Herrscher of Reason's Arknights

Although the priest had already left, his prophecies did not stop; on the contrary, they became increasingly exaggerated.

He also specifically instructed them to wait for the final prophecy, to wait for the gods to send down divine punishment to punish the unjust land.

Everyone seems to be waiting, waiting for the final prophecy to come true.

The cold light illuminating the snowy night swept across the crowd. Soldiers and police, bewildered by the snow's cover, were unaware of each other's arrival. Their response to the situation was slow, and the gathered infected waited silently. A crisis was brewing in the silence, yet the surface of the crisis was eerily calm, deathly still...

The calm before the storm.

The silence was almost frightening.

Playing Kenji Kawai's "Hallucination" at this moment would be incredibly fitting.

Just as everyone held their breath, waiting for the order to be issued and for the moment of the final prophecy, a purple light gradually rose in the dark sky.

"Look! Up in the sky! On the horizon!!"

The infected were the first to react; with their backs to everyone, they were the first to see the rising purple light.

The crowd erupted in an uproar, because the last prophecy had also come true.

The gods will ultimately punish unjust bullying.

Does this mean even God is going to reach out and save the infected?!

Seeing the crowd erupt in chaos, the military and police were also somewhat affected. A small number of them turned around to check the situation when they saw the group pointing and shouting in the direction behind them.

It's no wonder they heard about these so-called "prophecies" – because the military and police have been maintaining order in the area, and some guards even spend their days in the mines.

Although the authorities effectively suppressed the rumors and prevented them from escalating, some people eventually became aware of them. What were originally just rumors and prophecies were "fulfilled" by supernatural phenomena, leading some to believe them to a certain extent.

The gods will ultimately punish unjust bullying.

Is this true?

Gods above, Your Majesty, could this... really be true?

This also caused some unease among the military and police.

The only ones completely unaware of this were the military, which was currently reorganizing its forces.

Purple dots of light are gradually rising in the sky.

However, far away outside the central army's tent, Kosiché was watching the purple light rising on the horizon with his usual elegant smile.

He knew exactly what it was, because it was a "new friend" who had come to the meeting according to the contract.

The snake scales have brought the information onto the stage, and now everyone knows about this fabricated "prophecy."

Ha, how foolish! To believe such a rumor so easily.

If it weren't for its own snake scales, how could anything from the outside have entered the mine? And how could anyone have bribed the guards watching over the infected?

All these seemingly coincidental miracles were actually man-made, and all were the work of Kosiché.

Here in his duchy, everyone, whether infected or Ursus garrison, was kept in the dark.

All the reasons were so perfect and justifiable. The coincidental lack of information prevented the people here from knowing the truth from each other, and the snake scales completed their mission perfectly.

Many, many people will die today, but it doesn't matter, because that is their purpose and the meaning of their existence.

He loved everyone, whether they were rich and powerful or poor and struggling, good or bad. He loved them all, as long as they had a goal, were still alive and working towards it, no matter what that goal was.

However, he dislikes things that are meaningless and wasteful of resources. Without goals or objectives to strive for, they are meaningless and simply a waste of resources.

But he was kind, kind enough to give these people he didn't love a goal and a reason to strive, and to find meaning in them.

Today, everyone who dies has meaning and purpose; they all have their own goals and efforts in life.

This is simply wonderful, isn't it?

However, what was already perfect became even more perfect, because a new "friend" joined his plan.

Even if the other party is only concerned with sharing the same interests rather than having the same ideas, or even if they scoff at you and your plans.

But it doesn't matter, as long as the goal is achieved, that's enough, and that's also its meaning.

Now, what he needs is to accelerate the process of the "rise of the infected." It's too slow now, the oppression isn't enough, the hope isn't enough, and the resistance isn't enough at all.

Since the will to resist is not enough, then let's create it artificially.

Since oppression isn't enough, let's add fuel to the fire of this impending explosion!

Since the hope that is given is not enough, let's give them more false "hope".

Making empty promises is easy.

And now, the artificially created resistance is about to begin.

···········

A pointless thought.

Sodium chloride herself scoffed at Koschke's ideas. If it weren't for the fact that he was still useful to her, given her personality, she would have basically just torn him apart with her bare hands.

But right now, the issue of the protagonist still looms over her.

Creating trouble everywhere is a great way to fish, but this kind of exhaustive search is only a last resort, unless there is a limited scope for exhaustive search.

And now, this scope has arrived.

Creating a grand drama of "infected resistance" is like adding fuel to the fire in this powder keg-like world, and the ensuing chemical reactions will undoubtedly create enormous waves.

In this way, no matter who the protagonist is, they will have to step onto the stage of the story.

Once a goal is set, setting subsequent goals and implementing measures will only be a matter of time.

She hates trouble, and she hates people who create trouble even more; the protagonist is just such a troublesome character.

She hated intense joy and profound despair. What I, sodium chloride, wanted was a peaceful life, to live like a plant—that would be the best.

But in order to achieve her goal, she doesn't care about any means, because when she gets serious, she has never encountered anyone who can pose a real threat to her.

Even if she is the chosen one of the planes, she can only defeat the villain she plays and the conspiracy and career she runs. She herself is not threatened, which is why she has so many points.

