The Fire-Chasing Herrscher Who Destroyed the World

"Give it to me? Why?"

Mei looked at the blue-gray core that appeared in front of her after being wrapped in special glass to isolate most of the radioactive collapse energy, and was a little puzzled.

"Alicia, since Mikael finally chose to hand over the core to you, even though he did give me the option to handle it, you shouldn't understand his true intentions - this But even we can see that he wants you to inherit this power."

"Inherit this power, inherit the law of reason..."

Ai Li smiled bitterly twice, and then her face softened slightly, but her smile gradually changed... and took on something else.

【The Lawyer? Mikael, is that what you mean? 】

[No, no matter what, since I am also a Herrscher, I am undoubtedly the best candidate to take over the core. This can even eliminate my suspicion of being a Herrscher... But Mikael, how do you want me to face this? Part of the power...]

Alicia closed her eyes in pain:

"Of course I have also tried to synchronize with the Herrscher Core. In other words, I came to you from Mebius's laboratory... How should I put it? While the Core rejected Mikael, it also rejected Me - 13%. Admittedly, this synchronization rate is much higher than that of the current Herrscher, but it is nothing more than that for the current Herrscher.”

"13%?"

Mei's expression was a little stunned. Naturally, she was not surprised that the number was too high, but that it was too low.

"According to Mikael himself, the synchronization rate of the core is affected by the matching conditions between the body and the core, as well as Mikael's own subconscious mind in the core. And for you, your Honkai Impact adaptability is undoubtedly The Fire Chaser Moth is the best. If it weren't for the lack of a core, I would suspect that you are a Herrscher, so the body and core should be relatively matched... Then there is only the second reason for the low synchronization rate... But How is this possible?"

Yes, how is that possible?

How could Mikael's subconscious reject Alicia?

In Mei's opinion, the possibility of this happening is simply lower than the sun going supernova in the next second.

To use inappropriate language to describe it, even if the universe is destroyed, she does not believe that Mikael will reject Ally, just as she believes that Kevin will always stand behind her and block in front of her.

"What happened between you two?"

Ai Li blinked and shook her head decisively:

"No, nothing happened."

"..."

Mei knew that something unexpected must have happened... was it because of Xi'er? Improbable, so what else could it be?

Mei's index finger was slightly bent, and she lightly scratched her thigh. She was thinking about whether she should open the trumpet and ask Erwin after Ellie left. After all, he was once selected for the Fire Chaser Big Mouth Competition. The first gold medal player.

"Okay, in that case, I will accept this core."

Mei suppressed her curiosity and took the box containing the core from Ellie.

"But I said in advance that I will only keep the core for you. If you change your mind at any time, or he changes his mind at any time, just come to me at any time."

Ai Li naturally nodded in response, "By the way, Mei, don't you try it yourself?"

"Well?"

Mei pointed at herself, "Me? Let's forget it. You have also seen that my body's ability to adapt to the collapse of the body is no different from that of ordinary people. Even contact with an inactivated core requires special devices to protect it... …If I use this layer of special glass now, I might become a dead soldier on the spot!”

"But how will you know if you don't try it?"

Ellie held her cheek with one hand and stretched out the other hand, as if she really wanted to remove the layer of glass. Mei quickly slapped her hand away. Of course, she was just joking.

The two of them tacitly agreed not to mention the topic of Mikael. After all, whether he can get over a series of blows ultimately depends on his own will. The so-called external assistance is only temporary and extremely unreliable. Spectrum.

As for whether Mikael can come out, Mei seems to be particularly confident - Alicia thought to herself.

Because of her confidence, she faced Aili with such a nonchalant attitude.

It was also because of her confidence that she deliberately mentioned: "If he changes his mind anytime, just come to me at any time."

This is completely opposite to the response Alicia received from Mebius.

"Surprised, aren't you?"

Mei seemed to have expected this outcome.

She opened a box placed on the table. It was the dessert that Kevin had sent this morning. She took out one of the macarons and could feel a hint of icy coolness on her fingertips.

"When Mebius studies a person's personality, he always likes to use the two-layer structure method, which is to split a person's personality into surface character and inner character. Just like this macaron, it is simply divided into Outer and inner, but is that really it?"

