Chapter 189

This special energy, which is a fusion of mental power and Honkai Energy, possesses many incredible characteristics. The most special one, and the one that Ai Yue values most, is its ability to soothe mental abnormalities.

Compared to other energies, "qi" itself does not possess any particular tendency or attribute. It is neither as corrosive to the human body as Honkai Energy, nor as destructive as electric current or flames. The characteristics it exhibits depend entirely on the user's own thoughts.

Therefore, under Hua's control, the energy she released could even temporarily restore severely mentally damaged patients to normal without any side effects. It should be noted that even Aponia had to rely on discipline to achieve the same thing, and the side effects of discipline could not even be described as "serious".

Therefore, the backup plan is very simple - Ai Yue and Hua agreed on a time. As long as Ai Yue has not logged out on his own by the agreed time, Hua will cut off the connection and then use Qi to stabilize his mental state.

Of course, he wouldn't want to use such methods if he could, so now it's up to him to see if the virtual Honkai Beast can bring him some surprises.

It was only then that he realized that this was the first time he had actually applied the technology of virtual Honkai Beast to real combat.

You should know that the core technology of the virtual Honkai Beast, "genetic data transcription", is a special technology produced by the system. It requires very precious research materials to obtain. Even if it is not materialized, it should not affect its value... right?

Then Ai Yue saw the Herrscher of Aberration casually wave her hand, sending all the virtual Honkai Beast rushing towards her flying.

The bad news is that these virtual Honkai Beast seem to be of little use.

The worse news is that the Herrscher of Aberration seems to be gradually regaining her power.

Although he was only a consciousness now, Ai Yue still felt sweat starting to break out on his back.

How much longer until the time I agreed with Hua?

Forty minutes left.

Hua Di looked at the time countless times, repeatedly confirming how much longer they still had to wait for the moment that Ai Yue and he had agreed upon.

Looking at Ai Yue lying in the hibernation pod, his consciousness submerged into the device, Hua subconsciously pursed his lips, revealing a complicated expression.

She thought that this time Ai Yue agreed to bring her along, and she would have the opportunity to fight alongside him. However, she never expected that she would still only be able to watch Ai Yue connect to the network alone and face the terrifying Herrscher.

Fortunately, at least this time I can be used as a backup plan, so I guess I've come in handy to some extent.

Although she would rather she didn't have to be used this time.

Thinking of this, Hua couldn't help but glance at the time again.

Time always seems to drag on endlessly during anxious waiting, but Hua now wishes time could slow down a bit, so that Ai Yue would have the opportunity to resolve the issue before the appointed time arrives.

She was well aware of the risks of Ai Yue's backup plan. Although Ai Yue said that the mental disturbance caused by the forced disconnection would not be very severe, the possibility of mental confusion or amnesia could not be ruled out. Even if her "qi" could really eliminate these hidden dangers, she did not want Ai Yue to take even a one in ten thousand chance.

It was best to wait a while. The hibernation pod opened automatically, and Ai Yue sat up inside while taking off his helmet. He smiled and nodded at himself, then said in a calm tone, "It's been resolved"—this was the perfect ending Hua had imagined.

But at that moment, Hua suddenly looked towards the door, his expression turning serious.

If her hearing isn't impaired, there seemed to be... very heavy footsteps outside the door just now?

Could it be Honkai Beast?

Given the chaotic situation at the scene, the appearance of Honkai Beast is not surprising.

Due to the time constraints, Ai Yue and Hua did not thoroughly investigate the potential risks within the Star of Light before directly executing the plan. Therefore, if any Honkai Beast roaming inside the base noticed the presence of humans, they could indeed gather in this direction.

After thinking for a moment, Hua checked the safety of the room again before walking towards the door.

Ai Yue's condition absolutely cannot be disturbed in the slightest, so in order to ensure Ai Yue's safety, Hua decided to stand guard outside the door to avoid any potential impact on Ai Yue during the fight inside the room.

However, the door opened automatically this time, exposing the outsider to Hua's view. When Hua saw the other person's appearance, even Hua, who was not good at expressing emotions, couldn't help but widen his eyes and show a surprised expression.

"Rose?"

Yes, what appeared before her was the virtual image of Prometheus that Hua had seen many times before.

However, what appeared before her now was a real body—although it was a rough body made entirely of metal with two cameras for eyes, Hua could still tell its identity from its exaggerated twin ponytails shaped like metal spiral drills.

