Honkai Impact 3rd, Starting with Handmade Black Tech to Save the Pre-Civilization

Chapter 73: Turn Everything into Light

Although he had achieved his most important objective, Ai Yue still had plenty left to do.

But right now, he didn't want to do anything. He only wanted to go home and get a good night's sleep.

The laboratory was deserted at the moment. The projection of the girl who would say, "Welcome back, Doctor Ai Yue," was nowhere to be seen. Prometheus's mainframe had already been moved elsewhere by those people, and it would take time to bring it back.

But another figure was waiting for him in the room.

"You're back?" Aponia stood in the laboratory with her usual smile. "You look exhausted. Do you need to rest for a while?"

Ai Yue silently walked over and collapsed into her arms.

As if she had been prepared for this, Aponia reached out. Her seemingly slender arms firmly supported his body. "You don't need to worry anymore. Everything is over, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's over." Ai Yue sighed. "Aponia, I probably don't qualify to become light."

Ai Yue was probably the only person in the world who truly understood what becoming light meant. Yet what he had done today was tantamount to personally severing his own path to the Land of Light.

Tampering with another person's mind was surely an atrocious act, no matter where one was.

But if Ai Yue were asked whether he regretted it, the answer was naturally no.

Even if he couldn't become light himself, someone else would eventually qualify. But if the conflicts and difficulties within humanity could not be resolved, this world might never survive until the day it became capable of transforming into light.

Since he was a savior burdened with a mission, he naturally ought to shoulder more responsibility.

"If that's the case, why don't you rely on me?" Aponia didn't ask what "becoming light" actually meant. She simply continued along the topic. "That way, you wouldn't have to dirty your own hands."

"To avoid dirtying my hands, I should order someone else to do something like that? Wouldn't that be even worse?" Ai Yue said. "Besides, would you really be willing to do such a thing?"

In the original story, Aponia had indeed done many things that led to terrible consequences. But that wasn't because she intended to do so. It was the curse brought about by her abilities: kind intentions bearing bitter fruit. For Aponia, that was itself a cruel punishment.

Ai Yue knew that, given their current strange and delicate relationship, Aponia would certainly not refuse if he asked something of her. But that would merely transfer the burden in his heart onto Aponia. Apart from accelerating the distortion within her heart, it would bring no benefit whatsoever.

Ai Yue had come to change this world's tragic ending. If he ordered Aponia to do something she was unwilling to do merely to keep his own hands clean, how would he be any different from the higher-ups of the Moth to Fire?

"You're really considerate. But this will be exhausting." Aponia whispered beside Ai Yue's ear. "If possible, I hope you'll rely a little more on other people's strength."

Ai Yue said nothing more. His head was already resting against Aponia's chest, and he had quietly fallen asleep.

Nearly forty-eight hours without sleep, combined with severe mental exhaustion, had already left Ai Yue utterly spent. If the anger he felt toward the higher-ups of the Moth to Fire hadn't supported his consciousness, he probably would have fallen into a dead sleep back in the isolation room.

Aponia narrowed her eyes slightly, and under the influence of her ability, Ai Yue's body slowly floated up. Looking at his sleeping face, which seemed a little more childish than usual, Aponia couldn't help but hug him.

She carefully studied Ai Yue's face before finally leaving a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"May you have a good dream."

Perhaps because the Eighth Herrscher's Herrscher Core was still in Ai Yue's possession, he was unexpectedly lucid in his dream.

But as he looked around, he couldn't help frowning. "What is this place?"

Before him stretched an endless sea. Ai Yue stood atop the water, and every step he took sent ripples spreading out around his feet.

In theory, he should have been dreaming, but Ai Yue faintly sensed that this wasn't his dream. Instead, it seemed as though his consciousness had arrived somewhere special through some unknown channel.

Could it really be because of the Herrscher Core?

Ai Yue instinctively raised a hand and tried to summon the Herrscher Core, only to discover that he couldn't sense the crystal that should still have been inside his body.

It seemed this truly wasn't a dream.

Could it be the Egg of the End? Could that thing have sensed him through the Herrscher Core?

The moment he considered that possibility, Ai Yue grew alert. Fortunately, the system remained as reliable as ever and continued to function normally even in a place like this.

Still, facing the Egg of the End now would be ridiculous. Hadn't the difficulty suddenly become far too high?

But if he could come into contact with the Egg of the End, could he use the system to squeeze some benefits out of it?

As Ai Yue pondered this, he cautiously took several steps forward. But the surrounding scenery remained unchanged.

It was as if he had simply been trapped in this place.

Just then, Ai Yue suddenly noticed that some light seemed to be surging up from deep beneath the water.

He leaned closer to examine it, only to discover that his reflection on the water's surface was blocking the light.

The light didn't seem to be rising from beneath the water—it was coming from the exact opposite direction!

Ai Yue raised his head and saw a streak of light descending from the sky, striking him squarely in the face.

"What the hell is that?"

