The collapse started when Kiana came to the door

The Herrscher Core can accommodate human will to a certain extent. If the obsession is deep enough, even if the user dies, the will remaining in the core will retain a certain ability to think and communicate.

The Ether Singularity, which has similar core functions to the Herrscher but even greater output power, can certainly do the same thing, and even do better.

However, why did Ai Yi go through so much trouble to use the properties of time crystals to replicate a fake product with the same functions and material structure, instead of letting me directly use the ether singularities in stock on the Hyperion?

Could it be that using the real ether singularity casually...will have other uncontrollable effects on me? With such doubts, Li Shubai walked to the console, disconnected the connection between the core and the terminal system, and then took out the ether singularity that looked like the Herrscher core.

"Ha...Anyway, since I've already made a promise to Fu Hua, I should just use this thing up and put it back."

After making the decision, Li Shubai closed his eyes, cut off his perception of the outside world, and then used his sense of touch to feel the inside of the ether singularity.

Although the ether singularity is quite similar to the Herrscher Core in terms of both function and physical structure, when Li Shubai integrated his perception into the ether singularity, he discovered a huge difference between the two.

Simply put... this ether singularity is a dead object.

The reason is easy to understand. Generally speaking, as long as it is the Herrscher Core, even if its power is not used, it will simply float in the air, and it will release a lethal amount of collapse energy to the surrounding environment, which is lethal to ordinary people. However, the ether singularity was originally what was left behind by the Herrscher of the End after he split the world bubble. Although the Herrscher of Reason who completed the mission of the end is much stronger than the Herrscher of Reason in Li Shubai's cognition, and this relic has also become of a considerable size and power, after the mission of the end was completed, this core naturally fell into a dormant state again without any influence on the outside world.

Of course, if the core of the Ruler of Reason that has completed its mission as the End is injected with Honkai energy, this core will have the possibility of waking up again. The moment it is activated, the channel between it and the other side of the imaginary number will be opened, and the invisible will of Honkai will follow... But because this core is a replica copied from the characteristics of the time crystal, rather than a projection of the [Cocoon], this core naturally escaped from the control of the End.

No wonder Ai Yi insisted that I use this ether singularity as a disk to store my memories. Li Shubai understood clearly that if it was a replica, no matter how it was used, the power of Honkai would not have any impact on the mind.

But... why do I feel... so tired?

I was just introducing my scattered memories into this ether singularity, but why did I feel my brain shaking and dizzy...

Is this also... the inevitable phenomenon that occurs when using the ether singularity to sort out memories?

What Li Shubai, who closed his eyes, failed to see was that at the moment when he decompressed his memories bit by bit and stored them into the ether singularity, the strange gem-shaped substance suddenly burst out with an extremely dazzling light.

The strong light merged into Li Shubai's body, making his figure look as noble as a god who had descended to the earth. The sudden strong light made Xilin and the others unable to open their eyes. When the strong light disappeared, everyone's breathing stopped at once.

“This…” Lost Rosemary subconsciously stretched out her arms to support the ten-year-old boy who was about to fall. Her elegant and beautiful face was filled with panic for the first time in a long time. “What happened? Captain? Why…”

"Calm down." Contrary to everyone's expectations, the first to recover from the surprise was the Forest Elf. She walked to the side of Lost Rosemary, looked at Li Shubai who had suddenly become several years smaller, and after pondering for a moment, she touched her chin and said, "I have heard that there is a spell that can make people rejuvenate. Could it be that the captain was secretly cursed by someone without our knowledge?"

It was only then that Lost Rosemary remembered that the world of the forest elves was a magical world. To her, a person's age suddenly shrinking might not be something too unreasonable.

"Rita doesn't think that with the Captain's vigilance and keen perception, he would be cast into such a strange spell by the enemy without noticing." At this time, Prime Minister Rita refuted the words of the Forest Elf. She and General Youlan looked at each other and nodded to each other. "Rather than being cast into a spell, it seems that the Captain was affected by the gem and became what he is now."

"Huh?" Brownie made a sound of great astonishment. "Hey, hey, hey! This is a joke! I don't remember that the light curtain core has such a strange function?!"