Ellie took the macaron from her hand and swallowed it in one gulp, not feeling any layer of texture at all.

Mei chuckled twice and took out another one from the box. Ellie stretched her neck quickly, but Mei had already closed the box first.

"In fact, psychologists all like to divide human consciousness into three levels, such as the famous [id, ego, and superego]. Of course, what we are talking about is not this, but -"

She used a delicate knife to break the macaron in half, and the cross-section was clearly displayed in front of Alicia.

"Look at this macaron, it is actually made up of three layers: the outermost crispy shell, the middle layer of macaroons, and the innermost filling. Or let me use another metaphor: eggs. Eggs are not Is it also composed of three layers: egg shell, egg white, and egg yolk? "

"Hey! Mei, don't bully me for not understanding biology. There is obviously a semi-permeable membrane between the egg shell and the albumen!"

"Hmm? As long as you understand what I'm about to say...ah! Leave me...one...and a half..."

Looking at Ellie who swallowed two pieces of macarons, Mei could only show a helpless smile: "Anyway, you understand what I mean. So, suppose we divide people's personalities into three Layers, what three layers do you think Kevin can be divided into?”

"Uh...why Kevin?"

"Haha, just consider it a little selfish on my part. I also want to see what kind of image my boyfriend is in the minds of his comrades?"

"Well……"

Alicia herself doesn't mind, but is it really okay to let other members of the opposite sex comment on her boyfriend?

She just made a question mark in her heart, and quickly pressed it down - indeed...she herself has been too sensitive recently.

"Let me think about it...Kevin, the first impression you give people is naturally that of a big boy who is a little frivolous and a little too lively? This is the first level, so what about the second level..."

Ellie scratched her hair, and an inexplicable image of Kevin lecturing the new recruits flashed before her eyes - "Oh! As for the second level, he is actually quite cold sometimes! Uh... It doesn't seem right... Ah - I really do I still don’t know Kevin well enough…”

Mei narrowed her eyes and smiled.

"Of course you are right about the first level. Of course, this is the most superficial impression. It is difficult for someone to get the answer wrong, right? As for the second level... Alicia, imagine a situation. If one day, I A righteous purpose orders Kevin to attack the rest of humanity. Will he refuse? "

"Of course...no way..."

"What about Mikael?"

"Of course... I will..."

Mei clapped her hands gently, "This is the difference between the two. Sometimes I even doubt that there is some deeper connection between the two of them. You should have discovered it too - their first and second levels are Completely opposite. Kevin's surface impression is frivolous and optimistic, while Mikael's surface impression is calm and negative.

"As for the second level, although it's not good for him to say this behind his back as his girlfriend, this is also what I like about him - he will never stand against me in anything related to me. From a certain point of view, it can be regarded as his selfishness, right? Because of this, his resilience is much stronger than Mikael. No matter how big a setback he encounters, he can recover quickly, because for him, As long as I'm here, he will never lose hope."

Ellie rubbed her cold hands, took her words, and continued: "But for Mikael, his second layer is more fragile and more desperate. He is an extremely pessimistic person. And...he is actually an overly kind person. Even when he breaks a lifeless cup, he will secretly say "I'm sorry" to it in his heart. When I return some inferior products purchased online, he will feel pity for their innocence. …Of course I can’t accept the death of everyone I know—but what about the so-called third level?”

Mei spread her hands - "Actually, I haven't noticed it yet, but Alicia..."

She was suddenly silent for a moment.

"Actually, as you said, eggs don't have only three layers. No matter how thin the semipermeable membrane is, it should be counted as one layer. Naturally, the complexity of human beings cannot be summarized by just three layers. But no matter what, I still firmly believe that rice Kyle may walk out of that door one day, maybe for you, maybe for someone else.”

Yes, in Mei's eyes, Mikael's behavior was just unacceptable for a moment, so he just lost his temper. The problem itself was not complicated or big. At worst, time would dilute everything.

Worst of all, when the Seventh Herrscher comes, can he still sit quietly behind the door?

Seeing Mei's determination, Ai Li instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

She is quite confused now, so everyone's opinions have a great impact on her.

