Before launching this operation, the administrator Gray Serpent in the Gray Serpent network had intended to go to the Thames River himself to recruit this man who was, in a sense, the 'strongest man in the world' as reinforcement.
But after some thought, the administrator Gray Serpent gave up the idea.
Even knowing the situation was critical and that it should try to win over Su to help World Serpent, Gray Serpent was still very annoyed with this man.
Regardless of what Kevin himself thought, in the eyes of followers like Gray Serpent, Su had betrayed their Lord Kevin.
In the end, the reason World Serpent was so passive was all because their Lord was absent.
No matter how rational the administrator Gray Serpent was, it couldn't suppress its aversion to the main culprit of this matter.
So this time, the administrator Gray Serpent selected a Gray Serpent from the network who was closest to England and had a relatively better temper to go to the Thames River.
However, even this better-tempered Gray Serpent couldn't stop his words from being tinged with a hint of ridicule and dissatisfaction when he spoke.
However, Su himself was very good-natured.
Coupled with the guilt he genuinely felt towards Kevin, Su naturally wouldn't sever contact with Gray Serpent just because of the words he had spoken.
At this moment, the Gray Serpent facing this Flame-Chaser of the Previous Era also realized, upon seeing the other's humble face, that he had indeed misspoken just now.
After adjusting his mindset, Gray Serpent immediately said to Su, full of apology.
"Mr. Su, although you and our Lord may have had disagreements on certain matters, I believe that as our Lord's dearest friend, you could never betray him."
"We do not mean to regard you as a 'traitor'. On the contrary, in our eyes—Mr. Su and Miss Hua ought to be our most reliable comrades."
Quickly using his words to try and pull both sides into the same camp, Gray Serpent's tone suddenly became laced with helplessness and unease.
"The reason we did not visit in the past was simply that we did not wish to disturb you from carrying out Project Sahasrara. But now..."
"—Mr. Su, the situation in this era has reached its most critical moment."
Even though he knew the artificial human before him still bore him ill will, Su showed not a hint of displeasure. Instead, he spoke faintly to Gray Serpent.
"I am, of course, aware. In fact, apart from Hua, who might not be due to some physical reasons, all of us who have existed since fifty thousand years ago are well aware..."
"—Within these few years, the Herrscher of Finality will inevitably descend upon this world, and all life on this planet will be destroyed once more."
Excellent!
Hearing Su take the initiative to bring up this topic, a sense of confidence grew in Gray Serpent's heart.
The arrival of Finality was a grave topic that the remnants of the Previous Era had to face.
And now that Su had brought it up himself, Gray Serpent certainly wouldn't let this opportunity slip by. He immediately picked up the conversation, intending to further persuade Su to join the fray.
"Just as you said, Mr. Su, our time is almost up."
At this moment, Su could hear the impatience, unease, and even a hint of fear in Gray Serpent's tone.
If he couldn't easily sense the slight malice still being directed at him from the other party, Su would have really thought that this Gray Serpent had come with all his heart to beg him to come out of seclusion.
However, what Gray Serpent was truly thinking didn't matter.
In Su's view, he had indeed wronged Kevin.
And it was only natural that Kevin's subordinates would resent him for it.
If the other party's request wasn't too outrageous, Su wouldn't mind lending a hand.
But... alas, I can more or less guess what Mr. Gray Serpent is thinking.
"Right now, Miss Hua's Project EMBER failed five thousand years ago, and after Miss Griseo carried out the Ark Project, she lost contact with you fifteen hundred years ago."
"I believe you are a person of great compassion, Mr. Su, so if your Project Sahasrara had succeeded, you would have already taken action."
"And yet, now—has Project Sahasrara truly succeeded?"
With a sharp turn in his tone, Gray Serpent's voice now held a hint of pleading.
"We know that as a doctor, you do not wish to see other lives wither away."
"But now, for the sake of this civilization, some sacrifices are unavoidable—as the original executor of the Stigmata Project, you should know this better than anyone!"
"Yes, that is indeed true."
Good, he hasn't lost his mind!
In that case—
"It is just a pity that if you are here hoping I will assist you in completing the Stigmata Project, then your wish may not come true."
Just as Gray Serpent thought he could strike while the iron was hot, Su's next words were like a bucket of cold water, forcing him to cool down.
Su, before Gray Serpent, recalled memories of the past with a look devoid of joy or sorrow and said to him.
