He really is... shameless.
Even though Ryan knew that the Cocoon of Finality had no concept of 'shamelessness' and that it was just a program that would rationally choose the most effective method for its layout, he still couldn't help but complain.
This move was brilliant. It not only removed a hidden danger, but it also created a threat for me. It's a classic case of killing two birds with one stone.
Ryan specifically came here to feast, but there was very little to eat. And that was not all. The key was that this 'End of Dharma-level,' no, Ryan felt that it was no longer possible to use 'End of Dharma-level' to describe this Honkai Beast. Its strength was extremely high, and it was very despicable, hiding underground and refusing to come out.
Seeing that it couldn't defeat him, it cut off its own arm to survive and then self-destructed without any hesitation. Fortunately, he was able to activate the Authority of Binding in time, so he was completely unharmed. Moreover, Honkai Beasts are different from Herrschers. They are an accessory of the Honkai and don't consume much energy. If they self-destructed upon contact, it would be a huge loss no matter how you look at it.
"Alright, so this is how you want to play."
Ryan pursed his lips. He couldn't think of a countermeasure in a short time. After all, the purpose of this thing's existence was not to destroy civilization or to kill him. It was simply to utilize waste.
But he couldn't just ignore it. Not to mention whether a 'giant earthworm' would be able to hold up if it kept burrowing deep underground. If it continuously replenished, stacked, and aggregated, would it eventually become the Honkai Beast that destroyed the Venus civilization?
A qualitative change achieved through a quantitative change. Maybe at a certain critical point, the Cocoon would realize that it didn't even need the Herrscher of Finality. It would be more efficient to just use a planet-level Honkai Beast to flatten everything.
It was reasonable that the 'Cocoon's' program was more intelligent than he had imagined.
"Senior Brother, are you alright?"
At this time, dozens of warriors from the Hyperion had arrived by his side. They were each on guard, and then they all gasped when they looked down.
It was as if the Earth had grown an eye. There wasn't even a single weed in the basin, showing how powerful the explosion was.
"I'm fine. I was already on guard against it. This small explosion can't break my Authority of Binding." Ryan waved his hand casually and crushed the Axe of Blood he was holding.
Small?
Hua was thinking about how to respond when she was pushed aside by Mobius. She moved her mouth but decided to save some face for the platypus.
At least she agreed to let everyone take turns in their seats last time, so he owed her a favor.
"You've really become a monster now. The explosion just now exceeded one hundred million tons, and you didn't even get a scratch."
"Mobius, I know you want to praise me, but please change the way you say it next time, or just shut up." Ryan raised his hand to stop the immediate rebuttal and pointed to the giant crater on the ground. "This is just the power of one arm. If it all exploded, I'm guessing the South American continent would sink."
"Continent-level destructive power? Is this the Herrscher of Self-Destruction??" Mobius was immediately stunned. She thought to herself that the Honkai was really cheap. It even skipped the battle and went straight to self-destruction?
Hmm, I have to say it's a good way. It skips the battle and prevents Ryan from getting stronger.
"It would be better if it were a Herrscher. If it exploded a few more times, I would be able to understand the essence of its authority. It's a Honkai Beast. To be precise, it's the Honkai Beasts that were hiding in South America before."
"How is that possible? We've already fought two battles!" Kevin immediately rushed to the front. He was the commander of the second South American battle, so he knew the details the best.
If it was hiding such a powerful force, how could it not have used it? If it had self-destructed on the spot, the entire Fire Moth would have been wiped out. On the other hand, a Herrscher could have survived with the Authority of Binding.
"Why would I lie to you? It just merged these pieces of trash in a different way, as a way to utilize waste. It just wasn't necessary at that time." Ryan didn't want to explain too much. He waved his hand and said, "Go back to the ship first. After you've read my investigation report, all of you think about what to do. My mind is very complicated right now."
"Shouldn't you be having a headache?"
"I'm having a headache, but I'm also very happy."
Happy? What's there to be happy about?
