Who Isn't a Herrscher

Then, a light shone on a spot on the stage.

Six figures stood there.

"!"

Everyone in front of the screen watched the six figures in surprise.

Stella clenched her fists, gritting her teeth. "It's those bastards!"

Ikki looked at the face on the screen, which looked almost identical to his own.

"Big brother..."

That's right, the six figures on the screen were Amamiya Shion, Kurogane Ouma, and their group, who had attacked Luo Mio and the others a day ago.

Luo Mio watched the screen. Suddenly, a chime, which only he could hear, rang out.

Then, Luo Mio opened the system interface.

Below the character status bar, a newly appeared quest blinked before Luo Mio's eyes.

"The path named Choice has opened for you. Make a decision between choices, and the end of the path awaits your answer!"

"Quest Reward: New World! Unlocked!"

Chapter 21: Confession

A new world...

After Luo Mio completed the quest.

"System, are you acting up? This quest is so literary!"

System: "..."

"The path of choice..." Luo Mio looked at the quest, puzzled.

Fu Hua, who was also observing the quest in Luo Mio's consciousness, noticed it as well.

Looking at the riddle-like quest and the changes happening to Luo Mio.

Is that so...

A choice between a person and 'people'...

Then, Fu Hua fell silent again.

"Excuse me."

The door to the infirmary opened yet again.

Shizuku and Arisugawa entered, carrying a fruit basket.

Ikki, Stella, and Touka, whose attention was still on the screen, shifted their gaze as Shizuku and Arisugawa entered.

Luo Mio noticed the complex expression in Arisugawa's eyes as they entered.

"Naru, it's time for visiting hours," Luo Mio said, stroking Shinguji Naru's long hair.

"Eh, then I'll come see you tomorrow, Miohua-bro." Shinguji Naru said, though reluctant, she obediently replied.

Luo Mio smiled. "Tomorrow, you'll have to ask Mom to bring you to Miohua-bro's dorm to find me."

Shinguji Naru reluctantly said goodbye to Luo Mio at the door. "Then, I'll come find you to play tomorrow! Miohua-bro."

"Mm," Luo Mio waved his hand.

After Shinguji Naru left, Luo Mio's gaze turned to Arisugawa.

"Say what you need to say, Alice."

"You noticed..."

"Well, I guess everyone here noticed."

Then, Arisugawa sat on a stool and slowly began to speak.

"To explain everything, it probably has to start sixteen years ago. I'm sure everyone has heard of the meteor shower from sixteen years ago."

Ikki and Stella nodded. "We heard that meteor shower was the largest and most numerous in recorded history."

Touka's eyes also flickered, and she then looked at Luo Mio.

It was because of that meteor shower that she met Luo Mio and became his older sister.

"That's right, that meteor shower was also called 'the most brilliant meteor shower of all time' by the world."

It streaked across the sky like brilliant raindrops, and watching it at night was like leaving dazzling trails across the Milky Way.

"But that's just what people in the 'surface world' thought."

"The surface world?"

"Exactly. But among the Three Great Powers, including my former teacher, the 'One-armed Swordsman' Wallenstein, that meteor shower was called the 'Golden Meteor Incident'." Speaking of Wallenstein, Arisugawa's hands clenched involuntarily.

"The 'Golden Meteor'..."

"Because, given the circumstances at the time, the vast majority of that meteor shower would have fallen on Earth!"

"?!"

Arisugawa's words startled everyone.

The meteor shower sixteen years ago was widely recognized as the most prolific in history. If the majority had fallen on Earth, it would have absolutely caused an unprecedented, epic-level disaster.

Countless meteorites would have pierced the atmosphere, turning the azure sky into a crimson hue akin to an apocalyptic twilight, crashing into fertile land and the blue oceans, bringing about countless natural calamities!

"But..."

"But that meteor shower seemed to just pass by our planet, didn't it?"

"That was just the officially released information. The real situation was that the Three Great Powers jointly organized all the top Blazers in the world to go to various locations to intercept the meteor shower."

"And among them, the one who displayed great prowess was 'Yashahime' Teacher Saikyo Neine."

Upon hearing this, Touka remarked, "Indeed, facing an event like that, senior sister's abilities would certainly shine exceptionally."

