The collapse started when Kiana came to the door

...No, even if I suddenly said this, Kiana probably wouldn't believe it at all, right?

Although Kiana would never really want to take his life no matter how much she hated him because of his kind and upright nature, this did not contradict her complete distrust of herself.

If all else fails, why not just restart, go back to the Hyperion, and then enter this data image again?

But just as he was thinking about it, Kiana, who was standing opposite him, pointing the Spear of the Sky at Li Shubai's forehead, suddenly froze.

Because, deep in her consciousness, a voice suddenly issued an anxious and urgent warning: "Kiana! Be careful!!"

There was no need for that voice to remind people at all, or rather, after that voice gave the reminder, it was too late to respond.

"Let go of the weapon in your hand, Kiana." Along with the cold touch on her neck, a voice that Kiana was very familiar with suddenly sounded in her ears with an indifference beyond her imagination.

The Herrscher of Thunder stood behind Kiana, with the blade of the Heavenly Strike Realm pressed tightly against Kiana's neck: "Even if you are still Kiana, if you continue to threaten the captain with these hands, then I guarantee that your consciousness will leave your body first."

"Wait! Mei, calm down for a moment!" Before Kiana, who was in a state of confusion, could figure out who was speaking and why she was saying such things to her, another voice suddenly sounded anxiously.

The Herrscher of Fire and Lightning who appeared beside Kiana grabbed the blade of the katana held by the Herrscher of Lightning with his hand without any defense, and slowly moved it away under Kiana's stunned gaze, then smiled awkwardly and tried to smooth things over with Kiana, who was stunned by seeing his face: "Um, can you... take back this Spear of the Archon first? If there are any problems or difficulties, let's talk it out together. We are not real enemies, so don't be so hostile, okay?"

"You and I……"

Kiana felt like her brain was about to turn into a mess. She was somewhat doubtful about her life and whispered in her heart:

Squad leader, could it be that my consciousness has fallen into an illusion without my knowing it?

"..."

The consciousness in her heart did not speak, but fell into silent silence.

Chapter 6: The Immortal Who Doubts Life (k)

March 2017, 3, Tianqiong City.

10:25pm.

About three months have passed since the Great Collapse broke out.

The massive collapse disaster triggered by Otto's forced awakening of the Herrscher of the Void in Kiana's body extended a huge imaginary space from Europe, the headquarters of Satori, to the Eurasian continent. This great collapse not only brought huge economic losses to the two anti-collapse organizations, Satori and Anti-Entropy, as well as the governments of various countries, but also temporarily cut off the communication and logistics networks between countries and regions.

In order to escape the pale evil beasts that emerged from the imaginary space into the real world, as well as the infection of the dead caused by the tide of Honkai beasts, most ordinary people had no choice but to move to big cities with safer security to seek a moment of respite.

Although under the leadership of the two organizations, Destiny and Anti-Entropy, the communication and logistics networks that were temporarily cut off by the Great Collapse have finally been able to resume operation, even after three months, the Great Collapse caused by the awakening of the Herrscher of the Void and the accompanying natural disasters seem to have no signs of stopping.

Under the pale full moon, the entire Tiankong City was brightly lit. The bright street lights illuminated the highway where crowds of people and cars were running parallel. The traffic was slowly blocked in the gaps between the buildings accompanied by the shrill and anxious sounds of horns.

Originally, even in an extremely prosperous city like Sky City, there wouldn't be such a terrifying flow of people at night. But under the ravages of the Great Collapse, many people from other cities swarmed into this city heavily armed with patrol mechas in a short period of time.

During these three months, the entire Tianqiong City was as lively as if a never-ending feast was being held.

All the drivers stuck in traffic were honking their horns.

The traffic police, who had not had a rest for who knows how long, were obviously tired. They were directing the traffic at various intersections and the entrances of overpasses, and they managed to maintain a minimum level of traffic flow without completely blocking the traffic.

The people carrying bags looked panicked and were wandering around like headless flies in the gap between the cars.

