End.

Containment.

Regardless of the internal attitude and specific operations, the external outcome for living Herrscher can only be containment, imprisonment, research, and experimentation.

The current Sixth Herrscher — Seele Fulei —is not capable of gaining freedom.

Given her current position as a regional leader and researcher in Australia, it is impossible for Mei to influence such an important decision from a personal perspective.

It is neither permissible nor in the best interests of the Sixth Herrscher to escape control.

Seele was well aware of this, as evidenced by her suicidal thoughts, which revealed her clear negative expectations about her current situation and future treatment.

Because she had anticipated this, before learning that her powers could potentially help Su Qing'an, Seele's heart was almost constantly filled with the desire for self-destruction.

Just as Mei had thought, if things continued like this, she would eventually try all sorts of horrific methods of suicide. In the end, she would either wear down her willpower through meaningless self-torture, making her vulnerable to Honkai Consciousness, or she would simply succeed in committing suicide.

Mei gave Seele Fulei a brief glimmer of hope, a spark enough to extinguish her suicidal thoughts and self-loathing for a long time.

As for the details of containment, in order not to reveal the specific identity of the Sixth Herrscher's human form to the outside world, and also to take into account Seele's own psychological state, she finally chose this residential area where the Moth to Fire soldiers and logistics personnel lived as a large containment site.

In this way, so-called imprisonment is, in a sense, not much different from being forced to stay at home.

Seele, being the Sixth Herrscher, offered no resistance, so the containment process proceeded smoothly.

Mei did not leave during this time; she took Seele out of the bathroom wearing a change of clothes that she had prepared beforehand.

The girl's reason for preparing these clothes in advance is simple: she wants to soothe someone's spirit, and appropriate physical contact is the most direct way to do so. At the same time, it also helps her to observe whether the other person is pretending.

This was based on the fact that Seele was covered in blood at the time, so it was necessary to bring spare clothes.

The cleaning robot thoroughly cleaned Seele's room floor and blood-stained furniture, leaving them spotless, and even completely removed the smell of blood.

The two sat on the sofa in the living room, surrounded by the usual colorful dolls. Mei picked out a cute cushion and stuffed it into the girl's arms for her to hug, then naturally turned on the TV and tuned it to the children's channel.

Amidst the sounds of cartoon characters talking, she used a hairdryer to dry Seele's orange-blue hair with a strangely skilled and gentle touch.

A subtle warmth lingered in the almost silent breeze as the little girl felt her slender fingertips caress the skin behind her neck and the delicate strands of her hair, gazing outwards.

The sky seemed to sway endlessly in my pupils as if reflected in ripples of water, its azure hue undulating into beautiful waves in the sunlight, and something silent was spreading outwards from the villa.

She understood what was happening; as Herrscher, being allowed to act freely was forbidden.

Conversely, not resorting to annihilation or even more extreme containment measures is already the limit.

Mei had already reassured her beforehand, so Seele wasn't scared.

Perhaps her innate inferiority complex and weak self-worth have led to this seemingly gentle imprisonment, which even provides her with a sense of security.

Seele didn't want to face the inevitable aftermath.

She is now more afraid of seeing those close to her than of death.

Even knowing that changes in relationships, attitudes, and perspectives are inevitable, there is always a thin membrane between even the most vivid fantasies and reality: the feeling that "it hasn't happened yet."

As long as she doesn't witness hatred, alienation, or fear in someone's eyes, a girl will subconsciously retain hope and expectation in her heart.

This is an ineradicable naiveté, a self-inflicted anesthetic within human nature.

She understands all this, so given the current situation, her closed-off confinement and imprisonment is the best solution.

If, after becoming Herrscher, the first human she encountered wasn't Mei, it would be impossible for Seele to maintain her current mental stability.

This is a situation that only Mei, who possesses the highest local authority, has a good relationship with Seele, and is extremely calm and objective, can resolve.

As the hair gradually dried, the liquid metal, stretching across the entire field of vision, had initially enveloped the entire villa, thus completing the first line of defense.

Following Prometheus's command, immeasurable amounts of liquid metal, covering the entire villa complex, surrounded the area. Meanwhile, the remaining Nanobots worked in an orderly manner to dismantle and rebuild, setting up basic defenses and installing research institutes and large-scale equipment.

These liquid metals, which exhibit high resistance to Honkai Energy and possess high plasticity, high strength, high hardness, and even self-repairing capabilities, are essentially a new generation of Nanobots ores.

That is, Soul Steel.

The Soul Steel currently used to contain the Sixth Herrscher is all that the Australian branch has in stock. Mei even temporarily emptied the armory that was supposed to use these for weapon replacement.

It is conceivable that the current production capacity is still in a stage of supply and demand imbalance. If this were not the research and development site of the first Soul Steel Quantum Computer, it would probably take much longer to achieve a large containment facility of this strength.

At that time, it will be completely impossible to avoid the perspective of those above.

