"You will die? Why?"
Pardo frowned, hesitating for a moment on whether to accept the Core. After all, having seen the visions in the mirrors, she could vaguely sense the inseparable connection between them.
Black Pardo was like a limb extended from her own body.
"I will, and I won't. After all, I am ultimately just a weak thread of personality derived from you. If you are willing to show mercy, I can retain some of my consciousness."
Black Pardo sighed and explained, "You should be able to feel that this space is filled with resentment. These resentful spirits know they are no match for Li, which is why I was born."
"They extracted the darkness within your heart and used it as a blueprint to construct me, hoping that I would use it to lure you into accepting this power, and thereby trap Li in this place."
"Lure? What does that mean?" Pardo withdrew her hand, looking at Black Pardo with vigilance.
As a child who grew up on Twilight Street, she was naturally wary of words like "lure" that carried obvious malicious intent.
However, in response to her guarded expression, Black Pardo merely sighed faintly.
"Actually, I shouldn't have told you those things just now. In fact, they underestimated the bond between you and Li, and they underestimated me."
"You mean, you also betrayed those resentful spirits of the Herrscher of Domination?"
Hearing this, Pardo's ears twitched, and she asked with some confusion, "But isn't your goal the same as theirs? You both want to use my hands to trap Li."
"Correct. But trapping him is not necessarily not a form of protection." Black Pardo nodded, then defended her logic. "And between them and me, there is no betrayal to speak of. It is simply mutual exploitation."
"They want to trap Li so he cannot continue to explore the secrets of the Finality. I also want to trap him, so that he can head toward the new century with us. Is that not a good thing?"
That's right... isn't that a good thing?
Sakura, Rin, Klein, Kalpas, Destoria, Seele, Himeko... they had all been saved. The people important to Li had all been given a chance to live.
So why did Li still insist on figuring out the details of the Finality? What kind of future was he actually looking for?
"Well?" Black Pardo reminded her. "It is time to make a choice."
A choice... is it?
Yes. For Li, I can do anything.
"I..." Pardo gritted her teeth, steeling her resolve. She placed her hand into Black Pardo's hand and promised, "I won't wipe out your consciousness, other me."
Hearing this, Black Pardo froze for a moment, then a smile surfaced on her face. "Then thank you, other me."
In the end, no sentient creature truly wants to be erased.
As their palms joined, Black Pardo's figure slowly became ethereal. A stream of darkness spread from the gem, turning into black dust that entered Pardo's body.
The moment she obtained the power, Pardo's eyes suddenly changed. From the depths of her azure and emerald eyes, a flash of red and white light flickered past.
The armor on her body also changed rapidly. The skirt began to lengthen, and the outer side of the pure white cloak behind her was covered in darkness. A pair of black wings of light extended outward, lifting Pardo into the air.
"This is... the new power. Which means, the new... me."
Feeling the Herrscher form unique to herself, Pardo constructed a mirror in her hand to examine her current appearance.
Although she looked similar to the previous Black Pardo, there were still differences.
Her physical appearance hadn't changed much, but her aura was completely distinct from before. If one had to describe it, a lazy orange tabby who loved to slack off had transformed into a dangerous, mysterious black cat.
"999 weakened abilities from other Herrschers, and control rights over this space?"
Pardo closed her eyes to feel the power within her body. Her mouth slowly cracked open into a somewhat crazed smile. Behind her, a black shadow similar to her slowly emerged.
With this power, she could definitely protect Li. She would imprison him here until the arrival of the new era.
"Li~"
Pardo narrowed her eyes slightly. Her scarlet tongue licked across her lips. She slowly raised her right hand and pinched her fingers gently. The memory space constructed by Black Pardo immediately began to collapse, emitting ear-piercing sounds of sorrow.
"Wait for me, Li. This time, I absolutely will not allow you to leave me behind."
---o---
Meanwhile, in reality, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.
At the location where Fu Li had disappeared, a temporary offshore platform had been erected. The surrounding area was filled with patrol ships on alert, and various helicopters circled overhead 24 hours a day without pause.
Inside the temporary offshore laboratory, Mobius stood at the central computer, staring unblinkingly at the complex data flashing across the screen, sighing with worry from time to time.
Half a month had passed since Fu Li and the others went missing. During this time, she had been responsible for investigating the secrets within.
In fact, Mobius already knew that the space Fu Li was in was a constructed bubble universe. Logically, she should have been able to enter, but a mysterious force was protecting it, forcing her to only monitor it from the outside.
Eden pushed open the laboratory door. Having just finished her patrol, she carried the scent of the sea breeze. Seeing the frowning Mobius, she couldn't help but ask:
"Doctor, how is Li's situation?"
"Oh, it's Eden. Same as before. No abnormalities have occurred."
Mobius picked up the coffee Klein had brewed for her and said with undeniable concern:
"If my guess is correct, Li should currently be in the Domination Theater fighting against the resentment. The fifth life, 4,995 individuals... even if they were Honkai Beasts, it would take a long time to kill them all, let alone Herrschers."
"Sigh. It's a pity we can't help him." Eden's mood was equally poor; this feeling of powerlessness was very unpleasant for her.
"Actually, you don't need to worry about Li," Mobius comforted her. "The danger to Li isn't significant. I'm mainly worried about Pardo. I don't know if any accidents will happen to her."
"Anyway, it shouldn't be a big problem. Fu Li has experienced this kind of battle before; surely nothing unexpected will happen."
Just as Mobius said these words, the sound of frantic running suddenly came from the laboratory entrance.
A moment later, the door was violently pushed open. Klein, wearing a rare look of anxiety, said:
"Bad news, Doctor! News just came from Headquarters. One of the Domination Cores originally stored in the secret laboratory has suddenly gone missing! Dr. MEI suspects... could it be related to the situation here?"
"What did you say?"
Hearing this news abruptly, Mobius's hand—which had just been steadying herself—trembled. Just as a bad premonition surfaced in her heart, the laboratory was suddenly bathed in red light, blaring a piercing alarm.
"WARNING! WARNING! ALL PERSONNEL ATTENTION. HONKAI ENERGY CONCENTRATION IN SEA AREA L-001 IS RISING RAPIDLY. SUSPECTED HERRSCHER BIRTH."
(Author's Note: Next chapter, Pardo Blackens and battles Fu Li, paw.)