"Rin?! Rin?! Are you alright?!"
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the prison as Sakura ran inside, her heart in her throat.
However, the further she went, the more she felt that something wasn't right.
This familiar, beautiful melody... is it Eden? Or Li?
When she finally arrived, driven by her anxious heart, she found Rin with her eyes closed, a look of pure enjoyment on her face, which was now relatively clean.
And beside her, Li was just lowering a harmonica from his lips, greeting her with a smile.
"Hey, Sakura. You're back?"
"Am I... interrupting something?"
Seeing such a harmonious scene, Sakura, who had been fully prepared to kill someone, began to suspect she had walked into the wrong place.
"No, your timing is perfect." Fu Li patted Rin's little head and said with a smile, "Rin, you stay here for a bit. I need to go do something with your sister."
Hearing this, Rin looked at Sakura with some hesitation, but finally nodded. "Okay."
"Mhm."
After they had moved to a corner where Rin couldn't hear, Sakura suddenly bowed deeply in gratitude.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Li. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have never received such news."
"Ha, it's nothing. We're comrades," Fu Li said, quickly helping Sakura up, his expression serious.
"Besides, this isn't the time to talk about these things. The most important thing to deal with right now is the problem with Rin."
"The problem with Rin..." At the mention of this, Sakura's expression also grew grim.
As a MANTIS who had participated in many battles, she was naturally aware of how terrifying a Herrscher was.
But the fact that the MOTHs had bypassed her and imprisoned her younger sister had truly chilled her heart, to the point where she had even considered betrayal.
She had joined the MOTHs not for some grand reason like saving humanity. All she ever wanted was to protect her own little sister.
"That's right." Seeing Sakura's expression, Fu Li took a deep breath, switched to his combat armor form, and took out a strangely shaped machine from behind him.
"Sakura, you should know the dangers of a Herrscher, but Rin is not without hope."
"Rin is a very special Herrscher. Only upon death will she awaken. This gives us an opportunity."
"This is a quantum converter. It can temporarily convert Rin into a quantum state. Then, using another machine, we can extract her Herrscher Core."
"As long as we extract the Herrscher Core and seal it in a black box, we can take down the Twelfth Herrscher without shedding any blood and ensure Rin's survival."
Fu Li knew that Sakura was, to put it mildly, clueless about science, so he chose a simple and direct way to explain it to her.
As for the device in his hands, it was something he had been secretly developing since before he joined the MOTHs. It was later modified by Mobius and Vill-V and was only now finally complete.
If successful, Rin could live, and the Twelfth Herrscher would be sealed.
But if it failed, Rin would die, and they would have to face the Twelfth Herrscher directly.
"Sakura, you should know that this is the best way."
Looking into her hesitant eyes, Fu Li took a deep breath and directly took her hand. "Trust me, Sakura."
Silence...
The air seemed to freeze. Sakura said nothing, engaged in a fierce internal struggle.
Finally, her hand moved away from her katana.
"Alright, Li. If you can save Rin, then this body of mine, along with my sword, will be entrusted to you."
What a sis-con.
Faced with a suddenly serious Sakura, Fu Li was a little speechless.
"Alright, now that you've made up your mind, go explain it to Rin. You're better suited for this than I am. Meet me at the prison entrance in twenty minutes."
"As for your life, I don't need it. Sakura, you are a free person, and so am I. Helping Rin is something I want to do, and that's all."
Seeing the emotion in Sakura's eyes, Fu Li reached out and patted her shoulder. "Alright, don't say anything more. Go be with your sister. I need to prepare as well."
"...Thank you, Li."
After another solemn word of thanks, Sakura walked past Fu Li and headed deeper into the prison.
Fu Li raised his arm and connected to his personal transport.
"Saturday, airdrop Lab #4 to my coordinates."
Fifteen minutes later, Lab #4 landed safely from the sky. Fu Li walked inside and began checking the necessary equipment.
Although this lab was relatively small, it had been specially prepared for Rin, so it lacked none of the essential tools.
All he needed to do was check for any damage.
Five minutes later, Sakura arrived as scheduled with Rin in tow.
Upon seeing the lab that had appeared out of thin air, Sakura was surprised but didn't say much.
"Alright, Rin. Don't be afraid. Just lie down there."
After all the final preparations were made and the area was sterilized, Rin finally lay down on the operating table.
"Sister... I'm scared..." Rin's body trembled as she held tightly onto Sakura's hand.
Children are like that. They are strong when their family isn't around, but once they have someone to rely on, they subconsciously reveal their softer side.
However, for the sake of the experiment's success, Fu Li had to be the bad guy one more time and separate them.
"Alright, Rin, I promise you, when you wake up, no one will want to hurt you anymore."
Fu Li soothed her as the anesthetic slowly entered Rin's body, causing her to gradually drift into a deep sleep.
[You have begun the Herrscher Core extraction experiment.]
[First Phase: Rin's body has successfully entered a quantum superposition state.]
[At this stage, the core within Rin's body can be detected, but it cannot be removed.]
[Second Phase: By increasing the energy output, Rin's quantum state begins to collapse. You can now feel the presence of the Herrscher Core.]
"Hah... Sakura, get the black box ready! As soon as the core is separated, seal it immediately!"
Inside the lab, Fu Li was covered in sweat, the Honkai energy within his body draining rapidly.
Due to the incomplete nature of this equipment, its Honkai energy utilization rate was less than 10%, which meant only he could sustain such a massive energy expenditure.
Sakura, for her part, did not falter. Her eyes were sharp as she held the black box with both hands.
"Don't worry, Li. I'm ready."
"Good."
[With preparations complete, you began the Third Phase: Core Separation.]
[This process was not smooth. You encountered strong resistance from the consciousness within the core. To avoid harming Rin, you increased your Honkai energy output.]
[The core was successfully separated. The instant it went berserk, Sakura sealed it with the black box.]
[Due to prolonged contact with the Core of Corruption, you have suffered considerable damage, but for now, you can only grit your teeth and continue the experiment.]
[Finally, Rin's body returned to its normal state, and she fell into a deep sleep.]
[And you finally sat down heavily on the floor, letting out a long sigh.]
[Previous Era Calendar, the Twelfth Herrscher, was jointly sealed by you and Sakura. The Herrscher's vessel, Rin, successfully survived.]