K424 of the Collapse World

"But, Xier, if something happens to you, then all this will be in vain, right? And... now I am one with you. If you die, my will will also be annihilated. But I am not saying this for my own sake. I just... don't want you to get hurt..."

At this point, a tear slowly fell, and the black curtain on the surface of the stigmata personality slowly disappeared. Finally, a red-eyed girl who looked exactly like Seele stood there, face to face with Seele.

"I'm sorry... Sister. But Xier will never let all this go to waste! I should be able to... No! I can definitely do it, enough to save all this, I will hold them in my hands!"

Xier said as she gently pushed away the hand of the girl in front of her, walked to the huge box, placed her hand on the lid, and slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

Even if you make that decision, it still takes a little awareness to actually put it into action...

Beside her, the red-eyed girl stared at Xi'er blankly, without making another move to stop her. Although she knew better than anyone that an ordinary little girl could never withstand that kind of power, at this moment, she suddenly had a glimmer of hope for the girl in front of her. Although her mind told her that this idea was simply foolish, she was unwilling to give up this glimmer of hope...

Contradiction, strong contradiction. She knew very well that this was the contradiction between her own reason and something else.

It's not that she couldn't stop Xi'er, but she was unwilling to change the girl's will. This was a rule that she would never violate as the will of the Holy Mark.

Before she was overwhelmed by the tangled feeling brought about by these contradictions, she could not help but be stunned. Speaking of which, as a virtual personality, does she really have such a thing as a "heart"?

"Alright, alright, I'm really impressed by you, my host... From now on, I will act according to your wishes. I don't care what happens..."

She spoke softly, but suddenly froze in place, raised her head in disbelief, and looked around.

208 Another option >>

"This kind of fluctuation... Impossible! How could something invade this space?!"

Before she could come to her senses, a clear voice suddenly rang out above the pure white stigmata space.

"Ahem...testing the mic~ Can the people inside hear it?"

As this familiar voice resounded through the air, Xier next to her was stunned for a moment and temporarily put her hand down from the box.

"Is this voice... Sister Shilis?!"

Thinking of this, she exclaimed and looked around in astonishment. The next moment, a few scattered blue dots of light appeared in the air and slowly gathered together.

"Well, it looks like... the timing of the connection is just right. You two are here..."

The light slowly dissipated, and a girl with long purple hair fluttering slightly appeared in the pure white space. She slowly opened her eyes, and her cross-shaped pupils appeared in front of the two girls.

"Long time no see, Xi'er... and Miss Stigmata next to you. However, it's really surprising... You actually managed to get in. I thought you would be ejected halfway..."

Lan Feng said softly, lowered her head to look at her body, and felt her current state. Obviously, the space she was in now was very similar to the self-conscious space she had entered not long ago. The difference was that this time she entered someone else's body as a conscious body, and for some reason, she always felt a little weird.

"How is it possible... Shilis, why are you here?! And what happened to your eyes?"

"Sister Shilis, is it really you? But, haven't you already...?"

The two girls asked hurriedly, their faces showing the same look of astonishment. On the other side, Lan Feng briefly checked his current condition, then raised his head and met the eyes of the two people in front of him.

Although the two girls look exactly the same, Lan Feng can easily tell who is Xier and who is the personality of Shenghen through their eye color.

"I have already...? Hey, could it be that

After that incident, Kokolia announced to you that I was dead?"

Lan Feng nodded to the girl with the stigmata apologetically, and did not answer her question for the time being, but walked towards Xier first. As she asked, she gently rubbed the girl's hair.

Even in the space of consciousness, the touch of hair is no different from reality.

Not noticing that Lan Feng called Cocolia by her name, Xier shook her head uncomfortably, but did not avoid Lan Feng's hand. She just raised her head with a little concern and looked into Lan Feng's eyes.

"...No, Mom just said that you've disappeared. But, after such a long time, you must have...ah, sorry, sister Shirley, I'm glad you're still alive. But then again, what's going on now...? Why did sister Shirley appear in Xi'er's consciousness space?"

"With the help of another person, I forced my consciousness into your stigmata space, but it won't last long."

"But why did you do this? Sister Shilis..."

"I'm sorry... This is a little complicated, and I can't say much because of the limited time. But you just need to know that I'm here to help you, and that's enough."

Having said that, Lan Feng put his hand down and turned his gaze to the other girl who was silent next to him.

"Although it was expected...but you actually allowed Xi'er to open the box. Really...didn't you say before that you would protect her well? But now...you clearly know that Xi'er, with her current strength, can't withstand the backlash of the power of the stigmata!"

Although Lan Feng knew this plot, she still remembered that Xi'er seemed to have passed the test of the stigmata with her own will, and after getting the other party's permission, she opened the box. However, she was unable to withstand the power of the stigmata and disappeared in a quantum state, causing the Blue Sea Covenant to end in tragedy.

