The Dirac Sea.
This is another overview of the Sea of Quanta, and it is also the place where Chen Ran converses with the being that calls itself the Overseer.
Talking with this being in front of him is a coincidence that cannot be more coincidental.
Honkai has no will, so the Will Overseer acts on behalf of the will of the universe.
From the standpoint of civilization, this being is the colossal entity that humanity must rise up to defeat. From the standpoint of the universe, civilization is the individual that should be eradicated.
However, the being known as the Will Overseer cannot directly intervene; perhaps it is due to the rules of the universe itself, as there are limitations for higher dimensions coming to lower dimensions.
It is like how humans can take medicine, produce antibodies, and use fever mechanisms to eliminate viruses. But humans cannot directly drive away viruses with mere thoughts.
Civilization is a kind of virus, and this notion is gradually being accepted by Chen Ran.
However, before Chen Ran could glean any useful information, his conversation with the Will Overseer came to an end.
This was inevitable, as his capacity for will-bearing had reached its limit.
Chen Ran seemed to understand why it is said that Honkai is the language, because every conversation between a higher-dimensional being and a lower-dimensional being contains enough information to cause an explosion.
In contrast, Honkai is the gentlest way of communicating with humanity.
Although this gentleness has already brought countless disasters, it is no wonder that Honkai is said to be an embrace between the unknown and civilization.
If what MEI discovered is the source of existence among the five parallel truths.
Then what he sees is the source of order among the five parallel truths, which is the language of the gods outside the Sky.
It is also at this moment that Chen Ran suddenly remembers the Dead Sea Scrolls.
He seems to understand part of it.
"The rules of the universe?"
He took off the device connected to the entire domain, feeling a bit of a headache.
Then, the boy happened to meet Seele's innocent gaze, and she clearly understood what had happened.
"Um... this..."
Seele said softly, "Sorry, I didn't mean to."
The girl's tone was soft and weak, no longer carrying the madness from their first meeting. She was truly becoming more like Seele from fifty thousand years later.
Chen Ran blinked: "I should be the one apologizing."
"Ah?" Seele was a bit confused by Chen Ran's words.
"I was originally thinking of solving the quantum issue on you through the full-domain connection at the level of consciousness, but now it seems that the degree of quantization on you has deepened."
Chen Ran pointed at Seele's body, and she belatedly realized that her body seemed to be disappearing again, until Chen Ran provided her with a soul crystal, which delayed the degree of disappearance.
The conversation with the Will Overseer was merely an accident; solving the quantum problem was the urgent task at hand.
He couldn't help but ponder how Seele from fifty thousand years later solved this problem.
Logically speaking, the Herrscher Core and Stigmata should be of the same origin, and their functions should be similar.
Or is it because the Herrscher in front of him has not connected with the Imaginary Tree?
This is not impossible.
Seele is an artificial Herrscher; to be precise, her formation did not gain the recognition of the Imaginary Tree. So the Sixth Herrscher in front of him is better described as a Pseudo-Herrscher.
Quanta and imaginary numbers are entangled; only by obtaining the power of the imaginary can her body stabilize and not be quantized.
"A conversation with the universe?"
Chen Ran felt a headache again.
"Seele, has this voice ever spoken to you?"
Chen Ran shares consciousness with Seele, so the conversation with the Will Overseer is something Seele can also hear.
"No," Seele nodded seriously: "This is the first time I know."
Without the full-domain connection, she would not have sensed the existence of this thing at all.
Chen Ran secretly thought to himself, as expected.
Unlike the previous five Herrschers, the Seele in front of him is more like an ordinary person who has coincidentally grasped part of the Herrscher's power.
He recalled the Herrscher of Wind who died in his arms.
[The agent of the gods is merely a slave.]
For some reason, the last words of the Herrscher of Wind flashed once again in Chen Ran's mind.
If, according to the Will Overseer's statement, Honkai is the language of dialogue between the universe and humanity.
From this perspective, the Herrscher should be able to directly understand the 'language'; to be precise, the Herrscher is a translator between the universe and civilization.
And the way the Herrschers translate is quite simple: it is the rules of physics.
Each Herrscher masters the ultimate derivation of physical rules, so the way these Herrschers communicate with humanity is also relatively simple and crude, directly smashing with physical means.
In other words, as long as one comprehends all physical rules, one can actually understand the language of Honkai.
Chen Ran thought once again about Project Stigma.
There is no essential difference between Stigmata holders and Herrschers, so theoretically, Stigmata holders should also be able to master physical rules.
Thus, theoretically, Project Stigma is actually about everyone ascending, turning everyone into Herrschers.