They were unfortunate to be suddenly driven out of their homes by the collapse, but at the same time, they were lucky.

Because compared with the mecha patrols located on the outskirts of Tianqiong City, as the protected party, at least their lives are guaranteed from the moment they enter Tianqiong City.

On the outskirts of Sky Dome City, the frequency of Honkai explosions in the surrounding areas is still increasing. The entire Sky Dome City has already entered a state of complete martial law and preparedness, and all mechas have been deployed on their respective defense lines.

Nowadays, most of the buildings have long been reduced to ruins in the struggle between the patrol mechas and the Honkai beasts. The roads filled with reinforced concrete are full of cracks. Piles of ruins are burning with rising thick fog and flames.

"Calling No. 5! Calling No. 5! A large amount of Honkai energy reaction has been detected at the current coordinates! No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 are fighting a large number of Honkai beasts! Requesting firepower and mecha support! Requesting firepower and mecha support!"

"Command center received! Pilots No. 6, No. 8, and No. 9 in South Area No. 4! Go to the target location provided by No. 5 immediately for support!"

"Number five! Number five! The signals of number three and number four have disappeared from the monitoring system. Please report the situation on the scene! Please report the situation on the scene!" The voice of the command center came from the headset of pilot number five.

"Report! The mechas of number three and four have been destroyed! The pilots' vital signs are still good! But I can't hold on any longer!"

"Hold on! The defense line of East No. 4 area must not be breached! The three pilots of South No. 3 area have already driven patrol mechas to provide support. They will arrive in two and a half minutes!"

"Don't even bother asking them to come to support us! The number of Honkai Beasts invading the scene has exceeded twenty! And they are still increasing! Three patrol mechas can't handle it!" Pilot No. 5 yelled, "It's only a matter of time before the defense line collapses at this rate! Pilot No. 5 requests the immediate deployment of beyond-visual-range weapons!! Aim at the current position of the patrol mecha No. 5 and conduct a saturation fire bombing! Hold them back while I can! Quick!"

"..."

Perhaps the people at the command center were also very sad about this decision? After a short silence, the fifth pilot clearly heard a click, the sound of teeth grinding coming from the headset.

Then, there was a sound of a button being pressed hard.

Inside the cockpit of the mecha, dazzling red and blue flashing lights suddenly lit up, and the beeping alarm continued to warn Pilot No. 5 that the mecha was about to reach its limit.

Pilot No. 5 was sweating profusely, his pupils covered by the helmet were bloodshot and filled with irrepressible fatigue. He rolled his eyes, glanced at the white beast that covered the entire head display, and shook the joystick in his left hand, briefly switching the image being played on the display to the camera behind the mecha, and took a look at the two smoking mechas of his teammates, and couldn't help but swallow lightly, his Adam's apple rolling up and down.

Despite the assistance of Destiny and Anti-Entropy, due to the fact that ordinary military communication methods could not reach the area where the Honkai broke out, and the unmanned control system would fail when the Honkai broke out, when faced with the surging tide of Honkai beasts and the high-frequency outbreaks of Honkai, these ordinary soldiers could do almost nothing except rely on tactical mechas to use their lives in exchange for the specific coordinates of the Honkai beasts and hold them back, so that the command center of Tianqiong City could adjust the launch trajectory in the missile in advance, and then carry out saturation fire bombing on the area where they were to clear all invading Honkai beasts.

Since the outbreak of Honkai three months ago, pilots operating patrol mechas have been killed every day. From the initial sadness over the sacrifice of their companions, they developed into numbness. As a result, now, they no longer feel afraid even when facing their own death. Instead, a feeling of relief surges into their chest.

He will probably die here with Pilot No. 4 and Pilot No. 3, Pilot No. 5 thought, having two comrades to accompany him on the road, this feeling... is not bad.

But just as Pilot No. 5 closed his eyes after giving the final order to the mecha, waiting for the saturation bombing that was about to come, a crisp and pleasant gunshot suddenly rang in his ears.

