But Su Jue is already dead.
As a puppet, Ji Zi naturally knew that when she left, there was no trace of the Herrscher in the Theater of Domination, and Su Jue had indeed died in the confrontation with Honkai.
As for why these puppets can move independently, it is naturally because Su Jue told her that when the puppets' self-awareness is strong enough, they can break away from the control of the Ruler of Rule.
It was just like when they first met, Taxuemaomao had escaped from Su Jue's control.
Now that Su Jue is dead, Qian Jue is his only property and also a gift for Kiana. Thinking of this, Ji Zi couldn't help but hug Kiana.
Kiana, who was recounting her memories, apparently realized something. She could no longer hold back her tears, which soaked both of their clothes.
"Teacher Jizi, he really has..."
"……Um."
The bustling lights are twinkling, but in this vast world there is no longer a light lit for the lost children. The night is long and the sky is dark, and we will never meet again.
……
The concert began, and hundreds of thousands of people gathered around the venue, almost blocking all the streets and alleys.
Eden's song floats in the night sky, healing everyone's heart.
Sitting in the huge conference hall, Kiana felt extremely lonely, even though Teacher Himeko was right beside her.
At the same time, the invisible theater of domination completely covers the city, reversing time.
Su Jue, standing on the deserted street, stretched out his hand, and the Lilu Core kept spinning in his hand, getting faster and faster.
Finally, the bustling modern city disappeared, replaced by snowflakes gradually falling from the sky.
This is Berlin, Germany, on December 1951, 12, 7 days before the first collapse.
Gusts of cold wind blew through the streets and alleys, hitting Su Jue's thin body and making him shiver slightly.
He had no fighting power when he entered the illusion. If he wanted to complete the trial, he had to safely survive the first collapse so that he could fully utilize the will of those 30 people.
"It's so cold." Snowflakes fell into his palms and melted into snow water by his body temperature.
He will go on an unknown journey alone in the winter of 1951. With his lonely self-will, he will become one of the victims.
"Let's find a way to survive first." He gathered his thin clothes, turned around, and saw Kiana looking at him.
Chapter 271 Winter
The moment he saw Kiana, Su Jue's breathing stopped for half a second, but he quickly realized that this should be the manifestation of his inner flaws in the illusion.
Although he only came up with the idea of using the rational core to solve the aftermath of the plan temporarily, he had made sufficient preparations. Only those selected by the Domination Theater could enter the illusion.
At this time, Kiana was still at the concert venue and it was impossible for her to enter the theater. In other words, this figure was actually just an illusion created by Su Jue's inner demons and was a reflection of Su Jue's perception of Kiana.
Thinking of this, Su Jue couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. If it was just an illusion, then there was no need for him to hide from it like before.
"Then just killing her will resolve the issue..."
"Su...Jue!" When Su Jue was still thinking about how to break the illusion, his body suddenly sank, and the running girl crashed directly into his arms and hugged him tightly.
Su Jue was caught off guard and lost his balance in the sudden attack. They both fell into the thick snow, raising large flakes of snow.
Su Jue, who was thrown to the ground, frowned slightly and tried to push Kiana away. However, when he put his hand on her shoulder, low sobs came from his arms, and the warm tears almost soaked his clothes.
His arm paused in mid-air and finally fell down weakly. Su Jue lay quietly in the snow, letting the girl cry on his chest.
Looking up at the gray sky, two winter birds flying together chased each other and crossed the sky of Berlin in 1951. Snowflakes fell lightly, making Su Jue's vision a little hazy.
"The illusion is just a dream after all. When the time is up, the dream will end. Before that, it won't hurt to sleep a little longer."
……
"Is this just his dream?"
"That's right. A dream in which 30 people are sleeping together. He probably doesn't know that you have also entered the illusion, so he is likely to regard you as a being in his dream."
Kiana did not immediately believe what this person said, but looked at him warily.
"Tell me your purpose. I don't believe you just want to drag me into the illusion. If you have a way to control the illusion, you probably don't need to tell me this."
The blue-haired man paused for half a second, and finally said in a self-deprecating tone: "You misunderstood. I just want to survive with these 300,000 thoughts. His ability is too strong, and I have no room for resistance.
When he wakes up, our existence will be wiped out from this world forever. And he will completely forget your existence."
"..." Kiana didn't say anything, but there was an obvious flash of panic in her eyes.
"Also, it was not me who pulled you into this illusion, but you yourself. His power should still be in your body. Can you recall if you have ever seen anything like a theater or a thread?"
