[You and Mobius tried to further optimize the fusion warrior technology in order to create larger, stronger, and fiercer mega-fusion warriors, but you were not successful until the Honkai destroyed human civilization.]
[The fusion of human bodies and Honkai factors was already a one-in-a-billion miracle. It was far too difficult to go any further. But you still gained a lot of inspiration and experience...]
[You tried to integrate your unique talents into the God Keys in order to make them more valuable. You succeeded to some extent, but this success could not be maintained for long.]
[The surging Honkai energy in the Herrscher cores was devastating to any precision instrument. This made it so that, aside from direct energy release, none of the more precise functions in the God Keys could be used. But unfortunately, you no longer had time to be troubled by this problem. The Sixth Herrscher that descended swallowed humanity's last base, including you...]
After confirming that the Honkai could also run simulations, Mobius and the others changed their strategy.
They shifted their focus in the simulations from finding ways to combat the Honkai to using the vast time difference between the simulated world and the real world to accumulate technology and experience. They did this in order to provide technical and experiential support to humanity in the real world when they hunted the Honkai in the near future.
Of course, they still needed to fight the Honkai in the simulations.
After all, everything that they did was for the ultimate goal of combating the Honkai.
But in the simulations, the responsibility for this project no longer fell to intellectuals like Mei and Mobius, but to warriors like Kevin and Su.
So, you know the drill.
Human civilization in the simulation continued to cycle through a sustainable cycle of fleeting moments.
But overall, the division of labor was still very clear.
Some people focused on technology research, while others focused on fighting the Honkai.
[Standing on the burnt-out land, you made a promise to her, to everyone, that no matter the cost, humanity would definitely win—]
[Before you could finish your promise, the Cocoon of Finality descended right in front of you, and one-shot you.]
[You died.]
[Rei became the vessel for a Herrscher. Although you tried countless methods to change it, they only ended up speeding up the process. But even so, you still drew your blade against the incoming crowd. This was your promise as her older sister.]
[But as a sharp pain came from your chest, you lost consciousness, and Rei, who had become the Herrscher, was swallowed by the Herrscher's consciousness, becoming a shell controlled by the Honkai.]
[You died.]
[You roared, unleashing all the anger in your heart, while also initiating an artificial Honkai state. You then managed, on your own, to tear apart a Herrscher called the Herrscher of Ice. This scene felt familiar, as if you had done it before.]
[But after you had eliminated the Herrscher of Ice, you fell to the ground, severely injured. Human civilization at this moment had already collapsed under the attacks of the Honkai. No one rescued you, severely injured as you were. You didn't even have a chance to be saved.]
[You died.]
Once, twice, three times, four times... The simulations started and ended, one after the other.
But no matter what, the same three blood-red words—You died—would inevitably appear at the end of every simulation.
The Flame-Chasers had already run more than 50 simulations, but apart from the simulation in which they left their hopes to those who came after them, they hadn't come close to defeating the Honkai even once.
And as the number of simulations increased, the Honkai's strength also increased.
It was clear to anyone that the Honkai was also getting stronger as the number of simulations increased.
["Give up the struggle, humans are failures~ Humans are all failures~"]
The Herrscher in the simulation laughed mockingly.
Running simulations for so long had given the Honkai a deep understanding of humans, but it also seemed to have picked up certain human characteristics.
So, every time human civilization was about to be defeated by the Honkai, the final Herrscher would always say something that was annoying and full of mocking intent.
They would even dance, rap, and play music.
It was just like the MVP settlement screen after a victory.
[After the catchy music ended, the Herrscher launched its final attack on you.]
[You died.]
The simulation ended once more. Everyone slowly opened their eyes.
It had been almost a week since they had gathered at the Fire Moth.
With the foundation of fighting side-by-side and spending time together in the simulations, even those with the most volatile temperaments and the most difficult personalities were able to establish friendships.
But this relationship did not improve the mood of those present.
The frustrations brought about by the simulations would always affect people's mood.
Even cheerful people like Kevin and eternally enthusiastic Elysia would still feel lost and downhearted after being crushed time and time again in the simulations.
"There's one more simulation today."
Having meticulously recorded the data of every experiment her simulated self had done, Mobius said with her unchanging tone.
At first, the Flame-Chasers had been very addicted to the simulations.
But as the number of simulations increased, the final outcome became clear, and the simulations had gone from a hobby to a job.
Except for a few of the Flame-Chasers, most were already feeling exhausted.
They couldn't help but become pessimistic about humanity's future. Some had even started to doubt that they would be able to defeat the Honkai.
Put simply, they were all still young. Even though they had experienced a lot in the simulations, they were all still just simulated versions of themselves, and not their real selves.
"Um… how about we rest today?"
Pardofelis asked cautiously.
They had run seven or eight simulations each day. The rest of the time they had to use their wits and courage to battle the politicians who were professionally infighting in the Fire Moth.
This was too much for her to handle.
Pardofelis was already starting to regret it.
She had originally come to the Fire Moth wanting to leech off other people and slack off.
But, man!
She had somehow become one of the bigwigs, and was being forced to work hard.
She was just an ordinary person, not a hero, and definitely not a bigwig! How could she handle this!
Most importantly, she couldn't even slack off.
"The work is not finished, so we cannot rest~♪"
Elysia's voice was incredibly terrifying at that moment, like an echo from the depths of hell.
"Ha... ha ha... Big Sis Elysia, I know, I was just asking casually... Since the work is not finished, of course we cannot rest!"
Under Elysia's gaze, Pardofelis felt like her little scheme had been exposed. She laughed awkwardly.
"Simulations, we can simulate everything. There's nothing we can't simulate."
"Pardofelis likes simulations the most."
So, a new simulation began again.
But the Flame-Chasers, who had already run too many simulations and clearly knew the outcome, did not have many emotional fluctuations.
It was like they were just doing a normal, everyday task.
There was basically no change.
[The First Honkai Eruption broke out. It was a very strange Herrscher that could control rainfall, causing large-scale rainstorms all over the world. This greatly affected the natural environment and electronic equipment, but the casualties overall were not that great.]
[But the global floods it caused made everyone in human civilization aware of the existence and severity of the Honkai from the First Honkai Eruption. Faced with such a terrifying disaster, and under the influence of people, including you, who had other memories, the whole of human civilization was on high alert, and instinctively began to fight against the Honkai.]
[The Second Honkai Eruption broke out. It was the Herrscher of the Void. Although the damage it caused was not as great as the first Herrscher, it still caused a lot of damage to humanity. But this also made humans more united. More and more people were actively or passively joining the fight against the Honkai.]
[The Third Honkai Eruption broke out. The Herrscher of Flame descended, and the flames it released almost burned an entire continent.]
[Humanity united against the Honkai, demonstrating extraordinary determination and resilience, but still steadily lost ground against the Honkai's attacks.]
[A man stepped forward, declaring that this human civilization had met his minimum standards, and that he would guide humanity.]
[He called himself Yuhao.]
[…]