The Fire-Chasing Herrscher Who Destroyed the World

【165:52:25】

Mikael glanced at the numbers at the top of the three-dimensional projection screen in the war room. The countdown had passed two hours. If you include the thirty-three hours that Kevin and Sakura were unconscious, then they had actually wasted thirty-five hours. Hour.

That is, nearly one-fifth of the time...

Mikael pulled back his hair. In this battle where there was no smoke in sight, he began to feel irritable.

"Prometheus, go and urge Erwin again. Why is the progress so slow when you already know the way the opponent's attack spreads?"

Due to the ongoing upgrade, many modules of Prometheus have been suspended. Now they can't even "sound" and can only perform the tasks assigned by Mikael in the mode of pop-up messages.

"never mind……"

Mikael straightened his bangs again. Fortunately, he was still young. If the scars had been changed, the podium would have been covered with hair by now... He tried to tell himself a cold joke to relieve his mood.

"Give me direct access to Erwin's communication."

Although the two people are now in the same situation room, and they don't even need to walk twenty steps to each other, such communication also has its own meaning - for example, it can further squeeze Erwin and let him talk while working.

"Ha-no! Okay, okay, I heard everything, Captain Mikael."

Ervin was obviously yawning, but his voice was a little too excited. Some people would become drowsy if they didn't close their eyes for more than 20 hours, while some people would become more and more excited and unable to sleep. Erwin is obviously the latter. This kind of excitement and excitement also has an unlucky but appropriate adjective—reflection.

"So where are the results of your work?"

Although they can't bear it, now is not the time to be merciful. In a sense, they are also racing against death.

"The situation is a bit complicated... Haha! It's not what we originally imagined. There seems to be nothing in common with what those patients with narcolepsy browsed before the onset of the disease. Some watched videos, some read novels, and some Some listened to the radio, and some even watched... short movies. Later, I thought it was because the time of illness was different. I checked the patients who were sick at the same time, but unfortunately, I still couldn't find the so-called commonality. "

Erwin slowly slumped in his seat, and the fatigue from not getting sleep and rest for a long time began to spread throughout his body.

Mikael couldn't press for anything for a while. He sighed softly and said:

"If it doesn't work, you should go and take a nap first. Not taking any rest will only reduce your efficiency."

"It's okay. I divided the other personnel in the intelligence department into two shifts. Cang Xuan leads one and Danzhu leads one. I'm just summarizing some information."

"In this case, you should rest." - Mikael wanted to say this, but the words failed to come out.

It would be a bit hypocritical to reiterate this kind of thing when you need to race against time, because Mikael has to admit that compared to letting people rest, he really hopes that everyone can work 168 hours without a break.

Of course, there is another reason - it is no longer needed.

What reached Mikael's ears through the communication was the sound of slight snoring.

"...Forget it, let's have a good sleep."

"Captain Mikael? Captain Mikael?"

Suddenly, a familiar figure stood up in the office area of ​​the Intelligence Bureau. She called Mikael twice in a breathy voice, and then made a gesture to Mikael to come to the corridor outside to chat.

…

"Aunt Blanca, what's wrong?"

Since giving birth to Gracie, Blanca's already thin sense of existence has become even... thinner. If she hadn't stood up just now, Mikael would have forgotten that she had actually been working in the Intelligence Agency for six years after leaving Mebius's laboratory.

"I've found something, but I'm not sure."

"Um?"

Mikael was stunned at first. The disappointment and annoyance just now had not faded away, but now he was surprised again.

Although Blanca clearly said "I'm not sure" and her expression was slightly hesitant, this only made Mikael even more excited.

Aunt Blanca is a good person, so what she said is not certain. Mikael thinks it is just to take care of other people, such as Erwin's face. And if Mikael felt wrong, it didn't matter. She was not sure about a discovery, but she had to talk to Mikael privately...

Even if it is not the so-called communication method that Mikael seeks, it must be infinitely close to the truth.

And her next words undoubtedly confirmed Mikael's thoughts:

"I personally think, just my personal opinion - we know that the means of spreading narcolepsy is the Internet. Considering the power of the Lawyer, narcolepsy should be related to the things that patients browse. So far, there is no inference. wrong."

"What went wrong after that?"

Mikael asked straight to the point.

Unexpectedly, Blanca shook her head:

"Our understanding is not wrong, the mistake is that our...imagination is not bold enough."

"Well...why do you say that?"

"Mikael, 伱, Erwin, Danzhu, and Cangxuan all imagine the target as a web page, an article, in short, a whole, so they can't find any commonality."

"!"

Mikael took a deep breath, first patted his bloodshot cheek, and then patted his forehead in frustration——

Blanca’s words simply awakened the dreamer!

