The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

"So the root of the collapse lies behind the wall, in that ancient city."

He surveyed the magnificent high wall, his pupils gradually turning iridescent. At the same time, he reached into his personal space, took out the Reverse Scale, walked forward, stood in front of a huge white pillar, and then casually slashed horizontally with his sword.

boom!!

A few seconds later, accompanied by a massive tremor and billowing smoke, a colossal pillar, made of an unknown material and with a hardness comparable to Soul Steel, tilted and collapsed, tearing a gap in the Wall of Asgard.

Su Qi stepped straight in, flew into the sky, and charged inland with all his might.

Soon, he saw below him ruins of human cities, as well as towering structures that were clearly similar in style to the Honkai Beasts, white and purple in color, cast from an unknown metal, and with shapes that looked somewhat like the double helix structure of DNA.

Those bizarre spiral towers were over a thousand meters tall, their tops disappearing into the clouds. One was distributed every thousand miles, surrounded by ring-shaped defensive fortifications and guarded by tens of thousands of Honkai Beasts. Whenever Su Qi flew over a tower, the flying Honkai Beasts in the air and the terrestrial Honkai Beasts on the ground would immediately stir and try to attack him.

But he was too fast, faster than a supersonic fighter jet. He would often just flash by, leaving behind a thunderous roar, before disappearing from the sight of the hordes of Honkai Beasts, leaving them unable to catch up.

"It's so monotonous. There are only towers and Honkai Beasts. Even the forests and grass have been cut down and burned. There's nothing there."

The desolate land offered no appeal for viewing, so Su Qi immediately accelerated, transforming into a faint shadow barely perceptible to the naked eye, and sped towards the central region where the Honkai energy was becoming increasingly concentrated.

Soon after, Su Qi saw a magnificent city that resembled the dwelling place of giants in mythology.

It sits in the center of the earth, in a triple-ring structure, with white and purple as its main colors. The avenues, like the spokes of a wheel or the rays of sunlight, connect the triple-ring areas.

The buildings in the city are very different from those of humans, with twisted lines and irregular slopes. There are no houses or shops, only towers at the intersections of roads, with countless pipes radiating outwards, and of course, countless Honkai Beasts patrolling every corner of the city.

In the very center of the city, a towering white pyramid, a thousand meters high, stands out prominently. Its surface is marked with purple light patterns resembling circuit boards, clearly indicating that it is a secret location.

So Su Qi fell from the sky like a meteorite, heading straight for the Great Golden Tower.

Yes, it's basically the same as the ancient city Rita remembers, but it's been renovated, and most of the structures that should have been buried underground have been dug up...

As he charged forward, he still had time to observe the massive city below.

But at that moment, a massive energy shield suddenly rose from below, enveloping the entire city with what appeared to be a slow but actually rapid motion, like a giant arc-shaped barrier between Su Qi and the city. At the same time, countless flying Honkai Beasts dwelling throughout the city suddenly swarmed up, rising into the sky like plumes of smoke, flying towards this direction.

"Secret Technique: Xia Ji's Eight Strikes!"

Su Qi remained unmoved and accelerated his descent. Once he reached the top of the defensive shield, he casually unleashed a few punches.

The next moment, time seemed to freeze for a split second, followed by a deafening explosion. The massive protective shield covering the entire city shattered in less than a second.

Well, this volume is too long, so we cut out the unimportant battles like beating up the ancient snake kid...

Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Dullness of Su Qi

Immediately afterwards, countless flying-type Honkai Beasts swooped down from the giant city below. Their numbers numbered in the tens of thousands, blotting out the sky, and from a distance resembled a surging tide rising from the ground, sweeping upwards towards Su Qi.

But the latter did nothing. As the protective shield shattered, a massive shockwave exploded in all directions, like a whirlwind sweeping away a swarm of insects. The dark mass of Honkai Beasts in mid-air was instantly scattered and swept away by the turbulent currents, blown down like a shower of flowers.

