LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 101: Time Runs Out
As time passed, darkness gradually enveloped the entire city, and the night grew darker. Even the moon hid behind the heavy, dark clouds, not daring to show its face.
The colorful neon lights began to flicker, scattering into dream-like spots of light through the hazy mist. Dreamlike and unreal.
"What exactly are you planning?" Himeko's voice, accompanied by footsteps, came from behind him. The evening wind howled on the high platform.
This was the most central area of the city, and also the tallest building—the signal tower.
The terrifying Honkai bomb emitted a faint blue light, and along with the crisp sound of the countdown timer, it hung over Ren's head. But he didn't even blink. He simply overlooked the entire city.
No one had noticed how the two of them had appeared here. The mecha forces that World Serpent had ambushed here hadn't even sensed their heat signatures. Ren was like a ghost, silently hidden in the darkness, observing the world.
Not getting a response, Himeko was feeling uneasy. She quickly approached Ren, wanting to continue questioning him. But what she was met with, were a pair of golden eyes. The Herrscher, who held the power of a god, didn't show any emotions.
The words she had wanted to say wouldn't come out. Himeko sighed, and softly said, "You know what will happen when this bomb explodes, right? So many people will die in that explosion."
"But what does that have to do with me? I am a Herrscher. Destroying humanity is what I should be doing," Ren's tone was calm. Millions of lives were just a number. "And besides, don't you know who created this bomb?"
"Humanity has always been a race that is obsessed with self-destruction."
Himeko was speechless. She naturally knew that Ren didn't have any obligation or reason to help humanity, but after spending so many days with him, she had subconsciously begun to think of Ren as someone on humanity's side.
Although this boy always said that he was humanity's enemy, he had never truly done anything to destroy humanity. Instead, during her recent investigations, Himeko had found a large amount of evidence of World Serpent conducting human experiments.
Himeko, who had a kind heart, naturally wanted to save this city. But without Ren's permission, she couldn't do anything. Even if the bomb was now right above her, she didn't dare try to dismantle it, because she couldn't be certain that, if she did, Ren wouldn't directly detonate the bomb.
Up until this point, she hadn't even figured out Ren's true objectives. If Ren had truly wanted to cause destruction, she would definitely have tried to stop him, but what made her feel uneasy was that, even though the Herrscher wasn't doing anything, she still felt a strong sense of helplessness.
Perhaps, just like Ren had said, even if the Herrscher didn't do anything, humanity would still continue on the path of self-destruction.
In this situation, any attempts to persuade him would become pale and powerless. The only bargaining chip that Himeko could think of was her student.
"Kiana can no longer withstand any more erosion. Only you can help her…"
Silence, before a low chuckle sounded. "Is this the realization of a teacher?"
Golden eyes stared at Himeko's orange ones. Himeko could sense the unconcealed mockery within them. She bit down on her lips, drawing blood, but she didn't have a choice.
Millions weren't just a simple number, but living and breathing lives. If she could really use Kiana to persuade the Herrscher and save this city, she was willing to use all of her lives to pay off Kiana's debt.
Under the Herrscher's gaze, she was no longer as tough as before. For humanity, her personal dignity was meaningless.
Looking at the obedient Himeko standing before him, Ren's lips curved into a playful smile. He leaned close to Himeko's ear, and with a suggestive tone, he said, "If this is your resolve, then it's not impossible for me to help, but I hope that you don't regret the decisions that you make today."
His words fell, and countless transparent threads suddenly spread out from Ren's body, heading towards the Honkai bomb.
Jackal had designed it so that if there were any strong Honkai energy fluctuations around the bomb, it would immediately detonate. However, even when Ren used his powers at such a close distance, the bomb was still like a sleeping baby, without any reactions.
This was the characteristic of the Herrscher of Dominance's power. Aside from the Herrscher of Binding, only Dominance could so precisely control its own power. It was because of this that, even if a Honkai beast appeared beside him, they would still be unable to sense his Herrscher identity.
This was one of the safeguards he had left for himself. Honkai beasts not attacking Herrschers was originally a phenomenon that symbolized identity and power, but sometimes, it would inadvertently expose a Herrscher's hidden identity. Especially for those people from Schicksal and Anti-Entropy who had been in contact with Honkai for so long, it would be easy for them to find Ren's main body through that.
The threads of Dominance wrapped around the Honkai bomb, tightly restricting the dispersion of Honkai energy. With this safeguard, it would give Kiana enough time.
Although Ren hadn't directly dismantled the bomb, Himeko still breathed a sigh of relief. During the countdown, the bomb would constantly emit Honkai energy. Just this energy alone was enough to infect nearby civilians, turning them into zombies, and that was also what she had been worried about previously.
Now with the safeguard that Ren had added, even if the Honkai bomb was hit by a rocket, it wouldn't be so easily detonated, which would greatly reduce the difficulty of the rescue operations.
She was about to say something, before realizing that Ren had somehow disappeared. She was now alone in the cold wind.
Just as she was preparing to leave, a sudden and violent roar from a Honkai beast reached her ears. Following the first roar, more and more Honkai beasts began to appear in the city.
"This is…?!"
There was no doubt that this was World Serpent's final arrangement. In Jackal's hands was the agent that could transform humans into Honkai beasts. She also possessed enough Honkai energy to trigger a Honkai outbreak. With their powers combined, they were able to create a perfect line of defense.
The previous explosions were just appetizers. True chaos could only be created by a Honkai outbreak. Only in this way could the entire city fall into true disorder, and the Honkai bomb be detonated without being interfered with.
After Raven had failed in her ambush against Kiana, World Serpent had already realized that the Herrscher of the Void would be their biggest obstacle to the Stigmata Project, and Raiden Mei's appearance had also indicated that Schicksal and Anti-Entropy had already begun taking action.
The estimated ten hours that they had probably now had less than half remaining. But it no longer mattered. The coupling of the Honkai bomb was already at its final stages. Four hours?
Who told you that the information you had eavesdropped on was real?
The coupling between the Honkai bomb and the Stigmata induction genes actually only required three hours. This meant that everyone only had half an hour left. And now that the Honkai outbreak was occurring, there would be no one left to stop the Stigmata Project.
"The fog has been deployed. The Stigmata Project has entered its final countdown." Gray Serpent's dull voice echoed through World Serpent's public comms channel.