The collapse started when Kiana came to the door

"Or, even at this point, are you still planning on asking me to bring Alicia to confront you?"

"Don't!" Kevin quickly raised his palm, then covered his face as if he was quite embarrassed, and said in a tone full of exhaustion, "I lose to you. Did you... come all the way here to pick me up?"

"What do you think?" Li Shubai glanced at the dumbfounded Kiana, his expression slightly relaxed, "It seems that even if the process was a bit bumpy, their ending is still good. If I hadn't caught the signal that you were about to disappear, I wouldn't have bothered to come to this world."

"...Strictly speaking, the Kevin who made the agreement with you was not me." Kevin muttered in a low voice, and for the first time in his life, his voice sounded a little aggrieved.

As a result, Kiana, who was already stunned by Kevin's sudden change in attitude, became even more confused.

"Have you forgotten what you said?" Li Shubai sneered, "When you should have died, you had already been completely frozen by certain nodes in your life - these words came from your mouth."

"..." Kevin made a bitter face and closed his mouth silently.

"Wait, wait, wait a minute, you two!" Suddenly, Kiana widened her eyes and forced herself into the conversation between the two men. "What the hell are you talking about, Kevin? Is that boy someone you know?"

"Uh..." Kevin hesitated for a moment and nodded helplessly, "If you understand it this way, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong."

"Is he here to take you away?" Kiana asked.

"Yeah." Kevin nodded.

Kiana opened her mouth and felt like the world was collapsing: "But aren't you... ready..."

"I am planning to meet them, and there has been no change to the plan so far." Kevin let out a long breath and said in a complicated tone, "It's just that the way I meet them is slightly different."

“What do you mean? Can you explain it to me more clearly?!” Kiana covered her forehead, then swung her head towards the boy and shouted, “And over there! Don’t run towards the [Cocoon] without making any noise! ​​That thing is very dangerous, don’t you know?!”

The boy who was walking towards the [Cocoon] turned his head back, and looking at his casual expression, it seemed that he didn't take Kiana's words to heart at all: "This is not your thing, you Kiana can touch it, but I can't?"

"So I told you that thing is very dangerous! Don't you understand what I'm saying?" Kiana was almost going crazy, "Kevin, don't you know him? Why don't you go over and stop him!"

After closing his eyes briefly, Kevin looked away a little embarrassedly: "Sorry, I don't dare."

"Huh???" Kiana felt like her jaw was about to drop to the ground, her face blank.

Could it be that this guy was replaced by that inexplicable boy during the process of reshaping his consciousness? ?

Wait, never mind that, that boy.

"It's been a long time...

Just when Kiana was about to rush to the boy and pull him back, planning to let Kevin do it himself if he didn't dare to.

The boy's frosty voice and his extremely decisive action of stretching his palm towards the prismatic mark of [Cocoon] abruptly stopped Kiana's movements.

"Should I call you [Cocoon of the End]... or [Cancer of the Planet]?" With a sneer, Li Shubai exerted force on his palm and dug his five fingers deeply into the prismatic mark of [Cocoon]. "My dear Miss Mirror?"

The blinding light flickered wantonly at the place where Li Shubai and [Cocoon] released each other.

“————!!!”

Om-! !

tinnitus.

"Well……!"

Along with the sharp sound, Kiana suddenly frowned and covered her temple in pain.

Not only she, who had just become the [Hersher of the End] and had developed a close connection with the [Cocoon], but even Kevin, who had just been separated from the [End] not long ago, could not help but frown slightly.

What is this...sound?

The moment doubts arose, an extremely violent vibration swept through the entire imaginary space without warning.

"Humph."

A sarcastic smile appeared at the corner of Li Shubai's mouth.

"Kiana, Ai Li, it's time for you to come on stage."

"Huh?" Kiana, who was enduring tinnitus, was stunned instinctively at first, not understanding why the boy would give her instructions so naturally.

But she soon realized that the "Kiana" the boy was calling was not her.

"Are you here?"

"Roger that!"

In flawless ice crystals.

In the dazzling wings of light.

Two figures, one purple and one pink, appeared out of thin air from the space behind the boy at lightning speed, and then surrounded the glowing [cocoon] from the left and right, completely encircling the huge spherical object that was like a mountain range.

"Got you!"

The gorgeous figure in pink and white lifted her bow handle, which was so gorgeous that it looked like an ornament, with light and graceful movements. Then, in less than half a second, she pulled the bow to its full string in one breath.

At the same time, a purple figure - another Kiana [Hersher of the End] who was exactly the same as the fully armed Kiana who had tried her best to kill Kevin before, leaped high into the air and snapped her fingers.

Hey!

Swish!

The crisp sound of finger snapping and the sound of the crystal key breaking through space rang out at the same time.

With the joint efforts of Alicia [True Self: Herrscher of Humanity] and Kiana [Herscher of the End], the turmoil in the imaginary space was instantly quelled.

As for the [Cocoon of the End] itself, which was completely targeted by the two Herrschers, it was frozen in place without any resistance due to the triple stagnation of space, matter, and time.

