The collapse started when Kiana came to the door

After a long silence, Li Shubai couldn't help but raise his fingers and gently rubbed his brows, which were beginning to hurt. He whispered to himself, "In other words... the reason why I have no memory of the past is because my time has been reset? Not because there is something wrong with my consciousness?"

"But, if the reason I lost my memory was because my time was reset, then why did that guy -" Li Shubai murmured in confusion, and the scene he encountered in the South China Sea appeared in front of his eyes uncontrollably, "-That guy, he said that my memory was erased by him?"

At the bottom of the South China Sea, he once encountered his superego, which represented "absolute rationality". In order to force himself to kill the other party and achieve a certain goal before he lost his memory, the personality that claimed to be "superego" dealt a heavy blow to him. Although the moment before being completely penetrated by the Taixu Sword God, because of the intervention of Xilin and Fu Hua, the personality that claimed to be "superego" did not really die under the Taixu Sword God he launched, but was taken back into his consciousness again. However, in the end, even if he was taken back into his consciousness, Li Shubai did not regain his lost memory at all.

Moreover, after that, Li Shubai never saw the personality that claimed to be the [superego] again.

When forcing himself to take action, that guy once told Li Shubai that he would erase Li Shubai's memory and make Li Shubai disappear completely. However, the person who disappeared in the end was indeed that guy.

According to the testimonies provided by Bronya [Secondary Silver Wing] and Prometheus, it seems that not only the purpose, but also the process, that personality told a big lie to itself.

"Okay, I'll assume that what you said is true." Li Shubai said, "Suppose, before I lost my memory, I had the authority to activate the End, and transferred the reset function that was originally supposed to be applied to the planet to myself, causing me to lose a part of [time]. But if I can't even control the activation and silencing of the End, then am I not exactly the same as Kevin? With the two of us half-baked Ends, we can't get any good results by activating the mechanism that controls fate here, right?"

"Of course Bronya knows." Bronya [Second Silver Wing] said, "So, Bronya didn't ask the captain to try to awaken the End right away. Not to mention that the most important person who controls the End hasn't come yet, we can't recreate a planet without life in a short period of time."

"Besides Kevin and I, do you know anyone else who can control [The End]?" Li Shubai was stunned, and then immediately reacted, "Wait, you are not talking about..."

"Kevin, who can take over the power of the End, the captain who once controlled the Samsara Organization, and... Kiana, who has the potential to become the Herrscher of the End." Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] held up three fingers, "If the three of you work together, even eliminating Honkai from the earth is not something that cannot be accomplished."

"No." Li Shubai rejected Bronya's words without thinking. After a moment, he seemed to feel that his attitude was too arbitrary and added: "I can try to control the fate mechanism that resets the planet with Kevin, but Kiana must not be involved."

"Why?" Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] stared into Li Shubai's eyes and said calmly, "From the perspective of success rate, the only way to get Kiana to assist the captain and Kevin is to defeat the Honkai and completely control the [End], right? Thinking with normal human rationality, letting Kiana assist the captain is the best option. Based on the captain's understanding of Kiana, the captain should also know that as long as Bronya asks Kiana for help, she will definitely agree to Bronya's proposal."

"A high success rate means that there is a possibility of failure, right?" Li Shubai stared at Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] without giving in.

"There is no such thing as a perfect solution in this world." Bronya [Second Silver Wing] said, "The captain should understand this principle better than anyone else."

"So, what I'm saying now is that we should choose the lesser of two evils." Li Shubai responded forcefully, "Rather than letting more people bear the risk, we should do our best to reduce the possible sacrifices and harm."

"Even if they are all willing to face the coming difficulties together with the captain?" asked Bronya [Secondary Silver Wing].

"Objective facts will not change with people's subjective consciousness," Li Shubai said righteously.

"...Captain, you really don't hide your double standards at all." Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] shook her head in anger and amusement.

"So what?" Li Shubai said confidently, "I am the captain. How can a captain and his crew share the same standards?"

Chapter 4: The Great Duck (k)

Humans are double-standard creatures.

In other words, there is no absolute fairness in this world.

