Chapter 223

"Uh, nothing special."

Cosmo subconsciously rubbed his stomach. "Those limbs really do seem to be just simple Honkai Energy aggregates... Sorry, Doctor Ai Yue."

The reason why Cosmo and Desdrobia have only returned now is that they ate a lot of the giant hand's limbs during the battle, and therefore need time to digest them, which is why they cannot turn back for the time being and can only stay outside.

Ai Yue had expectations because he hoped that Cosmo and the others could gain some new power from these limbs.

"There's nothing to apologize for; it's really nothing."

Ai Yue nodded, said nothing more, but glanced at the two of them again, "Go and rest for a bit."

If those giant hands were simply aggregates of Honkai Energy, then Cosmo and the others wouldn't have digested them so slowly. The reason Cosmo felt there was nothing special was either because they weren't eating enough to grow, or—that kind of growth was something even Cosmo and the others couldn't perceive.

Of course, there's no need to say this out loud; we can just draw some blood and study it later.

Anyway, it won't affect the plans ahead.

A little while later, the Teleportation Gate in the corner of the hall finally lit up, and Su, wearing armor and carrying a box, walked out. Seeing everyone in the hall, he was taken aback. "Am I late?"

Although it took him some time to pack his things on the moon, it shouldn't have been long. How did it end so abruptly?

"No, you've come at just the right time."

Ai Yue waved for him to sit down, then walked to the most conspicuous spot. "Alright, now that everyone's here, the break should be over."

As he spoke, Ai Yue snapped his fingers, instructing Ai Yi to project a virtual screen, which displayed the moon.

Everyone's attention turned to them, and even the two drinking buddies whose cheeks had turned red from drinking earlier had now sobered up.

"I won't go into details about what happened before, but to summarize it simply, the Finality Egg has taken away the most crucial power from Elysia and is about to launch a real attack on us."

Ai Yue casually glossed over what had happened earlier, saying, "Now that things have come to this, everyone should know Elysia's identity. You can think of it as us facing our final, and last, enemy."

"You have all witnessed His strength, but to be honest, it's hard to say what fraction of His power He has shown so far is actually His full strength. So the real battle will be even more difficult than we imagine."

"So before that, I have a question."

Ai Yue paused for a moment, then scanned the crowd. "Anyone want to quit?"

Everyone remained silent, except for Mobius, who gave him an impatient look. "Can you please stop asking questions you already know the answer to every time?"

None of the people gathered here, not even Pardofelis, would choose to back down at this moment.

"It's just a formality."

Ai Yue smiled and said, "In that case, let's get down to business."

"First, let me announce the location of the decisive battle,"

Ai Yue pointed to the virtual projection behind him, "As you can see, if the Herrscher of the End were to unleash its full power on Earth, it could affect the entire world, even from Australia. So, no matter what, we cannot allow it to appear here. Therefore, the moon is our best option."

"But is this something we can decide?"

Dr. Mei couldn't help but ask, "Aside from your case of actively guiding the Cocoon of Finality to grant itself power, humanity has never been able to actively decide where any Herrscher will appear."

"I will handle this matter, so let's skip it."

Ai Yue responded to Dr. Mei with a very convincing answer, and then continued, "The next thing to decide is the personnel needed for the operation plan."

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but sit up straight, except for Pardofelis, who shrank back slightly.

The battlefield is indeed too terrifying.

However, if Brother Yue needs it, I'm definitely available!

Thinking of this, she quietly straightened her chest again.

"Kevin, Sakura, Kalpas, Cosmo, Desdrobia,"

Ai Yue named several people, "I need you to land on the moon and confront the Herrscher of the End head-on. Any questions?"

Those whose names were called said in unison, "No."

"Vill-V, Eden, Aponia, Sue, Mobius, you also need to land on the moon to assist the combat personnel in dealing with the Herrscher of the End. Any questions?"

The answer received was still the same unanimous "no".

