The Door Closed

"The experiment is..."

"Is it possible to artificially change the ideology of the Herrscher?"

Mei stared blankly as Lin Shen took a deep breath, and then, as the viewing window on his helmet lit up, a blue projection fell onto the ground from the viewing window.

The projected content is Lin and... Mei.

"It's possible to mimic the opposite gender of consciousness, or to reverse the contamination by using the Herrscher's consciousness to pollute the original consciousness... However, the mimicry threshold appeared in just seventy-two hours. It would be difficult to contaminate the Herrscher's consciousness without the power of the Herrscher Core of the Eighth Herrscher, especially after she developed the idea of resisting Honkai, which accelerated the speed at which she reached the threshold."

What... is going on?

Why didn't Mei see this part in Hayashi's memory?

"We used the characteristics of the Herrscher of Reason to try to reverse and pollute Herrscher consciousness, to revert them back to their original state, and then we wanted to transmit this pollution to the source through the link between the Herrscher and the 'Gate', ultimately polluting the ideology of all the Herrscher."

All Herrscher...

Mei's sword trembled slightly. She checked her heartbeat; she knew perfectly well that she was Raiden Mei, not the Herrscher of Thunder only by a desire for destruction. And that meant...

"You... you succeeded? You managed to re-modify the Herrscher's consciousness back into a human form?"

"Initially, we failed. Once we tried to modify the Herrscher's consciousness, they would fiercely resist, and we could only maintain it for a maximum of 72 hours."

"So, in the end, we decided to use 'humans who were 'accepted by the Honkai's from the beginning' to carry out the contamination."

Mei already understood what Lin was going to say next.

Her breathing stopped, and she stared blankly at the emotionless man who seemed completely oblivious to her sorrow.

He will become whatever humanity requires him to become.

His words echoed in my ears.

"That person is the one who entered the core, felt the connection with the 'Gate,' and even became Herrscher..."

"Forest."

Chapter Seventy-Two: The Door Closed

Soldiers sometimes think that their world is actually more bizarre than that of ordinary novels. There are indeed sudden disasters and natural enemies of mankind, as well as organizations hidden in the Dark Side of humanity, machines soaring in the blue sky, and continents sunk in the deep sea.

People experience love and hate, separation and reunion, life and death, and great ups and downs, just like ants on a small boat. In the surging tide of the times, they can neither maintain their own balance nor move forward.

What role do I play in this era?

He would occasionally recall standing among the crowds when he was still a student at the Chienyu Academy, listening to people talk about the hundred yuan they had found the day before, watching children run by laughing and pulling balloons, and hearing students complaining that the teacher was calling their names in class again.

In the next daze, all that remained were mountains of corpses and seas of blood left after the thunderous rampage.

What can he do?

What can he do for these people?

Soldiers walked past the stained and mottled ruins, the ground covered with congealed dark red bloodstains, like a distorted painting splashed on the ground.

He wanted to fight for humanity as a soldier, but even though he killed the Honkai zombie, defeated the Honkai Beast, and crushed the Herrscher, he didn't change the world in the slightest. It was like a dam that had already burst; even if you tried to block it with your bare hands, you couldn't stop the hope from escaping through your fingers.

As the sun set, dusk cast his shadow on the bloodstains, elongating it like a menacing demon.

"Splash."

Something was blown by the evening breeze, traveled a long distance, and landed at my feet.

Lin bent down and picked it up.

It was tattered and worn, like a relic that had been buried under a stone and exposed to the wind and sun for a long time. The seat number on it was worn so badly that it was barely legible and rattled in the wind.

Unearthing fragmented images from the depths of memory, concert tickets handed out amidst laughter and cheers overlap with the tattered paper before my eyes.

"Are you ready? Once it begins, everything is irreversible. You must infect the source before your consciousness completely tilts towards the Honkai."

"...Um."

Lin spread his fingers, and the concert ticket flew into the sky from beside his cheek. He turned his head and gazed at the abandoned object that had nowhere to go, and said softly.

"Thank you, Mei."

"Thank me... I should be thanking you on behalf of humanity, Lin. This part of your consciousness will be completely transformed into a part of the Honkai. Regardless of your once proud human identity or your life, it will disappear the moment the plan is launched, and the remaining consciousness of yours will be forever eroded by the Herrscher consciousness."

