Honkai Impact 3rd: Saving the Pre-Civilization by Hand-Crafting Black Tech

Aponia's situation needs to be handled step by step; telling her too much now might be counterproductive.

However, it wasn't all bad news—at least when facing the next impending Herrscher, Aponia's power would make things much simpler.

Chapter 16: Calm Down, We're a Legal Organization

Aponia had no idea what was causing Ai Yue's grave expression.

But she knew Ai Yue never spoke without reason and rarely showed such an expression. Even when he saw so many Honkai Sickness patients in the sanatorium desperately needing treatment before, he remained calm and even comforted her.

So, had she really done something wrong?

Aponia lowered her head, observing her reflection in the water of her cup.

She recalled how, several years ago, she had seen Honkai Sickness patients curled up in pain by the roadside.

At that time, unable to bear watching these patients die in agony, she had used the church as a sanatorium and taken in a large number of them.

While she called it "taking in," in reality, it was barely enough to provide the patients with shelter from the wind and rain and a meager life. As for treatment or alleviating their suffering, Aponia could do nothing.

She could only kneel before the statue of God and pray devoutly, placing her hope in the ethereal deities.

Yet, it wasn't until Ai Yue appeared before her that she understood the magnitude of her mistake.

Concentrating Honkai Sickness patients together would continuously increase the local Honkai Energy concentration, not only worsening their conditions but also causing it to spread outwards.

If the Honkai Energy concentration reached a certain level, the entire sanatorium would become a massive source of infection, spreading this "sickness" throughout Twilight Street. By then, everyone except a few individuals with Honkai Energy resistance would die.

So, did her decision to undergo the Fusion Warrior surgery, like her initial choice to gather patients, mean she had unknowingly made the wrong choice?

Ah, ahh... It has come to this, there is only—

Just as Ai Yue was recalling what terrible things Aponia had done after gaining this power, he saw the nun suddenly struggle to sit up and then kneel on the bed towards him.

...No way, not again?

Aponia gazed into Ai Yue's eyes, then bowed her head. Her hands clasped together over her chest, her forehead pressed tightly against the bed in a posture of devout worship.

"Please forgive me—"

"Aponia, I've told you many times," Ai Yue sighed, "but I'm really not your god, nor am I sent by your god."

He almost regretted calling himself a savior in front of Aponia back then.

However, Aponia remained motionless.

"Please forgive me—"

"You must understand that even if I say I forgive you, it won't change reality, nor does it mean the mistakes you've made will disappear, right?"

"Please forgive me—"

"You..." Ai Yue sighed. "Fine, I forgive you."

He then placed his hand on Aponia's head, completing some kind of ritual—Aponia had asked him to do this last time.

Yet, this time, Aponia still didn't get up and continued, "Please guide me—"

"Alright, alright, I'll guide you," Ai Yue said as if coaxing a child, "but whether you listen is another matter."

"Please save me—"

"Mhm, save you, of course I will," Ai Yue said, withdrawing his hand. "But you also need to find a way to save yourself, understand?"

"I understand perfectly," Aponia finally sat up, her face as calm as ever. "But how should I do it?"

"I feel like this isn't your usual persona," Ai Yue said, looking at Aponia, who was looking at him with a questioning gaze, and fell into thought. "Shouldn't you be more... resilient?"

"If a child falls when they're alone, they'll try to get up themselves. But if their parents or elders are nearby, they'll sit there and cry and fuss to get attention and comfort," Aponia said with a faint smile. "Sometimes, resilience is only present because there's no one to rely on."

If Ai Yue hadn't appeared before Aponia as a savior and resolved the hidden danger of the sanatorium, Aponia might not have shown such a vulnerable side to him.

In that case, how many mistakes would her "resilient" self have made by being stubborn?

"So, it's my fault then?" Ai Yue didn't notice Aponia's inner thoughts, but seeing that she seemed to have shed some burden, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, if you're feeling better, get some good rest. There's still a lot to do in the future."

"What do you want me to do?" Aponia looked at him. "I don't trust Moth to Fire, but I am willing to trust you."

Aponia found the behavior displayed during Moth to Fire's interrogation today unbearable. If she hadn't understood that these people didn't represent the entire organization, she wouldn't be in this state now.

"Kalpas has been taken to The Deepest Place. If possible, I hope you can go there and use 'Judgment' to temporarily stabilize the situation," Ai Yue told Aponia about Kalpas and The Deepest Place. "Then I might need your help with something. As for what happens after that, it's up to you."

Considering the need to deal with the Eighth Herrscher, who might appear at any time, Ai Yue had to rely on Aponia's power to make some preparations. According to the original storyline, the "Judgment" imposed by Aponia could help the Fused Warriors resist the Eighth Herrscher's authority. If everything went smoothly, Ai Yue was confident he could minimize the damage caused by this disaster.

