I've already said this isn't a life simulator!

[After looking closely, I found Sakura's message... This headdress was prepared by Rin because she noticed you really like Sakura's ears and was worried you wouldn't be able to touch them on the moon, so she prepared one for you.]

Hmm... *hesitating*

[I must say, it feels soft to the touch, quite similar to other textures, but unfortunately it's not warm.]

[Next up is a combined gift from Mebius, May, and Vervière... Hmm?]

What are these materials? What is "Analysis of the Principles of Armed Dolls (Easy-to-Understand Version)"? And what is "An Armed Doll Assembly Manual That Even Monkeys Can Learn"?

What on earth did you three send?! And isn't armed puppet technology banned now?! Is it really okay to send you one specifically?!

[Okay, actually these three people were worried you'd be bored on the moon all by yourself, so they gave you something to do... As for the armed doll, it's normal that you can't assemble it, since you haven't learned anything about it. Even if you did manage to assemble it... it doesn't matter, since the doll doesn't have the corresponding parts and can't do anything for you anyway.]

At most... it could be a dress-up doll? Or something to keep you company or something?

[And Vilvi also added some extra things—a few treated cherry blossoms and a few treated maple leaves.]

The pale pink lingered on the petals, showing no signs of fading, while the leaves shone like a vibrant sunset, captivating the eye.

Whenever you see these two things, you always think of the day you met Sakura, and the day you celebrated Eden's birthday... The days spent with them are always something you cherish.

Then came the Gretsch family's... unsurprisingly, a painting by Gretsch and some miscellaneous trinkets.

This is a painting with a slightly fantastical element. The overall perspective of the painting is from the moon, looking towards Earth from a certain point on the moon.

The Earth, the birthplace of humankind, is located at the top of the image. Against the backdrop of the pitch-black universe, the Earth displays its unique charm. Below, on the empty moon, a young singer is singing. Although there is no audience, he is completely absorbed in the music, a smile playing on his lips, his eyes filled with endless longing and reluctance.

[Even though he couldn't make a sound, and his song couldn't travel in the cold space, every syllable he sang transformed into tangible musical notes, interacting and arranging themselves to form a song visible to the naked eye, adorning the empty moon, and drifting into the distance, connecting him with that blue planet that was both so close and so far away.]

Beneath him, flowers bloom in abundance; around him, stars twinkle; and at the bottom of the painting is its title—"A Song Given to the World."

You really like this painting, and maybe... you can even do the same thing as the painting.

[If Gretchen saw a real-life scene as fantastical and beautiful as her painting, she would be so happy, wouldn't she? —You thought to yourself]

Hmm, give it a try if you have the chance—you make the decision.

[After that, there were some other people's trinkets, which don't need much explanation.]

After briefly glancing through the books about the armed dolls and neatly arranging the parts, you picked up the blank sheet music and pen Eden had given you. Your gaze lingered on the magnificent blue star, then on the dusky maple leaves and pale pink cherry blossoms for a moment. Then, a slight smile played on your lips as you softly hummed a new tune.

The pen tip glides across the paper, recording the melody.

On this deserted moon, apart from the cold machinery, there is only the darkness of the universe, the pervasive loneliness, and the despair lurking in the shadows, ready to spread at any moment.

However, none of these things can touch you, none of them can affect you.

Here, you are accompanied by everyone's care, everyone's love, your longing, and... your song.

【………】

Compared to your unexpectedly relaxed life in what's supposed to be "prison," the things happening on the surface... might not be so pleasant.

Overall, there's one piece of good news, one piece of bad news, and one piece of not-so-good good news.

[Let's go through things in order. Here's some not-so-good news—after some twists and turns, the "Fire Moths" have finally suppressed the riots caused by your departure, and with everyone's efforts, the conflict has been temporarily covered up, at least preventing any real internal strife.]

[Well... the main reason for this situation is still that bad news—the "Tenth Herrschers" have appeared. By using the excuse that "other matters can be put aside for now, conflicts can be put aside for now, let's deal with the Honkai first," the person who caused the disturbance was successfully persuaded and temporarily calmed down.]

[Besides a thousand tribulations]

Almost immediately after Qian Jie completed the surgery with Mebius, he caused a riot and headed straight for the "Fire Moth" command center. He grabbed the data clerk and threatened him, wanting to know the hiding places of the "Fire Moth" leaders.

Although Qianjie was eventually suppressed by Hen and Kevin who arrived at the scene, and then Aponia re-imposed the "Commandments" on him, threw him onto the battlefield to vent his emotions, and finally imprisoned him in the "Deepest Place," it was only then that he was barely put to rest his desire to cause trouble.

