Net Casting, The Theater Unfolds

Haiyuan City.

The heart of Chi You, which had been cultivated at great expense, had gradually dried up. After the boy gradually turned against it, it lost its original effectiveness. This caused the law of conservation of energy, which applied to this organ, to cause the flesh and blood to wither and its activity to decrease.

Su Qing'an leaned against the withered, hollow cavity, which resembled a dead ancient tree, silently sensing the subtle movements, splitting, and twisting of the flesh and blood, without uttering a word.

This organ is essentially a large-scale gene injection site and operating table; once it has fulfilled its intended function, it becomes meaningless.

According to the original calculations, after the heart completely failed and lost its activity, Chiyou Gene should have completely merged with Su Qing'an, moving towards a stable period.

However, the unexpected element of his Soul State prevented him from undergoing any state transformation during this period.

This means that he hasn't even reached the most intense stage of gene chain collision, and entering a stable state is even more far off.

The boy focused his gaze intently, sensing that every cell in his body was being transformed, every fiber was trying to break free from its original physiological patterns and mode of existence, and every drop of blood and muscle was undergoing different levels of leaps and transformations.

They depend on each other yet abandon each other; this state of metabolism proceeds ceaselessly like a mighty river every second. The Stigmata matter bestowed by the Herrscher of Death stubbornly remains at the forefront, the only one that does not need to be filtered and can choose to remain on its own.

From Su Qing'an's appearance, nothing seemed amiss, but his body was undergoing tremendous changes every moment. However, this seemingly restrained correction and evolution was so slow and stubborn that it could neither be stopped nor made to accelerate.

In the past, Fusion Warrior would undergo a transformation during the evolution process. Beneath this seemingly crude and terrifying appearance of twisting and savage growth lies the best means to rapidly advance the evolution process.

Due to the side effects of the Soul State, Su Qing'an was unable to enter this state and could not stop the process of transformation. During this stage, due to the excessively rapid metabolism and flesh replacement throughout his body, nerve transmission also lost its meaning, causing him to lose control of his body in a disguised way.

For Su Qing'an, who can intuitively sense danger, being in such a vulnerable state is not a good thing.

If an unexpected event were to occur, then the sword heart, being a purely spiritual organ, and the [Stigmata] might be the only thing we can rely on.

In addition, the Black Abyss White Flower can also be manipulated through the channel of the Soul Link.

The powers of [Creation] and [Annihilation] are sufficient to deal with many emergencies. The tower also has monitoring facilities and interactive devices that transmit one's own body data at any time, so if an accident really happens, one will know immediately.

There should be no need to worry about your safety.

The boy could not escape the constraints of his body and slowly fell into a semi-comatose state. In the process of transformation, the cerebral cortex, skull and even the nervous system were all undergoing the same evolution. The solidification and stagnation of thought at this moment was a natural phenomenon.

Furthermore, the fusion of his soul and flesh made it impossible for him to be dragged out of the mire. If he hadn't intentionally projected his consciousness into the Soul Hall and lay among those Abyss Flower, he wouldn't be able to think in any meaningful way at the moment.

But in a daze, Su Qing'an realized that this initial transformation had reached Critical Point.

Once a certain stage is passed, the rate of gene fusion will decrease indefinitely until the transformation becomes so slow that it approaches normal physiological metabolism. At that point, although he will not be able to become a true Fusion Warrior for the time being, he will be able to regain control of his body.

[Force:???]

[Body:???]

[Min:???]

[Soul Essence: 88.3]

[Honkai Energy Skills: Immunity]

[Skill: Taixuan Style Ultimate Realm]

[Abilities: Soul Scale, Soul Manifestation Step 3, Authority of Creation, Chiyou Gene (9.8%)]

[Comment: A noble soul that has overcome countless hardships and is about to reach the other shore.]

[Message: My name is Hermes, the bird of prey; I devour my own wings to control my own heart.]

The progress of gene fusion is less than one-tenth complete, and the body's physical attributes are in a constantly fluctuating and delicate state. The reason for this strange situation is that a stable gene chain has not been formed within the body. Almost every second of disintegration and transformation is just a sign that we are one step closer to success, and cannot interfere with the current situation.

The only confirmed change is that the Soul Essence has increased by 0.1.

Theoretically speaking, I had long since become accustomed to the pain of the Black Abyss White Flower, and it wouldn't cause any changes. Moreover, even in the initial cycle of annihilating and repairing my own body, the Soul Essence remained unchanged.

Following this logic, there must be some unknown factors at play, but we don't have the time to investigate them at the moment.

Su Qing'an's reason for opening the panel was not to observe the changes in these data. In reality, even if the physical data soared to three digits, the change in overall combat power would not be significant. After all, the output and application of Honkai Energy is the combat system of this world.

With a sense of crisis looming over him, and the Soul State circumstances hindering the rate of gene fusion, what he cared about was whether the progress of Chiyou Gene fusion would be reflected on the panel, and whether it could provide any noteworthy data.

Su Qing'an vaguely understood that once the rate of gene fusion slowed down to a certain point, she would be able to regain control of her body.

