Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

He immediately threw Sakura, who had lost her fighting ability, off and led the Herrscher of Death out!

The alarm sounded throughout the entire fire-fighting base!

Shen Liang gripped Seele's small hand tightly and easily shattered the wall with the disintegrating power of the Black Abyss White Flower, breaking out of the confinement cell! The two fusion warriors stationed in the confinement cell quickly activated their armor and charged towards Shen Liang without hesitation!

"A thousand realms, one vehicle," Shen Liang said softly.

The Eternal Key - Thousand Realms One Vehicle, stored in the Space Research Institute of the Fire Chaser Base, burst out from underground, breaking through all obstacles!

It was a Divine Key resembling a train engine, with the ability to control space. The original owner was a mature female Herrscher with long white hair. After being "fed" by Shen Liang, the Herrscher core was transformed into this tool by the Fire Moth.

No one knew that Shen Liang had this ability. Everyone only knew that he could directly strip the Herrscher core from the Herrscher's body, but no one expected that he could command the Herrscher cores that had become the keys of God out of thin air!

"He truly is a son of man! He has never displayed this power before; he has always kept it hidden!" Möbius was so excited in the monitoring lab that he was practically dancing with joy. "As expected of the best human we designed, the Herrscher genes he fused with can really deceive the Honkai's selection system!"

Mei watched helplessly as he took the Herrscher away without hesitation. The shock of losing her colleague and the heartache of Eve betraying humanity surged into her heart at the same time, and she felt a little exhausted for a moment.

"As we all know, the Honkai selects Herrscher entities from within the world and awakens them as Herrschers. We've never understood the Honkai's selection process. But it's clear that the Son of Man Project succeeded. Eve's fusion with the gene module has proven feasible. After fusing with the Herrscher, he even resonates with the Herrscher core, and even the Herrscher core acknowledges him!" Mebius was still ecstatic. "Look, Mebius! He only bit the Herrscher of Death's lip to resonate with the Herrscher of Death's core. Our plan was on the right track!"

"But he chose Honkai over humanity. He can indeed fuse all genes, but your so-called 'Three Thousand Commandments' don't seem to have guided him down the path of humanity. Huh? Mebius, if this is the Son of Human Project, then this project has only produced a bastard even more terrifying than a Herrscher!" The communicator crackled, and a silver-haired, masked man roared at Mebius, "Tell me, where did your plan succeed?!"

"He actually attacked Sakura for a Herrscher?" The next person to speak on the projected screen was a mature and elegant woman in a black and red dress with long, straight, wine-red hair. She had a graceful figure and spoke gently, but her eyes were dim. "Why is that? But if possible, I hope that when you bring the doll back, you can spare his life first, so we can ask him properly."

"You think this is raising a child? You're even asking questions properly?!" Qianjie, who spoke first, sneered, then hung up the communication. "If he dares to lay a hand on Sakura, then he's no longer your child. Let the military handle this. Stop interfering with battlefield matters with your personal feelings! Just kill this little brat who dares to cause trouble just because he has a Divine Key!"

"Kill my doll? No way! Wait... wait, what happened? Why are we going after the doll?" The catgirl, belatedly realizing what was going on, also spoke in the group chat and immediately displayed a projected video, looking completely bewildered. "I only took a nap, how did the group chat explode? There are alarms everywhere, what's going on?"

“I’ll take charge of this. After arresting Eve, please have Miss Aponia conduct the interrogation.” Kevin joined the conversation, becoming much more serious. “May, I know you’re upset, but you should also understand that Eve is an unstable experimental subject. None of us wanted this to happen… Ha, we should have treated her as a Herrscher-level prisoner a long time ago.”

Mei remained silent throughout, not uttering a single word.

Shen Liang and Seele, who escaped from the Fire Chaser Base and arrived in North America after activating the Thousand Realms One Journey, were eventually stopped by Qian Jie and Kevin.

At the same time as Shen Liang defected, the Fire Moth immediately increased its control over the Divine Keys. Therefore, Shen Liang only commanded four Divine Keys to return: Eternal Calamity - Thousand Realms One Vehicle, Judgment - Seven Thunders of Purification, Creation - Black Abyss White Flower, and Destruction - Heavenly Fire Holy Judgment.

