"Record, Eleventh Honkai Eruption. Recorder, Lin. Time, 20XX."
"The Eleventh Honkai Eruption has ended. The world population has dwindled to less than a million. The remaining human settlements are only ten. I did not expect the consequence of humanity's misuse of Honkai energy would be..."
After recording this video, which lasted for over an hour, the man sealed it in the data library.
He then reprogrammed the data to exist in a form that was easier to disseminate, allowing it to be unsealed when other civilizations emerged on Earth in the future.
After doing all this, he silently stared at the losses caused by this Honkai Eruption displayed on the screen.
Humanity could not sustain this.
This was not the lament of a pessimist, but a simple judgment shared by him and other humans.
Just two major Honkai Eruptions had reduced a population of over a billion humans to less than a million. The disparity in numbers was so despairing it made one contemplate suicide.
Perhaps the pressure of survival had completely crushed humanity. Those who were previously numb in Falling Star began to suffer nervous breakdowns one by one after the Eleventh Honkai Eruption ended.
Humanity, completely extinct within a century?
Before the arrival of the Honkai, everyone would have thought this was a joke.
"Dr. Lin, the cult that worships the Honkai seems to be rising again in the Third Settlement…" The person on the communicator sounded extremely weary.
"Arrest all members."
He sat heavily in his chair, clearing his mind of all thought.
In a nearby container, the core of this Herrscher was stored, which he hadn't had time to store yet.
The man's gaze fell complicatedly upon the core.
"Are you only destined to be the assassins of the Honkai... Is there truly not even a glimmer of possibility?"
He had calculated the probability of the special Herrscher he imagined appearing.
That infinitesimally small probability, a number with so many zeros after the decimal point that it made one's scalp prickle, was enough to extinguish anyone's hope.
"You, who were once human, truly can no longer feel any emotion?"
...
"Let Lin come out! Why does he get to watch others die from the safest place! Why does he get to live!"
In the Third Settlement, a riot instigated by the Honkai-worshipping cult was taking place. The guard unit moved quickly to suppress the riot and arrested the cult members who initiated it.
But they hadn't anticipated that some ordinary civilians were also involved.
The squad leader of the unit stood coldly before the roaring civilians. His face, hard as stone, was directed at them. His hoarse voice spoke gratingly: "If you don't want to be arrested, go back."
"Who are you! Shouldn't we humans equally share power! Why do you people have more resources, and that man called Lin can stay there safe and sound! And so many people die from Honkai energy erosion, yet he can survive by replacing his body with that thing called Soulium..."
"I'm saying it again, shut up, and return to where you belong."
"You…"
"Bang—"
A fist clad in armor ruthlessly struck the face of the screaming civilian. Everyone present saw the civilian fly through the air like a ragdoll before the squad leader, then land on the ground, knocked unconscious.
"Arrest them," the squad leader commanded coldly.
"We can't let these heartless bastards run rampant anymore! We want to live too! But they only let those so-called elites live, they don't care about whether we live or die…"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The rifle in the squad leader's hand fired three consecutive shots into the sky, instantly silencing everyone present.
He coldly scanned the faces of these people—twisted and ugly. He didn't even know if he should consider them his compatriots.
After the silence, he spoke with a crushed voice from his damaged throat: "I know... you have many grievances. Just as that man said, humans should enjoy equal rights. Death is equal, and so should life be."
"But from my observation, humans have a very interesting trait: when they interpret this sentence, most of them completely ignore the responsibility behind the rights."
"If there are people among you who are willing to join the army and fight Honkai Beasts head-on, then you can also have more resources. The prerequisite is... you are truly willing to fight to protect humanity."
"And if you have a method to ensure the continuation of humanity and make more significant contributions than Dr. Lin, then you can also stay in the safest place. We will do everything possible to keep you alive."
"Yes, we are indeed keeping the elites alive, because they are actively trying to keep you alive, instead of standing there doing nothing and waiting for others to give you charity all day long!"
The squad leader's hostility burst from his eyes. After giving one last glare at the fearful crowd, he snorted through his nostrils.
"Selfish and greedy. The person in that 'safest' place was pushed there precisely by our selfishness and greed."
"I don't expect you to understand, so here is the last thing I will tell you."
"Bang!"
His gun fired again. This time, he aimed at the crowd, but under his precise control, it didn't hit anyone, though it made some people realize what it felt like to have death brush past them.
"Do not cause the Doctor any more trouble."
The squad leader left this sentence and departed with the cult members and the unconscious civilian.
Along the way, his squad members exchanged glances, their eyes filled with surprise. The squad leader couldn't have missed it, but he simply pretended not to see. Only after returning to the assignment area,he called his deputy.
"Do you have anything to say?"
"…"
He saw the horrified expression on his deputy's face and sighed inwardly.
"Just say whatever you want. It's just the two of us here."
The deputy was silent for a moment, struggling internally for a long time before daring to speak: "Captain…"
"Haiya... you've been with me for so long, yet you're still the same as when you first joined. The moment you open your mouth, I know what you're going to say next." The squad leader sighed, covering his forehead. "If those civilians are dispensable compared to Dr. Lin, then are we not also?"
The squad leader was completely correct. A look of even greater terror appeared on the deputy's face.
"Perhaps I should say something comforting, but a lie is just a lie. I can only tell you... yes, the combined value of the remaining humans is probably not as much as Dr. Lin alone."
"But who can be blamed for this... Humanity is trying to keep one person alive, and that person is trying to find a way to keep everyone else alive. This contradiction will only end when both sides are utterly annihilated."
And what can we decide...
Here is the complete and accurate translation of the final sections of the text, maintaining the narrative flow and style of the original.