With the ability of the Eighth Herrscher, by exerting mental interference on specific information, causing those who see the information to fall into sweet dreams, and then disseminating it through the Internet, this is true, but she carries her spirit with her. Why does the information of interference have to be a complete "information"?

It may be just a fragmented fragment, which also meets the requirements of communication. If it is a complete message, what is the probability that it can be captured by countless people around the world at the same time?

Unless it was about Eden, but that would be too obvious.

Therefore, due to the common requirements of versatility and confidentiality, this kind of fragmented information can only be - "characters".

Because no matter whether human beings open text, video or audio on the Internet, they will inevitably see characters. The number of commonly used characters is quite large, but it cannot be said to be too many. The repetition rate is neither high nor low, which corresponds to each character. A wave of sleeping sickness patients.

"Carry out manual investigation immediately... By the way, you still need to pay attention to the time period. The Herrscher is not a fool. She is likely to change the corresponding characters regularly, but you don't have to do it with the recent patients... Don't fall asleep by then."

"Okay, okay! You can talk to Cang Xuan and Danzhu about this kind of order. You kid, you can't learn from anyone, you have to be like my family, mother-in-law and mother."

Mikael didn't know whether to laugh or cry for a moment, neither did he answer the call, nor did he not answer the call.

Fortunately, Hen hasn't come back yet, so he probably won't hear these words.

"But why do you need manual investigation? Yes! If Prometheus had been asked to search from the beginning, the results should have been obtained by now, right? Uh... No, you kid is too smart to be so stupid. "

This time Mikael just smiled helplessly.

"The upgrade plan for Prometheus has not yet been completed. Now it can only be responsible for communication coordination. Other work sections must wait until they are upgraded before they can be used again."

"What a coincidence."

"Hmm... But it doesn't matter. It is expected that the upgrade will be completed in less than nine hours."

Blanca curled her lips:

"Mikael, don't you know that the progress bar gets slower towards the end?"

Mikael couldn't hold back his laughter.

"How's it going? You're not so anxious now, right?"

"Well, thank you."

Blanca turned around, but did not enter the situation room. Instead, she walked towards the second laboratory.

"Aunt Blanca?"

"Have you forgotten? I am also one of the qualified ones! Now that I have found the direction for you, you don't need me for the next work, right?"

She chuckled and turned around again, her steps slow but determined.

Mikael did not try to retain her. He first used the communication to adjust the order to the intelligence department, and then leaned against the cold armor plate alone, letting his mind relax for a while.

Blanca's voice was still in my ears, and I couldn't get rid of it for a while, and there was no need to wave it away. She didn't actually say anything special, but just like that, she could make people feel relaxed.

Maybe this is how she coaxed Gracie?

Yes, Gratius, Aunt Blanca can face the super-changing surgery with such a relaxed attitude, it must be because she wants to protect Uncle Hen, protect Gratius... Of course, she also protects him, Ellie, and mankind. .

Mikael smiled and shook his head. He suddenly remembered an issue that he had struggled with but had not thought of again for a long time -

"Mikael, what do you want to protect and save, is Alicia alone or the whole world?"

Mikael didn't know if it was because he had grown up or because he looked at the problem from a different perspective. Looking back at this problem now, he just felt that it was quite childish.

In his heart, the world without Alicia is incomplete and can no longer be called the world. And if he abandons the world for Alicia, neither he nor she can accept such a choice. .

Not to mention the contradictions in these concepts, his body has been pursuing it honestly... Call it greedy or call it the best of both worlds.

But this kind of instinctive action without knowing what to do undoubtedly confirms what he desires most in his heart.

Just as he thought a long time ago, walking in the world is like walking on a muddy field bank after rain. Every time he steps down, the soles of his shoes are covered with mud that cannot be washed away and rubbed away.

This metaphor may not be very elegant, but it is more or less appropriate.

He believed that Alicia must be the same way. In a sense, they both came from outside the world, and their state of mind was the same.

Since we want to exist as a human being, it is impossible not to establish connections with others. On the one hand, this is because the power of the individual is too small, and on the other hand, it is also because of the psychological shortcomings of human beings themselves - we cannot see ourselves, we must be close to others Only by using others as mirrors can we see ourselves, that is, realize ourselves.

On the contrary, the self will gradually become weaker and eventually feel indescribable loneliness.

And this connection is what is called a bond.

Once established, a bond cannot be broken.

It is precisely because of these that Mikael will gradually forget his identity as an outsider.

It is precisely because of these that Alicia wants to become a human.

"So, Mikael-chan, work hard, this is already the fifth from the bottom!"

