The Cunning One / Survival

"I... I also brought a seed."

"Yes, let's plant them together."

They placed the seeds next to the thing, then covered them with soil again, and hurriedly went to fetch water from a bucket woven from leaves to water the small mound.

She felt a cool sensation.

Are they watering her?

"That's great! This is where we planted the seeds. Be sure to come back often!"

She seems to be able to see parts of the memories, but she's not sure if they belong to her or to someone else.

Only in her consciousness was something forcing her to feel nothing, like a puppet on a string.

But she was actually looking forward to it.

She looked forward to the two children coming to water her plants every week, and today was their regular weekday visit.

But today, it seems I'm a little late.

"..."

"..."

Several years have passed since they first came here.

She had little concept of time, but through the changes in her two children's voices, she realized that they could no longer actually be called "children".

"I... am going to join the army."

"... What a coincidence, I want to go too."

"Hehe, don't lie to me. You don't need to come with me. If my father is gone, I'll have nothing left. You have two older brothers, right?"

"... We've never been apart since we were kids."

"Then there's no need to go to the battlefield."

She couldn't understand what they were saying.

But she could tell that their tone no longer carried the innocence and naivety of before.

"How long have those three seeds been planted?"

"It's been several years, and it still hasn't sprouted."

"It's actually impossible to grow them, isn't it?"

"Haha... that's true."

"..."

"..."

"I'm leaving."

"Bon Voyage."

She couldn't understand what they meant by "affection."

Just as she couldn't understand why they planted the seeds at that time and agreed to water them every week.

However, after one person leaves, another person will still come here on time and pour a ladle of water.

The remaining person got married after the other person left. Every time he came here, he would mutter something to himself, as if he were still talking to the other person.

Then, one day, that person stopped coming.

"It's been so many years..."

The aged, hoarse voice brought her back to consciousness.

She seemed to recognize the voice; it sounded somewhat familiar.

It's the one who's still alive.

"In the end, the tree was still not planted."

"The person still hasn't come."

A ladle of water was poured over her head.

Her bewildered, blank consciousness was, for some reason, coming into contact with that indescribable, vast expanse of memories.

"Back then, no matter how much water you poured, you still wouldn't be able to grow a tree."

"However, whether it will take root and sprout or not doesn't seem to matter..."

"It's only because we planted something that we had a reason to agree to come here together."

"..."

"Hey, can you hear me? Seed, if you can hear me, please sprout and grow into a beautiful tree."

That person left those words behind.

Then, she could no longer hear anything.

This was merely a breath in the tens of millions of years of her long wait.

She only glimpsed a small part of her two children's childhood and old age, and had no way of knowing what exactly happened to them or their complete lives.

However, these seemingly insignificant individuals were just a small part of the story. Throughout her waiting period, countless people passed by her.

Their lives appeared so quietly in her ears, and faded away just as quietly.

Until one day, she wanted to see for herself what those people were really like.

She wanted to become one of those ordinary people who faded away with time.

And so, the seed sprouted.

And after yet another countless passage of time.

The water that was poured finally allowed the tender shoots to grow into a large tree.

Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Cunning

To fight against Herrscher with a human body sounds like a fantasy, and in the minds of countless people, it is like throwing an egg against a rock or a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

... but it's not entirely impossible.

Lin has a record of soloing against Herrscher on multiple occasions. Although he was not successful every time, each time he did so was enough to shock people.

Kevin has now surpassed Lin in terms of raw power, so he naturally has the ability to defeat Herrscher. Moreover, the girl is just a crippled Herrscher without Herrscher Core and with less than one percent of the power.

The only uncertainty is that the girl might use weapons from Previous Civilization.

What makes her the most unique among the Herrscher of Reason is that her powers exemplify the saying "the stronger the opponent, the stronger she becomes." She can perfectly replicate any technology possessed by humanity simply by analyzing its structure.

The girl was the last Herrscher of the Previous Civilization. At the Previous Civilization, their technology had reached its peak, which led to the Herrscher of Reason using their technological power to destroy them.

In terms of technological level, the Previous Civilization, which had undoubtedly utilized Soul Steel to its fullest extent, far surpassed the current Fire-Chasing Moth.

"Bass!"

In a single exchange, Kevin's weapon was cut in half, not because of the material or the point of impact, but simply because he was overwhelmed by the cutting technique used by his opponent.

Kevin fired his gun in his other hand, and a protective shield resembling water ripples appeared in front of the girl. The bullets' kinetic energy disappeared directly after passing through it and fell to the ground.

Kevin cautiously stepped back, drawing another knife in the process. This knife used the same technique as the one in Sakura's hand that could emit cold air, but before he could draw it, an ice path suddenly extended beneath the girl's feet.