But what exactly is going on? Could it be that Doctor Ai Yue is hiding something? But there's no reason for him to keep this from me, right?

Moreover, judging from Prometheus's appearance, this body is obviously a bit too... rough. Would Ai Yue make something so crude?

"Ms. Hua, it's a pleasure to see you here."

Prometheus nodded politely to Hua, but his face remained expressionless, indicating that he did not possess such a function. "That's Doctor Ai Yue over there, isn't it?"

As she spoke, she glanced at the hibernation pod behind Hua, and then tried to walk over to it.

"Wait a moment."

Hua quickly recovered from her initial shock and warily stopped Prometheus. "You must first prove your identity. You are not part of Doctor Ai Yue's plan."

After regaining his composure, Hua began to suspect that there was something wrong with the Prometheus before him.

Even if there's only a one in ten thousand chance that the Prometheus before her is some kind of trick by the Herrscher, Hua absolutely cannot take that risk.

"It's essential to remain vigilant, Miss Hua,"

Prometheus nodded in approval of Hua's reaction, then said, "But time is of the essence, so how do you want me to prove it?"

This rhetorical question left Hua momentarily at a loss, as she herself struggled to think of a way to confirm the other party's identity.

After all, she learned from Ai Yue that Herrscher could hack into networks and control the global internet, so in that case, the other party might know more than she did.

"I've come up with a solution,"

While Hua was still pondering, Prometheus across from her extended an arm, saying, "How about we test the intensity of Honkai Energy radiation on my body? If I was corrupted by Herrscher, then the Honkai Energy radiation on my body will definitely not be low."

Hua tested her with some skepticism and discovered that the other person only had a very slight Honkai Energy radiation. This level of radiation meant that her body was not even powered by Honkai Energy Crystal.

"You guessed right, Miss Hua, I'm using a solid-state battery."

Upon hearing Hua's question, Prometheus nodded. "Because I need to completely isolate myself from the possibility of being corrupted by the Herrscher, I don't even have wireless internet access; I can only connect via wired connection."

"So, what's wrong with you now?"

Although Hua was still somewhat wary, most of his doubts had been dispelled. "Why would there be a body that can move? I have never heard Doctor Ai Yue mention this before."

"Because Doctor Ai Yue doesn't know either."

Prometheus said calmly, "This body was secretly created for myself without Doctor Ai Yue's knowledge, but I never expected it would come in so useful now."

"Knowing it from Doctor Ai Yue?"

Hua was taken aback. "Is such a thing even possible?"

Based on her understanding of Artificial Intelligence, it seems that even Prometheus couldn't deceive humanity, right?

"I didn't lie to him, I just didn't tell him about it."

Prometheus said, "Doctor Ai Yue gave Queen and me a lot of freedom, which is why I was able to do this."

"I see."

Hua nodded. "So what did you mean by 'coming in very handy' earlier?"

Prometheus did not answer the question directly, but looked at the girl in front of him. "It sounds like you're willing to believe me?"

"Not yet, but judging from our conversation just now, you seem to have been unaffected by the Herrscher."

Hua shook his head. "Whether or not we should trust you depends on your next plan."

"My plan is very simple,"

Prometheus pointed to himself, then to Ai Yue's hibernation pod, "Doctor Ai Yue must have somehow connected to a server and is confronting the Herrscher there. I want to go in too."

What can you do if you go in?

Hua frowned. "Wait, theoretically, you should be inside too, right?"

It was because Prometheus and Queen managed to trap the Herrscher within the network that human civilization was given a chance to breathe; Dr. Mei told her this.

"The situation is rather complicated. To put it simply, I am now also part of our plan."

Prometheus explained, "According to the plan, both Queen and I inside should have been eliminated by the Herrscher, and now it's my turn to clean up the mess."

At this point, Prometheus raised his voice slightly. "In fact, even if Doctor Ai Yue hadn't come, I would have had a 75% chance of defeating the Herrscher directly."

Hua didn't speak for a moment, but her expression revealed her thoughts—"Really?"

After a moment, she responded, "I need you to keep a distance from Doctor Ai Yue. After all, you only need to access the server, so it's okay if you don't have close contact, right?"

"Sure."

Prometheus agreed without hesitation, then looked at Hua and said, "However, I didn't expect you to trust me so quickly—in my calculations, it should have taken much longer to get to you."

