"Equality is nothing more than a promise fabricated by the privileged. They climb to the top on the backs of the people, only to eagerly sever all ties with those below. They drink the people's blood, their very marrow flowing with the ink of depravity and submission. They promise the people freedom, only to personally clamp shackles upon them once it is won."
"This world is deeply unfair. It shouldn't be this way."
"If that's the case, why not change it?"
"Because it's impossible. When you stand alone, countless people will want you to kneel. When you cry out, countless people will try to cover your mouth. No matter how strong a single person's will is, it cannot change rules that have long since solidified."
"If one person can't, what about a thousand?"
"A thousand..."
"That's right. A thousand."
...
"Investigations and reports concerning the anomaly in Linburg City are underway from nations around the world. According to official sources, the culprit behind this disaster is the Herrscher of Domination known as Ren..."
"Just ten minutes ago, Schicksal's Overseer, Mr. Otto Apocalypse, made a personal address, officially announcing the existence of the disaster known as the Honkai..."
"Herrschers are the agents of the Honkai. Their goal is the destruction of human civilization, making them the common enemy of all humankind. The Herrscher of Domination, being the most numerous, poses a threat far exceeding any before. Therefore, we officially call upon all citizens: if you discover any trace related to the Honkai, please contact your local Schicksal Emergency Response Team immediately."
"To trust in Schicksal is to trust in the future of humanity."
"Aren't you angry?" Kiana pressed the power button, and the screen went dark, finally silencing the host's grating voice. She looked away from the device and toward the boy standing by the window.
"Angry about what?"
"About Schicksal twisting the truth, of course! You were the one who saved all those people, but in the end, they've made you the villain." Kiana watched Ren closely, but to her disappointment, his face showed no trace of anger—only a calm as placid as a stagnant pool.
She didn't like this side of Ren.
"It's just a way to placate the masses," Ren said, his expression unchanging. "The moment the Theater of Domination appeared over Linburg City, the truth Schicksal had hidden for centuries collapsed. If they let panic spread, global order would crumble in no time. At a time like this, a convenient 'truth' and a dangerous, cunning enemy are the best medicine for fear."
He stated the answer calmly, like a machine providing the most logical solution to a problem. But that wasn't the answer Kiana wanted to hear. She wanted Ren's own opinion.
"Are you just going to let Otto frame you like this? Most people don't care if the truth is actually true; they'll just blindly follow the crowd. If you don't do something, even the people you saved might get dragged into this vortex of lies. Is that really okay?"
But Ren still offered no further explanation, only shaking his head slightly. "I don't care who I save, nor do I care how they see me..."
"You don't care, but what about your little savior?" Kiana pressed. "Does she not care either?"
After a brief silence, Ren looked down through the window at the city, now under martial law. "That's precisely why I don't have to care. In the grand play of saving the world, there always needs to be a villain. I can't play the part of the savior, so becoming a thorough villain is the best alternative."
Otto is clever. Perhaps he saw through my intentions. Perhaps he wants to play the villain himself. Regardless, the story is unfolding just as I predicted.
"Ren..." The boy's explanation left Kiana with a mix of complicated feelings. She wanted to reach out and hold him, this boy who was walking step by step into the abyss, but when she met his gaze, she stopped herself. "You don't have to be so rational. Have you forgotten? You're not some emotionless monster."
"Don't worry. I haven't abandoned myself. It's just that the seeds of revolution have been sown, and now I must ensure they break through the soil and sprout."
As long as the world had not been completely consumed by despair, the flames of rebellion would never die. Even now, with public opinion completely suppressed, there was still fertile ground for those seeds to grow.
From the very beginning, Ren had been preparing for a war of information. The girl who was turned into a human quantum computer months ago, the Obsidian Concord forum he created to deal with Mei, even the Herrscher of Corruption he brought back from the Elysian Realm—all of it was for one purpose: to create a sanctuary where the wishes of a thousand could take root and blossom—the internet.
The web may be virtual, but human emotions and will are real. The reason Ren had activated the Herrscher of Domination a month prior was to eliminate the enemies and hardships that people could see with their own eyes.
Just as he had told Kiana, the weak are not born cowardly; they simply cannot see hope. The deaths of those gangsters, drug dealers, and thugs were like a sharp blade, severing the chains around the necks of the weak, allowing them to see that even these cancers rooted in society could die.
When the weak find the courage to resist, the seeds of revolution will take root in fertile soil. When the beliefs of the people converge, brilliant flowers will naturally bloom across the barren land.
"The Herrscher of Domination was never about a thousand individuals. It's about a thousand wills converging into one. Otto sees only a disorganized mob. I will show the world what the Herrscher of Domination truly is."
Knock, knock, knock.
A sudden knock on the door interrupted them. Kiana glanced at Ren, and after receiving a nod, she opened it. Standing in the doorway, hugging a small pillow, was a little girl.
"Bella?" Kiana was surprised, but Bella seemed too sleepy to respond. She just swayed on her bare feet as she walked toward Ren.
"Mama, is it time for me to sleep?"
The familiar word made Ren fall silent for a moment. He had originally planned to have Bella rest in a hibernation pod, but looking at the girl's expectant face, a crack appeared in the ice around his heart. He knelt down and gently scooped her into his arms. "Yes. Get some good rest."
He stroked Bella's small head, letting her rest comfortably on his shoulder. Perhaps even Ren himself didn't notice, but his cold, rational facade was slowly beginning to change.
"Goodnight, Mama."
With a muffled whisper, Bella slowly closed her eyes.
The instant she fell asleep, piercing alarms screamed to life in top-tier laboratories all around the world. Technicians had suddenly discovered that their supercomputers had frozen for a full half-second. For a normal user, a half-second lag is negligible, but for these cutting-edge machines, it was akin to the sprinter Usain Bolt taking ten minutes to run a hundred meters.
"Identify the cause of the failure immediately!"
As network server hubs around the globe scrambled to find the problem, no one noticed an unknown computer virus spreading across the internet at a terrifying speed. In just ten seconds, it had replicated itself hundreds of billions of times.