The collapse started when Kiana came to the door

"You just said... the Herrscher of the Void has given you the power. What does that mean?" Theresa asked.

"It means exactly what it says." Kiana seemed to be a little uncomfortable lying in the experimental chamber. She reached out to the handle beside her, opened the door of the experimental chamber, and sat up. "To put it simply, she seemed to... directly give me the power to control space that was originally supposed to be used by the Herrscher."

“???” Theresa’s expression became increasingly confused. “So, judging from the result, the Herrscher of the Void not only did not take your body, but instead gave you the power of the Void, and then continued to sink into the depths of consciousness by himself?”

Kiana said nothing, but just nodded.

Is the Herrscher of the Void such an easy person to talk to? While asking herself this question deep in her heart, Theresa subconsciously recalled the memory of her face-to-face encounter with Sirin during the second collapse.

The other party's tragic and pitiful experience, and the experience of being tortured by the cruel experiment of destiny, which naturally ignited the endless flames of revenge by the Honkai, making him crazy, cruel, and with the desire to abuse humans, all of these left an extremely deep impression in Theresa's memory.

Theresa has her own rational judgment on what happened to Celine and her actions. She once sympathized with Celine, but she would not show mercy to Celine because of her sympathy for her experience.

Similarly, although Theresa tried her best to kill Sirin on the battlefield of the Second Collapse, because of Sirin's past experience, Theresa would not be obsessed with resenting the disaster and sacrifice caused by the Second Herrscher in the Great Collapse in Siberia.

Therefore, even after knowing Kiana's true identity, Theresa did not become alienated from her. She still regarded her as her own relative and her niece from the bottom of her heart. In order to solve the problems encountered by Kiana, Theresa was even willing to be under Li Shubai.

Well... although after entering the Hyperion and seeing the extremely luxurious crew lineup, Theresa no longer felt that being Li Shubai's subordinate was something she should feel wronged or ashamed about.

But at least in Yulandel's dormitory, when Theresa made the request to Li Shubai, she did make the decision with considerable determination.

As a result, now, Kiana told her that the Herrscher of the Void had no intention of taking her body away... and even gave up her power easily.

Well... although she was happy that the problem was solved, she had made so much mental preparation and made such a strong determination, but the solution to the problem was so simple in the end... This rather speechless situation still gave Theresa an inexplicable feeling of frustration that she had used all her strength but hit a cotton ball.

In fact, not only Theresa, but even the Herrscher of Consciousness had the same feeling. As the Herrscher of Consciousness, she could naturally see Kiana's mental and conscious state at a glance, so there was no need to confirm it. After seeing that the Herrscher of the Void had no desire to fight for Kiana's body, the Herrscher of Consciousness sighed and said with regret: "What? It's so boring. I wanted to see what the Herrscher of the Void could do with all his strength, but now it seems... there seems to be no room for me to appear."

The dangerous words that contained both regret and eagerness froze Kiana, who had just climbed out of the experimental chamber. She shrank her neck, swallowed her saliva, and asked with a tingling scalp: "Wait, how badly do you want to fight?"

After hearing Kiana's question, the Herrscher of Knowledge was not annoyed, but instead showed an extremely exaggerated smile.

"You misunderstood me. I'm not the kind of dangerous person who likes to provoke meaningless fights." She said with a smile, "But I'm also not the kind of coward who can pretend nothing happened even if I'm provoked. The woman who relied on me and Aponya to map her consciousness actually dared to sneak away in front of me. It's not my style not to teach her a lesson."

The Herrscher of Knowledge had an extremely brilliant smile, but after seeing the smile on that face that looked no different from Fu Hua's, Kiana felt a chill in her chest.

Danger. Although they are both Herrschers, the Herrscher of Consciousness gives Kiana a feeling of danger that is far greater than that of the Herrscher of Void.

"But..." Kiana said stiffly, "...even if you want to teach that Sirin who provoked you a lesson, it should have nothing to do with me, right?"

"I know." The Herrscher of Knowledge smiled, her smile full of regret that she didn't even try to conceal. "So I didn't beat you up, did I?"

So you really want to beat me up after all?! Kiana's eyelids couldn't stop twitching. She didn't know why, but she always felt that the Herrscher of Knowledge seemed to have a lot of opinions about her.

For her own safety, Kiana decisively chose to give up pursuing this dangerous topic. She glanced at Aponia, then at the Herrscher of Knowledge, and changed the subject and asked, "Yes... yes... although my business has been put on hold for the time being, since everyone will become partners in the future, can you tell me about your business? Miss Aponia, and Herrscher of Knowledge... Senior?"