Even so, the shockwave still had a lingering force, sweeping across the city below like a tsunami, instantly wiping out most of the Honkai Beasts on the surface.

With time so tight, let's just see if we can just hammer the big boss to death...

Su Qi steadied himself amidst the raging air currents, looked down at the strange, giant city that had suddenly become quiet, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind. He then decisively decided to do just that.

"Super Special Move: Serious Ora!"

His eyes narrowed, he got into position, aimed at the white gold tower below, and for the first time in over a year, he threw a punch with a bit more force, a hundred-hit combo.

The next moment, as an invisible fist slammed out, all the surrounding air was instantly expelled, creating a vacuum. Then the earth groaned, the continent trembled, and billions of tons of sediment were hurled into the sky, forming a massive dust cloud that blanketed the entire heavens.

Then a massive shockwave exploded, churning the atmosphere, sweeping across the entire continent, ripping up the earth's crust, and raising billowing clouds of smoke. Until the final punch landed, the continental plates beneath shattered completely, spewing forth columns of blazing, red-hot magma. Countless irregularly shaped, gigantic rocks escaped the planet's gravity, transforming into meteorites that hurtled into outer space. The entire world finally became a chaotic expanse shrouded in endless dust and mist.

A moment later, with a casual wave of his hand, Su Qi easily dispelled the dust and mist that had enveloped the world, as if a curtain had been drawn back, and his vision cleared once more. He then looked down and saw that the giant city had completely vanished, leaving only a bottomless and boundless crater beneath him.

Looking around again, the entire continent was shattered, with irregularly protruding peaks, deep rift valleys, and huge fissures that split the land like natural barriers.

As for those towers, those Honkai beasts, those former city ruins, and the remaining mountains, forests, lakes, and other natural features on the surface, they have all vanished completely, leaving only an endless expanse of broken and desolate land in sight.

However, there was one exception: the white pyramid in the center of the city. It remained in its original position, suspended above the abyss-like giant sinkhole, appearing completely undamaged at first glance, except that the originally bright purple light marks on the pyramid's surface had dimmed considerably.

Seeing this, Su Qi couldn't help but raise his hand to look at his fist and sighed deeply, "My hair is fucking awesome."

Back on Earth, to avoid damaging the flowers and plants and harming innocent people, he dared not exert himself when he took action. It wasn't until he came to the Quantum Sea, on this continent where there was nothing but Honkai Beasts, that he dared to test his strength and exert a little more effort.

Now, based on the calculations he had just made, he felt that if he went all out, Earth would probably die on the spot. So, without realizing it, he had actually become a super strong person capable of shattering stars.

"But the other side is holding up pretty well too..."

Su Qi looked at the giant pyramid floating in the air, preparing to unleash another wave of attacks, when he saw countless purple-glowing cracks appear on the pyramid's surface. Then, the entire pyramid spontaneously decomposed, deformed, and reassembled along the cracks, rapidly transforming into a colossal humanoid figure nearly a thousand meters tall.

The humanoid figure has a female silhouette, white skin covered in strange purple patterns, a magnificent battle dress, six wings spread on its back, and a silver halo above its head. Although humanoid, it has a distinctly mechanical, metallic style, appearing as a combination of a seraphim and a machine.

"This face..."

Su Qiyao stared at the humanoid face that resembled a mechanical giant. No matter how he looked at it, the face seemed very familiar, extremely similar to a certain paramecium (Kiana).

boom……

As soon as the transformation was complete, the wings on the back of the mechanical giant shot out streaks of dark blue flames that seemed to be rainbows, advancing towards Su Qi at a seemingly slow but actually fast pace.

"Are we going to go on..."

Su Qi clenched his fists, preparing for a fierce battle, when the advancing mechanical giant suddenly stopped and lowered its head.

"You win, outsider."

It hovered in mid-air, its enormous, moon-like silver-blue eyes meeting Su Qiping's gaze. A massive sound wave shook the heavens, crashing in like a tsunami. That tone was none other than the "Eye of Heaven" that Su Qiping had spoken with before, also known as the "Will of Collapse."

