Laughter / Selfish Desires

"This is the record from the transport plane when the mutiny occurred."

The video sent by Spasi showed Lin staring at the man and the members of the Squad Five in the picture.

Then, everything that once existed Honkai at that moment.

"Cough cough... Looks like you won't make it to get your revenge..."

The speaker lay on the ground, his face ashen, his colorless eyes staring at the figure standing in front of him.

"This is truly unexpected..." He wanted to laugh, but he couldn't. The aura of death was constantly emanating from this "person" who was bowing his head and not moving. It was Black Mist that was almost tangible, making a disgusting sound as it corroded the object, and it was silently approaching him, who was unable to move.

Unexpectedly, the Sixth Herrscher arrived at this time.

According to the original pattern, the outbreak cycle of a large-scale Honkai is about one year. There is still a lot of time before this moment. He originally thought that after completing the plan, the Fire Moth would have enough time to digest this cleansing plan before facing the Sixth Honkai War.

But this time, Honkai once again took advantage of the situation, and when the Moths were suffering from severe internal strife, it prepared to punish the foolish humans.

Did he do something wrong again...?

The speaker's body was groaning, an instinctive reaction of a creature facing absolute "death".

But--

"Is there still a chance..." The Speaker bit his tongue hard, the intense pain giving him a brief moment of mental exhilaration. His gaze was fixed intently on the Sixth Herrscher, who had not yet fully completed her transformation. "Is it because the Honkai Energy in the vicinity hasn't risen to a concentration sufficient to condense Herrscher Core?"

The transformation of all Honkai creature is a process, just as the erosion of Honkai Energy has several stages. The process of Honkai Energy transformed into Honkai zombie, Honkai Beast, and even Herrscher by Honkai energy does not not exist, but the concentration of Honkai Energy is too high, making the process only a moment.

Their current location is in a low- Honkai Energy area at high altitude with sparse life. Even if a large-scale Honkai eruption can increase the concentration of Honkai Energy in the surrounding area, there is still an initial value deviation.

"We can't let the Herrscher... land in the city... crash... send coordinates and intelligence..."

The speaker propped himself up with his hands, letting his soul tear at his flesh, and rose from the ground.

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Laughter

As early spring dispelled the gloom, at midday amidst the flowers, birds, wind, and moon, the rooftop door of the Chienyu Academy was kicked open. A white-haired boy, yawning as he woke up from a nap after class, was hit by a mouthful of cold wind and instinctively wrapped his coat tighter.

"Lin, what are your dreams?"

"... What TV series did you watch yesterday?"

Ling placed the lunchbox in front of Kevin and asked expressionlessly.

Kevin eagerly opened the lunchbox, his mouth watering at the sight of the sumptuous dishes inside, but he restrained himself from grabbing the food with his hands. "This isn't a TV drama..."

"Anime? Comics? Novels?" Zero casually rattled off a few words; surely one of them would be right.

Kevin isn't the type to make things up out of thin air. If he does anything that seems sophisticated, it's most likely that he's imitating the behavior of a character from a work he's seen.

Simply put, it's behavior that's appropriate for his age – it's just childish.

"No, Mei asked me this..."

"..."

After a few seconds of silence at Kevin's actions, Zero asked, "Wasn't she asking you?"

"Yes, but I said I didn't know, and she told me to think about it."

"So?"

"So what?"

"So why are you asking me?"

Kevin pulled out his chopsticks, picked up a piece of lean meat, stuffed it into his mouth, and mumbled, "I think this question is really interesting, so I wanted to ask you to see how you would answer it."

Actually, I wanted a reference answer.

Zero and May would occasionally discuss something together, but Kevin couldn't participate in what they were talking about. It sounded very profound, but the vocabulary wasn't completely incomprehensible. After trying to join in... he couldn't understand it at all.

However, this also made Kevin feel that Zero was one of the few people who could communicate with May in their professional field, and his answer could at least be taken into consideration.

In fact, Zero and May weren't discussing academic projects, but rather things closer to science fiction. If Kevin wanted, May could also discuss some fictional works with him, only she would be exceptionally serious about it.

Zero saw through Kevin's thoughts, but he didn't say anything. He silently opened his lunchbox and began his lunch.

The meal was unusually oppressive. Kevin noticed something was wrong with Zero after he took his first bite. Zero then chewed and swallowed in silence, which made Kevin feel like he had done something wrong.

So after dinner, Kevin wanted to apologize to Zero: "Um... Lin..."

"Wait a minute, let me think about it some more." Zero interrupted him, her cold gaze sweeping over Kevin.

The word "dream" was too far removed from Zero. No... before Kevin asked the question, everything else was separated from Zero by a hazy glass wall, so much so that he had never thought of anything other than finding that answer.

Now, I am faced with a question that is meaningless and was raised by chance.

But for some reason, it was as if someone had asked him this question before.

What was my answer back then?

Wait, what did the person who asked him the question answer...?

"Kevin, what is your dream?"

"Huh? Why are you throwing this back at me again..." Kevin looked bitter. He really didn't expect Zero to return the question to him in the end. No wonder she can communicate with Mei without any problems. They do have some similarities in their thinking.

"Speak."

"..."

Seeing that Zero's tone was becoming more and more sincere, Kevin, after his initial surprise, also began to think about the question that the girl he liked and his friend had asked him together.

The word "dream" is similar to "ideal," but their core is completely different.

An ideal represents a set goal, a future that can be achieved through hard work, while a dream is more of a "dream" that originates from reality but transcends it.

"Go to the amusement park with your friends or loved ones."