It is very strange to use the two adjectives "crisp" and "pleasant" to describe shooting. The so-called gunshot is generally rough and harsh. Even a pistol with a silencer will never make a pleasant gunshot.

But at this moment, apart from these two words, Pilot No. 5 could no longer use any other adjectives to describe the sound he heard.

Before he could carefully identify what the sudden gunshot was, a huge feeling of weightlessness suddenly hit him in the cockpit - before closing his eyes, he gave instructions to the mecha to use its mechanical arms to tightly grasp the white beast in front of it, and now, with the white beast suddenly losing the power to compete with the patrol mecha, the entire body of the patrol mecha fell forward uncontrollably.

What was going on? Even though he was already waiting for the bombing, the combat instinct of the fifth pilot, which had been squeezed to the limit, still made him quickly adjust the balance and standing posture of the patrol mecha. He opened his eyes and wanted to identify what was happening around him as quickly as possible.

Then, he saw a scene that he would never forget in his life.

Did they realize that a powerful enemy had suddenly appeared? All the Honkai beasts, which the pilot No. 5 thought were fast but not completely unstoppable, burst out at an unprecedented speed. During this period of time, a total of 24 huge and ferocious pale beasts appeared in this area, with a ratio that made everyone feel desperate. Like a landslide, they rushed towards the elegant woman holding a white pistol from all directions without any blind spots.

The flames burning in the ruins illuminated the white bodies of the Honkai beasts, causing the body of the elegant woman who had just fired a shot to save the mecha in dire straits to be completely covered by a large black shadow. Pilot No. 5 almost instinctively wanted to control the mecha to rush forward, but the joints of the feet of the patrol mecha he was controlling had already been destroyed in the previous struggle with the Honkai. Although it was not completely unable to move, it had completely lost the mobility that a humanoid mecha should have.

However, before Pilot No. 5 could feel any regret or lament, the elegant woman who had just helped him out of trouble suddenly moved.

In the eyes of Pilot No. 5, she just gently swung the blue and white weapon in her hand that looked like a pistol.

Then, in a flickering light that even made him wonder if it was an illusion, the bodies of all the Honkai beasts surrounding the elegant woman were instantly torn into pieces.

"What..." Pilot No. 5 opened his mouth wide. This absurd and unrealistic scene made this young soldier, who could be considered a veteran in the past two months, so shocked that his jaw almost dropped to the ground.

What happened?

This woman, what did she just do?

Although the patrol mechas operated by these pilots are not incapable of defeating Honkai beasts, the fact is that when facing Honkai beasts, they must be extremely alert and have a chance of defeating them after a hard fight.

If we convert it by numbers, when a patrol mecha faces less than three Honkai beasts at the same time, it may be able to rely on the pilot's human wisdom and use tactics to defeat these irrational Honkai beasts one by one, but if the number exceeds this... the combat capability that the patrol mecha can exert will be very weak.

In an instant, he faced twenty-four attacking Honkai beasts at the same time, and then used a method that Pilot No. 5 could not understand at all to easily decompose their bodies into pieces.

"All the Honkai beasts in the southeast have been cleared. 0019, entering standby mode." Just as the fifth pilot was confused, the graceful woman came to the front of the mecha he was controlling with light and elegant steps, "Pilot of this mecha, I can see that you still have signs of life. Can we communicate now?"

"...No, no problem!" After hearing the mature and steady voice of the woman, Pilot No. 5 forced himself to calm down and temporarily suppressed his inner astonishment, and turned on the external broadcast module of the mecha, "Thank you very much for your assistance!"

"That's good. Your two companions should be fine too. You will be responsible for taking them back." The elegant mature woman said, "I have limited time and cannot protect you all the way back. However, if nothing unexpected happens, you should not encounter any other Honkai beasts tonight at least."

"0019, deploy the wingsuit module, let's go."

"Wait……!"

Before Pilot No. 5 could say anything to stop her, the elegant woman raised her hand above her head and easily grabbed something flying by, then quickly disappeared from his sight.