"Hua, you need to stay on the ground,"

Ai Yue then looked at the taciturn gray-haired girl, "When the lunar war breaks out, Earth will also face a counterattack of Honkai. At that time, you will be the strongest individual soldier on Earth. I need you to use the Second Divine Key to ensure the safety of the entire Earth. Is there a problem?"

Hua looked hesitant, but finally shook his head. "No."

She knew very well that Ai Yue was intentionally protecting her, and she also knew that she did not have the strength to face the Herrscher of the End. Therefore, even though she was somewhat unwilling, she ultimately chose to obey orders.

"Pardofelis, come with me."

Ai Yue, unusually, called out the cat-eared girl's full name and asked with a serious expression, "Is there a problem?"

Pardofelis clenched her fists nervously, and her ears twitched slightly, but she finally responded in a loud voice, "No!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she realized that she seemed a little nervous and immediately lowered her head in embarrassment.

Fortunately, no one around her said anything about it—after all, everyone knew that Pardofelis had already been very brave.

"Very good, then that concludes the arrangements for all combat personnel."

Ai Yue nodded, then adjusted his glasses. "So, next, the specifics..."

"Wait a moment!"

Elysia stood up from her chair, her smile vanishing instantly. "Have you forgotten about me?"

Ai Yue mentioned everyone's name, but not her.

At first, when she wasn't among the frontline combatants, Elysia was somewhat disappointed, but she also knew very well that she was indeed not capable of fighting at the moment, so she remained silent.

Then, when she wasn't among the support personnel, Elysia felt a little uneasy, but she comforted herself. The chosen ones were all Mental Perception Fused Warrior, and Mobius could use the Simulated Herrscher Potion to help. Even if she was chosen, she couldn't do anything but cheer them on.

Then, she was not on the list of those protecting the safety of the surface civilization, nor was she on the list of those who would follow Ai Yue and adapt to changing circumstances. When Ai Yue began to explain the next part, Elysia finally panicked.

She realized that there was really no place for her in Ai Yue's plan—she was going to be left behind in this final battle.

"Nothing was missed, Elysia,"

Ai Yue said calmly, "You should know very well that you are no longer capable of participating in the final battle, right?"

"But, but..."

Elysia stammered, something uncommon for her. "Wait, I still have my armor! With the power of my armor, I can still fight, right?"

"Oh, I almost forgot, your body can't even handle the armor right now, so remember to hand it over later."

Ai Yue responded casually, then spoke again, "So, what's next..."

"But--"

"There are no buts, Elysia."

Ai Yue interrupted her, "I already told you, I'm going to punish you—you don't think that just hanging a sign on your head and making you stand in the corner is punishment, do you?"

Elysia opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Yes, being forced to stand with a sign hanging on her back—what kind of punishment is that for Elysia, who is always playing pranks?

The decisive battle that will determine the future of civilization is just around the corner. The people she cares about will all be entering this war of life and death. She should have been the core who could decide the outcome of this battle, but now she has been excluded. What could be more punishing to Elysia, who loves humanity so deeply, than this reality?

The hall was completely silent. Whether it was Kevin, who had been through countless battles, Mobius, who always liked to bicker with Ai Yue, or Pardofelis, who had always been pampered by Ai Yue, they all felt a sense of fear.

The same thought flashed through everyone's mind at the same time—was this the first time he had ever been truly angry since they met Ai Yue?

Ai Yue was indeed very angry, and he had every reason to be angry.

Originally, in his plan, once Elysia awakened, if things were handled properly, the best outcome could be to skip the birth of the Herrscher of the End and directly enter the process of seizing the power of the Cocoon of Finality.

Even if he can't achieve the best, he is confident that he can achieve a winning percentage of over 95% in the final battle.

Of course, even if all of this is accomplished, he still has a way to resolve today's crisis—after all, the target of the Cocoon of Finality is Elysia, so it didn't even react before she appeared. So, as long as he makes the Cocoon of Finality, which has no real consciousness, unable to detect Elysia's location, the crisis will naturally be resolved.

However, because of Elysia's actions, which seemed to have saved everyone, they completely disrupted Ai Yue's original plan, forcing them to now face a Herrscher of the End with full authority.

