The End / Even If It's False...

"What happened, Lin—"

Lin turned around upon hearing Ying's exclamation and saw a scene that made his pupils shrink.

Sakura's entire body was disappearing at an alarming rate. Unstable information flowed through her body, taking away her very existence.

What's going on?!

Lin subconsciously reached out to grab Ying's outstretched hand, but before his hand could grasp that fragile arm, Ying collapsed before him like a falling cherry blossom.

"..."

The overwhelming stream of data overwhelmed him, leaving him stunned.

When Lin regained consciousness, the environment he was in and the colors he could see were completely different.

What kind of world is this?

Lin found it difficult to describe his current feelings in words. From the moment he saw the scenery before him, a certain emotion had been brewing in his heart, forcing him to open his eyes wide and observe every detail he could see.

Barren, dilapidated, cold, technological, prosperous.

These words appeared simultaneously in the "world" he saw.

An endless expanse of ruins and wreckage, mechanical constructs, buildings, and monster debris, both named and unnamed, covered the ground, obscuring even an inch of the original earth's color. At the heart of this apocalyptic scene, a resolute metal tower stood like a beacon in this dark world, radiating a bright yet gentle light in the very center of the world.

Lin instinctively took a step forward to chase after that ray of light.

Chapter Twenty-Five Finality

Is he strolling leisurely?

Lin tried to end the simulation again, but there was still no response, and external communication was also ineffective.

The only way to end the simulation is to force the system to shut down externally, but by then no one should be paying attention to what's happening inside the simulation room.

Death in the simulation system does not cause brain death or similar issues. Even if the body data is reconstructed, it will not have any impact on the brain. However, as mentioned before, even the slightest difference in a martial artist like Sakura's dependence on and mastery of her body will cause an uncomfortable reaction. If her data is reconstructed into a completely different person or even an object, then an adverse reaction will likely occur on the spot...

All we can do is wait, hoping someone will discover the error in the simulation system.

Before this, the appearance of this bizarre world was also a strange phenomenon. This place shouldn't exist in the simulated environment; he had no recollection of it at all. Not to mention, the technological level of these mechanical remains seemed to be higher than that of the current Fire-Chasing Moths, and those monster remains...

Lin stopped beneath a massive monster fifty meters tall, frowning as he analyzed the corpse using the scanning system inside his helmet.

Soon, a result that was "as expected" was presented to Lin.

The monster's corpse contained an extremely large amount of Honkai Energy, and its body structure was basically the same as that of Honkai Beast, which means...

This is a type of Honkai Beast that has never been recorded before.

What's even more surprising is that the Honkai Energy content of this Honkai Beast has exceeded the level of an ordinary Honkai Beast. Keep in mind that this is just a corpse. In its lifetime, this Honkai Beast had at least reached the pinnacle of lower-rank Honkai Beast, the Honkai Emperor level.

The most crucial point is that the corpses of these Honkai Beasts are everywhere in this world made up of corpses and remains.

Lin roughly estimated that a great battle with Honkai Beast had taken place here, and the side using mechanical creations won a Pyrrhic victory. The Honkai Beast were completely annihilated, and the casualties of these machines and their pilots were comparable to those of the Honkai Beast.

He saw human skeletons beneath those metal blocks.

The closer Lin got to the tower, the more horrific the surrounding scene became. He saw at least seven corpses of Emperor-class Honkai Beast, and many more corpses were unrecognizable because they were not intact. Compared to the Honkai Beast corpses, there were far more human remains.

This was far more devastating than any previous major Honkai; it was a genuine "war" between "humanity" and "Honkai".

Unbeknownst to him, Lin had already arrived at the foot of the tower. Only when he got closer did the feeling of looking at it from afar become stronger. The azure particles emitted by this tower that connected heaven and earth were like the only light source in a gloomy world. The unknown metal had pipes like blood vessels transporting pale gray liquid energy.

At this moment, Lin thought of the ark mentioned in mythology that carried the last humans, and this mountain of corpses and sea of blood seemed to be the great flood that swallowed the world in the myth.

At the base of the tower was a large door that was not closed. Looking from the Lin Cong saw that the corridor was deserted and not a single drop of blood had been spilled on it. Even the nearest corpse was quite far from the main entrance.

Lin didn't hesitate for long; he took three steps at a time and quickly went inside.

The building was completely silent, and there was no sign of any living thing inside.

The more Lin Yue delved into it, the more amazed he became by the tower's technological level. This was not a simple data error or some vague concept of technology conjured up by someone on a whim, but a genuine creation resulting from a leading level of technology.

