruit."

Ai Yue shook his head. "The human body is the soil, memory is the nutrients, and you are the seed."

At this point, Ai Yue paused for a moment, then continued, "Actually, even a body without a soul can give birth to Herrscher, but in that case, the core of the soul, the 'seed,' would belong to the Cocoon of Finality. In that case, we would not be able to reawaken me by implanting backdoor commands."

A blank body can also give birth to a new soul, a fact recorded in later generations. However, this is, after all, Pre-Civilization era. In this era Cocoon of Finality has not yet been interfered with by Artificial Intelligence, Ai Yue dares not truly hand over his body to the Cocoon of Finality to play with.

"I see, I understand now."

Prometheus nodded. "Then, there's one more question—who exactly is the Herrscher now?"

"Of course it's you, Rose."

Seeing Prometheus's increasingly animated expression and tone, Ai Yue couldn't help but smile, but he quickly became serious again, "However, there's something I need to tell you in advance."

In order to ensure the complete annihilation of the Herrscher, Prometheus's artificial soul was destined to be lost.

"My soul will be destroyed, won't it?"

Prometheus stated it quite frankly, then shook his head slightly, "Actually, I knew this from the very beginning, Doctor Ai Yue."

"Feel sorry,"

Ai Yue opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing.

"Doctor Ai Yue, this is the only thing you can't do."

Prometheus, on the contrary, smiled slightly. This was probably the first time she had been able to show different expressions according to her mood. "I have already accepted this result, so why should I apologize?"

"I'm already very grateful that I was able to help you."

She stood up and opened her arms. "So, what are we waiting for?"

Don't you feel resentful?

Ai Yue asked in surprise, "Having a soul means you can become human. Isn't that the wish you've always wanted to fulfill?"

Creating a soul is no simple matter. This time, Ai Yue risked his life to give up his body in order to ensure the plan could be completed without any mistakes. In other words, Ai Yue will not attempt a second time until the risks are resolved. This means that the future of Prometheus truly becoming human is still a long way off.

Although this was just a trivial piece of data for Prometheus, from Ai Yue's perspective, it was proof that he had personally killed Prometheus.

"But protecting humanity is my top priority."

Prometheus answered without hesitation, "Alright, Doctor Ai Yue, if this continues, I might really change my mind."

Ai Yue said nothing more, but stepped forward and embraced Prometheus.

As he moved, the "Soul Editor" was activated, instantly locking onto Prometheus's fleeting soul, which was then dismantled and eliminated.

Her self-awareness will be erased, and her memories will be transcribed into data for future research. In just ten seconds, the Eleventh Herrscher will truly disappear from this world.

Ai Yue could feel the body in his arms trembling slightly, a sign that, having gained a soul, it was experiencing fear of impending death.

But Prometheus said nothing.

"You've worked hard, Prometheus."

Ai Yue gently patted her head, as if to comfort her, or perhaps to convince himself, "We will meet again."

"Well, then let's meet again in real life."

Prometheus was unaware of the hidden meaning in those words, and only whispered at the last moment, "Father."

Ai Yue had refused to let Prometheus use that word to address her, but after gaining a soul, Prometheus was finally able to disobey this command.

After saying this, Prometheus's body completely dissipated into the air, and this scene in the spiritual world meant that her soul had indeed been destroyed.

However, something precious was preserved.

Ai Yue lowered his head and looked at his palm. There, a seed-like object was emitting a faint white light.

Seeing this, Ai Yue finally breathed a sigh of relief and a slight smile appeared on his face, "Yes, the next time we meet will be in reality."

115

Chapter 115 Let's break up with him.

At the last moment, Ai Yue still made the decision to preserve Prometheus's "spark of consciousness".

As the source of the creation of the soul, the spark of consciousness represents the most fundamental "seed" of the soul. With this, as long as the required materials can be gathered in the future, Ai Yue can resurrect Prometheus, who was born this time, instead of creating a new soul.

Although both are essentially Prometheus, they clearly have different meanings for Ai Yue.