The adult man patted his cheek, stood up, and prepared to return to his rightful post.

At this time, the door to the war room opened again.

Cang Xuan walked out with a look of surprise.

"What's wrong?"

"The coalition government sent a communications request."

…………

"Tsk! I didn't expect that an oligarchic organization like [SEELE] hasn't been disbanded yet?"

Michael smacked his lips and looked around at the eleven tombstones with curiosity.

"Oligarchs? We are considered oligarchs, so who do you and Mei?"

An angry male voice sounded, and Michael pursed his lips and smiled, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, of course you are the eleven tyrants of ancient Attica, and Mei and I are naturally the co-consuls of the Land of Seven Hills!"

"You - you are using strong words to make sense!"

"enough!"

There was a soft shout from the tombstone marked [.01], and then the tombstone numbered [.06] suddenly dimmed. I don’t know if he was kicked out of the chat room or was banned.

Mikael gave a disdainful smile. Even though he was facing a meaningless tombstone instead of a real person projection, he could still feel ten eyes with different expressions focused on him.

"Really, it's like a trial... Mei Ye can really bear it..."

Almost at the same time as he was mumbling, Keir spoke:

"Where's Mei?"

His words were concise and concise, but the meaning expressed was very interesting - even if communication with the Fire Chaser Moth is necessary, we don't want to talk to you.

Mikael's lips grinned, and he inexplicably remembered... a thing from the past that was not of this world.

It was when he was in the third grade of elementary school. He once had a fight with other boys in the class. At that time, he was as introverted as when he first came here. He would challenge a group by himself. He didn't remember whether he won or lost, but he guessed that He should have won the battle, otherwise the head teacher wouldn't have just talked to him.

The reason why this incident was so impressive and still fresh in his memory is what happened after the conversation——

Class teacher: "Why are you fighting with them?"

Xiaomi: "They bully me. My dad said, I will beat whoever bullies me!"

The head teacher stared in disbelief and asked Mikael to give his father's phone number. He even turned on the radio, so the following magical conversation took place:

Class teacher: "Hey, hello, you are Xiaomi's father, right?"

Lao Mi: "Well, I am, who are you?"

Class teacher: "I am Xiaomi's class teacher. He had a fight with his classmates at school today..."

Lao Mi: "Did you win?"

Class teacher: "No, Xiaomi's father, he told me that you taught him to fight?"

Lao Mi: "What did he say?"

Class teacher: "He said, tell him that he will beat anyone who bullies him."

Lao Mi: "Yes, I said it. What's wrong?"

Class teacher: "...Xiaomi's father, can you give me Xiaomi's mother's phone number?"

From then until he graduated from elementary school, when Mikael had a problem, his head teacher would always call his mother. Mikael's mother also tacitly undertook all the parent-teacher meetings during his elementary school years.

To be honest, the teacher was good to him in other aspects. These guys from SEELE were not worthy of being compared to her, but he just thought of this matter inexplicably. Maybe the reason why SEELE didn't want to communicate with him was because of the relationship with his class teacher when he was a child. The reason for not wanting to communicate with his dad is the same——

It doesn't make sense.

Since you think it doesn't make sense, just avoid them and don't communicate with them.

Mikael didn't know where SEELE came from this illusion. He felt that he was more talkative than Mei in many cases. All Fire Chaser warriors have a say in this.

Maybe they didn't want to communicate with a Herrscher, but Mikael remembered that SEELE once evaluated him as "good", which was roughly equivalent to the zookeeper's evaluation of the tiger as "very docile".

But they couldn't tell clearly. They must have felt a sense of gap now. After all, things had become increasingly out of their control since the fifth collapse.

But Mikael thinks there is another possibility - "They should have seen the records and videos related to the Seventh Honkai Impact. If this is the case, they have restrained themselves by not retching every time in front of me, right? Haha. Ha ha."

The people in SEELE didn't want to communicate with Mikael, and Mikael naturally didn't want to communicate with them. Originally, the two sides coincided with each other on this kind of thing... Oh no, they parted ways on bad terms, which can be considered a happy ending for everyone.

But this is obviously not possible at this juncture.

Mei always worked so carelessly about her body, and now she was probably coaxed to sleep by Ai Li. If she didn't sleep for a full eight hours, how could she have the energy to save the world?

Besides, she still has to worry about Kevin.

"Mei has important work and can't leave. If you have anything to say, just tell me. I think it's just because of the eighth collapse, right?"

He said this, but received no response for quite some time.

The circle of tombstones stood so quietly around him, making no sound or any movement, making people feel as if they were real "tombstones".

They were probably discussing privately how to deal with this.