"I understand," Aponia nodded and took out a small statue from her pocket. "Then, please accept this."

Seeing the somewhat familiar object, Ai Yue's eyes widened slightly. "You already... cough, what is this for?"

As he recalled, this thing seemed to allow Aponia to achieve incredibly absurd, long-distance mental communication.

"You really know a lot, Mr. Ai Yue," Aponia gave him a knowing look, then said softly, "Please don't worry. Just think of it as a protective charm. With this, perhaps distance will no longer be an obstacle between us."

Ai Yue hesitated for a moment before putting the statue in his pocket.

Mental Fusion Warriors weren't omnipotent, and this was reality, not the Sea of Quanta constructed by mental power. Even with a medium, Aponia could only do so much.

Moreover, this world was so dangerous; perhaps it could really come in handy.

Chapter 17: Enemy of Herrschers

In the evening, Ai Yue returned to his current residence and laboratory alone.

Pardofelis needed to stay in the reconnaissance team's dormitory according to Moth to Fire's arrangements, while Aponia was assigned to the Fused Warrior base, temporarily living next door to Elysia. Thus, he was now alone, and the place suddenly became quiet.

After a few days of lively living, this sudden return to silence made Ai Yue a little unaccustomed.

He looked at the slightly empty room, sighed first, and then took out paper and pen from his bag to start recording something.

Successfully joining Moth to Fire meant his previous primary goal had been achieved, and it was time to formulate the next phase of his plan.

Before that, he should sort out the current intelligence.

Ai Yue wrote "Seventh Herrscher" and "Eighth Herrscher" at the top and bottom of a white paper, confirming the current point in time.

The Australian bushfires occurred about a few months ago, which was also the time the first Fused Warrior, "Kevin Kaslana," was born.

Ai Yue wrote Kevin's name on the paper, then wrote Elysia's and Mobius's names in order.

In the plot he was familiar with, Elysia had snatched the Fused Warrior surgery prepared by Mobius for herself, thus becoming the second Fused Warrior, followed closely by Mobius as the third.

Sakura followed, the fourth Fused Warrior, with the fox ears on her head being a side effect of the surgery.

Ai Yue wrote Sakura's name and circled it.

After Kevin became a Fused Warrior, voices within Moth to Fire gradually rose against the creation of Oddities. These people believed that Fused Warriors carried the genes of Honkai Beasts, making them unstable factors that could potentially cause disaster.

To stop this project, they chose to create a Fused Warrior to assassinate the leader of the "Fusion Warrior Project," Dr. Mei. The chosen one was Sakura.

However, judging by the current relationship between Elysia and Sakura, this assassination should have already ended. Dr. Mei obtained Sakura's cooperation through a deal, thus foiling the Opposition Faction's plan.

Of course, Ai Yue knew very well that the Opposition Faction would not give up just like that, but their subsequent plans could not be implemented in a short period.

After Sakura, and before the Eighth Herrscher, four more people became Fused Warriors, including Aponia, who had just undergone surgery today.

The other few, I think they were called...

Ai Yue pondered as he wrote down the names "Cosmo" and "Hen." The last name stopped after just "Daisy."

Never mind, this will do for now.

Having confirmed the eight Fused Warriors who could currently become combat power, Ai Yue couldn't help but nod.

To defeat the Eighth Herrscher with the least cost, Ai Yue alone would definitely not be enough, so the combat power of the Fused Warriors was also indispensable.

As for how to get closer to these people, Ai Yue wrote down the words "Birthday Party."

Kevin's birthday party, the exact time was unclear, but this event happened after Aponia became a Fused Warrior and before the Eighth Herrscher attacked. Therefore, he should have a chance to attend. If he could make a sufficiently noticeable impression at the birthday party, he might easily gain the favor of several Fused Warriors.

If Elysia didn't invite him to help organize the birthday party, he would have to shamelessly tag along.

As for the gift...

Ai Yue took out Kevin's hair, which had been carefully sealed in a plastic bag, from his pocket, a smile appearing on his face.

His research system could unlock corresponding research projects based on materials from the respective characters. For example, the "Anti-Aponia Filter Earmuffs" that Ai Yue used before were developed using Aponia's hair.

After getting along well with the Fused Warriors, the next step was to deal with the Eighth Herrscher.

There were two Herrscher of Consciousnesses in Ai Yue's memory. The one he was more familiar with had, for some reason, become a humorous character who was neither good nor evil, making it difficult to directly feel her power as a Herrscher.

However, the Herrscher of Consciousness Ai Yue needed to consider now was the mortal enemy of civilization, a terrifying existence that would unreservedly unleash disaster and attempt to destroy the entire world upon its appearance.