This is essentially a plan to help people adapt to Honkai, but for some reason, MEI ultimately did not create a male Stigmata gene chain, and World Serpent also abandoned research on Stigmata.
Perhaps it was because they finally realized the theory was unfeasible, or perhaps there were other reasons.
Who knows?
However, he keenly sensed that the previous civilization era might be very close to overcoming Honkai.
And this distance felt like a chasm.
What will happen after defeating Finality? No one can say for sure.
"Seele, for the next period of time, I will specifically study the issues with your body."
He paused and said, "You should spend more time with Sister Eden, or let Durandal accompany you."
Chen Ran planned to seek answers elsewhere.
...
...
When he once again entered the simulation space, the time belonging to the future began to flow once more.
Chen Ran saw Wendy, who had fallen asleep beside him, and his heart relaxed.
However, at this moment, Chen Ran's brain became active again, starting to think.
The current civilization era has the Will of Honkai, and the Will of Honkai is not equivalent to the Will Overseer; Chen Ran is very clear about this.
Unlike the previous civilization era, the Herrschers of the current civilization era are mostly artificially selected.
If one were to compare, the Wendy in front of him is the Herrscher of Wind, but what is the difference from a Stigmata holder?
Both connected to the imaginary space, possessing the authority of special powers, the Herrscher stands from the human perspective as a Stigmata holder, while the Stigmata holder stands from the Honkai perspective as a Herrscher.
So, for the current civilization era, is Honkai still the language of dialogue between the universe and civilization? Is the Herrscher still a translator?
Moreover, could it be that due to the differences between the two eras, the criteria for selecting civilizations have changed?
Chen Ran was unclear about all of this.
What he was clear about was what he needed to do next.
Setting aside the matter of the Will Overseer, Chen Ran began to contemplate the next steps.
He thought for a moment and sent a message through the communicator.
"Bronya, do you want to find Seele?"
At the same time, in the Valkyrie dormitory.
The sky had darkened, and Kiana had moved into the room that Kiana used to occupy, while due to space constraints, Bronya and Sin could only share one room.
Bronya was playing a game in the room, while Sin seemed to be lost in thought, appearing to be in a daze.
When Chen Ran's message came through, Bronya instinctively glanced at the communicator.
Then, she directly turned off the game console.
"Sin, I'm going out for a bit. You should rest well."
Before Sin could react, she saw Bronya, without even changing into proper clothes, throw on a coat and head out.
The moon hung above the willow branches, and people met after dusk.
Well, this line of poetry didn't quite fit the situation between Chen Ran and Bronya.
The two had arranged to meet at the fountain square of Saint Freya.
"I have some news to tell you." Chen Ran paused before saying to Bronya, "A Herrscher has appeared in the previous civilization era, and this Herrscher's body has manifested a quantum state."
He recounted Seele's situation to Bronya in detail.
For Chen Ran, solving the quantum state issue with Seele required assistance from the future. This also supported one of his hypotheses.
If he could influence the past with experiences from the future, then fate would no longer be as he thought, difficult to change.
Of course, there was another possibility: after the information about the quantum state was found in the future, it could be transcribed into the Stigmata genes, allowing Seele of this era to obtain a method to counter the quantum state.
It might sound absurd, but Chen Ran felt it was quite likely to happen.
He paused and asked Bronya, "I've told you everything I know, what do you think?"
Bronya looked up at Chen Ran: "Do I have any choices left?"
"No."
Chen Ran didn't hide anything and said directly, "I'm pulling you into this, so let's cooperate happily."
"What do we need to do?"
"Very simple, first, you need to contact your mother." Chen Ran paused and added, "Opening the Eye of the Abyss requires a Herrscher Core. I'll find a way for the gem, and you need to persuade Cocolia to obtain the rights to use the Eye of the Abyss."
The Eye of the Abyss is located in the Abyss City within the Mariana Trench, where the X-10 experiment was conducted.
This is also the closest place to the Sea of Quanta, and opening the Eye of the Abyss is like a 'puddle' between three-dimensional and four-dimensional spaces. Theoretically, through the Sea of Quanta, one could reach the parallel world on the other side.
The control of the Eye of the Abyss has always been in Cocolia's hands, and this can only be left to Bronya to persuade.
Bronya nodded: "What's the timeline?"
"Of course, the sooner, the better. Given ample time, let's say half a month. I'll contact you then."
Chen Ran's eyes narrowed slightly.
Due to Sirin's disappearance, the four gems on the moon still remained in this world.
Wendy has the Gem of Desire, and Mei has the Gem of Conquest.
The remaining Gem of Serenity and Gem of Haste are still in Schicksal.