Mikael rested his head on his hands and waited leisurely. He even had the time to joke in his heart: "Well, the light on the tombstone is still on. It seems that Tarot was kicked offline just now."

After a while, Keir's voice sounded again: "First of all, the Eighth Collapse is just one-sided words of your fire-chasing moths. The coalition government..."

"What's next?"

Mikael waved his hand and interrupted him rudely.

"..."

Kiel was silent for a moment, no longer pretending, and directly stated the purpose of his visit: "Currently, there are more than 10,000 people in the world who are sleeping in the coma, and the people's hearts are already floating. We hope that the fire-chasing moth can stand up. Come out and give the people an explanation.”

"Explanation? What explanation?"

Mikael was a little confused. He didn't know for a moment whether he was too stupid or whether SEELE was too shameless.

"In the information disclosed by the coalition government, the official name of the Fire Moth is the Unnatural Phenomenon Investigation Department. Therefore, if such an unnatural phenomenon occurs now, it is of course up to you to explain it."

"..."

Mikael covered his forehead, suddenly feeling regretful - or should Mei really be allowed to deal with these guys?

Although it's not very harmful, their brain circuits are really...disgusting.

"Half an hour later, that is, at 8 a.m. Luluye time, there will be an online press conference. I hope the spokesperson of Fire Chaser will not be absent."

After saying this, as if he deliberately did not want to have too much communication with Mikael, the ten tombstones were quickly and neatly extinguished, without giving Mikael a chance to refute.

"What the hell!"

Mikael cursed, opened the space rift, and returned to the war room.

With half an hour left, he could naturally ignore this matter. Anyway, the purpose of the Fire Chaser is to eliminate Honkai, and whitewashing the peace should be the responsibility of the coalition government.

But regardless of whether it is unrealistic or just like a child showing his temper - there is nothing wrong in appeasing the people. Besides, close your eyes and ask yourself, what are the big things I saw in De Moana Chino? Was the commotion really entirely caused by the influence of the Eighth Herrscher?

No, no matter what ability it is, it must abide by the law of conservation of energy... It seems a bit inappropriate to say this. In short, it seems like Mikael is constructing something out of thin air, but in fact... the specific principle is very troublesome, but even if you don't look at the process and only look at the result, you can conclude that he has consumed Honkai energy.

In other words, the things he constructed were not "made out of thin air."

In the same way, mental attacks cannot "create things out of thin air." It's like Aponia's precepts are essentially about fully tapping the corresponding power of the body. As for things that the body can't do, the precepts can't help it do it.

The same goes for the Eighth Herrscher.

All mental attacks can do is guide - guide people to obey their desires and indulge in wonderful but false dreams.

Or perhaps a handful of oil was poured on the fire that was already burning in people's hearts, and riots arose.

But would it be okay without the spiritual guidance of the Eighth Herrscher? Can you rest assured? Of course not, the "oil" poured on it just advances the time for the fire to burn everything out, instead of causing the calm and clear inner lake to suddenly catch fire.

Without the Eighth Herrscher, this fire would eventually ignite and eventually burn humanity to death.

However, who should attend this so-called press conference, and what should be said? Mikael is clueless.

"Do we still have to rely on Mei in the end..."

Mikael was thinking about the candidates in his mind.

Aunt Blanca is suitable, but she is probably on the operating table by now.

Mebius? never mind……

Mikael sat on the chair, his toes lightly tapping the ground, and his body began to rotate with the body of the chair.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar figure suddenly appeared in his sight.

He sat alone in the back row of the situation room. Due to his special status, no one cared about him, but no one cared about him. Only Yimer stood behind him for the purpose of guarding.

He could only watch blankly as everyone was busy with their work, scratching their heads and heads from time to time, feeling bored and a little irritable.

"Vashak, why are you here?"

After being discovered by Mikael, a trace of panic flashed in his eyes, but he immediately calmed down.

"Anyway, I am also the nominal leader of the Fire Chaser Moth. You just forbid me from leaving the underground city, but you didn't say I can't move around within the Fire Chaser Moth, right?"

Vasak spread his hands, "Or are you going to deprive an old man of his last right to freedom? Then you might as well put me in jail. Please, even though I have done some wrong things, I am still a moth chasing the flames. One of the founders of , when you left with Counter-Entropy, I made it easier for you. Later, I didn’t resist when you wanted to merge. You can’t do this to me!”

In his hoarse voice, he uttered one "heartfelt words" clearly and fluently, which made those who heard it sad and those who saw it shed tears and felt deeply guilty.

So Vassago saw Mikael staring at him.

"The decision is yours! Go, Vassago!"