Aponia: Compassionate, Wealthy, and Generous / Humanity Will Defeat the Honkai... No Matter the Cost

A Herrscher's authority was not something ordinary people could break free from simply by staying conscious.

"Abilities related to consciousness are generally difficult to improve or counter in most works. But judging from this, it seems that the Honkai power system... still has no way to improve resistance in that area, does it?"

He was once again creating an enemy that seemed impossible to defeat.

"Especially that term, meme. That really is an obscure and niche word. Meme Contamination created by a Meme Weapon?"

The term was so obscure that it was not something someone Su Nian's age should have been exposed to.

Many people had never even heard the word before, yet Su Nian had already used it in his story.

And this Herrscher could even wield her authority over the internet.

Su Nian had mentioned with the Sixth Herrscher that the Herrscher had disguised herself as a human consciousness to deceive Kevin, proving that Herrschers possessed intelligence but leaned toward Honkai rather than humanity...

Had Su Nian planted another mystery here too?

There was also the Eighth Herrscher's characterization in other respects, as well as her combat style, which was completely different from those of her predecessors.

The description in this passage seemed much weaker than those of her predecessors.

But this kind of silent death was the most terrifying.

People only noticed her after the number of victims had grown.

Yet unlike her predecessors, who acted openly and without restraint, when Moth of the Fire had nothing to fear in terms of military force, trouble caused by someone hiding in the shadows like this was far greater.

With the information currently available, Welt could not guess what Su Nian intended to do next.

"Clearly, contestant Su Nian has already planned it all out. What he is writing now is just character sheets that he himself can understand."

Otto, on the other hand, believed Su Nian had thoroughly developed the concept but had yet to show it to them.

After all, Su Nian could even clearly remember when Kevin had interacted with whom and what had happened.

Character sheets and character histories were perfectly normal. As long as the author could understand them, that was enough.

Before the actual story had even begun, he had already successfully whetted their appetites.

How much longer would they have to wait before Su Nian's story revealed the actual text meant for readers?

"Contestant Su Nian has strong control over his work, so that is entirely possible. Sigh... There is nothing wrong with this method of writing, but it really has me itching for more."

"Contestant Su Nian has given us too many mysteries now. Who are the other Flame-Chasers? What other Divine Keys are there, and what forms do they take? Could an unbeatable enemy bring forth characters with special abilities? Besides Moth of the Fire, are there other organizations that fight Honkai...?"

Welt had countless questions in his heart. There were simply too many unknown mysteries in what Su Nian had written.

He had dug too many holes, yet no one knew when he would fill them.

Though he still maintained a mature and composed appearance on the surface, Welt was inwardly so anxious that he wanted to crawl into Su Nian's mind and see his plans.

Anxious!

Aponia: She Possessed the Human Heart, and Was Wealthy and Generous

My head itches. I think my brain is growing.

The judges have done me dirty. I was not thinking that deeply before, but now I am anxious too!

After reading Su Nian's work, everyone else's feels bland and tasteless.

Never mind the mysteries for now—Tears of Heaven being able to transform from dual pistols into a greatsword is just unbelievably cool!

Didn't Kevin capture that assassin alive before? Su Nian never said what agreement the assassin reached with Mei.

And who was that frail young girl Kevin saw? He never said that either!

So Hypermutation Surgery can make people this powerful? Even if the probability is infinitely close to zero, they would still continue the experiment, right?

Welt, you really are Su Nian's top salesman.

Because of the judges' discussion, the bullet comments became even livelier.

Many people had not thought too deeply about it as they read.

They only knew Su Nian's story was far better than the others', but after thinking it over carefully, they finally understood just how impressive Su Nian truly was.

Su Nian had written only a single character sheet for Kevin, yet he had already introduced such a vast worldview and several major events.

And all of it was relevant to the plot.

He had reasonably arranged Kevin's growth in strength while appropriately strengthening humanity's side.

Honkai created Herrschers.

But after Herrschers were defeated by humanity, their Herrscher Cores and Honkai Energy were put to use.

Even Honkai Beasts had been incorporated into Hypermutation Surgery.

Honkai had become humanity's primary means of fighting Honkai.

Learn from the enemy's strengths to defeat the enemy!

If "Honkai" had a consciousness of its own, wouldn't it be frustrated to death?

"What the story has revealed so far is merely the tip of the iceberg. I believe contestant Su Nian will provide precise answers to these questions."

"If a problem appears at this stage that we believe Kevin cannot solve, then perhaps it will introduce an entirely new character and ability..."

Otto pondered and arrived at an answer.

"Perhaps someone was born with a special ability, or perhaps they fused with a Honkai Beast and gained its unique powers."

"Mm, that is indeed possible, but I think technological means are also possible. If it involves blocking cognition, that would not be impossible either."

The two began discussing it, temporarily forgetting the tension between them moments ago.

Unfortunately, there were simply too many things they did not know.

It was obviously difficult to reach a satisfying conclusion through speculation alone.

Everything still depended on how Su Nian wrote it.

By observing the victims' brainwaves, they discovered that all of them were dreaming, and they were likely having the same dream.

