What? My cheat code is making my own gold coins explode?

"Mom, my mom doesn't want to die either!"

"When someone dies, they get cold. My dead mother is as cold as ice! She'll never speak to me again!"

Grief and hatred festered here, seeping into the orphans' nightmares every night, and were clearly reflected to the culprit in the manifestation of spiritual power.

Xilin felt her breathing becoming increasingly difficult, and Zhao Si's grip on her neck tightened.

"Second Herrscher, do you really only think of yourself and nothing else?"

"No...that's not it. What else can I do? Zhao Si, tell me! What else can I do?"

The hand on Celine's neck loosened, but in the midst of this Newtype struggle, many innocent people were drawn in.

"Then let's set off and take care of these decoy shells..."

"I will kill you."

With a blink of an eye, Zhao Si returned to his thirteen-year-old body, back into Phoenix's body.

Thus, the Phoenix Gundam once again stood on the earth, and in its hand, it still held the Second Herrscher that it had captured.

A dream abruptly ends, danger looms in the present, and a great gift arrives from the headquarters of Destiny, more than 2,500 kilometers away.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

An hour ago, in the bishop's private control room.

"Your Excellency, the unknown energy reaction in the Siberian Plain has already covered most of the plain. In another six hours, it will expand to the entire Eurasian continent, and our instruments are unable to detect the barrier phenomenon caused by the unknown energy. What do you think..."

On the monitoring screen, the energy index steadily increased, and it was easy to see from the images transmitted back by the satellite that a blue-green barrier was gradually enveloping the Siberian Plain.

"Amber, how fast is it expanding?"

"It's irregular, but data shows that when a barrier phenomenon engulfs a living organism, its expansion rate increases significantly."

"They really know how to eat people... Have you ever tried using firepower to cover them up?"

"It can break through, slow down its expansion, and briefly reveal the situation inside. It is consistent with the normal snowfield environment. This barrier phenomenon does not have the ability to change the terrain. As for the life forms that have been swallowed up, there is no news."

When Amber saw the report, she felt that the barrier, though seemingly gentle, was actually ruthless and devoured people without spitting out their bones; the fact that no one could escape was the best proof of this.

The culprit might just be that golden machine, Phoenix...

Otto Apocalypse stroked his chin. The people who could have gone to surround and kill the Second Herrscher at that time should have been the S-class and the Snow Wolf Squad.

Although Theresa had given prior notice that only three S-rank warriors would pursue the Second Herrscher, judging from the speed at which the barrier expanded, none of the troops who entered the snowfield survived.

On the Anti-Entropy side, there are only Siegfried and Walter Yang... Hmm? It's a bit ironic that I subconsciously categorized Siegfried as Anti-Entropy.

"The Second Herrscher, Siegfried Kaslana, Cecilia Schariac, Fu Hua, Theresa… my dear granddaughter, and the leader of Anti-Entropy, and the last one—"

"That driver, that blond brat who insulted the saint, Zhao Si."

As the secretary of the Bishop of Destiny, Amber saw a trace of resentment on the bishop's face, something she hadn't seen in a long time. He hated the last name he read out with a passion, and after saying it, he grabbed the wine glass next to him and drank it all in one gulp to calm himself down.

Amber trusted the bishop she had served for many years, who always put the protection of human civilization first, and never complained, even when things were beyond his control.

As for why so many names were read aloud, Amber already understood.

"These are all warriors who died on the battlefield, but, in order to completely eliminate the Second Herrscher and break the unknown barrier that has appeared on the snowfield, I hereby issue this order with a heavy heart—"

Otto ultimately made his decision:

"Retrieve all the Honkai energy fission bombs from Schicksal headquarters and launch them in one go, targeting the location where the golden mecha and the Second Herrscher were last seen."

"This is a necessary sacrifice!"

Righteous and righteous, that's how the Archbishop of Destiny always acts.

Amber merely bowed slightly before accepting Otto's order, even though his closest old friend and most beloved granddaughter were on the Siberian plains.

Even when facing loved ones and close friends, one must be able to make clean breaks.

"The bishop has great love."

Amber murmured to herself as she turned and left the control room, leaving Otto alone in front of the monitor.

As relieved.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: There's more to come, but it's already close to midnight, so maybe don't wait.

Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Sorrowful Warrior - Part One

An intercontinental ballistic collapse energy fission bomb, even if the first 40 minutes are spent preparing for launch, is enough to fly 2,500 kilometers in the last 20 minutes to bomb the two people that the Bishop of Destiny truly wanted to eliminate.

When everyone awoke from their bizarre and dazzling urban lives, it was already the last 10 minutes of the hour.

"Our dear archbishop really knows how to think about the big picture. Seeing that the Second Herrscher was trapped here, he immediately threw out the Honkai energy fission bomb."

"Siegfried! You don't need to talk about my grandfather like that. He must have made this decision with a heavy heart, to completely eliminate the Second Herrscher and seize this opportunity to control her..."

“Hey Theresa, didn’t your grandpa bishop ever think that we’re all stuck here too? You yourself put your life on the scales and weigh it against the Second Herrscher, no wonder our Archbishop of Destiny has done such a good job of education.”

From the moment he overheard the bishop being verbally abused by a thirteen-year-old boy and then becoming enraged, Siegfried had been intentionally trying to learn more about this bishop of destiny, whom he had once respected, through anti-entropy channels.