Left with no other option, Kevin and Kosma had to take cover.

With faster and more convenient technology, she didn't even need to replicate more lethal weapons; the general-purpose equipment from the Previous Civilization, Meteor's Demise, was enough to give them a run for their money.

But after forcing them back, the girl made no further moves. She stood there, quietly watching them, as if asking with her eyes, "Will you move aside or not?"

How could Kevin and the others possibly trust a Herrscher? The Sixth Herrscher's highly anthropomorphic behavior and cunning nature were deeply etched in their minds, and her brutality and the killing of countless civilians were enough to show that humanity should not have even the slightest expectation of Herrscher.

They are just a group of monsters with human appearances.

Now that the girl has obtained the core of the Herrscher of Reason, with her advanced technology from the Previous Civilization, her destructive power far surpasses that of any Herrscher in the current civilization. It's practically like handing her the detonation button, just waiting for her to blow humanity to smithereens.

"Can you give up resisting and let us monitor you! If you really are an exception among the Herrscher, then I think humanity will accept you, even if it takes some time..."

Kosma rarely let his emotions outburst. He was far less distrustful of the Honkai than Kevin was; he had his own principles.

Good and evil are distinct and cannot be reconciled.

Regardless of the Honkai, all he saw was that the girl did not do evil, that she was on good terms with him, and that they even ate cheap instant noodles together in the room.

She contributed to the fight against the Emperor-class Honkai Beast, and now she is begging them to let her help humanity.

Should he believe it?

He himself didn't know, so he wanted to let time give him the answer.

Since the girl hasn't harmed any humans in the past few months, then we'll monitor her for a year, ten years, fifty years... Even if she's under human surveillance for her entire life, and although she has no freedom, this is the best way for humans to get along with her.

In his youth, he sought the best of both worlds.

"Kosma." Kevin frowned. He wanted to reprimand Kosma, but seeing his resolute expression, he swallowed back the sternness on his lips.

He was also curious about what the girl would do.

But in any case, he was ready for battle.

"... Starry Sky's ships are lingering outside Earth. Their existence could attract other alien civilizations at any time. At that time, humanity may face an enemy far more terrifying than the Honkai." The girl sighed, and the weapon in her hand disappeared. "And humanity is powerless to resist Starry Sky. The assimilation they seek is the 'pollution' that grinds down individuals and returns them to the whole."

"They are just another form of Honkai. The reason they haven't attacked humanity yet is that they want to bring humanity under their control with minimal losses. Once the concept of humanity disappears, the Honkai will also stop, and they won't have to deal with Honkai anymore."

She looked at Kevin: "Those Emperor-class Honkai Beast are nothing more than ordinary Starbursts, and their numbers are meaningless to them."

"Those Emperor-class Honkai Beast..."

With the girl's prompting, Kevin gradually understood where those seemingly abnormal Emperor-class Honkai Beast came from.

"As soon as they decide to attack humanity, the Stars lurking in the human world will begin a large-scale attack. In the Shenzhou region alone, the number of Stars is no less than a thousand."

A thousand Emperor-class Honkai Beast appearing simultaneously in Shenzhou, even though these Emperor-class Honkai Beasts are far inferior to ordinary Upper-class Honkai Beast, they have already surpassed the level of Honkai Beast and will cause a devastating blow to human society.

"Even if humanity survives the attack of the Stars, they will send signals to the Planetary Honkai Beast the Centaur star system, attracting them to the solar system. At that time, humanity will be completely unable to resist."

"Only by reproducing the strongest weapon of the Previous Civilization at full power after I retrieve the Herrscher Core can I destroy the extraterrestrial Starry Consciousness Collective."

When Xingcai told humans about the Planetary Honkai Beast, she had already prepared for a potential threat.

To be assimilated or to be destroyed?

So, humanity's fate is actually in the hands of a Herrscher?

"... I can't trust the Herrscher."

"I know that humans cannot trust Herrscher, but I hope I can be an example..." The girl smiled easily. "If a 'special' Herrscher like me is born after me, please take good care of her then."

Kevin said coldly, "You can't leave here."

"You can't stop me."

"You know what I'm talking about."

"..." The girl suddenly shut her mouth.

Kevin had already realized that her abilities had been weakened to a pitiful degree. Just now, she had reproduced at least three pieces of equipment from the Previous Civilization, but each one was a dismantling of the previous one before being reproduced.

In other words, she cannot maintain a large amount of complex technology at the same time.

This explains why she didn't recreate the Previous Civilization's flight device herself to leave, but instead had to borrow a transport plane.

With restrictions come solutions.

However, he also failed to see the fleeting cunning in the girl's clear eyes.

Chapter Ninety: Survival