Ling ke stood up and bowed into a theatrical position. "I would like to thank the person for correcting my translator , and from now on everytime my translator made that specific mistake i would provide [ you ] the readers a chapter for compensation and basically just like mimicking how the gacha games like: genshin, wuwa, hsr, and honkai."
Within the theater of domination, dozens of characters who from multiple franchises clapped together as they applauded the hero for their valor: for vanquishing the besmirchment of the translator's work—effectively executed and replaced with another new translator, as punishment and an extension of thanks for our named hero: PeekAtChu
Ling ke clasped his hands as the curtain call ends.
Chapter 58
Before today, Ling Ke had entertained dozens of possibilities for how Raiden Mei's first encounter with MEI and Kevin might play out.
Naturally, being in a distinctly playful mood, he hadn't ruined the fun by using his "Omniscience" to just look up the exact outcome. Instead, he took his time, savoring that rich, heady anticipation of a mystery waiting to unfold.
He had originally wondered...
"Will Raiden Mei just kill MEI and Kevin on the spot? Or will she use her foresight to squeeze them for all they're worth?"
"If she goes for the kill, well, points for decisiveness. She'd be severing the Previous Era's lifeline right at the root."
"Unfortunately, if she actually did that, she'd be digging her own grave."
"The most likely endgame? Both eras go down in flames."
"After all, without the countless legacies left behind by the Previous Era—especially Pardo sacrificing herself to open the 'Door,' and Prometheus hacking into the so-called Will of Honkai—how exactly is the Current Era supposed to face the Cocoon of Finality? They're practically climbing the tech tree through archaeology. What are they going to do, headbutt it?"
"Not to mention..." Ling Ke sneered. "From start to finish, she's nothing more than a Self-Destroyer who just happened to 'stray into IX'."
That alone marked a world of difference from the parallel-universe 'Acheron' he remembered.
Acheron had willingly stepped into IX. She had stood her ground as a ferryman for centuries, granting release to countless poor souls who had blindly strayed into the shadows, carrying out their unfulfilled dying wishes time and time again.
That was why Acheron could obliterate a world with a casual swing of her blade.
But Raiden Mei...
She was tangled up in the primary cause-and-effect that was tipping the Current Era from prosperity to ruin. Throw in a little behind-the-scenes tampering from a newly ascended Ling Ke—just enough of a catalyst to give this world the potential to birth Pathstriders like their "neighbors"—and that was what doomed her to this path of no return.
Because of that, the more she used that power, the deeper she would sink. In the end... she would become a genuine, pitiful Self-Destroyer in every sense of the word.
Still, until the day she faded away entirely, she remained undeniably stronger than almost anyone else on the planet.
Just nowhere near as strong as Acheron, obviously.
Setting everything else aside, just look at her sword. The forging process, the "materials" fused into it, even the wielder's own convictions—they were on completely different levels.
But at the very least, the current Raiden Mei wouldn't be casually swatted aside by Kevin Kaslana like a fly anymore.
To sum it up: Current Era versus Previous Era. Even though the Current Era had been Ling Ke's target for revenge—leaving it in far worse shape than its predecessor in almost every metric—both sides actually still held a legitimate chance at victory.
Yet, right at this critical juncture...
"What? She really just threw herself under the bus?!"
Inside the Theater of Domination, the look on Ling Ke's face was nothing short of spectacular.
"No, seriously... are you out of your mind?"
He honestly couldn't help but admire Raiden Mei right then. He almost wanted to give her a standing ovation.
"Wild. That is genuinely wild."
It was unimaginable. No, honestly—without tapping into the power of Omniscience, who the hell could have seen that coming?
It raised a very serious question.
"Sis, this is a literal war for survival between two eras. Two civilizations."
"Survival of the fittest! A fight to the bitter end!"
"And at a time like this, you're still thinking about holding hands and skipping off into a bright and beautiful future together?"
Honestly, hearing Puppet of Domination: Sparkle call the current Raiden Mei just as utterly stupid as he used to be... Ling Ke almost lost it.
It really was like that old saying about Hamlet.
Viewing the exact same situation from an outsider's perspective painted an entirely different picture.
