Chapter 280: Herrscher of Reason Core

"Congratulations! You have obtained the Herrscher Core of the Herrscher of Reason."

Mo Chen froze for a moment.

What the hell?

His thoughts went fuzzy for a second—he almost thought he had switched universes by accident.

When did this go from NIKKE to Honkai?

But soon enough, a surge of joy welled up inside him.

No way he wasn't happy about this.

Among the original Three Herrschers, the Herrscher of Reason was easily the flashiest, the one who pulled off the most "sit-up comebacks," and had arguably the greatest potential.

As long as one possessed enough knowledge—deep, thorough understanding—the core could replicate anything, from weapons and gear to even living people.

That was its greatest power: to know was to create.

In the original story, good ol' Sit-Up Master Old Yang even managed to replicate the Ninth Herrscher's 'power of the earth', granting him the ability to manipulate gravity, distort space-time, and create black holes.

Of course, the Herrscher of Reason Core had its own limitation: you had to truly understand something to replicate it. It was a bit like Kakashi the Copy Ninja from Naruto—you could only copy what you fully grasped.

To a top student, the Herrscher of Reason Core was a divine artifact, invincible in all aspects.

To someone academically challenged? Well… it was like strapping bicycle wheels onto a car—completely useless.

While Mo Chen had been first in his grade level and even ranked first in the city, he wouldn't go so far as to call himself a genius.

But that didn't mean the Core of the Herrscher of Reason was now just a glass bead.

Because Mo Chen had another ability—the Punishing Virus's Red Tide.

The Red Tide not only decomposed remains and dead matter as nutrients, but within it were stored vast amounts of consciousness and memory—among them, countless fragments of knowledge, easily numbering in the billions.

After all, before humanity was struck down by the Raptures, the global population had already reached 8 billion.

After the apocalyptic blow, only a little over ten million remained.

This was the crystallization of humanity's wisdom.

As long as Mo Chen spread the Red Tide across the world and absorbed the thoughts and memories of humans from various regions, he could consolidate all that knowledge into himself.

Moreover, with the powerful cellular enhancement from the Blacklight Virus, Mo Chen didn't need to worry about his brain cells exploding from memory overload.

"Use Core of the Herrscher of Reason?"

"Use!"

In an instant, radiant pale-blue light burst forth from Mo Chen's body, dazzling and mysterious, like a meteor cutting across the night sky, instantly lighting up the heavens.

At the same time, countless characters emerged in that light—dense and half-transparent, floating in the air and circling around Mo Chen.

If one looked closely, they were written in countless different languages, from different civilizations, cultures, and prophecies. Among them were chemical formulas, mathematical equations, physical laws—esoteric and obscure knowledge that would be nightmarishly difficult for most students.

Soon after—

At the same moment that the radiant light bloomed, a red mist silently rose around him, thick and shrouding the area. It spread for more than ten kilometers in all directions, transforming everything into a fog-covered dead zone.

Within that mist, the Red Tide played out like a shadow-puppet theater. Figures of people, animals, monsters—even Raptures—appeared and faded one after another.

If you looked carefully, you'd even see Nikkes among them. Their faces and silhouettes emerged like the tormented souls of the Underworld, unable to find peace.

The Core of the Herrscher of Reason shone brighter than ever, pulsing rhythmically like a heartbeat, flashing like a hard drive constantly writing and reading—input, output, input again.

Mo Chen felt as if a clear stream of knowledge was flowing directly into his brain. Those once obscure and confusing concepts suddenly became perfectly clear, like the Buddhist concept of being struck with divine clarity.

Even the toughest of college entrance exam questions now seemed no more difficult than the Pythagorean theorem learned in middle school. A few lines, a bit of work, and the answers practically leapt out on their own.

This was real learning!

Mo Chen couldn't help but marvel.

That feeling of mastering knowledge without effort, of understanding without struggle, was simply exhilarating. It was like taking the first sip of a cold drink after a hard workout in the scorching summer heat.

While Mo Chen was basking in the ocean of knowledge—

To everyone else around him, things looked very different.

Seeing Mo Chen suspended mid-air, being lifted by countless Red Tide ghosts and shadows, Dorothy no longer maintained her usual calm elegance. Instead, a chill ran down her spine: it was just too strange, too unnatural.

Anyone who witnessed something like this would feel their scalp tingle in fear.

Dorothy hesitated only for a moment before spreading her wings. Like a shooting star tearing through the sky, she dashed toward Mo Chen.

He couldn't die.

At least, not now!

"Bang bang bang—!"

Dorothy's handgun fired three rounds—not aimed directly at Mo Chen, but instead at the strange mist swirling around him.

Dreamlike and dazzling energy explosions erupted.

However, they had no real effect on the crimson mist. The area briefly cleared, only for the red fog to quickly rush back in and fill the gap.

Too bizarre.

Dorothy's heart sank.

Even her attacks were ineffective.

The mist around them grew denser by the second. Even her wings were beginning to feel heavy, as though she were swimming through water, facing unprecedented resistance.

At that moment, a group came rushing through the fog toward them. As they neared, their forms gradually became clear—it was Johan, Noah, and Isabel.

The moment they saw Mo Chen—and Dorothy nearby—they were visibly shocked.

Without hesitation, Johan dashed forward without saying a word.

Mo Chen was humanity's hope, nothing could be allowed to happen to him!

And Isabel? She left behind a blur of afterimages as she shot forward with incredible speed.

Noah, meanwhile, chased along on the ground.

"Hey, wait up!"

But the moment they entered the Red Tide's range, it was like prey falling into a spider's web—the resistance around them intensified sharply.

Just then, the crimson mist rapidly dissipated, like rivers rushing into the sea, pouring straight into Mo Chen's body. The brilliant Core of the Herrscher of Reason also returned to within him.

Instantly, the resistance around the others vanished.

And Mo Chen, still floating in midair, suddenly stirred as if waking from a dream. He slowly opened his eyes. Countless data streams flickered within them—he had absorbed a vast amount of information from the Red Tide. Though it would take time to digest it all.

The moment he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the group before him.

"You all…"

Before Mo Chen could even finish his sentence, Isabel threw herself into his arms.