The Theater of Domination.
Pure white hall.
Throne room.
"Buzz."
Ling Ke, dressed as usual in loose casual clothes, returned here through a space gate with a cola-flavored Big Foot popping candy in his mouth.
And on the other side of the "door"…
"Boss, there's so much candy here, I can't finish it all by myself. Can I share some with the kids over at Sister Nia's place?"
The cat-like girl was holding a transparent plastic jar in her arms. It was full of candies in all kinds of flavors.
To that…
"I already gave it all to you. It's yours now, so of course you can decide how to divide it."
Ling Ke stood on this side of the "door" and said with a smile, "But I don't recommend eating too much at once. Also… don't eat it before bed. You'll get cavities."
"Oh, oh. Got it, got it."
Pardo made an OK gesture.
"Then, see you, Boss."
"Mm. See you next time."
After that short farewell, familiar enough to have become habit, the space gate closed.
Ling Ke, still biting the candy in his mouth, walked straight back to the throne and sat down with a thump.
He raised a hand and idly poked at the little potted Imaginary Tree beside him.
A sense of closeness naturally welled up between them.
A moment later…
"Buzz. Buzz. Buzz."
In front of the throne, a large number of "Omniscience" screens appeared.
Their total number had already exceeded twenty.
Clearly, as this world's time drew closer and closer to the "curtain-rise moment" he expected, the number of "actors" whose movements he paid attention to every day had also grown larger and larger.
He was no longer only watching those "Reverse-Time Descenders."
Instead, he was precisely capturing the actions of one key figure after another.
For example: a certain Fire Moth councilor who had reached some improper agreements with the upper ranks of the Cult of the Honkai God.
For example: a few unlucky mooks currently being hunted by a female assassin codenamed "Umbral Rose."
And also…
That clever little girl from Tianzhu who had briefly entered the Theater of Domination a few days ago, when he had acted on a whim.
Recalling everything that had happened after that day…
"I really didn't expect someone would actually pray to me."
Ling Ke gave a derisive laugh. "Too bad. No matter how devout you are, it's useless. I'm not kind enough to suddenly start looking after a stranger I haven't even exchanged a word with."
"And I have no intention of asking for trouble by developing a faith either."
"But that is under normal circumstances."
"Right now, this is a special circumstance…"
Ling Ke's gaze fell on one of the "Omniscience" screens.
There, the real-time image of a blond man was being displayed.
Seeing him…
"Otto, Otto. Sometimes, even I have no choice but to admire you."
Ling Ke's gaze narrowed slightly. "When it comes to stepping on landmines, even Raiden Mei is nowhere near as outstanding as you."
Yes.
Over the past few months, Ling Ke had found Otto's actions extremely repulsive.
The degree of his disgust was not much different from how he felt about this man's old, enthusiastic support for forced human experiments on non-volunteers.
Because the thing Otto was currently messing with had a rather disgusting name.
A cult.
And not just any cult, but one secretly supported by politicians for profit.
It could only be said…
"There are still too few brave souls in this world willing to make trash like them physically happy right there in the street."
Ling Ke's face was full of disgust.
If he were a righteous "world-saving great player," he should probably have acted immediately by now.
Unfortunately, he was not only a "world-destroying great player," but also a villain.
And the future of this HI3 world…
Had nothing to do with him either.
This was not his home. There was truly no sense of belonging to speak of.
So, after stripping away all those grand-sounding reasons, Ling Ke's current thought was very simple.
"I originally didn't want to interfere with the development of events too frequently. But now… I should at least make things a little harder for you."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Otherwise, wouldn't I have been disgusted for nothing?"
"Back in my original world, if I played a garbage game, I at least had the right to hammer the keyboard and start flaming it."
"Let alone now…"
Thinking this, Ling Ke's will moved, slightly influencing certain things.
"I do whatever I want."
Then…
"The timing is about right too."
"My 'think tank' has finished its analysis. Adjusting the 'script' a little will not hurt the overall picture."
"In that case…"
The corner of Ling Ke's mouth curved up slightly.
"Your evil god, meaning me, has answered your prayer. Go raise hell, girl."
And precisely as this thought, this divine will, was transmitted…
"Boom."
The Cocoon of Finality, whose location could not be identified by conventional means, released a strange pulse within the Earth-Moon region of space.
The next moment…
A mosquito-sized Charge-type Honkai Beast appeared beside that clever little girl from Tianzhu and landed on her shoulder.
Just like Sirin, once trapped in Babylon Labs, the girl who had originally been praying devoutly looked at that special little life in surprise and doubt.
"Heavenly God, is that you?"
"You wish to know my name?"
The little girl quickly knelt in worship.
"What supreme honor…"
"I am your most loyal believer…"
"My name is: Kali."
At the same time…
"Woo-oo. Woo-oo. Woo-oo."
Piercing alarms rang out.
Fire Moth headquarters.
Its branches.
All major bases.
And over on the newborn World Serpent's side…
"!!!" × N
The equipment both sides used to detect abnormal Honkai energy changes across the globe announced a brutally sudden fact.
In the original historical track, the Third Honkai Eruption should have broken out in Nagazora of the Far East.
Now, the location had changed.
The timing had changed.
At this very moment…
"What is going on?"
The higher-ups of Fire Moth fell into chaos.
"Wasn't the Third Herrscher's host body already captured?"
Someone questioned loudly.
Clearly, they did not know…
Or rather, Mobius, who had long since secretly become a turncoat, had deliberately withheld the key information.
Namely: in this era, there was no so-called Will of Honkai, Prometheus No. 17, to secretly open a back door for them.
Therefore, the time, place, and type of Herrscher descent were all uncertain from the beginning.
On the other side…
"Where is the eruption center?"
Inside the headquarters base of the newborn World Serpent…
It could only be said that luck was also a part of strength.
MEI, Elysia, and the others had already been in a meeting.
With this sudden commotion…
"Tianzhu, Dharavi."
Gray Serpent's main body, constantly linked to the Gray Serpent Network, fully lived up to his role as their intelligence officer.
For a moment…
"Dharavi?"
MEI frowned.
At this moment, the conference room door opened.
Kevin Kaslana walked straight in.
He had just happened to hear that most critical place name.
Immediately, he frowned as well.
Dharavi.
The largest slum in Asia.
That place…
"Hua should have already arrived there."
Kevin said in a low voice.
Yes.
Kevin had not attended today's virtual remote conference because he had been training "himself."
After all, this meeting had originally only been a routine work report and intelligence exchange.
With MEI here, he did not need to worry too much about those matters.
But Hua…
Or rather, Fu Hua, who was also a "returnee," was not here either.
Naturally, that was because she was currently out on a mission.
That mission was: investigate the Cult of the Honkai God inside Dharavi.
If necessary, she, whose full combat power had already recovered, could eliminate every enemy there.
And looking at things now…
"I'll move out too."
Kevin looked toward MEI.
"History's course has completely changed."
"I'm not comfortable leaving Hua there alone."
Hearing him say that…
"All right."
MEI nodded.
"Set out as soon as possible."
"Remember. Be careful."
"Mm."
Kevin answered seriously.
Then, having only just arrived in this conference room, he turned and left again.
That decisive, lightning-fast manner…
"It seems I can't call him MEI's little shadow anymore."
Far away at Fire Moth headquarters in Mu Continent, Mobius, who had not yet cut off her remote virtual projection, said this.
"And also…"
"We can look forward to new 'materials'."