"Theater?" The memories in her mind quickly rolled back, and Kiana immediately thought of the broken domination theater in her own consciousness space. She thought it was a scene she had constructed unintentionally, but she didn't expect it to be left by Su Jue?
Wait, when I was unconscious, my consciousness space looked like a theater. If that was Su Jue’s power, it meant that Su Jue had helped me without me knowing it?
The man who noticed the change in Kiana's expression smiled meaningfully. He continued according to Kiana's guess, "Yes, he is still alive and has even saved you more than once."
"If you want to find him, your best option is to go through this illusion..."
Click.
The man's smile suddenly froze on his face, his pupils shrank instantly, and the sharp Sub-Earth Spear was less than a millimeter away from his forehead.
What he saw was not the girl who was shaken by Su Jue, but Kiana with cold eyes.
"You want to use me to disrupt his plans and get out of his control, right?"
"..." Tiny cracks appeared in the fragile mental space. Kiana's power as the Herrscher of the Sky made the blue-haired man wearing a scarf almost unable to move.
"Walter Joyce, the First Herrscher." Kiana uttered the name word by word, and seemed to have turned into the queen again, with a cold murderous intent in her tone.
Kiana's appearance was reflected in Joyce's eyes, and the smile on her face gradually faded, returning to her normal expression.
"It seems that I was overthinking. You are much smarter than I thought." Joyce looked at the golden lines in the girl's eyes with endless sighs and pulled the scarf around his neck. "With such a Herrscher fighting for humanity, perhaps humanity can really defeat Honkai."
He took a step forward and let the Spear of the Archon pierce his forehead. The illusory shadow turned into a light blue spot under Kiana's power and dissipated along with Joyce's last voice.
"Remember, if you really want to help him, the best option is not to reveal any abnormalities and to end this dream journey with him smoothly."
……
In the simple house, firewood was burning in the fireplace, making crackling sounds. The bright yellow flames flickered and shone on Su Jue's face, making him look a little confused.
"Feeling better?" The warm water emitted a hazy steam and floated to Su Jue's lips.
He turned his head and looked at Kiana's gentle smile, feeling a little unreal.
So in my own perception, Kiana would be such a good wife and mother?
"Thank you." Su Jue silently took the cup of water handed over by the girl, and his voice of thanks was quite hoarse.
I didn't expect that I could only be like an ordinary person in that environment. I lay in the snow for half an hour, but I didn't expect to be punished immediately. I started to have a fever not long after.
Fortunately, Kiana had a lot of life experience when she was wandering. Not only did she find an abandoned hut, but she also collected a lot of firewood. With the help of the temperature of the fireplace, she melted some snow water, which barely maintained Su Jue's body temperature and prevented him from dying in the snow on the first day.
The wind and snow outside were getting stronger and stronger. The cold wind was howling and hitting the fragile glass windows. A trace of chill came into the house through the gaps in the windows, causing the flames in the fireplace to shake constantly.
Su Jue, whose clothes were completely damp, shivered unconsciously and sneezed softly.
"Take off your clothes first, I'll help you dry them." He looked at Su Jue a little embarrassedly. His clothes were covered with his tears, and in this sub-zero weather, they froze into ice in a short while.
Su Jue's fever was largely caused by her. Kiana took off her coat and handed it to Su Jue, replacing his wet shirt.
After hesitating for a while, Su Jue still followed Kiana's advice. After all, it was just an illusion constructed by his own consciousness, and there would be no one else around.
The sky gradually darkened, the temperature dropped, and a fire was burning in the fireplace in the room.
In the winter of 1951, the two figures were so close for the first time.
Chapter 272 Hut
"Chacha."
The clear sound of birdsong was transmitted among the snow-covered treetops. After the heavy snow, the edges of the glass windows were covered with a thick layer of white snow. The morning sun shone into the house through the frosted windows, shining on the two people leaning against each other.
The boy's fingers trembled unconsciously, and after a moment, Su Jue opened his eyes first.
The light was a little dazzling and his vision blurred for a moment. Looking at the thick snow outside the window, he finally remembered that he was in a dream.
It was a winter morning in Berlin, and also the second day that Su Jue entered the fantasy world.
There was only a little wood left in the stove, the flame flickered, and the room wasn't that warm.
After a full night's rest, Su Jue's cold was almost healed.
He exhaled and turned his head to look at the girl leaning against him.
The bright light passed through Kiana's white hair and fell on her side face. Her tightly closed eyelashes trembled slightly, her delicate nose tip shone with an agar-like luster, her lips slightly opened, and she breathed in small sips.