Mei's methods in handling this matter were almost flawless. The Soul Steel covering a large area would have caused temporary darkness, but to take care of the little girl's feelings, she first changed the color and properties of the Soul Steel, and then applied virtual battlefield technology to keep the scenery as it was originally.

The visual change will intensify the unease, while Mei's attempt to erase this unease will gradually make the little girl accustomed to this treatment, much like boiling a frog in lukewarm water.

Seele stopped looking at the outside world. She hugged her doll, her gaze unfocused as she stared at the television screen, and whispered:

"I'll be hated by everyone."

Mei patted her head and replied:

"Some people will, but those who truly like you won't hate you for it. Just give them some time to adjust, and they'll probably just feel sad about what happened to Seele."

The little girl said softly:

"I don't want to make everyone sad."

Mei did not respond to the question; she only said:

"Mr. Su is on his way back."

Seele blinked slightly, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself, and she remained silent.

Seemingly aware of the other party's concerns, Mei calmly analyzed:

"Don't worry, Mr. Su has the ability to observe souls."

"If you were trapped in Honkai Consciousness, he should have been able to see it immediately."

She looked at the little girl's eyes, which suddenly brightened, and smiled as she whispered:

"Mr. Su's confirmation of this matter is of great significance."

Mei's fingers brushed across the girl's fair wrist, her fingertips lingering on the old scratch, and she whispered:

"After all... once you're sure you're okay, you shouldn't do anything foolish again."

Seele lowered her eyes and responded softly:

"Sorry."

Mei stopped bringing up the topic; dwelling on it was pointless.

The purpose of mentioning it now was simply to make Seele more careful in her future actions; the implication was more of a warning than a reprimand. She pinched the little girl's cheek as an acceptance of the apology and continued:

"Mr. Su has experience severing the link between Herrscher and Honkai Consciousness. If you truly don't have any backup plan against Honkai Consciousness, but only a weak link exists, let him sever it for you."

"It'll be fine then."

Seele nodded obediently.

At this point, the faint, dark crimson light that occasionally flickered in her pupils completely disappeared.

Mei, who had taken in all these details, seemed lost in thought.

Prior to this, she had already had doubts about the details of Seele's pupil color change, initially attributing it to a sign of the activation of her powers.

The argument is that when the other person is emotionally agitated and commits suicide, as the flesh and blood spread and heal, the pupil color changes accordingly.

But it seems that... it might be other factors.

Mei had some guesses about this, and as for the subsequent verification, she would understand part of it after the experiments on the powers.

Kevin Kaslana stared blankly at the pop-up screen.

He read Mei's message again, and had no choice but to accept reality, his expression turning grim and unpleasant.

Seele Fulei became the Sixth Herrscher.

Everyone knew that the Sixth Herrscher would appear sooner or later, and even if it had only been a month, it wouldn't have been unexpected. Mei had already been working on its powers, but why...?

Why this particular girl?

Kevin understood perfectly what this meant for Su Qing'an. The only thing to be thankful for was that Seele seemed to still retain her own will.

He glanced at the pale-faced boy and felt that this terrible news had just happened to come at the worst possible time.

The blankness of his consciousness began to return, and his convulsing body began to return to normal under the influence of the injected medicine. Su Qing'an felt the sorrow that had been accumulating in his chest gradually raging, and he felt somewhat inexplicable.

Under Kevin's gaze, the boy's control over the State of Still Water once again took over his body, and with a deep breath, he completely forgot about the aftereffects of the brief attack.

Little Feather, which had somehow sprung from the Mind Lake, floated and swayed in front of me, seemingly expressing concern.

Su Qing'an held the end of the Udu-dust in her hand, and was about to turn around to thank Kevin when she noticed the solemnity and worry that the other man could not hide.

Kevin silently pulled back the light screen, and as the boy's pupils constricted, he softly stated:

"The Sixth Herrscher has appeared."

"But for some unknown reason, she has retained her full self-awareness, which has prevented any casualties in the vicinity. She is currently with Mei, so you don't need to worry for now, teacher."

Kevin reserves his personal opinion regarding Mei's decision to venture out alone to meet a Herrscher.

Although this was undoubtedly too risky, and the slightest mistake could be fatal, he would unconditionally support any choice the other party made.

As for the reasons...

Aside from pure trust, Kevin also believed that he did not have the wisdom to question Mei's decision or the ability to sway her choice.

Su Qing'an remained silent.

This appears to be the first time he has experienced such intense emotional fluctuations since his personality disorder was diagnosed.

The flames scorched reason.

This rage, which is difficult to direct at the culprit, seems to urgently need to find a spark to burn away everything in its path.

The boy's will seemed to be divided into two parts.

On one side is an extremely stubborn and cold-blooded rationality, on the other is a frenzied rage that burns the heavens and boils the seas.

Su Qing'an has always been a detached and calm person, which has become even more apparent after her personality was lost. However, her ability to cherish important people remains intact, which has led to the bizarre intertwining and collision of these two extremes within her soul, producing a painful lament.

