"…"
The command room fell into an eerie silence. Everyone was sweating cold, afraid to look up or meet eyes, not daring to even look at the back of Spaciel, who sat in the main commander's seat.
A terrifying pressure of death lingered overhead, leaving their mouths dry and their voices suppressed in their throats.
Spaciel also kept his head down, his fingers restlessly drumming on the table. If others' expressions were merely grim, his was utterly dark.
"Unbelievable…" Einstein's murmur echoed in the silent command room. Her enlarged pupils reflected the scene from the Far East, separated by an ocean. Her fingers unconsciously clenched. "Could the Sixth Herrscher be capable of isolating Honkai Energy signatures?"
Just now, two minutes ago, all combat personnel who had entered the amusement park lost their signal and communication.
There were no screams or emergency replies. Those people simply vanished in the crowded amusement park, disappearing without a trace, leaving only their last known coordinates.
And during this time, still no Honkai Energy signature was detected.
The good news was that the Sixth Herrscher was indeed inside the amusement park. The bad news was that they still hadn't figured out the Herrscher's precise location after losing the combat strength of the Fifth Branch.
"Could it be the black mist? Blocking the detectors?" Einstein proposed a new hypothesis.
The Sixth Herrscher was clearly different from the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Herrschers, who closely resembled the manipulation of natural disasters. Her Authority was as unique as the First and Second Herrschers. The black mist was an ability that could not be explained by existing scientific theories.
The First Herrscher was named the Herrscher of Reason, and the Second was the Herrscher of the Void. Their titles leaned toward the abstract.
"In light of the Sixth Herrscher's ability to cause biological cells to decay, I will temporarily name her the Herrscher of Death. Unless absolutely necessary, do not approach the Herrscher of Death closely. Her Authority is a weapon of annihilation that even the strongest toxins cannot match for biological beings."
Has she even started targeting biological life so directly…
Einstein was fully aware of the Honkai's characteristic of evolving as humanity changes. This Herrscher of Death was the most direct and simple weapon of extermination created specifically against living things.
"Should we continue to proceed?"
Spaciel had a deep weariness in his brows. He sighed with resignation: "Are there any more forces available for deployment?"
The armed forces of the branch were few. The few squads that had vanished in the amusement park were all of their combat members.
"Lin's signal is relatively close." Einstein did not become disheartened due to the setback. She stared at a slow-moving signal. "But he alone will struggle to conduct a search. Dr. Mei entrusted me with the command authority for a special unit. I will contact 'her.'"
…
"Senior~ Where to next? A movie?"
"Haha, don't call me that, it sounds too sappy."
A couple who had just exited the amusement park walked past. Lin slightly shifted his body to the side, pulling his crutch inward. As they passed, they glanced curiously at the limping Lin, their eyes showing either pity or sympathy.
Lin also scrutinized them from under his hood. They were the typical kind of couple seen everywhere on the street, probably two students. The boy was average-looking but had a cheerful smile, and the girl was petite and cute, clinging to her boyfriend's arm and acting spoiled.
Very ordinary. So ordinary that Lin could see several similar couples just by looking ahead.
"…"
Ordinary…
This word popped into Lin's mind. Someone else seemed to have said it to him too.
They were ignorant of the world's truth. To them, everything they possessed was their entire world. It was these ordinary people who constituted human society and constituted the "world" in Lin's eyes.
Living without worry, unaware of the truth. Lin remembered Anna, the girl who always yelled "Uncle" at him. Even now, he wondered if her fate would have been different had he concealed the secret of the Honkai from her then.
Is there anything wrong with living an ordinary life?
Just then, Lin's eyes caught a hurried figure walking toward him. He instinctively tried to move aside to avoid him, but unexpectedly, the man also saw him and tried to step aside. As a result, the two of them blocked each other's way face-to-face.
"Uh…"
The man, in his late thirties or early forties, smiled awkwardly at Lin. This time, Lin didn't move, letting him pass. However, perhaps the man was walking too hastily; he accidentally kicked Lin's crutch away.
Lin naturally fell to the ground.
"Ah, I'm sorry." The man quickly helped Lin up.
Lin pulled away from his supporting hand. He wasn't angry and replied plainly: "It's nothing. Are you in a hurry?"
"I need to buy medicine for my wife, and my son is waiting for me, so I was walking a little fast. I'm truly sorry. Do you need me to help you walk?" The man did feel genuinely embarrassed. He heard Lin's voice was young but his tone was mature and indifferent. He felt that this disabled young man must have gone through many similar experiences and felt pity for a moment.
"No need. Is your son inside here?" Lin asked the man, looking toward the amusement park.
"Yes. We run a business inside. We're closing up for the day and preparing to go home, so I planned to finish my errands first… My wife's illness is a stubborn, tricky ailment. Fortunately, our family isn't too short on money, and we manage to get by, but I have to buy medicine often."
Perhaps noticing Lin's interest in his family affairs, the man garrulously recounted some things, mostly mundane details of an ordinary life.
No daily training to fight the Honkai, no breathtaking battles of life and death on the battlefield.
Merely daily necessities—the common, yet somewhat distant, simple life to Lin.
"Oh, right, young man, what are you doing here?"
Noticing that Lin was heading toward the amusement park, the man asked subconsciously. After all, most of the amusement park rides were inaccessible to disabled people, so Lin shouldn't be here to play.
"I'm looking for someone."
"A girl?"
"…Yes."
"That's wonderful then." The man sincerely bestowed a congratulatory smile upon Lin. His honest, round face displayed a genuine smile: "I wish you both a good time. Cherish the girl who likes you. They are the treasures of the world. I, back then…"
The man shared some more stories from his younger days, whether true or false, but his smile never changed.
Authentic and ordinary.
Lin nodded after listening: "When the alarm sounds in a moment, go to the shelter. The police will send your son home."
"Huh?"
The man didn't immediately grasp the meaning of Lin's words, but Lin had already turned and walked away slowly. The man looked confusedly at Lin's retreating back, but since Lin didn't seem to want to talk anymore, he just shrugged and walked outside.
The two passed by each other, one going in, one going out.
Countless people had told Lin that he could lead an ordinary life.
Just like this man, with a happy family, sound limbs, a future without confusion, and a sincere smile.
But someone had to do it.
If he didn't move forward, if he didn't continue on this dark, unknown path, then those couples, that man, and all those "nameless" people would lose their world.
Most people living in the world are ordinary, so ordinary that they become complex over money, a concert ticket, or a sudden event—greed, anger, fear, hatred…
But Lin wanted to protect this complexity. He didn't want them to become simple, or unordinary, like him.
Even if they commit evil, he believed humanity would recognize their own mistakes, their own evil, and move toward the light, becoming better "humans" while retaining that complexity.
Seele must have thought the same way. Even though she had embarked on a different path, her conviction would not change.
That original intention to protect, though buried in the long river of time, still emits a faint light.
So Lin had to stop her, to kill her, right here.
This was to protect humanity.
To protect Lin's conviction.
To protect… Seele's conviction.