The current gene fusion rate is 9.8%. If it reaches 10%, based on his own physical condition, he will most likely be able to enter a period of buffer.

At that time, we will no longer be in such a passive position.

The semi-conscious boy, unsurprisingly, failed to notice that the transparent threads had bypassed soul observation, evaded sword heart detection, and ignored the Honkai Energy Domain, binding Chi You's heart on the outside into a cocoon.

An invisible and colorless force gradually infiltrates through this medium, like a cautious predator, waiting for the opportune moment to deliver a fatal blow...

A storm is brewing, and the wind is howling.

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

The closer you get to the bottom, the tighter the defenses become.

The body possessed by the missionary had only this much permission to reach, so theoretically, it would be very difficult for the two of them to silently infiltrate the Soul Steel Tower following normal procedures and routes.

This extremely high-tech city follows intelligent detection and arrangement, but human procedures and screening still exist. Neither the missionaries' persuasion nor Christianne's domination can achieve conceptual control over the concept of [artificial intelligence], so they can only choose to exploit loopholes in other ways.

Even if the power of domination is claimed to be sufficient to reach the realm of mastering all things, there is always a cruel barrier between theoretical limits and reality.

Otherwise, the First Herrscher would have been enough to destroy civilization.

Of course, those Herrscher of Domination may not be incapable of doing such a thing.

However, Christianne's current state is incomplete and incomplete. She has countless sub-consciousnesses scattered outside her main body, and her powers have also been fragmented at different levels.

This is why controlling Udu-dust requires paying the price of causing the consciousness of the sub-body to collapse directly.

After being divided thousands of times, the limits of what power can be exerted have already been lost. Forcing the exertion of full power can only make consciousness merge briefly, at the cost of the shattering of the physical body.

This also proves that Christianne was willing to cooperate in implementing this plan and possessed a certain degree of decisiveness; otherwise, a short-sighted person might not have been willing to pay this price.

That Daoist consciousness was roughly equivalent to her original power; its shattering in this form meant its permanent annihilation.

However, the evaporation of less than one-thousandth of the power will not have a profound impact on Christianne's actual combat strength. If the plan succeeds, then this exchange will be very worthwhile.

At this moment, she was unwilling to expose the collective consciousness of all beings. The interior of Haiyuan City was filled with Honkai Energy detectors, and taking such action would mean that the plan might fail due to unforeseen circumstances.

There's a reason why the two would stay at the Grey Sugar Bar until the planned operation was over: the area has large-scale equipment that draws Seawater from the outside world to extract oxygen needed by humans, as well as various other channels connecting to the outside world.

Before the Great Honkai, the level of a building almost directly reflected one's wealth and status, with the lower the level, the more it was considered the lower city, partly due to the allocation and layout of facilities.

The two monsters were heading towards the Soul Steel Tower, which was not originally part of the layout of Haiyuan City.

This facility was built later outside the foundation of Haiyuan City. By using those passages to reach the outside sea area and walking down the outer wall of the city, one can reach the area where Su Qing'an is located.

The building Mei constructed a few months ago has a connecting passageway to the interior of Haiyuan City. However, this also means that most of the defenses are located within the city's passageways, making it difficult to defend against entities that directly venture into the vicinity from the outer sea.

Therefore, the two did not encounter any unnecessary obstacles when they arrived near the Soul Steel Tower.

From Wan Ning's perspective, the [theater] that Christianne had been creating a few days ago had already enveloped the very foundation of Haiyuan City. Centered on the inverted Soul Steel Tower, it was gradually becoming more and more real, filling in and perfecting the illusion of the mirage.

The essence of [the theater] is the extension and manifestation of the power of [domination], and even more so, the manifestation of Christianne's will and body.

Apart from the main consciousness, all the consciousness of the Herrscher of Domination has become part of the [Theater]. As long as Christianne herself is added as the last piece of the puzzle, the complete Herrscher of Domination can silently envelop the Soul Steel Tower in the domain of power in this way, thus imprisoning the target.

Flora glanced at the girl beside her, winked, and said with a smile:

"It's about time we said goodbye, my lovely Christianne."

Christianne frowned upon hearing this; she almost instinctively felt that something was amiss with what she said.

The missionary's true form left Haiyuan City three days ago after learning that Fu Hua would be going to Fiji to undergo the Hyper-Mutation Factor experiment. Having already fled so decisively, was there any need for a farewell?

Flora's actions then gave Christianne first taste of the wickedness of the world.

The human body named Wan Ning was instantly Honkai Energy to [Ashes] by Honkai energy and scattered into the ocean depths. The remaining power seeds, as filthy as specks of ink, surged into the vast [theater] like swimming fish in an instant, and their aura vanished without a trace.

Its speed was so fast that it left people speechless.

Christianne: "..."

So you're the king of survival?

You not only ran away, but you didn't even leave behind the [Ashes] of your clone or the trace of your power. Does that mean you schemed against others like this, but didn't even want to reveal that you yourself are still alive?

Missionary: As long as no one knows I'm still alive, whether the plan succeeds or fails won't affect my safety.

