Ling Ke left.
After that, Kevin Kaslana left as well.
Before leaving, Kevin invited Elysia to come with him.
She only looked deeply at Raiden Mei, and did not refuse.
Right now, Elysia knew that she needed to obtain more information before she could make a relatively correct judgment in the future.
And clearly, if she did not leave with Kevin, fulfilling that condition would become much more troublesome.
Much, much more troublesome.
In short…
Only a few minutes passed.
As the Domination Puppets, Herrschers of Origin that Ling Ke had sent entirely for show, purely to create visual impact, all withdrew, only Raiden Mei remained at the scene.
Alone.
Suddenly…
"Drip."
The originally peaceful sky began to grow more and more violent.
At first, there were only scattered drops of rain.
But as time passed, the rain grew denser, until finally…
It poured.
Raiden Mei stood in place, motionless.
She let the rain fall on her body.
Perhaps only this could cover the tear tracks on her face.
But…
"Drip."
This time, it was not the sound of rain falling.
It was the abnormal sign on Raiden Mei's body, finally impossible to hide beneath the downpour.
At this moment, her waist-length purple hair looked as though its color had been erased by an eraser from outside the painting, leaving only a barren gray-white.
And the tear tracks at the corners of her eyes could not blend into the falling rain.
They were crimson as blood.
"Drip."
"Drip."
The countdown had begun.
The self-destroyer had already stepped onto the final road.
The road of Nihility.
Several hours later.
In an underground base of the newly born World Serpent, still under construction.
"I see. So that person set this rule from the very beginning."
The purple-haired girl, MEI, murmured softly.
This was not some conference room meant to put on a surface-level display.
There were only a few sofas arranged inside, making the room look more like a warm gathering place.
At this moment, MEI, Kevin Kaslana, and Elysia, whom Kevin had brought with him, were all gathered here.
As MEI spoke, she casually made a fruit latte for Elysia, walked forward, and handed it to her.
"Thank you."
The pink-haired girl took the cup and held it in her hands.
It was warm.
Kevin subconsciously stood a little farther away.
Now, he could already control his extremely low body temperature.
The cold would be completely restricted to the surface of his body and would not spill into the surroundings.
But the habits he had maintained for so long still made this somewhat gentle man act on instinct.
And so, MEI and Elysia sat on the sofa, while Kevin stood not far away, arms crossed, leaning against the wall.
Speaking of which…
In the current newly born World Serpent, there were actually several other high-ranking members.
For example, Gray Serpent.
And also Mobius, Su, and the young Kevin.
Unfortunately, among those high-ranking members, some currently had their own matters to handle, while others had not openly defected yet and had sensitive identities, making it impossible for them to appear in person.
Others…
MEI and Kevin believed that, with their current mental state, they were not yet suited to take part in a matter with such far-reaching implications.
Therefore, for the time being, the two of them would only reveal to those people the parts of the information they could accept.
And now…
"I can roughly infer what that person wants to do."
MEI held another cup of fruit latte and took a light sip. Then she looked at Kevin.
Afterward…
She looked toward Elysia, who had only just arrived here.
She fell silent.
Or rather, she hesitated for an instant.
She seemed to be considering whether or not she should share information with Elysia.
But after taking into account everything Kevin had told her earlier…
In the end, she decided to trust Elysia.
And so…
"According to what that person said, K-423 was originally supposed to, in the future more than fifty thousand years from now, follow the road paved by our generation, undergo her own transformation, and ultimately receive the approval of the Cocoon of Finality."
"She would become the god of Earth."
"But with his arrival and intervention, that seemingly Happy_Ending future no longer exists."
"And now, since he possesses extraordinary power, if he intends to restore that point in a half-baked way, then…"
MEI looked at Kevin.
"Then in truth, he is indirectly passing a message to us."
"That is: if your, our, era wants to continue existing for a long time, then K-423 must be killed in the cradle ahead of time."
"Otherwise, the right to decide everything will fall into the hands of that so-called Current Era civilization."
She stated that cold fact.
Kevin nodded.
On the way back, he had already vaguely thought of this.
That person…
Ling Ke was forcibly pushing the people of two eras into complete opposition.
Elysia stood to the side and said nothing.
MEI continued,
"Based on my analysis, since that person has already set such a rule, then it most likely means that as long as we kill K-423 ahead of time, we will have crossed over the most powerless battle against Finality."
"On the other hand, if we choose to leave her alone, then the other personality inside K-423 will become a hidden danger we have no choice but to consider."
"A hidden danger like a time bomb."
"To sum it up, the benefits of obeying the script are too great for us to ignore."
"And if we do not, the price is also too high for us to ignore."
"We actually have no choice."
"Because from beginning to end, the one who truly has to make the cruelest choice is Raiden Mei, not us."
"After we decide to target K-423, she will be trapped in a deadlock with no way out."
"Will she ignore K-423's dangerous situation and let her own heart collapse completely?"
"Or will she think of every possible way to protect her, and in the end… turn herself into a heartless monster, a Herrscher of this era?"
"No matter what, now that she has been forced onto the judgment seat, she has no hope left."
"Next, all that remains is to wait until the half-year deadline arrives…"
MEI did not continue.
She had already made the calmest analysis.
At this time…
"Sigh…"
Elysia let out a long sigh.
Now, she also fully understood this cruel situation.
If one side wanted to continue existing, then it had to completely take away the other side's hope.
There was no room for compromise.
Beside her…
"…"
Kevin did not know how to comfort this comrade.
He should have been the first person to recognize this fact clearly.
Although he felt endless regret over it, his resolve had long since become clear.
But for the others, when this cruel truth was placed openly on the table…
"Should we tell the others about this?"
In the end, he only asked MEI that one question.
Hearing this…
"Tell Gray Serpent and Mobius."
MEI answered,
"Leaving aside the sealed-off Twilight Street, Su, as well as Eden, Kosma, Hua, and 'you,' whom we will soon contact… they may not be able to accept what we just discussed."
"Verbal explanations will seem incredibly pale at a time like this."
"Judging from what you told me about each of their personalities…"
"Perhaps we can only wait for them to come into contact with it themselves, and then let them make their own judgments."
"We do not really have the right to make that judgment for them."
At this point, she turned to look at the pink-haired girl beside her.
"Then, Elysia."
"You already understand the entire situation now."
"What is your answer?"
Hearing this…
"I…"
Elysia opened her mouth.
She recalled the last look she had taken at Raiden Mei earlier, and that shattered expression on the other girl's face.
Did her heart ache for her?
Perhaps there was a little pity at work.
But just as stated before, the current her was not familiar with Raiden Mei.
And after understanding the full course of events…
In truth, she felt more heartache for that black-haired young man named Ling Ke.
No one's good intentions were something they willingly allowed to be betrayed.
Even she might cry over that.
And that was without mentioning being persecuted because of it, being thrown into a lightless hell and abyss for years.
Elysia asked herself from the bottom of her heart.
If, when she had first arrived in this world, the one she met had not been the gentle, considerate, and understanding Mama Cerya, but instead…
If she had suffered the same experience as Ling Ke…
Would she still be willing to believe in humanity as she did now?
Would she still want to become a true human?
Would she still firmly recognize that so-called "beauty" and "hope"?
At this moment…
"Could he… perhaps count as the Herrscher of Human from more than fifty thousand years in the future?"
Elysia voiced this double-edged guess.