"When I betrayed Kevin back then, I said some things to him."
"As pioneers, we do not have the right to act wantonly in this era. Our civilization was destroyed back then."
"Even if the Stigmata Project succeeds and the survivors become a new species, redefining 'humanity'—that is not a continuation of civilization at all, but merely sacrificing the civilization of the current era to allow the 'zombies' of the Previous Era to barely survive."
"But—"
At this moment, Gray Serpent, hearing what he considered to be incredibly foolish words from Su, became agitated and said with immense anger.
"If so, then what is the meaning of being a pioneer! When Finality is at hand, why are you still so—"
At the last moment, Gray Serpent, still holding on to his rationality, did not say the word he wanted to say.
But for Su, guessing Gray Serpent's thoughts was as simple as breathing.
After all, although Kevin had not roared with such resentment back then, he had asked Su the same question.
If they were to just watch this civilization be destroyed, then what was the point of being pioneers?
And back then, Su had given his answer to Kevin's question.
Today, he chose to once again voice his unchanging thoughts to the Gray Serpent before him.
"What we pioneers should do is treat the people of this era as equals and find a way to fight the Honkai together with them."
"We should not be like gods, arbitrarily deciding their fate."
"The fate of this era should be decided by the people of this era themselves."
"But...!"
At this moment, Gray Serpent forcefully suppressed the unwillingness and anger in his heart and pleaded bitterly with Su.
"I understand that out of kindness, you do not wish to see these humans sacrificed for the Stigmata Project, but over this millennium, the Stigmata Project has undergone some changes."
"And—pioneers like you and our Lord are already gods who have surpassed ordinary people."
"You feel that you and our Lord should not be like gods, arbitrarily deciding their fate?"
"This thought seems humble, but—to possess the power of a god, yet not fulfill the duty of a god to guide the world forward, is that not a form of arrogance?"
After Gray Serpent spoke these words, the expression on Su's face remained unchanged.
Facing Gray Serpent's justifications and retorts, Su calmly gave his answer to these words.
"Ah, I have seen the current Stigmata Project while observing other worlds."
"Honestly, compared to the past... in my eyes, the current Stigmata Project is not necessarily much better."
"In a sense, this Stigmata Project is far more terrifying than the previous one."
"If you are hoping I will step forward to endorse World Serpent and the Stigmata Project, then—you have come to the wrong person."
At this point, a hint of nostalgia and immense resolve appeared on Su's face.
"Even now, I still believe that Kevin is a dear friend I can never forget."
"But right now, I am still unwilling to change the answer I chose back then—humanity has not yet reached that point of despair, Mr. Gray Serpent."
"So..."
At this moment, the Gray Serpent could feel that the other Gray Serpents in the network were already filled with killing intent towards the man before him.
Alright, saying 'other Gray Serpents' is not entirely accurate.
He wanted to make a move too—if not for the fact that he truly couldn't reach him, and couldn't beat him, this Gray Serpent would have already attacked Su.
"At this point, are you still unwilling to help our Lord return to this world and save humanity?"
"Mm, I believe in Kevin's determination to save the world."
After saying this seemingly vague sentence, Su added.
"Therefore, I also believe that the possibility of him causing 'harm' to this world if he is released is far too great."
"...I see. Then I have disturbed you."
After confirming that the other party could not be won over to his side for the time being, Gray Serpent directly stood up and chose to depart from the Thames River area.
Even at this point, Gray Serpent did not dare to offend Su.
After all, although Su was being stubborn now, if the Honkai continued to erupt at this rate of two Herrschers per quarter, then Gray Serpent felt...
—At that time, even this pedantic Su might, upon seeing that something was wrong with this era's Honkai, begin to reconsider whether his choice was wrong.
Even if there was the slightest possibility, Gray Serpent did not want to give up on the idea of winning him over.
So for now—damn it, I can only endure!
After Gray Serpent left, Su, who was in a special bubble universe, leaned against a large tree, a trace of weariness on his face.
"Sigh, Mr. Gray Serpent, how could I not understand your thoughts?"
"It's just that, back when No. 17 was in charge of that plan, although it successfully infiltrated the enemy's ranks and locked in these Herrscher authorities for the humans of this era..."
"...at the same time, it also allowed the Honkai to truly possess a 'Honkai Will'."