As for now, Siegfried Kaslana is already thinking of running away with his entire family, wife and children. If he doesn't run away, is he going to wait for his own people to throw Honkai energy fission bombs at him on another mission?

Cecilia Shaniat, who was standing to the side, did not say anything, but she was already standing behind her husband.

Of course, every plan has a premise:

live.

"There are less than 9 minutes left before Schicksal's first Honkai energy fission bomb explodes on the Siberian plains. Lord Alliance Leader, do you think we can evacuate the blast radius in time?"

Walter Young paused for a moment after reconstructing his body, then said:

"With our capabilities, we can evacuate within four minutes, but that doesn't mean others on the Siberian plains can do it."

"The key issue is how to prevent these Honkai energy fission bombs from actually exploding on the Siberian plains. Even if the fourth Divine Key of Schicksal repairs the environment, the civilians who have suffered from Honkai energy radiation will not be saved."

Walter Young couldn't do it; his body had only been reconstructed for less than half a day.

Fu Hua couldn't do that either; the Divine Key on her body couldn't hypnotize the Honkai energy fission bomb to return.

Theresa's Judah and Cecilia's Black Abyss White Flower can protect parts of the area from bombing, but the most critical aspect of the Honkai Energy Fission Bomb is the devastating environmental impact it will have after detonating, much like a nuclear bomb.

To purify the contamination from the Honkai energy fission bomb, one has no choice but to risk their life.

As for the Second Herrscher, Sirin, none of the people present took her performance in the illusion seriously, nor would anyone really place their hopes on a Herrscher who kills without hesitation.

"Why must it come to this, Otto..."

Fu Hua felt a strange sense of emotion, and what she kept silent about was her inexplicable identification with Otto.

If it could eliminate the Honkai and the Herrscher, Fu Hua would be more willing than anyone to pay the price, even if it meant perishing together with the Herrscher.

"Does this mean we can only rely on the youth again in the end?"

Siegfried asked the question, but by then no one dared to answer him.

This 20-meter-tall machine, the machine that once performed miracles, now carries everyone's hopes once again. Is it going to sacrifice itself for everyone once more?

"...Damn it, making the kid risk his life again, what kind of nonsense is this? Do you think Walter can go up again? If you can't, I might as well risk my life and see if I can go up and intercept all these fission bombs in mid-air and smash them to pieces!"

"Mr. Siegfried, thank you for your kindness."

Zhao Si's voice came from Phoenix. While everyone was discussing, the two people above were also communicating.

Ultimately, Zhao Si and Xilin reached the following conclusion:

"On Earth, when the Second Herrscher uses the power sufficient to transfer Honkai energy fission bombs, the resulting Honkai energy will also bring new and additional threats to the Siberian Plains. But I've fought her many times already, so one more time won't make a difference."

"It's alright. I've already pushed a meteorite once. This time it's just about destroying a nuclear missile swarm. What's the big deal? Besides, I don't even have to lift a finger this time, isn't that great?"

It is just like trying to get the skin of a tiger.

The familiar stinging sensation returned to his body, and Zhao Si knew that he was once again fully immersed in Phoenix.

His NT-D system had been in use for well over five minutes, but because a Newtype like the Second Herrscher, Sirin, was constantly hovering around, Phoenix, who was locked onto the other party, never turned off the NT-D system.

Okay, now that you know your mission, there's no suspense about what to do next.

"With my blessing and your power, show me everything you are, Second Herrscher!"

"You don't need to tell me that!"

Zhao Si's words were like a stimulant, spurring Xilin to charge forward! Although she couldn't break free from Phoenix's palm filled with I-force fields, even Zhao Si could feel that the other party was using the five powers within him to their fullest extent.

"Human weapons are utterly useless!"

"Don't forget, you're still in the hands of human weapons!"

"That's not the same thing!"

Otto never expected that the key to resolving this missile crisis would be the combined efforts of Phoenix and the Second Herrscher. The stockpile of resources accumulated by Schicksal over the years was used up in one fell swoop, and then immediately dismissed by the fully-fledged Second Herrscher.

The principle is very simple: fly at full speed within the atmosphere of Phoenix, supplemented by the power of the Second Herrscher, use electromagnetic force to interfere with the signal of the incoming Honkai energy fission bomb, and at the same time load all the fission bombs into the imaginary space.

Just like putting an elephant in a refrigerator, the massive Honkai energy fission bombs that were originally coming in droves were easily wiped off the horizon.

"All of them have lost contact... That damned Zhao Si!"

Under the immense force of Otto's Soul Steel body, the tea table beside him could not withstand Otto's furious palm strike, and HP-9999 broke into two pieces.

Despite all his calculations, the Archbishop of Destiny still couldn't figure out why the two sides, who were fighting to the death, would join forces to destroy the Honkai energy fission bomb he had launched. Shouldn't he have been the one sitting back and watching the fight? How did he end up as an insignificant clown?

Otto Apocalypse, still furious, hadn't realized that he was the one who should be attacked by everyone.

"The cleanup is complete. Now let's fulfill our deal, Zhao Si."

As the sky over the Siberian plains returned to its former clarity, Xilin's brainwaves eagerly entered Zhao Si's mind.

“Ah, what a tragic choice, Sirin.”

"The fact that you can call my name at this moment proves that I am right."

Phoenix released the Second Herrscher, who had been imprisoned within the I-field, by opening his right hand.