After the elegant woman left, accompanied by the sound of metal clashing, the cockpit of the patrol mecha unfolded from the inside. Pilot No. 5 supported himself on the edge of the cockpit, struggled to stand up from the mecha, and jumped onto the cracked ground.

He took off his helmet and shook his head to make his consciousness a little clearer in the cold night wind, then turned his head to look at the two patrol mechas of the same model as his behind his mecha. Although the pilots in these two mechas had temporarily lost consciousness due to the fierce impact and the mechas themselves were about to be scrapped, the pilots' vital signs were still relatively stable for the time being.

After confirming that his comrades' lives were not threatened, Pilot No. 5 breathed a sigh of relief. Then he murmured, "Oh, right... I have to report to the headquarters right away..."

"Wait, the command center should have launched a saturation fire bombardment here just now, right?" Suddenly, the No. 5 pilot who was just about to contact the command center was stunned. He raised his head and looked at the cloudless night sky, "Why haven't there been any missiles flying here until now? Could it be... that this is also the work of that woman just now?"

"She defeated so many Honkai beasts in a short time, and she also hacked into the military network of Sky City and forcibly cancelled the order for fire coverage... Who is that woman? Is she a big shot like a female hero in anime?"

At the same time, similar scenes were constantly being played out in various areas outside Tianqiong City.

——Just like that, about half an hour later.

"Woo-ha-what a soft bed."

It was eleven o'clock in the evening, in a five-star hotel in Tianqiong City.

The Herrscher of Fire and Fire threw himself on the soft bed without caring about his image, rubbing his soft white cheek against the soft pillow.

"There will be a hotel for us to stay in right after we finish our work, and we don't have to worry about our identities. It's really great to carry out missions with Bronya."

"As expected of Kiana, your remarks are quite emotional." Bronya Zaychek [Second Silver Wing], an elegant woman who was identified as a heroine by a pilot who didn't know the truth, sat calmly on the bed, her plump and round thighs overlapping above the edge of the bed. "But I have to remind you that even if you flatter me, you won't get any benefits."

"Compared to that kind of thing, now is not the time to prepare for bed leisurely." The Herrscher of Lightning glanced at the unruly Herrscher of Fire and Bronya who was sitting beside the bed, and then glanced at Kiana [Sky Ranger] who was completely unable to fit in with their atmosphere and seemed a little autistic. Finally, he looked at Li Shubai with a questioning look, shrugged his shoulders pretending to be indifferent, and said, "Captain, what are you going to do about this Kiana here?"

"...I don't know. Do you have any suggestions?" Li Shubai glanced at the silent Kiana and scratched his head guiltily. "She hasn't resisted us since half an hour ago, but she also refused to say a word. If she hadn't shot when she encountered a Honkai beast, I would have thought there was some strange bug in her data."

Data? Herrscher of Thunder, Herrscher of Fire and Second Silver Wing were all stunned. They all turned their heads to look at Kiana, and they all felt a little strange about Li Shubai's wording.

"What does this mean?" asked the Herrscher of Firefire, "What do you mean her data has a bug?"

"Don't you know?" Li Shubai quickly glanced at the Herrscher of Fire and Flame. "This Sky City is just a data space made up of my memories. I'm here only because I followed Ai Yi's advice. She thought that instead of recounting my past experiences in words, it would be better for me to personally experience several key events that I had experienced in the past. Isn't it the same for the three of you?"

The Herrscher of Fire and Lightning, the Herrscher of Thunder, and the Secondary Silver Wing looked at each other in bewilderment.

Taking advantage of the gap when no one was paying attention to her, Kiana gently raised her eyes and turned her head slightly in a subtle arc that no one noticed.

Kiana is actually a person with very sharp intuition.

She could instinctively feel that neither Li Shubai nor these people who looked like herself who had grown up a little, Raiden Mei, and... Bronya who seemed like a different person, had any ill will towards her.

But at the same time, three months ago, Kiana was kidnapped by Fu Hua, who was working as a spy under Otto at the time. This made Kiana, who had always believed that Fu Hua was a good squad leader, no longer dare to trust her own intuition during this period.

