A momentary flash of light illuminated Ryan's pupils. A chill rushed to his mind, causing his thoughts to freeze for a moment.
Exploded? Why did Kevin's shuttle explode?
He widened his eyes and recalled for a moment, repeatedly confirming that he hadn't seen any intercepting light. Or rather, at a height of tens of thousands of meters, a shuttle flying at ten times the speed of sound was uninterceptable unless it had been ambushed beforehand after receiving information.
It couldn't be a Honkai Beast. The three remaining Herrschers also didn't have this ability. Wait a minute--
Could it be that the Herrscher of Domination's Domination clone secretly planted a bomb? No way. Not to mention that I've already explored the Abyss City, and Mei couldn't have made such a low-level mistake.
Ryan was unable to explain the situation in front of him. It was as if he had encountered some low-probability random event that caused his meticulously planned plan to go wrong, and it just fell apart so easily.
It was so close.
Ryan didn't have time to be angry. He just said in a low voice, "Pardofelis, go take a look. Everyone else, continue to advance with me and cut off her retreat."
The blow from the unexpected event only lasted for a second. He made a decision, still locking onto the Herrscher and driving her deeper into the Atlantic Ocean.
The support from Kevin and the others was not going well, but this balance had still not been broken. As long as they clung to the opponent, there would still be a chance. The key was that they couldn't be spread out, otherwise, they would be defeated one by one by the Herrscher of Binding, and their strength would be lost for nothing.
This command came in a very timely manner. Everyone had seen the 'shooting star' disintegrate in the air and knew that there was a problem with the battle plan. But now, they couldn't advance or retreat, so they had to steel themselves and push forward with Ryan, first catching up to the Herrscher.
"Exploded? How is that possible!?"
Thousands of miles away, Mei, who was remotely commanding, immediately stood up. A rare look of surprise appeared on her face. The ball of light illuminated her cheeks. Besides surprise, there wasn't much worry.
This kind of explosion wasn't enough to kill Kevin and the others, but injuries were inevitable. This was very annoying, as it meant that the entire battle plan had been overturned.
She and Ryan had been preparing this plan for a long time. It could be said that it had started as soon as they had determined the essence of the Herrscher of Binding's Authority. A minute ago, all the progress was very normal.
Elysia had stepped onto the stage, and the Herrscher of Binding had also been successfully lured out. As long as they formed a pincer movement and simultaneously entered that domain, they could kill this most terrifying Herrscher with minimal casualties, completely eliminating the hidden danger.
It was very smooth, so smooth that it was a bit unbelievable. The Herrscher's absolute rationality had long been figured out, as if they had mastered the program's progression and planned the final step in advance.
But just as they were about to pick up the chess piece to checkmate, a problem occurred?
Mei suppressed the suspicion in her heart and asked coldly, "Have you found the reason for the shuttle's explosion?"
"According to the real-time data transmitted from the shuttle, it was caused by the Honkai energy engine overheating. The cooling system must have had a problem." Sene was sweating profusely. He held the report in his hand and said with some disbelief, "The preliminary judgment is, is... mechanical failure."
Mechanical failure? Just because of that??
Mei was both annoyed and amused. A battle that would decide the fate of humanity had a problem because of a mechanical failure. She couldn't accept it, but she also couldn't refute it.
There was no such thing as a machine that was 100% safe in the world. Even if it was made by Vil-V and was checked very carefully, the probability of an accident couldn't be reduced to zero. Since it wasn't zero, there was a probability of an accident occurring.
This was very normal. It was what ordinary people would call a problem of luck.
Wait a minute, a low-probability event?
Mei was not a mortal who would attribute failure to bad luck. She instantly looked up and met Mobius's gaze, a rational light flashing in her glasses.
"Do you think it's just bad luck?"
"I don't believe in luck. I only believe in probability. A one in ten thousand probability appearing at such a crucial moment is not normal to begin with."
"Then is someone manipulating this probability from behind?"
"Uh, theoretically it's possible. After all, there's the example of Aponia, but I think it's very difficult to do in reality."
Mobius was silent. She always felt that this woman was too obsessed with science. Some things in the world were simply uncontrollable. At the very least, there had to be evidence of human manipulation.
"It's very difficult in reality, unless--"
Just then, a helper's voice attracted their attention again.
"Something happened to the Supreme Commander and the others."
The two of them turned their heads and were both stunned. Mei maintained her calm expression, hiding her inner tension, and uttered the final answer.
