In this world, perhaps there are a few exceptions who are willing to let others decide their own destiny.
But there should be very few people who are willing to let others decide their life and death.
Especially when they are completely unaware of it from beginning to end...
"Boom!"
When the first nuclear bomb ascended into the sky and exploded in a coastal city located on the southwestern border of the Mu Continent, where the red and black alien monsters first landed... indeed, the human side successfully eliminated tens of thousands of threats.
Then came the second, third, and fourth...
As each of those mushroom clouds symbolizing "human-style destruction" rose, some would smugly celebrate that the Herrscher's "all-out attack" had been repelled and humanity had once again achieved victory.
What? That wasn't the all-out attack at all? Impossible! Absolutely impossible! That was over six million alien monsters! Six million! How could the Herrscher possibly conjure up so many more troops in such a short time? The enemy will have to enter a long recovery period. And this period is the crucial moment for the human side, who was caught off guard today, to come up with and implement a targeted solution. People will believe because of this that humanity will ultimately achieve final victory. However... Leaving aside this overly vague and grandiose topic for now. Today, many alien monsters were indeed destroyed. But along with them, what also disappeared was... "We've been abandoned!" "That Mu Continent Parliament bunch... ah!!" "No, no... I don't want to die, I don't want to die!!!" ***
When the man-made Kalpa Fire descended from the heavens...
Someone stared blankly at the mushroom cloud rising nearby, collapsing helplessly to the ground.
Someone else screamed curses in hysterics, before their entire body was vaporized by the rapidly spreading high-temperature shockwave.
There were others who... revealed the simple wishes of ordinary people before they died.
But all of these people died.
After the alien monsters invaded the city, they had finally found a relatively safe place to hide. They had finally used their weak strength to protect themselves and the people around them, surviving until now.
In the end, they could only learn, in even greater despair, that everything they had done was pointless.
They learned that they... had died at the hands of their own people.
However...
Some people died.
But even more people connected to them were still alive.
The relatives, friends, and lovers of the deceased... When they learned the news in other places.
When... a small minority of them, these people in the know, looked at the painfully bright, silver-gray Moths Who Chase the Flames badge on their chests...
"Heh~"
Deep in the ocean area, Kali, sitting alone on the reef throne, grinned. "A Chain of Suspicion doesn't necessarily require an Impostor to infiltrate to form."
"Not to mention... Who told you my 'offspring' would only mindlessly cluster together and act?"
Obviously, the large scale attack on the Mu Continent was not just a simple 'cover' set up to hide the covert Cold Wave operation.
Instead, it was... a multi layered open scheme, a trap that humanity was destined to fall into regardless of their choice.
Now, all over the world... on every continent, inside every country, Impostors had infiltrated.
And unlike the high profile actions on the Mu Continent, these Impostors were gradually replacing one person after another through assassination.
A 'person' had become the husband of a gentle and virtuous woman.
A 'person' was playing the part of a reliable mentor.
A 'person' was an enthusiastic neighbor, and another 'person' was a hardworking father who was despised by his own children...
They played their roles perfectly.
And they could switch identities at any moment.
They fanned the flames of social unrest, even doing things that would easily cause chaos.
For example, they exposed the High Council's decision to launch a nuclear strike.
Or, they made public the doomsday prophecy that, in the original timeline, couldn't be fully concealed until after the Seventh Honkai Eruption broke out.
Block the news? Arrest the spreaders?
Unfortunately, the military couldn't be deployed at will.
With riots breaking out in so many places at once, the military couldn't handle it all.
And how much of a price would ordinary local security forces have to pay to capture... or eliminate a super-powered Impostor?
Even if they actually managed to do it.
How much turmoil would society have already fallen into before that?
Would the public's trust in the governments of each country still exist?
Obviously not!
Especially for The Moths Who Chase the Flames... this anti-Honkai organization secretly formed by the United Nations.
Its infamy would now arrive even earlier and strike even harder.
Ultimately...
Only by completely uniting could humanity have the slightest chance of defeating the Honkai.
And now, what Kali was doing was... slowly devouring that hope.
Of course, in the process, she admitted that seeing The Moths Who Chase the Flames being attacked and insulted gave her great pleasure and emotional satisfaction.
This feeling of revenge had now become a source of enjoyment for her.
However...
"Just affecting The Moths Who Chase the Flames is far from enough."
As the Herrscher of Blood, she thought of those heretics, the deviants wielding the so called Divine Keys, and also...
The fraud named Raiden Mei.
"What are the things you cherish most?"
Kali... alone in the depths of the ocean, began to ponder this question.
Just like... Ling ke had done back then.
Kevin and the other two left the Serene Miniature Garden.
Before leaving, the three of them reached an agreement with Seele, the Fourth Herrscher.
They would not disturb her life, and in return, she could no longer expand the coverage of the Serene Miniature Garden.
Obviously...
Neither side took this agreement seriously.
In the end, the "threats" mentioned earlier held more practical significance and value.
To be honest...
Kevin had even considered acting on the spot, exchanging the lives of nearly forty million... or even more people, for the Fourth Herrscher's death, to end it all once and for all.
But the "many possible trump cards" Seele hadn't yet mentioned made him hesitant to act.