"Actually, I still don't believe you, but I believe in Doctor Ai Yue and the things he invented."

Hua turned her head to look at Ai Yue's hibernation pod. "Doctor Ai Yue said that even Herrscher cannot really harm him inside that black box, so all I need to do is guard his hibernation pod."

"I see, that's why you were so decisive."

Prometheus nodded. "Then I will carry out the plan."

As she spoke, she took out a pre-prepared connecting cable from behind her back and handed one end to Hua: "In that case, I'll entrust the task of connecting that metal box to you. Wouldn't that give you more peace of mind?"

Hua nodded, then took the connection port and plugged it into the interface on the other end of Ai Yue's connection port.

Prometheus then connected the wire to the interface on his lower abdomen, and then lay down on the ground, unresponsive.

Hua glanced at the time again—twenty-nine minutes left.

She didn't tell Prometheus that she would help Ai Yue log out forcibly at the agreed time, lest he harbor malicious intentions and take this opportunity to do something shady.

If Prometheus were truly trustworthy, then Ai Yue would surely have told her this as well.

Meanwhile, inside the black box, the battle between Ai Yue and the Herrscher entered its most intense phase.

To be precise, it was a battle between virtual Honkai Beast and Herrscher.

Because the virtual Honkai Beast can be resurrected repeatedly by data reconstruction even when they are defeated within the server, they are not a match for the Herrscher, but they have successfully delayed her attack.

However, this situation gradually declined over time, because the Herrscher discovered that although he could neither corrupt these data entities nor completely destroy them, he could "freeze" them, preventing them from continuing to hinder him.

As more and more virtual Honkai Beast were frozen by the Herrscher, Ai Yue had fewer and fewer things to rely on.

But he seemed to have discovered something during the process, and instead of showing any panic, he even laughed.

"What, have you finally lost your mind?"

The Herrscher also noticed Ai Yue and said viciously, "It's alright, you'll die here soon!"

She didn't actually have any means to truly kill Ai Yue, but that didn't stop her from wanting to disgust him.

The fact that the other party was right in front of her, yet she couldn't threaten him, clearly made the Herrscher very unhappy.

"Instead of this, you should take better care of yourself,"

Ai Yue smiled. "Your offensive seems to be waning. What's wrong? Are you running out of energy?"

"It's none of your business!"

The Herrscher's eyes widened as she unleashed her power once more, freezing the surrounding virtual Honkai Beast in place. "I have plenty of strength!"

But this reaction precisely reveals her unease—because the Herrscher truly senses that her power is waning.

This was something that had never happened before. Even when she infected all the Fused Warrior in the base in one go, she never experienced this feeling.

So she didn't even need to think; she knew it must have been Ai Yue who did it.

But what can be done? From the moment I fell into this trap, my defeat seemed inevitable. The only remaining variable was whether I could drag this annoying guy down with me.

"Having strength is a good thing,"

Ai Yue said with a kind expression, "But are you sure you still have enough strength?"

As he spoke, he pointed behind the Herrscher.

The Herrscher subconsciously turned her head to look, only to find that the virtual Honkai Beast that she had frozen earlier was showing signs of regaining its vitality!

"How is this possible?"

The Herrscher blurted out instinctively, "How could a mere data entity possibly defy my authority!?"

"Because they are not ordinary data entities."

Ai Yue smiled and said, "However, this situation is indeed beyond my expectations."

Virtual Honkai Beast possess the ability to learn and evolve on their own.

This is something Ai Yue discovered during the earlier melee.

Although they all appear to be just electronic data constructed by imitating Honkai Beast, these virtual Honkai Beast seem to possess a certain level of intelligence compared to the Honkai Beast. While this intelligence cannot yet be called thought, it is enough to allow them to make certain changes during repeated attacks.

If the Herrscher could remain calm at this moment, she would realize that the reason she was getting more and more tired was not only because the replenishment of her power could not keep up with the loss, but also because these virtual Honkai Beasts were becoming increasingly difficult to deal with.

They have learned to form simple formations, with the tough-skinned Honkai Beast in front, the agile flying Honkai Beast harassing from above, and the Honkai Beast with ranged attack capabilities kept as far away from the Herrscher as possible to avoid being affected by the opponent's power.

And now, they have even evolved the ability to resist the Herrscher authority.

This change surprised Ai Yue and made him realize that there was still huge potential to be explored in these virtual Honkai Beasts.