"Afterward, all the world's top Blazers destroyed all the meteorites that could have fallen on Earth."

"Although they tried their best to prevent the meteorites from falling, there were still some that slipped through."

"One meteorite evaded their perception and fell into the atmosphere."

"At the critical moment, the 'Samurai Ryoma', who came to provide support, split that meteorite in half."

"One half fell into the deep sea of the Pacific Ocean, while the other half disappeared onto land, its whereabouts unknown."

"Its whereabouts unknown..."

Everyone listened quietly as Arisugawa spoke.

"What happened after that?" Stella inquired.

Arisugawa shook his head and said, "I don't know what happened afterward."

"Then what did you mean by those children and the modifications you mentioned to Wallenstein earlier?" Recalling Arisugawa's hateful and indignant expression at the time and his conversation with Wallenstein, Luo Mio asked.

Upon hearing Luo Mio's question, Arisugawa seemed to recall something, and his expression turned pained as he closed his eyes.

"Alice..." Shizuku watched Arisugawa with concern from the side.

Arisugawa opened his eyes, took a breath, and said with pain.

It turned out that Arisugawa grew up as an abandoned Blazer. During this time, he met other children who were also abandoned. They often fought and killed each other for the scarce food and cotton. But later, they grew tired of that life. As fellow Blazers, they became friends, adopted most of the orphans abandoned by their parents, and also met a kind-hearted nun.

But one day, disaster struck: the murder of his close friend, the fear of his younger siblings, and his hands stained with human blood!

"Later, I was adopted by Wallenstein and became an assassin in the 'Rebellion'."

"I gave all the money I earned to the nun who took in my younger siblings, hoping their lives would improve in the future."

"But one day, after completing a mission near my siblings, I thought I'd go see them for the first time in a long while."

"When I got there, I learned that the nun and my siblings were long gone. Although it appeared to be a church sheltering stray children on the surface, it was actually a place of inhumane human experimentation underground!" Arisugawa said through gritted teeth, his voice filled with pain.

"Human experimentation..."

Everyone listened to Arisugawa's words with shocked and angry eyes.

"That's right, human experimentation. I used my abilities to infiltrate the underground facility and discovered the corpses of the nun and my siblings! They were kept in storage tanks like specimens."

"Bang!"

Stella, unable to contain herself, slammed her hand against the wall. The red phosphorescence that appeared around her revealed her owner's mood.

"Later, I witnessed the experiments conducted by those researchers."

"Young children were strapped to experiment tables. Those so-called researchers indifferently injected liquids into their bodies, and after the children fell unconscious, they fed them golden fragments."

"!"

Luo Mio stared at Arisugawa in shock.

Golden fragments...

That wasn't...

Recalling the golden fragment in Wallenstein's hand just a day earlier.

"Then those children began to struggle, their bodies gradually turning white, their sanity gradually lost, becoming like beasts."

"The experiment must have failed. After disposing of those children, they extracted the golden fragments from their bodies and repeated the same experiment."

"Later, I killed them! Because of that, I was exposed and defected from the Rebellion."

Stella couldn't hold back and tried to rush out.

"Stella!"

Ikki grabbed Stella's hand.

Stella angrily asked, "Why are you stopping me?"

Her anger caused the temperature around Stella to rise gradually.

"It's no use going now."

"What do you mean?"

"I estimate that after Alice defected, the Rebellion destroyed the evidence left at that experimental base. Furthermore, Alice's testimony alone wouldn't be enough to expose them, especially since he used to be a killer for the Rebellion."

"Then what do we do?"

"Unless they slip up themselves."

Luo Mio looked at Arisugawa and asked his final question.

"Alice, do those children have any common characteristics after the experiments?"

"White! And their skin is very stiff, their eyes have lost all human reason."

"Is that so..."

Luo Mio gritted his teeth.

These traits reminded him of something truly terrible.

Shiit!

Chapter 22: Rules and New Quests

Shiit are humans mutated by Honkai Energy.

Those who become Shiit lose their minds and reason. Low-level ones are like zombies, tearing at humans, while advanced ones develop incredible abilities.

Luo Mio's expression turned grim, then he thought of something.

"Alice, were those people experimenting on animals?"

"No." Arisugawa shook his head.

Luo Mio slowly breathed a sigh of relief.