Of course, this is not without risk. After all, Prometheus's soul had a deep connection with the Cocoon of Finality, and even if it is restored to the most basic spark, it cannot guarantee that it can be completely isolated from the Cocoon of Finality.

If, one day in the future, the Cocoon of Finality is able to access Prometheus's spark of consciousness in a way that is beyond Ai Yue's expectations, and reshape his soul through its own means, then Ai Yue will face a brand new, flawless Herrscher of Binding.

But how can parents personally stifle their child's soul?

It's just a small risk; surely there's a solution?

Ai Yue buried the spark of Prometheus's consciousness deep within his own spiritual realm, using his own soul as a firewall to sever its connection with the outside world. In this way, he could at least buy enough time.

With the system at his disposal, Ai Yue was confident that he would soon find a solution.

Only after making sure everything was in perfect order did Ai Yue close his eyes.

A moment later, his consciousness finally returned to reality, and he regained control of his body.

The long-lost senses flooded his brain along with his body's sensory system, causing Ai Yue, who hadn't processed this information in a long time, to be slightly disoriented. However, he quickly readjusted to it all and opened his eyes—

What appeared before him was a scalpel gleaming with a cold light.

Ai Yue:?

"Etc?"

Realizing that things might not be quite what he had expected, Ai Yue quickly asked, "What are you doing?"

Only then did he see the specific situation on the scene. The person holding the scalpel was Mobius, while Kevin and Vill-V stood to the side. Elysia and Su were also waiting at the bedside. Everyone was in a circle, each holding a gleaming surgical instrument. For a moment, Ai Yue thought that this was some kind of funeral service.

Are they trying to tear me apart?

"Awake? That's really bad timing."

The moment he saw Ai Yue open his eyes, Mobius blinked hard, then said in a cold voice, "Su, bring over the rest of the anesthetic and force-feed it to him."

"Where do you mean to pour it in from?!"

Ai Yue finally regained full control of his body, raised his hand and grabbed the scalpel in Mobius's hand, "Stop right there!"

Only then did the others seem to realize what had happened, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Although no verification was conducted, everyone could clearly recognize that the soul controlling this body was the Ai Yue they knew, simply by hearing Ai Yue utter two sentences.

Kevin tossed the things in his hand aside, silently turned around, and walked out of the operating room.

"It seems that no further dissection is needed."

Su smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Ai Yue. We'll be going now."

He clearly had a lot more to say, but Elysia, who was standing next to him, tugged at his sleeve, realized what was happening, and left the room as well.

"Uh, so it's just us left?"

Looking at Ai Yue lying on the operating table, and then at Mobius beside him, Vill-V couldn't help but say in a clueless voice, "It's okay, the two of us can do this surgery. I'm as good as three!"

As she spoke, a mechanical sound came from behind Vill-V. Immediately afterwards, three pairs of mechanical arms stretched out, picked up the surgical instruments that others had put aside, and began to swing them under Vill-V's control.

"If you keep pretending to be stupid, I'll tear it all down in a bit!"

Ai Yue glared at Vill-V, "Are you afraid I won't settle the score with you? Don't think that just because I'm using you, some things can be pretended never happened, Vill-V... or rather, Elvi?"

Hearing the strong threat in Ai Yue's words, Vill-V immediately deflated, muttering something like "so biased," and walked out of the room dejectedly.

Only then did Mobius finally react and break free from Ai Yue's grasp.

The next second, she plunged the scalpel fiercely into Ai Yue's abdomen—

Of course, this action could not possibly harm Ai Yue.

"Stop fooling around, let's get down to business."

Ai Yue sat up in bed and casually slapped the scalpel out of Mobius's hand. "How are Aponia and the others?"

"Aponia is still unconscious, but she is not in any danger. Pardo just woke up and I coaxed her to sleep in the next room. Everyone else is fine and is gradually regaining consciousness."

