Fate Is Nothing but a Shackle! / The Twelfth Herrscher... An Inevitable Arrival!

If we still can't defeat them, then it's not impossible to choose to travel to other parallel worlds or directly restart the Project Fireseed, anyway...

At least in Ling Xi's opinion, going head-to-head with the Finality right now is not a wise choice!

Perhaps many people feel that this is the time to muster courage, shout "My fate is in my own hands!" and go and defeat the Finality, but...

Why risk everything when there are safer options available? Perhaps...

It's probably because the Doctor considers the problem from the perspective of humanity as a whole, while I consider it from the perspective of myself and those around me. After all, for me, the destruction of civilization is far less important than protecting those around me!

"Doctor, I don't object to your idea, but..."

Ling Xi said seriously, "I don't want this attempt to come at the cost of your lives. After all... Doctor, you know the deal I made with Him!"

"Heh, don't worry, I won't force you, but..."

Mobius murmured, "Although our research progress isn't particularly high right now, based on Mebius's calculations and Sue's observations, Mebius feels... the Will of Honkai, also known as the Honkai God, while possessing a portion of the Tree's power, and perhaps even the power to return someone to a certain point in time, but..."

Mobius suddenly became serious and calmly said, "This all requires the rules to allow it. In other words, without the tree's permission, even a Honkai God cannot change someone's time to any arbitrary point in time. Do you... understand what I mean?"

"Um?"

Ling Xi was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly realized something and asked, "Doctor, you mean..."

No, that's not what I meant.

Mobius shook his head and smiled, "As I said, this is just what we've deduced from the clues we have so far. But as for the truth... perhaps only He will know before we make a technological breakthrough. After all, at least for now, that girl seems perfectly normal, doesn't she?"

"..."

Ling Xi remained silent, offering no reply, but he understood his Doctor's meaning perfectly: the Honkai God... possessed the power to modify, but not the authority to do so. In other words...

There were two possible outcomes. The first was that he came into contact with the tree's rules and thus completed a deal with it. The second...

It seems that God can deceive the world...

Ling Xi couldn't help but recall the second time she used Gemini Stigmata on Seele. At that time, the prompt that appeared when using Gemini Stigmata was "[Target selection error]", instead of "[Target is already equipped with Stigmata]".

At first, I just thought it was the copywriting's fault, but now, thanks to Mobius's reminder, things...

It doesn't seem to be that simple.

Furthermore, there's Aponia. When he first had close contact with Aponia, he clearly only had five wives, but Aponia insisted there were six. At the time, he simply assumed she was talking about herself, but now it seems...

Aponia doesn't seem to be talking about herself, nor about Eden.

Looks like I'll have to go talk to her about life tomorrow...

Of course, whatever the truth is, she is who she is, and that has never changed!

Chapter 459: So-called fate is nothing but shackles!

The next day, Ling Xi went to find Aponia...

"Ling Xi, is there something you need from me?"

Aponia was originally still researching in the Elysian Realm, but after receiving Ling Xi's message, she rushed back immediately.

"Aponia, I just want to ask a question."

Ling Xi had no intention of wasting time at this point and said directly, "Back when I only had five wives, you insisted it was six, and after you came along, you insisted it was seven, so now..."

Ling Xi looked at Aponia seriously and asked, "How many are there?"

"Eight people."

Aponia answered Ling Xi's question almost without hesitation, "Although I counted only seven people, fate told me there were eight in total."

"So that's how it is..."

Ling Xi couldn't help but start thinking. It seems...

There really is a problem.

"Ling Xi, is there anything else?"

Seeing that Ling Xi had started thinking again, Aponia also asked her a question.

"That's all, thank you for your help."

Ling Xi smiled and shook her head, intending to leave, but then suddenly remembered that it had been quite a while since she had come to see Aponia, and this time she had only come to see her to ask a question. Would it be a bit inappropriate to leave like this?

"Ling Xi ..."

Aponia smiled slightly and said, "I plan to go see Sue later to check on the recent observations, so I don't have much time today. If you have nothing else, you can leave."

