Silent Death / The Giant

Lin could not answer Aponia's question.

Over the course of fifty thousand years, the number of visitors to the Imaginary Tree was not small, but Lin and Aponia rarely met, which led to Aponia's serious lack of knowledge about Lin.

"As a memory source, I don't have that kind of side effect," Lin Rushi replied.

"... But your... fate... still remains..."

"What I see is the established fact. It is what I see that led us to that future, so you don't need to talk about fate or... care about what I see."

Lin's body flickered between light and shadow, and he knew his time was up. The Herrscher of Reason had already begun searching for where his consciousness had gone.

Even though Aponia's mental strength surpassed that of the former Herrscher of Reason, the origins of those shadowy figures were clearly not something Aponia could discover simply by defeating the Herrscher of Reason. If the other shadowy figures found Aponia's location through the Herrscher of Reason, things would get out of control.

"Aponia, go help the visitor Raiden Mei."

Do you... believe... her?

"I believe in the miracles they created."

"But...I...see her...fate..." Aponia wanted to say something more, but after seeing Lin's body about to disappear, she shook her head, "I...understand...may you...be safe... Lin."

"Found it."

Mei noticed several tombstones with familiar names, including the tombstones of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers. She walked up to them, looked at them silently, and finally saw the tombstone with Lin's name engraved behind them.

But besides the name, there was another line of text on it that made her pause.

Do you believe that visions of the future appear in the minds of people in the past, or that words spoken by your future self are heard by your past self?

Chapter Ninety-Nine: Silent Death

Pity?

As the girl approached the door where her Herrscher Core was stored, she lowered her head and stroked her chin in thought.

In fact, she only spent a few months truly viewing the world from a human perspective and with a human identity. Everything was new and exciting for her, and she seemed to have no regrets.

But she's about to die. If she were human, she would probably think about what regrets she might have at that moment.

"..."

No, if it were Lin, he wouldn't be thinking about his regrets in such a race against time...

Yes, he won't.

But the girl wasn't Lin; she was simply herself.

"I..." The girl suddenly felt something cool liquid slide down her face, and she reached out to wipe her cheek.

Is it raining? Is it leaking from the cracks in the tunnel?

But more and more rain continued to flow from her eyes.

"I... don't have a name yet..."

The girl turned around and looked at the tightly closed door at the end of the road, where a human being who meant a great deal to her lay.

"I want to eat more of Lin's cuisine, I want to visit more countries, and I want to make friends like Kosma."

As Herrscher, she has lived far too long.

As a human being, her life was too short.

Memories of the past do not belong to her, and time of the future no longer belongs to her either.

She is now to save humanity as a miracle created by humankind.

"..."

Lin lay on the ground, unsure when he would be able to move. Perhaps he could have moved much earlier, but he remained there, letting the blood from inside his helmet soak his eyes.

It doesn't matter; he can't see the color of blood, and he doesn't feel pain.

He just suddenly felt that he might be tired.

For twenty years, he had felt pain and fatigue but never thought he was "tired". Less than half a day after losing the ability to feel pain, he experienced what true exhaustion was for the first time.

All I want to do is close my eyes, find a random place, and take a nap.

"I told you, just sleep it off, and everything will be fine."

Lin knew who it was without even turning around.

Her tone didn't seem angry, as if she wasn't upset that Lin had lied to her.

Lin wanted to ask her if she already knew, but it seemed pointless to ask now.

Lin had no idea how many other undisclosed plans Mobius and Mebius had, and even if he asked, they certainly wouldn't tell him.

"Look, even your robot sidekick has come."

"Da, da, da..."

Prometheus's footsteps grew closer as she and Mobius arrived almost simultaneously, both anticipating Lin's presence.

"... This time, you are not a participant. It might be easier for you to be an observer, because whether it is going to Australia or destroying the Visitor from Beyond the Stars, it is beyond your power."

Mobius patted the ground beside Lin, brushing away some small metal pieces, and sat down next to him.

Prometheus stood silently in place, gazing at the forest that looked like a dead man.

"Are you tired?" Mobius asked in a rare gentle tone.

"... What you said before, that I saw a future scene in Parallel World while I was unconscious, and at that time, I became aware of my own existence." Lin spoke after a long pause, "I heard a voice from the 'future'."

He wanted to force himself to change the subject.

"The Second Herrscher's Companion Honkai Beast, Wasak, is a special Honkai Beast whose abilities are close to the transmission of spacetime information. Those who have fought with it should understand that its ability comes from an alternative use of the Second Herrscher's authority. After all, time and space have no meaning in the Quantum Sea." Mobius's explanation was general but also straightforward. "Your surgery failed, but perhaps you have already 'gained' a part of it."

"..."

"..."

Lin's mind went blank; he didn't know what to say next, as if everything had become meaningless.

Soon after, news will arrive from Australia that Kevin has defeated the Seventh Herrscher, and the headquarters will discover that the stars around the world have ceased activity, and humanity has once again weathered a crisis.

This is like a scripted future, and he doesn't need to do anything. He just needs to wait for Kevin to kill Himiko, and for the girl to overload her Herrscher Core and destroy the collective consciousness of the Starry Sky.

Yes, all it takes is a good night's sleep for all of this to happen in a hopeless way.

No, even if he doesn't sleep, all of this will still happen, because he can't change anything.

Are you tired?

Mobius asked that question again.

This time, Lin nodded gently.

Mobius covered the visor of his helmet with his hand, obscuring his vision.

"Go to sleep. If you want to hear it, I can tell you 'I'm still here.'"

