In truth, Ling Ke harbored no malice toward Kiana and Sirin.
But that conclusion could only be reached from his own subjective perspective.
It was no different from the essence of the "ant nest pouring" videos he had watched before his transmigration.
When those content creators poured molten metal into an ant nest, did they harbor "malice" toward the colony living inside?
Most likely not.
They would simply explain to their fellow human viewers, "Today we're using a pest nest... like termites, just to avoid any arguments."
Then they would start anticipating the moment the metal cooled, so they could dig it out of the earth and obtain a uniquely shaped piece of art.
That was exactly Ling Ke's mindset right now.
He had just been taking a post-meal stroll and was looking for a little entertainment.
He never expected that tonight, not only would Sirin and Kiana unexpectedly break into the Stellaron Train, but he would also encounter Raiden Mei, who happened to be on the Mu Continent as well.
Although the latter was merely nearby and they had not yet met...
"That train that can travel through the sky again."
[ Ling Ke's promised countdown: 39 seconds remaining. ]
While Kiana and Sirin were locked in a struggle of wills, Raiden Mei, who had been walking alone through a mountain forest, sensed something strange from above.
Lately, she had avoided staying in cities or crowded places for too long.
She knew not only the danger she posed but also the threat of Kali, the one behind that crimson snake.
And now...
"!!!"
At Raiden Mei's neck, the crimson snake... no, to be precise, Kali, who was seeing that train in the sky remotely through its eyes, suddenly froze.
She had a feeling...
The "God" she had always wanted to see with her own eyes was inside that miraculous vehicle.
That massive train in the sky was the "God's" carriage.
Kali couldn't help but feel a surge of longing.
She even felt an irresistible urge to go there in person.
But just then...
[ Countdown: 31 seconds. ]
"Wh-what?"
A memory from one of the "Spawn" was precisely retrieved by her.
It was from earlier today, when the Stellaron Train had made a brief stop at the headquarters of The Moths Who Chase the Flames, and its doors had opened.
Swoosh~
A low level "Spawn" acting on a simple attack command transformed into a crimson spike and shot toward the Stellaron Train's door.
At the time, the Spawn's target was Kevin Kaslana, the heretic who wielded the so called "Divine Key."
But...
"I... I actually attacked the 'God'?"
Kali, still hidden in some deep sea location, was now filled with horror and self loathing.
Her mental state had always been unstable.
She had even subconsciously ignored a crucial detail: why would a heretic emerge from the "God's" train?
But now, her terror stemmed not from a fear of "God's" punishment.
On the contrary, she feared that "God" would not punish her, but instead be utterly disappointed in her.
If that were the case...
"I deserve a thousand deaths! I truly deserve a thousand deaths! AAAAAH!!!"
The petite figure with pale hair and sky blue skin began to thrash and rage in the deep sea.
Few living creatures ever dared approach this area in the first place.
In this instant, it completely became a forbidden zone.
And especially...
The Honkai Energy levels in this area began to climb steadily.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
[ Countdown: 21 seconds. ]
The Newborn World Serpent Headquarters and The Moths Who Chase the Flames Headquarters both sounded high-level alarms at nearly the same time.
All active members reacted immediately.
"A Herrscher-level Honkai Energy reaction?"
"What's the exact location?"
MEI had been slowly refining the optimized version of the Key of Blankness with the help of several android girls.
But the moment the alarm sounded, she immediately halted the experiment and turned to her assistants...
"Prometheus!"
"Understood!"
One of the android girls raised her right hand, and a golden cube materialized. "Activating the Void Archives immediately."
MEI nodded, quickly moving to an electronic device to establish a remote communication link. "Kevin, get ready."
"Copy that!" a steady male voice replied.
This was an emergency contingency plan recently established by the Newborn World Serpent.
Essentially, the moment a Herrscher-level Honkai Energy reaction was detected, they would immediately launch...
"Mimicry: Cosmic Juggernaut."
[ Countdown: 13 seconds. ]
The android girl holding the golden cube ignored the fact that this was MEI's laboratory. In an instant, the object in her hand transformed into a colossal train locomotive.
Fortunately, the laboratory was spacious enough. Only a small part of the ceiling was smashed through, and it was protected by an upper layer.
The lab equipment inside, however, suffered a lot of damage.
But this was the priority of the "Emergency Contingency Plan."
As Prometheus took action, MEI had already used that invisible force, as if manipulating objects from a distance, to move the half-finished Key of Blankness back a distance.
Then...
Vrrr...
A golden-orange portal opened, leading directly to The Moths Who Chase the Flames headquarters on the Mu Continent.
Kevin stepped out from it.
The next moment, the portal closed, and with ample backup power, Mimicry: Cosmic Juggernaut quickly locked onto another set of coordinates...
Vrrr...
The portal opened.
Whoosh!
A high-pressure jet of water sent the android girl standing next to Kevin flying backward.
The jet even maintained its force, smashing directly through the laboratory wall.
