Flora's Trust, Doppelgänger

When the person most qualified to stop the other party's decision chose to respect it, neither Mei nor Prometheus had any reason to continue making judgments for Fu Hua.

The key to the current experiment on the Hyper-Mutation Factor is not the danger of the reagents to the subjects, but how to unlock the key to its self-activation.

Mei believes an opportunity is needed.

For example, enlightenment; for example, life and death.

However, these are all uncertain factors that are difficult to control. While the Hyper-Mutation Factor is too convenient, it must also come at the cost of some thresholds. There seems to be a law of balance in the dark, which makes it difficult for the mass birth of Fusion Warrior to make substantial progress.

Using traditional Fusion Gene methods would be too wasteful of precious resources, and the fact that more than half of the population died without being able to improve upon this foundation indicates that the project cannot last.

Of the total of one thousand people, several hundred who died were the elite of the elite among the Moth to Fire.

To ensure that the first batch of Fusion Warrior passed the ideological and will test, Mei had no choice but to use their lives to fill this bottomless pit. Otherwise, even if they were lucky enough to succeed, ordinary people would find it difficult to tolerate this inhuman change and the outside world's gaze, and there was even a certain probability that internal strife would occur.

Aside from unforeseen circumstances caused by bizarre manipulation, no similar incidents have occurred within the Fusion Warrior's organizational structure, demonstrating their discipline and character.

If those thousand men don't pay attention to these qualities, then instead of becoming the helpful force they should be, they'll become a burden that's difficult to deal with.

Soldiers who can be organized and commanded are able to defend their country; otherwise, they are prone to becoming mobs with terrifying power.

Mei wanted to address the issue of expanding the Fusion Warrior force from two perspectives.

The first is to ensure a low conversion mortality rate, and the second is to ensure loyalty.

Once these two elements are resolved, the entire plan can be launched with the combined power of the world.

To address this problem, a plan for Hyper-Mutation Factor is necessary.

As for loyalty, Mei ultimately couldn't see through people's hearts, nor could she control them.

However, apart from the first batch of Fusion Warrior, all subsequent Fusion Warrior will have their genetic code and corresponding disorder-repairing agents stored in Mei's database.

This is a rather shady tactic, but it's also the most incisive and effective way to ensure loyalty to one's bottom line.

This drug, which disrupts the genetic chain, is unlikely to be effective against beings like Kevin and Yae Sakura who have successfully navigated the stabilization phase. However, it has a devastating effect on humans who became Fusion Warrior by relying on stabilizing genetic drugs.

Only Mei, who personally created the Fusion Warrior, possesses the ability to manufacture this potion.

No one outside the organization knew this, but since soldiers who became Fusion Warrior by relying on gene stabilizers needed to replenish their gene stabilizers regularly, this backdoor in the hands of the Moth to Fire was enough to make it difficult for anyone to have any disloyal thoughts.

Mei did not hide the existence of the disordered drug from Fu Hua, which was a sign of respect she showed. At the same time, she also informed Fu Hua of the difficulties of the Hyper-Mutation Factor.

Fu Hua's willingness to go to Fiji to undergo the Hyper-Mutation Factor experiment despite knowing all the risks clearly deserves this respect.

Haiyuan City, 121st basement level, No. 2341, Outer Ring Area.

Grey Sugar Bar.

Wan Ning took a sip of her cocktail, her smile exceptionally radiant. As she parted her lips, a few grains of sea salt clung to the rim of the glass, their pinkish-white color tinged with moisture. Upon seeing this, Christianne nuzzled closer like a puppy, her fair nose almost touching Wan Ning's soft lips as she inhaled the aroma of sea salt mixed with lemon.

The girl raised her eyebrows slightly, and the gaze that had been fixed on the distant neon lights shifted to her lovely face, as if curious about what the other person would do, making the curve of her lips appear even more unrestrained.

Christianne's brown eyes shone brightly in the brightly lit bar, revealing a alluring desire. She slightly raised her head, then obediently licked the few grains of sea salt clean like a cat.

The fruit platter and craft beer on the table were knocked to the floor by the girl's increasingly excessive movements. The sound was mixed with the noisy trivialities, leaving only the delicate sound of lips touching and lightly pecking at each other.

After a long ten minutes, Wan Ning's complexion grew increasingly rosy as she allowed the other party to do as they pleased, but the light in her eyes strangely dimmed. The domineering power she was being controlled blocked her right to breathe through her nose, and she could only get a few bits of oxygen by opening and closing her lips.

Even this brief respite was completely robbed of by Christianne's actions. Her cracked skin, throbbing mouthparts, and dripping black grease were nowhere to be seen. It was as if the missionary truly possessed only a soft, youthful girl's body, utterly powerless to resist the monster's brutality.

The seemingly frail and boneless arms of the Herrscher of Domination encircled the girl's neck, accompanied by strange cracking and snapping sounds, the wear and tear of which reached her ears.