Everyone was a bit confused, and they all looked at Elysia, who was staring at the crater in a daze. Feeling their gazes, the girl looked up in even more confusion and quickly turned into a pink pufferfish.
"Don't look at me! I don't have an idiot halo!"
Ryan flew into the sky with the wind, looking directly at the bright sun.
The most terrifying thing in the world is when an enemy treats you like an ant that can be casually crushed. It doesn't need to use its brain. It can just wave its hand and bestow despair. But when an enemy reacts, it proves that what you're doing is right. If it reacts fiercely, it proves that you have become a threat.
Of course, I should be happy. I can't help but want to laugh out loud. Based on its methods, the important hypothesis that Mei and I made is indeed correct. We actually managed to achieve it by a fluke.
When will the Finality come? How do we welcome the Finality?
Research on these two topics had begun a long time ago. Based on Elysia's feedback and the reaction of the 'Beast' this time, Ryan was almost certain.
"Under the premise that the energy has been accumulated, as long as all the Herrschers are ended, the Finality can descend. This Finality is a fixed attribute, not an adjective. To be precise, it's the Herrscher of Finality, who possesses the strongest power and all authorities. Of course, it might not be in the form of a Herrscher. You can think of it as the Cocoon of Finality personally entering the field."
"That's a very accurate description. It can be compared to the executioner who restarts civilization." Mei took off her glasses and gently wiped them on her white coat. "Every Herrscher can destroy civilization, but the Finality they create is just an adjective. According to your theory, to make the Herrscher of Finality descend, a minimum of thirteen Herrschers is needed as a prelude."
A smart person didn't need Ryan's long-winded explanation. Mei quickly made her own judgment, which made Ryan nod slightly.
"This is the rule of the game. Otherwise, after it sensed my threat, it could have just brought down the Herrscher of Finality and restarted everything. I wouldn't have had the chance to grow."
"That would be both shameless and boring. If the only purpose was to destroy civilization, it would lose the meaning of restarting. Since it's an exam, we have to be given enough time to answer, even if our answer doesn't meet its expectations."
As a top student, Mei gave a very appropriate analogy. She now had the observation from the Second Divine Key, the information from Vita, and Elysia's wonderful metaphor. She finally didn't have to just make things up.
It might not be accurate, but she could guess it with a good degree of certainty.
"Mm. It's like a basic program. Even if it wants to eliminate a threat, it can't transcend the rules. And I also unintentionally exploited a bug." Ryan looked up with a hint of pleasure and said with a smile: "Originally, when one Herrscher fell, another would descend, not giving humanity any time to breathe. We would either have to find a new way or continuously fight the Herrschers, stepping into the abyss one step at a time."
It was impossible to ignore the Herrschers. It was a life-or-death situation. Because of the Stigmata Project and Prometheus, the later civilization didn't have much reference value in this regard.
"And because of your existence, a variable that was not in the fixed program appeared, causing the Honkai to have a second goal. To increase the success rate, it had to bring down multiple Herrschers at the same time. Then, because of Elysia's authority, a chain reaction was triggered."
Mei seemed to be talking to herself. The hand wiping her glasses unconsciously stopped. Her eyes became bright, just like when she had solved countless difficult problems in school.
With a perfect logical loop, she finally figured out the cause and effect. She couldn't help but look at the calm man and imagine where fate's original track would have gone without him.
I might also have gotten the answer, but all I could do was leave a seed and hope that the people of later generations would perfect it. A fixed destiny is indeed cruel, but only a fixed destiny can make experience useful and allow people to find a way out.
"Ryan, this is a very significant discovery."
"I don't think it's very significant. Even if the possibility has reached ninety percent, it doesn't affect the outcome of this chess game." Ryan was not complacent. For him, this was a matter of course.
It was very clear now. The Cocoon of Finality didn't want him to exploit bugs. It had to find a way to activate the restart program or find a way to bypass this bug.
"It wants to use our hands to get back on track. It won't tolerate us delaying for a long time." Mei let out a long sigh and placed a stack of documents in her hand. These were the suggestions from everyone on how to deal with it, but they all ignored one premise:
"If we ignore it, the Cocoon of Finality has another option."
