Chapter 279

"Yae Sakura is my... best friend. She knows all this because she has been in contact with the Golden Courtyard of the World Serpent."

Since she no longer intended to hide it, Kiana naturally began to explain their situation. However, seeing the slightly confused expressions on everyone's faces, she knew she needed to explain in more detail, "World Serpent is an organization led by Kevin..."

Following the clue of the World Serpent, and with the questions raised by everyone from time to time, Kiana finally managed to explain most of the things about the current civilization through the ins and outs of this matter, "... That's how it is. It was through her that I was able to have a general understanding of you."

"That's pretty impressive, my lord, Kevin ~"

Elysia gave Kevin a teasing look, then said, "However, it's more accurate to say that we relied on me there to gather information rather than on the Golden Courtyard!"

"Yes, Yae Sakura once told me that Elysia taught her a lot of things,"

Kiana nodded. "So, although she sometimes seems... frivolous, she's actually a trustworthy person."

"You can simply remove 'sometimes'."

Kevin immediately retorted, "This guy is always frivolous."

"No, that's not true! This is the fastest way to make friends!"

Elysia pouted, then leaned closer to Kiana, "What else did Miss Yae Sakura say?"

"Yae Sakura also said..."

Kiana looked at the pretty face that was so close to her, and subtly moved to the other side. "Let me stay away from you, because you're the kind of guy who likes to grope pretty girls."

Elysia: "Huh?"

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"This assessment is very accurate."

Even Dr. Mei couldn't help but laugh out loud, offering a sharp comment. "I believe that Ms. Raiden Yae Sakura really did see Alice... For her to say something like that, she must have been troubled by it herself, right?"

Although Ai Yue didn't speak, he also smiled. Raiden Yae Sakura had already expressed her wariness about Elysia's attempt to contact Kiana, so it's not hard to imagine how many times she had warned Kiana when she learned that Kiana needed to return to this era alone.

"People are always attracted to beautiful things, so this is perfectly normal!"

Elysia offered a weak explanation, then glanced at Kiana, who was also smiling slightly, and couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips into a slight smile before sitting back down. "So, little Kiana, you're not nervous anymore, are you?"

Kiana was slightly taken aback, then nodded seriously to Elysia: "Thank you, Miss Elysia."

She didn't dwell on the issue of how the other person addressed her; instead, she suppressed her smile and looked at everyone present again.

"Thank you all for your understanding, I am truly grateful."

After saying this, Kiana couldn't help but close her eyes. "Next—"

The image of the disaster at its very beginning resurfaced in her mind.

Chapter 40: You've done your best, little god of the present civilization.

"Looking back now, the initial sign of this disaster was actually a trivial matter that no one paid any attention to."

Even in her recollection, Kiana couldn't help but show a hint of regret and self-blame, as if she felt that if she had noticed the potential crisis earlier, she could have dealt with it better.

"At that time, I had just become the Herrscher of the End and temporarily sealed all the Honkai Energy on the moon, so I was unable to leave the moon."

Kiana said, "At that time, Earth had just recovered from the effects of the Stigmata Project and was severely damaged, so everyone was working hard to restore order."

"Stigmata Project?"

Mobius glanced at Ai Yue and said, "It sounds like your Stigmata Project isn't going to be a good thing?"

"Well, in Kevin's words... of course, the Kevin from our side, he said it's the worst way."

Kiana explained simply, "I don't really understand the specifics, but the general idea is that through the Stigmata Project, humanity will live in a 'dream' from now on, thus avoiding the arrival of the Herrscher of the End."

"In that case, would we need to cover the entire Earth with the Stigmata Space?"

Mobius quickly grasped the point. "But then what about Earth? Should we abandon everything we have?"

"Uh, supposedly they're creating a new race called 'Ideal Form' to replace humans on Earth?"

Kiana kept scratching her head. "Bronya seems to have said that the Ideal Form is a kind of Honkai Beast, so it can also avoid being affected by the detection mechanism of the Cocoon of Finality."

"I see, that's quite an extreme plan."

Mobius nodded. "However, it is indeed very bold, and there is certainly a possibility of success."

Although she said that, Mobius's expression was not good, and it was unclear what she was thinking.

"But wouldn't such a plan be tantamount to jeopardizing the future of human civilization? Can a civilization that can only live in the Stigmata Space continue to develop?"

Cosmo, standing nearby, couldn't help but say, "We can't just hide in the Stigmata Space forever, can we? Who came up with this idea?"

Dr. Mei glanced at him. "Theoretically speaking, it should be me."

So Cosmo silently lowered his head.

"Let's discuss this plan another time when we have the opportunity."

Ai Yue steered the conversation back on track, "So, there were already anomalies when you first became the Herrscher of the End?"

"Yes, I should mention the process of becoming the Herrscher of the End. I only gained the recognition of the Cocoon of Finality and became the Herrscher of the End after defeating Kevin, who also possessed the power of the Herrscher of the End."

Kiana said, "Then, several members who originally belonged to the World Serpent Organization also joined Schicksal and participated in the work of restoring order."

"Then one day, when I became the Herrscher of the End, I was chatting with Yae Sakura and discovered that she no longer remembered the friends she had worked with in World Serpent."

"What kind of forgetting do you mean by not remembering?"

Dr. Mei astutely noticed the key point. "Is it the kind of 'forgetting' that comes from her perspective, as if she had never known such a person before?"

"Not this kind,"

Kiana frowned, seemingly considering how to put it, "Well, in Yae Sakura's understanding, it's as if the other party has never joined World Serpent; the two of them are interacting under different identities."

At this moment, Vill-V also noticed something unusual. "So the problem isn't with the other party, but with the World Serpent, right?"

