Mei's Awakening, the Turning Point of History.

What is the probability that the experiment will result in death?

Zero percent.

What is the probability that the experiment will cause me to be trapped in the Sea of Quantum and wander forever?

Zero percent.

"What is the probability that I will be forced to stay in the Sea of Quantum experimental group after the experiment succeeds?"

Zero percent.

Under Mei's somewhat embarrassed gaze, Seele poked at the watch face on Mei's wrist with her fingertip, clearly annoyed.

"Prometheus, you're so annoying, I'm talking to Dr. Mei."

Prometheus conjured blue light and shadow, from which a blurry-faced little girl spoke:

"From a purely rational perspective, Dr. Mei is the most outstanding human individual throughout history; the possibility of her making a mistake is zero percent."

"Your questions are all unnecessary worries."

Mei Youyou tapped the watch face with her finger, and the fluorescent blue data stream suddenly disappeared. She coughed softly a few times and said:

"No matter what kind of experiment it is, there is always a risk of failure. If we assume that success is guaranteed just because we have derived the theory, then there is no urgent need to conduct the experiment."

"From a purely rational perspective, a perfect, one-time success is unrealistic. No matter how confidently I assure you, it's like talking to a child..."

She looked down at the little girl's small body, less than 1.5 meters tall, and her tender and cute face, and suddenly felt a little guilty.

Although Mei has strong confidence in her theory, which is based on intuition and reason, she still feels reluctant to accept the risks the little girl in front of her is about to face.

In the instant she closed her eyes, the image of the earth slowly descending like dusk appeared in her mind, with inky black dust embracing the world like a ring of stars.

There were no cries of anguish, no sounds of despair, no prospect of a future.

Endless desolation overflows all things, and the vast world has become an empty shell of hypocrisy.

If... that's what the future will be like.

If... you want to single-handedly reverse the increasingly unfavorable situation in the battle.

That won't work with your current mindset.

Kevin enlisted in the Moth to Fire and entered a long period of training where he could not communicate with the outside world. This was the only time that Mei was able to adapt to her inner awakening as quickly as possible.

The barriers in her heart that had been gradually melted away by that boy had been forced to be rebuilt into invisible barriers due to the arrival of reality.

Guilt, sorrow, sadness, and reluctance.

But these more magnificent things, buried within the will, were suppressed in the corners and fell silent.

Mei opened her eyes and looked at Seele's face again, her heart no longer wavering.

To gain something, you must give up something else; this applies to everyone.

The only difference is... what value can be obtained in exchange for what is discarded.

Mei wasn't arrogant enough to believe she could single-handedly become the key to defeating the Honkai side, but she needed the resources to test the limits of her abilities.

Only in this way could she look towards the so-called end and understand whether she was qualified to step into the realm of the gods.

Therefore, we must race against time.

She adjusted her glasses and whispered to Seele:

"I will protect your life and freedom to the fullest extent possible, and I will abide by the covenant."

"Seele Fulei, I will not break my promise."

"Because his strength aligns perfectly with my vision."

"From this perspective, you are at a disadvantage in our agreement."

"So it's not too late for you to back out now. I'll get what I need in my own way."

The girl frankly added:

"As far as I'm concerned, even without making this agreement with you, he has proven himself to be the first human to be registered after the plan succeeds."

Seele nodded, gazing at the girl's face, and said softly:

"I know, but that's not enough."

"That's not what I'm betting on, Dr. Mei."

"I'm not betting on the plan's success; I'm betting on your future."

Mei was stunned for a moment. Those eyes looking at her were so bright, so very bright, as if the last withered grass in the wasteland had been burned to ashes. Yet, the scattered sparks revealed a resolute determination and a stubbornness that inspired awe.

She asked:

"Won't you regret betting everything on someone else?"

A knowing smile played on Seele's lips as she said casually:

Of course not.

"It wasn't until recently that I realized how fortunate it is to still have value to be exploited."

"I have no reason to refuse, because besides that, Seele Fulei has no value whatsoever."

"I cannot help my brother on my own, even if I live to the end."

"Dr. Mei, you are the only chance I can hold onto."

"So even if we fail because of this, I won't blame you; it was my own choice."

