Not long after Elias dealt with the incidents involving the Herrscher of Ice and the Herrscher of Stars, a certain pitiful kitty in the Elysian Realm fell into a life-and-death crisis.
"Wuuu... help... I'm... going to starve to death."
Pardofelis lay sprawled inside her little general store, barely clinging to life.
Her stomach let out occasional adorable cries of protest.
The pair of cat ears on her head drooped limply, and she was so hungry she did not even have the strength to wag her tail anymore.
"How did this happen? Sister Eden, Sister Elysia—if you two don't co patronize my shop soon, I really won't be able to keep it open... wuuu, I'm so hungry~ Where did Sister Vill-V and Sister Sakura go~ And Sister Aponia and Griseo too..."
Pardofelis had noticed that sothing felt increasingly off in the Elysian Realm lately.
Although for the Fourteen Fla-Chasers, this virtual space was indeed vast, and most of them usually holed up in their own mory domains like hobodies.
But this ti, they had not seen each other for far too long. Her Felis General Store had not made a single sale in ages. The kitty clutched her completely flat stomach and let out a long sigh.
In truth, the most crucial reason was that the carbohydrate synthesizer in the Elysian Realm had broken down.
Without that machine, there was no way to use Honkai energy to create delicious cakes, rice, ran, canned food, and other tasty dishes.
"So strange. Usually if a machine in the Realm breaks, Sister Vill-V would fix it within two days for sure. But this ti I can't even find her... even Sister I has disappeared."
Pardofelis spoke weakly. She was so hungry she had started nibbling on her own tail, only to end up with a mouthful of fur.
Although Pardofelis was not very strong, weak or not she was still a MANTIS. As long as she had Honkai energy, she could survive without eating.
But she had already developed the good habit of eating five als a day.
Breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, and midnight snack.
Five als a day—this had been the kitty's routine ever since she was taken in by Elias during the Previous Era. What made Elysia envious was that she genuinely never gained weight no matter how much she ate.
More precisely, if Pardofelis ever did gain weight, it would only show in her Artificial Cascade form—from a slender cat into a plump, canned-food-like chubby feline. Strangely enough, it never affected her human figure at all.
But if this continued, Pardofelis felt she would soon beco a skinny, bony cat.
"Sigh~ No choice. Activating the ergency hidden rations!"
With great effort, Pardofelis rolled over, rummaged through the cabinets of her shop, and after a long while pulled out a cup of instant noodles that looked ancient, its surface covered in dust.
"Good thing I swiped a few buckets of instant noodles from Brother Kevin back then. Otherwise I'd really starve to death in the Realm today."
As she spoke, she tore it open with a rip. Too lazy to boil water, she planned to eat it dry like crunchy snacks and took a big bite.
The next second, the kitty's face turned green.
Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!
"Wh-what a weird taste! It's almost on par with Sister I's dark cuisine! Does Brother Kevin have such unique taste in instant noodles? Uh, wait... is this expired?"
Looking at the noodles that had completely turned green, Pardofelis hurriedly checked the production date on the packaging.
Good grief. Instant noodles from fifty thousand years ago.
This thing could probably be displayed in a museum.
"Ah... it's over for ..."
The Elysian Realm was a virtual mory space. Although it felt no different from reality, it was still ultimately a virtual world. Which ant... even if she wanted to drink the wind or chew on dirt and grass, she could not.
"Wuuu, Boss Elias, I don't want to starve to death."
Pardofelis could not help but miss the days when Elias had been around. Back then she had just been a carefree little kitty. Every day consisted of sunbathing, sleeping, and waiting to be fed and petted.
But now the feeder was gone. The few people he had entrusted with things before leaving were nowhere to be found. In the entire Elysian Realm, the only ones she could locate were Elysia and Mobius.
The forr was completely imrsed in certain books about a certain soone, unable to extricate herself. The latter... Pardofelis did not have the courage to approach her laboratory.
"Sigh~ Looks like I'll have to go out and forage for food."
Pardofelis sighed again, then staggered toward the exit of the Elysian Realm.
With practiced ease, she activated Artificial Cascade, transforming herself into a skinny Honkai Beast—Pastoral Cat. After all, her cat ears and tail were too eye-catching. But if she turned fully into a cat, there would be no problem at all.
In the past, she had often transford into a cat to go out and stock up on goods.
