Mei put away the stack of blueprints, then said, "Fine. I think that even if we refused to give them to you, you would still conduct reverse engineering, and we would get nothing in return. So this benefits both sides."
"At the same time, I have one condition."
"There is a plan within Fire Moth called the 'Spark Project.' I don't think it needs any further explanation." Mei took the tablet from Kevin's hand.
"We need you to participate in the Spark Project. I think you'll be more than willing."
"Of course. We would be glad to assist the Spark Project's participants when necessary."
"No. We don't need you to participate in the Spark Project. We only need you to provide material support for our Spark Project."
Sean nodded readily, without any objection.
Before long, he lowered his head and hid his face beneath the brim of his bowler hat. "Dr. Mei, there is some extremely important intelligence that I believe you and Lord Kevin will be very interested in."
"However, we need some privacy." An exceedingly slender silver snake crawled out from beneath Sean's shoe. Ordinary people would not have been able to see it at all. It swiftly swept through the entire reception room, removing the miniature surveillance cameras on the walls one by one with liquid metal. There was also a camera on Dr. Mei's clothes, but Qin Su believed she had installed it herself. It was not only for her own observation, but also for Prometheus.
When Sean raised his head and met their gazes, his face had already changed back into Qin Su's original appearance—the face Kevin and Mei knew well.
Qin Su smiled and greeted them. "Long time no see, Kevin. And Mei. My real name is Qin Su. From now on, let us have a genuine and honest conversation."
As expected. Kevin and Mei exchanged a glance, arriving at the same thought.
Then Qin Su's expression turned solemn. "I don't know whether the two of you, as you are now, would believe my one-sided and unfounded claims."
"I know the abilities of the Eleventh and Twelfth Law-Rulers."
"You—!" Kevin was startled, but Qin Su held up his palm toward him, signaling for him to let Qin Su finish.
"Through research and testing on the core of the Tenth Law-Ruler, which possessed the Herrscher of the Void's abilities, we accidentally discovered certain unknown characteristics. After thoroughly verifying those characteristics, we successfully received fragmented information from several parallel worlds. After calculating the deviations within those information fragments, we found that one parallel world bore an astonishing resemblance to ours."
The so-called information fragments referred to games, comics, and visual novels.
"I will tell you everything about the Eleventh Law-Ruler, and use it as the foundation and bargaining chip of trust for an astonishing collaboration." The cold gleam on Qin Su's glasses prevented him from seeing Mei's eyes. Thinking about it carefully, if Qin Su had heard such news himself, no matter how hard he tried to suppress his expression, his heart would already have been churning with turmoil.
"The Eleventh Law-Ruler—the Herrscher of Binding. Her ability is to create a barrier with a radius of one hundred kilometers. Within the barrier, all Honkai energy is nullified, while other forms of energy are weakened to varying degrees. Weapons powered by Honkai energy cannot be used. Fusion Warriors implanted with Honkai Beast DNA suffer disruptions in their bodily functions and die within one minute. If ordinary soldiers enter the barrier, the voltage of their bioelectricity vanishes, and they die rapidly. Any weapon using electronic systems cannot operate inside the barrier."
"But this ability is not without limits. She has an upper limit of mass. For her, applying her ability to powerful Fusion Warriors costs far more than applying it to ordinary people."
If Qin Su had not known the Eleventh Law-Ruler's ability beforehand, he would have doubted it as well. The first ten Law-Rulers had all embodied some natural law, yet the Eleventh Law-Ruler seemed like one specifically designed to target technological creations. The Tenth Law-Ruler might merely have displayed a slight anti-technology tendency, targeting only creations related to destruction and the Divine Keys, which could be explained as the result of collective intelligence and ability.
But the Eleventh Law-Ruler revealed that tendency without reservation.
"You don't need to believe me now. I will lay out the entire collaboration in full. Once you confirm the truth of my words, you will certainly agree."
"I said that I also know the Twelfth Law-Ruler's ability, but I will not tell you about it yet."
Only after establishing an equal platform for both sides could Qin Su propose the deal he truly wanted. Soul Steel was merely an appetizer.
"We want to jointly oversee the Twelfth Law-Ruler with you." The casual words contained an enormous amount of information. They sparked Dr. Mei's curiosity.
"Oversee? You mean she is a controllable Law-Ruler?"
"Exactly! On the surface, she is a harmless person, yet she truly possesses Honkai energy levels on the scale of a Law-Ruler."
"Before she completes her full transformation, she—she is an entirely harmless Law-Ruler. How many mysteries could a living Law-Ruler with human consciousness unravel for us? How much could she contribute to human civilization?"
"So that is our request. She possesses the ability we fear most, and we know her 'detonation button.' What worries me is that certain unstable elements within Fire Moth might press that button."
An ultimate virus with self-awareness, it could not only parasitize ordinary cells, but also corrode machinery and use Honkai energy to control electronic devices. If Hiyomaru had not been affected by the death of her sister Sakura, developing emotional fluctuations like those of a human and falling into Dr. Mei's trap, the entire base would likely have been destroyed. Vast quantities of data, technology, and equipment would have been lost, and the process of rebuilding civilization might have been delayed much further.