Mei shook her head helplessly and replied:

"Miss Seele, I'm afraid Mr. Su won't be as understanding as you."

"Even for the sake of personal safety, I will do everything in my power to prevent any accidents from happening in the experiment."

"So, in a sense, we've now staked our lives on each other."

Seele said softly:

"That's fair."

Mei pressed down on the faintly glowing Prometheus on the watch face, preventing it from making any insolent remarks.

She said seriously:

"Certainly."

It was unrealistic to bring Seele back to the lab without the knowledge of the Moth to Fire, but apart from Himeko, who was embroiled in a major battle, and Fu Hua, who was undergoing long-term training in the recruit camp, few people cared.

At least assuming the little girl is willing, there is no one who would choose to meddle and stop her.

Therefore, whether or not they could keep it from the Moth to Fire branch became a trivial detail.

Muen never imagined that Seele Fulei would choose to come back.

In the old man's memory, the young girl's eyes, looking at him, were filled with a bewildered and ignorant hatred.

She couldn't understand the future that the laboratory represented, nor did she need to understand that weight.

Like them, Seele suffered injustice, her freedom was extinguished, her life was distorted, and her chance to survive was taken away.

On this basis, to demand that they understand the so-called hardships, and to be willing to die with a sense of righteousness just to eliminate the guilt of some experimental personnel, is even more unreasonable.

The outbreak of the Third Honkai Outbreak further proved that the sacrifices made for the Kindling Project were worthwhile.

Doctor Muen has never regretted his choice.

The old man was getting closer and closer to death, and what he was doing was not for a name that would not exist in the ruins of the Sea of Quantum in an era when humanity truly perished.

He discarded even the most crucial thing—reputation—as if it were worthless, so wealth and power were even more useless to him.

The old man, with his frail body, shouldered this sin and guilt. He deliberately issued all the instructions to start the experiment himself, as if in doing so he could bear more of the burden.

The initial reason for launching this plan was quite simple.

That was simply a belief.

If we don't do it ourselves, will anyone else be able to come up with the idea of Sea of Quantum?

Even if such a hypothesis were proposed, could that person do better than themselves?

This was something only he could do, so even though his age no longer allowed him to work for long periods, Doctor Muen still chose this path.

The future of humanity and the greater good weighed heavily on his chest, compelling him to lead to this outcome. So when Mei appeared before him, displaying a talent that left him speechless, Muen's heart was filled with mixed emotions.

Because this means that it's no longer something that only I can do.

This will be a relief, and more importantly, an opportunity to let go and enjoy a peaceful retirement.

But in the Muen was more worried about whether Mei, who was only 17 years old, could bear such a path that was destined to be full of sin.

Therefore, he chose to continue taking on the responsibility. Only after truly confirming that this person possessed such awareness and a strong heart could Muen feel at ease letting this young girl continue on the hopeless path.

The old man's concerns were certainly not without reason.

Even though Mei is incredibly intelligent, almost like a demon, that doesn't mean she's a heartless monster.

The newly created Prometheus could not escape the search of the laboratory's intelligent system. Even though the relevant images were deleted, the original data was still displayed after Muen's subsequent restoration.

Mei gazed at the rows of children's corpses in the storage room and stood silently for an hour.

When she first entered the laboratory, she was unaware that it was trampling on taboos and ethics to conduct human experiments that were despised by everyone.

If a normal girl of this age suddenly discovered this reality, it wouldn't be surprising if she experienced a brief breakdown.

In the end, Mei shed tears and was forced to vomit by the sight of the corpse, but she still suppressed all her emotions and followed the path of her predecessors without hesitation, stepping into the forbidden territory.

Incredible adaptability.

In just three hours, she transformed from a trembling, teeth-gritting expression to a calm, expressionless demeanor, achieving a metamorphosis that could hardly be described as monstrous.

The core motivation that kept Mei calm at that time was simply her unwillingness to let these corpses go to waste.

Therefore, unnecessary mistakes are not allowed to exist. We must find the shortest path to success in order to minimize minor requirements and achieve results with fewer sacrifices.

With such belief and willpower, the girl held firm to her nerves and successfully crossed the most difficult initial hurdle.

Muen admired Mei for her qualities, but he still didn't think she was mature enough. Therefore, Seele's return was not something that made him happy at this time.

