Honkai's Thousand Laws, Kidnapping Kiana at the Start

With three dull thuds, three arrows miraculously struck the same spot. After a final shot, Chris's leg joint completely snapped.

The severed thigh quickly dissolved into particles, disappearing without a trace. This was Su Jue's contingency plan; he didn't want anyone tracking his real body through the puppet's remnants. After all, he already had the real puppet, and this Chris was merely a monster formed from concentrated Honkai Energy.

With the two of them working together, Chris was eventually overwhelmed. Pulled relentlessly by the two ranged attackers, he lost all ability to resist once all four limbs were broken.

After the dust settled, Chen Tianwu, who had been hiding and ambushing, finally revealed himself. His left hand was completely gone, the empty sleeve fluttering in the wind.

However, what flowed from the sleeve wasn't blood, but a small amount of black lubricant oil. Occasionally, faint sparks would flash from short-circuiting electronic components, making him look quite peculiar.

Besides that, his thighs were also severely damaged, but since they were also mechanically augmented, perhaps that's how he survived Chris's assault.

"Who are you? Do you know what this monster is?" Raven didn't let her guard down despite Chen Tianwu's current state. She kept her bow and arrow ready, prepared to shoot if Chen Tianwu made any unnecessary movements.

Unfortunately, this man was different from others. After parting ways with Anna, Chen Tianwu had essentially given up. He ignored Raven's arrow, using his sniper rifle as a crutch to support himself as he walked away.

Thunk.

An arrow embedded itself near Chen Tianwu's foot, its fletching trembling.

"Chen Tianwu, I don't know." These two short words answered Raven's question. He paused, then added, "Almost everyone in this town is dead. If you don't want to get into trouble, you should leave quickly."

She found it hard to believe. Although it was a border town, it was teeming with various gangs and constant arms smuggling. How could they possibly be wiped out under such firepower...

Before she could ask more, the roar of a helicopter grew louder as it approached. The helicopter responsible for her transport lowered a rope ladder, signaling her.

"Raven, retreat! Schicksal forces are approaching!"

Recalling her bow and arrow, Raven chose to believe the transporter. She had a mission, and getting caught up with Schicksal because of her commission would be troublesome.

She glanced at the approaching helicopter, then at Chen Tianwu, who was slowly walking away.

"You're coming with me!" she declared, rushing over and grabbing Chen Tianwu. Disregarding his protests, she used the surroundings to propel herself forward and grabbed the rope ladder.

As the helicopter ascended higher, Raven, hanging outside, finally saw the full scope of the town.

Everywhere was stained with pools of red, as if vandalized. Even the most brutal Honkai Beast attacks wouldn't be this horrific. It was as if it was specifically designed for violence, choosing the most bloody method of slaughter to spread its terror.

After climbing the rope ladder into the helicopter, her communicator rang. Schicksal was indeed mobilizing an A-rank unit for investigation; she had almost become the scapegoat.

After Raven left, the immobile Chris puppet was still wriggling. The space suddenly tore open, and countless transparent threads surged out, shredding the remaining parts of the puppet into pieces before it vanished into particles.

About ten minutes later, Schicksal's Valkyrie forces arrived at the town, only to be greeted by a scene of bloody carnage.

The perspective shifted back to the Theater of Domination. After Chris's consciousness dissipated, time finally began to flow again.

The curtain fell, and the actors on stage voluntarily moved to the audience seats, becoming the sixth puppet controlled by Su Jue. Unlike the previous puppets formed by the sheep spirit absorbing resentment, this new puppet was entirely consumed by the wolf. Everything that constituted Chris—his soul, personality, emotions—was absorbed by the Herrscher of Domination's power, forming this new puppet.

The markings on him were not black and white like the others, but a deep, inky black. His entire body was enveloped in intense resentment, and even his wooden body faintly gleamed like rosewood, making him look distinctly different. More importantly, he provided Su Jue with a completely different level of augmentation.

"My power has increased nearly tenfold..."

This was an incredibly exaggerated number. Before this, even with three puppets, Su Jue had only barely moved beyond the level of a "waste" and was comparable to an ordinary person. But this time, Chris alone had boosted his strength to the level of a B-rank Valkyrie, and that was referring to combat ability.

While B-rank might seem weak in games, in the Honkai world, B-rank meant the ability to fight massive Honkai Beasts and was the main force against Honkai. Their physical capabilities far surpassed ordinary humans. If not for the Honkai Energy's corrosive effect on the body, causing Valkyries to decline like consumables, raising a B-rank army could even start a war.

Calculating the time, those at St. Freya were likely just reaching B-rank now. Kiana, after awakening as the Herrscher of Void, barely possessed A-rank combat power. Schicksal, as a whole, only had Bianka and Seele as openly acknowledged S-ranks, with perhaps Li Sushang still in slumber.

