Venus's core activity was reviving. The energy impact Noldrei brought had hit Venus, giving it even stronger kinetic energy. Continuously erupting gases were shrouding the former planet, beginning a new round of change.
The dejected Sa was forcefully contained on Venus.
Noldrei pointed a finger at her.
"Look at you, why are you still like this? You've lived for hundreds of millions of years, yet you still like to maintain the form of a matriarchal human? Still keeping a human form? If I were like that, I'd have gotten tired of it after a few hundred years."
"And you, you've managed to stick with it for so long. It just shows how conservative and backward your thinking is!"
"I'll arrange some work for you. If you dare to run, I'll dare to hunt you down in the Sea of Quanta. Don't even think about running. I've already left an Imaginary imprint on you."
Thanks to Su's years of control over the Seed of Sumeru, he could brand other beings with coordinates, so even if Sa wanted to run, she couldn't escape.
The unlucky Sa was thus captured by Noldrei.
"Next, you will restore civilized activity on the surface of Venus. If the planet is too close to the sun, you will be responsible for adjusting Venus's orbital changes to make it a suitable planet for general carbon-based life."
"I will help you find a 'moon' and have the Herrscher of the Void send you some things from other orbits. If you lack water resources, you'll have to produce and synthesize them yourself!"
Noldrei finally understood the joy of being a cosmic farmer. The pleasure of commanding others to work and create new things didn't change with one's lifeform.
Sa listened meekly, completely unable to understand why Noldrei was doing this.
As the level of civilization increased, the power of the Honkai would also increase with the strengthening of Imaginary Energy. The growth of civilization was like the continuous derivation of Imaginary branches, and the Honkai, hanging on the Imaginary Tree, would also use the power of Imaginary Renormalization to strengthen itself.
"Next, I will arrange for Herrschers to come and supervise you. You can choose to escape, and then the Herrschers will deal with you harshly."
"Of course! I'm not a bad person either. Once you've restored Venusian civilization and re-established order on Venus, I will allow you to leave. Whether you go and wreak havoc in the Bubble Universes of the Sea of Quanta or go find the Cocoon of Finality to fight is none of my business."
"During the time the Herrscher of Origin is supervising you, it doesn't matter if you want to leave!"
"As long as you can defeat the person supervising you. If you don't win and run away on your own, I'll catch you and bring you back. If you win and leave honorably, then I won't hunt you down."
"If you finish your work normally, I will remove the mark on you and set you free!"
His Majesty the Emperor had arranged everything clearly for Sa. For this kind of civilized slave owner, a heavy hand was needed for proper labor re-education.
'What a pure monster. Taking the benefits of its own civilization and only thinking of itself, the bastard! How can there be such a low-level thing?!'
Noldrei couldn't even be bothered to morally criticize such a being. It hadn't even made a backup of itself, never considering the possibility of its own failure.
A lifeform with such intelligence didn't deserve to have morals.
---||---
Kevin and Su had thought Sa's arrival would lead to a great battle, but now it seemed... they had overthought it.
"Su, do you think he used his full strength?"
Kevin's question was one Su couldn't answer. They were just here, controlling the Seed of Sumeru to observe Sa's situation, but Sa had been disciplined like a small infant. A lifeform hundreds of millions of years old was controlled in an instant.
Su also understood why the Cocoon of Finality had been hiding all this time.
"The Cocoon of Finality has nowhere left to hide now. The deepest place it can conceal itself is only in the depths of civilization's dreams."
"If it comes out, it gets beaten. If it doesn't come out, it gets sealed off to die, watching the outside world get stronger and stronger. The nutrients civilization provides it have become a pittance. A Honkai that can't control its Herrschers is like a person in a vegetative state who can think but can't move."
Speaking of which, Su tried to think from the Will of the Honkai's perspective. "In this situation, how can the Honkai turn the tables? Kill all humans? But the problem is, the number of humans with the Honkai factor has already reached a certain magnitude."
"There are more and more humans with the Honkai factor and control over Stigmas. Their Honkai Energy resistance is also getting stronger due to genetic modification, plus the compensatory effect of Stigma battlesuits. The Honkai can no longer defeat humanity on a genetic level. The only thing it can do is to continuously summon stronger Honkai Beasts to deal with them."
"But if that's the case..."
Su thought of the current civilization's 'eagerness' for Honkai Beasts.
"The Honkai Beasts will become even more powerful minerals for the current civilization. Every Stigma battlesuit user will be the best miner. The Honkai can't gain any benefit from destroying humanity, and the more Honkai humanity destroys, the stronger human civilization becomes, which in turn causes the Cocoon of Finality to create more Honkai Energy."
Kevin was silent for a long time, unable to figure out how the Honkai could win from here.
Unless the Honkai could find someone to directly touch the Imaginary Tree and gain the support of the Imaginary.
But reality was stuck right there!
If the Cocoon of Finality could do that, it would have done so long ago. Why would it continue to lurk within human civilization?
The last one to touch the Imaginary Tree, Otto, had betrayed the Honkai without hesitation, turning the Imaginary authority into a tool to fulfill his own wishes.
Having been a fool once, how could the Cocoon of Finality be a fool again?
Who knew if the next human would betray it again?
The Imaginary clearly offered more benefits to humans.
Kevin never would have thought that the Cocoon of Finality's failure would come down to 'the benefits the Honkai offers to buy humanity's loyalty are less than the benefits the Imaginary offers.'
He asked in a deep voice, "So the key to victory between humanity and the Cocoon of Finality is actually in the Imaginary? Imaginary Energy can create more Cocoons, and this power will in turn make human civilization progress even further."
"Yes, as for the era after that, I find it hard to guess..." Su could only deduce this far.
An image appeared in his mind.
A powerful human and the Herrscher of Finality fighting to the edge of the Imaginary, even grinding the Imaginary Tree to dust.
'What an absurd world!'
Su couldn't understand why he would have such an absurd imagination, but the reality was that humanity and the Cocoon were competing to see who could grasp a higher Imaginary authority first.
Everything was just as Otto had done.
All humans and Herrschers were rushing towards the same future path as Otto.
The genetic civilization created by Noldrei was constantly beginning to infiltrate and change in the direction of the Imaginary.