Above Montgomery, Shen Liang and the Herrscher of Death Seele, whose vision was blocked by the satellite using the Fourth Divine Key by Velvet, had nowhere to escape. With no way out, they fought against the Fusion Warriors Kevin and Qianjie. The battle lasted less than a minute, and Shen Liang was captured, while the Herrscher of Death escaped.

During his interrogation, Shen Liang learned that the Herrscher of Death, SEELE, who had lost his care, had revealed her true colors and caused a large-scale plague in Montgomery, resulting in a massive death toll in North America. This was the most serious Herrscher disaster since the Herrscher of Flame caused wildfires in Australia, with more than ten million people killed or injured.

Ultimately, the Herrscher of Death was killed by Kevin, and Eve, an experimental subject of the "Children of Man" project, was killed after interrogation for showing no remorse. The "Children of Man" project was deemed a failure and completely shelved. Dr. Möbius and Dr. Mei, who had made significant achievements in the field, believed that the price of unconditionally fusing the genes of others was being controlled by the Honkai. The Honkai wouldn't engage in a losing proposition, and the "Children of Man" project's attempt to gain Herrscher adaptability by deceiving the Honkai was utterly absurd. The Moth of Fire base expressed deep regret for the experimental accident and announced the complete dismissal of all researchers involved in the "Children of Man" project experimental group, never to be reused…

—I'm getting more and more sleepy.

—My memory is getting increasingly hazy.

Shen Liang, feeling extremely tired, heard a compassionate and indifferent prompt, but upon closer inspection, it seemed as if someone was reciting poetry with their back to him.

"The third precept is: Do not betray humanity."

"The twenty-ninth commandment: Do not harm your closest relatives who trust you."

"The 634th precept: Do not betray your beloved."

"The first 1307 of the Vinaya Pitaka is: Do not indulge in carnal desires."

“The first 1,900 precepts: Do not neglect mercy.”

“The precept, number 2245, states that one should not be limited to delusion and illusion.”

……

"The three thousand precepts should not be constrained by."

It sounded like thunder.

Shen Liang suddenly felt a chill all over his body. He opened his eyes and saw a handsome young man with long black hair, less than 1.5 meters tall, in the mirror. He found himself standing in a familiar bathroom.

The water heater had run out of hot water, and the icy water splashed on him in this season. Outside, he could hear the steady tapping of a keyboard and the sounds of conversation.

It's like an eternity.

Aponia: Hmm....jpg

Chapter Seven: Hahahaha, the doll has face blindness, thank goodness!

The water was splashing loudly.

Shen Liang turned the showerhead on full blast. Although it was a bit cold, he used the sound to pretend he was still taking a shower. Then he simply plopped down on the floor, letting his long hair get soaked and stick to his back while he pondered.

—Am I...dreaming? Or is this reincarnation?

Shen Liang clearly remembered what had happened before. In order to save the Herrscher of Death who resembled Seele, he did not hesitate to injure Sakura and even defected from the Fire Moth, which ultimately led to his death at the hands of Qianjie and Kevin.

The feeling of frost and fire tearing through my flesh still aches faintly, yet it feels like a dream.

Was it a dream or not?

Shen Liang sorted out his thoughts.

—It's a dream.

He was certain that he had been trapped in an illusion, and now that he was clear-headed, he instantly found the flaw in the illusion. Because in the scene where he faced the Herrscher of Death, he had asked the Herrscher of Death to call him "brother," but the Herrscher of Death called him "Brother Liang."

The Herrscher of Death is not Seele, only someone who looks and has a similar personality. At that time, his mind had become Eve, and he was cold and ruthless. The simple "brother" might not have made him subconsciously want to protect the Herrscher of Death. Only "Cool Brother," Seele's favorite nickname, could make him lose control and even dare to betray humanity for the Herrscher of Death.

But Death Law shouldn't know this name, so it was the illusion that made Death Law say it in order to make him subconsciously want to protect him.

After all, illusions are often rooted in people's hearts. Illusions know what they can't let go of, so they can best exploit their emotions.

So, before, I was dreaming, but now?

Shen Liang hugged his knees and pondered under the shower.

—Yes, let's go back to the starting point and think about it.