Lin lowered his head, clenched his fist, and tried his best to take another look at his own complexion.

But that's impossible.

Fortunately, he still remembered the colors of others, and the colors of several people under the setting sun that day.

"Then disappear," he said calmly.

"Won't you regret it?"

"I was born for humanity, and I should die for humanity, that's all."

He turned and walked towards the setting sun, never looking back.

Mei's voice can no longer be heard.

Mei was right. After the plan was launched, his consciousness began to undergo some subtle but irreversible changes, like stepping on a sand dune that was gradually losing its sand.

He sensed the "link" he had felt within the core of the Herrscher of Death, a tangible "door" appearing in a place that seemed both very close and very far away.

He took a step forward.

"Splash..."

Between heaven and earth, only the forest and the tightly closed door remained. Everything else—sunlight, sound, and air—had vanished, replaced by a suffocating stillness that made it impossible to feel anything.

He numbly raised his knees and lowered his feet, but he couldn't close the distance to the "door" at all.

Only when his consciousness shifts in a certain direction can he approach the "door".

In other words, only "permitted" consciousness can approach?

But he kept walking forward.

He has never stopped throughout his life, so he will not stop here either.

Then let consciousness be eroded.

The instant he relaxed his resistance, the transformation surged into his sea of consciousness like a tidal wave. He endured it silently, heading towards his end, the end of humanity, the end of everything...

How would they react after their own death?

No.

Lin shook his head.

They will never know that a part of Lin's consciousness will die here, and that there will be another Lin by their side until that Lin ends his life for another plan.

Just as people don't care about "someone" who dies in a corner, the spotlight shines on "heroes".

That's fine.

"Hey, Lin, are you really going over there?"

Delta.

A familiar, lazy voice sounded behind him. Lin paused for a moment, then continued walking forward.

"Team Member Lin... are you choosing to forget about us?"

Soul.

"Hey, kid Lin, there's no turning back once you go that way."

Himiko.

"Uncle, if you go too far, you won't be able to see me anymore."

Anna.

Have you given up your human identity?

Speaker.

"Captain, let's turn around."

Immer.

"Lieutenant Lin, no one will remember us except you."

Erwin.

"Are you just going to give up like this, Lin?"

Mark.

"Do you want to become the Demon King?"

Another Delta.

"Forest..."

Dessidobia

"Forest..."

Bianca.

"Forest..."

"Forest..."

Forest...

He listened to those calls and whispers, those arms that had pulled him back from the brink of disaster countless times, now gripping his entire body and preventing him from going astray.

"The fate of humanity... that's too far removed from me, but for Mei, for you, and for Su, I will fight..."

Lin's pupils gradually dilated as he reached out his right hand toward the door that symbolized "despair," struggling against the dissuasion from "hope."

Kevin, I feel like I still can't be like you.

If only I could be a little more selfish.

"Forest!"

"Bang!"

The door was pushed open from the inside, and a slender hand grabbed his outstretched palm, pulling him out from the anticipation of countless people.

Her long, deep blue hair cascaded down her back like stardust.

The girl's smile shone faintly in the light behind the door.

"I've been waiting for you here, Lin."

"..."

The moment they touched the door, Lin's body and the girl's body began to disintegrate, turning into specks of light that were sucked into the door.

The girl's delicate fingers held his hand tightly, their fingers intertwined, her smile as beautiful as a painting.

"Long time no see, Lin."

"Haven't seen you for a long time."

He gazed at the laughing girl, a slight smile playing on his lips.

A gentle, final smile.

Half of their figures were blown away.

"You forgot one thing: give me a name." The girl held up a finger and chuckled playfully. "But I've already decided. My name is 'Seven' because Eri likes to call me Little Seven."

"Nice to meet you, Seven."

"Nice to meet you, Lin."

"I have so much more to say to you, but it's too late now."

The girl pursed her lips slightly, her eyes softening like water, and she gripped the man's hand tightly once more.

"Are you ready this time?"

"Ah... I've waited for so long, far too long..."

Their soft whispers drifted through the doorway.