"After gaining a Honkai Will, the Honkai has begun to use No. 17's abilities to calculate the future and provide combat support to its own side."
"In my opinion, your actions, Ms. Cocolia's, and Mr. Otto's are all part of No. 17's plan."
I don't want to activate that backdoor unless it's absolutely necessary.
But now... sigh, although I said that the people of this era should choose their own future, what kind of leader have you all chosen?
Recalling the intelligence he had seen in recent years, the calm composure on Su's face had completely vanished.
There were currently three anti-Honkai organizations in the world.
World Serpent, led by Kevin, was leaderless after I betrayed him, and could only rely on Gray Serpent as their acting leader.
And the administrator of the Gray Serpent network is the type of ruthless person without blood or tears. When it acts, it truly shows no restraint.
Just a while ago, it actually tried to release Chiyou.
If it weren't for Mr. Siegfried, Miss Theresa, and Mr. Leo Ash turning the tide, the casualties in Shenzhou after Chiyou was released would have started at fifty million.
And opposite to Gray Serpent are Cocolia of Anti-Entropy and Otto of Schicksal.
Cocolia of Anti-Entropy backstabbed her allies and actively guided the Honkai to erupt in Nagazora City.
If it weren't for Mr. Leo Ash and Mr. Siegfried, the casualties caused by Miss Mei could have been in the millions.
As for Mr. Otto...
When he couldn't defeat Mr. Joyce, he used fission missiles to bomb civilians and force him to his death.
Mr. Yang was already on the verge of defeating the Herrscher, but his sneak attack led to tens of millions dying under the Herrscher of the Void's meteors.
Finally, when the Herrscher of the Void went rampant, if it weren't for Mr. Siegfried and Miss Cecilia sacrificing their lives to save others, the death toll would have started at one billion.
And now, he still hasn't learned his lesson.
The birth of the Fourth Herrscher was, in essence, also due to Mr. Otto's indulgence.
And with Mr. Otto's intelligence, he should have known what kind of problems would arise in the global economy after bombing the secular nation of Singapore.
But he did it anyway.
And in the future... he will definitely continue to do such things.
There were no lies in the words Su had spoken earlier.
He still believed that what pioneers should do is treat the people of this era as equals and find a way to fight the Honkai together with them.
However, this did not mean that Su would approve of some of the things certain people in this era usually did.
He didn't think it was his problem.
After all, aside from Gray Serpent, who was an old acquaintance from the same era but not human, the high-ranking officials of the other two organizations were simply too absurd.
And the absurd thing about Otto was that he was genuinely capable.
But precisely because he was so capable, and because he had mastered how to use Void Archives—he was also the most ruthless when it came to screwing people over.
Originally, even if an ordinary person wanted to do bad things, their destructive power would be limited.
But Mr. Otto's abilities are truly powerful.
So when this powerful person changed his course of action to 'letting the Honkai run rampant and killing anyone who realizes it', the problem became immense.
Welt Yang, who was unreliable in terms of management but not a bad combatant, had been screwed over by Otto's deliberate or unintentional actions to the point where he was left with only one breath.
Sigh, Elysia worked so hard back then to open up a future for posterity.
If she were alive today and saw Mr. Welt's current miserable state...
Even I don't want to delve any further into this issue.
Mr. Otto, Mr. Gray Serpent, and even I are just pieces on the board.
But now, the person to whom I can entrust the Thousand Worlds has finally appeared.
Mr. Leo Ash.
Although he is an avenger who wants revenge on the Honkai, that is not a major problem.
Hua is working hard to resolve the darkness in his heart.
And the others around him are also, more or less, caring for him, trying to help him move on from the past.
He himself has not been completely consumed by revenge. While fighting against the Honkai, he cares for his comrades, loves his family, and even strives to save other innocent people.
Of course, there is another very crucial point—he is a very powerful fighter.
After Hua taught him the Edge of Taixu, he was actually able to develop so many terrifying moves suitable for his own combat style through his own efforts.
About two months ago, he was truly just an ordinary special agent.
But by the time I noticed him, he was already much stronger than Kevin was before he underwent the MANTIS surgery.
His state of mind is good, his power is considerable, and more importantly, there is still room for improvement. He is also intelligent and not a bad person.
It can be said that compared to Mr. Otto, who specializes in messing with his own people's minds, Mr. Leo Ash is clearly more suited to be the successor of this Divine Key.