"But now the core has disappeared." General Youlan glanced at the boy's hand, "All the evidence points to the core being the culprit for the captain's sudden shrinkage."

"Compared to that kind of thing..." Xilin walked to the side of Lost Rosemary and glared at her, her golden pupils full of expectation, "Have you hugged enough? Why don't you give me the servant quickly?"

Obviously, compared to the reason why Li Shubai suddenly became like this, in Xilin's eyes, emphasizing to others again the ownership of her servants is the top priority at the moment.

"Now is not the time to argue about this kind of thing." Lost Rosemary said righteously, but her arm around the boy's waist did not move at all. "Captain, you can't even stand steadily now. Miss Xilin probably doesn't want our dispute to hurt you, right?"

As a fellow Rita, Prime Minister Rita saw through the wolfish ambitions of Lost Rosemary at a glance, so she suggested quietly: "I think it would be better for us to contact Miss Aiyi as soon as possible. After all, this operation was initiated by Miss Aiyi, so she should have some idea about the captain's current situation."

Chapter 4: Sister Tazi’s Little Abacus (k)

"No, in fact, I have no idea why the captain suddenly turned into a child."

At three o'clock in the afternoon, in Raven's bar, facing the questioning of Lost Rosemary and others in the communication channel, our dear administrator, Ai Hyperion Λ, showed a distressed expression like a dumb person eating bitter herbs.

Then, the expressions of the Valkyries and Herrschers at the other end of the screen changed on the spot.

“Ms. Ai, please don’t tell me that you let the captain touch this suspicious object with unknown effects without knowing the consequences.” Prime Minister Rita’s wine-red eyes revealed a dangerous look. “If that’s the case, not only me, but everyone on the Hyperion will not let you go so easily.”

"It's natural for you to doubt me, but I really didn't lie this time." Ai Yi's expression was a little ugly. "Logically speaking, the ether singularity that I asked the captain to contact was a counterfeit created by the pseudo-time crystal that enveloped this world bubble using its periodic repetition of time characteristics. So, although the external manifestation is still similar to the Herrscher core, the ether singularity should be just a simple ether aggregate with super-high concentration and toroidal curvature."

"So?" Xilin stared at the administrator on the other side of the screen with a cold expression, and her tone of questioning was extremely cold. "I don't care about the ether singularity now. What you should tell me is what exactly is going on with the sudden change in my servant, and whether this change will have a negative impact on his body."

Ai Yi was silent for a moment, and couldn't help but regret the advice she gave to Li Shubai. However, rather than regretting, she knew that what she should do now was to figure out the current situation as soon as possible, so she quickly forced herself to calm down.

She took a deep breath and briefly told Lost Rosemary and the others about her original plan: "Theoretically speaking, without a link to the Honkai construct, the ether singularity I asked the captain to find is essentially just a pseudo disk that can store a large amount of memory."

"Nothing can disappear out of thin air. Even if the past time was lost because the target of the reincarnation mechanism was anchored on me, that part of time did not disappear in the true sense. Instead, it was collected by the power of the end into the other side of imaginary numbers." Ai said very quickly, "It is precisely because I know where the captain's lost time went that I contacted Prometheus, who imposed mental shackles on Honkai, and reached a consensus, and let the captain travel through time not long ago."

"I asked Prometheus, who had become one with Honkai, to store the captain's lost time in the form of data from the other side of the imaginary number. Then, I asked her to inject this data back into the captain's consciousness and body."

"But because the captain's brain is currently unable to accept such a huge amount of memory, Prometheus had no choice but to compress the captain's memory before returning the data to the captain... So, when trying to read those memories, all the captain could recall were some messy and disordered images."

"Up to this point, most of the situation is still under my control."

A look of helplessness and confusion emerged in Ai's eyes.

"According to my original plan, as long as the captain uses the pseudo-ether singularity I prepared at the beginning, he can slowly recover his state before falling into the false reincarnation after a period of time. Moreover, because the medium for storing memories is no longer just the human body and brain, even if the captain retrieves the memories of hundreds of thousands of years, his consciousness will be overwhelmed by the excessive memories."

"But... I really didn't expect that in the process of decompressing those compressed memories into the pseudo-ether singularity, the captain's body would actually undergo such unpredictable changes."