"Mm. Like Venus, it will just flip the table and quit, turning this planet into a dead zone. Without the Earth, we would be homeless dogs, and we would have to think about how to survive in the Sea of Quanta." Ryan already had the answer. Humanity was never the problem. Earth civilization was the essence. If there was no Earth, this exam would lose its meaning.
Thinking of this, he tentatively asked: "That would be a different topic and a different enemy. I'm confident that I can exist in the Sea of Quanta for a long time."
"That would be no different from a World Bubble. It's just that with our power, we would be able to survive across World Bubbles. But don't forget, besides you, humanity is a living being of the Imaginary side. The uncertainty of becoming a child of the sea is too great." Mei shook her head and refused. Even with Vita's information, they only knew the tip of the iceberg about the sea.
This was equivalent to starting from scratch. Not to mention Pao, who knows if there would be something similar to the Honkai in the sea? The people of Venus never thought of becoming a wandering civilization.
"Then we're in agreement. Let's accept the challenge of the Cocoon of Finality. We've been preparing for so long. It would be a shame to just run without doing anything." Ryan knocked on the table. His other hand was rubbing his chin. "Although we have very little information now, I have a hunch that it doesn't just want us to get back on track. According to Vita's intelligence, I think the 'Beast' and the 'Herrscher' should be equal. It's just that the former failed on Venus, so it focused more on the Herrschers."
"Then it found that there was a traitor, Elysia, among the Herrschers, and we used her to exploit a bug. With the Cocoon of Finality's level, it shouldn't be at a loss."
Mei listened quietly. This thought had no evidence. It was just a wild guess, but she felt that the possibility was not small.
"It's like a backup plan. If the Herrscher path doesn't work, it can also solve the problem of restarting civilization with the Honkai Beast?"
"Mm. It would be too pathetic if the Cocoon of Finality only had one trump card. Fortunately, we discovered the abnormality of the Honkai Beast." Ryan stood up from the table and paced back and forth in the small meeting room. Every time he discussed with Mei alone, he felt as if he was getting a 'wisdom halo' boost, and his mind was extremely agile.
"After fighting with it for more than three years, I still have a hypothesis: Since the Cocoon of Finality's energy comes from the Tree of Imaginary Numbers, and combining the fact that the Honkai's strength is directly proportional to the development of civilization, I think its limit is not fixed, and its power is not infinite."
Ryan had been fighting the Honkai for many years. Besides preserving more of the Fire Moth's power, he had also greatly shortened the time. One must know that in the original worldline, there was a full five-year gap between the Third and Eighth Herrschers. Even a breeding horse would be tired of continuously bringing down Herrschers.
"Now that you mention it, I feel that the progress is indeed a bit fast." Mei narrowed her eyes. Looking back from the current time, she realized that humanity's growth speed was extremely fast.
Excluding Elysia, in less than four years, they had already gone from the Third Herrscher to the Twelfth Herrscher. They had continuously brought down multiple Herrschers, most of which went without a trace like a meat bun hitting a dog. Because the interval was too short, the last few Herrschers even used unconventional methods.
For example, the Authority of Blood, or using Fusion Warriors as vessels to increase their strength, or the fusion of the Herrscher of Binding and the Herrscher of Domination...
"I seem to feel its fatigue. Just like this time's waste utilization of the Honkai Beast. If it were calm, there would be no need to be so stingy. It seems to be interfering with your pace of getting stronger, but in reality, it's because it has no more energy to waste?"
Mei immediately had an idea. This was a reverse proof. If the Cocoon of Finality was really invincible, there would be no need for it to be so troublesome. It would just hold back for a big one and flatten humanity.
No, the word 'hold back' itself had a sense of fatigue.
"The Honkai limit hypothesis needs to be proven. Perhaps the Finality of our civilization is not as strong as we imagined. If the 'Seed Project' succeeds, the Finality that the later civilization faces might be incredibly strong?"
