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

But she was truly gentle to the extreme, even in her Herrscher form, she doted on him and showed him affection without him realizing it. This is the true "Herrscher of Knowledge," brainwashing you to this extent. Even knowing she is a demon, you grit your teeth to maintain your anger, but your heart is still filled with endless thoughts of her beauty and goodness.

Shen Liang gazed at her for a long time before finally kneeling before her, slightly taller than her when she was seated. He tightened his grip on her neck with both hands, and Blanca did not resist. Shen Liang kissed her again, passionately, unwillingly, and domineeringly, while Blanca felt her throat tighten little by little. She laughed and cried involuntarily at the same time, yet still responded to the lingering kiss, happily waiting for the end.

Shen Liang suddenly understood how to use his abilities.

"Let the Herald die in bliss."

The next moment, Blanca suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Shen Liang in disbelief.

Shen Liang remained motionless, continuing his aggressive kisses. His hands, which had been gripping her neck, had somehow shifted to embracing her body, tightly holding Blanca's hands to prevent her resistance. Blanca's once stern golden eyes gradually turned azure. She was unable to speak because of her bitten tongue, and her body slowly went limp.

"Did you just eat ice cream in the real world? It tastes very sweet." Shen Liang released Blanca and laid her limply on the bed. The beautiful, light blue-haired married woman had swollen, red lips and stared blankly at him, wanting to speak but unable to move her stiff tongue.

The syringe in Shen Liang's hand was already full of medicine, but now it was empty.

Sedatives, and potent sedatives specifically for fusion warriors. When Shen Liang woke up, he determined the location of the room. It was a temporary dormitory in the Infinite Experimentation Lab within the Fire Moth. There was a large bed measuring three meters by two and a half meters, and under the bed were many sedatives that were wholesaled to fusion warriors.

He knew this lounge well, because every gene preservation experiment with the volunteers took place in this room, and it was also where the members of the Infinite Laboratory would rest when it wasn't open to the public. In fact, since Eden and Ellie made the gene preservation experiment public, it was the Infinite Laboratory's internal staff who were the first to deal with Shen Liang. Möbius once joked that this lounge had become Eve's love nest with Danzhu, Cangxuan, and Klein.

To prevent some fusion warriors from getting too emotional, sedatives were placed under the bed for Shen Liang. This was in case any fusion warrior girl who had been eagerly anticipating the little wolf dog got too enthusiastic and injured him, and Dan Zhu Cang Xuan was off watching the security cameras. At least Shen Liang could give her an injection to calm her down. Although the sedatives were mostly unnecessary, if the volunteers were too enthusiastic, one of the little wolf dogs would become even more aroused, and often the only one left standing up would be the one to emerge.

Even so, those female fusion warriors were unwilling to take out a tranquilizer and give Shen Liang an injection, which Shen Liang sometimes found really strange.

Now that the sedative had worked, Shen Liang and Blanca looked at each other. The woman's face was full of surprise and doubt, while the boy remained expressionless.

"You lied to me."

"Waaaaah?" Blanca, under the influence of the sedative, couldn't utter a single coherent word.

"You are not a Herrscher, you are Blanca." Shen Liang's expression was cold, but his tone left no room for doubt. "You are my Blanca. I don't care what you want to do or what you can do, I will not allow you to die. You are mine, and no one can take you away from me, not even the Honkai."

Miss Blanca, the Herald of Knowledge, widened her eyes.

"You say that those who save humanity cannot have selfish motives. I'm sorry, but I do. I don't think having selfish motives is something unforgivable." Shen Liang made up her mind. "It's absurd that if you have selfish motives, you can't be a savior. If you can't even save yourself, how can you think about saving others? I can't understand it. I don't like dead people, and I don't like sacrifices."

It was as if a meteorite had suddenly fallen into the calm lake of his heart, causing ripples to spread. Shen Liang suddenly felt as clear as a mirror; he felt extremely comfortable and enlightened, instantly dispelling all confusion.

"I am the Son of Man walking on the earth, and I will save all people."

With the last of her strength before falling into a coma, Blanca stared at him and saw that his expression was resolute and calm. After a long while, she finally smiled.

“…Looking forward to it.” She uttered the syllable haltingly, then closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Shen Liang opened the door, and sure enough, it was a scene of utter chaos at the Fire Moth Infinite Laboratory building. Outside were many cryogenic life support chambers, housing all sorts of fusion warriors who had fallen into a deep sleep.

There are quite a few cryogenic chambers at the Fire Chaser base, so it seems May reacted quickly, preventing the disaster from escalating further. As for Blanca, the most discreet Herrscher of Knowledge, she had actually been hiding inside the base the whole time, completely undetected.

It now seems highly likely that when Blanca, acting on Möbius's orders, went to retrieve him and brought him back to base, he was infected, and then the public narrative was that Eve had accidentally triggered a keyword. Therefore, he has been under Blanca's constant surveillance.

— Ha, they didn't put me in the cryogenic chamber.

