Was he strolling leisurely?
Lin tried to end the simulation again, but there was still no response, and external communication was inactive.
The only way to end the simulation was through an external forced shutdown of the system, but at this time, probably no one would notice the situation in the simulation room.
Dying in the simulation system would not cause brain death or other issues; even if the body data was reconstructed, it would not affect the brain. However, as mentioned before, martial artists like Sakura were so dependent on and skilled with their bodies that even a slight difference would cause discomfort. If her data was reconstructed into a completely different person or object, the rejection reaction might occur instantly...
He could only wait, hoping someone would discover the simulation system error.
Before that, the appearance of this bizarre world was also a strange phenomenon. This place shouldn't be in the simulation environment; he had no memory of it. Furthermore, the technology level of these mechanical remnants seemed higher than that of the current Fire Moth, and those monster remnants...
Lin stopped beneath a massive monster carcass, fifty meters tall. He frowned and used the scanning system in his helmet to analyze the corpse.
Soon, an "as expected" result was presented before Lin.
This monster corpse had an extremely high Honkai energy reaction inside, and its body structure was fundamentally consistent with Honkai Beasts. This meant that...
This was an unrecorded species of Honkai Beast.
And surprisingly, the Honkai energy content of this Honkai Beast exceeded the standard for normal Honkai Beasts. Considering this was only a corpse, this Honkai Beast must have reached at least the peak of a lower-tier Honkai Beast, the Honkai Emperor level, while alive.
The crucial point was that corpses of this kind of Honkai Beast were scattered everywhere in this world made up of ruins and corpses.
Lin roughly estimated that a massive war with Honkai Beasts had occurred here, concluding with a pyrrhic victory for the side using mechanical creations. The Honkai Beasts were annihilated, but the casualties of the machines and pilots were comparable to those of the Honkai Beasts.
He saw human skeletons beneath the metal debris.
The closer he got to the tower, the more tragic the surrounding scene became. Lin saw the corpses of at least seven Honkai Emperor-level Beasts, and many more corpses were too incomplete to distinguish. Even more numerous than the Honkai Beast corpses were the remains of humans.
This was more tragic than any major Honkai Eruption he had experienced; this was a genuine "war" between "humanity" and "Honkai."
Unconsciously, Lin had reached the base of the tower. Only when close did the feeling of watching from afar intensify. The tower, connecting heaven and earth, emitted cerulean particles that were the only source of light in this gloomy world. Unknown metal pipes, like veins, transported a pale gray liquid energy.
Lin instinctively thought of the ark mentioned in mythology, carrying the last of humanity. This mountain of corpses and sea of blood felt like the great flood that swallowed the world in that myth.
At the base of the tower was a large, open door. Lin looked through the entrance. The empty corridor was spotless, without a drop of blood. Even the nearest corpse was quite far from the main entrance.
Lin had no reason to hesitate. He strode quickly into the tower.
Inside the silent building, there were no signs of any living creatures.
The deeper Lin went, the more astonished he became by the tower's technological level. This was not simple data error or some vague concept technology imagined on a whim. This was a creation resulting from genuine, advanced technological prowess.
Arriving at what looked like an elevator, Lin stepped inside. He noticed that the numerical language used in the elevator was recognizable to him. He pressed the button for the top floor. The elevator closed and ascended rapidly.
"Ding—"
The elevator door slowly slid open after pausing for a second and a half.
Presented before Lin was a figure sitting in a chair, monitoring screens that showed all views both outside and inside the tower.
"..."
"..."
Lin stood in the elevator, staring silently at the motionless back. The figure, seemingly unaware of his presence, remained still.
Only when the elevator's automatic closing time arrived and the doors began to slide shut did Lin take two steps, moving out of the elevator.
As he moved, the figure sitting in the chair spoke—
"Are you 'The End'?"
"..." Lin listened quietly to the figure's words. He neither refuted nor admitted anything, simply waiting for the person to continue.
"I didn't expect the last Herrscher to look like this." The figure rotated his chair, turning his front toward Lin. "Would you like something to drink? Human coffee and tea are available."
It was a highly mechanized "person."
Lin didn't even know if he could still be considered human. His entire body only had the sheen of metal; mechanical textures covered every visible inch of his body. Both of his eyes were the familiar appearance of monitors. At a glance, he could only be mistaken for a robot.
But Lin saw a light in those eyes, which were no longer human, that only a human could possess. Perhaps that was the only remaining "human" part of this "human."
"...Who are you?" The light from Lin helmet visor intersected with the man's metallic sheen. He extended one hand and asked.
"A strange question. Haven't we already been nearly annihilated by you? But if you truly wish to hear it, I don't mind telling you."
The "robot" showed a strange smile. He stood up and performed a salute Lin had never seen: "I am the last human on Earth."
"..." Even though he had faintly guessed some of the truth, Lin brow furrowed tightly when the machine man laid out the facts.
After a moment, he looked up and said coldly to the mechanized man, "I am not a Herrscher."
"Hmm?" The mechanized man froze. He glanced at a screen. Lin followed his gaze and saw the image displayed on one of the monitoring screens—his own figure, marked as "Herrscher."
Was this the influence from that time again?
"That's strange. Did the detection system malfunction? Or is it that you, the Herrscher, still intend to play tricks on humanity even at this final moment?" The mechanized man smiled indifferently. "But none of that matters anymore. Let's just assume you are a human who survived by chance. Why don't you sit down and talk? Let us enjoy the end of humanity."
"Oh, right, what's your name?"
Lin walked to the table and sat down. He said calmly, "Lin."
"Oh? What a coincidence."
The mechanized man sat across from him.
"My name is Lin."
The smile on his face, which lacked any human color, was so warm, like a dim but irreplaceable ray of light breaking through the dark clouds.