A distinct ripple of energy radiated from the third planet of the Solar System.
Compared with the vastness of the universe, it was undeniably minuscule.
Far too small to draw the attention of all existence.
And so...
"Though a vast gulf still separates her from the divine throne of an Aeon, and she remains far from becoming an Emanator, she has nevertheless crossed a considerable distance in a single leap as a Pathstrider of Remembrance."
Aboard the Astral Express, Ling Ke immediately sensed the change in Kiana. He was no longer keeping his power of Omniscience completely sealed.
To be honest, Kiana's encounter with Lara and the others in North America that day had not been one of his arrangements.
So...
"Could this be the 'protagonist halo' at work?"
Ling Ke considered the possibility.
He did not dwell on it for long.
Whatever the cause, he knew that the current "result" was what mattered most.
Kiana had achieved a genuine breakthrough on the Path of Remembrance.
Of course, as he had just said, she had only made substantial progress. It was not yet enough to transform her completely.
To put it into perspective...
"In terms of scale, it still can't compare with the sudden epiphany Firefly experienced after her desperate battle."
"But I'd say she's effectively jumped several levels in one go," Ling Ke remarked.
That chance encounter truly had allowed Kiana to understand a great many things.
The white-haired girl, toward whom he bore neither grudge nor resentment, had finally realized that even the so-called "God of Earth" had limits.
And judging from the current situation...
"Kiana, Kiana."
"What you should be worrying about now isn't only whether you can survive past the Twelfth Honkai Eruption."
"But also..."
Given the world's present condition, no one knew whether human civilization on Earth would even survive long enough to see the Twelfth Honkai Eruption.
In three years, the planet's crust would shift.
In ten years, the "Nihility" embryo would hatch.
It was true that in the original history of the Current Era, only a little over a year had separated the Fourth Honkai Eruption from the War of Finality.
But now, Kali, the Herrscher of Blood, had already secured victory on her own.
Who could guarantee that she would not compress that timeline even further?
For instance, in the near future...
Kali intended to join forces with the Herrscher of Thunder and use the latter's Authority over electromagnetism to launch three separate extinction-level plans at once.
Yes. She intended to cement her victory even further, leaving no room for error.
In Ling Ke's judgment, there was only one way to resolve the approaching "Three-Pronged Blood and Thunder Strike" as quickly as possible.
"The seeds of disaster have already been sown. The individual problems can no longer be dealt with at their roots."
"The only solution is to eliminate those creating the problems: the Herrschers."
"Otherwise, new problems will keep emerging one after another, and the 'debt' will continue to accumulate."
"Eventually, that accumulated weight will bring the final collapse closer and closer."
There was no doubt about it. Intelligent Herrschers were exceedingly troublesome opponents.
From Kiana's perspective, eliminating Kali might not place much psychological pressure on her.
But the Herrscher of Thunder...
"I'll be looking forward to what you do next, Kiana," Ling Ke said with a malicious smile.
One week later...
[Global Average Outdoor Temperature: -21°C]
The world had begun to warm.
Those who did not know the truth finally breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Over the past several days, the Cold Wave had driven untold numbers of people to the brink of collapse.
Countless bodies already lay buried beneath the wind and snow.
Perhaps, one day in the future, when the ice and snow finally melted, those remains would gradually be uncovered.
But until then...
[The United Nations Environment Programme has issued an official announcement: The damage to the natural environment caused by the sudden global Cold Wave will be completely reversed within two months at the latest.]
[Temperatures will soon return to the comfortable range recorded before the Catastrophe.]
This news undoubtedly encouraged many people.
It rekindled hope for the future in the hearts of hundreds of millions of survivors.
With morale rising, construction on the major Base Cities across the world proceeded even more smoothly.
But only a tiny number of people knew the truth. The symbolic value of those Base Cities far outweighed their practical use.
They existed merely to give the ignorant public a false sense of security.
Those in the know understood that this planet no longer had a future.
They had already made their choice...
The choice to embrace "Escapism."
Just like the governments in the film 2012, they had secretly launched various "Kindling" plans to ensure humanity's survival while billions of citizens continued going about their ordinary lives.
Deep underground, even farther below the Newborn World Serpent's headquarters...
Over the past few days, MEI had carved out a new research area using nothing but the capabilities provided by the Key of Blankness. She had handed off every organizational matter, large or small, so that she could devote herself entirely to her research.
With the assistance of the Prometheus mainframe and the data on Project ARK contained within the Void Archives, MEI was using the Authority of the Herrscher of Reason to slowly construct an old-model ARK shuttle.
Given enough time and energy, she could even build an entire ARK fleet by hand.
But that was clearly not the best answer to humanity's greatest current threat: the hatching of the "Nihility" embryo.
Every ARK shuttle design contained within the Void Archives was for a single-person craft.
Yes. A single seat.
An interstellar spacecraft... with only one seat.
MEI did not know what her past self in the original timeline had been thinking...
"Perhaps there truly was no room left to hope for anything more back then," MEI murmured to herself in the empty research area.
At that thought, she could not help consoling herself.
At least... at least she could now operate the optimized Key of Blankness for extended periods. Her Pathstrider Body had ascended to a higher level of existence, enabling her to draw upon three Herrscher Authorities.
For the time being...
The Authority of the Herrscher of Reason had raised her research efficiency to an entirely new level.
She could now construct any prototype she wanted by hand.
The Authority of the Herrscher of the Void, meanwhile, allowed her to begin developing small-scale subspaces. The Void Archives also contained research data on that subject.
Ether Anchors, Seeds of Sumeru...
MEI could now freely browse through all those research results.
It saved her a tremendous amount of work.
Then there was the trophy Kevin had brought back: the Core of the Herrscher of Death.
Using it, MEI had gradually mastered the Authorities of Creation and Decay, whose effects covered a far broader range.
Yes.
Although the current MEI could not yet directly manifest the "Serene Miniature Garden," she was already capable of attempting to "reconstruct all of humanity," just as Seele once had.
But before that...
She decided to "reconstruct herself" first.