"Hah…"
Ji Lin was panting heavily, her clothes in disarray as she collapsed on the ground.
Make no mistake, this was merely a side effect of the Monarch's innovative experiment with [Root Regression]. Ji Lin was a human who had naturally awakened her Stigma, but on a genetic level, she was vastly different from the citizens of the Empire. After all, her version had not been developed and continuously optimized over nearly 4,000 years, and still retained many of the crude side effects from the primitive era of MANTIS creation.
This clone, after all, was merely a product created by the combination of [Root Regression] and [Divine Link]. While its combat power was more than sufficient, its ability to create further clones was vastly inferior to the main body's.
Simple [Root Regression] could only revert Ji Lin to an ordinary human.
However!
With the corpse of Chiyou, the situation became entirely different.
Chiyou's consciousness had already dissipated, making it the perfect "fusion material" for Ji Lin. It wasn't that Lu Xing didn't want to resurrect Chiyou; a Honkai Beast with the potential of a semi-Doomsday-class would be a solid mid-tier candidate in the Empire.
But, this creature's birth was inextricably linked to the Honkai of this world, and one could not speak of the Honkai without eventually involving the "Finality" of this Current Civilization.
To prevent his meddling from being discovered, the best solution was naturally to fuse Chiyou and Ji Lin, turning her into a true member of the Empire.
As it turned out, Lu Xing's idea was a success. After the modification, Ji Lin's physical body alone possessed combat power equivalent to half of Chiyou's. Once she adapted to this new body, the "Chiyou" form she could manifest in her Collapsed State would likely allow her to step directly into the ranks of [Higher Primordial Species].
Don't be fooled by the fact that the Empire dispatched so many [Higher Primordial Species] for a single mission; one must remember that this was already the Empire's high-end combat force.
Among villains, this would be at least a cadre-level position.
Even with the Monarch personally acting, it would be very difficult to find such a perfect "subject" to directly modify into a [Higher Primordial Species].
"Next—"
All Ji Lin lacked was time to adapt.
"Let me fulfill my promise."
Two long, crystalline objects, shrouded in a swirling black mist, materialized before the Monarch.
These two cores had been "isolated." The wills of Danzhu and Cangxuan had completely sealed Chiyou's consciousness within them.
These two were not Fusion Warriors, but their combat prowess was not to be underestimated. The elder sister, Cangxuan, had been active as an ordinary soldier on the front lines for a long time, even in the era when Fusion Warriors reigned supreme.
In other words, while her combat talent was not on the level of a chosen one like Kevin, it was not inferior to Sakura's before her MANTIS surgery.
Lu Xing had already found the information he wanted from Chiyou's corpse.
Cangxuan and Danzhu. One relying on Soulium weapons, the other on a "large-scale figure," they had jointly suppressed more than two-thirds of Chiyou's power… Those who managed to survive Mobius's lab were truly quite capable.
Of course, they were not the protagonists of this era.
To be precise, with the exception of the Celestial Emissary (Hua), everyone else's impact on the timeline was negligible.
But…
With the help of these two, perhaps he could try some different approaches.
Swoosh!
A radiance of black and white bloomed from the Honkai cores.
"Life," "Time," "Death," "Consciousness."
The chaotic temporal currents spread across the sea's surface also brought a benefit; at the very least, the power of the [Dominion of Finality] could be unleashed without restriction.
Reversing the order of life and death, extracting the consciousness from the cores.
This project sounded outrageous, and in practice… it had to be just as outrageous!
That's right.
Lu Xing had just remembered.
What he was about to do was a "divine performance before mortals." To revive two "gods" right in front of Ji Lin, how could he do it without flair? He had to create the illusion that "Lord Yinglong paid a great price" to earn her sincere gratitude.
Myriad rays of rosy light burst forth, and clouds and mist billowed everywhere.
This domain, created casually within the Quantum Sea, was now like a celestial realm from mythology, filled with endless sanctity and solemnity!
A full four hours passed.
After Lu Xing had replicated every "grand scene" he could remember from his mind—
Crack!
The human-sized Honkai cores shattered with a loud bang.
Two "slender" figures stood barefoot upon the unusually calm "lake" surface.
---o---
"Eh?"
"Eeeeh—!?"
Danzhu, the first to open her eyes, let out a high-frequency sonic attack—not because she was unclothed, the Monarch wasn't that cheap, and besides, the attire of these two was already extremely "simple" to begin with.
"…Chitter-chatter chitter-chatter."
Nearly ten minutes passed.
"Ahem, ahem!"
Danzhu stepped forward as the representative to speak.
"Th-that is, Lord Yinglong."
Although the generous and cheerful Danzhu seemed more like an older sister than the actual elder, Cangxuan, when faced with an unknown being capable of "bringing the dead back to life"… Dr. Mobius might have been very interested, but for an ordinary person to maintain their composure and not be paralyzed by fear was already a great feat.
The crucial point was that Danzhu and Cangxuan were very familiar with the "Authority of Death."
To transform a consciousness that was nothing more than a spiritual body back into a human—this ability, which surpassed the realm of "giving flesh to white bones and life to the dead," was something that even Elysia, who had once wielded [Abyss Flower], could not achieve.
"Is your meeting over?"
"Ah, ah! We were just sorting out the information."
A powerful, non-Honkai, non-Quantum entity of unknown purpose had appeared from the Quantum Sea and was now telling Ji Lin a story according to their own "script." The feeling could even be described as "terrifying."
"In short," the Monarch said.
"You want to know who I am?"
"…"
"If you would be willing to reveal a little of your identity, my sister and I would at least know who to thank in the future, wouldn't we?"
Danzhu spoke cautiously, while subtly making a finger gesture for "a universe in the palm of one's hand."
"Hmph."
Lu Xing was amused by Danzhu's words.
Ji Lin had already fulfilled her contract. The truth would be revealed to her sooner or later.
Besides, the Monarch was not lying—
"It is just as you have guessed."
"'Project Hengsha,' that should be the correct name."
The moment the words "Project Hengsha" were spoken, the pupils of the two sisters, Danzhu and Cangxuan, visibly dilated.
"Why be surprised?"
"No matter how powerful Su's spiritual power is, it still remains within the scope of a 'single star system'."
Project Hengsha, the predecessor plan carried out by Su, was aimed at finding a su ccessful method to defeat the Honkai from among countless worlds.
"The so-called 'One Vehicle for a Thousand Worlds' is but the shallowest application of an 'Authority'."
"To delude yourselves into thinking you could find an existence like 'me'…"
"You have all overestimated yourselves far too much."