Shen Liang figured it was because the organ failure of those in their slumber was also due to the Herrscher's power, while Blanca wouldn't allow his organs to fail, so she probably often took him out of the cryo-chamber to play with him. Thinking about it carefully, it was quite absurd. It wasn't enough that he spent time with Blanca in his dreams; in the real world, even as a vegetable, he had to be dragged out and held by Blanca to sleep… The fact that he could see Blanca the moment he woke up proved just how dependent this guy was on him…

—She seems a bit yandere...

Thinking about it this way, it's even possible that he could merge with Blanca's Herrscher genes in a dream. It's probably not because dreams mimic reality, but because while he's being intimate with Blanca in the dream, he's also being... well, you know... by Blanca in the real world... Considering the time ratio between reality and dreams, it's indeed quite possible...

Shen Liang reached out, and the core of the Herrscher of Knowledge appeared in his palm. At this moment, the Fusion Warriors coming and going outside did not even notice the awakened boy standing in the corridor of the experimental building.

The core phantom formed the shape of petals made of feathers. Shen Liang thought for a moment, "Then you can temporarily name it 'Feather Crossing the Dust'."

The Herrscher Core rejoiced, seemingly mirroring Shen Liang's emotions. Although not a Herrscher, Shen Liang could still gain the Herrscher Core's recognition by stealing Herrscher powers.

"appear."

In an instant, the illusory image of Feathered Dust enveloped the entire base. Shen Liang seemed to be able to sense the consciousness of all living beings within the entire base area, and even capture the location of each person.

Is this what those who understand the laws of knowledge can do?

He is far less powerful than a true Herrscher, but it seems that Blanca has been hiding precisely because she lacks the ability to fight head-on. Yet this Herrscher's abilities are so terrifying that she seems to require no direct combat at all; she can even completely modify the keywords that trigger "sleep."

She can even enter dreams, dominate them, and kill many people from within them, instead of relying on the so-called brain death caused by the passage of time.

Shen Liang suddenly realized that Blanca didn't seem to be as irritable as she had described.

Or.

She was caught up in the excitement of having captured Shen Liang with her abilities, and she probably wasted countless hours on him. This is also why she hasn't revealed herself yet; even someone as intelligent as Möbius and Mei probably couldn't have guessed or figured it out.

The Herrscher has been doing what she loves for so long...

He really fired two shots into the air; that would be doing justice to the Emperor.

Chapter 45 Snake: So what if I step on your face!

After stealing the power of the Herrscher, although he cannot reach the strength of the Herrscher, it is not difficult to break the "field" that covers the Fire Chaser base.

To prevent triggering "keywords," the current Fire Chasing Base has shut down power and internet access, closed all display devices, prohibited reading of books, and discouraged non-essential communication between people.

In this situation, fewer and fewer people at the Fire Chaser Base are affected. Even if Shen Liang doesn't target the Herrscher, Blanca will probably still die at the hands of the remaining Fusion Warriors.

Mei and Mebius's strategic planning is far superior to Shen Liang's; they can figure out anything Shen Liang can figure out. They must have already discovered that "Discipline" can suppress dream entry. Even if Aponia, as a mental fusion warrior, cannot directly confront the Herrscher of Knowledge, as long as Kevin and other powerful combatants are not affected, defeating the Herrscher is only a matter of time.

However, it is conceivable that many people will die before that.

Those who are captured by dreams cannot survive. After spending their lives in dreams, they fall into brain death, which is a true dissipation of consciousness, a level that modern medicine cannot save them from.

Essentially, Blanca did achieve what the Honkai side expected; even the Herrscher of Flame, Himiko, did not inflict such heavy losses on the Flame Moths.

Shen Liang rang the doorbell of Möbius's office.

"Come in." It was a soft, slightly tired voice, like that of a young girl.

Shen Liang pushed open the door and entered. The green-haired girl, wearing a white lab coat and sitting in a high-backed office chair, rubbing her nose while facing written documents, didn't even look at the doorway. She simply said in a low voice, "Klein? Put the coffee there. And tell Danzhu to at least practice her sketching and improve her drawing skills. She drew me like the Sphinx."

Recently, in order to prevent the Herrscher of Knowledge from using "keywords" as a medium for its abilities, Moths of Flame have started to use "drawing" for their daily work reports, using pictures to convey information instead of text, so as to ensure basic daily communication.

For example, the image representing the four characters "Mebius" is a small figure with a snake's body and a human face; the image representing "3" is three vertical lines of different colors; and the image representing "laboratory" is a small room with a scalpel sign hanging on it.

Understanding information through visuals prevents it from entering the dream world, even if the information triggers keywords. After discovering the general nature of the Herrscher's abilities, Mei printed out a picture book containing commonly used words and phrases and required everyone to refer to it; human intelligence can always adapt to the environment quickly.

There has been no response for a long time.

Snake closed her eyes, leaning back in the chair specially designed for her loli system to relax. "What's wrong, Klein? Afraid to speak? There's no need. I'm wearing a hearing filter; I can only hear words that are safe. What are you standing there for? Give me a shoulder massage... Ugh, it's been so uncomfortable since I haven't moved around for days..."