People will pay more attention and energy to things they like, and they will naturally stay away from things they hate.

A person can like strawberries and of course hate potatoes; most people value their friends, relatives and lovers, but it is impossible for them to treat strangers with the same standards and attitudes.

Li Shubai is no exception to this, and he has never denied the fact that he has double standards.

If conditions permit, he certainly wouldn't mind showing kindness to strangers. He has always been a greedy person. While not allowing his crew members to be harmed, Li Shubai also hopes to do his best to save the world and civilization endangered by the collapse from the disaster of extinction.

Just as he said, no one on his ship can be left behind, and he has to save this world, which may not be a good one.

But if you put these two things on the scale to compare, the center of gravity of the scale will still tilt towards the former without hesitation.

Under certain circumstances, as long as the rewards were generous enough, Li Shubai didn't even mind paying the necessary price himself, but if that so-called price required him to put his Valkyrie in danger -

——Sorry, as the captain, it is Li Shubai’s duty to protect his crew members.

Therefore, after receiving Bronya's [Second Silver Wing] proposal, Li Shubai rejected her plan without hesitation.

He could try to control the time reset mechanism called the End. If Kevin was willing to take the possible risks with him, Li Shubai would not stop the strongest fusion warrior in the pre-civilization era. But if... he wanted Kiana to come along as well.

Even if Kiana herself would most likely agree, he would never allow Kiana to face this risk.

Li Shubai declared himself to be a double standard. Bronya [Second Silver Wing] closed her eyes briefly and shook her head gently: "If Kiana knew that the captain didn't trust her, that idiot would be very sad, right?"

"Why not just keep her in the dark?" Li Shubai didn't think there was anything wrong with his opinion. "I am your superior, your supreme leader. As the supreme commander of all the Valkyries, I certainly have the obligation to ensure that you do not face risks beyond your capabilities. I also have the right to decide which enemies you should fight and which missions you need to complete."

"Regarding the matter of the end, there is no need for all of you, including Kiana, to face it. This is my judgment as the captain, and it is also the order I gave to you as a superior." Li Shubai's expression was unprecedentedly cold and indifferent. "Or is it because I have indulged you too much recently that you have forgotten that you are still a member of the Hyperion?"

Kevin couldn't help but look at Li Shubai with some surprise.

To be honest, Kevin disagreed with Li Shubai's judgment. If the person named Kiana came to assist them, they could further increase the success rate of completely controlling [The End]. Not to mention that it was just letting Kiana face some possible risks, even if the risk was serious enough to take her life, using a mere life in exchange for the future of this civilization through the End, in Kevin's opinion, there was no need to even consider it.

...No, not just him, perhaps most people in this world, including Kiana herself who was chosen as the sacrifice, would approve of this decision without hesitation.

So, when Li Shubai rejected Bronya's [Secondary Silver Wings], although Kevin didn't say it, he still felt a little dissatisfied deep in his heart.

But after seeing the sudden sense of oppression from Li Shubai, Kevin suddenly no longer felt dissatisfied.

If most people were to evaluate Li Shubai's behavior at this moment, the four words "abusing power for personal gain" would be the most accurate description. However, the personal interests that Li Shubai pursued were not simply for himself, but to prevent his subordinates from facing even the slightest risk.

So, from this perspective, Li Shubai may not be a good enough savior, but he is definitely a good enough leader.

As an unqualified savior and a failed leader, Kevin certainly lost the qualifications to express his dissatisfaction with Li Shubai.

Rather... he was even a little envious of Li Shubai.

Feeling Li Shubai's powerful gaze, Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] did not flinch, but stared at him without giving in: "Bronya will certainly not forget that she is the captain's Valkyrie, but Captain, Bronya hopes that you can understand that the captain's desire to protect the Valkyrie is the same as the desire of everyone on the Hyperion to keep the captain safe."

"Of course I know I have to try my best to keep myself safe, and I don't want to die." Li Shubai spread his hands, "So I am alive and well, am I not?"