But Ai Yue wasn't actually angry about these things. As he said, the power of the Finality was the least important thing.

He's just a fully-formed Herrscher of the End. Do you really think I can't win?

What truly angered him was Elysia's reckless behavior, which forced him to resort to the "Herrscher Authority Reversal Potion" as a last resort to save Elysia.

If the potion isn't strong enough to completely turn Elysia back into a human, causing the Cocoon of Finality to abandon its attempt to reclaim her, or if the potion is too strong and kills Elysia, then this crisis won't be able to end perfectly.

He almost lost Elysia, to the point that he couldn't save the person he most wanted to save.

To prevent this idiot from doing anything big again, Ai Yue could only limit the other party's actions in this way.

"In conclusion, there is no problem with the above list."

Realizing he might have lost his composure, Ai Yue regained his composure and began making further arrangements, "Next, considering the intensity of the final battle, we'll need to design personalized enhancement plans for everyone..."

Elysia did not participate in the rest of the meeting. She silently left the central hall and headed towards her room.

Why did things turn out this way?

Chapter 100 Do you guys really like Elysia that much?

"Ai Yue, don't be too angry."

In the exclusive laboratory of "Brahma Project", Kevin lay on the operating table, hesitated for a long time, and finally said these words.

Ai Yue did not respond; he was simply operating something on the experimental table next to him.

"Elysia certainly wouldn't have done it on purpose; it's just that as part of the Herrscher of the End, she must be more aware of the opponent's strength than we are,"

Seeing that Ai Yue did not respond, Kevin could only bite the bullet and continue, "In such an emergency, not everyone can make a rational judgment like you."

After saying this, he fell silent, waiting for Ai Yue's response.

"Then what?"

Ai Yue walked over, holding a syringe. "Dr. Mei only taught you these two sentences?"

He's known Kevin for a long time; he shouldn't be saying things like that.

"Well..."

Upon hearing Ai Yue's words, Kevin was taken aback for a moment, then gave an awkward smile, "But that's actually what I think too."

Even if her actions make your situation more dangerous?

Ai Yue pulled open Kevin's shirt and injected the syringe directly into his chest. "It will hurt a little, bear with it."

"Comrades-in-arms should support each other."

Despite the intense pain, Kevin managed to finish his sentence in fits and starts. "If I were in her shoes... I might not be any better than her."

Ai Yue simply kept his head down, recording Kevin's data and reactions, without saying a word.

The intense pain gradually subsided, and an indescribable feeling of fullness and tingling began to spread throughout Kevin's body. He took a breath and looked at Ai Yue again. "Actually, I can understand how you feel."

"If I were in this situation and made an impulsive decision without consulting Mei, Mei would definitely be very angry too."

At this point, Kevin couldn't help but scratch his head again. "But, how should I put it, I still hope that you won't develop any opinions about Elysia because of this."

"That's not something you should be thinking about."

Ai Yue put down the tablet in his hand. "The effect is good. There are three more injections—Ai Yi. Inject him once every thirty minutes. As long as the data do not exceed the threshold I set, there is no need to activate the backup plan."

"Understood."

A drone flew over and loaded all three syringes into its body.

"Wait, you still haven't told me what all these things are?"

Kevin knew he had said enough, so he stopped dwelling on it and got back to the main point. "Although I feel very comfortable, my strength hasn't increased significantly."

"What level are you at? You still want significant growth? How about I dig out the Cocoon of Finality and feed it to you?"

Ai Yue couldn't help but roll his eyes. "This is used to coordinate your mental power, since it's the key to limiting your power ceiling right now."

Given Kevin's current characteristics, simply enhancing his strength will not bring him much of a boost. After all, no matter how much energy he has, without the corresponding mental power to control it, he cannot exert its due effect.

Therefore, the enhancement plan that Ai Yue prepared for Kevin was to make up for his current shortcomings.

"I see."

Kevin looked enlightened. "So, it's over after these four shots, right?"

"We'll have to see the results. If the data shows you still have room for improvement, then I'll naturally have follow-up plans."