Christianne opened her half-closed eyes slightly, gazing at the pale face, extinguished pupils, and neck that appeared strangely shaped like a broken swan, a look of boredom on her face.

Transparent and colorless threads brushed past, and everything, like a puppet being straightened to its original position, returned to its original form.

Wan Ning picked up the cup and unopened bottle that had fallen to the ground, slowly filled her own glass, and smiled as she looked at the girl who had returned to her original seat and seemed a little awkward. She asked softly:

"What? Aren't you going to continue?"

Christianne wrinkled her delicate nose, her lips slightly pursed, and said:

"The real Flora is much more fun; you're too easily broken like this."

She smiled upon hearing this, seemingly unconcerned about her previous experience, and continued:

"Anyway, if it's broken, you can fix it, right?"

"Then do whatever you want."

Christianne snatched the glass from her hand, downed the drink in one gulp, and then said:

"That would make it dilapidated. Even with the power of domination, if the outer shell is severely damaged, it can't be repaired. You should also know that this body can't be damaged for the time being."

Even now, Wan Ning's neck is in a shattered state. It is only because the controlled power forcibly returned it to its original state that it appears unharmed now.

But once the power is withdrawn, the vitality of this body will be like an oxidized apple, losing its charm and withering into a corpse.

Wan Ning curled her lips into a smile, a smile that seemed unchanged from the very beginning, though it looked rather strange than usual.

"Of course I know."

"Let the main body prepare for that crucial step; the remaining theater setup will be more convenient with the body's permission."

"But it's alright, it's just a small matter, nothing compared to how important you are."

Christianne glanced at her face, which was strikingly different from the missionary's yet equally strikingly beautiful, and remarked:

"Why isn't your original form this good at talking?"

Wan Ning made no attempt to hide this; she said softly:

"Because mystery and distance are the key to its allure."

"If the main body also treated you arbitrarily like this, you, as the Herrscher of Domination, would quickly lose interest in her, right?"

The girl twirled strands of her flaxen hair around her fingers, feigning disdain as she said:

"I'm tired of you, Flora."

Wan Ning glanced at her and said nonchalantly:

"During the period when the original body used its power on you and was then dominated and countered, you played with 'me' hundreds of times. If you were going to get tired of it then, you should have gotten tired of it by then, shouldn't you?"

Upon hearing this, Christianne was extremely embarrassed and angry, so she pinned her to the ground and kissed her for half an hour. The intensity of her actions drew applause and cheers from the nearby atmosphere crew, who watched intently.

However, this behavior did not attract much attention. In this apocalyptic world where order was on the verge of collapse, even the darkest corners were prone to madness that defied common sense. So, even after she had almost ruined the missionary's body with her kisses, her triumphant use of her powers to restore it to a normal appearance did not cause much of a disturbance.

The young girl glanced at the frail girl lying on the ground, panting heavily, and calmly straightened her disheveled skirt. It was probably because the corpses she had been controlling recently were all young women that the memories and experiences she gained after changing bodies made her actions seem overly girlish.

But she didn't care about any of that. The so-called power of domination was simply to completely grasp what she had plundered. After a while, these plundered and acquired things would gradually melt the floating ice on the lake in summer, becoming a part of herself without affecting her nature.

The naive logic and framework that Christianne brought could be completely discarded after a while. The Fusion Warrior she absorbed included outstanding veterans who scored full marks in tactical courses, as well as intelligent people who were both quick-witted and incredibly cunning. The knowledge and information in other areas were countless, and she could naturally integrate them into her mind.

Flora? Just a toy.

Compared to the superior power of the Herrscher of Domination, missionaries relied solely on the accumulation of time and experience, which could be surpassed in just a few weeks.

The reason why the current Herrscher of Domination can get along with the Missionary in an almost equal manner is that she is temporarily imprisoned by the initial cage of "Christianne", which makes her need to use the wisdom of the Missionary to get out of the predicament caused by the increasingly powerful civilization.

Purely reckless violence and abusing power will inevitably lead to death at the hands of humanity.

What would be the point if I were to significantly advance the process of filtering the Honkai?

She possesses an innate rebellious streak; it seems the connection between her blank soul and the power of domination is so profound that it has deeply influenced her way of handling things and her goals for the future.

Even with Honkai Consciousness, it's impossible to treat Christianne like a consumable item and discard her carelessly.

The incident involving Seele Fulei demonstrates that the intelligence of this large-scale mechanism itself has certain limitations.

However, as things stand, the relationship between the Herrscher of Domination and the Honkai Consciousness is quite harmonious.

This is also the core reason why missionaries were initially used as tools rather than being killed outright by Christianne.

It's easy to understand that the newly born Herrscher of Domination hasn't yet developed any hobbies. Playing those inappropriate games with the missionary was purely out of curiosity after he reversed control over [Seduction] and used the desires uttered by the other party as R/B/Q for a while, which is how he developed a good interest later on.

In short, compared to missionaries, who start from the lowest level and can be controlled to death by the Honkai Consciousness, yet have the potential for unlimited growth as direct tools...