"...What?"

"Ugh! Even if you asked me, I still don't know what my dream is!" Kevin messed up his flowing hair, smearing oil stains from his meal on it. He hung his head with his greasy, disheveled hair. "Those things are too far away from me. There's no point in thinking about them. I just want to go to the amusement park. Let's invite Mei to come along next time."

He winked at the stunned Zero, muttering, "So? So? Is it decided then?"

"I think..."

Kevin heard Zero utter a barely audible word and asked, puzzled, "What?"

"No... it's nothing... you go and invite her."

Ling packed up her lunchbox and quickly left.

A dream is the purest desire in that ethereal and elusive dream world.

So... where does his dream end?

Something was breaking free from the shackles of his brain and reviving in his consciousness.

He discovered his own ugliness.

In the face of Kevin's purest "dream," he discovered the true face of the voice that had been clamoring in his heart from beginning to end.

"A concert..."

Zero gripped the ticket tightly with his fingertips. Memories flashed through his mind, causing him to involuntarily clench his fists. Before he even realized it, his palms were covered in cold sweat.

It's okay, this time I'm with Kevin...

"Thump."

Something fell from above his head, landing in front of him and smashing the smooth tiles with a heavy metallic sound.

He remained calm and composed, without panicking.

Calmness, as if it had been rehearsed countless times.

He wasn't surprised by the appearance of such a thing; perhaps he had already prepared himself for this day.

The word "human" is so heavy and complex.

They harm their own kind, are driven by profit, and are greedy and cruel. Given even the slightest breathing space, they will let the darkness within them breathe.

But zero cannot be used to summarize humanity in this single phrase.

Because Zero realized that the two voices that had whispered in his ear countless times had disappeared.

Upon seeing the pistol that seemed to have fallen into his hands as if by fate, the two voices vanished simultaneously, and strange yet familiar memories resurfaced in his mind in a chaotic manner.

Without any instinct, he reached out for the pistol engraved with the symbol of the moth chasing the flame.

Are you really going to do that?

A person stood outside the window and sighed.

"Pick up that gun, and you will say goodbye to your current self. You will transform from a human being back into a pure monster."

"Losing your friends will only leave you battered and bruised."

"Is humanity truly worth your sacrifice?"

"Haven't you already seen their ugliness?"

Zero's trembling stopped.

"No..."

"I did see humanity, their greed and ugliness... but I was just like them..."

"I am also a human being, no different from them."

Kevin's small wish is the shared wish of countless people.

His desire to protect those people is what makes him, an "empty shell," represent his human desires.

It wasn't that incessantly chanting voice; it was simply his own wish.

Whether it's ugliness or beauty, it's all human; denying either side makes us incomplete.

Therefore, acknowledging the ugliness and believing in the goodness of humanity—this was Zero... no, Lin's most genuine wish when he became human.

Even if it's wrong?

"It can't be wrong." Lin turned her head gently and smiled. "I saw you smiling, so it can't be wrong."

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Personal Desire

"The Sixth Herrscher, what will his abilities be..." The Speaker's eyes were filled with the crimson of his own eyes. He could not suppress the weakness deep within his body. He had not been able to stop the bleeding since his left leg was severed, and the massive blood loss made it difficult for him to even stand.

Each Herrscher possesses unique powers, which are akin to divine abilities for humans. These powers are the most crucial information for each Herrscher battle. Knowing the Herrscher's powers allows for the development of countermeasures, greatly increasing the success rate of the battle. This is why each Firemoth would name Herrscher beforehand.

He was definitely not going to survive. Close contact with a high- Honkai Energy creature accelerated the rate at which his Honkai Energy eroded him. Coupled with his current weakened state, it wouldn't be long before he was eroded to death by the Honkai Energy.

But the Speaker wasn't concerned with death. He had never cared about his own life. The survival of individual humans was not his concern. What he cared about was how to use his life to create the greatest possible value.

Just as they used the lives of those soldiers to create value.

Although his communicator was broken, the transport plane had a communication system, and as long as he could find a way to bypass the motionless soul, he could send intelligence to the nearest Fifth Branch.

The problem lies in... that Black Mist.

The Speaker squinted, only able to see clearly through the slits of his drooping eyelids. He carefully observed the black mist that was gradually filling the entire cabin and approaching him. Even just watching it from a distance made him feel extremely uncomfortable, and his instincts reminded him not to get involved with any of the Black Mist.

Is the Sixth Herrscher's ability to spread plague?

No, if it were a plague virus generated by the power of Herrscher, it couldn't be visible. Its lethality, transmissibility, and invisibility would be the highest ever seen in any virus, not such a visually striking fog-like substance.

"Cough cough..." He spat the blood in his mouth into the Black Mist, and the next second, something happened that made his pupils shrink to a single point.

The moment the blood came into contact with the Black Mist, the red and purple blood turned into a pure deep black and disappeared before it even hit the ground.

It wasn't evaporation or sublimation at high temperatures, but rather it was "decomposed" without making a sound, as if a painting on paper had been erased by an eraser.

The speaker awkwardly stepped back a little, giving himself some space to think.

He keenly noticed that the Black Mist did not diffuse molecularly like ordinary gases; instead, it diffused in a regular and uniform ring outwards from the soul as the center, and passed directly through the seat.

That's not fog.

In conventional understanding, even the Herrscher Authority can be studied and explained scientifically. However, the Black Mist emanating from the soul clearly does not conform to the conventional laws of molecular diffusion. In other words, the Black Mist is just a manifestation, and the true form is the power of the Sixth Herrscher.