"Should I just go ahead and take out the potential Herrscher of Reason, Herrscher of Thunder, and the Herrscher of Binding?" The thought suddenly popped into his mind, but he quickly dismissed it. The protagonist group wasn't that simple. If they all said, "I can't do anything," when he made his move, wouldn't Su Jue have died in vain?

Just as Su Jue was rejoicing in his amplified power, a sharp, intense pain surged through him. He was familiar with this feeling; it was the power of his curse. Every time he acquired a puppet, he experienced this agony.

The pain intensified, and Su Jue felt as if his soul was being torn apart, chewed, ground, and swallowed.

When the pain finally subsided, Su Jue was drenched in cold sweat. His throat felt itchy, and he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

His lifespan hadn't increased; instead, it had decreased by two months...

Was this the price of choosing the wolf? That tearing sensation was likely the feeling of Chris's soul being ripped apart after making a deal with the wolf spirit.

After recovering for more than ten minutes, Su Jue finally managed to pull himself together. Regardless, acquiring puppets in this manner was his choice. He could only tally his gains and hope that the next puppet would be the sheep spirit.

Youth puppet +1, combat power increased to B, lifespan reduced by 2 months.

The effect of the dual soul imprint was also evident. Choosing the white sheep's salvation resulted in a small increase in combat power but an increase in lifespan. Choosing the black wolf's fall resulted in a massive increase in combat power, a deepening of the curse, and a reduction in lifespan.

Sitting alone on the stage of the Theater of Domination, Su Jue took a star-shaped hairpin from his pocket.

"No matter what, the conditions are met. The power to break through the Imaginary Space, the item to locate Murata Himeko. It's time to bring back the Plague Gem."

Chapter Thirty-Five: Imaginary Space

From his first encounter with Kiana, when he decided to abduct her, Su Jue had already been planning around the most crucial character in the entire Honkai Impact 3rd storyline—Murata Himeko. Looking back at the entire plot, all the changes began with Teacher Himeko's death, after which Kiana's growth and awakening followed.

As the Herrscher of Domination, Su Jue personally felt that the most foolish decision made by the rabble in the original work was to pull out the Plague Gem in front of Kiana. Not only did it help her achieve a complete transformation, but it also gifted her the Flamescion. Now that time had given Su Jue another chance, he had to consider whether he would repeat the same mistake.

Therefore, the first thing to do was naturally to get his hands on the Plague Gem. Whether he used it himself or gave it to someone else, the control would be in his hands. However, the Imaginary Space was far more dangerous than he imagined. When he obtained the Theater of Domination, he had already attempted to find the Plague Gem directly. The result was that as soon as he left the theater's range, he felt an extremely strong internal Honkai conflict.

That was an area that even Otto would find dangerous, and someone as strong as Durandal would constantly get lost within it. At that time, if Su Jue had forcibly searched for the gem, it would have been like searching for a needle in a haystack.

This led to the plan of abducting Kiana. As the Herrscher of Void, she possessed a natural mastery of the Imaginary Space. Moreover, Himeko was sent into the Imaginary Space by her own hand. Only by obtaining a positioning beacon from her could the gem be found more quickly.

The hairpin Su Jue held was the harvest from this endeavor. Imbued with the Herrscher of Void's power and harboring the girl's precious memories, it was undoubtedly an excellent positioning beacon.

The gears around the Theater of Domination spun rapidly. This time, it wasn't a play being staged, but Su Jue controlling it with all his might to move. Initially, Su Jue's decision to "carry the Theater of Domination back home overnight" wasn't just talk; he would have truly done so if given enough time.

Jian Yun, who was walking with Su Jue in the outside world at this moment, only felt a flicker before the figure vanished. However, her memory was quickly interfered with, and she dismissed it as her own eyes playing tricks on her.

Fine domination threads continuously coiled and climbed, and all the puppets fell into a standstill. Within this grand Theater of Domination, Su Jue's true form finally appeared.

His eyes seemed to reflect the afterglow of the setting sun on a lake, a rich gold almost overflowing from his eyelids. Yet, simultaneously, crimson erosion patterns were constantly spreading, relentlessly closing in on his brain and heart. Coiled threads connected to his back, forming a lifeline with the Theater of Domination. If Su Jue were to get lost, the constantly operating Theater of Domination could pull him back, serving as a form of insurance for himself.

Once prepared, Su Jue channeled an immense amount of Honkai Energy into the star-shaped hairpin, activating it. Faintly, the boundless Imaginary Space began to emit a weak signal. If Su Jue hadn't personally activated it, he might not have even sensed this beacon.

