The azure planet.
The boundless universe.
Lu Xing, as the Imaginary Emperor, quietly floated in near-Earth orbit.
"Who would have thought that this endless starry sky is actually just a branch of a certain great tree—no, perhaps just a small twig extending from a branch."
Lu Xing was muttering to himself.
Ever since inheriting the will and core of the old Emperor and ascending to become the Black Temple, Lu Xing hadn't had such "leisurely" time for a long while.
It felt as if—
His time as a human, the self that had just transmigrated, was a very long time ago.
The Lu Xing of that time.
What was his dream upon arriving in this world?
"..."
"Pfft!"
If he had the corresponding physical structure, Lu Xing would definitely be laughing out loud right now, because he remembered his dream back then:
To get close and cuddly with beautiful girls.
That's right.
For a human, this was such a simple and sincere desire.
But the current Lu Xing, every time he got "close" to beautiful girls… it was mostly to "scoop out their hearts" (in a very literal sense).
Had Lu Xing been influenced by the Honkai Will?
He had to admit: yes, but not that much.
From protecting himself at the very beginning, to now protecting himself and the familiar Honkai around him, Lu Xing's goal had never actually changed. There was a period when he indeed became a mission machine, but this did not contradict his original intentions.
As for now.
He had even become the biggest villain in the human world…
But what did it matter?
The humans who died directly at his hands, the cities destroyed by his actions—all these were already too numerous to count.
Sitting in this position, Lu Xing finally understood the meaning of those two words: standpoint.
Does the Emperor still possess humanity?
Yes!
However, this humanity probably had to bear the name of selfishness.
————
Lu Xing was an ordinary person.
His intelligence wasn't exceptionally high.
Surviving among the Flame-Chasers and the major human factions, and reaching his current level, was merely the result of exhausting his mind and energy, being cautious, plus a little bit of luck.
Or perhaps.
It was the blessing of the old Emperor's spirit in heaven.
Actually.
Lu Xing was very tired.
For the Previous Era, where one wrong step could lead to instant death on the spot, the energy he expended, the "omniscient and omnipotent" Emperor image he cultivated in front of his subordinates… if he were human, it would have been absolutely impossible to achieve.
After all.
He was now a "997" corporate slave, working tirelessly and without sleep for the cause of Honkai.
Now—
"Tired. Let's just destroy it!"
The threat of Mu Continent was tangible and real.
Whether it was the threat posed by quantum technology to himself and his subordinate Honkai Beasts, or the System's mission requirements, destroying Mu Continent had become a compulsory subject for Lu Xing.
Of course.
There were also some questions Lu Xing couldn't quite figure out.
The appearance of the "Sink the Continent" mission was very clearly a demand from the Honkai side; there was no room for doubt about that. After all, regarding the origin of this System, even now, Lu Xing, no matter how foolish, could guess a thing or two.
But quantum energy…
Imaginary and quantum are mutually opposing; there wasn't much need to delve deeply into this.
The crucial point was.
Lu Xing had already remembered that in the next civilized era, there would be the existence of "Quantum-attribute Valkyries."
The Imaginary, or the Honkai Will, was not completely intolerant of the existence of quantum energy.
In fact.
As a civilization selected by the Honkai Will on behalf of the Imaginary Tree, one that would very likely confront the Quantum Sea in the future, it was impossible and shouldn't be that they knew nothing about quantum energy.
Based on this foundation.
Lu Xing negated the guess he had made when he first discovered quantum energy:
"One's own child pretending to acknowledge the thief as father, swallowing the other's property before returning to the mother's embrace—this isn't necessarily a form of cuckoldry (NTR)."
In the silent universe, Lu Xing's train of thought broadened once more.
"There must be something wrong with the quantum energy used by Mu Continent."
"Furthermore, the Eye of the Abyss, or rather, the part of the 'Quantum Sea' that the Eye of the Abyss is 'currently' connected to, probably has significant problems as well."
It was probably something like that.
Lacking necessary intelligence, Lu Xing couldn't be certain if his conjectures were correct.
Perhaps the Imaginary Tree simply couldn't tolerate civilizations that used quantum energy. The quantum attribute of the next civilized era might have shielded itself from the Honkai Will's perception in some way, or perhaps it had simply gained the Honkai Will's approval (by surrendering), who could say.
Related speculations were too broad, while his thoughts were much simpler—
The Black Emperor in the eyes of humans: cunning and treacherous.
The Emperor in the eyes of Honkai Beasts: all his plans are flawless.
The real Lu Xing: If it's not very important, and I can't figure it out, I just stop thinking about it.
That's right.
Lu Xing didn't care about the reasons.
The Emperor had prepared several plans for Mu Continent—Lu Xing, while complaining about being tired, had prepared multiple schemes—none of which would allow the latter to escape its predetermined outcome:
Sinking.
————
The tumultuous thoughts were reeled in one by one.
The Emperor once again reverted to the appearance familiar to humans and his subordinates.
"Whoosh!"
An arm swept gently through the universe.
A golden ring composed of fully sixty-four [Subspace Lances] wove a chaotic hue—an asteroid with a diameter exceeding one kilometer emerged from within.
And such a behemoth…
Following the appearance of a second round of [Subspace Lances], another asteroid of the same volume slowly floated beside the Emperor.
What was even more terrifying.
The above process, as the flow of time rapidly passed… was repeated a full seven times!
A total of fourteen asteroids circled around the Emperor. These "stones," pulled from deep space by spatial power, represented an absolutely terrifying expenditure for Lu Xing—which was why he needed to accumulate energy.
The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs had a diameter of about 10 kilometers.
To completely eliminate humans on the surface, the diameter would need to be expanded to about 12 kilometers—clearly, Lu Xing couldn't do that. Setting aside how much energy it would consume to "summon" a 12-kilometer-diameter asteroid, the devastating consequences such an act would have on the Honkai Beasts on the surface alone were not within Lu Xing's considerations.
As for wiping out Mu Continent…
A direct hit from a 2-kilometer-diameter asteroid would be very suitable. Lu Xing had indeed found a similar asteroid in the solar system, but its distance was too great. To bring it here using [Warp Drive] would consume an amount of Honkai energy that truly exceeded Lu Xing's limits.
Therefore.
Lu Xing had set his sights on "1-kilometer" class asteroids, sufficient to destroy a medium-sized country.
Using them to sink Mu Continent would obviously be somewhat difficult, but performing a deep cleanse of the surface would certainly not be a hard task.
At the very least, it could blow up those quantum energy research laboratories, as well as the most important Eye of the Abyss.
The matter of sinking the continent could be dealt with slowly after the surface was cleansed.
The above.
Was the Imaginary Emperor's simple and easy-to-understand "Plan One."