The next second, Ai Yue abruptly opened his eyes and sat up in bed.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

Aponia's voice came from behind him. Only then did Ai Yue realize that he had been resting his head on her thighs the entire time.

"I can't really say." Ai Yue shook his head. Recalling the moment when the light struck his face, he wore a strange expression. "But I don't think it counts as a nightmare, does it?"

He repeatedly checked his condition and even injected another dose of Aponia's Embrace to sense for changes in his mind. But everything was exactly as before, and the system didn't display anything unusual either.

Still, Ai Yue's mood suddenly improved quite a bit.

"Won't you sleep a little longer? You've only slept for an hour." Seeing Ai Yue stand up as if preparing to leave, Aponia couldn't help speaking. "You just got through a crisis. At least give yourself a vacation, won't you?"

"It's fine. Doing research is basically a vacation for me." Ai Yue smiled. "There's still a lot to do next."

Ai Yue had never forgotten his ultimate goal. He didn't merely want to defeat the Honkai. He also wanted the collective ascension of human civilization.

Now that he had taken the first step, there was no turning back.

There was actually little difference between altering one person's mind and altering the minds of a group.

Since that was the case, why not simply see it through to the end?

Chapter One: Unlimited Funding Is Just Too Great

Three days later, the Moth to Fire finally made the details of the operation against the Eighth Herrscher public internally.

The Eighth Herrscher's codename was officially confirmed as the Herrscher of Consciousness. Her authority was the manipulation of consciousness. Her aim was to trigger mass comas throughout the world via the network, weaving a massive dream that could envelop the entire world, trapping everyone within it and ultimately reducing all of human civilization to lifeless silence.

However, the enemy had happened to walk straight into the line of fire. The artificial intelligence Prometheus, created by Doctor Ai Yue, detected the abnormality immediately and calculated the Herrscher's hiding place based on the outbreak of the Great Honkai. Finally, with a Fused Warrior squad led by Hen and Kevin, they carried out a decapitation operation and successfully resolved the crisis within forty-eight hours.

That was the announcement released under the official name. Its contents differed vastly from the actual operation plan, but it was enough to deceive the vast majority of ordinary members.

After all, only a handful of people had truly participated in the operation.

"Is this really all right?" Dr. Mei set down the report in her hand and looked at the man before her again. "Ai Yue, your contributions were far more significant than what the report mentioned. This is somewhat unfair to you."

"My contributions can't be explained by a single report. Since that's the case, not mentioning them at all is essentially the same." Ai Yue waved his hand indifferently. "More importantly, has my application been approved?"

"Could they possibly choose not to approve it?" Dr. Mei sighed helplessly. "You've already accomplished something on that scale. Why are you still hung up on a written report?"

Ai Yue had never explained his actions to anyone. But the higher-ups' sudden change in attitude was so abrupt that Dr. Mei could naturally guess what had happened. She had already made her own deductions long ago.

In other words, the Moth to Fire now essentially belonged to the Ai family—and before long, the entire world might belong to the Ai family as well.

That was why Dr. Mei couldn't understand why Ai Yue insisted on applying for a new laboratory through a written report.

No, more accurately, it was no longer merely a laboratory. Ai Yue had formally submitted an application titled "Establishing X Institute." The institute would be used to solve "all problems humanity cannot solve."

Looking at the entire world, only this man had the right to say something like that.

"Proper procedures still need to be followed. I'm not some dictator, after all." Ai Yue smiled. "In the eyes of those who don't know the truth, we still have to put on a show."

Of course, that was merely an excuse. He couldn't exactly say that he was enjoying the sensation of having someone above him give him the green light, could he?

"I feel like you're showing off to me." Dr. Mei pulled out a document from a folder and handed it to Ai Yue. "Here's the response you wanted."

Ai Yue opened it and glanced over it before smiling in satisfaction.

The response was quite simple. In essence, Ai Yue's authority level would be raised to the highest within the Moth to Fire. He would enjoy every priority privilege, and funding applications would be approved without review, with no upper limit. He could also choose any one of several regions as the institute's location. Even establishing an independent branch outside headquarters was permitted.

Simply put, he could do whatever he wanted.

"Your authority is now even higher than mine. Those people directly created a special authority level for you on the spot." Dr. Mei sighed again, complex emotions showing in her voice. "Unlimited funding. How wonderful... I still have to divide my funding among Vill-V and that spendthrift."

Dr. Mei was responsible for more than just research projects within the Moth to Fire. She also coordinated and managed all the scholars. Apart from Mobius, she controlled the funding for every project. As a result, she often had to take other people into consideration, leaving her own projects short of funding.

As she spoke, she kept watching Ai Yue's reaction. The meaning of Can you spare me some of your funding? was practically written across her face.

Speaking of which, what was Dr. Mei researching now? The Sea of Quantum?

Remembering her great reputation in the field of quantum studies, Ai Yue nodded inwardly.

Research into the Sea of Quantum would also benefit Earth's future. If they could draw energy from the Sea of Quantum to resist the Honkai, many things would become much simpler.