"Uh... thank you, Aponia, I'll come see you again in a few days."

Ling Xi naturally understood what Aponia meant. After saying thank you, he left immediately. He... was going to find Seele.

"Why..."

As Ling Xi, Aponia sighed silently and muttered to herself, "Seele... is she the one who influenced your choice?"

So far, in the fate that Aponia has witnessed, almost every time Ling Xi has changed the course of the world, it seems to be related to Seele!

Whether it's the Herrscher of Thunder in Changkong City, the Herrscher of Death in the Mu Continent, or the Herrscher of Flame was supposed to destroy Oceania, all of them caused the world line to deviate because of Ling Xi and Seele. Aponia even suspects that if the Herrscher of Rock is also related to Seele, Ling Xi might be able to rewrite the fate of the Mu Continent!

And now, the fate of the world seems to be changing once again because of Seele, but...

I don't know if it's changing for the better or for the worse...

"Ling Xi ..."

Aponia placed her hands on her chest, closed her eyes, and made a praying gesture. After all... among the countless lines of fate she could see, every single one led to destruction, except for Ling Xi's fate... which was unclear!

Perhaps this is the only chance, but...

Faced with this destiny, there are two most difficult choices!

"Ugh... Ling Xi, is there something on my face?"

In Seele's room, Ling Xi and Seele sat facing each other. Ling Xi didn't say anything, just stared at Seele silently for several minutes. Finally, Seele couldn't hold back her curiosity any longer and asked.

"Oh, no, I just think Seele so cute that I want to look at her a little longer."

Ling Xi smiled and shook her head, then gently rubbed Seele's little head and said, "Seele, do you remember the first time we met?"

"Of course I remember."

Seele rolled her eyes at Ling Xi and said irritably, "You still owe me two jam-filled breads..."

"Hey, hey, hey, it's been over two years, how do you still remember?"

Ling Xi deliberately retorted, "Besides, isn't everything I've given you over the years worth more than two pieces of jam bread?"

"That's different."

Seele hummed softly, "Ling Xi, the things you give me are all for me, but... the jam bread is Ling Xi you owe me, so... it's different, you know?"

Ling Xi: "..." Are you just deliberately picking a fight?

Looking at Seele before him, Ling Xi was also filled with mixed emotions. Seele... Seele...

What is the truth?

Since talking with Mobius, Ling Xi still doesn't really support Mobius and Mei's plans, but she doesn't choose to oppose them either. She just lets them do what they want to do, and when they ask her questions, she answers them without reservation, even though she doesn't actually know much!

During the months of their research, the remaining humans finally enjoyed a long-awaited peace. Although the Honkai Beast outside were still rampaging, the survivors living in the base, whose main facilities were underground, could completely ignore the Honkai from the outside world!

If a threatening Honkai Beast approaches the base, then...

Warrior Kevin, Berserker Thousand Calamities, Archer Elysia, and Assassin Sakura—these four can all solo Judgment-class Honkai Beast. Therefore, any threatening Honkai Beast within hundreds of kilometers of the base have basically been wiped out by them!

In short, after the human population decreased, people found that the pressure was actually much less, after all...

Now, apart from the base, there is no other place to protect. Moreover, thanks to Mobius's prior preparations, humanity is now basically well-fed and clothed. Apart from some materials that require a supply chain, humanity lacks nothing!

Whether it's stockpiled grains or artificially cultivated meat and vegetables, the supply is very abundant!

Anyway, although the Flame-Chasing Moths had many more gatherings, the famous scene of everyone sitting together and eating noodles never materialized...

It's a real shame.

Of course, this may also be related to the fact that Elysia is not out on missions in this parallel world. After all, the noodle-eating gatherings were all organized by Kevin because Elysia was out on missions.

However, Mei suddenly discovered that the Honkai Energy worldwide was slowly increasing...

Three months have passed in the blink of an eye. The intensity of Honkai Energy in the world continues to increase. During this period, although the base was not breached by Honkai Beast, hundreds of people still lost their lives due to various reasons!