Even in the "Deepest Place," Qianjie's rage was far from over. Having become even more powerful as a fusion warrior, his only interest in the "Deepest Place" was destruction—tearing apart the "prison" that bound him. For this reason, Velvet had to begin a battle of wits with him to prevent him from simply dismantling the "Deepest Place."

Finally, let's share some good news—the power you retained proved useful; you successfully prevented the "Tenth Herrschers" from causing destruction.

[Initially, it was Mebius who noticed that his assistant had suddenly fallen into a deep sleep, and at the same time, a golden musical note remained on Klein's chest.]

[Möbius immediately realized something, examined Klein, and unsurprisingly discovered that Klein was transforming into a "Herrscher," and the place where the musical note stopped was the location of the "Herrscher Core."]

Fortunately, the power you left behind forcibly stabilized the overflowing Honkai energy, preventing Klein from completely falling towards becoming a "Herrscher." However, he was still on the edge of a cliff, barely clinging to a thin rope to avoid falling into the abyss... And the power you left behind, that musical note, was the thin rope that kept Klein's existence.

At this moment, Mebius understood why you were unwilling to elaborate on the "Herrscher" information... because someone might do something irrational about it, like Mebius himself.

[Mebius also understood why you wanted her to research the "Herrscher Core" removal surgery, and specifically emphasized the need to keep the "Herrschers" alive... because there are people they care about among the "Herrschers".]

Immediately, Mebius contacted Mei and organized the "Fire Moth" unit to search for others with similar conditions... or rather, "Herrschers." At the same time, Mebius also began attempting to perform "Herrscher core removal surgery."

Although everything is progressing with some difficulty, it is proceeding in an orderly manner. The Herrschers are being found one by one, and the "surgery" on Mebius's side... is difficult, but it's not too bad either.

After intermittently failing with fifty "Herrschers" and dealing with nearly a hundred "Herrschers" who broke free from the suppression of the musical notes, Mebius successfully found a way—a method that wouldn't directly cause the user's death by removing the "Herrscher Core."

This method... is somewhat crude, and it will forcibly remove most of a person's life. Even if it is successfully removed, it is difficult to maintain for long... but the advantage is that this method is fast and effective.

[What Mebius needs now is speed, after all, several Herrschers have already found a way to get rid of your power, and she must save Klein before she becomes a Herrscher completely.]

As for the life-threatening dangers that would result from removing the "core"... Möbius says there's no need to worry, because the "Utopia Project" that you and Gretchen carried out back then is enough to solve this problem.

[The "Ideal Land Project," a special project modified from May's "Sanctuary Project," takes on a different meaning after your personal involvement and the addition of Gretchen.]

[Firstly, it's because of Gretsch's abilities. After becoming a Fusion Warrior, Gretsch's paintings will have a certain influence on people, and under certain conditions, they may even cause large-scale disasters. However... if your power is added to this process, some rather peculiar reactions will occur.]

[First, Gretchen's painting will be "expanded" under the guidance of your singing, forming an area similar to a "world within a painting." At the same time, because of your power, there is no Honkai energy in this area, and even if Honkai energy intrudes from the outside, it will gradually be diverted, with most of it flowing outside to provide shelter for the "painting"... This is the original effect of the "Shelter Project." The small portion that was missed will also become stable in the "world within a painting" because of your singing, and with sufficient guidance, this area can even be further expanded.]

Although the "world within a painting" is difficult to maintain in the long term, the "world bubble" technology previously researched by the "Moth Chaser" is used to stabilize the area... and a true "refuge," an "ideal land" that is difficult for Honkai energy to affect, appears.

More importantly, when people enter the "world within the painting," their physical state freezes at that moment, as if they have truly become part of the "painting" once inside... Of course, they will return to their normal state after leaving.

Although I don't quite understand why the combination of your and Gretchen's powers produces such a miraculous effect, it's really been a huge help right now.

[Möbius immediately began arranging surgeries and quickly moved those whose "cores" had been removed into the "ideal world," especially ordinary people, to prevent them from dying directly due to rapid physical deterioration.]

[Progressing step by step, after dealing with several more "Herrschers" who broke free from your power, Mebius successfully saved over six hundred lives, preventing them from becoming "Herrschers"... However, to date, "Firemoth" has only collected 999 "Cores," missing just one more. This peculiar situation gave Mebius and the others a bad feeling.]

Then, this bad feeling came true.

[Because the last remaining "Herrscher"... was a high-ranking member of "Firemoth," and through his disguise and the coordination of his abilities, he... successfully detonated the armories of several "Firemoth" bases, along with using his authority to access weaponry and altering data to destroy several human cities.]