Arriving at what appeared to be an elevator, Lin stepped inside. He noticed that the numerical codes used in the elevator were familiar to him. He pressed the button for the top floor, the elevator doors closed, and it rapidly ascended to the top floor.

"Bite--"

The elevator doors paused for a second and a half before slowly opening in two.

What appeared before Lin was a figure sitting in a chair, monitoring a screen that could see everything inside and outside the tower.

"..."

"..."

Lin stood in the elevator, staring silently at the motionless figure, while the other person seemed unaware of him, making no move.

Lin only stepped out of the elevator when the doors closed automatically.

As he moved, the figure sitting in the chair also made a sound—

Are you 'The Finality'?

"..." Lin listened quietly to what the other person said. He neither refuted nor admitted anything, but just waited for the other person to continue.

"I never expected the last Herrscher to be like this." The person spun their chair around to face Lin. "Would you like something to drink? Human coffee or tea would be fine."

That was a highly mechanized "person".

Lin didn't even know if he could still be considered human. His entire body was covered in the luster of metal, with mechanical patterns covering every inch of his visible body. The color of his eyes was the same as that of the monitors Lin was familiar with. At first glance, he could only be regarded as a robot.

Lin Cong saw a light in those eyes that were no longer human, a light that only humans possessed. Perhaps, that was the only remaining part of this "human" that belonged to "humanity."

"... Who are you?" The light from the visor of Lin's helmet shone against the metallic sheen of the man's body as he stretched out one hand and asked.

"That's a strange question. Aren't we almost wiped out by you? But if you really want to hear it, I'll tell you."

The "robot" gave a strange smile, stood up, and performed a salute that Lin had never seen before. "I am the last human being on Earth."

"..." Even though he had already vaguely guessed some of it, Lin still frowned when the robot man revealed the truth.

After a while, he raised his head and said coldly to the mechanical man, "I am not Herrscher."

"Huh?" The mechanical man was stunned. He glanced at the screen, and Lin followed his gaze and saw the image displayed on one of the detection screens. His own image was clearly visible on it and labeled "Herrscher".

Is it the influence of that incident again?

"That's really strange. Did the detection system malfunction? Or are you, the Herrscher, still planning to toy with humanity even at the last moment?" The mechanical man smiled indifferently. "But none of that matters anymore. Let's just say you're a human who survived by chance. How about we sit down and have a chat, let's enjoy humanity's Finality."

"By the way, what's your name?"

Lin sat down at the table and said calmly, "Lin."

"Oh? What a coincidence."

The mechanical man sat down opposite him.

"My name is Lin."

His smile, so warm despite his face showing no trace of human color, was like a dim yet irreplaceable ray of light breaking through the clouds.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Even if it's fake...

"Where should we begin...? Since it is the end of humanity, let's start from the very beginning of this brief history of its end."

Lin pressed a button on the table, and the central tabletop opened outwards, revealing a steaming cup of coffee on a tray, topped with cream, which was then placed in front of Lin.

"Don't be shy. This is a coffee machine I designed myself before I ended up like this. I'm quite confident in my skills, but everyone thought it was pointless for me to use resources to make this kind of machine, so I only reassembled it after I was the only one left." Lin's smooth lips probably couldn't taste anything anymore. He stared at Lin, who was holding the coffee, with great interest. "You are the first and the last person to taste this cup of coffee."

Lin silently lifted his helmet slightly, brought the hot coffee to his lips, took a small sip, and the rich, mellow flavor instantly filled his mouth.

"... Delicious." Lin expressed his true feelings. He was quite good at making coffee himself, and he would make a cup for Mobius whenever she wanted to drink coffee. But compared to this technologically advanced coffee with its precise temperature and every single ingredient, he had to admit that it tasted better.

"Haha, right? Actually, I have a lot of things I'm proud of, but unfortunately, no one is willing to help me test them."

Lin put down his cup and silently gazed at the robot man who was laughing unabashedly. The happiness simulated by the device on Lin's smooth, poreless face was completely genuine; it was Lin's purest joy.

Can this person laugh so easily even when he is all alone in the apocalypse?

"Ahem, we've gone off-topic. Let's get back to the main point. You probably already know about it, right? It symbolizes the beginning of the Honkai of the human world and is called the 'First Honkai Eruption'."

"..."

"At that time, we were completely ignorant of what was happening. We faced the arrival of the Herrscher of Thunder, who was like a god of thunder controlling electromagnetic fields, and the death of three-tenths of the world's population. Therefore, the day of the First Honkai Eruption outbreak is also called the day of divine punishment."