Mebius concluded that Mikael would probably not come out, and she felt desperate.

Mei believed that Mikael could come out on his own, and she seemed to be grasping at straws.

Although she herself knew that these were all guesses and conjectures of others and could not be counted, but just like some people who like to believe in metaphysical card drawing when playing games, it just made herself feel a little better.

Maybe... we should try to break open the door and talk to Mikael directly?

As soon as this idea came up, Alicia quickly cut it off.

It's not that she doesn't want to... but... how should she face the relationship between Mikael and Mebius...

She folded her hands and fell silent for a moment.

Until she heard Mei calling her again:

"Ellie? Ellie?"

"What's wrong...oh! If nothing happens, I'll leave first!"

"Alicia..."

"Well……"

Mei rubbed her temples, and while wiping her glasses, she rubbed her sore eyes:

"Ellie, because the power of the Sixth Herrscher is too powerful, I have asked Velvet to put the research and development priority of the Sixth God's Key to the highest level...According to the plan she gave, the experimental body can be made tomorrow. , then it’s up to you to do the weapons test first.”

"I?"

Ai Li stood up all of a sudden, her face looking a little ugly.

"Um... dear Mei, you see, leave this small task of testing the God's Key to Kevin! Eden has just joined the Fire Chaser Moth, and I haven't had time to take her around yet. …”

But Mei's eyes were unshakable, and she didn't say anything, just looked at Ai Li quietly.

"Hey... ok, ok, I'll just go, bye!"

Ai Li waved her hand and left with as much force as slamming the door.

Mei stared at the swaying door panel for a long time and let out a long sigh.

After a while, accompanied by a soft ringing of bells, a small head wrapped in a white hood poked out:

"Hey! Sister Mei, Boss Mei! What are you doing with us?"

Mei smoothed her hair. When she saw Pado for the first time, the seriousness on her face dissipated a lot, and was replaced by an imperceptible smile, although this smile quickly faded, and followed As time went by, her complexion became more complex and worse.

"Eh? Sister Mei, why don't you speak... Wow, Sister Mei, your face looks so ugly. Are you feeling unwell?"

"Uh...thank you, Pado, I..."

"Would you like to try our Felice brand elixir? After drinking it, your waist no longer aches, your legs no longer hurt, and even your heart stops beating... ah no, it doesn't hurt anymore! Felice elixir, including The medicine can cure your life...the medicine can cure your disease! For the sake of everyone being colleagues, the price of friendship...ah, cough, cough!"

Looking at Mei's increasingly sluggish expression, Pado suddenly felt something in his heart - Have we... gone a little too far?

With a "plop", she knelt down on the ground skillfully, raised the jar in her hand high above her head, and said proudly: "Sister Mei! I give you this jar of medicine!"

Mei took the medicine with trembling lips, looked at Pado, and then at the jar in her hand that had no information on it...

"..."

Pado raised his eyes and took a sneak peek, only to see Mei twisting up a pill and looking at it, then looking at her teasingly.

"Uh... cough! Sister Mei, if we say... it was just our habitual action, can you return the medicine to us?"

"oh?"

Mei pursed her lips slightly, "Pado, do you know that the most important thing for a businessman is integrity. How can there be any reason to take back what you give away?"

Padu wrinkled her nose, and tears burst out instantly: "Wow, wow, Sister Mei! Just spare us! If you don't return this medicine to us, we will be beaten by Sister She, Brother Su and Ai Sister Li caught her and sold her! Ah—Sister Mei, you can’t bear to see such a cute person being kidnapped and sold to Shangougou... Huh? This seems to be Shangougou..."

"Okay, no more joking, get up."

Mei threw the medicine back into the jar and put it away, then pushed it to Padu through the table.

Pado quickly snatched it back and held it in his arms, refusing to let go.

"Then, Pado, the first task for you is to give these medicines to Mikael."

"Hey! Sister Mei, don't worry! We have experience in dealing with Brother Mikael. When the time comes, act coquettishly, act cute, etc., he will definitely open the door!"

"Oh? Then why did it fail two days ago?"

