Chapter 013 : A Dilemma

After leaving that blunt statement, the spatial gate leading to the Theater of Dominance began to slowly disappear.

Clearly, Ling Ke was being malicious.

He had deliberately slowed the process.

After all, when he truly needed the spatial gate, it could open instantly.

Closing it could be just as fast.

He had even tried mimicking a certain Sorcerer Supreme from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, using the spatial gate to perform cuts.

But that's beside the point.

Right now...

"No, don't!"

Bronya frantically pounded on the invisible barrier, but she could only watch helplessly as the spatial gate shrank smaller and smaller.

Until the scene inside the Theater of Dominance completely vanished from her sight.

With the barrier gone, she stumbled forward, falling to her knees.

She sat there, stunned, unable to regain her composure.

Even now, after inheriting the power of the Herrscher of Reason...

She was still powerless!

Bronya knew full well that her feelings toward Cocolia were complicated.

She knew that her "mother" had done too many terrible things in the past, causing the deaths of too many people.

In Nagazora City alone, millions of innocent citizens had lost their families and futures because of her.

But even knowing all this...

Bronya didn't want Cocolia to suffer.

For years, her sense of justice had been at odds with these complicated emotions.

Originally, after the events at the Sea of Quanta, with Cocolia imprisoned, she had gradually moved on from the shadows of the past.

She could stop thinking about it.

She began subconsciously comforting herself—Mother Cocolia had already been punished.

But...

The destroyed Nagazora City, and Singapore, which had nearly met the same fate.

Could someone who repeatedly and recklessly triggered artificial Honkai eruptions, disregarding innocent lives, truly be considered punished just by being imprisoned?

Bronya didn't dare to dwell on this question.

Yes, she avoided it.

Because from her perspective, this was a dilemma with no easy resolution.

She had thought that from now on, she could pretend this problem didn't exist.

However, with Ling Ke's appearance...

He wasn't wrong.

His existence, in essence, was a dark chapter in both Cocolia's and her own history.

Now, he had come for revenge.

The millions of innocent souls in Nagazora City had no chance.

But he did.

He had become a Herrscher.

"Seele!"

In an instant, Bronya jolted.

She remembered the final words left by that gray-haired girl.

The other party's target wasn't just Mother Cocolia.

There was also...

"No, Bronya has to go back, to Seele... and to everyone else!"

Bronya was completely panicked.

Her heart was already tormented, and now she suddenly realized... the people she cared about were in danger!

Too many questions tangled in her mind.

So much so that she was now at a complete loss, her entire being like a lost soul. Even though she had already voiced her next course of action, her body, after instinctively getting up from the ground, kept pacing in place.

Her state was heartbreaking to witness.

Behind her, the Anti-Entropy special forces who had followed looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

Fu Hua didn't know how to comfort her.

But Kiana stepped forward and placed a hand on Bronya's shoulder.

"Bronya, calm down!"

The current Kiana, having gone through so much, was no longer the carefree, food-loving, sleep-loving, and coquettish-prone girl she once was.

She had gradually transformed and grown into a steady and mature warrior.

Her heart was no longer so easily shaken.

So...

"Don't worry, we'll protect Seele, as well as Liliya and Rozaliya. We won't let them get hurt."

"But you can't lose your composure."

Kiana said loudly, "Bronya, everyone will help you."

"You're not alone."

Hearing this...

"Kiana..."

Bronya, her body trembling slightly, barely managed to regain her senses.

She was about to say something when...

"Hahahaha, It's Show time!!!"

"Watch out!"

Fu Hua reacted with lightning speed, tackling Kiana and Bronya to the ground.

But the Anti-Entropy special forces who had followed...

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

A tall figure had abruptly appeared among the crowd, darting and weaving through the corridor.

This "person" wore a red leather jacket and wielded two black revolvers in his hands.

He showed no restraint, firing at full force!

In an instant, bullets rained down, scattering everywhere.

In just two or three seconds...

Thud~

Thud~

All the Anti-Entropy special forces who had accompanied them were dead.

Their bodies riddled with bullet holes, they fell one after another into pools of blood.

At this moment...

"Yes, you're no longer alone."

The figure in red—the "Domination Puppet: Billy"—stopped attacking.

He spread his hands, his mechanical index fingers hooked around the two black revolvers, and shrugged.

"Companions, bonds... you all love to fuss over these things."

"Well, how about this..."

The red figure seemed to be laughing.

He pointed at Bronya. "For your revenge... hmm, how about I make you alone again?"

"That world's number one assassin who once topped the 'Charon List,' the one who struck fear into countless hearts... the Silver Wolf of Urals."

As he spoke, a spatial gate quickly opened behind him.

Stepping back...

"From today onward, I will indiscriminately hunt and assassinate all active members of Anti-Entropy."

The red figure seemed to mock, "Will you make this 'announcement' public?"

"I'm looking forward to your choice."

"Hum!"

The spatial gate closed.

Around them, corpses littered the ground.

Only Kiana, Bronya, and Fu Hua remained, silent.

******

Ling Ke was a malicious person.

This had been emphasized countless times.

So today, the dilemma he left for Bronya was equally cruel and heart-wrenching.

He announced that he would indiscriminately hunt and assassinate all active members of Anti-Entropy.

If this news were made public...

If...

"We currently have no way to stop him from doing this."

If this fact were made known to all members of Anti-Entropy...

Without a doubt, extreme panic would spread like wildfire within the organization.

After all, not everyone had the resolve to fight the Honkai to the death.

And even those with strong wills... they had families, loved ones, and cherished friends.

Indiscriminate... those three simple words were chilling.

Thus, a dilemma emerged.

If the news were made public, Anti-Entropy would inevitably collapse.

But if it weren't...

"Then how are we any different from Otto?"

Time passed, and it was now late at night.

At Anti-Entropy headquarters in the North American Salt Lake Base, Dr. Tesla was once again furious.

"Damn it, that lunatic, he... he..."

She didn't know how to curse him.

Facing Otto, a cunning fox who had lived for over five hundred years, Dr. Tesla could spout any kind of profanity.

But when she learned about Ling Ke's past...

"He's the 'villain' we created!"

In the conference room, Dr. Einstein, standing nearby, also felt a headache coming on.

Karmic retribution.

He was the "karma" left by Anti-Entropy and Schicksal.

At this moment...

"I've heard Mei mention Ling Ke before."

Kiana suddenly spoke up. "Back then, Mei and I were in Nagazora City when the third Honkai eruption fully broke out."

"She regretted not trusting him, not heeding his well-meaning warnings... She blamed herself deeply, believing that the disaster in Nagazora City was caused by her own ignorance."

"At the time, we all thought Ling Ke had died, just like the millions of other citizens of Nagazora City."

"Later..."

"Later, Mei-senpai privately asked Bronya to help investigate this person's whereabouts."

Bronya, who had now regained some composure, tried to calm herself and spoke seriously. "But there was no trace of him."

"He didn't even have a single photo, and all the surveillance footage from Nagazora City had been destroyed. At the time, Bronya didn't even know he was the ordinary person Mother Cocolia had ordered to be captured."

After listening to their accounts...

Seeing Bronya's mood sink again...

"Spread the word."

Welt Yang, still the leader of Anti-Entropy, reluctantly gave the order. "Make Ling Ke's... the Herrscher of Dominance's 'announcement' public, detailing the threat he poses."

"Those who are still willing to stay must be prepared to face death."

Clearly...

In the end, he chose to cut off his own arm.

He stayed true to his principles.