138. The Remains of the Imaginary Tree
[In an unimaginably distant time, the world already possessed form.]
[Tree and Sea]
[The tree, nourished by the sea, endured countless years, branching out into countless limbs, bearing the flowers and leaves of Nayuta.]
[In this long process, in some insignificant corner, among a newly sprouting bud, the civilization called Humanity was born.]
[Civilization was born from the Imaginary Tree, flourishing alongside its growth.]
[Meanwhile, in the struggle against the Sea of Quanta, the Imaginary Tree must grow in the right direction, and this self-selection and elimination mechanism is, for humanity, a catastrophe called Honkai.]
This is all that man knows, the truth called Honkai, but he... doesn't care.
All he knew was that once he reached that place, his ideals and the end of his life would be there, waiting for him.
[Attention all units, the Second Divine Key will activate in 5 minutes.]
The countdown reached zero. A single strike, imbued with immense resources and energy, tore through the sky, the artillery fire striking the heavens with pinpoint accuracy. In an instant, the firmament shattered like a giant mirror, countless shimmering fragments raining down.
Where the mirror shatters, a deep, unfathomable, bizarre, and unknown space hangs high in the sky.
[The Divine Key has been activated... Warning! A large influx of Quantum Shadows detected!]
Hundreds of strangely shaped shadows struggled to emerge from that chaotic space.
As their bodies forcibly squeezed into the real dimension, the surrounding time and space instantly distorted, exhibiting a dizzying anomaly.
However, before these Quantum Shadows could wreak havoc, several dazzling beams of light descended from the sky, precisely piercing their cores and completely erasing them from reality.
This caused the blonde Valkyrie, who had already assumed a battle stance, to pause slightly.
A few minutes later, the laboratory door opened, and Otto's face beamed with a genuine smile, as if welcoming a close friend.
"Welcome, my friend. I've missed you all these days."
"Heh, you miss me as your free labor, don't you?" Xiling retorted with a middle finger without any politeness, then his tone returned to normal.
"Stop with the formalities, let's get straight to the experiment."
"Friend, you may have overlooked something," Otto shrugged, looking slightly helpless, "you don't seem to have told me how to conduct this research?"
"It's simple," Xiling's tone was like reciting a dinner menu.
"You just need to record the data. I will send the Second Divine Key into the imaginary space, and you will continue to record the results you observe until we get the answer we want."
Those who truly understood the meaning would find this statement inconceivable—it meant that he didn't need any external energy support; he could tear apart the barrier of the Imaginary Space single-handedly and provide the Second Divine Key with the immense energy needed to start and maintain the observations.
Otto, without the slightest hesitation, gracefully bowed to Xiling:
"Then... I'll trouble you, my friend. If you have any needs, please speak up, and Schicksal will do everything in its power to fulfill them."
Xiling pointed to Durandal beside him:
"Have her stay. I'll open the passage to the Imaginary Tree; if anything unexpected happens, I'll trouble her to hold them off."
Otto nodded slightly to Durandal. Having received the bishop's approval, the strongest Valkyrie stepped forward, solemnly promising:
"I will do everything in my power to ensure your safety."
"There's no need to risk your life so much," Xiling waved his hand, his tone relaxed.
"If things don't go smoothly, you can retreat first. Alright, it's time to begin. I'm quite curious about the sights of the Imaginary Tree."
"Then, please wait a moment while we adjust the observation equipment and recording system." Otto left these words, turning and walking deeper into the base, leaving only Xiling and Durandal behind.
Durandal took a few steps closer.
"Kiana... how is she?"
Xiling shrugged.
"She's doing great. Either eating or on her way to play."
"Heh," Durandal's lips curled slightly.
"That means her emotions are very stable. That's good."
The more stable her emotions were, the lower the risk of her Herrscher consciousness remaining dormant, which made her genuinely relieved.
Just then, a cell phone was handed to her. Under Durandal's slightly confused gaze, Xiling smiled.
"Can you add me to your phone? Do you want to chat with Kiana more often?"
Durandal awkwardly touched the back of her neck.
"Sorry, I didn't bring it with me. You can write down my number..."
The exchange of contact information was quickly completed. Xiling casually pushed Durandal's contact information to Kiana.
This caused the girl still in bed to shudder. After turning on her phone, she hurriedly jumped out of bed, grabbed her things, and left the house.