"An Authority that transcends scientific theory and reality!"
Ryan was still holding Elysia's hand, walking at the very front. Only the expression on his face was getting more and more strange. He couldn't help but murmur:
What the hell? Is this a punishment from some unlucky god? That's not right. If an unlucky god had a grudge, they should be punishing Pardofelis.
After the shuttle exploded, Ryan immediately entered pursuit mode, preparing to stick to the Herrscher first before figuring out a solution. And the Herrscher of Binding was very cooperative.
She didn't counterattack and didn't even accelerate. She retreated unhurriedly and had now retreated deep into the Atlantic Ocean.
At first, Ryan thought it was a reverse lure, but gradually, he felt something was wrong. It wasn't an ambush by the Herrscher of Death or the Herrscher of Domination, but rather that this entire pursuit was full of bad luck.
First, the anti-gravity system of the Minerva, which was sent for emergency support, had a problem, causing the Honkai energy engine to overload. After the entire ship lost power, it plunged into the sea. Without firing a single shot, the battleship was out of the pursuit.
Then, the ordinary MANTIS who were stepping on flying discs all encountered strange things. Either their flight systems overheated, causing them to slow down and fall behind, or a certain warrior suddenly fell ill and had to go back for treatment.
Finally, a hurricane actually blew up on the sea, tearing at their formation. Some warriors were soaked like drowned chickens and actually caught a cold.
MANTIS could also get sick, but the probability was too low. It might happen only once in a hundred times. It was even more impossible for them to get sick as a group. But after Prometheus's monitoring, all the events had a cause and effect. For example, the Minerva had a few screws missing when it was being repaired, and it wasn't checked properly during the emergency deployment.
This was very normal. At least in a thousand deployments, there would be a few times when they would encounter unexpected situations. But for them to be piled up and happen at this very moment was not normal.
There was a problem. Absolutely a problem.
"Ryan, are we still pursuing?" Elysia was also getting a little nervous. She had a strange feeling, as if an invisible hand were playing with the threads of fate.
This was luck, and it was also inevitable.
Ryan didn't answer immediately. He squinted his eyes and saw that the turbid waves were rolling in front of them, but in the distance, it was calm. The sea was like a mirror. That was the domain of Binding, and the boundary line had retreated for several kilometers.
The Herrscher of Binding was still unhurried, as if she were watching a good show.
"If I'm not mistaken, this kind of coincidence should be some kind of Authority, an Authority that can influence this place from thousands of miles away." Ryan answered in an almost certain tone.
"Mhm, I have a similar feeling. It seems somewhat similar to Aponia, but also completely different."
Elysia had hit the nail on the head. The precepts themselves were a kind of control over fate, but Aponia could see the future but had no way to change it. No matter how many precepts were imposed, fate would still stubbornly return to its track.
But the feeling now was the complete opposite. Even without a complete report, Ryan could probably guess some of the clues.
If someone's fate was compared to a white cloth, there would be some threads of other colors in it. The area occupied by these threads was very small, and under normal circumstances, they shouldn't be touched. But this person could pick out these threads and turn coincidence into inevitability.
For example, if a strong man died suddenly from a serious illness, the people around him could only sigh: 'It was fate.'
He shouldn't have died, but it was not absolutely impossible for him to die. This was luck, and this was fate.
'What kind of mysterious Authority is this? This definitely can't be done by the three remaining Herrschers.' The corner of Ryan's eye twitched. As a physicist, he hated mysterious things the most because there was no way to deal with them with logic. He secretly glanced at Elysia next to him.
This was also a kind of fate. I've done so much, but you still became the Thirteenth Herrscher. As expected of the Honkai's home ground, even I, a Trailblazer , can't completely change it.
"This should be the Twelfth Herrscher. From her performance, she can basically be called the 'Herrscher of Fate'."
"Ah? Am I really a jinx? I knew I shouldn't have chatted with the Herrscher of Binding." Elysia covered her mouth, her gem-like eyes filled with confusion.
She was a bit depressed. Ryan was even more depressed. He had specially created Prometheus to properly welcome the Twelfth Herrscher who was supposed to come—the Herrscher of Corruption.
With his preparations, no matter how this Herrscher's Authority mutated, she would be serving herself up on a platter and would find it difficult to pose a threat.
So, the Honkai preempted my preemption and simply changed the person. Who can I reason with?
