"The civilization?"
Lu Xing had a new question regarding Odin's answer.
Xiao Zi hadn't been curious about the stories of the past, so she couldn't provide him with the details. This was an important reason why Lu Xing was willing to risk coming here.
"That's right, the civilization."
"The creators of the civilization left this world, but they did not take everything with them," Odin continued.
"They left their greatest invention..."
"No, they were forced to leave it behind in this broken World Bubble."
"A photon computer with an independent consciousness, [Shenhuo], created from the [Core of Reason] and the [Core of Sentience]. It did not choose to leave with its 'creators,' but instead hid itself in the shadows, where it absolutely could not be found in a mere 20 hours."
"..."
The information Odin provided was truly unexpected.
With the Core of Reason alone, Dr. Mei was able to create Prometheus, a super quantum computer capable of replicating itself to generate the [Void Archives].
This civilization was clearly even more extravagant.
They were not satisfied with the Core of Reason alone; they had even fused the Core of Sentience into it as well!
"A god's child is not a god."
"Is that right?"
"..."
These words from Lu Xing, which seemed to come out of left field, actually caused Odin to fall into a brief silence.
"That's right, visitor."
The answer to this question wasn't actually hard to guess.
In the relationship between a civilization and its intelligent creations, the possibility of "conflict" was an ever-present factor.
[Shenhuo] was born from Herrscher Cores. Regardless of whether it was influenced by the will of the Honkai, the cliché topic of an "AI rebellion"... didn't even need to be explained separately.
Although [Shenhuo] was a creation of the civilization, its origin was the Honkai.
In a "leaf" that had already been pruned, free from the attention of the "Tree" and the "Honkai's consciousness," it had many ways to hide itself from the perception of Honkai Beasts, and even make them see it as an ally.
Clearly.
A world controlled by the Herrscher of Binding and Honkai Beasts was, conversely, more suitable for [Shenhuo]'s survival.
Based on the existence of [Shenhuo], in order to...
"In order to survive."
"I collaborated with [Shenhuo] and devoured my own former master."
"As a companion Honkai Beast, the Authority of Binding only had a partial effect on me—less than half. When the Herrscher actively controlled it, my body could be completely immune to the effects of Binding, and I could even receive Honkai energy 'stripped' by the Herrscher."
"You must understand."
"The ones who had never known defeat... aside from the 'creators' of the civilization, there was also my nearly 'invincible' master."
"..."
Reminiscing about the past always brought a sense of sorrow.
Although he had personally committed the act of killing his master, in Odin's words, it didn't seem to be a story that was difficult to speak of. To fight with everything one had, to betray everything in order to live, seemed to be a matter of course in its eyes.
"You succeeded."
"But of course."
"Time... can it truly change a life so drastically?"
"That is... but of course."
The reason for Lu Xing's comment came from Xiao Zi, from the hundreds of Hybrid Honkai Beasts outside.
It was obvious.
The energy within the Hybrid Honkai Beasts came half from nuclear power, and the other half... from Odin's sacrifice.
Neither the "creators" nor [Shenhuo] had been able to create something like the [Blank Keys] that Dr. Mei had. For the former, it was unnecessary; for the latter, it was too late by the time they needed it.
Therefore, regardless of their level, the Honkai energy in all the Hybrid Honkai Beasts came from Odin. This was true even for Xiao Zi and her two followers.
As for the other reason—
The [Core of Death].
Before the Herrscher of Binding, this civilization had also seen a full ten Herrschers. Of the cores these Herrschers left behind, aside from the two used to create [Shenhuo] and the three that Odin integrated into its body, there were three other cores that, in the struggle against the corrosion of the Quantum Sea, had shattered completely into unusable remnants.
That's right.
That was only eight. There were still two of the most important cores: the [Core of the Void] and the [Core of Death] had other fates.
The Core of the Void was taken by the "creators."
It wasn't that they didn't want to take all the cores, but the other Herrscher Cores had all been hidden away in advance by [Shenhuo] through various means. The Core of the Void was only spared because it was integral to various aspects of the colony ships and had been under constant manual supervision, preventing [Shenhuo] from getting its hands on it.
It was also because...
In terms of research, the other cores had already reached the limits of what the "creators" could achieve in the short term. They likely wouldn't be able to make any major breakthroughs for a long time, so they didn't expend energy in that area.
But the Core of the Void was different. Its existence was vital to the future of the colonial fleet and absolutely could not be lost... Both [Shenhuo] and the "creators" were well aware of this point.
In other words.
They had reached a kind of tacit compromise with each other.
This compromise was certainly good for the situation at the time.
But as time flew by, the drawbacks of lacking the Core of the Void began to gradually manifest. Fusing more Herrscher Cores could only increase Odin's variety of combat methods and enhance its burst power, but it did nothing to solve the problem of replenishing Honkai energy.
Lu Xing's ability to have his Imaginary Link continuously expand as the number of his cores increased was not only due to the special nature of his Honkai Crystal, but also inseparable from the Core of the Void serving as a "foundation."
Another, more important problem was.
Lacking the Core of the Void meant that Odin and [Shenhuo] could never escape from this World Bubble. Moreover, as the World Bubble sank deeper into the Sea, Odin couldn't even use spatial abilities.
To possess immense power, yet be doomed to drown in a swamp with not even a straw to grasp.
For a powerful being, this was probably the most intolerable way to die.
In addition.
The long-term battles gradually wore down Odin's spirit and will, and he began to accept another of [Shenhuo]'s proposals:
The Hybrid Honkai Beast Project.
A modification project initiated by [Shenhuo] on "Variant" Honkai Beasts.
The conditions for this modification were somewhat harsh: only a "Variant" that had awakened its own self could simultaneously wield the two powers of "civilization's creations" and "Honkai energy." This was something that touched upon an unknown territory, something that leaned more towards the "essence" of the soul.