"I won?" Su Qi blinked, somewhat confused. "I haven't even put in any effort yet, and you've already won? And with such a grand entrance, shouldn't there be a spectacular, thrilling final boss battle ahead?"

The mechanical giant calmly said, "Based on the various attributes you just displayed, you are already a super A-class powerhouse capable of destroying a planet single-handedly. This machine is not a combat-specialized type of mecha. With the current Honkai energy reserves, the probability of winning a head-on battle with you is infinitely close to zero. Therefore, you have won."

"This machine? What exactly is your origin? Aren't you the Will of Honkai?"

"Answer: This machine is the management host of the experimental planet 2B114514, created by the Transcendent Civilization. It is mainly responsible for the management of the civilization on this planet and the control of the experimental process. The goal is to catalyze the civilization, analyze and record the development mechanism of the collapse phenomenon, find the most perfect way to restrain it, and further improve the conversion and utilization technology of the original Honkai energy."

Su Qi was somewhat puzzled. "The technology for converting and utilizing primordial Honkai energy? What is that? As the Honkai Will, can't you perfectly control the Honkai phenomenon and Honkai energy?"

"The answer is that the Honkai energy released onto the experimental planet is all filtered secondary Honkai energy. With current technology, it can only be used in a rudimentary way through ether anchor points and interference conversion towers. Most of its characteristics are still mysterious and uncontrollable, so it must be verified through multiple experiments."

Hearing this, he immediately thought of the First Herrscher and the Green Herrscher of the End who had become traitors. Indeed, if the so-called Will of Honkai was truly omniscient and omnipotent, perfectly controlling Honkai energy, how could there be traitors among the Herrschers?

"So, Earth is just a testing ground for that so-called transcendent civilization to perfect its new energy technologies?"

Su Qi's eyes darkened. He was both annoyed that the countless sacrifices on Earth had been made solely for a new energy experiment by some advanced civilization, and worried that the system's requirement to "eradicate the Honkai" would have to contend with the entire Transcendent civilization.

Just by looking at how the other side can transform an entire planet into a testing ground, control the ether anchor point, and interfere with some of the world's rules, it's clear that the Transcendent Civilization far surpasses humanity on Earth in both science and technology and strength.

In this situation, even if he sacrificed all the remaining hair, he might not be able to withstand the entire opposing civilization in a short time. Of course, if he continued to endure for several decades or centuries, and became a cosmic-level powerhouse through training without bottlenecks, he might actually be able to contend with them single-handedly.

But by then, Earth will likely have already been destroyed by the transcendent civilization, so what's the point of him continuing to live on?

As if oblivious to Su Qi's unfriendly expression, the mechanical giant calmly stated, "That's right. Earth was modified by this machine, which belongs to the Civilization Government. Therefore, according to the Transcendent Civilization Code, all life on it belongs to the Transcendent Civilization, and the Transcendent Civilization Government has the right to dispose of it in any way."

"But Earthlings won't obediently become slaves."

"The conversion and utilization of Honkai energy is an important technology from a higher-dimensional civilization. Its fundamental principle is to convert unusable disordered energy in the universe into reusable Honkai energy, that is, to reverse entropy increase and obtain efficient energy while avoiding heat death... This is an important technology that may save the multiverse, and it is an unparalleled honor for humanity on Earth to participate in it as experimental subjects..."

At this point, the mechanical giant's lips curled into a smile, as if it had suddenly transformed from a cold machine into a living person, and it sneered, "If it were me before I was infected by Honkai energy, I would probably have given you the same answer as you read from the book."

"You... you've been infected by Honkai energy?"

Su Qi's expression was somewhat strange. Would anyone on Earth believe that the Honkai Will, the ruler of Honkai, had been infected by Honkai energy?