The Herrscher of Knowledge was delighted by the word "senior". She laughed a few times, waved her hand, and said generously, "Indeed, you once told me that one-sided understanding can hardly lead to a relationship of mutual trust. It would be too unfair if we understand you and you don't understand us. What do you want to know? Don't worry! As long as it is not something private, I will tell you everything I know!"

Aponia nodded, her clear eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a kind of kindness similar to that of an elder: "Being honest is the cornerstone of trust, Miss Kiana, if you have any questions, please..."

Suddenly, Aponya paused.

"...Please feel free to ask. Everyone on this ship...is a very good companion. I will do my best to answer your questions."

Phew, safe. Although she didn't know why Aponya paused for a moment after saying "please", after successfully changing the subject, Kiana couldn't help but wipe away a cold sweat deep in her heart.

Anyway, now that I have the opportunity to ask freely—

Kiana and Theresa looked at each other and nodded slightly.

It just so happens that I can take this opportunity to learn as much as possible about the specific situation of the Hyperion.

2014 1 Month 8 Day.

Far Eastern Time, six o'clock in the morning.

Ji Zi woke up and opened her still sleepy eyes.

The room was quiet, with only the sound of her own breathing. Jizi lay on the floor, silently looking at the ceiling that was stained with a little sunlight. Suddenly she sat up and turned her eyes to the bed beside her.

His own students... Li Shubai's bed was empty. Not only was the quilt folded into neat squares, but even the sheets were so flat that there was not a single dent or wrinkle. It was probably because the person who slept on the bed had tidied it up not long ago.

Obviously, compared to himself, he has quite good living habits.

But compared to that kind of thing, Ji Zi was more concerned about something else at the moment.

"When did I fall asleep..." She withdrew her gaze from the bed, lowered her head slightly, and racked her brains to recall the memories before she fell asleep, but she could not remember anything.

Given her habits, it should be impossible for her to sleep like a dead pig so defenselessly next to a boy she had just known for less than a day. She didn't even show any sign of noticing that he got up.

Not to mention, Ji Zi knew very well that her original purpose was to monitor this mysterious student in the same room. How could she fall asleep inexplicably in the middle of monitoring? If her patience was so weak, then she should just quit being a Valkyrie and retire early to go home and farm.

So, was there something wrong with my body?

She narrowed her eyes slightly, carefully feeling whether there was any strange feeling in her body and brain, but suddenly she became confused.

Because she was horrified to find that she had fallen asleep inexplicably when she woke up, she had been focusing on other things. It was only now that Ji Zi finally noticed the abnormality of her body.

No...it's not so much an abnormality.

She raised her palm, gently spread out her five fingers, then closed them, repeating this for a while.

Rather...I feel like my physical condition is better than I thought.

She threw back the quilt and stood up from the mat.

Once the movement becomes a little more intense, this feeling of lightness all over the body becomes more obvious.

The morning breeze lifted the curtains and blew into the room from the window, bringing with it an intoxicating fragrance. The newly awakened sunlight gently wrapped around Ji Zi's skin, and her brain, which had just woken up, was also quite refreshed.

The stinging and discomfort that her body had been feeling since it was damaged by the artificial stigmata were now gone, and her warm heart was beating powerfully, as if all the shackles that had been holding her back had been released.

Just as Ji Zi was feeling somewhat confused and experiencing the strange sensations coming from her body, the door of the dormitory was suddenly knocked.

After the crisp knocks on the door, Li Shubai's energetic voice came through the door: "I heard the sound, Teacher Jizi. Rita has prepared breakfast. If you wake up, go downstairs and eat breakfast. You still have classes this morning."

Chapter 4: Yaezakura was kidnapped back to Saint Freya (k)

After the words fell, without waiting for Ji Zi's response, the sound outside the door disappeared without a trace.

Silent silence fell in the dormitory illuminated by the morning sun.

Jizi was silent for a moment, and couldn't help but sigh softly: "Forget it... As for the physical matter, I'll ask Theresa to ask the medical team to help check it out later."

At least, as it stands now, although her original purpose was not achieved and she fell asleep inexplicably halfway through the surveillance, her surveillance target, Li Shubai, did not seem to do anything to her because of the flaws she revealed.

At least, she didn't feel any discomfort in her body, so even if something really happened, it shouldn't be something bad to her.