However, even knowing this, Lan Feng still felt puzzled. As far as she knew, the lady of the Holy Scar was obviously very rational and did not seem like the type who would easily get carried away. Why would she be persuaded by a cowardly girl like Xi'er who was not good at speaking and agreed with her decision?

Hearing this, the girl in front of him lowered her head slightly.

"I'm sorry, Hillis. I know very well that Xi'er can't do such a thing, but despite this, I have a strange feeling, and at the same time a voice in my heart tells me that I should believe Xi'er... so I..."

She stammered, her expression mixed with relief and disappointment.

Fortunately, Shirley arrived in time to stop Xier, but what was disappointing was that she didn't see Xier respond to her expectations and control that power...

Lan Feng pondered for a moment, and a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"I see. I almost understand. You...are probably attracted to this child, right?"

"Eh? No, how can you...?"

"Don't be so quick to deny it. Unconditional trust in someone is a sign of deep love. Although it may not be accurate in some cases, you are clearly a lot like a girl who is deeply in love right now."

"..."

"Don't show that expression. Although I am a little surprised that a mature consciousness like yours that has gone through two eras would be trapped by love, I am very happy... because this shows that there is no difference between your consciousness and that of humans. However, I still have to say that it is wrong to blindly trust someone."

Lan Feng smiled and subconsciously imagined touching the girl in front of him like he had touched Xier's head, but when he remembered her identity, he stopped his action abruptly.

At this time, Xier came over with a slightly flushed face.

"Um, Sister Hillis, what are you talking about? Hillis doesn't quite understand..."

"It's best not to understand. You don't need to understand this yet, Seele. You just need to know that no matter if it's me, Miss Stigmata, or your sister Bronya, everyone will protect you well. That's about it."

Lan Feng said with a smile, patted Xier on the shoulder, and didn't say much.

At this time, the girl with the stigmata slowly came back to her senses from her surprise. She looked at Lan Feng with a complicated expression and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Even if it's really what you said, what can I do? No matter what it is, even if I know it's wrong, I don't want to stop Xier from making her own decision. Even if... I have to sacrifice myself... Although I feel a little sorry for Xier, I have already made this decision. But then again, you..."

She said this lightly, and then looked at Lan Feng again, but before she could say anything, Lan Feng walked past her.

"Don't think about committing suicide like you did just now. Otherwise, why do you think I came here?"

As she spoke, she came to Xier's toy box and squatted down gently.

"Don't worry, I won't force you to change your mind, but here is another way. If it goes well, it may be possible.

Let Xier master the power of the stigmata without being harmed by it!"

209 An untimely encounter

"Master them without any backlash? How is that possible? Even the weak artificial stigmata of this era will suffer a huge backlash, let alone the Herrscher's stigmata which are countless times more powerful?"

After hearing Lan Feng's words, the girl with the holy scar shouted in disbelief, her eyes full of suspicion. No wonder she didn't trust Lan Feng, after all, this kind of thing was too fantastic.

"So, I can't be sure...but time is tight, and Hill can't hold on for too long, so I won't give an overly complicated explanation."

Lan Feng said this, hooking his finger at Xi'er, motioning her to come over. Then, he placed his hand on the lid of the box.

"To make a long story short, as you have just seen, I can break through the defense of this stigmata space without suffering any harm. Then, when the 'seal' is opened, Seele will just take over the main body of the stigmata, and I will use my own Honkai energy to resist their erosion. As long as we can hold on until Seele finds what she needs from there, our goal will be achieved. I tried it just now, and I can rely on the connection constructed by Hill to mobilize Honkai energy from my body and use it here, so..."

"Wait a minute, Shirley... There has never been a precedent for suppressing the backlash of the stigmata with Honkai energy, not to mention that it is not your own Honkai energy! With all due respect, Shirley, the hypothesis you are talking about now sounds just as absurd as the idea that you can fly into the sky by stepping on your right foot with your left foot repeatedly."

"I can fly, do I need to show you how to fly?"

"..."

Hearing this, the girl with the stigmata felt speechless. She smiled bitterly and shook her head, looking at Lan Feng as if she was looking at a child who had not grown up.

"I'm not kidding you, Shirley. Even if I search through all my memories of the past ten thousand years, I can't find any similar examples to the method you mentioned. So, your proposal has no basis and the possibility of success is almost zero."

Looking at the meticulous appearance of the Holy Scar Girl, Lan Feng curled his lips and couldn't help laughing.

"Sure enough, apart from what Xier said, your caution and rationality have returned... But, you would rather gamble that Xier can master that power independently, but you are unwilling to trust me a little? If we continue like this, there will be no other way. By then, it will only become what you originally planned, right?"

"...That's right, we really have no other choice now. You are our only hope, Shirley..."

"Well, my intuition tells me that this is not impossible. I will try my best not to betray your trust."

Lan Feng smiled and turned his gaze to the other black-haired girl in front of him.