Just as expected, once Qin Su proposed this collaboration, the resistance he faced would be considerable. The first obstacle was humanity's strongest Fusion Warrior—Kevin.
"Law-Rulers must be eliminated." The unwavering resolve and hatred in his eyes seemed to burn fiercely.
"Since the Third Honkai, I have witnessed eight Honkai events in total. Again and again." Kevin's calm voice carried an endless lament for the decline of civilization, along with hatred for the laws of nature and their messengers.
"What Honkai has brought humanity has never changed. The dead still gnaw on the corpses of innocent people, and Honkai Beasts still roam the homes humanity built brick by brick. And Law-Rulers—they are indifferent to life and unconcerned with civilization. How much harm and pain have Law-Rulers brought humanity? A completely harmless Law-Ruler cannot possibly exist. Only a Law-Ruler buried in the ground is a harmless Law-Ruler."
Kevin's reaction was entirely unsurprising, but Dr. Mei was the one in charge here. Her thoughts were the key to the decision.
Yet Qin Su could not read her thoughts in the slightest. What kind of result would arise when humanity's most complex psychology and greatest intelligence intertwined within her mind? Even a master psychologist could not know. According to the records, the Seventh Law-Ruler might have retained a trace of human consciousness when she was born, yet Dr. Mei had given the order to kill the Seventh Law-Ruler without hesitation. However, when the Twelfth Law-Ruler appeared, she chose mercy.
The room fell into a deathly silence. A few seconds later, Qin Su immediately "shouted," "This cooperation agreement is merely a compromise! We do not wish to provoke Fire Moth! If you insist on killing the Twelfth Law-Ruler, we will have no choice but to take extreme measures to ensure her safety!"
Every one of his expressions and tones had been simulated by a computer in advance, steering the atmosphere of the meeting toward the outcome he desired.
"Your threats of force are useless against us. We stand above all humanity, detached from every stage of production and even human society itself. Though we cannot defeat powerful Fusion Warriors, we can accomplish things the first ten Law-Rulers could not!"
"No threat is not a double-edged sword. If we die to the Twelfth Law-Ruler's attack, then we will make all of humanity perish with us!"
"Atomic energy..." Dr. Mei quickly thought of the nuclear explosion in Kyshtym Town. She rubbed her temples, her thoughts somewhat disordered.
The United Nations-era anti-missile system had lost more than half of its components in numerous disasters. Due to poor maintenance and inadequate funding, the remaining parts had also been abandoned. Even if they wanted to restore it now, they lacked the means. Fire Moth simply did not have the financial strength to maintain a complete anti-missile system.
Besides, Qin Su could not possibly destroy human civilization with his own hands. If Hiyomaru awakened, he could only flee in disgrace. The Twelfth Law-Ruler was a virus, both biological and electronic. Both living consciousness and electronic devices would be controlled by her. Qin Su did not dare test whether such a virus could infect his own consciousness.
"When she becomes a true Law-Ruler, human civilization will be left with nothing but ruins, and we will lose our reason to exist as well. So, just like you, we stand on humanity's side!"
He rose to his feet, picked up the briefcase beside the sofa, and walked to the door.
"Furthermore, there are fourteen Law-Rulers in total. The last one is also the strongest, possessing strength far beyond the others."
"If you agree to our terms, then next time, we can sign a cooperation agreement and memorandum."
"That is all I have to say. I look forward to our next meeting." He removed his hat and held it in his hand, then gave a salute, turned, opened the door, and walked out. The liquid metal crawled back up his heel and returned to Qin Su's body.
"What should I call your organization?" Dr. Mei asked.
"Skynet."
The heavy doors slammed shut.
Only the silent pair remained in the reception room. After a long while, Kevin looked at Mei and spoke. "Mei, do you think they can really be trusted?"
"I don't know." Even Dr. Mei, brilliant as a god, could say the words "I don't know." "But once we confirm the truth of those words, the deal is made."
"Prometheus, what do you think?" A girl with silvery-white hair and spiral twin-tails appeared before Mei.
Blue striped light instantly formed a human figure. Prometheus's holographic projection replied, "Doctor, I cannot analyze any useful intelligence from his words or expressions. He is not human."
"Some calculations indicate that only fourteen Law-Rulers are possible, but their accuracy still requires further calculation." The inorganic voice echoed through the room.
"Continue the calculations as usual."
Prometheus dissolved into specks of light drifting through the air, her voice echoing throughout the entire space.
"Yes, Doctor."
PS: Recently, whenever I play Shattered Void, I always feel a nameless rage. It wastes the ten minutes, or even half an hour, that I barely have, only to give me a few lines of dialogue. Even if it were an outstanding work like the Anti-Entropy novel, I would still get tired of it if I had to play Shattered Void hundreds of times just to finish reading it.
Honestly, Shattered Void would have been pretty good as a visual novel. I really do not know what they were thinking by making it an event with such absurdly high difficulty.
Before you continue