Clipping the girl's hairpin onto his own short gray hair, Su Jue leaped from the theater in the direction of the signal.

Darkness and deathly silence were the main themes of the Imaginary Space. In this void, the only things visible were his own hands, and the only sound was the gurgling of blood in his veins.

In such a claustrophobic environment, even the strongest will would eventually lose its conviction to time, and its mind would be erased by solitude. Nearly three months had passed since the great battle of the Herrscher of the Void's awakening. Murata Himeko was likely nothing more than dust by now, let alone the fact that this perilous Imaginary Space harbored terrifying monsters.

Su Jue, who had been floating in the space, slowly stopped his movements. Not far away in the Imaginary Space, an aura that made him feel uneasy emanated.

According to the theories of physics, even if an Imaginary Space corresponding to real space existed, it could only contain pure energy, perhaps antimatter or dark matter, but absolutely no life. However, in the world of Honkai Impact 3rd, the Imaginary Space did indeed give birth to unique monsters. These were beings born from the Imaginary Tree, apostles of the gods.

And the Theater of Domination was currently the closest known structure to the Imaginary Tree. Thus, their identity was quite clear.

"Imaginary Skeleton — Unknowable"

"Imaginary Skeleton — Self-Reference"

"Imaginary Skeleton — Tautology"

The pure darkness of the Imaginary Space seemed to ignite with golden flames, or perhaps it was like holes appearing on white paper scorched by high temperatures. A strange and piercing hum grew louder, and the scorched holes widened. Finally, a massive eyeball opened its eye from within.

A potent sense of filth washed over him. Even before contact, the imaginary filth from the dark side of the world began to erode him.

When these voids finally opened completely, a rough golden eyeball finally emerged. Then, surrounding energy converged, forming strange, connected limbs. They had no heads, only that single eyeball as their absolute core. The projected limbs tightly encased it, like—a puppet.

"Did Mihoyo's designers get lazy and plagiarize my Herrscher of Domination's abilities?!"

Both the eyeball and the detached external limbs were strikingly similar to the Herrscher of a Thousand's mode of operation, driving puppets with a Herrscher core. However, these did not require domination threads for control; instead, they operated directly with the core of filth as their central hub.

Seeing such blatant plagiarism, Su Jue felt a chill run down his spine on a hot summer day, his whole body trembling. What was wrong with this world? Why should the Herrscher of a Thousand be treated like this? Not only targeted by human civilization but also infringed upon by the Imaginary Tree.

Unfortunately, the Imaginary Skeletons paid no mind to Su Jue's rich inner monologue. To them, anything with a physical form was prey. The moment they took shape, sharp claws drew an arc, slashing fiercely towards him.

"Fortunately, I obtained the Chris puppet. Otherwise, it would have been quite troublesome." Recalling his scattered thoughts, Su Jue's focus sharpened. He was his true form now; if anything happened, he was truly finished.

Surging Honkai Energy accumulated within him. Su Jue knew no combat techniques; he only fought with pure strength. As long as the enemy entered his attack range.

"Like now..."

The Imaginary Skeleton's attack magnified in his vision. The sharp claws seemed to have already embedded themselves in his flesh, yet he could only punch back.

"Calculated Bombardment Fist!"

Chapter Thirty-Six: Arrival

The unadorned fist met the Imaginary Skeleton, and instantly, it was as if a wolf's howl erupted. The long-accumulated power surged directly into the Imaginary Skeleton's joints, blasting it into a sky full of scattered limbs.

The imaginary shell encasing the golden eyeball completely disintegrated and vanished under this punch. Su Jue raised his hand, transforming his fist into a claw, and directly grasped the eyeball.

Crack.

A crack appeared in the imaginary core, then spread rapidly, like the bloodshot veins covering the eyeball, looking ferocious and terrifying.

Just as Su Jue was about to finish off this Imaginary Skeleton in one go, a strong sense of dread washed over him, and he immediately let go and distanced himself.

The next second, the imaginary core he had just held was pierced by a blade, and the Imaginary Seed exploded into true nothingness.

A Tautology stood in the spot where Su Jue had been, slowly drawing its twin blades.

Could it be that they help each other out?

Only then did he realize that in the few seconds he had been fighting the Self-Reference, an unknown number of imaginary monsters had already been born.

"How can so many Imaginary Seeds be born in a space of pure void?" Although his understanding of the Imaginary Space was still limited, Su Jue was, after all, the controller of the Theater of Domination. He had some knowledge of the monster spawning patterns here.

Imaginary monsters were beings that fed on matter. They often gathered around buildings swallowed by the Imaginary Space, gaining existence by attacking and eliminating living beings. Pure void could not satisfy their desires, so the number that appeared was usually very small. It was precisely because of this that Su Jue had intended to resolve them with brute force.