"...Need not."

Lin silently closed his eyes, the helmet's system shut down, and the world fell into complete silence and darkness.

In Star Rail outside Earth, an unseen ship is quietly docked.

The Stars, whose consciousness belongs to the collective, have bodies used for action that are merely reusable consumables. They coexist with the Honkai, have emerged from the childhood of civilization, and have begun interstellar travel.

Although their methods of interstellar travel tend to be more opportunistic, for a civilization like humanity, which is still in its earliest stages, their technological level has already reached the point where they can completely assimilate the entire planet.

Not for any evil reason, but simply following their logic, including humanity as a whole, this direction of civilization propagation, which abandons emotions, is Xingcai's ultimate goal.

Currently, the released starlight is assimilating humanity on a massive scale during Earth's weakened state following its Seventh Honkai Eruption.

Their main force is on this ship, calculating the situation of the entire planet into a database, constantly refining their invasion plans, and estimating how much more time it will take to completely assimilate humanity.

The only variable in the calculation is the Herrscher born from the Honkai. However, after Xingcai obtains the Herrscher Core of the Fire Moth, she will start to study how to assimilate the Herrscher as well. It's only a matter of time.

Inadequate variables...

"Drop----"

The ship suddenly sounded an alarm; this was a high- Honkai Energy reaction originating from the ground.

"Analysis in progress... The Honkai Energy reaction has exceeded the historical peak, showing a state of multiple energy accumulation, which is speculated to be 'artillery fire'. Take evasive action immediately."

The terrifying Honkai Energy reaction was so intense that even the detectors could not fully predict the values, and preliminary estimates suggest there were at least six similar reactions.

An emergency alarm blared throughout the entire ship, yet it remained eerily quiet; not a single Star Spirit showed any sign of fear.

No, they are one consciousness, and Xingcai's consciousness is incapable of feeling fear.

Even if, in the next second, six thick beams of light were launched from the ground, piercing through the ship seven seconds later and evaporating Xingcai's consciousness.

Chapter 100 Giants

"Lin, what dreams do you want to realize in the future?"

Sakura placed the food on the table and handed the chopsticks to the silent man. After taking them, he pondered for a few seconds, then shook his head and said, "Defeat the Honkai."

"That's not your dream, it's humanity's." Sakura sat across from him and picked up her chopsticks as well. "If you don't have one yet, you'd better think about it now."

"... It's pointless if humanity doesn't defeat the Honkai..."

"I know that humanity has no future unless it defeats the Honkai."

"Then why..."

"But preparing for the future is a human trait, isn't it?" Sakura smiled and put some food into Lin's bowl. "You used to say you just wanted to live your life however you wanted, but now you're different. Do you have any new ideas?"

Hearing Sakura say this, Lin silently pondered, and before he knew it, he had eaten more than half a bowl of rice. Only then did he raise his head again. "Indeed, it's just... living life casually."

"... Pfft, cough cough cough."

Sakura couldn't help but laugh out loud when she heard Lin say it so seriously, and almost choked on her rice. She had to drink three cups of water to stop coughing, but she still couldn't help laughing.

"Is that not allowed?"

"No, no, I didn't mean to mock you," Sakura refuted Lin's statement, saying without hesitation, "I think it's fine."

"..."

"Because this isn't something you just said to appease me, Lin. It's something you've thought about carefully before saying it. It's quite remarkable that you can still talk about your past dreams now."

Sakura stared at Lin's expressionless face, as if seeing the Lin who used to always smile, "Humans don't necessarily have to have lofty ideals and dreams, otherwise they wouldn't be human."

Her words were a bit convoluted, but Lin knew what she meant.

Humans are a species that can only see what is in front of them and does not consider the future. The highly different thinking abilities of each individual have led to humanity being stuck in this state forever, unable to become a more perfect species.

Even two people who grew up in the same environment, of the same gender, and under the same conditions can have fundamentally different ideologies.

Great things should be done by great people, and small things should be done by small people. Many people think this way and act this way.

"... Someone once proposed a hypothesis."

Lin didn't respond, but instead started talking about something else that seemed completely unrelated.

"If we were to unify human thought into a single thought, transforming it from a plural entity with varying levels of complexity into a super-individual with the thought capacity of seven billion, would that be considered the completion of the ultimate evolution?"

"After this hypothesis emerged, a new hypothesis arose after a period of development: If humans remove their emotional center and implant the same thinking ability, would that be considered a completion of the transformation from the collective to the individual?"

"This hypothesis is called the Giant Hypothesis. The unified human consciousness of an individual is a perfect being called a 'giant' who overlooks the entire planet."

Lin calmly explained what could be considered a crazy hypothesis, shoveled two mouthfuls of rice into his mouth, chewed and swallowed, and looked at Sakura.

What do you think...?

"... So?" Sakura tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "The integration of human consciousness... does that mean there's no longer a distinction between you and me?"

"Children and scientists will exchange knowledge equally. Every human being will use the same set of thinking logic and have the same knowledge base." Lin scooped up some chicken meat from the chicken soup and put it in a bowl. "Rather than a living organism, it's more like this bowl of soup. Every drop of soup makes up the whole bowl of soup, but we won't separate every drop of soup. We will only look at this bowl of soup as a whole."

"There will be no barriers between people. People who could not understand each other before can reach a consensus, efficiency will be improved, and defects will be corrected... because only when there is only one human being left in the world will he be a truly good person."

Lin narrated coldly, each word seemingly devoid of emotion, and his tone suggested that he was not merely treating it as a hypothesis.