But despite his depression, Ryan felt that this was only natural.
Ignoring the change in order and the strengthening of Authority, two Herrschers were swapped out. One was the Herrscher of Sentience, and the other was the Herrscher of Corruption. Both were beings with extremely low threat levels after their birth. Since it was a chess game, you couldn't always expect your opponent to make a bad move.
'I have completely changed the course of civilization and gathered a powerful force. If I can still use my foreknowledge, the Honkai will just be offering themselves up even if they cheat. For example, the mental MANTIS have a special project in the tempering plan that was prepared for the Herrscher of Sentience.'
"Forget it. If the easy path doesn't work, I don't care. It's always good to have a challenge." Ryan quickly sorted out his mood after punching the air.
He watched the Herrscher of Binding gradually drift away and heard a report from someone on the team communication channel, either about a sudden illness or about their flying discs losing control and colliding with each other. Even though most people were still gritting their teeth and following, who knew what other strange things would happen later?
The good news was that this Herrscher's Authority wasn't that fierce. If it were like Death Note, where writing a cause of death would make the target die from a coincidence, then I might as well not play anymore.
"We can't pursue. Although I forced the Twelfth Herrscher out, this Authority is completely unfamiliar, and I don't know what she can do." Ryan quickly made a decision, but he held Elysia's hand and continued to move forward.
"But we can't retreat either. The Herrscher of Binding and she are working together. There's no place in the world that can stop them. I can't be in two places at once, and I can't arrive for support in an instant."
His head was aching. He even missed the Herrscher of Blood. That kind of head-on fight was at least exhilarating, but this kind of mysterious Authority didn't even give him a chance to draw his sword.
If their numbers weren't enough, they would be instantly killed by the Herrscher of Binding. Now there was also a Herrscher who was suspected of manipulating fate. An accident like the one Kevin and the others encountered, happening just once, could kill a lot of people.
How can I predict it? This Authority has no warning signs. I don't know when a problem will occur.
How can I fight back? Even if I were to concentrate all my forces in one place, with the current Herrscher's style, they wouldn't choose a head-on confrontation. They would only take the opportunity to sweep the world clean and force him to take the initiative to attack. As long as the Fire Moth made a move, there would be an opportunity to fish in troubled waters.
No, they could even feign death, making humanity huddle together like hedgehogs and slowly wear them down over ten, twenty, or even a hundred years.
This was a last resort, but even as a last resort, it would have to wait until the 'Wandering Humans' plan was completed. Judging by the Herrscher of Binding's strength, only one of New York or Abyss City could be saved.
"We can't retreat, and we can't pursue. At this time, we have to rely on the genius girl, Super Elysia."
Just as Ryan's head was hurting from thinking, the dressed-up Elysia suddenly smiled and held Ryan's hand even tighter.
"If I'm not mistaken, that Twelfth Herrscher can't affect you and me, can she?"
"It's very possible that the precepts are ineffective against the two of us." Ryan nodded. He had already figured out the answer.
"Then we can keep up with the Herrscher of Binding. She can't suppress the two of us at the same time, right?"
Ryan's eyes flickered. After her Herrscher transformation, Elysia had surpassed Kevin and was the second strongest person after him. Theoretically, the Herrscher could bind them, but she couldn't instantly kill them both.
As long as he and Elysia were holding her down, the main force would have a chance to support them and repeat today's tactic. But the problem was, what about the Herrscher of Fate? Her Authority could interfere with all plans without any warning, turning an opportunity into a trap.
Wait a minute, I think I have a Flame-Chaser with a fate-related ability?
"See? I told you before that you can trust us more. We can solve problems if we put our heads together. We're not just watching you fight desperately in the front!" Elysia was in a great mood, as if she had put down a long-standing worry.
The Fire Moth had been fighting until now, and Ryan had gotten too much of the spotlight. Besides Mei, most people seemed to be living under his wing.
I don't think so. In the battle in South America, Mobius and Hua were a great help.
Ryan instinctively wanted to explain but knew that he shouldn't waste time right now. He countered with a question:
"But there's still a problem. The Herrscher of Binding isn't stupid. She can't stay in her domain forever like a light bulb. She'll hide. How do we track her?"
"That's indeed a difficult problem to solve, but--" Elysia's smile became even happier, as if she was revealing her hidden ace. She patted her high chest with force.
"That's when Super Elysia has to make her appearance."