As the authority possessed by every Herrscher, the Herrscher of Consciousness's ability, true to her title, was to interfere with the mind, including but not limited to creating illusions, pulling people into dreamscapes, and disrupting the five senses.

While this might not sound terrifying, at least not as aggressive as the previous ones that brought about decay and widespread fire, such an ability, combined with the Herrscher of Consciousness's excellent personal attributes, had indeed caused Moth to Fire a lot of trouble.

Just as Aponia, a mental-type Fused Warrior, could use her abilities from a great distance, the Herrscher of Consciousness didn't need to show herself to easily pull a large number of people into the dreamscapes she created. Such an action not only caused widespread panic and disaster but also perfectly concealed the Herrscher of Consciousness's whereabouts, making it difficult for Moth to Fire to pinpoint her location.

It should be noted that even the Seventh Herrscher, who could burn down an entire continent, still died at the hands of the Fused Warrior Kevin. But if the enemy could not be found at all, then no matter how great one's abilities, it would be difficult to put them into practice.

Ai Yue finally wrote "Lock onto target" and "Prevent widespread civilization paralysis" on the paper. The former was to quickly eliminate the Herrscher of Consciousness, and the latter was to minimize the Herrscher of Consciousness's destruction of civilization to the greatest extent.

For Ai Yue, the second objective was even more important than the first, because the fundamental reason why Herrschers could lead civilization step by step to its demise was precisely that gradual erosion of human civilization.

The Seventh Herrscher turned a continent into scorched earth, the Eighth Herrscher caused severe damage to major cities, the Ninth Herrscher destroyed another continent, the Tenth Herrscher damaged numerous important facilities, the Eleventh Herrscher almost destroyed humanity's resistance, and the Twelfth Herrscher compressed human civilization to only three shelters...

Such disasters, which gradually reduced the population and nibbled away at the foundations of civilization, were the true terror of Herrschers as "enemies of civilization."

However, that would be the end of it.

Ai Yue envisioned his plan in his mind, and a smile gradually appeared on his face.

If Herrschers were the "enemies of civilization," then he would be the "Enemy of Herrschers."

And as someone who understood the powers of all Herrschers, no one in this world was more suitable for this title than him.

Chapter Eighteen: How can one fight Honkai by being with such vermin?

Ai Yue's plan was beautiful.

In his vision, if everything went smoothly, he should be able to complete the entire plan before the Eighth Herrscher, thus saving the lives of the vast majority of people.

But when he woke up from his dream the next day, what awaited him were piles and piles of documents.

"What is all this?" Ai Yue flipped through the stack of documents in his hand, his head spinning from the various formulas and calculations. "Don't tell me all this is for me?"

"Yes, these are research projects released by the major research institutes." The man who delivered the documents wore a white coat and was clearly a researcher himself, though he looked young, probably an assistant to some Doctor. "Dr. Mei said to send a copy to your department. You can try them out and see which project you feel more confident about."

"Wait, can I only take on projects released by other research institutes?"

Ai Yue quickly flipped through them and knew that these were all sub-items of complete projects, and the vast majority of them were the kind of "dirty work" that required extensive calculations and deductions.

In other words, these were basically grunt work, usually handled by assistants in the laboratory, but now they were being dumped on him.

Wasn't this just bullying an honest person!

"You mean?" The other party looked confused, "Could it be that you want to apply for research projects yourself?"

Ai Yue frowned, "Can't I?"

"Of course, you can, but it might be a bit difficult like this," the other party gave him a knowing look. "Mr. Ai Yue, Dr. Mei's original words were, 'Prove your worth to those suspicious guys.' As long as you truly have the ability, some things don't require you to speak up."

Tsk, I was wondering why I always felt like I forgot something, turns out I forgot about these damn people.

Seeing how blunt the other party was, Ai Yue didn't insist further. After sending the person away, he sighed.

That's right, Moth to Fire was not an organization like in science fiction works where everyone united to fight the Honkai.

Even at a time of crisis, the powerful figures on high would still scheme against each other for profit, set restrictions everywhere to control their subordinates, and even point their guns at those fighting against the Honkai for their own power.

So, even though he had presented the "Honkai Energy Absorber" to prove his worth, and even though he had Dr. Mei as a recommender to join Moth to Fire, he still had to abide by the internal rules and regulations of Moth to Fire.

It was even possible that because he was too close to Dr. Mei, the higher-ups would deliberately make things difficult for him.

Thinking about it this way, it was really not easy for Dr. Mei to secure an independent laboratory for him.

Should he change his plan and just eliminate all these troublesome people?

Ai Yue hesitated for a moment, but ultimately gave up on this satisfying thought.

As long as greed and malice couldn't be eradicated from people's hearts, killing wouldn't solve the problem. Even if this group was gone, a similar group would take their place. If he kept clashing with them, humanity would truly be beyond saving.

The best way should be