By the time "Fire Moth" found it, it had already analyzed and reconstructed the remote activation device for the nuclear bomb. Instead of launching it, it detonated it directly, destroying not only "Fire Moth's" base but also affecting surrounding cities and turning large areas into uninhabitable wastelands.

[The "Fire Moth," which fights for humanity, has actually produced a "Herrscher," and even a high-ranking one... while the weapon meant to fight the Honkai has instead harmed humanity... This is somewhat ridiculous.]

Moreover, even at the very end, when the "Fire Moth" was about to "exterminate" it, it still didn't forget to resist and escape. Fortunately, Kevin was leading the team, and they dealt with it in no time... Although, as a price, half of the base was rendered unusable—that area was melted by the flames of "Heavenly Judgment."

[Speaking of which, the discovery of this last hidden "Herrscher" was thanks to the help of Councilor Wright... It seems that this "Herrscher" secretly approached some councilors, apparently intending to use the pretext of "discussing matters" to eliminate some of them.]

[Unexpectedly, Councilor Wright miraculously survived his attack and was fortunate enough to receive help from the "Firemoth" soldiers, thus avoiding being secretly eliminated. At the same time, the "Firemoth" also targeted this last "Herrscher individual," which was truly a stroke of luck.]

[...Hmm...Something feels off, but then again, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong.]

Regardless, the "Operation to Subdue the Tenth Herrscher" was successfully completed.

[Klein, Imre, and over six hundred other "individuals" have successfully escaped the fate of becoming "Herrschers"... Although they are currently confined to the "Utopia," at least they have survived. As for their physical problems... we'll address them later!]

Thankfully, the matter has been resolved!

Although there were some setbacks along the way, and although there were some... a few... but not a few casualties, compared to the previous "Great Collapse," these losses are completely tolerable!

But... is that really the case?

【………】

Do you really think so? Foolish humans, who have banished "hope" because of suspicion... Do you really think... it's all over?

Do you really think that "traitor" can protect you forever?

[Stop joking]

[As I said, he will be questioned by you, overwhelmed by your suspicions, and you... will destroy and extinguish "hope" with your own hands.]

Please wait patiently.

My "stage" is about to begin.

Chapter 72 Any sacrifice is acceptable (7499)

“Is that so… I’m so glad that my abilities can be of help. Ah, and thank you so much for telling me about this, Dr. Mei.”

"It was just following the agreement, and I owe it all to you to resolve this matter."

"Unfortunately, it still caused a lot of damage in the end..."

Xi Wang's tone was slightly low.

"This isn't your problem. According to our subsequent research, the last individual who remained was clearly stronger than the others, and his methods were exceptionally concise and efficient, showing signs of having a pre-planned strategy in many areas..."

"Furthermore, with the subsequent research on the [core], those [individuals] who were suppressed by your power must have passed on their excess power and information to the last [individual], making his plan more complete and his power stronger than the other [individuals], which led to the final casualties."

"Furthermore... no matter what, we also have some problems of our own. We failed to find all the [individuals] in time... and the higher-ups of 'Moth Chasing the Flame' should also be considered suspects. This is our fault."

Dr. Mei spoke expressionlessly.

"Ha... Dr. May, thank you so much for helping me find an excuse."

"I'm just stating the facts."

"Okay, I understand... Oh right, let's talk about something happy~"

Xi Wang nodded, then clapped her hands lightly, changing the subject.

"The gift you gave me back then... I've almost finished it, okay?"

As she spoke, Xi Wang held a small human-shaped object in her arms and showed it to Mei.

"Look, I've already finished with the body and everything. Next, I need to take care of the clothes and makeup. Hmm... I'm planning to get a gothic-style white dress with red polka dots, long, straight black hair like the night, and eyes as blue as the sea, plus black leather boots and a top hat. Hmm, it should look really good, right?"

"...That's surprising, you're actually quite skilled in this area too?"

"Thanks to the manual from Velvet, it's not difficult to assemble... If it wakes up, I'm planning to teach it to sing, and... I'll teach it an instrument, like the violin or something... Ah, although I don't have any instruments for it to practice with."

"I see... Congratulations! That way, you'll have someone to chat with and someone to keep you company over there."

"Thanks for your concern~ Oh, by the way... how are Eden and Sakura doing?"

"It's the same as always. Eden is working with Velvet to advance the 'Eden Project,' which will take some time to complete. As for Sakura... aside from missions, she's basically always with Rin."

"I see, then I'm relieved... But please be careful from now on, okay? The Eleventh Herrscher... It's very strong and troublesome. If you discover anything, just let me know and I'll help."

"I will."

"Well then... goodbye, Dr. Mei."

"Goodbye."