The tinnitus stopped, and Kiana breathed a sigh of relief. She half squatted down and gasped for breath. Her dull expression was filled with fear: "Just now, that was..."

"Trying to modify your will directly. Let the consciousness you use for it interfere."

The person who answered Kiana's question was Li Shubai, who had a calm expression.

"It has actively cleansed the existence of surface civilizations several times. It is just a simple mirror. Although there is a reason why your cognition has been forcibly modified, it is your mistake to believe this."

"Your willpower and strength are indeed impeccable. However, if Kevin and Prometheus, the two fire thieves, hadn't usurped most of the power of the [Cocoon], do you think that you can rely on your own willpower to compete with this thing that has existed for more than 100,000 years?" Li Shubai glanced at Kiana, who looked a little unhappy. "Although naivety can be considered an advantage, if you can't even figure out the relationship between strength and weakness and the facts of objective existence, it's better to quickly retract this naivety deep in your heart."

"Also, if [Cocoon] is really just a mirror, why do you have to do everything you can to kill Kevin?" Li Shubai said coldly, "Kevin has also become the End. According to the logic of [Cocoon]'s communication with you, since the way you embrace humans is the way the End embraces humans, why can you do it but Kevin can't? Do you really think that Kevin wants to start the Stigmata Project from the bottom of his heart and wants to kill everyone on this planet?"

"..."

Can't refute.

Although Kiana really wanted to question the boy's arrogant words, she had to admit that although the boy's words sounded unpleasant, they were still quite convincing.

Even though his method was close to stealing, there was no doubt that Kevin, like her, was someone who had been recognized by [Cocoon].

So why... after completing the Stigmata Project and snatching [End] from [Cocoon], Kevin still wanted to oppose them instead of actively choosing to cancel the Stigmata Project?

Theoretically speaking, if she can do it, there is no reason why Kevin can't do it.

and so--

"[Cocoon of the End]...is there a problem?" Kiana raised her head and stared at Li Shubai's face with a fierce gaze. There was a hint of imperceptible fear in her low voice.

Chapter 4: Kiana with a Brain (k)

"Is there a problem with [Cocoon of the End]... To understand this, you must first clarify your perspective on everything that happens in this world." Li Shubai glanced at Kiana's livid expression and said lightly.

"What do you mean?" Kiana asked.

“From a human perspective, anything that threatens human survival can be defined as a [problem],” Li Shubai said. “Fire, earthquake, tsunami, typhoon, and even so-called collapse, all these phenomena that threaten human life and safety are problems that humans must face and solve. Even when faced with an insurmountable natural disaster, the primary goal of humans is to minimize the losses caused by the disaster.”

"Of course I know that." Kiana frowned, "So, what you mean is..."

"Yes, from the perspective of humans, [Cocoon] has always been a problem that continues to threaten the survival of mankind, but if we judge it from an objective perspective." Li Shubai turned his gaze back to the direction of the completely condensed [Cocoon], "This thing is just a powerful mechanism that follows a set program and continues to control the fate of mankind and reset the planet's civilization."

"Kevin, who has faced the End, should know this very well, right?"

"...That's right." Kevin nodded and turned his gaze in Kiana's direction. "Although you and I have both been recognized by [Cocoon], at the same time, we are both humans born on this planet. The so-called [Hersher of the End]...at least in our era of civilization, he is not a human being, nor even a creation of the Earth."

"This means that, at least before you two, there has never been a true human in this world who can fully obtain the power of [Cocoon]." Li Shubai said, "Looking at your current appearance, Kiana, you should have faced [Cocoon] head-on once."

"...Yeah." Kiana pursed her lips and nodded gently. "After Dr. Tesla found the location of [Cocoon] in the imaginary space, I collected the power that [Cocoon] projected into the imaginary space with the help of Mei and Bronya. And..."

"Moreover, it's as if [Cocoon] actively chose you. The projected powers didn't even resist your collection and inclusion. Instead, they naturally merged into your body, right?" Li Shubai said.

Kiana nodded silently. She raised her head and glanced at her other self [Herser of the End] floating in the air. She hesitated for a moment and said, "Could it be...she is one too?"

"No, if she is the same as you, the moment we came to this world, you two should have spontaneously merged into one under the influence of the world's rules." Li Shubai shook his head.

Although both are Herrschers of the End, the two Kiana present are very different in terms of the specifications and precision of their power, as well as the way they obtain the power of the End.

The combat experience and understanding of power possessed by Kiana in this world are far superior to those of the Kiana [Herser of the End] on the Hyperion. However, if we simply look at the specifications of power, the Kiana in this world is not in the same league as the Kiana [Herser of the End] on the Hyperion who has fully mastered the [Cocoon].

Putting aside other characteristics, the so-called [Cocoon] is actually just a huge collection of power. Since Kevin in this world took the lead in usurping the end, the power that Kiana in this world can obtain is naturally not as good as her [Hersher of the End] who controls the entire [Cocoon].

In particular, Kiana is currently in a state of extreme exhaustion.