After hearing this, Lin abruptly interrupted, "The First Herrscher... is the Herrscher of Thunder? Not the Herrscher of Reason?"

"... What are you talking about?" Lin's machine eye looked at Lin in confusion, but her tone was matter-of-fact. "The First Herrscher is of course the Herrscher of Thunder, and... how do you know the code name Herrscher of Reason? That's the code name I just came up with for the Twelfth Herrscher. She's the one who destroyed humanity's last stronghold. After I killed her with the Honkai Energy Satellite Conversion Cannon, I was the last human left."

"..." Lin nodded thoughtfully, and instead of refuting anything, he let Lin continue.

"At that time, in order to deal with the Honkai and Herrscher that would continue to appear, the 'Meteor's Demise' organization, composed of 123 countries around the world, was established. The top talents of human society gathered together to fight for a common and great goal."

"I'm sorry to say, but in the end, the one who stood out among those top talents was someone who was still in high school, which is me."

Lin didn't sound particularly proud when he said this; he was simply stating a fact, and the fact that he was the last surviving human being demonstrated that his status in the Meteor's Demise was indeed extraordinary.

He tilted his head back and exhaled a breath from the corner of his mouth, as if recalling the past history of human prosperity, in which the edifice collapsed in an instant, and nothing would remain after the disaster.

"I keep creating various weapons and technologies to fight against the Honkai. The second, the third, the fourth... I calculated that there have been a total of thirteen large-scale Honkai. That is to say, if humanity can withstand thirteen large-scale Honkai, it may be able to completely avoid being invaded by the Honkai. However... no matter what technology I create, the Honkai always gets stronger, and each attack is more intense."

"Later, I utilized Honkai Energy, and human technology experienced a leapfrog growth. But what I didn't expect was that what awaited us was... sizzle..."

Lin's heart skipped a beat as he stared at Lin, who had just uttered the wrong sound without realizing it.

Was it data corruption that prevented the simulation of crucial parts? Human technology advanced rapidly by utilizing Honkai Energy, but what did this lead to?

What does that mean? Because they used Honkai Energy, they attracted something even more terrifying?

"What did you just say?" Lin Liran questioned.

"Huh? You don't even know that? That was the turning point in the war between humanity and the Honkai [sizzle]."

No, this data is corrupted!

Lin sensed something was wrong and immediately asked, "Besides the Herrscher of Reason, Herrscher of the Void, Herrscher of Thunder, Wind Herrscher, Herrscher of Ice, and Herrscher of Death, what kinds of powers do the remaining Herrscher possess?"

"What are you saying...?"

"Tell me!"

"Okay, sizzle—sizzle—"

But just as Lin was about to record everything Lin said, Lin's body began to experience data collapse, and the surrounding tower scenery also collapsed to varying degrees. Lin's words turned into static.

This phenomenon undoubtedly plunged Lin's heart into despair.

He realized that this simulation was probably data left behind by Previous Civilization, and it was very likely a legacy left by Lin to help future civilizations. However, this data may have been damaged over a long period of time.

Thinking this through, Lin could no longer investigate the Previous Civilization. Sakura was still somewhere in this place, and if the data simulation collapsed, she might also be implicated.

People in the simulation device can view each other's coordinates. When Lin checked Sakura's coordinates before, it showed an error message. He could only try again to see if he could find Sakura's location.

This time, Sakura's coordinates appeared in the chat window, inside the tower. He immediately left Lin behind and ran out.

Sakura's location is... the third floor from the top of the tower.

He quickly arrived at that floor, and the tightly closed door in front of him opened automatically. He stepped inside, but the sight that greeted him left him momentarily speechless.

Cherry blossoms are right here.

Her data was not significantly reorganized and remained largely unchanged, except that her equipment was transformed into a set of normal clothing.

But now, she lies in a transparent rectangular container with her eyes closed and her face pale.

It felt as if I were inside a transparent coffin.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Lin, who had followed her without her noticing, walked past Lin and came to Ying's side. His mechanically jointed hands rested on the edge of the container, and a gentle expression appeared on his cold, metallic face.

Lin saw the tenderness on the robot's face and he understood.

He looked at Sakura's left hand, where on her ring finger was an inconspicuous ring, without any decorations, only an engraved name that was not easy to see.

LIN.

"Drop----"

A piercing alarm sounded inside the tower. Lin suddenly looked up and saw a screen descending into the room. In the distance outside the tower, a tiny, twisted figure floated in the air, slowly flying towards the tower.

"The Herrscher of Reason... it seems she wasn't completely killed." Lin calmly stared at the figure on the screen, shook his head, and looked down at Sakura.