With a single glance, Shun could tell what this silly girl was thinking. He delivered a chopping hand strike straight to Raiden Mei's head.
"What nonsense are you thinking?! Am I that kind of person? Besides, even if you die, the Herrscher of Thunder will simply be born in someone else. It would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause, and it would also disrupt my plans."
"Relax. Don't treat the Herrscher as yourself. The reason Herrschers want to destroy the world is because after becoming a Herrscher, a Herrscher personality that wants to destroy the world will be born. If you defeat that so-called Herrscher personality, then there won't be any world destruction."
After being knocked on the head by Shun's hand chop and rubbing it, Raiden Mei finally reacted. "I see. So that's why Teacher arranged the journey in Ashina for me to make me defeat the Herrscher personality inside my heart?"
Shun nodded. "Yes and no." After all, Mei was a little different from other Herrschers. The Herrscher consciousness inside Mei's body didn't listen to Honkai.
She had even directly used electromagnetic waves to cut off Honkai's control over her and would "commit suicide" for Mei's sake. Compared to Kiana and the Herrscher of the Void, it was infinitely better.
But since Shun had already caused many butterfly effects, he was afraid the Will of Honkai would ignore martial ethics and personally descend to control the Herrscher of Thunder or cause trouble for him. In that case, the Raiden Mei who had been turned into "resolute Mei" ahead of time by Shun could still share some of the pressure for him.
"Teacher Shun, can you speak properly?" This was the first time Mei had felt the terror of riddle-speakers. It was fortunate she hadn't met Kevin, otherwise she would have known what a real riddle-speaker was like.
"The main thing is that some matters really aren't easy to tell you right now. Mei, please understand." Shun said somewhat helplessly.
But Mei was after all a reasonable and sensible person. Although the journey in Ashina had added quite a bit of decisiveness and solemn killing intent to her, a person's fundamental nature wouldn't change so easily.
"Alright." The Raiden Mei who hadn't turned into Mei-1 wasn't that fond of getting to the bottom of things yet, so she still compromised.
"Then, Teacher Shun, do you have any other arrangements? For example, arranging another adventure or something for me?" It seemed Mei had quite enjoyed playing "Wolf Mei" and still wanted more.
But Shun couldn't easily arrange another dungeon for Mei to continue padding word count, or he would get pressured.
He delivered another hand chop to Mei's head. "None. Do you really want to become a net-addicted girl? If you want to play, go play Honkai God Domain."
"Then what about Cocolia? Didn't Teacher Shun say she's a big villain? Can't you stop her? Nagazora City still has millions of people. If she succeeds…" Mei stopped halfway through.
She naturally also possessed the talent of Japanese. Shun's expression had already told her the answer Shun had no intention of stopping Cocolia.
"Teacher Shun, can you tell me why?" Raiden Mei felt that Shun shouldn't be the kind of person who disregarded life. From the time she had spent with him, Mei could also tell.
"The death toll of the Second Eruption exceeded thirty million, nearly turning Siberia into a lifeless zone." Shun simply stated the truth calmly.
"The Third Eruption projected disaster area: Nagazora City, death toll: three million."
Mei fell silent. She didn't know whether weighing lives as numbers on a scale was right or wrong, but she didn't dare let her own decision cause this Eruption to kill more than ten times as many people.
"Is there really no other way?" Even so, Raiden Mei still felt unwilling.
"Let me reveal one thing to you. In the Previous Era, the Third Eruption disaster range: the entire western Pacific coast, projected death toll: over one billion."
One billion… This number completely crushed Raiden Mei. She no longer had the mind to think about what the so-called Previous Era was.
One billion… Over one-seventh of the world's population could possibly die because of a single Eruption?
Raiden Mei no longer dared to voice any opposition, because the price was far too heavy. If because of her selfishness the disaster that originally killed only three million people was multiplied more than thirty times to reach one billion…
In front of one billion, three million was nothing but a tiny number.
Shun continued, "I remember someone once faced a similar choice. But later he understood. When that moment arrives, he knows he must accomplish something no matter the cost perhaps for a certain person, perhaps for something else. This is not choosing the lesser of two evils, but achieving the best of both worlds."
"Mei, you are a direct party in this matter, so I don't want you to feel any guilt because of the three million people in Nagazora City. The real culprit is not you it is Honkai. On the contrary, because of your efforts, you who saved one billion people have a clear conscience."
Although there was some sleight of hand in the wording, what Shun said was not wrong.
"Then, Teacher, what can I do now…" Mei no longer had any objections. Under the inducement of the broken-window effect, she no longer found sacrificing three million people so hard to accept.
Sure enough, this was Mr. Lu Xun's wisdom. Human nature always likes compromise and moderation. For example, if you say the room is too dark and suggest opening a skylight here, everyone will definitely refuse. But if you propose tearing down the roof, they will come to a compromise and agree to open a skylight.
If Shun hadn't mentioned that stopping Cocolia might lead to the western Pacific coast being affected, Mei would never have accepted sacrificing three million people. But once he said it, those three million people were no longer impossible to abandon.
"You? What you can do now is only wait, and then adjust your mindset. Don't lose to the Herrscher. That's enough."
Shun patted Raiden Mei's shoulder, then turned and left. He would leave her alone to think for a while. When he himself had been lost, Ana had comforted him, but Shun himself was not good at comforting people. So he could only state the worst outcome and let Mei think it through herself.
Just as he walked out of the Raiden family dojo, a chilly wind blew past, making one shiver involuntarily. The surroundings were pitch black, with only a few street lamps emitting dim yellow light, adding a touch of mystery to the quiet night. At that moment, a piercing phone ring suddenly sounded, instantly breaking the silence. The sharp sound echoed in the empty street as if it would pierce through people's eardrums.
"I refused Cocolia. She should be sending someone to assassinate you soon. Be careful." Bronya's familiar milky voice came through.
A set of footsteps sounded behind Shun. He turned his head and saw a male figure wearing a black hood.
"Mhm, you don't need to say more. The person is already here. Cocolia probably already suspects you. Leave her side and come to me later. Mhm, that's it."
Shun hung up the phone and turned to look at the figure walking straight toward him.
Tsk, troublesome.
He opened his right hand, and the "Thousand Pounds" long spear that hadn't been used for a long time appeared in his grasp, pointing at the hooded figure.
"Baby, did I tell you to move?"