"..." On the other side of the communicator, after carefully listening to all of Ai Yi's words, a thoughtful look appeared on Lost Rose's face.

Indeed, although the captain has always been a person who likes to do things in a reckless manner, in most cases, when he makes those seemingly reckless moves, he has actually made corresponding preparations.

The Captain would simply accept Ai's proposal. Besides the subjective factor that he trusted his Valkyrie, there was a bigger reason. It was probably because Captain Shubai himself had already foreseen the consequences of Ai's proposal.

The captain was very clear about the role of the ether singularity. In his opinion, using the pseudo-ether singularity prepared by Ai Yi as a medium for storing memories was a highly feasible solution. So after getting the target of this operation, he did not hesitate to follow the original plan and decompressed those compressed memories into this special "disk", but encountered an unexpected accident.

"What should we do now?" Although she didn't understand most of Ai Yi's statement, after seeing the disappointed look on Mimi's face, Xilin finally understood that the change that happened to Li Shubai was just an unpredictable accident for the administrator. She took a deep breath and eased her imposing tone a little.

"In any case, please send the captain to the Hyperion first. I will send you the coordinates of the Hyperion." Ai Yi said calmly, "Before a comprehensive examination of the captain's body, I can't accurately grasp the cause of the mutation, and whether this strange mutation will have a bad impact on the captain's body. By the way, how is the captain's consciousness now?"

"Hmm..." After hearing Ai Yi's worried question, Lost Mimi subconsciously lowered her head and shifted her gaze to the boy whose waist was supported by her.

"From his expression, I can't see anything wrong, and his body temperature and heart rate don't seem abnormal." After looking at the boy in his arms, whose facial features are extremely similar to the captain's, but whose temperament has completely changed from "handsome" to "cute" due to his age reduction, Lost Rosemary's face couldn't help but blush, and the corners of her pink lips almost drooled, "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, maybe... I would have thought that this boy who looks so similar to the captain was just simply asleep."

"……"After seeing the lost Rosemary's expression, Ai Yi suddenly had the urge to cover her face.

Lost Rosemary thought she had hidden it well, but facing the artificial intelligence that could easily distinguish facial micro-expressions, those dirty thoughts and obscene desires that she thought she had hidden perfectly were as conspicuous as the morning stars in the middle of the night.

"Just in case, I'll give you a heads up." Ai said with a twitch in her mouth, "I know that the Captain in this state is extremely attractive to Rita, but before confirming the Captain's specific situation, in order to prevent the abnormal situation from getting worse, please be patient and control your inner desires."

"Of course Rita knows about this kind of thing." Lost Rosemary swallowed quietly and reluctantly moved her eyes away from the face of Li Shubai who had transformed into a boy. "No matter how much I like the captain, I can't take advantage of him when he is not in good condition."

So after figuring out the situation, if you finally find out that there are no adverse effects from the captain suddenly turning into a child, you will attack her without hesitation, right?

Ai Yi, who had read the hidden meaning of Lost Rosemary, did not restrict her further, but just sighed dryly.

To be honest, as she was just an artificial intelligence life form, she didn't really mind her captain having relationships with other opposite sexes.

If the captain has a partner whom he truly loves, Ai Yi will only give her sincere blessings to this beautiful relationship from the bottom of her heart, and then... as always, she will secretly ask for some necessary love from the captain.

Of course, as a ship-borne AI, Ai also has her own emotional outlook that is completely different from that of ordinary humans. But even in the eyes of Ai, whose emotional outlook is very different from that of ordinary humans, the special hobby of Lost Rosemary is so dangerous to the captain who has suddenly become smaller that she can hardly ignore it.

Find an opportunity to inform everyone on the Hyperion that the captain has suddenly turned into a child.

Ai was thinking quietly in her heart.

Instead of letting Lost Rosemary and the captain be alone, it would be better to let other Valkyries who are also aware of the situation to take care of the captain together with Lost Rosemary. With the checks and balances of other Valkyries, this awful maid who likes children should not be so blatant as to reveal her rather bad personal habits to the captain.

After finalizing the next course of action, Lost Rosemary and her group, who obtained the specific coordinates of the Hyperion from Ai Yi, quickly used Xilin's power of the sky to teleport Li Shubai, who was still asleep, to the Hyperion.