A pair of hands gently slipped through Mebius's long, emerald-green hair from behind the chair, encircling her slender, alabaster-like neck. Mebius suddenly felt something was amiss; this position made it impossible to massage her shoulders. A sense of unease crept in, but before she could escape, she felt strands of hair, carrying a familiar, delicate fragrance, fall onto her face.

The scent was familiar. The shampoo that a certain little guy in the Chasing Fire Base used was personally formulated by Mei. It was the only one of its kind. No matter who was with him or taking care of him, they all had to use that shampoo to prevent his carefully groomed, smooth, and beautiful long, straight black hair from becoming frizzy.

“It’s me,” Shen Liang said softly. “Long time no see, Aunt Möbius.”

Although the transformation surgery shrunk her body, turning the 1.69-meter-tall female doctor into a snake even smaller than him, Shen Liang never changed his perception of her because of the change in her appearance. He always politely addressed Ms. Mébius as "Auntie," afraid of upsetting her and being dragged into the lab, tied to a restraint table, and given injections.

The alluring green-haired loli trembled slightly, her twisting motion stopped, she smiled slightly with her eyes closed, and casually grabbed Shen Liang's long hair and pulled it hard, causing him to stagger and lower his head, which bumped right next to her face.

"It hurts." Shen Liang had no choice but to lower his head and lie on her high stool, letting her pull his hair as he complained softly.

"Second warning, call her Sister Mebius." Snake chuckled. "If it's a third warning, my dear little lab rat might end up lying on a bed in the Infinite Laboratory, or on an operating table."

“Sister Mebius,” Shen Liang changed her address, “Goodbye, Sister Mebius.”

"You're leaving as soon as you wake up?" Snake pulled even harder, making Shen Liang's eyes well up with tears from the pain. "But it's commendable that the first thing you did after waking up was to come find me."

"Because Mebius's office is the closest to mine."

Mebius smiled and pinched his ear with two fingers that were pulling his hair, which hurt even more. "I thought you'd be more emotionally intelligent after being in a dream for so long. You should say 'Because I've been dreaming about Sister Mebius' in this situation, understand?"

Although Shen Liang was wincing from the grip of the fusion warrior, he still smiled.

As expected of a snake, Snake possesses an exceptional intelligence level, with a remarkable ability to summarize information. It doesn't even need much communication; simply seeing him wake up is enough for it to deduce a great deal. And dealing with intelligent people is so convenient; he relaxed considerably.

When Shen Liang faces his dream and Blanca, he must confront everything on his own, analyze and deal with all his emotions and difficulties. This is what Blanca calls "maturity."

But waking up was different. When he woke up and saw Mebius, although he didn't say it, Shen Liang felt extremely relieved. He knew that he didn't need to be mature and bear the pressure alone. Instead, he could rely on Mebius, Mei, Alicia, and many, many other people.

These people who watched him grow up are the "mountains" he subconsciously relies on in his heart. Just looking at them, you can feel their gentle yet firm strength, like those of mountains. No matter what situation a person falls into, as long as the mountains that protect him remain, he will never be afraid.

"I'm not that kind of glib-tongued person." Shen Liang pressed her left cheek against Mebius's smooth, tender right cheek and rubbed it against him.

"So you don't miss me?" Mebius raised an eyebrow as he let the kitten rub against him.

"I believe that a person's longing should be kept in their heart; what is spoken is not what is truly felt."

"Oh? You can defend yourself now. Your emotional intelligence isn't entirely stagnant. How many years have you been in that dream world?"

"ten years."

"No wonder you spoke so eloquently. Now that you're out, it means you've taken care of the Herrscher?"

"Ah."

"The Herrscher is Blanca?"

Even though Shen Liang had always tried to overestimate Möbius's intelligence, he realized he might have underestimated him. His body stiffened.

"Want to know how I guessed it?" Möbius slapped his thigh.

“I can no longer sit on Aunt Mebius’s lap,” Shen Liang refused.

“I didn’t ask you to sit on my lap,” Mebius snorted. “I asked you to give me a massage, using that massage method that Sakura taught you, what’s it called… a muscle-relaxing and blood-circulating massage technique.”

She raised the bar stool to parallel height with the table and then placed her slender, fair legs on it. Mebius's leather dress had a slit, which revealed her slender legs when lifted. Because she had become shorter, she simply sat on the bar stool the whole time, even walking with the chair floating on its back, so she was too lazy to wear shoes.

Yingying's tiny, delicate feet, no bigger than her palm, rested in Shen Liang's equally small hand. Her exquisite toes were painted with dark green nail polish, giving her a beautiful look that was both innocent and alluring.

This wasn't the first time Shen Liang had given a massage to a girl; he'd learned this skill from Ying, and it was very popular among the girls at the Fire Chasing Base. But most people would at most massage the lower back and shoulders; he'd never seen anyone so powerful as to kick her so easily into his hands.