Most of them died because they were Honkai Energy and turned into suicide Dishi!

There's no way around it. The Honkai Energy intensity outside the base has reached 100 HW. Even inside the base, with the protection of the shields, the Honkai Energy intensity has surged to 30 HW. In this environment, ordinary people will be infected in no time. Even some of the lowest-level Fused Warrior are at risk of infection!

What's most worrying is that the intensity of Honkai Energy on Earth is still increasing, and... it's increasing exponentially!

According to Mei's calculations, the Honkai Energy intensity inside the base would exceed 100 HW in less than half a month, and at that intensity, more than 90% of the people inside the base would not survive a week...

Chapter 460: The Twelfth Herrscher... An Unavoidable Descent!

"How is Ling doing?"

In the laboratory, Ling Xi was asking Mobius some questions with concern.

"The situation is not optimistic."

Mobius shook his head slightly and said, "Rin has almost no Honkai Energy Adaptability. She has been able to hold on until now entirely because of the Stigmata Gene. However, Rin has a strong rejection reaction to the Hypervariable Factor, so even I am not confident enough to dare to perform the Hypervariable Surgery on her!"

"This is probably Him fixing the bug."

Elysia said quietly, "I've said it before, He doesn't allow bugs to exist, and Rin's identity... even if Rin isn't killed by humans this time, she will be killed by the ever-increasing Honkai Energy."

"Sigh, I never thought... things would really turn out like this!"

Ling Xi was also quite helpless about this. Although she could roughly guess that Ling's storyline wouldn't just pass by peacefully, but...

I didn't expect the Will of Honkai to react so quickly. At first, the global Honkai Energy increased, but no one paid much attention, since it was a normal phenomenon. However...

It wasn't until Mei's calculations that they suddenly realized that this global Honkai Energy surge was aimed at Rin!

In other words, the Will of Honkai does not allow Rin to live; Rin must become Twelfth Herrscher!

"Ling Xi, perhaps we need to find another way."

Mobius calmly stated, "If the reason for the increased global Honkai Energy is truly due to Rin, then we must make a choice, otherwise..."

Mobius paused for a moment, then said in an extremely serious tone, "Honkai Energy will become stronger and stronger. At that time, not only will the enemies become stronger, but humanity will also be unable to continue to survive in this environment."

"Choose?"

Ling Xi was taken aback for a moment, then asked directly, "Doctor, do you mean... to give birth to the Twelfth Herrscher?"

To bring the Twelfth Herrscher into existence is, in essence, to kill Rin!

"That's not what I meant, but... you could say that's what I meant."

As Mobius pondered, he continued, "You should be quite familiar with the Elysian Realm, Ling Xi, right? In the Elysian Realm, one can preserve a complete human consciousness, and even directly upload one's consciousness, so..."

"If her consciousness can be completely uploaded to the Elysian Realm, then Rin cannot be said to have died, as for her physical body..."

Mobius paused for a moment, then said, "Although the physical body is dead, the consciousness remains. With our current technology and the power of the Death Herrscher Core, we can create a new body for Rin."

"But that's not Rin, it's just a body that has Rin's memories stored inside!"

Ling Xi never doubted Mobius's skills, but the process of reshaping her body using the Death Herrscher Core, while resulting in her still being herself, wasn't entirely hers either. In short...

Human technology is not mature enough!

"Then what do you suggest we do? Honkai Energy let the Honkai continue to increase?"

Mobius stated directly, "If the Honkai Energy continues to increase, our few remaining survivors will continue to die, and when the Honkai Energy reaches approximately 100 HW, even Life Support Pod will no longer be able to sustain Rin's life. At the same time..."

"About 90% of the people in the entire base will die. Are you... sure you want to keep waiting?"

"This..."

Mobius's words completely silenced him!

This time, it's not just a matter of the bell, but a matter of all human civilization. Humanity is already struggling enough; if we lose another 90% of our population, then...