Durandal's gaze swept over the silent Second Divine Key beside her, then turned to Xiling with curiosity:
"You...can you really open the passage through the Imaginary Number?"
"If I want to, that's no problem, ah, in your world's language…" Xiling looked at Durandal and smiled, "I can do anything."
Durandal paused slightly upon hearing Xiling's words. Just then, Otto's voice rang out:
"Friend, preparations are complete. Now...it's up to you."
"Chat time over." Xiling stretched.
Inside the laboratory, all the monitors were fixed on the white-haired figure on the platform.
Otto stood before the main control console, afraid to miss a single detail.
"Friend, show me your power."
Xiling took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes. At that moment, the world seemed to freeze.
No! Something's wrong! A researcher staring intently at the energy reading screen suddenly narrowed his eyes—the value representing the Honkai energy concentration on the screen was skyrocketing at an unprecedented rate!
The source was that figure! An unimaginable amount of energy surged from his body, instantly filling the entire space! The wind shifted abruptly! Sharp air currents were driven aside.
A shield composed of pure Honkai energy instantly unfolded before Durandal, resisting the sudden storm. Centered on Xiling, a terrifying energy storm swept outwards, the sky turning as dark as ink without warning, and the earth trembling under an invisible pressure!
"This…this is not human!!" a staff member exclaimed in shock.
"This energy intensity…is enough to support the combined consumption of dozens of our Divine Key experiments!" No one criticized his outburst, for everyone was experiencing the same turbulent shock. The energy required to activate the Second Divine Key each time was astronomical, enough to sustain a giant city for a year! And this white-haired man before them, his energy level was still rising, completely overturning their understanding.
"Even though I had some expectations, my friend," Otto said, arms outstretched, his eyes gleaming with pure admiration and fervor, "you still bring me unparalleled surprise!"
Far away on the other side of the world, Kevin slowly turned his gaze to a certain spot.
"This energy…it's that man named Xiling…he's definitely not simple."
From the first moment he saw him, even without exchanging blows, he could sense that the other man was incredibly strong, because the other man had never concealed his power.
Meanwhile.
At Anti-Entropy headquarters, Welt Yang, Lemuen, Theresa, and Kiana, who had just awakened, all felt a chill run down their spines; on a mountaintop somewhere, the Tarnished and Fu Hua stood side by side, their gazes fixed in the same direction; around the world, people with keen senses turned their heads, their minds reeling.
"Xiling? What is he doing?!" This thought flashed through Lemuen and the Tarnished's minds almost simultaneously.
"Hey! Are you kidding me! This energy fluctuation... are you trying to blow half the Earth to smithereens?!" Tesla screamed in terror.
The anti-entropy instruments detected that the energy, once unleashed, could engulf half the Earth.
Just as everyone's attention was focused on this moment, and the energy reached its peak, Xiling suddenly opened his eyes! He raised his arm, pointing it directly at the heavens.
"Open!"
His words became law! Like a divine decree!
The world's surface barrier shattered in response!
The sky, like a fragile glass dome, instantly exploded into countless fragments! That chaotic, surreal space was once again revealed above the heavens.
Shadows writhed, and a new quantum shadow just began to extend its tentacles—a torrent of silvery-white magic descended from the sky like a spear of judgment! Precise, ruthless, and unparalleled in its speed! Instantly piercing, purifying, and annihilating all the emerging phantoms! Immediately afterward, invisible threads of will extended from Xiling's body, entering the chaotic void and rapidly searching for an unknown target, following his will!
At that very moment, the massive Second Divine Key engine roared silently, a ghostly blue light flowing across its entire body, and the enormous hull leaped gracefully—disappearing instantly behind the shattered sky.
Inside the laboratory, a massive amount of observational data flooded into Schicksal's supercomputer like a burst dam.
The time scale ticked silently on the precision instruments.
One minute…two minutes…three minutes…astonishingly, the Second Divine Key showed no signs of overload!
This once again overturned the researchers' understanding. Previously, each activation not only required astronomical amounts of resources, but the Divine Key could only maintain operation for a mere few dozen seconds before being forcibly shut down due to overload, often yielding only a few, or even worthless, data fragments.
However, everything was now completely different. The Second Divine Key seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, constantly exploring the Tree of Imaginary Numbers—the root of all reality and possibility.
Xiling's eyes were tightly closed. Just as the researchers had suspected, he was directly controlling this Divine Key with his own will, acting as the thread.