Chief scientist Mei ordered Spacy to lead the Fifth Science Department in researching the dream.

At the same time, Moth of the Fire's AI analyzed the webpages the victims had browsed and discovered frequently occurring keywords, which changed every day.

The Eighth Honkai Outbreak had already begun in silence.

While Moth of the Fire searched for the Eighth Herrscher, the Eighth Herrscher was also searching for Moth of the Fire.

Very quickly, the Eighth Herrscher found Moth of the Fire's keywords. In that instant, every member of Moth of the Fire who had not undergone psychological training fell asleep.

In this era, everyone needed to access the internet, and the scientific departments needed their equipment even more.

Moth of the Fire had originally prepared drugs capable of blocking cognition, but as the keywords multiplied, the drugs gradually became less and less effective.

The measures against the Eighth Herrscher were gradually becoming useless, and Moth of the Fire finally made a new decision.

All qualified candidates would undergo Flame Chaser Transformation Surgery.

The Eighth Herrscher had already infiltrated Moth of the Fire's base.

And this was where Su's storyline began.

He awakened as a perception-type Flame Chaser in this battle.

Neither Welt nor Otto had been wrong.

Both technological methods and personnel with special abilities were involved.

But this Honkai outbreak was not Kevin's solo performance.

The vast majority of Moth of the Fire's soldiers had fallen into the Eighth Herrscher's dream, and very few could wake up on their own.

Knowing that he might be the person most likely to fall into a Beautiful Dream, Kevin went to The Deepest Place and found Aponia, accepting her Law of Retribution so that he would become completely immune to the Eighth Herrscher's influence.

Su Nian remembered that Kevin in The Past's Paradise had once asked Mei a question:

"Mei, do you still dream? Do you dream of those you failed to save, of those who died because of you?"

After receiving Mei's reply, Kevin had said that he no longer dreamed.

He no longer dreamed. Presumably, it had begun here.

This Law of Retribution could completely defend against the Eighth Herrscher because the Law of Retribution Kevin received deprived him of sleep.

Only then could he avoid being dragged into the Herrscher's dream.

Law of Retribution was a mysterious ability. Su Nian remembered someone once saying that it was like a thought stamp.

Aponia could be considered one of the most mysterious among the Thirteen Flame-Chasers. She had been born with an ability like Law of Retribution.

After undergoing Hypermutation Surgery, she could even see other people's fates, only to discover that fate could not be defied.

...Su Nian did not remember much about Aponia, and he only remembered four words used to describe her.

She was the beauty of this world.

She held lofty ideals in her heart.

With profound insight, she pursued them with all her heart.

The myriad worlds did not fail her.

After accepting the Law of Retribution, Kevin hurried back to find Mei. Along the way, he encountered one person after another drowning in dreams.

—Could anyone still stand up?

As Kevin moved swiftly through the corridors, he increasingly doubted it.

He had already walked through the base for some time, yet everywhere he looked, there was only one person after another deeply trapped in dreams. They lay on the floor in all kinds of positions, occasionally murmuring incomprehensibly beneath the flickering lights.

Kevin quickened his pace. Mei had his most trusted comrades protecting her, but the enemy they faced now could not be cut down with a sword.

Before finding Mei, Kevin encountered Elysia first. She had already dealt with the problem here.

Now that he had Aponia's Law of Retribution and was unaffected by the Eighth Herrscher, it was time to begin the counterattack.

After writing this, Su Nian let out a long breath, picked up his happy water from beside him, and took another two sips.

Recalling the plot was truly mentally exhausting. He would slack off for just a little while longer.

But this passage once again stopped at exactly the point everyone had been anticipating.

"Law of Retribution... The Eighth Herrscher drags people into dreams, but Kevin is unaffected through Law of Retribution..."

No one had ever heard of an ability like Law of Retribution.

Terms like this generally came from religion. Could Aponia be some kind of believer? Was that why Su Nian had given her this ability?

Welt had guessed correctly again. MiHoYo's character designs generally featured highly distinctive elements.

Aponia's image was that of a nun.

Humanity Will Definitely Defeat Honkai... No Matter the Cost

As a new concept, Law of Retribution once again stirred Welt's interest.

The term Law of Retribution came from religion. Clearly, the word itself carried the meaning of restraining others, a set of rules for specific groups of people.

Although Su Nian's setting had not explicitly explained the ability, there was no need to think too hard about it.

From its name and displayed effects alone, one could guess its general function.

"If the Eighth Herrscher's method is to control the mind and trap people in dreams, then the Law of Retribution Aponia placed upon Kevin... is related to sleep? Something like temporarily being unable to fall asleep?"

Welt was astonished, and even the way he looked at Su Nian changed.

What kind of monster was he?

He could perfectly combine existing words with abilities, and make those combinations feel so fitting!

It seemed that as long as one thought carefully about Su Nian's settings, one could guess the parts he had not revealed.

That meant there was nothing wrong with the story's setting. Its logic was internally consistent.

Reasonable. It was simply too reasonable!

Generally speaking, no one paid attention to details like these.

But precisely because no one paid attention to them, Su Nian had still managed to flesh them out so completely.