—I activated the Stigmata System 2.0 on Earth, then arrived at the Fire Chaser Base, and then…

Shen Liang realized something.

—Then my will was gradually assimilated by "Eve", and I gradually became the moth that chased the flame, and my behavior gradually became more like Eve's.

This transformation occurs as time goes on, and I become increasingly trapped within it. In other words, when I first entered the illusion, I could retain some of my memories, just like now. But as time progresses, I become trapped in this illusion until a mechanism such as death is triggered, at which point the illusion resets.

—I am currently in the second illusion. I can still retain a certain degree of "Shen Liang's" thinking, but it won't be long before I become "Eve".

—I will forget Cecilia, Kiana, Sirin, and even Earth civilization, and completely fall into it until something triggers another reset of the illusion.

But why is this happening?

—A bit annoying…

--wrong!

Shen Liang keenly sensed his thoughts growing increasingly drowsy. He knew this was the power of the illusion suppressing him, turning him back into Eve. He had to do something before that happened, at least to ensure this illusion wouldn't be the same as the last, leaving him completely oblivious to what was wrong. But the more he thought about it, the more he would forget, and soon he would…

—That's right! There's definitely something Eve would never do! It's the system!

Shen Liang instantly boosted his ability to forget things. He knew that even if he activated the system, he would still forget, so he figured it was better to let his forgotten self remember later! He simply bit his finger and wrote decisively on the mirror, "The Holy Mark System is in your body..."

Before Shen Liang could finish writing the character “里”, he looked at the mirror with a slight sense of doubt.

"Why...why did I write blood on the wall?" Shen Liang, whose thoughts were beginning to turn towards Eve, lowered her head, her beautiful, clear red eyes staring at her bleeding index finger, and then said quite naturally, "White Flower."

A phantom of a pure white knight's lance appeared behind him, and then the wound on his finger healed in the blink of an eye.

The Firemoth only assigned him a White Flower. Yes, of all the Divine Keys, Shen Liang was only qualified to use half of the Black Abyss White Flower. Even the Black Abyss itself had been used as a weapon by other Fusion Warriors. However, Shen Liang understood the Firemoth's wariness towards him. Rather, it was more accurate to say that only about ten people in the entire Firemoth base were almost completely unguarded against him.

Completely unprepared, he could easily kill them with his mortal body if he wanted to.

However, Shen Liang didn't understand why he was being treated with suspicion, but he didn't care. The most important thing now was that there seemed to be no bath towels in the bathroom.

Something felt off. Shen Liang had a familiar déjà vu. It seemed like he'd been showering and then leaving the bathroom not long ago, but that time he'd had a towel wrapped around his lower body... um...

Only then did Shen Liang catch a glimpse of what the blood-written words on the mirror actually meant. He tilted his head, even more confused.

“System,” he said casually.

[The "Children of Fire Chasing" co-produced special edition family entertainment and growth system v0.1 is at your service.]

Please enter your power-on password.

"Sister Ai Li is the cutest when she chases fire." Shen Liang read aloud.

Although he didn't understand why a system rooted in the brain needed some kind of activation password, Shen Liang had never quite grasped Alicia's way of thinking. He always adhered to the principle of "if you can't understand it, don't understand it; just do it." Moreover, Alicia would always smile happily and pat his head as a reward... Shen Liang had always wondered why she would be so happy even when he wasn't genuinely praising her cuteness.

A pleasant melody played in her mind, then text appeared in her field of vision: [System functions are currently under development by Miss Alicia. Would you like to proceed with the pre-mission practice? This practice aims to test your ability to project personal charm onto different types of people.]

"Yes."

Please select the person you wish to pursue over the next three days.

[a. A girl as lovely and flawless as a crystal flower~]

【b. A beautiful, innocent pink fairy with a pair of elf ears~】

[c. A playful muse who seems like a bad woman but is actually a good one!]

[d. A charming and mysterious, sincere and passionate girl next door who only loves one boy—you!]

"Change the question," Shen Liang said expressionlessly.

[The system currently does not have a topic-specific matching function.]

Shen Liang shut it down.

So why did he write a letter in blood to make himself see the system?! This stupid entertainment system has been nothing more than Alicia's toy from the beginning! What's the difference between these four options? It's just four different ways you're praising yourself, isn't it?