The old man also couldn't understand why she would choose to come back.

It wasn't until he saw those eyes, now so overwhelmed by other things that they no longer cared about hatred, that the highly experienced old man vaguely understood some of the answers.

The experiment quietly began, witnessed by Mei and Muen.

Muen gazed at the slender girl inside the incubation chamber. Her gentle breathing sent tiny bubbles through the liquid, and her dark blue hair floated with it. Her eyes calmly watched the two of them, their emotions unreadable.

Muen vaguely recalled the eyes of her during that experiment, and when the image overlapped with that of the past, it seemed indistinguishable. However, the current Seele Fulei possessed a terrifying quality that made Moon vaguely aware of fear.

This fearlessness in the face of death reveals an indescribable eeriness and morbidity.

Doctor Muen didn't want to think about these things anymore. He said to Mei beside him:

"If your theory is correct, then given her adaptability to the Sea of Quantum, the chances of the experiment succeeding are very high."

"But Mei, if we fail, our experimental group will very likely be facing a Herrscher- level individual."

"This is tantamount to taking away the dragon's precious treasure from its cave. While it slumbers, everything will naturally be fine, but this is just a false illusion."

"It is destined to awaken, and because of what happened in Canghai City, it will probably be very grumpy when it wakes up. If anything unexpected happens, we will face its full-scale revenge."

"I don't care about my own life, but it would be a very bad thing if the experiment had to be terminated because of this."

Mei used the light screen displayed by Prometheus to continuously measure data and theoretical models, her eyes reflecting the thousands of flowing data points as she focused intently.

However, the girl still followed basic etiquette. From both a human perspective and a researcher's perspective, Mei believed that Doctor Muen was worthy of respect.

So she responded:

"I think it's more like breaking the sword in the stone in front of King Arthur, or perhaps it's more apt to describe it as setting fire to an art collector's private exhibition studio."

"Judging from Miss Seele's attitude towards Mr. Su, that man truly treats Miss Seele as family. If Mr. Su were an emotional person, it wouldn't be surprising if he chose to risk becoming an enemy of humanity to grind us to dust."

"But Doctor Muen, I need time, the project team needs time, and humanity needs time."

"You have to give something to get something."

"Isn't that reasonable and fair?"

"Miss Seele and I made a deal, and we both risked our lives before it was agreed upon."

"We are all prepared to die, and I believe the lab will also be prepared to die in order to get ahead of schedule by ten years."

Doctor Muen stopped talking; he wasn't angry at Mei's behavior or tone.

The old man could sense the anxiety and unease hidden in the girl's heart.

Is choosing such a risky option a sign of immaturity, or an overconfidence in oneself?

This is an answer that only Mei herself can know.

But what she said was undoubtedly true. At the current pace of the project, it would take at least ten years, even with optimistic calculations, to directly reach the theoretical results constructed by Mei.

But this is far too long, far too long. How many decades does humanity have left?

Can humanity survive the first decade?

If the frequency of Herrscher appearing increases again, the so-called ten years is an overly optimistic and unrealistic figure.

This was especially true after Doctor Muen learned part of the truth about the Third Herrscher's death.

Assuming humanity doesn't achieve any major breakthroughs in the near future, the subsequent Fourth Herrscher, Fifth Herrscher, and even Herrscher whose ultimate potential is unknown, will utterly destroy civilization.

Gambling is the only option.

Even if it's for the sake of the entire human system, to build high walls of defense for the remaining survivors, and to ensure the future continues, Muen has no other choice.

Or rather... humanity has long since had no other choice.

Muen had no reason to refute Mei's words. Not only did he not want to refute them, but the old man also admired the young girl even more and completely abandoned all his preconceived notions about her.

Having only known of the Honkai's existence for half a month, Mei was able to see that the current situation had reached a point of irreversible despair, yet she was still able to immediately accept reality and risk everything for it.

This awareness, this decisiveness, this talent, this conviction.

Perhaps...

Mei is not only suited to be a genius who creates miracles in scientific research, she even has the qualifications to lead humanity.

In Doctor Muen's eyes, it doesn't matter if the experiment fails. As long as Mei continues to live, she will eventually be able to complete the Sea of Quantum Project before the end of the world and continue to pass on human civilization.