Mobius, with his back to Ai Yue, avoided looking at his expression. "As for that person, I suspect his heart is rotten, and I'm just about to cut it open to take a look."

Clearly, she was very dissatisfied with Ai Yue for quietly carrying out such a big task. Before this, Mobius could put his personal emotions aside for the sake of the plan, but as Ai Yue regained consciousness, all of this could no longer be suppressed.

"What kind of talk is that?"

Ai Yue carefully pulled Mobius into his arms. "Listen, isn't it beating perfectly well?"

Mobius didn't speak, but Ai Yue could feel her tense body finally relax at that moment.

"I'm sorry, Mobius."

Ai Yue said sincerely, "I entrusted you with the most important part of the plan without even discussing it with you. It must have been very hard work, right?"

Who do you think I am?

Despite having endured unimaginable torment and fear, Mobius still stubbornly insisted, "That kind of thing is actually faster for me to do alone without you!"

"Yes, yes, I'm dragging you down."

Ai Yue smiled and said, "Thank you so much, Dr. Mobius, for saving me from this predicament. I wonder how I can repay you?"

"Now you know how to say nice things?"

Mobius snorted, but suddenly twisted his body. "Wait, where are you touching!"

Blushing, she broke free from Ai Yue's embrace. Just as she was about to say something, a figure suddenly appeared from the wall to her left. "Brother Yue! Brother Yue, you're awake!"

The next second, Pardofelis lunged into Ai Yue's arms and burst into tears without restraint. "Brother Yue, you big idiot, you scared me to death!"

Mobius watched as Ai Yue frantically comforted Pardofelis and couldn't help but turn his head slightly, "He really is a big idiot."

116

Chapter 116 High risk, of course, will bring high reward.

After a short while, Ai Yue finally returned to his normal state and came to the central hall of the Star of Light.

Here, apart from a few people who were still unconscious, everyone else was waiting for him.

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone."

Looking at the crowd waiting for him to speak, Ai Yue nodded and announced, "I declare that this operation has been an unprecedented success—this is the first time that humanity has defeated Herrscher without any casualties!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Elysia clapped enthusiastically, and under her influence, everyone else followed suit.

"Of course, due to my personal autocratic decision-making, I imagine that everyone still has many questions about the details of this battle plan."

Ai Yue didn't waste any time with pleasantries and went straight to the point, "Now let's move on to the post-battle debriefing. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask."

"First, the first question,"

Dr. Mei was still unable to attend in person, but she participated in the meeting via projected communication. "What exactly are the powers of the Eleventh Herrscher?"

Although the battle was extremely complicated, from the initial discovery of clues to the final defeat of the Herrscher, and even including the time it took for Ai Yue to regain consciousness, it did not exceed forty-eight hours. Moreover, the scale of the entire war never extended beyond Australia. Therefore, it is impossible to make a reasonable analysis based solely on the existing data.

For example, Dr. Mei initially thought that the opponent's power was the decay and constraint of energy, but later the opponent showed the means to influence and manipulate vectors. In the final battle, the opponent even revealed the ability to use spatial power, which was simply unbelievable.

If all of this is considered as the power of the Eleventh Herrscher herself, then she is undoubtedly the first Herrscher in human history to possess multiple powers. However, if one were to learn a little about the situation, it would be discovered that her mastery of spatial powers can only be described as "half-baked".

"You can think of it as an enhanced version of the First Herrscher authority."

Ai Yue explained, "The most basic power of the Eleventh Herrscher is indeed only the manipulation of energy, which we can simply call 'the Authority of Binding,' but on the basis of the Authority of Binding, she has also gained higher authority."

"Higher privileges?"

Dr. Mei frowned. "Is your statement perhaps based on that paper about the Imaginary Tree?"

"Yes, but we'll skip that for now, since academic content might be difficult for most people to understand."

Ai Yue nodded. "To put it simply, above all the Herrscher, there is a special being with even greater abilities. The Herrscher's powers actually originate from it."

"Is this the very being that created the Herrscher and wants to destroy humanity?"