Li Shubai let out a long breath and said calmly:

"In short, you only need to know that, first, if Kevin hadn't taken away more than half of the [End] power in advance, you wouldn't have been able to become the [Herrser of the End] so smoothly. And secondly—"

"Even if you become the end, it doesn't mean that the problem of [Cocoon] has been successfully solved."

"Kevin should have told you that it is impossible to align the stars in one go. Now that you are standing in front of the [Cocoon], you are the only one left in your world who can have direct contact with the [Cocoon]."

Kiana was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "...What about you guys?"

"What do you want to ask?" Li Shubai pulled his palm out of the prismatic mark of [Cocoon], clapped his palms, and then waved to the two people floating in the air. He immediately turned his gaze in the direction of Kiana, "Before I leave this world, if you have any questions, ask them quickly. After all, you are also Kiana. I will try my best to tell you what you want to know."

Kiana looked in the direction where Li Shubai pulled out his hand, and her pupils suddenly contracted.

At the moment he pulled his palm out of the prismatic engraving of [Cocoon], the dazzling fluorescence that had been floating in the center of the stone egg not long ago dimmed at a rapid speed.

Although she didn't feel anything unusual with the power of the end she held, it was obvious that with the action just now, the boy had indeed forcibly taken something from the inside of the [cocoon].

Kiana, who was frightened, asked subconsciously: "Who are you?"

"I am Li Shubai." Li Shubai replied in a calm tone, "Captain of the Hyperion, Li Shubai?"

"Captain of the Hyperion?" Kiana was stunned, then hurriedly asked, "Could it be... that you were the one who helped us at that time..."

"Maybe." Li Shubai shrugged. "When I reshaped Kevin's consciousness, I saw everything he went through during this period of time, and saw the last battle between him and you. From a conceptual point of view, you can indeed regard me as [one of] the ones who helped you break Kevin's defense, but... now I——"

Before Li Shubai could finish what he wanted to say, Kiana interrupted him: "Ai Yi's core secret key... Did you also write the sentence [I want to be Qibao's dog]?"

——The air suddenly became silent.

"Hmm... what does this sentence mean?" After unconsciously giving Li Shubai a heavy blow, Kiana touched her chin and whispered, "If you understand it literally, this sentence should be saying that someone is the dog of the person named 'Qibao', but... I always feel that something seems to be wrong."

Unlike Kiana who had not yet figured out the current situation, the other Kiana [Herserer of the End]'s face turned red the moment she heard these words, and her eyes looking at Li Shubai also began to show a strange expression.

Not only her, even the socially incompetent Alicia [True Self: Herrscher of Man] looked up to her captain, her pink pupils filled with excitement and ecstasy of seeing fun.

——Let’s first explain a basic concept.

Although Kiana's Shenzhou name is a transliteration of the three characters "Qi", "Ya" and "Na", the fact is that everyone who knows Kiana, including Fu Hua, who is a Shenzhou native, calls her the foreign word "Kiana".

Therefore, when seeing the word "Qibao", neither Kiana nor Kevin associated this name with themselves at all.

But the two from the Hyperion are different!

Whether it is the extremely gossipy and well-mannered Alicia [True Self: Herrscher of Humanity], or Kiana [Herscher of the End], who has been called Qibao by Li Shubai more than once, they all clearly understand what this title means, not to mention Li Shubai himself, who can be said to have created this name in this world.

Seeing Kiana seriously searching for the specific meaning of this sentence, Li Shubai frowned, crossed his arms, and lied with an extremely calm expression, "This sentence doesn't have any special meaning. Aren't you supposed to ask about other more valuable things now?"

"Really?" Kiana's face was full of suspicion. Although what he said was very correct, for some reason, her extremely sharp intuition still made her detect a strange atmosphere from Li Shubai.

"What else? Isn't it just a secret key to control the ship?" Li Shubai snorted, his eyes wandering, "It should be normal to use a meaningless random sentence as the core secret key."

"Really?" Kiana said, "Then why did you look away?"

“……” Li Shubai was silent.

"So, you are the one who claimed that you wanted to be 'Qibao's dog'?" Kiana continued to ask.

"I..." Li Shubai opened his mouth, feeling an indescribable tiredness. "Does this have anything to do with you? Why do you insist on this? Don't you think that we should discuss more important topics that are more beneficial to the development of the world and more meaningful?"

"But that kind of topic is not something I'm good at." Kiana said confidently, "I don't understand those advanced theories, nor do I have the ability to lead the development of the world. I'll leave these more meaningful topics to Mei and Bronya. Calculating the time, they should be here soon."

Li Shubai's expression froze instantly.

Qiaodou Madai! What does this sentence mean? What does "the two of them should be here soon" mean? !

"You..." Li Shubai said in disbelief, "...When did you call for foreign aid?"

"That was the moment you showed up." Kiana said with a tone that was as clear as a matter of course. She put on an innocent expression and spread her hands casually. "Kevin and I didn't have much strength left. At this time, an outsider suddenly appeared in front of us and claimed that he was someone who was trying to control [The End]. In this case, it should be normal for me to ask for help from my companions."

As if to confirm the truth of Kiana's words, an extremely strong spatial fluctuation suddenly caused visible ripples behind her.