"This pressure... it's definitely on the ocean floor!"
MEI looked at the now-chaotic laboratory and called out, "Kevin, I'm counting on you."
"I know."
Kevin's reaction was swift. As the Strongest MANTIS, he stared down the high-pressure jet of water from the ocean floor and charged straight into the teleportation gate.
Then, the portal closed.
Inside the laboratory, the scene was a complete disaster, flooded like a mountain of water.
At the same time...
[ Countdown: 3 seconds. ]
"Hmm?"
Ling Ke, who had been "watching the show," frowned slightly.
Just now, while he was in the thick of it, he had reactivated the long-dormant power of Omniscience.
He needed to simultaneously observe the movements of Raiden Mei, who was not inside the Stellaron Train.
However, to avoid interfering with the contest between Kiana and Sirin, he had refrained from ostentatiously summoning a series of light screens.
But now...
The countdown reached zero.
Ling Ke looked toward the birdcage.
Kiana... no, it should be said: the struggle between the two consciousnesses within the white-haired girl's body had ended.
At this moment, the girl, whose body had been forcibly shrunk to one-tenth its original size, was kneeling in a posture of utter defeat. Her hands pressed against the ground, and strands of hair, wet with sweat, clung to her face as she gasped for air.
Sirin had failed to stop Kiana from leaving.
Yes, Kiana won.
But after the victory, considering the outcome she was about to face...
"Idiot! Idiot!! You super big idiot!!!"
In her mind, Sirin, unaware that she was actually the one who had "gained more," was furiously cursing Kiana's actions, showing no intention of stopping.
Ling Ke, sensing all of this, wore an amused expression.
But immediately after, his expression turned cold.
He was indeed looking forward to the subsequent developments here.
But before that, his attention had to be briefly shifted elsewhere.
That was...
"Has Kali already become this fanatical?"
The Omniscient Ling Ke frowned slightly. "The original plan was meticulously crafted, with each step interlocking. Now, just because she discovered that her 'spawn' had attacked my Stellaron Train without her knowledge, her state of mind has become this chaotic?"
Clearly, Kali had been carefully concealing her Honkai Energy fluctuations all along.
Because she knew very well that as long as her main body remained undiscovered, she would have countless opportunities to make a comeback.
After the Ice Calamity came the flood. And after the flood was over, there were still other trump cards in reserve.
But that was already in the past.
Regarding this...
"You, who were originally able to play out one 'scene' after another of being my opponent, would be far too disappointing if you were to abruptly exit the stage because of this kind of trivial matter."
Ling Ke suddenly said this.
And these words were simultaneously transmitted into the mind of Kali's main body.
Instantly...
"!!!"
The petite figure with a blood-red crystal on her forehead had her pupils shrink sharply.
Her recent performance had disappointed "God"!
This...
"My Lord God, please quell your anger. Kali will never disappoint You again."
"Give Kali one more chance! Give Kali one more chance!"
The Third Herrscher, regarded by countless people as a demon, knelt in devout worship.
In her heart, she offered her most sincere prayers.
Just then...
Crack~
Nearby, extreme cold swept through.
Kevin Kaslana, who had just been teleported to this area, had already locked onto Kali's main body's position.
At this moment, because the battlefield was on the seabed, it was inconvenient for him to immediately use "Judgement of Shamash."
But relying only on his own power as the Strongest MANTIS, it was also enough to fight any Herrscher other than Finality or Binding one-on-one.
However, just as Kevin approached Kali...
"What is that?"
Even though the Third Herrscher, a target that absolutely had to be killed as soon as possible, had already appeared in his sight, Kevin's gaze, and even his entire attention, couldn't help but be drawn to another being.
It was a strange, purple-black egg-shaped cocoon, its surface covered in blood-red veins like a climbing creeper, with two purple-black eyes, one large and one small, faintly visible.
Almost the instant he saw it and subconsciously met its gaze...
"!!!"
Even Kevin's heart skipped a beat.
He could only say that, fortunately, MANTIS did not necessarily need to breathe. Otherwise, he would have choked on a mouthful of seawater from his loss of composure just now.
But at this moment, Kevin had no time to worry about anything else.
The Third Herrscher, and... that strange egg-shaped cocoon.
Especially the latter...
Why?
Why, when he noticed the opponent and met the gaze of those two "eyes," one large and one small, did he subconsciously feel like he was...
An ant?
At this moment, Kevin, who had only felt fear from Ling Ke after returning to the current era, had this absolutely terrible feeling again.
Immediately after, his intuition told him like a bell ringing frantically: No matter how dangerous the Third Herrscher was, he absolutely could not kill her directly right now.
He had to... he had to get information about that strange egg-shaped cocoon from her.
Otherwise, no matter how many Herrschers the Earth Human Civilization of the current era destroyed, no matter how many Great Honkai Eruptions they endured, or even if they surpassed Finality...
There would be no "future" to speak of!