In Kevin's eyes, everything was done to make this era go further than the original timeline.
Of course, on this basis, MEI... she was undoubtedly placed first.
So...
"Bip bip bip~"
Kevin... as well as Elysia and Fu Hua's thoughts, were interrupted by the frequently sounding electronic notification.
They had originally intended to inform other core members of the Newborn World Serpent about the situation here.
However, what happened today clearly exceeded their expectations...
Just half a minute after the communication was connected...
"What?"
"Over six million aberrant monsters in total?"
"The Mu Continent almost fell, and the Moths Who Chase the Flames High Council ordered nuclear strikes on the peripheral cities?"
"This..."
Elysia and Fu Hua exchanged glances.
Kevin...
"So the Third Herrscher is still alive after all."
After his sudden encounter with Raiden Mei in the Dharavi Region of India, he hadn't failed to conduct a thorough investigation of the surrounding areas.
But at the time, he had found nothing.
Now it seemed that those red and black aberrant monsters, appearing in such massive swarms, were a manifestation of the Third Herrscher's Authority.
Over six million...
This couldn't help but remind Kevin of the Herrschers of Dominance in the original timeline. Though there were only a thousand of them, they had used a Chain of Suspicion to each lead vast armies of Deadweights and Honkai Beasts, attacking Base Cities from both inside and out.
In those few months, the human civilization on Earth, which still had five sixths of its original global population, was devastated by the Herrschers of Dominance until only the final 15% remained.
This kind of collective power...
"We must eliminate the Third Herrscher as soon as possible."
Kevin had a very bad feeling in his heart.
But the biggest problem now was: how to find the Third Herrscher?
With no other choice, Kevin could only hold onto this problem as he, Elysia, and Fu Hua began their journey back to the Newborn World Serpent Headquarters.
As for the Fourth Herrscher...
Plans to deal with her would have to be postponed.
Their own high-end combat power was currently severely lacking.
On Mobius's end, because of the core materials... the gene bank of High-ranking Honkai Beasts was not diverse enough, making the MANTIS Project difficult to advance for the time being.
Kevin felt that he might have to cooperate slightly.
Of course, MEI was there.
Speaking of her...
As Kevin and the others returned to headquarters, none of them noticed.
MEI, who was supposed to be recovering, suddenly encountered a very strange incident.
It was a completely unannounced feeling of disorientation and losing consciousness.
"!!!"
When MEI came to, she was shocked to find herself in the middle of a vast sea of stars.
Right in front of her, as the light solidified...
A "path" appeared there.
A few days later...
Australian Continent Branch of The Moths Who Chase the Flames.
Fifth Squad, Operation Briefing Room.
"Captain Himeko, this is a transfer order from headquarters."
An agent reporting directly to the High Council handed a document to a red haired woman. "Effective immediately, the Fifth Squad is being transferred to Nagazora in the Far East."
"The Australian Continent will serve as the second pilot site for the ELF Unit, and will now be under the full jurisdiction of the Seventh Research Division."
The agent spoke in a formal, detached tone. "Please depart as soon as possible and report to the new garrison area by noon tomorrow."
"Thank you for your cooperation."
After delivering the order, the agent in the suit left immediately without lingering.
The woman looked at the transfer order in her hand...
"Nagazora in the Far East?"
Himeko frowned slightly and muttered to herself, "So, the 'half year' time limit the Sovereign told me about is approaching."
"Am I also 'one of the pieces'?"
Meanwhile...
In the Elysian Realm area of the Theater of Domination.
"Are you ready, Thirteen Flame-Chasers?"
Ling ke's main body personally arrived here.
At this moment, all thirteen Flame-Chaser Memory Bodies were present before him.
Crossing his arms, he looked at the thirteen and smiled. "According to our previous agreement, I will grant you the qualification to Return to the World."
"However..."
Ling ke's expression suddenly turned cold. "No one is allowed to approach The Sundown Alley, do you understand?"
No one had any objections to this absolute requirement.
And so...
"Well then, I wish you good luck."
With that, Ling ke raised his right hand and snapped his fingers...
"Snap!"
The thirteen Flame-Chaser Memory Bodies all turned into streaks of light, leaving the Theater of Domination and descending onto Earth in this era.
Ling ke gave some preferential treatment to these former collaborators who had followed his "malice."
They all had their own physical bodies, and their strength was at its peak.
Although they didn't have Divine Keys, they still had their usual equipment.
On top of that...
Mobius's Memory Body took ELF Klein.
And Pardofelis's Memory Body took Can-chan, who had appeared out of nowhere.
Speaking of the latter...
"If I'm not allowed to go to The Sundown Alley, where else can I go?"
Pardo's Memory Body looked a little troubled. "I was planning to go to my other self's secret stash to restock some goods. She probably wouldn't mind, after all, it's me..."
But soon...
"Oh well~ A-Hua always said there's an old saying in Shenzhou: Those with courage can go anywhere in the world."
Pardo's Memory Body rubbed Can-chan's little head on her shoulder and smiled confidently. "I'm still pretty brave and capable... probably~"
"Anyway, I'm definitely not getting involved in any of those messy affairs ever again... ever!"