Although sodium chloride dislikes intense pleasure.

However, in order to achieve the goal, temporary cooperation is acceptable if it can speed up the process.

She is a pragmatist; there is no one she cannot use, no one she cannot cooperate with, and nothing she cannot do.

She was a villain herself, and the villain's reserve seemed incredibly foolish to her.

Since it's something that has no bottom line, we should take advantage of that.

With a slight manipulation, the Honkai energy was suddenly spread outward in a broadcast manner!

This resembled a small-scale "collapse".

And when this power was released, it truly resembled a miracle.

It was an ethereal song, like the chanting of ancient monks. A vast domain was unfolded, and the people swallowed by the rapidly expanding domain began to undergo astonishing changes!

Strange purple lines began to seep from everyone's skin, and the oozing started from deep within the skin!

The heart beats uncontrollably, sending this contaminated blood to every part of the body. The destructive energy instantly destroys the central nervous system of the brain and takes over all the body's control nodes, turning the person from a master of their own destiny into a puppet of the gods.

The original rationality was instantly taken over by a frenzied desire to attack. The original Originium-infected parts of the infected person were even directly mutated due to the stimulation of Honkai energy, making the infected person the best monster body!

"what happened?!"

"Attack! Attack quickly!"

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!!!"

The infected people transformed into a raging pack of beasts and charged towards the military and police formation!

Originally, the military and police were only responsible for maintaining order within the country. Their batons were more than enough to deal with unarmed infected people and some lawbreakers. However, lacking heavy weapons, they became very vulnerable when faced with attacks from a crazed crowd.

Furthermore, being completely unprepared for such a situation, no one knew what was going on with these usually submissive and lowly bastards.

However, the radiation continued, and even military and police personnel went berserk and began biting their own teammates!

"what on earth is it?!"

The major general, who was busy directing the garrison to defend the area, focused all his energy on controlling the situation and paid no attention to the flashing lights of the reporters who were the mouthpiece of the government, or to Kosiché who disappeared into the crowd.

The infected people's "resistance" has begun.

P.S.: Special notice: I can't sign contracts during these three-day holiday because of a problem with my bank card [crying emoji]. I need to go to the bank to unify my bank card and phone number with the number Hedgehog Cat has noted in my contacts, but both the bank and the Hedgehog Cat editors are on holiday, so I have to wait, at least until the banks reopen. Because I updated too frequently before, the word count is a bit high now. If I continue updating, it will probably be available for purchase in three days!!! So, for these three days, I'll have to postpone the updates to one update per day for now, sob sob.

Please understand [crying]

Section 20, Chapter 20: [Work-Life Balance]

What do you think of this situation?

Standing with his hands behind his back, Kosicé once again displayed the etiquette befitting a nobleman.

However, the queen who appeared here was not interested.

Sodium chloride is like a deity in this world—mysterious, majestic, and seemingly disdainful of everything.

However, when manipulating people's hearts, they will reveal a false side to deceive ordinary people.

Although he didn't know the other party's motives, Koschke didn't care about them.

Having a goal and striving for it is the embodiment of meaning, which is good and fits his aesthetic.

However, the other party's behavior gave Kosiché a completely new idea.

He needed a puppet, a successor of his own, but this had been delayed because "Koschche" had no offspring.

Because he is just a curse, anyone can be Koschke.

He had been searching for the right person for many years, but he couldn't find one.

So, it's hard to find things that are just right.

This legend, which has been passed down through the land, is indeed true.

However, he couldn't see through his nameless "friend".

However, this new idea was very helpful to him.

Why not find a successor yourself?

Or, to put it another way, since we can't find a ready-made one, we might as well create one ourselves.

Koschke disliked the gloomy characters in tragedies; he believed that the living dead, merely existing for the sake of living, were simply wasting social resources. Only sufficient conflict could drive social development, the progress of civilization, and the creation of rich stories.

Just like in novels and legends, contradictions are the essence of the story, and so are people.

Therefore, as long as she imbues the blank sheet of paper she finds with the colors of contradiction and tragedy, she can naturally drive all of this forward.

This is wonderful, absolutely perfect!

What was originally needed was a grand plan, a plan to "rise up the infected," and this "rise up" naturally required a leader.

He had been searching for the right person to be the puppet leader.

However, he had been struggling to find a suitable candidate, but now he has a new idea.

Since we can't find one, let's create a chosen one ourselves.

A person suffering a fate bestowed upon them by tragedy.

Absolutely perfect.

"The infighting among ants is utterly boring. I just hope that after you've caused me trouble, you can let me get what I want."

The silver-haired girl merely gazed down at the burning earth with her golden eyes for a moment before losing interest.

She disliked fighting and intense stimulation, so naturally she had little interest in such a scene.

Of course, Kosic's words were just empty talk to start a conversation.

"Although it's boring, it's efficient. Here's everything you need. Please make sure this fire burns even more fiercely."

It was a classified report. Kosiché's influence was deeply rooted within the Empire, so such classified information was easy to obtain, given that he knew all the noble commanders of the various army groups.

The image above is a defense map of Ursus, with several important mines and their corresponding garrison positions circled in red.