And... hidden within those recovered documents lies an even greater hope.

Although it is only in its nascent stage and with a faint glow, Muen has already seen the future of humanity in her.

Therefore, Muen is prepared to shoulder all the responsibility.

Even if the cost were merely the laboratory and his own life, Muen would still choose Mei without hesitation, even if it meant the instant extinction of half of Australia and humanity.

The Herrscher Core rotates silently within a special instrument. Just figuring out how to accurately extract its power and control its fixed amount and direction has already taken half of the total time since the experiment was established.

Attempting to peer into the divine realm with the power of mortals is an extremely difficult and dangerous endeavor. To date, even considering only the advanced experimental personnel who possess the relevant knowledge, the number of lives sacrificed for this cause has reached nearly three digits.

These elites, who stood above the majority, continuously rushed towards grand deaths, eventually establishing a relatively mature Herrscher Core.

As a researcher who proposed experimenting with the Herrscher Core and successfully led his team to research the basic premise of utilizing powers, it's no wonder that Doctor Muen is respected by Mei.

The teams now conducting research on the Herrscher Core have inherited the framework of this technology, and they only need to make some minor adjustments to immediately begin preliminary research on their powers.

The little girl was quietly and completely submerged by the massive amount of Honkai Energy created by the power, and the fluctuations in the Sea of Quantum were instantly detected by the instruments.

Mei watched this scene calmly.

She wasn't worried about failing, nor was she worried about the consequences of failure.

The immense talent built upon enlightenment and the current trends facing civilization have driven the girl's thoughts to extremes under immense pressure.

Fail?

This is perfectly reasonable; the failure of an experiment is a stepping stone to eventual success.

As long as the final result is achieved, failure is tolerable and acceptable for a normal researcher.

But Mei is different; what she truly desires makes her extraordinary.

If even such a simple experiment cannot be successful on the first try, how can one overcome the despair that follows?

She couldn't allow herself to fail in this kind of experiment where she felt no difficulty, not even once.

This is because it seems to be the limit of one's own talent, and Mei must ensure that this limit is sufficient to overcome the efforts of the previous century in order to turn things around.

But this idea is too arrogant; it's completely wishful thinking.

This is tantamount to blatant disregard for the wisdom of past generations, as if stepping on the corpses of our ancestors and telling them that the time and effort they have put in are worthless in my eyes.

Mei couldn't be that arrogant, because she had always been just a gentle girl with a stubborn streak.

But she had to do it.

But she cannot afford to fail now.

Her vision meant that without absolute self-confidence and personal ability, that vision would never be realized.

Mei needs to succeed on her first try.

A beautiful, perfect success, enough to ignite that first spark in your chest.

If Seele refuses, that's fine.

But since someone is with me, and shares the same unwavering resolve.

That was enough for Mei to gamble everything on this crucial, pivotal, and essential first success on this experiment.

How can a gambler with insufficient chips turn the tables in a short period of time?

The only answer is all in.

Moreover...

The girl glanced at Seele, who was winking at her in the incubation chamber, pursed her lips, and continued to have Prometheus perform the thirty-fifth repetition of the calculation results.

Having someone with you feels pretty good.

This scene, which should have been incredibly grand, unfolded quietly on an ordinary afternoon.

Mei closed her eyes and then opened them again. She entered the final calculated data and performed the corresponding operations.

The experiment officially began.

One second later, the girl's body seamlessly transformed into Quantum State.

Five seconds later, the instrument could no longer detect quantum fluctuations, confirming that Seele Fulei had entered the Sea of Quantum.

The fact that these two steps were so successful is enough to prove that Mei's theory does not contain any fundamental errors.

But the most crucial step is the final one.

That is, to allow Seele Fulei to transition from Quantum State to its present state within a specified time without any loss.

The long minute slowly passed, during which the girl and the old man stared at the empty incubation chamber without blinking or shifting their gaze even once.

Finally, Muen gazed at the girl sleeping peacefully in the incubation chamber and fell into a long silence.

The experiment... was a success.

A complete and utter success.

Mei walked silently into the incubation chamber, embraced the frail girl, and smiled slightly.

My own battle has only just begun.