As for "what was done" on another level... Ji Zi has a very clear self-awareness of her own appearance. Although she is not the kind of person who is insecure about her appearance, she has to admit... in terms of appearance, whether it is Yulandel or Xilin, at least they are not worse than herself.

It is hard to imagine that with these two beauties who obviously have ill intentions towards him, Li Shubai would go to great lengths to do something to her.

After understanding this, Ji Zi stopped standing there in a daze. She quickly changed out of her pajamas and put on clothes for class. Then she opened the door, went into the bathroom, washed up briefly, went down the stairs, and came to the restaurant on the first floor of the dormitory.

The square table filled with food was filled with people sitting around it, and the sound of chopsticks clacking against each other could be heard one after another.

It seemed as if even the chill of the winter morning had been slightly dispelled, and the atmosphere in the restaurant was even more lively than Jizi had expected.

Ji Zi looked around and suddenly felt a little strange: "Where is Li Shubai?"

"Him." To Ji Zi's surprise, the person who answered her question was Theresa, who was sitting at the edge of the square table eating breakfast. "He got up earlier than you. He just finished breakfast and said hello to us before leaving."

"Where did he go?" Ji Zi asked.

"Do you have something to ask him?" Theresa paused while eating, she looked up at Ji Zi, her cute and tender face full of confusion.

"To say that there is something... isn't really the case..." Ji Zi shook her head hesitantly, then she realized something very strange and tilted her head in confusion.

Wait, why did Theresa seem to have been explaining Li Shubai's movements from the beginning? Ji Zi suddenly felt a little strange. Even if there was no prior communication, she still thought that monitoring Li Shubai's movements by herself was a joint plan between her and Theresa.

"What do you mean by not really..." Theresa, who seemed not to notice Jizi's doubts and was struggling with Rita's grilled fish, was speechless for a while, and then answered Jizi's question, "Anyway, if you need to find him, we should run into each other in class later. Even if I tell you where he is, you may not be able to find him now."

"Also, instead of worrying about Li Shubai, you should come here and have breakfast first, then hurry out to class." After finishing the fish in the bowl, Theresa suddenly turned her head and glared at Ji Zi, "Your first class is about to start and you are still so leisurely. Do you want to be late for the first day of class this semester?"

Phew...someone laughed out loud.

Theresa's question gave Ji Zi a headache. She didn't even have the time to find out who was laughing at her. She scratched her hair, feeling a little guilty: "At least give me some face in front of the students. I'm already up, right?"

"If you care about your reputation, you won't be standing there. Anyway, the students here will see your true nature after spending some time with you." Theresa rolled her eyes and said mercilessly, "Or, since you live with the students, in order not to affect them, are you going to improve your living habits and quit drinking from today?"

"Please forgive me for this one thing." Upon hearing this, Ji Zi couldn't help but put on an expression of being overwhelmed, and murmured in a low voice with some stomachache: "Why do I feel like you have a lot of complaints about me so early in the morning..."

Theresa wiped her mouth with a napkin after finishing her breakfast. She was furious when she heard Jizi's aggrieved murmur. But she didn't say much. She just glared at Jizi fiercely in her bewildered expression, snorted, and left the table without paying any attention to her.

"???"

How did I offend her?

Looking at Theresa's back, Ji Zi thought in confusion.

She didn't see it because her attention was all focused on Theresa.

At this moment, Kiana, who was eating breakfast, had a dimmed look in her eyes.

She suppressed her guilt and turbulent emotions, and lowered her head as if she felt pain.

Until Theresa left the dormitory, no one could answer Jizi's doubts. And because she needed to prepare for class, Jizi had to go out earlier than Kiana and the others.

So, with full of suspicion, the twenty-year-old single female teacher left alone in the bleak cold wind after finishing her breakfast.

Half past six in the morning.

After finishing breakfast, Li Shubai left the dormitory and walked in the opposite direction of the teaching building according to Theresa's instructions.

After passing the bridge outside the gate, Li Shubai followed the shore path to the south, bypassed the lake surrounding Saint Freya, and headed towards the back mountain in the southwest corner of the city.

There is only one winding road around the ridge on the entire back mountain.

Before Theresa chose this city as the location for the Far East Branch of the Mandate of Heaven and built the Saint Freya College, the Far East government did not pay much attention to the development of this coastal town. The steep mountains and dense coniferous forests made it extremely difficult to build roads in the back mountains.