"ow~"
(Where should I go to find food? Forget it, forget it. I'm too hungry to think. I'll just wander around. With my luck, even a blind cat can bump into a dead mouse.)
Half-starved and dizzy, Pardofelis let instinct and intuition guide her steps.
And so... she headed in the direction of St. Freya Academy.
...
At the sa ti, on Elias' side.
He did not happen to run into his own kitty by coincidence. At the mont, Elias was in North Arica—or more precisely, at Anti-Entropy Headquarters.
"Old Yang, long ti no see."
"Uh, y-yeah, it has been a while... though only a month or two. Still, I never expected that in such a short ti, you'd develop St. Freya Academy to this extent."
Welt looked at Elias sowhat awkwardly. Even though they were not enemies but on friendly terms, as a Herrscher he found himself instinctively afraid of Elias.
Like a fish facing a cat. A sheep facing a wolf.
Welt's entire body trembled subconsciously. The hand holding his teacup nearly dropped it several tis.
Elias could only laugh helplessly at the sight.
(Could it be because I've defeated too many Herrschers that their fear of has been engraved into their DNA? No, wait—into their Herrscher Cores instead?)
On the other side, Tesla—the lobster-headed doctor—was as brash as ever, which made Elias feel oddly nostalgic.
"Welt's right. St. Freya is seriously outrageous now. Herrschers everywhere, a whole bunch of S-rank Valkyries. When we first heard the news, Chicken-Head and I thought it was so kind of April Fool's joke."
"Exactly. But what surprised us most was you, Elias. We never imagined you were one of the Fla-Chasers of the Previous Era—let alone that legendary Fla-Chaser of [Deliverance]. That's really..."
Einstein also took a deep breath, only barely managing to calm the shock in her heart.
Years ago, Anti-Entropy had excavated quite a few ruins from the Previous Era. Precisely because of that, they knew just how unfathomable the savior who had once led humanity to pin Honkai to the ground and beat it senseless fifty thousand years ago truly was.
And now that Elias had laid his cards on the table, they realized that what they had known before was rely the tip of the iceberg.
Einstein handed a cup of tea to Elias. The aning was obvious—serving tea to the big shot.
"Heh, you're too polite. I ca in a hurry this ti. If you three don't mind, please accept these."
As he spoke, Elias took out a small box and a USB drive.
"Hm? What's this?" Tesla asked, utterly unceremonious as she grabbed the box and opened it.
"Just a few pseudo-Herrscher Cores, and the blueprints for a Godsbane ch from the Previous Era," Elias said with a smile.
"You said what?! A ch from the Previous Era?!"
Tesla's eyes lit up instantly. Even Welt could not resist leaning forward. No matter how old Old Yang was, n remained boys at heart. chs were eternal romance.
chs from the Previous Era were products of Vill-V pushing both cost and performance to the absolute limit under Elias' infinite resource supply. Without exaggeration, they could leave Anti-Entropy's Titan chs in the dust by several dozen streets.
"My god! This appearance! This performance! This endurance! Th-this-this-this cost!! What kind of genius who treats money like dirt designed this thing?! It could even take down a Herrscher, right?! Chicken-Head, I'm building it!"
"...According to rational analysis, constructing even one such ch would plunge Anti-Entropy into a financial crisis," Welt replied dryly.
"Damn it! Then use your authority to construct it, Welt!"
"Dr. Tesla, please don't make things difficult for Yang. With his current capabilities as the Herrscher of Reason, even completing one-third of this ch would probably finish him off first."
"...Then what's the point of keeping him around?!"
Tesla shot Welt a look of disdain. You cannot even construct a single ch? What kind of leader are you? You're both Herrschers of Reason—look at Elias, he can even construct a world!
"..."
Welt's eye twitched, left speechless.
At best, he could only bring out twenty percent of the Herrscher of Reason's authority. After all, the Gem of Reason was never a Herrscher Core that truly matched him.
Still, when he had heard earlier that Elias had once constructed an entire world, his glasses had nearly tilted off his face in shock. The gap between them was absurdly vast.
"Ahem! Elias, you must have other matters bringing you to Anti-Entropy this ti, correct? Please, speak freely. On behalf of Anti-Entropy, I promise we will do everything in our power to help."
"There is sothing else, Old Yang... I want your Herrscher Core of Reason. Can you give it to ?"
Elias went straight to the point.
The mont those words fell, Welt, Tesla, and Einstein all widened their eyes in astonishnt. The reception room fell into silence as the three exchanged looks.