My time is running out.
Perhaps after maintaining this state of observing other worlds for another year, my life will burn out.
Mr. Leo Ash... if he doesn't find this place within this year, then I will go and find him myself, to test if he can make the right choice.
...
Same time. Far East Branch.
During the week that he was forced to stay at Schicksal HQ by Otto, Leo Ash did get some rest, relatively speaking.
But this didn't mean he had nothing to do.
When he went to see Dr. Magi, Leo Ash found that the doctor had fallen into a broken record mode of 'why didn't I die, why am I still alive'.
For the sake of having more and better serum to use in the future, Leo Ash spent an hour using rhetoric to persuade... no, it's called counseling!
After counseling Dr. Magi for an hour, he successfully pushed the old man, who already wanted to atone, into workaholic mode with the argument that 'to die is to escape, to live is to atone'.
In the following days at Schicksal HQ, he even encountered a few challengers who weren't afraid of death.
Some of the A-rank Valkyries who challenged him, he could tell, were just shills sent by Otto to build up his image and test his strength.
But some of them... Leo Ash felt that these few Valkyries might really have something wrong with their heads.
Even things as clichéd as ignorant underlings from a third-rate novel, and a suddenly appearing 'Lord Leo Ash Fan Club', had popped up this week. He didn't know whether this world was messed up or too on the nose.
In short, after a week that was neither too busy nor too idle, Leo Ash returned alone to his dorm at St. Freya High School.
When he opened the door to the dorm, the first person he saw was...
—Fu Hua, who pushed up her glasses, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.
"'Major' Leo Ash, congratulations on your promotion to S-rank Knight."
Wait, hold on, why does that sentence sound so wrong to me?
Killing intent!
Such terrifying killing intent!
Looking at Fu Hua, who was currently emitting killing intent, Leo Ash had no idea why she had entered such a terrifying state the moment he stepped into the room.
"What's wrong, Major Leo Ash."
Fu Hua glanced at Leo Ash and said with a smile.
"Leo Ash, have a seat."
"Or do you need me to pour you a cup of tea?"
"No need."
After entering the room, Leo Ash said, forcing himself to remain calm.
"I'll sit, I'll sit."
Wow, so scary.
If I didn't know she genuinely cares about me, I would have really thought she was about to kill me.
At that moment, Leo Ash even saw a character introduction template pop up abruptly before his eyes.
[Name: Fu Hua (Hua)]
[Identity: One of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era, the Immortal Red Kite of Shenzhou, an A-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, your master.]
[Current Affection: 55]
[Note: Don't be afraid, her killing intent is not directed at you.]
No, no, no, I haven't even seen her this week, and her affection level has inexplicably increased by 5 points???
I wasn't scared of her killing intent, but this data jump is what's scaring me.
[Sigh, I don't know what you're worried about. I've said it before, the taste of an immortal—]
Can you be quiet for a moment?
[You obtained Jizō Mitama on March 16th, went to see Otto on March 17th, and today is March 24th, 2014, a Monday.]
[It's a weekday, so I've been well-behaved this time!]
Alright, I know.
Completely ignoring the system's subsequent words, Leo Ash immediately focused all his attention on Fu Hua.
And Fu Hua, before him, also reined in her killing intent and let out a helpless sigh.
Last week, just after she had lectured Leo Ash and brought Cioara to Theresa's office, Leo Ash had run off to Singapore and rescued Yuno.
Of course, Otto's official announcement was that 'Knight Leo Ash easily defeated the Herrscher of Death in five minutes', but as someone who had fought Herrschers before, Fu Hua, not being a fool, obviously wouldn't believe that nonsense.
Thinking back, Fu Hua determined that this was Otto's doing—in this world, there weren't that many coincidences!
Because of Otto's machinations, Leo Ash was forced onto an even more dangerous battlefield.
It was because of this that Fu Hua had burst out with uncontrollable killing intent the moment she saw Leo Ash.
She didn't want to kill Leo Ash; she was just completely fed up with Otto's rhetoric and sophistry.
So fed up that—she wanted to smash his Soulium dog head with a single punch.
Of course, realizing that something was wrong with her own state of mind, Fu Hua immediately suppressed this thought.
But at the same time, she suddenly felt as if she heard another voice in her head.
What's wrong with that thought?
Otto?
It's Otto I'm here to beat up!
.....