Christianne had become quite familiar with the enemy after being exposed to their presence for some time, but this move was still beyond her expectations. The key point was that Flora's actions almost perfectly bypassed the enemy's ability to observe souls.

[Theater] is an extension and manifestation of power. [Seduction], as a secondary power, is mixed in almost like a drop of ink falling into the ocean. In addition, the special nature of the power of [Domination] can indeed interfere with the spiritual level.

As long as Christianne doesn't deliberately expose the missionaries, this series of actions will appear to outsiders as entirely her doing.

Christianne – the scapegoat.

She recalled how compliant he had been these past few days, readily granting her every request, and how he had agreed not to be the one to initiate contact before leaving, allowing her to be as free and easy as he wanted. She felt that his hints were exceptionally clear.

Christianne doesn't believe Flora thinks the plan will fail, which only proves that she enjoys this kind of maneuvering—always devising backup plans and creating new ones whenever there's no 100% chance of success.

The girl's lips were slightly upturned, but she didn't seem particularly angry or annoyed.

During the previous mating process, the other party intentionally left many seeds of power in its body. In addition, the power that the other party just fell into the [theater] is essentially no different from that of the person who was nearby.

Without affecting the success rate of the plan, Flora's behavior, in her eyes, was like a cat hiding in an unknown corner, full of fun and amusing charm, attracting it with food.

She chuckled softly and murmured:

"It doesn't matter, you'll be back anyway."

If the plan succeeds, Flora's desire for Su Qing'an will inevitably overcome her aversion to the possibility of being controlled by her.

No matter how much you restrain yourself, no matter how much you change.

A monster is a monster.

But only if she has bait that she can't resist.

Christianne approached the [theater] step by step. The threads running through the holes in her limbs gradually connected with the hundreds of thousands of threads falling from the [theater]. The mirage continued to expand, swallowing her petite body into the boundary of illusion.

A realistic circle shapes the outline of a theater, completely enveloping the entire inverted steel tower and severing its connection with the outside world.

At the same moment, the silent threads on the surface of Chi You's heart cascaded down like a waterfall. The boy's intuition once again acted as a terrifying prophet. His connection with the Black Abyss White Flower had never been broken, and the power of [Annihilation] was enough to prevent these threads from interfering with or intruding.

But the moment Su Qing'an realized the enemy was approaching, she was already under their control.

Furthermore, the slower reaction time and the inability to move the body during the metamorphosis are also limitations.

The Divine Key took a split second to activate, and it was this slight difference that allowed the fully-fledged [Domination] power to instantly seal Black Abyss White Flower's title.

The power of the Herrscher of Death was instantly reversed and placed in the hands of the Tenth Herrscher, which prevented the [Annihilation] from occurring as it should have.

This bizarre phenomenon startled the boy, and in an instant, the threads touched his skin, seeping into his bones and flesh.

Even though the Void Sword Qi manipulated the external Honkai Energy form a chain reaction, raging into a tidal wave of dark starlight that tore apart this eerie orange painting, it could not change the reality that the power seed was eroding the body.

But immediately, without changing his expression, Su Qing'an ignited a magnificent flame within his body with the Honkai Energy, completely annihilating the flesh and bones related to the threads.

The opponent could hinder the use of the powers within the Black Abyss White Flower, but still could not stop his actions of absorbing the Honkai Energy Imaginary Space.

And through this, the Abyss Flower realm existing in the Soul Hall sways gently.

The power of [Creation] suddenly activated, restoring the body to its original state in an instant.

The Honkai Energy Domain surrounding the boy caused an endless storm. The clear yet dark blue ink color painted his own kingdom. It was a strange state that had been gradually stabilized after the Honkai Energy chain reaction had been continuously accumulating, chaining, and exploding. It burned away the evil and demons in an instant.

It is neither power nor external force.

The [domain] refined from the purest and most exquisite techniques has made the once one-sided situation unpredictable once again.

Su Qing'an was surrounded by a magnificent hall. The heart of Chi You, which should have been nearby, had disappeared, and the tower and the ocean seemed to have never existed.

The Tenth Herrscher is suspected of being able to seal powers.

The boy sensed the deathly stillness of the Abyss Flower domain within the Soul Hall, and frowned, lowering his gaze.

Christianne's voice came from all directions:

"I almost forgot you also had the gift Seele gave you."

"Even though we can't snatch this one right now, it's okay, I won't let you use it, hehehe."

Su Qing'an was unable to move, but thanks to his sword heart, his cultivation of the Void Sword Qi was unrestricted. He glanced indifferently at the 9.82% gene fusion progress on the panel, but noticed the key words in the other party's words.

Does this mean that the essence of her power is not to seal away other powers, but rather to be able to transfer control to her side and utilize it?

This point needs further discussion; the possibility of the other party deliberately misleading us cannot be ruled out, so we should preserve the veracity of the information for now.

However, since the previous method of self-repair after mutual destruction is no longer feasible, it's best to avoid touching those strange threads.

But Su Qing'an was unaware that even situated within the dark blue realm of kingdoms, and already enveloped by the [Theater], she couldn't escape being controlled...