"Since the captain thought he had guaranteed his own safety, why did he continue to avoid everyone after he regained his original strength and could return to the Hyperion at any time to report his safety?" Bronya [Secondary Silver Wing] said indifferently, "Except for the fact that the Hyperion observed the future and therefore needed to travel through time, the captain has never actively looked for everyone on the Hyperion, right? Even Bronya, Mei, and Kiana acted with the captain... because the captain mistakenly believed that this world was just a data space."

"Why are you bringing up the old matter again?" Li Shubai couldn't help but feel a little guilty. "This matter has nothing to do with what we are discussing now. Besides, I should have promised you that after this time travel, I would apologize to everyone on the Hyperion."

"If Bronya hadn't questioned the captain about this matter, would the captain have obediently returned to the Hyperion to meet everyone?" Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] rolled her eyes and asked a soul-searching question.

"..." Li Shubai stopped talking.

"And... since the captain is prepared to conceal what he is going to do from his Valkyrie as always." As she spoke, Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] reached her right hand into her breasts, and then, in front of Li Shubai's suddenly changed eyes, she pulled out a recorder from the depths of her breasts. "Then, as a leader who concealed some information from his subordinates, the captain should also be mentally prepared that the Valkyrie will use her own methods to obtain the concealed information, right?"

After saying that, Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] gently pressed the button on the recorder, and then Li Shubai's voice was played from the recorder.

——No! I can try to control the fate mechanism that resets the planet with Kevin, but we must not involve Kiana.

——So what? I am the captain. How can a captain and his crew share the same standards?

——Why don't you just keep her in the dark? I am your superior, your supreme leader. As the supreme commander of all Valkyries, I certainly have the obligation to ensure that you do not face risks beyond your capabilities. I also have the right to decide which enemies you should fight and which missions you need to complete.

Suddenly, the recorder that was playing Li Shubai's speech shattered in a wave of darkness.

"..." Li Shubai's face darkened as he slowly put down the Twin Stars of Eden in his hand. He stared at the calm Bronya [Secondary Silver Wing] and said through gritted teeth, "You actually secretly recorded our conversation?"

"If the captain doesn't feel guilty about what he said, there's no need for him to react so excitedly even if Bronya recorded our conversation." Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] raised the corners of her mouth slightly, and said leisurely, "Since the captain is so confident that his judgment is correct, why should he be afraid of these conversations being recorded by Bronya?"

"That's because it's impossible to reason with Kiana!" Li Shubai hugged his face. "If the people of the Kaslana clan could be convinced by words, how could Mei be tricked by Kevin into going to the World Serpent?!"

"Captain, you mean, it's okay for Bronya to play this conversation to other Valkyries besides Kiana?" Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] spread her five fingers slightly. Under Li Shubai's furious expression, a recording pen that was just shattered by him with the Star of Eden quickly appeared in her palm. Her eyes were filled with a teasing smile. "Captain, you don't think that after returning the core to Mr. Walter, Bronya has completely lost the power of the Herrscher of Reason, right?"

"I—" Looking at Bronya [Secondary Silver Wing]'s calm expression, Li Shubai felt like he couldn't catch his breath. The corners of his mouth couldn't stop twitching for a moment. "You're trying to trick your captain like this, aren't you afraid of my revenge when you go back?"

"Oh? Bronya is really looking forward to it. How does the captain want to take revenge on Bronya?" Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] was not afraid at all. She leaned forward slightly towards Li Shubai and put her face, which was not made up but still exuded a bright temperament, and her soft lips close to her captain's ear. "Do you want to make Bronya a mess? Or do you want Bronya to become a complete idiot who can't think about anything other than the captain's affairs?"

"..." Kevin silently shifted his gaze away, while Prometheus' eyes flashed with an inexplicable stream of data.

After a moment, Prometheus, who had fully understood the specific meaning of these two sentences from the Internet of this era, froze all over, and closed his eyes with a slightly red face.

"Hiss..." Li Shubai, feeling a dull pain in his waist, couldn't help but take a breath. He almost subconsciously wanted to retract his neck, but he felt that if he gave in here again, he might never be able to raise his head in front of this plump and mature beauty.

So, he forcibly stopped the impulse to be cowardly, gritted his teeth, and raised his arms high -

then.

Snapped--! !

"ah!"