Even if the Herrscher of Domination is an apostle, it is still a level below it.

The elements of balance are simply the different levels of favor shown by the Honkai Consciousness, plus Flora's intelligence is still useful for the time being.

But once she completely breaks free from, or rather, fully Christianne, the fragile balance will be completely disrupted.

The day when she would have complete control was drawing ever closer. Although Flora didn't know the exact time, given her cunning nature, once she realized there was no room for maneuver between them, she would naturally choose to simply run away.

The nature of the power of [Seduction] is different from that of [Domination]. Even if they are separated by a great distance, as long as the link point is left, Flora can use her full power without a doubt.

The excuse that being closer to Fu Hua would allow them to better control her was nothing more than a pretext for leaving.

However, in order to avoid a complete falling out and to ensure the plan's success, the missionary deliberately left behind another version of himself that he had already created in Haiyuan City.

That is, Wan Ning.

The missionary herself does not possess the ability to create a clone, but through the power of [bewitching], she can hypnotize and correct others into another Flora's complete personality, while simultaneously using the power seeds left in their souls to provide timely correction and guidance.

Flora left behind similar clones all over the world, but to prevent the plan from failing when the clones of her informants were caught by Su Qing'an and the real body was seized, in addition to optimizing the details of the soul fluctuations that would inevitably be left behind by the bewitchment, she also left all the power seeds in a potential inactive state and gave the clones the ability to activate the power seeds on their own.

This explains why everything happened so coincidentally.

Because the net she cast was large enough, the current plan originated from this appalling and terrifying preparation.

But now, this clone has become a strange buffer between the two monsters.

Christianne wants to dominate Flora, but the missionary is unwilling to be dominated.

However, they both share a common enemy, so at least for now, their internal strife will only be minor and harmless squabbles.

The fact that the Herrscher of Domination haven't completely broken ties with Flora yet, allowing her to leave, is precisely because of this consideration.

Christianne ordered a glass of grape juice and a plate of fried chicken. She glanced casually at the ground, seemingly penetrating countless layers of matter, and saw the terrifying aura emanating from it, a aura that seemed capable of burning mountains and boiling seas.

The increasingly awe-inspiring fluctuations emanating from the inverted tower at the very bottom of Haiyuan City in recent days are enough to demonstrate Flora's foresight.

If the other party can immediately become stronger after the genes are forcibly stabilized, then there is indeed no way to keep him.

On the contrary, it would allow a monster to completely break free from their only opportunity to lay a web, and expose a lot of information about their side for nothing, which is a loss that outweighs the gain.

The more she understood the missionaries' righteousness, the less she could tolerate letting them slip through her fingers.

Christianne did not actually intend to devour her, nor to extract so-called experience and wisdom from her remains.

The nature of the Herrscher of Domination is actually inclined to not want to use her brain. She prefers to completely control Flora's [Seduction] and then modify the other party's will, turning it into her own brain and toy.

However, if the other party cannot even find a way out of this situation, Christianne will not have much desire to conquer or even dominate Flora.

Waste should be thrown into the trash heap, while treasure deserves to be carefully excavated.

This rather contradictory mindset actually kept her in a pretty good mood; the unpleasantness was more of a subtle awkwardness in various ways.

The scene that reflects this in reality is that the girl is eating fried chicken nuggets with gusto, her cheeks puffed out, which looks quite adorable.

She took a sip of iced grape juice, swallowed the food in her mouth, and said:

"My [theatre] is almost finished."

"The power of domination hasn't yet corrupted her body, so I don't know how things are on your end."

Wan Ning said softly:

Everything is fine.

Christianne smiled and asked:

"I'm curious about one thing: the key to your plan is that Fu Hua becomes Fusion Warrior, and it has to be done quickly, quickly enough to do so before Su Qing'an's first transformation is successful."

"Otherwise, even if we obtain the Udu-dust and use all three powers together, we will lose the best opportunity, reducing the probability of success from 99% to 55%, or even lower."

"To achieve that, the girl would have to stand out in the first batch of the Hyper-Mutation Factor Project, survive, and become Fusion Warrior. Don't you think that's a huge risk?"

"You know some things about the Hyper-Mutation Factor Project because I manipulated that batch of Fusion Warrior. From that perspective, you don't know more than I do, and may even know less. So I can't find any reason for you to be so confident."

Wan Ning said calmly:

"Christianne, never underestimate humankind."

"No matter how domineering or powerful your authority may be, it remains the same."

"Even if all the knowledge and experience they have acquired throughout their lives, and all the skills and qualities they have honed throughout their lives, were to fall under your command in a moment, this does not mean they are weak; rather, it highlights their strength."

"Because tigers have no need to learn the skills and experience that ants possess."

"Since we are on the same level, and even need to learn from each other, we must be cautious and humble."

This monster, who loathed and hated humanity, spoke in the most calm and certain tone:

"I believe in Mei's research findings."

"I also believe in Fu Hua's determination and resolve."

"So I think she will succeed, that's all."