But the current situation was clearly not right. The number of Imaginary Seeds was too high; they couldn't have appeared out of thin air. The only possibility was that something nearby had been continuously attracting them—Su Jue touched the hairpin on his head. The faint signal emanating from it had become much clearer, confirming his thoughts.

This area was likely the battlefield of the "Last Lesson."

After drifting for so long, he had finally found hope. While letting out a sigh of relief, a smile curved Su Jue's lips. He immediately abandoned the idea of fighting the Imaginary Skeletons.

As a Herrscher of Domination, it would take a fool to try and fight with brute force. Although the new puppet provided him with strength comparable to a B-rank Valkyrie, wasting precious energy here was extremely unwise.

Quickly retreating to create distance, Su Jue raised his right hand and suddenly opened it. The countless puppet threads wrapped around him instantly burst forth and scattered, weaving a terrifying net in the Imaginary Space.

As Su Jue's palm turned slightly, the dense network of puppet threads enveloped the Imaginary Skeletons. Upon contact, the authority of the Herrscher of Domination began to erode the control permissions of the imaginary cores like maggots gnawing on bones.

Although the authority of domination could not allow Su Jue to directly control these imaginary beings, the operational mode from the same origin and species was sufficient to assist him in a certain degree of control. Gradually, some of the imaginary monsters entangled by the domination threads began to change. The puppet threads on them became solid, and the core of the Imaginary Seed became secondary.

"Fight for me."

His voice was not loud, and due to the characteristics of the Imaginary Space, its transmission range was not far. But the moment the command was issued, the controlled Imaginary Skeletons directly turned against their own kind, attacking the monsters beside them. A free-for-all was inevitable. More importantly, when the monsters controlled by Su Jue were on the verge of death, they would directly detonate their Imaginary Seeds, completing their self-destruction.

Tsk, such poor quality.

After evaluating himself like this, Su Jue no longer paid attention to the situation on the scene, continuously stimulating the fluctuations on the hairpin, searching for the location of the final battle.

Finally, a collapsing ruin entered his vision.

Stone steps stretching for thousands of miles, ruins like broken walls, ground that had been casually cut and discarded by terrifying power, and the boundless, deathly silence all testified to the fact that this had once been a battlefield.

He was a little shocked; only seeing it firsthand would he understand how terrifying the destruction caused by the battle between Herrschers truly was.

He landed lightly on slightly more intact ground. To his left, bluestone steps still extended along stone pillars into the sky for thousands of meters, but to his right was a bottomless abyss.

It was an extremely smooth cut, a chasm formed simply by the Herrscher of Void snapping her fingers. Was this what it was like to wield the power of space?

Compared to that, he, who could barely survive through trickery and deceit, felt rather out of place. Su Jue had an accurate understanding of himself; he never needed world-destroying combat power, but rather schemes that could overturn civilizations. So, while he felt a twinge of envy, it was only that.

Squeak, squeak, squeak.

The strange sound echoed again. Within seconds of Su Jue landing, a large number of Imaginary monsters began to appear. After arriving here, Su Jue had put away his puppet strings. Unlike the empty Imaginary Space, this place was filled with all sorts of stone pillars. Moreover, due to the Herrscher of Void's battle, the remaining structures were precarious. If he carelessly caused an explosion and triggered a collapse, it would be difficult to find the Plague Gem.

From here on, he had to fight personally, and this was why he needed to improve his combat power in advance. If he couldn't even break through the encirclement of Imaginary monsters, how could he hope to obtain the Plague Gem?

Boom—

A loud bang came from the stone wall, and a deep pit was directly blasted out. An Imaginary monster that had lost its signs of activity was embedded within, then gradually turned into nothingness and disappeared.

He had been fighting for who knows how long. Su Jue couldn't think about it too much. He only felt that the energy accumulated in his body for a long time was almost depleted. If he couldn't find the Plague Gem soon, he would have to return to the Theater of Domination and seek another opportunity.

This was difficult for him to accept. He had planned for so long, waiting for this very day. If he couldn't get the gem, all his plans would be thrown into disarray. Deceiving Kiana could temporarily alleviate the crisis, but it would be exposed sooner or later for various reasons, and that would be Su Jue's death.

He exhaled a deep breath, calming his mood slightly, and stepped forward towards the next location.

Just then, a splash of vibrant red unexpectedly broke into his field of vision.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Murata Himeko

He moved closer, and the fiery red hair, like a stove in winter, truly fell into his eyes.

She lay there quietly. The ruins stretching for miles seemed to mourn her. Collapsed stone pillars voluntarily turned into a peaceful coffin. Her flame-like long hair no longer burned; instead, it resembled a maple tree in late autumn, shedding its most moving leaves in its most beautiful season.