After sending Li Shubai's tender body into the scanning chamber and conducting a comprehensive scan of his body and consciousness, Ai Yi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when she looked at the scan results.

"I figured it out." Ai handed the scan record to the eagerly awaited Lost Rosemary and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "The captain is indeed restoring those compressed memories to this pseudo-ether singularity. Judging from the scan results, there is nothing wrong with the captain's body."

"Then why did the captain suddenly become smaller?" Lost Rose asked after carefully reading the scan records handed over by Ai Yi.

"If there's nothing wrong with the captain's health, can he stay like this forever?" Brownie squatted beside the scanning table and poked Li Shubai's childish face with some curiosity. "Although the captain will be very handsome when he grows up, there's nothing wrong with this look, right?"

"It is the captain's freedom to decide how to behave." General Youlan said sternly, "It is better for us not to interfere and make such a rash decision."

"It's just talk, why are you taking it so seriously?" Brownie glanced at General Youlan speechlessly and muttered, "I'm not like those Ritas who like little ones..."

The expressions of Lost Rosemary and Prime Minister Rita froze at the same time.

"The reason why the captain suddenly became smaller is because he has used most of his strength to restore those compressed memories." Ai Yi sighed, smiled bitterly and shook her head, "This is indeed a mistake made by No. 17 and I. As artificial intelligences, we have forgotten that the way humans think is completely different from that of supercomputers. The decompression and compression work that is not difficult for us may be too much of a burden for the captain."

"How can you say there is no problem?" Xilin frowned suddenly.

"It is precisely because nothing went wrong that the captain suddenly turned into a child." Ai Yi smiled, "After all, the captain is not an ordinary person. So, after his brain realized that most of the master's power had been mobilized, the captain's body naturally entered a state similar to 'frequency reduction'. This 'frequency reduction' state is manifested externally as the temporary rejuvenation of the body and consciousness."

"If that's the case." Lost Rosemary immediately grasped the point, "So, not only the body, but also the captain after waking up will temporarily think that he is just a child of about ten years old...right?"

Ai Yi nodded: "Based on the data scanned by the Hyperion, that's it."

"This is really great... ahem, this is really a pity." Lost Rosemary pretended to be sad and walked to the side of the scanning table, looking down at Li Shubai's young sleeping face. "So... during the time when you became a child, the captain was powerless, right? It seems that in order to ensure the captain's safety, Rita must guard Shubai 24 hours a day."

"It's not that exaggerated. Even in the 'reduced frequency' state, the captain is still the captain." Ai said, "As long as the captain wants, he can use his power at any time."

"But..." Ai suddenly changed the subject, "Indeed, in this state, the Captain really needs a Valkyrie to protect him."

Chapter 4: Yulan Daier vs. Qiyana (k)

The intrinsic world.

January 2014, 1, Far Eastern Time, 12 a.m., St. Freya's College.

In the early morning sunshine, the three dormitories in the west area were packed with people. Not only the sofas and chairs around the dining table, but even the living room and dining room on the first floor were filled with people.

All the members of the Hyperion in the original world, including Kiana, Raiden Mei and Bronya who originally belonged to this world, attended the emergency meeting. The acting captain [Twilight Knight] Theresa Apokalis sat on the sofa behind the balcony, supporting her chin with her two small hands, with a serious face and dull eyes.

It wasn't just Theresa. In fact, most of the Valkyries present inevitably fell into a petrified state as if they were struck by lightning after hearing the thunderous news.

The silence lasted for a long time. Finally, it was Guanxing's clear and steady voice that broke the frozen atmosphere.

"Tell me, what do you think about the sudden situation on the captain's side?"

After the words fell, silence fell again. The Herrscher of Consciousness, who had a relatively eccentric personality, was about to express his opinion, but Yun Mo Danxin, who was keenly aware of something was wrong, gently patted him on the shoulder and forced him to hold back the words he was about to say; Yulandel from the Eigenworld and the other two of himself [Tianyuan Qiying] and [Glorious Knight·Yueping] looked at each other blankly; the faces of several Ritas suddenly turned rosy, and their breathing became a little quicker involuntarily.