In the end, Elias spoke again.
"I know this request is sudden. But this is not a demand—it is an exchange. I am willing to trade this freshly obtained Herrscher Core of Stars for yours."
As he spoke, he produced a golden gem. Now fully thawed, the Core emitted waves of Honkai energy. At the sa ti, everyone present felt a heavy pressure settle over them.
It was purer and stronger than the gravitational force Welt had once unleashed with the Star of Eden. Elias had nad this Herrscher Core the Gem of Destruction.
Welt was visibly stunned. He could feel his body resonating with the Gem of Destruction.
"Compared to Chen Tianwu, Old Yang, you're actually far more suited to becoming the Herrscher of Stars. After all, you've practically engraved the Star of Eden into your DNA already."
With that, Elias tossed the Core directly to Welt.
"...It does suit better," Welt nodded seriously.
He had a premonition that once he fused with the Gem of Destruction, he would instantly rise to the top tier of combat power in the Current Era. Taking on Schicksal alone would not be a problem.
Just imagining summoning an ultra-massive pseudo black hole and showing that dog-faced scher what stellar annihilation looked like made Welt's lips curl upward in excitent.
"The Herrscher of Earth from the Previous Era could create a pseudo black hole powerful enough to swallow an entire continent at full strength. But his potential wasn't actually as high as yours, Welt. If it were you... perhaps you might even create one capable of devouring the Earth."
"Heh, Elias, you jest. Leaving aside that I fight to protect the Earth, an Earth-devouring pseudo black hole is beyond what this authority can achieve."
Welt chuckled and shook his head. In his estimation, continental level was already his limit. The Herrscher of Stars was not the Herrscher of Finality—its upper bound was nowhere near that exaggerated.
"Hm? I can do it though~"
Elias casually constructed two pseudo black holes and spun them lightly in his palm. He was not exaggerating. Creating a pseudo black hole capable of swallowing the planet... was not difficult for him.
"Uh... you're an exception," Welt replied, cold sweat forming on his brow.
Once again, he realized that the white-haired youth sitting before him, no matter how harmless he appeared, was in truth soone capable of easily ending the world.
Elias had just graciously undergone a full-body examination at Anti-Entropy. The result? Every instrunt had overloaded and broken.
With his current Honkai energy exceeding 4,000,000 HW, any authority he used would reach world-destroying levels.
He could ignite the world with the flas of the Herrscher of Fire.
He could bring about another ice age with the authority of the Herrscher of Ice.
He could tear apart Earth's ozone layer with the power of the Herrscher of Wind.
He could create a pseudo black hole capable of devouring the planet.
Or unfold an Elysion Pedion that blanketed the entire globe.
None of these were difficult for the current Elias. He could be a saint who saved the world—or a demon king who destroyed it.
And this absolute, irresistible power was precisely why, despite performing the miracle of reviving the five million who had perished in the Manila Honkai Eruption, not a single nation now dared to make demands of him or threaten him.
"Well, Old Yang? Compared to a Gem of Reason that you can only use at twenty percent output—and which harms your body in the process—this Gem of Destruction is your optimal choice."
Elias looked at Welt sincerely.
"I know the identity of the Herrscher of Reason carries extraordinary aning for you. So this is only a request... truly just a request. Even if you refuse, I won't do anything."
"There's no need to say that, Elias. I know the kind of person you are," Welt said, pushing up his glasses.
"Exactly! You're not like Otto. We know you wouldn't use underhanded tricks," Tesla added, clapping Elias on the shoulder with trust.
Einstein beside them also smiled and nodded.
If it were anyone else, they would not have believed it. But having experienced the Second Eruption firsthand, the mbers of Anti-Entropy knew very clearly that the white-haired youth before them possessed a radiant and noble humanity.
Besides, if Elias truly coveted Welt Yang's Core, he could have simply taken it by force. There would have been no need to specially offer a perfectly compatible Gem of Destruction in exchange.
"If it were soone else, I would refuse. But since it's you, of course there's no problem. After all, there is probably no one in this world more suitable than you to entrust the Herrscher Core of Reason to."
With that, Welt removed the Core from within his body.
It was a gray-white translucent gem, containing the authority to comprehend principles, reconstruct all structures, and perform miracles anew.
There was a trace of reluctance in his eyes—but no hesitation.
After all, he was rely soone who bore the na of the world. How could he compare to the youth who had saved the world—and even constructed one?
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