"It... it wasn't a complete failure, right? Didn't Brother Mikael use the power of that dimension to get the medicine in? Although I heard that he threw it out again later... but... okay, okay! That time is ours. It’s a mistake. This time, if he doesn’t open the door for us, we’ll pry it open. If he can’t pry it open, then we’ll climb into the air conditioning duct! Don’t worry, we’ll do it for a fee, absolutely...ah, cough, cough!”

"Collect money?"

"Sister Mei, you heard me wrong. We won't take any benefits from you! We are all doing it for Brother Mikael's health, how could we take this opportunity to extort money? We have always resisted such behavior!"

"..."

Seeing Mei Zhan showing a helpless smile, Pado took two steps back, pursed his lips, and asked cautiously: "Then...Sister Mei...you called me here..."

"Oh? Isn't there a second mission for you?"

After Mei said this, she fell into silence again - should Pado take the risk on that matter?

But this kind of thinking was an extreme waste of time in her values, so she naturally made a decision quickly.

"Pado, I need you to investigate a place."

"where?"

"Beyond the underground city, on the site of the original Moth City, there is a courtyard where Mr. Lezlen, the Chief of General Staff, "rested". I need you to investigate."

Pado's face gradually fell, "Sister Mei, this mission...must not be dangerous, right?"

Mei was silent for another moment and suddenly asked:

"Pado, did you want an out-of-print Poison Chrysalis member badge before?"

"Mei, Sister Mei...you mean..."

"Yes, this is the reward for this mission."

Paduo's eyes gradually brightened, and she gritted her teeth and said, "Don't worry, Sister Mei, we'll leave this matter to us! But... when will we set off? What specific aspects are we going to investigate?"

"The mission starts at four o'clock tomorrow morning, and must be evacuated before the sun rises at six o'clock tomorrow morning. The specific investigation content is unknown. We only know that it is related to an experiment."

"Oh, I understand! But since it starts at four o'clock tomorrow morning, we have to deliver medicine to Brother Mikael first! We have to have a good rest before the mission begins!"

"Well, go quickly."

After Pado left, Mei let out a long sigh again and leaned back on the chair.

Of course she doesn't have to use Padu.

It’s just that... in order to investigate Lezren’s still unknown experiment, she did not dare to call the original agents of the Intelligence Department because there was no guarantee that they would not have contact with Lezren.

So her initial choice was Ymer.

But after Yimer successfully infiltrated at 4 o'clock this morning, he lost contact not long after.

She had to find the next person. In terms of ability, Sakura, Ai Li, and Kevin can naturally perform this task, but Sakura still remains in the European branch to deal with the residual effects of the Honkai Impact caused by the sixth Honkai Impact. Although Kevin and Ai Li are strong enough, but with Their personalities are not suitable for such infiltration missions.

All May could think about was Pado.

She has the ability to infiltrate and once helped Mikael escape from the Fire Moth.

She also has good luck that cannot be seen or touched, but is extremely rare.

Of course, there is another point. Like Yimer, she has a close relationship with Mikael. This can not only ensure that she and Lezren will not be involved, but also that once the mission fails, Lezren will more or less be. Rat-proof device.

However, this last point is just wishful thinking... After all, no one can figure out Lezren's thoughts.

If possible, Mei naturally doesn't want Pado to carry out such a dangerous mission, but...

She moved her eyes and realized that the table was covered in blood.

She tapped her toes lightly and turned the chair in a circle so that she could see the artificial sunset outside through the window.

"Every day, time flies so fast..."

"I'm sorry, Pado, living in this era, you and I have no choice."

I hope Pado can succeed. Only by obtaining specific evidence of Lezren's experiment can we be qualified to negotiate with him and rescue Ymer...

But if it doesn't work, then we can only break up and let Kevin take a trip.

…………

"O-o-"

Two birds, probably gulls and herons, flew up from the reeds. Alicia put her hands in her pockets and bathed in the cold sunset.

She glanced at the lake, and the floating light made her eyes feel a little sore.

"Such a sight would have made a fuss in the past... I don't think it's that nice now!"

Ai Li casually broke off a piece of reed and rubbed it twice, but it was nothing more than that.

Somehow, she suddenly lost interest in many things.