The hazy white mist dissipated in the winter sun, as if the cold snowflakes were melting.
Without waking up Kiana, Su Jue pulled his arms out from her clasped hands, took off the clothes she lent him, and put them on her.
This time the illusion was so real that Su Jue could hardly tell whether it was reality or virtual.
But no matter how real the illusion is, it will be broken one day, and he can't stop there.
After putting on the dried clothes, Su Jue added some more firewood into the stove, pushed open the creaking wooden door, and the breath from the 1950s hit him in the face.
This is Berlin, Germany. After the new snow, the city had a peaceful dream and gradually woke up in the sunshine and birdsong.
Smoke rises from the towering chimneys, the snow on the sloping brick and tile roofs remains unmoved, and the arc-shaped windows reveal the busy figures of people.
So the men who went to work came out of their homes wearing thick woolen coats and small felt hats, greeted each other, and then lowered their heads and hurriedly walked on the snow on the street, forming a flow of people.
Su Jue's appearance did not attract anyone's attention. When he hacked into the core of Li Lu, his consciousness had already merged with these 300,000 consciousnesses, forming this illusion together.
"Good morning, Su Jue." Just when Su Jue was thinking about how to get food, a young man wearing a scarf came to his side and greeted him.
The young man looked about the same age as Su Jue, but he was dressed much more maturely than him. Although he spoke German, this was a space built by Su Jue, so there was no communication barrier.
"..." Su Jue looked at the blue-haired man and did not reply immediately. He was not sure what role he played in the illusion and could only remain unchanged in the face of all changes.
"Uh, you look unhappy. Did you not sleep well last night?" The young man was not embarrassed by Su Jue's silence. He scratched his head as if nothing had happened and continued, "That's right. You told me that your parents would not be home for Christmas this year. Why don't you go to my house first? My house is quite big."
Looking at the young man with complicated eyes, after confirming that the other party was just inviting him, Su Jue still shook his head and refused: "No need."
Illusion does not mean safety. If Su Jue guessed correctly, there must be a leader among the 300,000 consciousnesses, and it is most likely the first acting Herrscher.
After he used the Domination Theater to create the illusion, the other party would definitely sneak into it. At present, Su Jue could not confirm the other party's manifestation. Once he was careless and was killed by the other party, the trial would be declared a failure and his efforts would be in vain.
He must remain vigilant enough.
"Well, if you have any trouble you can always come to me. You should know where I live."
"..."
It seemed that Su Jue's silence hurt the young man a little. He complained in a low voice: "Hey, Su Jue, you can't do this to me. I am your best friend Yi Si. We agreed to spend Christmas together."
Is?
Su Jue was stunned. He always felt that this name had some inexplicable sense of déjà vu, but he did not think much about it. Instead, he found an excuse to say goodbye to it.
Looking at the young man's somewhat lost back, Su Jue shook his head slightly, turned around and walked into the crowd.
When he appeared again, he had several more banknotes that people had "accidentally lost" in his hands. The amount was not large, so no one noticed the problem.
Although Su Jue's power cannot be used for the time being, he can still use some small tricks at his fingertips. It is impossible for him to really go to the wilderness to survive and shiver in this extremely cold winter.
Su Jue used the money to buy some food and winter clothes, and then returned to the cabin.
As soon as he walked outside, he saw Kiana standing at the door, who seemed to have been waiting for him for a long time.
The tip of her nose was red from the cold, and her face was also a little flushed. When she saw Su Jue appear, she smiled with joy.
"Welcome home."
Looking at the girl who was so cold that her nose was about to run, Su Jue couldn't help but sigh. Why did he feel so stupid?
Forget it. After all, it is an illusion born from my own mind. What else can I do?
"Come in quickly, don't catch a cold." Putting the warm breakfast into the girl's almost frozen hands, Su Jue rubbed her palms to drive away the cold, and urged her to go back quickly.
If it was the real Kiana, Su Jue probably wouldn't have done such a thing, but knowing that she was just an illusion, he didn't mind being a little nicer to her.
After closing the door, the cold air was indeed dispelled. In the empty house, apart from the fireplace and scattered furniture, there was not even a bed. Su Jue bought a lot of things, so at least he wouldn't have to endure the cold tonight.
While Su Jue was cleaning up, Qiyana was not idle either. She was trying to solve the problem of breakfast. Fortunately, the German breakfast was just freshly baked bread and cereal, which did not require any extra preparation. After the work was done, the two sat together by the fireplace and ate bread in small bites.
"Su Jue."