Accompanied by the sound of something soft being deformed and a lovely cry of surprise, a certain raised part behind Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] came into close contact with the rapidly approaching palm.

Kevin closed his eyes and pretended that he saw and heard nothing. Prometheus suddenly shuddered and covered his back with his hands.

Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings], whose sensitive parts were suddenly hit, suddenly retracted her upper body. Her face was red as if water was about to drip out. Her face, which was full of calmness just now, was now covered with a blush of shame and anger.

Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] glared at Li Shubai with resentment, and said in a tone full of anger: "Suddenly attacking a place like Bronya in front of outsiders, Captain, you are too much!"

"Then don't tease me in front of others!" Li Shubai blushed and glared at Bronya [Second Silver Wings]. "How can you blame the fire after getting burned?"

"Well... okay, Bronya is too arrogant." Bronya [Secondary Silver Wing] pursed her lips unwillingly, "But the captain is obviously also wrong."

"..." Li Shubai looked away without saying a word, and said stiffly, "Even if my judgment is wrong, I can't change my decision. This is a matter of principle."

"Okay." Contrary to Li Shubai's expectations, this time, Bronya [Second Silver Wing] did not further question her own judgment, but nodded very happily, "Since the captain doubts and does not want Kiana to know about the end, then Bronya will destroy this recording first."

"?" Li Shubai looked at Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] with suspicion, "So kind?"

"After all, no matter how dissatisfied I am with the captain's judgment, the captain is still Bronya's captain." Bronya [Second Silver Wing] spread her hands helplessly, as if she had really given up completely. "Don't worry, the recording data in the recorder has been completely deleted by me, and Bronya also promised that she will not reproduce the recorder again."

At the same time, in the meeting room of the Hyperion——

"..."

Watching the video footage of the conversation between Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] and Li Shubai played on the virtual screen, all the Valkyries, including [Sky Ranger], couldn't help but silently clench their fists.

"Can you hear me, Ai-chan?" Theresa [Twilight Knight] said coldly, "Help me contact Ai-chan in another world in the Second God's Key."

"I have something I want to report to everyone on the Hyperion."

Chapter 4: The Conflicted Sky Ranger (k)

Human emotions are extremely complex things.

It is awkward, contradictory, incomprehensible, difficult to be controlled by reason, and cannot be guessed by the laws of objective existence, just like Kiana Kaslana [Sky Ranger]'s mood at the moment.

The captain likes her - during the days she spent with Li Shubai, Kiana [Sky Ranger] has always been able to clearly realize this. The captain's preference for herself, or rather, all the individuals of [Kiana Kaslana], is almost doting. It is precisely because of his doting on herself that, although the captain himself does not care too much about his return, Kiana still devotes the same passionate emotions to this.

For this reason, most of the Valkyries on the Hyperion focused their attention on the captain.

Most Valkyries are kind and upright people. No matter what their initial stance is, when faced with a captain who is wholeheartedly for their own good, helps them to the best of his ability, and does not ask for anything in return, and whose personality and appearance are all in their XP system, it is difficult for them not to respond to the other party's feelings.

Therefore, although Li Shubai has always admired and longed for these beautiful, kind-hearted and well-built Valkyries, today, it is these Valkyries with their own unique styles who are more greedy for the body and soul of their captain.

Among the Valkyries on the Hyperion who were coveting their captain's body, several instances of Kiana Kaslana were of course no exception.

Although both [Sky Ranger] and [Hersher of the Fire] have restrained their bold personalities a lot after experiencing many things, in fact, Kiana's timid nature has not changed.

So, when Bronya [Secondary Silver Wing] used her mature tactics and clever words to induce the two Kiana to face their true hearts, they almost did not hesitate... to put their invisible desires into practice.

Although the two Kiana felt a little unnatural about having to share the captainship with Raiden Mei [Herserker of Lightning] and Bronya [Second Silver Wing], after their mood got better, the two Kianas, who didn't like to think about complicated things, quickly put this degree of unnaturalness behind them.

After all, although they were confident that their feelings for the captain were unmatched, even someone as confident as Kiana had to admit that the threat on the Hyperion was too heavy.