Of course, the power of the Sea of Quantum wasn't so easy to utilize. Moreover, it contained countless World Bubbles. Recklessly disrupting the balance within it would only cause more innocent lives to perish.

But considering Dr. Mei's current progress, Ai Yue didn't need to worry about that for the time being.

Still, he knew very well that Dr. Mei was no harmless person either.

Among the three most outstanding scholars of the Moth to Fire, Dr. Mei appeared the most normal, but was actually the most insane. Without the restraint of the person she loved, and if her goal had not happened to align with the survival of civilization, she might have become an existence more dangerous than the Honkai itself.

The higher-ups of the Moth to Fire were useless at everything else, but at least they had accidentally done one thing right: by limiting funding, they controlled the pace of research conducted by Dr. Mei and the others. Otherwise, human civilization might not have needed to wait for the Herrscher of the End to descend before being killed by the monstrous creations it had made itself.

With that thought, Ai Yue decided to ignore the hints in her words for the time being.

He had completely forgotten that he was now the one person without any restrictions—and the one most likely to create such a monster.

"Speaking of which, the base seems rather lively today." Ignoring the anticipation in her eyes, Ai Yue awkwardly changed the subject. "Could today be some sort of Moth to Fire holiday?"

"Oh, it's just the usual ball." Dr. Mei didn't react to Ai Yue's indifference. She had mostly been teasing him anyway. "Whenever the war against a Herrscher ends, the Moth to Fire recruits new members. Eventually, a welcome ceremony for newcomers known as a newcomers' ball was established. Although we don't need to recruit anyone this time, we still held the ball as usual. Do you want to take a look?"

"I see." Ai Yue rubbed his chin. "But why did Elysia tell me it was a celebration banquet?"

"That's probably because she was indeed talking about a different event." Dr. Mei glanced at the time and began gathering the documents on the desk. "It's getting late. I should get ready to leave work too."

Ai Yue was somewhat surprised. "You actually leave work?"

"Ahem." Dr. Mei rarely showed a hint of embarrassment. "Today is a holiday, so... Kevin has the day off too."

Ai Yue immediately made a look of disgust and turned to leave.

Damn shameless couple!

Chapter Two: I Need Power

After leaving Dr. Mei's office, Ai Yue didn't hurry to the address Elysia had sent him. Instead, he headed toward a remote corner of the Moth to Fire headquarters.

Pardofelis's dormitory was there.

Since the trial incident had ended safely three days ago, Ai Yue hadn't seen Pardofelis again. Of course, that didn't mean anything had happened to her. Quite the opposite: she had been so safe that she had spent all this time avoiding him.

At the thought, Ai Yue scratched his head.

To be fair, what he had done really hadn't been very honorable. The letter he had asked Pardofelis to find in the hidden compartment of his bedroom wardrobe had actually been prepared specifically for her. As long as Pardofelis took the letter to Eden, Eden would read it and help protect her.

With Eden's status as a world-famous superstar, sheltering an ordinary soldier like Pardofelis was a trivial matter. But this arrangement had clearly hurt Pardofelis somewhat. She had originally done it to help Ai Yue, only to discover that she had still ended up becoming a burden.

That was why Ai Yue hadn't been able to find Pardofelis over the past three days. She had been so elusive that even Prometheus couldn't completely map her movements throughout the Moth to Fire base.

Prometheus had even developed a sense of frustration over this. Yesterday, she submitted a report proposing an upgrade to the base's surveillance network, looking as if she intended to install cameras in every toilet stall and changing-room locker.

Naturally, Ai Yue hadn't approved that deranged report.

Now that three days had passed, Ai Yue understood Pardofelis well enough to know that even if she had been sulking, she should have calmed down by now. It was also a good opportunity to take her to meet the other Fused Warriors.

However, when he arrived at Pardofelis's dormitory, he found it empty.

"You're Doctor Ai Yue, right? Are you here to see Pardofelis?" Two women in beautiful formal dresses, apparently on their way to the ball, took the initiative to call out to Ai Yue. "We're Pardofelis's teammates. We often hear her mention you."

"Hello." Ai Yue nodded in greeting. "Is she still asleep?"

The two women exchanged glances and revealed strange expressions. "You didn't know? Pardofelis hasn't returned to the dormitory at all these past two days."

The two women then told Ai Yue about an unexpected location.

The training room.

The ordinary soldiers' training area was right beside the dormitory area for their convenience. At that moment, only three or four rooms in the entire training area still had their lights on.

"The room registered with the Caroline ID card is ten meters ahead, then the first room on the left," Prometheus directed Ai Yue while speaking. "It turns out Pardofelis didn't use her own ID card, which is why I couldn't find her whereabouts. I believe this wasn't caused by insufficient capability on my part."

She was still dwelling on the matter.

"Come to think of it, there should be surveillance cameras here, right?" Ai Yue said as he walked. "Can't you access the footage?"