The massive stream of data detected by the Divine Key appeared clearly in his mind. But this was far from all. What Xiling saw was far more vivid than the cold instrument data—scene after scene unfolded before him.
However, the exploration was not a smooth road. Deep within the forcibly torn gate of the imaginary number, strange disturbances emerged. A cold silhouette was breaking free! Durandal instantly sensed this ominous aura!
The next second, a piercing shriek tore through the stagnant air—a giant sword, like the Sword of Damocles, crashed down from the sky! Its target: the closed-eyed, focused Xiling!
"Don't even think about it!" Durandal tried to stand in front of Xiling! Just then—a gigantic hand suddenly shot out from the Gate of Imaginary Numbers!
*Buzz—!* An invisible wave spread out. A colorless domain suddenly unfolded!
In an instant, Durandal's charging figure seemed to freeze, every movement stretched infinitely!
The golden greatsword was already overhead! At the critical moment, the dormant stars within Durandal suddenly ignited!
With a low shout, the invisible shackles were forcibly shattered!
A fist wrapped in golden light struck first, precisely hitting the spine of the sword! The greatsword, powerful enough to cleave mountains, was violently smashed away by this furious punch!
Throughout the entire process, Xiling did not lift his eyelids even slightly.
"What is that?!" Durandal's sharp gaze locked onto the mechanical statue high in the sky; her brows furrowed. The object exuded a cold, otherworldly aura, neither alive nor dead, and the energy it contained made her feel a serious threat.
"The guardian of the Imaginary Tree..." In the laboratory, Otto stared intently at the screen, his eyes gleaming with inquiry. Although it was the first time he'd seen it, its form and the timing of its appearance were enough for him to make a rough deduction.
The mech in the sky was indeed the guardian of the Imaginary Tree, the Imaginary Tree Remains—Nihilism.
Nihilism raised its hand, and the weapon that had been knocked away by Durandal returned to its grasp as if time had reversed.
But this was only the beginning! The Imaginary Gate fluctuated violently once more! Two identical Imaginary Tree Remains—Nihilism—stepped out!
With the arrival of the two new Tree Remains, the suffocating, colorless domain instantly expanded!
Durandal felt as if her body was soaked in viscous glue; every movement became incredibly difficult and heavy.
Even more terrifying, this stagnation force enveloped the entire space! Everything within sight faded, and all movement became a slowly flowing sand painting.
In this space stripped of color and speed, only the three cold, Imaginary Tree Remains, and the white-haired figure below, still with closed eyes and radiating invisible energy, stood like the only vibrant colors in a frozen painting.
Without warning, the three Imaginary Tree Remains—Nihilism—moved! Their massive, mountain-like metallic bodies unleashed terrifying speeds completely disproportionate to their size; their target was singular—Xiling!
Durandal took a deep breath, and terrifying energy erupted from her body!
"Holy Sword—Respond to me!" Golden armor instantly covered her entire body, and Honkai energy materialized into a torrent that surged skyward, tearing a rushing golden rift through the stagnant, colorless domain!
The earth groaned and shattered under the impact! Golden meteors crashed through space! Durandal's figure instantly appeared in the trajectory of one of the god remains, her fist, imbued with power, slamming fiercely into its core!
The struck tree remains were sent flying like meteorites, their massive bodies slamming into another tree's remains following closely behind. Both tumbled and crashed into the distance!
However, the last divine remains had broken through the barrier! Its greatsword was raised high, aimed at the unsuspecting head of Xiling below—and slashed down!
"Don't even think about it!!!" Durandal's right hand clenched in mid-air! A golden lance, purely formed from Honkai energy, instantly materialized!
Just as the greatsword was about to touch Xiling's hair, the golden lance pierced the sky, precisely piercing the last Imaginary Tree Remain—Nihilism!
"Thank goodness." Durandal breathed a sigh of relief, but… this was only the beginning!
The two Imaginary Tree Remains that had been knocked away slowly stood up.
A sense of foreboding welled up in Durandal's heart.
As if in response to her premonition, the sky shattered again, and one after another, Imaginary Tree Remains emerged from within.
Their target was Xiling, who had triggered the Imaginary Tree's defensive mechanism below.
The Imaginary Tree's remains wouldn't stop until they killed their opponent...
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[T/N]: This is the last in the RAW source I can get. If the source gets updated, I will continue the translation.