Then, as if they realized something very dangerous, the expressions of [Blue Knight·Moon Soul] and [Dizzy Star Thorn] suddenly froze.

"Allow me to interrupt Master Stargazer's thoughts for a moment." [Dizzy Star Thorn] raised his hand, "Now, besides Miss Ai Yi, are there any other Valkyries following the young Captain?"

"Yeah, didn't we guess this from the beginning?" Guanxing said, "After the captain was taken away by Ai Yi during the time travel, Xilin and you with long hair were teleported to the captain's side along the space coordinates. In addition to the two of them, Ai Yi and you with long hair also summoned Xia who was on a mission, and several other members who joined Hyperion but did not stay on the ship. Among those Valkyries, there was even Prime Minister Rita and General Yulandel who were from the same world bubble as me."

After hearing Guanxing's words, [Dazzling Star Thorn]'s expression became even uglier: "In other words, the captain now has two Valkyries who are also Rita Rossweisse like us, right?"

"Yeah, what's the matter with that..."

Before he could finish his words, Guanxing finally realized that something was wrong.

It is known that the current captain has turned into a child.

It is also known that the captain who has turned into a child is followed by two Ritas.

Find out what will happen next.

∵Rita = younger than me

The current captain = a child.

∴Younger people + children =……

"In order to protect the personal safety and mental health of the captain and prevent those with bad intentions from taking advantage of the situation, Rita suggests that we immediately select someone to go to the captain's side." [Blue Knight·Moon Soul] said righteously, "Since the captain now has two Valkyries with the same status as me, then of course I, as Rita, will have no choice but to do so."

"People with bad intentions? So Shu Bai is followed by such dangerous people? If so, we really can't let them do evil to Shu Bai." Yulandel of the original world had a serious expression, "As Shu Bai's current girlfriend, I think I should have the responsibility to protect the personal safety of my lover."

"...Ah?" For a moment, everyone present was stunned, except for a few Valkyries from Yulandel and a few Ritas.

Everyone turned their heads and stared blankly at Yulandel's face.

Acting Captain Twilight Knight raised his head stiffly and stared at Yulandel, who had a serious expression. "When did you become the captain's current girlfriend? I... I didn't know."

"Well... after returning to Saint Freya from the Hyperion, I confessed to Captain Shubai." Yulandel scratched her blonde hair, her face slightly red, "Shubai... also agreed to let me be his wife."

The four Kiana opened their mouths slightly, with dull expressions.

"After returning to Saint Freya from the Hyperion..." Theresa of the Eigenworld blinked and said dumbfoundedly, "...wasn't that the night when Kiana and I joined the Hyperion?! You confessed to Shu Bai right after we left?!"

"Uh... that's right."

"And he agreed?" Guanxing stared at Youlan Dai'er, whose face was flushed, and dug his five fingers deeply into his palms. "Why?"

"Why?" Yulandel said in confusion, "The captain likes us, and I like the captain too, so I confessed to him and he agreed, so of course we should be able to be together."

"That's true." [Tianyuan Qiying] coughed and snorted, "In this world, I have already established a formal relationship with the captain, so if we really need to choose someone to go to the captain's side to protect him, we should choose someone from among us Yulandel."

"Wait, wait, wait a minute!!!!" [Hersher of the End] Kiana stood up in an instant, "I don't agree!"

Then, everyone turned their attention to Kiana, the Herrscher of the End, who had interrupted the conversation with an anxious look on her face.

"Don't agree?" Yulandel of the Equivalent World frowned deeply. "Shu Bai and I are in love, and it is only natural for us to be together. Kiana, even if you are my relative, you have no right to interfere with the relationship between Shu Bai and me."

"That's right." [Tianyuan Qiying] stood beside Yulandel of the Equivalent World and said righteously, "Yulandel and Li Shubai have expressed their feelings to each other. As the captain's Valkyrie, we should respect their choices and wish them a happy future."

"But...but, the one Shubai likes should obviously be..." [Herser of the End] Kiana wanted to cry but had no tears. She was really aggrieved. Although in her world, neither Li Shubai nor she expressed their feelings to each other, [Herser of the End] Kiana could clearly realize that Li Shubai definitely liked her.

What a joke, if the captain didn't like me, would he work so hard to stand in front of me every time something happened to me?