"Yes, because it was just casual conversation at first, I didn't pay much attention to it. Plus, everyone was busy at the time, so we overlooked it."

Kiana sighed, "Later, when I found Yae Sakura again because of some things about the World Serpent, I discovered that the World Serpent had disappeared from her consciousness."

"To be precise, no one in the world remembers the World Serpent except me."

"The World Serpent has disappeared from the original timeline?"

Elysia blinked. "What about Kevin? What happened to the original Kevin?"

"Kevin's existence has also disappeared, or rather, it is precisely because of Kevin's disappearance that the World Serpent has never appeared."

Kiana explained, "And the Stigmata Project, which Kevin initiated in my memory, turned into a disaster caused by the Cocoon of Finality."

"So, Kevin's existence has disappeared, so everything related to him has been corrected, and only you remember?"

Dr. Mei quickly sorted out the situation and discovered another problem, "Then what about Hua? According to you, Hua should have been affected in the same way, right?"

"Ban... Hua's situation is different from Kevin's. Because Hua is still alive, although no one recognizes her anymore, she has not disappeared."

Kiana glanced at the girl sitting in the corner. "However, although Hua is still alive, no one but me can see or touch her anymore."

"After a while, I couldn't even see her anymore."

"What else?"

Dr. Mei then asked, "The disappearance of Kevin and Hua will inevitably cause a chain reaction. Perhaps the laws of time will temporarily correct some of the problems, but as the situation becomes more and more serious, this correction will also lose its effect, and may even make the situation more serious."

"Yes, at first we thought it was an enemy from the Sea of Quantum or some other dimension attacking us,"

Kiana pursed her lips. "But soon, all traces of civilization in Australia vanished—cities that once housed tens of millions of people turned into wastelands overnight, as if civilization had never existed there in the first place."

"It was only then that we realized that perhaps there was something wrong with our civilization itself."

Kiana became very depressed when she talked about this, "Later, with everyone's help, I was finally able to confirm the chaos of the laws of time and the collapse of the underlying rules through the power of the Herrscher of the End."

"Before I set off, more than 40 percent of the world's cities had already turned into wasteland. If this continues..."

Elysia reached out to comfort the other person, but didn't know what to say.

She already knew that Kiana was just a child who had just become the Herrscher of the End. Not to mention that her time as a god was too short, even from a human perspective, she could still be considered immature. Such a god would inevitably find it difficult to wield such immense power, so this matter was not her responsibility.

However, as a being standing at the highest point of civilization, this responsibility is something the other party cannot shirk. What is the point of saying more words of comfort at this time?

Ultimately, the problem still needs to be solved.

So Elysia turned her gaze to Ai Yue, signaling him to say something quickly.

Not only Elysia, but also Dr. Mei and the others were looking at Ai Yue, as if urging him, the senior, to set an example for the younger gods.

What are you looking at me for?

Ai Yue felt a little uncomfortable under their gazes. "I haven't been a god for very long, why do you all look at me like I definitely have a way?"

"Because you are Ai Yue, you are different!"

Elysia replied without hesitation, "Even if you haven't become a god yet, I believe you definitely have a way!"

Although the others did not speak, their eyes conveyed the same meaning.

"You're blindly believing, that's unacceptable."

Ai Yue muttered a complaint, then looked at Kiana's pitiful expression and sighed, "Don't be too pessimistic, Kiana, things aren't that bad."

"Those cities may have indeed disappeared from your sight, but that doesn't mean they never existed."

"You mean, the World Bubble?"

Dr. Mei reacted the fastest and then analyzed, "Because of the lack of rules, that part of the world is no longer stable and has slipped into the Sea of Quantum, which is why it cannot be observed from the real number world?"

"No, the doctor and the others have ruled out that possibility."

Kiana shook her head. "Although our technology may not be as advanced as yours, we have done some research on the World Bubble. This is obviously not the same thing."

"I didn't say it was the case of World Bubble."

Ai Yue raised an eyebrow. "I'm asking you, after those cities disappeared, did their existence also disappear?"

"No, so the doctor and the others also speculated that this might be different from Kevin's situation."

Kiana shook her head. "However, we haven't found a more reasonable hypothesis yet."

"Since this situation is theoretically impossible, it's normal that you wouldn't think of it,"

Ai Yue smiled and said, "Simply put, whether it's Kevin and Hua, or the people who disappeared from your generation, they all encountered the same situation. However, the 'anchor points' they were connected to were different."

"Anchor point?"

Kiana paused for a moment, then looked thoughtful. "I feel like I've heard that word somewhere before."

"It must have been during class."

Ai Yue casually joked, "However, this concept is rather complicated to understand, so it's normal if you don't understand it."

"I will try my best to understand!"

Kiana immediately tensed up. "So, what exactly happened?"

"Before that, you need to answer one question."

Ai Yue asked, "In your eyes, how do time and space operate?"

"Well..."

Kiana scratched her head. "Well, it's working normally, right?"

"Unfortunately, it seems you don't have complete control over the powers of the Cocoon of Finality,"

Ai Yue shook his head. "That means you can't solve this problem."

"How so?"

Upon hearing this, Kiana immediately became anxious. "Can you teach me? I'll learn very well!"

"Of course I'll teach you, after all, this matter... cough,"

Ai Yue paused halfway through his sentence, then continued, "In short, you need to figure out exactly where the problem lies."

"Isn't it because the course of history on your side has changed, causing our future to collapse?"

Kiana calmed herself down and then asked, "Is there something else going on here?"

"On the surface, this logic makes sense, but have you ever thought about this?"

Ai Yue's tone was suggestive. "If your future is collapsing from the very beginning, then why is it taking this form?"

Kiana blinked, her clear eyes showing no trace of thought, "What do you mean?"