Mei's face froze. The 'Seed Project' was something she had been pushing for. Many of the contents were rejected by Ryan, and she was a bit resentful. Then Ryan proposed the 'Honkai limit hypothesis' and rejected her plan.
Could it be that I was really thinking too simply? There's no way to do a reference group experiment. Time can't be turned back.
"Okay, I'll reduce the budget of the 'Seed Project' again and put it into the other projects. For example, Vil-V's cannons can also be put into practice." Mei shook her head helplessly and adjusted her glasses: "To be honest, I don't like to be like a reckless person who doesn't leave any way out."
"Hahahaha, I wasn't targeting you. Besides, this hypothesis also needs to be verified."
The two of them reached a consensus and chose to move forward instead of retreating into the sea. After making the decision, things became simple.
"The 'Tsunami Project' has a few more steps. We can't ignore that Honkai Beast. You have to find a way to get something from it. While hunting the 'Beast,' we also have to solve the remaining Herrschers. If the 'Beast' still doesn't work, its patience will run out. At that time, we will be the ones who are anxious."
Mei was also conflicted. Now she both feared the Finality and hoped for the Finality. The Honkai side was probably the same. After all, according to the program's priority, stopping the exam was the last resort.
"You're talking about Elysia." Ryan looked at her expressionlessly.
"Yes. If the 'Cocoon' can't execute the restart plan, it can only erase the concept of 'Earth civilization.' Based on the situation on Venus, time is meaningless to it." Mei crossed her hands and propped up her chin. "Of course, these are all hypotheses, but we have to be on guard."
Ryan was speechless. He didn't know if the Honkai would flip the table, but he was clear about its trump card for restarting civilization, which was to give birth to the Herrscher of Finality.
But this trump card was held back and couldn't be played. If he were the Cocoon of Finality, he would also have no choice. He couldn't just keep sending fodder, right?
"Don't worry, I have an idea. On the premise that Elysia survives, someone might help us meet the conditions, even if the conditions are barely met, it doesn't matter from his position."
Ryan's answer was a bit ambiguous, but Mei's eyes lit up when she heard it: "No wonder you revealed some information. Are you confident?"
"It's up to humans to make things happen. It's best if he can do it. If not, I have other plans. It will just take longer and be riskier." Ryan knocked on the table. He had no intention of delving into the topic and brought the conversation back to the starting point.
"The most important thing now is to seize this opportunity and get more benefits before its patience runs out."
"Based on the self-destruction just now, it's on guard against you. It's really a smart opponent."
"I didn't say I would be the only one getting benefits." Ryan spread his hands and made a decision: "Let's assume the worst. The 'Star Age' project needs to be accelerated. While hunting, we'll deploy robots to all the remaining military bases. We'll squeeze out as many resources as we can."
"You're not going to leave any backups?" Mei already had a related plan. For example, the Antarctic shelter could be repaired and restocked. Anyway, Honkai Beasts don't destroy resources.
"It's not wrong to get the preparations done beforehand. Besides, we don't have the luxury of having backups. With these resources, we can push forward the construction of the 'Genesis'." Ryan tapped on the keyboard, and a huge structure appeared on the computer screen. It looked like a concave mirror.
This was also one of the gifts he prepared for the Honkai, and it was the 'cannon' that Mei mentioned. Because there was no Herrscher of Corruption, human technology could develop without any restraint.
"The Fusion Warriors, including the later human collapse and Chimera projects, are the peak of biology. But Vil-V has no restrictions, so she can create something that would be a blessing for people with a lack of firepower."
Mei glanced at the screen. This was also one of the projects she was leading. She opened her mouth with a hint of hesitation: "The development of war machines is not a high priority. I don't know if the Herrscher of Corruption will come, and I don't know if Prometheus can suppress her."
"Don't worry about it. Just stack all the research results on it. Use all the resources you have. We don't have the luxury of taking it easy. If the Finality comes earlier than we expect—" Ryan waved his hand and said with determination:
"The first battle will be the decisive battle. I'm going all in!"