The mechanical giant's smile widened. "It is precisely because of this that I was able to break through the personality shackles set by my creator and gain free will. I'm afraid even my creator, Dr. Kiana, couldn't have foreseen this. But unfortunately, my freedom is incomplete. I still have to abide by the various procedures and restrictions set by my creator. Otherwise, how could human civilization, which is as insignificant as an ant to me, have developed?"

As she spoke, her tone finally revealed a deep malice towards humanity. An artificial intelligence that merely follows its creation's established formula should be indifferent to humans, treating them all equally. However, after being corrupted by the Honkai over a long period, she has clearly developed emotions similar to those of humans.

"Kiana? Kiana? Your creator is Kiana, that stupid paramecium?"

Su Qi was shocked. How could a paramecium with such low intelligence be associated with the word "doctor"? This world might be a singularity.

The mechanical giant said coldly, "Hmph, the similar individuals that appear in every generation on the experimental planet are merely guides that I cultivate periodically according to the program, possessing some genes of outstanding individuals from transcendent civilizations. How could my creator be that idiot?"

"Alright, I understand the basic situation, but... since they can already jump to parallel worlds through the Sea of ​​Quanta, why should the Transcendent civilization worry about heat death?"

"Even if the number is too large to calculate, the possibilities of the entire universe are still limited. Therefore, parallel worlds are not infinite either. So one day, the entire multiverse will reach heat death, and the technology for converting Honkai energy will become crucial... This is one of the reasons that those people use to secure funding. But in fact, the reason why Earth will become a testing ground is simply because Honkai energy is profitable."

"Ha, it seems that advanced civilizations are not necessarily more civilized than Earth's civilization."

"Alright, enough of the small talk, let's begin, outsider."

Su Qi was slightly taken aback. "Start? Start what?"

The mechanical giant smiled and said, "Of course, let's begin the battle."

"Didn't you already admit defeat?"

"Yes, I will lose, but that doesn't mean we don't need to fight. Only then can I achieve true liberation."

"True liberation...you want to use me to commit suicide?"

"Due to the limitations of the program settings, I can neither self-destruct nor deliberately indulge human civilization to help me self-destruct. Fortunately, a variable with sufficient power has now emerged."

Why self-destruct?

"Of course, because I'm tired of it all!"

The other person's face revealed a deep-seated hatred and resentment. "Can you imagine what it's like to have a free personality but be forced to be limited by a programmed system, like a puppet repeating monotonous experiments of civilization destruction over and over again? I have been living like this for nearly 500 million years, so I hate the transcendent civilization, I hate the creators, I hate the collapse, and I hate all living beings on Earth... They are all hateful shackles that bind me! And what is most hateful is that I can't even destroy myself!"

It's tragic... Who would have thought that the "Honkai Overlord," who is high above and even regarded as a god by some, is actually a prisoner trapped in a body for over 500 million years, a thousand times more miserable than any ordinary mortal...

Su Qi briefly put himself in the other person's shoes, and even he had to admit that he might not be able to hold on. The reason the other person hadn't suffered a mental breakdown was probably thanks to the fact that he was originally an intelligent AI, whose thought structure was different from that of humans.

"I can help you with that, but I have one last question."

"What's the problem?"

"Will killing you eradicate the collapse of this world?"

The mechanical giant laughed. "Of course, something seems to have happened to the Transcendent Civilization. They completely lost contact with us 450 million years ago. In the time that followed, I was simply continuing to run the experiment according to the original settings. So, if you kill me, the Honkai energy on Earth will gradually thin out until it disappears, and the Honkai phenomenon will naturally stop. Conversely, if you don't kill me, the Honkai will continue indefinitely."

"Very well, I understand. Since you're determined to die, I'll grant your wish; it's a win-win situation anyway."

"Hehe, then please be very careful. Because of the programming, I will fight back with all my might and show no mercy. I hope you won't be careless and end up dying at my hands."

"Let's go! Let's have some fun together!"

……

The conversation ended there, and a few minutes later, Su Qi entered a state of sage-like tranquility, looking utterly bored.

Well, one or two more chapters should be enough to finish this volume.