Not to mention the station as the center of people's life, other buildings can't even be seen. Therefore, once you reach a certain height and enter an uninhabited area, it means that you are unilaterally disconnected from the city, and there is no trace of human life at all.

The asphalt road extended from the foot of the mountain behind and was soon completely covered by the lush forest. Li Shubai looked at the overgrown woods in front of him, scratched his hair in confusion, and muttered to himself: "Although Theresa did tell me that it should be this direction... However, if we go any further, it will be difficult to find out if we get lost."

It is probably a little before seven now. The first class starts at 8:30 in the morning. It will take about 20 minutes to get back to St. Freya's College from here, even if you run.

Therefore, the time from starting from here to returning to this place must be strictly controlled within one hour.

Although he could understand that the laboratory was built in this isolated area in the back mountains for the sake of confidentiality, why would he run to such a remote place when class was about to start?

Li Shubai sighed and thought helplessly.

If you ask why, it’s probably because... I couldn’t refuse Theresa’s request.

Just yesterday.

Just like they ran to the South China Sea to deal with the sudden collapse incident.

Theresa, who left St. Freya's College, was not idle either.

The observation team of the Far East Branch discovered a second source of unexplained high-intensity collapse in Changkong City. In order to solve this unexplained sudden collapse incident, Theresa came to Changkong City alone and conducted a detailed search and investigation in Changkong City.

Unlike Li Shubai and his group, whose entire journey seemed to be full of ups and downs, Theresa... hardly encountered any major difficulties.

Perhaps it was because the time when Mei Raiden was forcibly activated as a Herrscher by Gray Snake was different from the time that Li Shubai knew. At that time, it was the winter vacation at Senba Academy. Except for Mei Raiden, Gray Snake, Li Shubai and Kiana, there were no other teachers or students in the entire school.

Although the fact that the Third Collapse directly led to the death of millions of people in Changkong City still happened, in terms of details... there are indeed many places where there are various subtle differences from Li Shubai's understanding of the plot.

First, let’s look at Mei Raiden’s status.

At that time, after being eroded by Honkai, he was gradually transformed into a death warrior. It was precisely because he gained the power of Honkai in the process of transforming into a death warrior that Li Shubai was able to do things that ordinary people could not do.

But now thinking back... not to mention that I had not completely lost my mind at that time and turned into a death warrior driven only by killing instinct, even if I became a death warrior, there was no reason for me to be able to fight against Raiden Mei who became the Herrscher.

Li Shubai remembered that before Mei Raiden, who had been transformed into a Herrscher, suddenly attacked, he seemed to see the gray snake with its entire body destroyed next to Mei Raiden.

In other words, at that time, the reason why Mei Raiden, who had not held back at all, failed to kill herself in the first place was not because she was not strong enough, but because... she had fought with Gray Snake once, and used the remaining strength to fight with herself continuously, so she was unable to defeat him immediately.

Similarly, it was precisely because Mei Raiden's physical strength had never been at its peak that the accompanying disasters caused by the Third Collapse to the surrounding areas of Changkong City were not as severe as he had seen in the plot. Whether it was the full-strength attack between Himeko, who was supposed to have unleashed her full strength, and Mei Raiden, who was in the Herrscher state, which caused the large-scale collapse of buildings and changes in terrain; or the large-scale crustal changes caused by this, and the subsequent backflow of seawater, all of this has not happened yet.

After the disaster caused by the Honkai was substantially weakened, the remaining Honkai energy in Changkong City was not enough to generate a second Herrscher core. Therefore, Yuno, the pseudo-Herscher who was originally scheduled to awaken at Qianyu Academy, also disappeared.

Since the Herrscher of Poison had not awakened yet, there was naturally no possibility of Theresa having an accident when she entered Changkong City.

Although Yuno was not able to awaken as a Pseudo-Hermendator, another Pseudo-Hermendator in Nagizora City was awakened from a 500-year-long slumber due to the remaining Honkai energy after the third Honkai eruption.

After entering Changkong City, Theresa, who was performing a search mission, encountered this pseudo-Hershers who was wandering aimlessly in Changkong City like a lonely soul without much surprise. She wanted to end the life of this Herrshers as quickly as possible, but after the actual fight... Theresa froze.

It’s not that this pseudo-Hershersler is stronger than her, but as the fight went on, she suddenly discovered that the cherry-haired girl with a pair of fox ears seemed completely different from what she had expected, and was not dominated by the madness and evil brought about by the Honkai.