“Doctor, what do we do now?”
Theresa stared at the empty room, anxiety gnawing at her like an ant on a hot pan.
“The traitor has been subdued, but we can’t get any useful information out of him. So the situation is pretty grim. We… only have two options left.”
“Chicken-head, is this really the time? If you’ve got a plan, just spit it out!”
“First option: from our earlier research, we discovered that different dolls can communicate with each other at a special frequency. So we can flip that around and use it to actively enter the Theater of Domination.”
“Great! Then what are we waiting for?”
“Hold on, don’t celebrate just yet, Dr. Tesla. Even though finding a way to actively enter the Theater of Domination is only a matter of time, time is exactly what we’re shortest on.”
“Based on the intel Bronya brought back, we can infer that they’ll definitely use every trick in the book to force Kiana into using her Herrscher authority.”
“With Kiana unable to use her Herrscher powers while they can use part of the Herrscher of Reason’s authority, I’m afraid Kiana won’t last long.”
Silence fell over everyone. It was as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over Tesla’s head. She knew all too well that Einstein was telling the truth.
“Second option: ask Miss Enoxia for help. As the Herrscher of Corruption, she can monitor the situation here anytime she wants. Although her stance isn’t the same as Anti-Entropy’s, when it comes to rescuing Kiana, we should be able to find common ground.”
“But… the downside of this approach is the uncertainty factor. We don’t even know what method we’d need to use to guarantee we can reach her.”
“And even if we do reach Miss Enoxia, we can’t guarantee she’ll have a way into the Theater of Domination.”
“So the optimal solution right now is to pursue both plans simultaneously. Everyone, move the dolls on the deck to the laboratory. I’ll leave a message and then start the experiment immediately.”
Everyone sprang into action. Meanwhile, Kiana stared at the unfamiliar scene before her, her eyes full of shock and wariness.
“Ugh, this is getting tiresome. But… for your sake, I suppose I’ll go through the trouble of saying it one more time.”
“Welcome to the Theater of Domination!”
Dolls swarmed Kiana from all directions. She had no choice but to fight them off without using her Herrscher authority while constantly moving to avoid being surrounded.
“You think you’re safe just because you’re not using your Herrscher powers? With that self-imposed handicap, let’s see how long you last!”
Soon, mechas, Honkai Beasts, Imaginary Seeds, and Quantum Shadows were everywhere, with flying projectiles filling the sky. The entire Theater of Domination was a scene of vibrant life, teeming with activity.
Under this kind of relentless assault, Kiana quickly realized that despite the theater being large, she had nowhere to retreat. Close-range, mid-range, and long-range attacks all launched at once—there were no blind spots at all.
For her, only one option remained: take the hits with her body. But she also understood that she couldn’t last long this way.
“If I really reach my limit, I’m afraid I’ll subconsciously use the Herrscher of Ice’s authority. And in the worst case… it might even come out. If that happens, everything is over…”
Just then, Kiana suddenly remembered something Fu Hua had told her when she was practicing Taixu Sword Qi.
At the time, she’d hit a temporary bottleneck in her training. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t further control the immense Honkai energy within her body. So she’d gotten impatient and wanted to rush results.
“Kiana, when practicing Taixu Sword Qi, never be impatient. Otherwise, if your Honkai energy flow becomes disordered, you could very well turn yourself into a Honkai energy bomb that could explode at any moment. Its power… is enough to destroy any city.”
“But this is the Theater of Domination. If I explode here… it shouldn’t affect the real world, right…”
Kiana realized she still had a choice. At the very least, she could choose to blow herself up along with them.
While Kiana was distracted, a Titan mecha identical to Anti-Entropy’s punched her flying. Before she even hit the ground, another mecha followed up with an uppercut.
“Hehe, fun, fun! I want to see how far she can fly.”
At that moment, the aura around Kiana suddenly turned violent. The concentration of Honkai energy radiating outward from her skyrocketed. Soon, some Honkai Beasts dropped dead on the spot from the overwhelming Honkai concentration.
But even now, the dolls noticed she still showed no signs of using her Herrscher authority.
“This girl… wait, what is she trying to do?!”
Kiana struggled to her feet, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and then a faint smile appeared. But at the same time, tears slowly streamed from her eyes.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Himeko. You gave everything, hoping I could keep living. But now… I’m afraid I’m going to let you down.”
“I’m sorry, Class President. You gave me Taixu Sword Qi precisely so I could control my Honkai energy, and in the end, this is how I use it.”
“I’m sorry, everyone at Anti-Entropy. When I was still a ticking time bomb, you were willing to take me in and give me a new home. And yet I… left without even saying goodbye…”
“I’m sorry…”
At that moment, a violent tremor ran through the entire Theater of Domination. Then, as if someone had chiseled through the theater’s walls, black mist began seeping in from outside.
Through the pitch-black fog, a crimson eyeball gazed at Kiana. Then, the violent Honkai energy within her gradually calmed.
Unlike Kiana, the surrounding mechas and Imaginary Seeds, under the influence of the black mist, began attacking each other.
Kiana noticed that her disordered meridians were being corrected, and her wounds were healing.
She turned her head and saw that a golden lance had appeared beside her out of nowhere.
“Black… no, is this a mimicry of Black Abyss White Flower?!”
The black mist dispersed, and a familiar voice drifted down from above:
“Hey there, Kiana. Don’t go rushing into your life flashing before your eyes just yet. If you were to fall before this bunch of Down syndrome kids who can only hide in a stinking ditch, pleasuring themselves and claiming moral victory—wouldn’t that just be too embarrassing?”