In the same silence as not long ago, Kiana lowered her head again and asked quietly in her heart.

(Class monitor, do you think our world...is just a stage made up of data, just like what that boy said?)

(…From a purely technical point of view, this is not feasible.)

Fu Hua, who was lurking deep in Kiana's consciousness, hesitated for a moment and then gave a negative answer.

(Whether it is destiny, anti-entropy, or even the world serpent, it is impossible to reproduce an existence similar to me today in the data space.)

(Of course...if we don't analyze these realistic factors and simply analyze from the perspective of [possibility]...I can only say that I really can't come up with any valid evidence to refute that boy's point of view.)

(After all... something that is even more impossible has actually happened before our eyes. Compared to the fact that the essence of this world is actually a data space... time travel that brings people from the future to the past is even more unrealistic.)

After hearing Fu Hua's analysis, Kiana couldn't help but pursed her lips, and a trace of indescribable confusion flashed across her golden-blue eyes.

Could it be that, in the eyes of others, both she and this world are just a bunch of meaningless data?

It was at this time that the Herrscher of Fire suddenly spoke.

"Is it a data space? Can't we just verify it?"

"Verify?" Li Shubai asked, "How to verify?"

"The technology that unfolds memories in the form of data space is the technology that the World Serpent used to build the paradise of the afterlife, right?" The Herrscher of Fire and Flame glanced at Raiden Mei, and after getting her nod of approval, he turned his gaze to Kiana, "If I remember correctly, at this point in time, the squad leader should have bound her consciousness to me after she used Yu Duchen's zero rated power, right?"

"...What..." Kiana's pupils shrank slightly.

Although the appearance of Herrscher of the Fire Flame was indeed very similar to herself when she was a little older, it was not until this moment that Kiana finally felt that [this person was indeed her future self] when Herrscher of the Fire Flame easily revealed the secret that she had buried deep in her heart and had not yet told anyone.

"If it is a technology similar to the World Serpent, then Yu Duchen's ability... the zeroth rated power should not be able to play a role." The Herrscher of Firefire said, "After all, the Key of God unfolded in the data space in the form of memory cannot exert its full power."

"Indeed." The Herrscher of Thunder nodded. "If it weren't for the cost of self-destruction and the help of Su's power, even Kevin, in the Paradise of the Past, wouldn't be able to unleash the full power of the Key of Destruction by himself."

"Right, so squad leader, you should be here, right?" The Herrscher of Firefire laughed, "Why don't you come out and meet us?"

"..."

Ugh.

After a faint sigh, Fu Hua's translucent body gradually appeared beside Kiana.

Chapter 4: Melancholy of the Herrscher of Thunder (k)

"Introducing myself... Looks like there's no need." The translucent Fu Hua was wearing a red robe covered with patterns of blazing fire. She appeared behind Kiana like a ghost, and her gaze towards the Herrscher of Fire was filled with indescribable complex emotions, "You..."

Fu Hua originally wanted to ask, "Have you completely mastered the power of the Herrscher?" But as soon as the word "you" came out of her mouth, her words suddenly paused, and her red eyes, like burning flames, revealed obvious confusion.

Before today, Fu Hua had been persuading Kiana not to use the power of the Herrscher. After being injected with a large amount of Honkai energy by Otto, there was an insurmountable objective gap between her and the Herrscher consciousness hidden deep in her consciousness in terms of control over the power of the void.

That kind of gap cannot be erased by Kiana's willpower at this stage. It is also for this reason that even with the cooperation of the two, the Herrscher's consciousness is temporarily sealed now, Fu Hua does not think that Kiana can really drive the power of the Herrscher of the Sky to her heart's content without paying any price.

In Fu Hua's understanding, the consciousness of the Herrscher controlled by the Honkai is not something that humans can defeat with strong willpower. Therefore, even if Kiana is currently in a state where she has mastered some of the Herrscher's power, Fu Hua will not suggest that Kiana use her full strength as the Herrscher of the Void unless it is necessary.