Going further, there is Himihu's flower garden.

She entered retirement life early, lazily holding the showerhead, lowering her head and taking good care of every sunflower with her back to the sunset.

"Hi! Captain Himiko! You take good care of the flowers!"

Normally, she would have given a heartfelt and exaggerated smile.

But now, I can't help but laugh.

Even if he manages to smile, it is just like the artificial sunset. It looks good, but it doesn't interest anyone at all.

Because no matter how it renders colors, no matter how realistic or unpredictable it is using algorithms, the fake ones are still fake.

After all, it is just a dispensable light, it will not have a trace of warmth.

Correspondingly, the people and things bathing in it will not feel the warmth that the sunset should give.

Just like Ellie who was trembling slightly.

Like a sunflower that never looks up.

"Yo! Ellie!"

Himihu saw her and waved to her happily.

Ellie hesitated for a moment, lifted up her skirt slightly, walked down the asphalt road and walked into the flower garden.

She patted the big cabbage-like sunflower buds and complained in a low voice: "It's so ugly!"

"What's wrong? Recently, I've seen you, Mikael, and everyone else look like they're not excited. I heard that the Sixth Collapse has been resolved, but you anti-entropy people didn't attend the victory dance?"

Ai Li took a deep breath, and finally choked up in front of Himihu: "The Sixth Herrscher is... Xi'er."

"who?"

Himi shuddered and asked.

"Xie'er."

Himihu was silent for a while. She seemed to have spent a lot of effort before she finally recalled the little girl she met in Attica City. But she just replied with a single syllable:

"oh."

Later, as if she was afraid that Ellie would misunderstand, she sat on the field ridge and explained softly: "It's good that you can feel sadness. There was a time when I couldn't feel sadness."

These bizarre words made Ellie have to listen carefully.

"That time, the other seventeen members of my team were all infected and became dead soldiers... No, six people became dead soldiers, and there were eleven others. Their bodies were irreversibly transformed into dead soldiers. They still retain very little self-awareness, and some of them can even call me by my name.”

"What happened to them next?"

Ellie couldn't help but ask.

"I killed them all. Yes, I killed them with my own hands. Rather than letting them die in the hands of others, it would be better for them to die in my hands. This is what I thought at the time. And since then, I have had a year or two , I haven’t spoken to any of the recruits, because instead of being sad after they die in battle, of course, there is a greater chance that they will become dead soldiers and be killed by me, it is better to never take them into consideration.”

"..."

Ai Li only felt that her whole scalp was numb. She had never expected Himihu to have such a cruel past.

"I used to hate myself very much, why I was never transformed into a Death Soldier every time, why I was the one who survived to the end every time, and why I was the one who killed my teammates who became Death Soldiers every time... And in the eyes of more and more newcomers, I am naturally an outlier, and the situation may be even worse than that of Mikael. After all, Mikael is surrounded by you, Mebius, Hua, Pado and others... But it was only later that I met Hen and Blanca."

"..."

"So, I can't comment on Xi'er. Because I think the person who killed Xi'er did the right thing. He didn't kill Xi'er, but the Sixth Herrscher, right? Is it because of the sadness now? , will he not kill Xi'er when he returns to the battlefield? But this is indeed something that should be sad, and I would even say that it is better to be sad - because it is better to be sad than to be numb."

Ai Li twitched the corners of her lips and forced a smile:

"What a novel statement this is."

"I'm serious, Ellie."

Himihu's eyes reflected the sunset, and she said: "Because sadness can be turned into motivation to move forward, but numbness cannot. Only by experiencing the sadness of loss can you value what you have more, and only by cherishing what you have Only by doing so can we continue to fight firmly. If we are completely numb, that would be a bad thing..."

"in addition?"

"In addition, sadness means losing something cherished. If one day, I become the Herrscher... I certainly hope that he will kill me without hesitation to reduce the losses to the rest of the people. But I I also selfishly hope that... he can grieve for me just like he grieves for Xie'er."

The evening breeze caressed the flowerbed, and all the sunflowers were deflected by the wind.

Not sure if it was an illusion, but Ellie saw that some sunflowers that were very close turned their faces towards the fiery red in front of her.