At this moment, being so angry that one loses one's mind only reveals one's own powerlessness.

Pure anger is meaningless, and so is pure sorrow.

But people will always suffer repeatedly because of these meaningless things, and even lose the right judgment and thus lose more things.

Su Qing'an has always been very good at suppressing her emotions.

From his initial immature period when he forced himself to use the Sword Heart Technique achieve forced calmness, to his current state of being unfazed even when the sky is falling, the young man has undergone several transformations in his state of mind.

He began to seriously consider: why Seele?

This question kept echoing in my mind, a jumble of thoughts.

But in the end, Su Qing'an had to admit that compared to the other humans, Seele, who was favored by the Sea of Quantum and possessed excellent Honkai Energy adaptability and resistance, was indeed more likely to become the target of the Honkai Consciousness.

The fact that Su Qing'an still possesses self-awareness is the final element that holds her back from rationality.

Considering the few Herrscher entities that remained largely unscathed in the post-apocalyptic era, assuming that Seele's unique experiences forged her will that allowed her to withstand the forced link of Honkai Consciousness, it wouldn't be impossible for her to retain her own will.

Su Qing'an could understand the reason for this because he had precedents to learn from, but others would probably only feel strange and worried about it.

The surviving Sixth Herrscher is a terrifying time bomb for the Previous Civilization. The only reason not to kill her is that it would be of greater benefit to humanity if the Sixth Herrscher continued to live.

As for what exactly this benefit, which can offset all negative impacts and the Herrscher Core itself, is, it is probably still up for debate.

Aside from all that, Su Qing'an actually had a vague, extremely bad premonition, but this premonition vanished as quickly as a rainbow after the rain, along with the sorrow that had just spread through her chest, as if it had never existed.

In Previous Civilization, the mortality rate for becoming Herrscher was 100%.

The relationship between the two is always a life-or-death struggle, with no room for compromise.

Whether looking at current examples or later records, there has never been a perfect case of Herrscher and humans living in harmony after the destruction of Finality Previous Civilization.

Assuming things followed the original trajectory, Seele would still have become the Sixth Herrscher, still have been able to withstand the onslaught of Honkai Consciousness, but still... died at the hands of humans.

Su Qing'an understood that with Mei by her side, Seele was most likely safe now, but this heavy reality still made him choose to get to her side as soon as possible.

"Kevin, I'm leaving this to you."

After speaking, the feather the boy held between his fingers dissolved into countless crimson fragments...

In front of the villa's garden, Mei gazed at the white-haired, red-eyed boy and said softly:

"It took three minutes and twelve seconds. This is the last time."

Su Qing'an nodded to indicate that he understood.

He understood the implication: he had not concealed the existence of [Udu-dust • Critical Point] from Mei.

Or rather, Su Qing'an had already told the other party almost everything about her specific situation and personal abilities beforehand.

Even for things that are inconvenient to say, he tried to explain them crudely using metaphors and allegories.

With their lives already in the other party's hands, there's no need to hide these not-so-secret secrets any longer.

Therefore, the other party was already well aware of the side effects of [Udu-dust • Critical].

The three-minute journey didn't push either of them to Little Feather limits in terms of effort and time, but Mei probably saw this unnecessary waste as risky, so being lectured was inevitable.

Judging from her waiting in the garden beforehand, she must have anticipated Su Qing'an's actions.

Mei said softly:

"You should already know the specifics. I'm currently searching for other useful information, and perhaps your experience might give you a better understanding of the current situation."

Su Qing'an responded by saying:

"In my previous world, there were also situations like Seele's current one."

"That is, the Herrscher preserves his own will and wields the power of authority."

Mei had long since given up on whether the other person came from another world, but the veracity of this information was something she couldn't ignore. She frowned and said:

Are the cases you mentioned unique?

Su Qing'an said softly:

"Being plural does not mean it is unique."

Mei shook her head and said:

"That's strange."

"In my eyes, the Honkai Consciousness has always been the pawn in the game. Even considering the slight differences between the Honkai Consciousness of the two worlds, it shouldn't repeatedly fall into the same trap. That doesn't make sense."

"Perhaps the elements that make the selection criteria valid have been added. If there really are repeated cases, then it's almost like this is a fixed way to pass the level."

Su Qing'an understood that establishing the screening mechanism Mei mentioned would make her hypothesis more convincing. He remained silent for a moment before saying:

"He can also be indifferent."

Mei understood what the other person meant, and she asked in return:

"If He truly doesn't care about the survival of these Herrscher, or even the continuation of their will, then it can only mean that His true goal is closer to selection than the destruction of civilization."

"But even if it's just a simple selection process, treating one's soldiers arbitrarily only proves that He has better, stronger, and absolutely unbetrayable soldiers."

The boy looked up into her purple eyes and said softly:

"It is the Finality."