Thus, the fastest way to obtain a Herrscher Core is to talk directly with Otto.
However, Otto's heart only has Kallen.
Speaking of which, does Otto, who trades with the Will of Honkai, know about the existence of the Will Overseer?
Perhaps he knows, or perhaps he has some suspicions.
However, Chen Ran didn't feel obligated to educate Otto; he had already revealed enough information to him.
"Alright."
Bronya went back.
Chen Ran was deep in thought when he suddenly heard a voice.
"Wow, I was wondering why you disappeared as soon as I woke up, off to date someone else here."
Wendy's cheeks were puffed up, her hands on her hips, looking like a jealous little wife.
Chen Ran sighed: "This isn't exactly a suitable place for a date; it's cold and damp, easily extinguishing the fiery passion within."
He paused and continued, "How much did you hear?"
"I heard you mention Herrscher." Wendy didn't hide it.
In fact, both Chen Ran and Bronya had noticed Wendy's presence; however, Chen Ran didn't think there was anything to hide, so he didn't point it out.
He blinked and said, "Then it's easy. What do you think I should do to get a Herrscher Core?"
Wendy shook her head.
She wasn't quite sure what Otto needed most at this stage.
It wouldn't do to seize it by force.
After all, everyone in Schicksal was quite familiar with each other, and taking it by force would be rather inappropriate.
It would have a negative impact.
Chen Ran sighed: "I guess I'll have to talk to Otto."
He wasn't without leverage to sway Otto.
Everything Otto did was for Kallen, and now he had already recorded Kallen's Stigmata in the Stigmata terminal. One could say that there were no hard conditions for cooperation between them.
Because people who come together for profit will part ways once the profit is gone.
That's just how society works.
Otto was probably already preparing to traverse time. Unlike Chen Ran, who carried a system, Otto only had his consciousness left, and he aimed to reach the end of the imaginary through his consciousness, seeking a moment from five hundred years ago… that was his plan.
What Otto lacked now was merely a beacon of the imaginary.
This was what Chen Ran intended to use as a bargaining chip: the location of the Cosmic Juggernaut and the beacon of the Imaginary Tree.
To exchange for a Herrscher Core, that shouldn't be too much to ask.
Chen Ran felt this wasn't unreasonable, but whether Otto would believe it was another question.
In the storyline, Otto at this time should not have retrieved the Cosmic Juggernaut yet, though it couldn't be ruled out that, due to his influence, Otto had already found it.
In any case, whether he found it or not, Chen Ran had to talk to Otto.
…
…
"I'm back."
In the Valkyrie dormitory, Bronya spoke to Sin: "Sin, can you contact Cocolia mom?"
"Oh? Bronya, you finally figured it out."
At Saint Freya, Mei and the others surrounded Chen Ran and started a conversation, but this topic still came to an end.
The reason was that from their standpoint, the information Chen Ran revealed was still too little.
For Sin, although Chen Ran had said a lot before, what she actually knew was just that Chen Ran came from the previous civilization era.
Due to the information gap, Sin had extinguished her thoughts of investigating him.
Although Sin's personality was eccentric, she wasn't foolish, so she directly changed her mind, which was to persuade Bronya to return to the orphanage.
Chen Ran was too dangerous; if she got too close and was swept into the torrent of time, she could also disappear.
"No, there's one thing that needs Cocolia mom's help."
At this time, Bronya had not yet been controlled by Cocolia, so even after joining Saint Freya, she still had an emotional bond.
She hadn't inherited the memories of the second simulation scene; if she had, she probably wouldn't be able to call her mom so calmly.
She briefly told Sin what Chen Ran had said.
Sin couldn't help but scoff: "It's again because of Seele."
Bronya calmly analyzed: "Bronya doesn't deny her selfishness, but Cocolia mom will also gain additional benefits."
"For Chen Ran, the time we are in now, as well as the time we will have, is all in his eyes the future. If he can inform us of the future situation, we can also avoid some regrets."
Sin said lightly: "Those who toy with time will inevitably be toyed with by time. Didn't the Herrscher of the Void end up disappearing in the end?"
Her words made Bronya fall silent for a moment.
With Sirin as a precedent, knowing the future in advance doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing.
Sin could later become the executor of Anti-Entropy, replacing Cocolia, which was enough to prove that her thoughts in this regard were not shallow.
Sin was just impulsive.
Bronya said lightly: "But it's better than knowing nothing at all."
"Alright, I can't argue with you."
Sin said nonchalantly: "Anyway, even if I agree, mom might not agree."
Bronya said calmly: "Bronya will strive to persuade her."
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