If she doesn't act decisively and lets the duck that is right in front of her mouth fly away, Kiana's heart will really bleed.

Just like that, the two Kianas [Sky Ranger] and [Herser of Fire] teamed up with Mei Raiden [Herser of Lightning] and Bronya [Secondary Silver Wings] and successfully pinned down the alluring captain. Over the course of two days, they fought with the captain in various places whenever they had the chance, from the love hotel in the beginning to Hyperion later. As long as no one else was watching, these four hounds who had finally gotten their first bite of meat would enjoy the food to their heart's content.

But after facing her own emotions and successfully obtaining the treasure she had always wanted, another unavoidable question emerged in Kiana [Sky Ranger]'s mind.

All along, Kiana [Sky Ranger] has been the one who has received help from the captain, and now that they have established a two-way emotional and physical relationship, Kiana [Sky Ranger] also hopes to help the captain to the best of her ability.

After all, in the eyes of Kiana [Sky Ranger]... or most of the Valkyries on the Hyperion, emotions are something that needs to be managed by both men and women, and whether it is giving or receiving, it should not be a one-sided behavior. The captain runs around for their affairs, so conversely, they should also lend their strength to the captain when he faces difficulties and challenges.

Not to mention, most of the time the challenges and difficulties faced by the captain are for them.

As the captain of the Hyperion, Li Shubai, who controls the unsinkable ship of eternal reincarnation, would not even need to face the collapse if he only needed to save his own life... or protect the members on the Hyperion.

The Hyperion already possesses nearly inexhaustible energy. Not to mention that it can travel through the world and is fully capable of replenishing itself in each world. Even if it continues to sail in the quantum sea, in the foreseeable future, the survival supplies that can be freely accessed on the ship will never run out.

With the company of the Valkyrie, the captain will not be too lonely.

If the captain just wants to live a peaceful life, there are Valkyries on the Hyperion who are willing to live with him forever.

At least, as far as Kiana [Sky Ranger] knew, the gentle and homely Herrscher of the Sky, Sirin, was extremely willing and even hoped that the captain could stay on the Hyperion to accompany her.

All along, the captain has been involved in the affairs of various worlds and helped everyone fight against the collapse together because of the needs of the Valkyrie.

Kiana [Sky Ranger] likes the captain because of everything he has done for her, but at the same time, after seeing that the captain does not want her to take the same risk because of talents like her, an indescribable anger and frustration suddenly occupied her mind uncontrollably.

She was angry, of course, because it was because of her that the captain had to face the end, but he didn't even want her to lend him her strength so that the two of them could face the difficulties together; she was frustrated because now she [Sky Ranger] didn't even have a reason to defend herself.

Just as her other self [Herser of the Fire] said, the moment the captain arrived in this world, she would definitely not go to the other side's future. The captain could not let himself experience the challenge that [Herser of the Fire] had suffered again. After accepting the help of the captain and the Hyperion, Kiana [Sky Ranger] did not even have much confidence that she could replicate the case of [Herser of the Fire] under the condition that the conditions of both sides were completely equal, and defeat the Herrser of the Void who was full of evil thoughts and sadistic desires towards human civilization.

For the Hyperion, which had many Herrschers and top Valkyries, including the Thirteen Heroes, they did not need to let Kiana [Sky Ranger] take the risk of having her body taken away and force her to accept the power of the Herrscher of the Sky. After receiving the help from the Hyperion and Li Shubai, Kiana [Sky Ranger] could not tolerate herself continuing to bother them.

She has accepted the fact and future that she will most likely not be able to fully control her power. After all, after receiving help from the Hyperion, as long as she does not overuse her power, the will of the Herrscher of the Void will not be able to further erode her body and mind.

Kiana [Sky Ranger] is not a greedy person. Compared with the suffering and deadly threats she would have to go through if she had not met the captain, the result of not having to worry about hurting others or whether her body would collapse in the next second is really much better.

——But when Kiana [Sky Ranger] received the video footage of the Hyperion from Bronya [Secondary Silver Wing], she, who had been basically satisfied with the current situation, suddenly felt very uncomfortable.