Maybe he just didn't know himself as well as he thought.
But he had a few words to say in his own defense.
Sure, it might be the pot calling the kettle black, but back when his brain was still rotting from the power of friendship and delusional optimism, he had never been this naive.
At the very least, when he first transmigrated here and approached Raiden Mei, he didn't just dump the truth about his otherworldly origins right out the gate.
And he certainly didn't gamble the safety of his homeworld on the moral character of someone he'd barely met.
That wasn't a weight he had the right to put on the scales, no matter the circumstances.
He screwed up, he suffered the consequences, and eventually he crawled his way back up to take his revenge. That was it.
From start to finish, that mess was strictly between him and them.
Anyway, his revenge was complete. His obsessions were laid to rest, and he had a new lease on life... but watching today's little drama unfold, Ling Ke could only marvel at how tame his past stupidity actually was by comparison.
The bar was practically in hell, and somehow she had still managed to limbo under it.
Seriously...
"Does she honestly think that 'straying into IX' gave her enough of a power boost to make her invincible?"
"Or has her brain been sucked dry by zombies—cough, by a sleepwalking IX?"
Ling Ke honestly couldn't fathom what the hell she was doing.
But...
"Heh... makes sense."
Sitting alone on his throne, he let out a sudden snort of laughter. "I suppose my 'script' is only fun if I have to improvise the next act on the fly."
When it came down to it...
"It's utter dogshit, but you can't deny it's a hell of a plot twist!" Ling Ke mused.
Then again...
"Whatever. Let's see just how unhinged you can get."
"Besides..." Ling Ke's expression contorted into something slightly weirded-out. "Why do I get the feeling Mei isn't the only one about to lose her damn mind?"
"Hopefully I'm just overthinking it."
"Otherwise I'm gonna need to bleach my eyes."
He felt like a guy who had just rounded a corner only to catch a glimpse of his favorite comic book superheroes pissing their spandex. He didn't even know what kind of face he was supposed to make anymore.
Fortunately...
"At least Patriarch Kevin is still relatively normal."
"It shouldn't be long before he forces Raiden Mei to face reality."
"As for MEI and the Kevin of this era..."
Meanwhile, on the outside.
Back inside the café near Nagazora International Airport.
MEI stared at the purple-haired girl sitting across from her. The girl looked strikingly similar to her... and MEI's gaze grew heavy with scrutiny.
Raiden... Mei?
Raiden_Mei?
MEI?
"Hokushin... no, Miss Raiden Mei."
A thought seemed to cross MEI's mind, and she asked pointedly, "Are you trying to tell me that you're me from the future?"
"And that I end up living for over fifty thousand years?"
"Huh?"
Hearing her ask that, the young Kevin sitting next to them immediately perked up.
"Living for over fifty thousand years! That's amazing..."
He let out a sigh of genuine awe.
So foolish. So incredibly naive.
But a second later, a thought seemed to strike him. He eagerly pointed at himself, leaning towards Raiden Mei. "What about me? What about me?! Do I also— Ow! What was that for, MEI?!"
MEI, completely out of patience, had kicked him right in the shin.
When Kevin shot her a deeply wronged look, she didn't soften in the slightest, instead delivering a downright lethal glare.
Kevin pursed his lips and finally shut up.
He had no clue why MEI was glaring at him, but he certainly didn't want to actually piss her off.
Not too far away...
"Were you really this brainless back then?"
"..."
"You were basically a paramecium!"
"..."
"A literal single-celled organism."
"..."
Faced with the Puppet of Domination: Sparkle's relentless roasting, Kevin could only suffer in silence.
Truthfully, considering her chaotic nature—and the very real threat that she might just drop his disguise right here and now to stir up drama—he really wanted to say a word or two in his own defense.
But after witnessing his past self's absolute circus of a performance...
All he could say was that this must be the fabled, teeth-gritting agony of confronting your own cringeworthy past. The ultimate urge to just reach back through time and slap your younger self in the face.
Finally, after choking on his words for what felt like an eternity...
"I was... very young at the time."
That was the only sentence Kevin Kaslana could squeeze out, his eyebrow twitching wildly.