"Come on, Xier, let's open it together... This is what you want now, isn't it? Don't be afraid, as long as I am here, I will not let you die."

"Ok!"

Xier nodded, and recalled the resolution she had just made. Her eyes became firm again. She imitated Lan Feng and placed her hands on the outer shell of the box.

"Um, Sister Shiris..."

"Ok?"

"Who is the 'Hill' you mentioned just now? Although it is pronounced the same as Xi'er's name, it is not Xi'er, right?"

Lan Feng pursed his lips and thought for a moment, then finally just smiled slightly.

"It's a secret for now~ But as for this, as long as you successfully inherit the power of the stigmata, and then meet her directly, won't you know everything?"

Lan Feng stopped talking here. Although Xier was still a little confused, she did not continue to ask about this matter.

"Well, let's get started. Xi'er, are you ready?"

"Well...! Let's get started."

Seeing Xi'er nod, Lan Feng checked his condition again, making sure that he could manipulate Honkai energy as usual, then he followed Xi'er's hand and gently lifted the lid...

The pure purple light filled the entire space in an instant...

·————————————·

x–10 Laboratory Center…

"Those who have abnormal reactions should not hold on! Replace your assistant immediately. This is a true leak of Honkai energy. Transforming into a dead soldier is no joke!"

"Minister! The Houkai energy concentration index has not changed, but the energy diffusion rate is still increasing. If this continues..."

"No... continue to observe the experiment. Before Master Cocolia comes back, no one should act rashly!"

The light in the laboratory was still a strange dark red, and the alarms of the Honkai energy detectors continued to sound. It was not that the researchers present did not want to turn off these annoying alarms, but because the current situation had indeed reached such an urgent level...

The central Honkai energy index of the experimental container is basically stable at 1700hw. This value has exceeded that of ordinary emperor-level Honkai beasts and is even close to that of initial body rulers!

With the isolation device, there would not be any problem. However, when the black mica-like crystals appeared outside the container arm, a small amount of Honkai energy leaked out along with the diffusion of the crystals.

Since women's resistance to Honkai energy is uniformly higher than that of men, the internal staff responsible for the x-10 experiment are all female researchers. However, even though all the staff are women and have been implanted with artificial Honkai energy antibodies, several researchers still developed a death reaction and were forced to leave the laboratory.

But even so, the experiment was still carried out under the insistence of the person in charge. Everyone here knew what would happen if they terminated the experiment privately without receiving orders. Although Cocolia gave them the right to make their own judgment, this could not be an excuse to give up the experiment out of fear.

"Ms. Minister! Look, look there!"

Just as everyone was trying to keep calm and observe the data, a young man's voice suddenly rang out, so loud that it even drowned out the noisy alarm.

Including the person in charge of the experimental department, all the researchers were startled. But when they looked up after hearing the sound, they all opened their eyes wide in astonishment!

On the transparent container in the center of the laboratory, the dark purple crystals produced by the runaway Honkai energy began to collapse and break apart. Gradually, they turned into blue luminous particles and seeped back into the transparent container. The black-haired girl in the container also had a relaxed and peaceful expression.

"Has the out-of-control Honkai energy...been calmed down?"

"The Honkai Energy Index has begun to drop... so fast! It has now fallen below 500 Boom Watts, and has returned to the safe value of Honkai Energy concentration!"

"Did the experiment... succeed?"

Seeing this scene, all the researchers were inevitably stunned by the surprising changes. As the leaked Houkai energy disappeared, some people even began to relax.

"Don't let up! The experiment isn't over yet...!"

The researchers were startled by the sudden shout from the person in charge. The next moment, they saw the most unbelievable scene in their lives...

Around Xier, the space seemed to be immersed in water and began to twist rapidly. After several refractions, it began to become blurred!

The person in charge pushed up his glasses, and a hint of fanaticism began to appear in his previously unusually calm eyes.

"The final hurdle of the x-10 experiment has just begun..."

·————————————·

In the energy configuration room of the x-10 experiment, Hill concentrated on manipulating the Honkai energy, using the flow of energy to connect Lan Feng's consciousness with the end of the Honkai energy infusion.

Although she only played the role of providing a link, it was not easy to maintain this state. After just a short while, Hill felt a little dizzy. However, thinking that the purple-haired girl was taking a much greater risk than herself, she gritted her teeth again and tried to hold on.

209 An inappropriate encounter >>

(It must be hard for Shiris to use her consciousness to forcibly invade the stigmata space. I can't just lose to her like this. But... what is she doing now? Is it really okay for such a large amount of Honkai energy to be transmitted suddenly?)

The greater the energy transmitted, the worse the stability of the connection will be. Although somewhat helpless, Hill had no other choice at this time. Before receiving news from Shirley, she could only hold on as long as possible. In order to help her companions, she would never give up maintaining the connection easily.

(I will definitely bring you back safely... As long as that child is out of danger, you will be fine too!)