LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 11: "Peaceful Days"
The first real-life meeting and gathering of the Flame-Chasers, who had shared weal and woe in the simulations, and fought together for all the good things in the world and for the future of humanity, naturally needed to be celebrated.
And everyone unanimously chose the same way—a simulation!
Compared to the grand and magnificent farewells and the indispensable instant noodles at team-building activities, a simulation was obviously just right for their first real meeting.
It was like when you reunited with your long-lost buddies, and then played a multiplayer game together, enjoying the best setup for that game.
So, it was important enough to say three times.
Simulation, start! Start! And start again!
A new simulation began.
The Flame-Chasers were ready. And the Honkai was ready too.
[Before the First Honkai Eruption was about to descend, you joined the Fire Moth, and within it, you established your own faction. Using your information and abilities, you gathered those with knowledge of how to combat the Honkai into your faction, and seized control of the Fire Moth.]
[But you soon discovered that even if you had an information advantage and far surpassed everyone else in terms of combat power and technological talent, you still couldn't beat those useless politicians, who you saw as only knowing how to scheme for power.]
[Yes, those politicians, although making absolutely no contribution to the fight against the Honkai, and constantly hindering it, useless people could not have control over so much power. The people who could become politicians and control the Fire Moth might be useless in every other area, but they were definitely masters of internal strife. Many of them were even god-tier in it.]
[Facing these politicians, who had a full stack of talents for infighting, you exhausted all your power, only managing to become their equals. You only took partial control over the Fire Moth. Perhaps if you had enough time, you would have been able to completely take over the Fire Moth later, but the Honkai wouldn't give you the time.]
[The First Honkai Eruption descended. As you had expected, this first Herrscher was a brand new one that you had never seen before. This Herrscher could control biomass. To be precise, it could control viruses. The super-virus it released destroyed most of the biosphere, and humanity's population was reduced by an entire half. Although you later succeeded in eliminating it, the damage it caused was still a permanent torment to humanity, like a bone-deep illness, until after the Second and Third Honkai Eruptions when the broad concept of human civilization came to an end.]
[At this moment, the technology for transforming people into fused warriors was mature, and could be used to turn many people into fused warriors. But the surviving population was already very small. Even if they were turned into fused warriors, humanity would still be powerless to turn the tide. Besides, human industrial facilities were experiencing a complete shutdown and they didn't have enough production capacity to create fused warriors.]
[Finally, the Fifth Herrscher descended, and the meteorites it pulled down from space turned humanity's last surviving base into a deep crater.]
[Humanity was destroyed.]
[You also died not long after.]
[Simulation complete.]
Human civilization had been wiped out by the Honkai again, and again, and the Earth had again, and again, been razed to the ground by the powers of the Herrschers.
The Flame-Chasers were used to this by now.
They had already anticipated the outcome when the simulation started.
Human extinction, and them dying.
Very normal.
It would be more abnormal if human civilization hadn't been destroyed under the Honkai's torment.
"Wanna go again?"
Feeling that the atmosphere in the conference room was a bit awkward, Kevin scratched his head and asked cautiously.
"Of course. My research project is not finished."
Mobius immediately replied.
Mei spoke up as well, after a moment of silence.
"According to the current situation that the Honkai is also able to take part in simulations, it is impossible for us to defeat it."
"The best option right now is to use the ability of the simulation to quickly jump through time, and complete projects in the simulation that cannot be completed in reality, while also having the people who don't have research abilities continue to fight against the Honkai."
"This way, through simulations, we can more efficiently accumulate the necessary technology and experience to combat the Honkai for human civilization."
In a dozen or so simulations, Mobius had already completed multiple projects.
Among them was a formula to cure Honkai disease, potions to strengthen the human body, and, most importantly, the technology to create fused warriors.
Mei and Vill-V had also successively completed the technology for making God Keys, the processing technology for anti-Honkai armor, and the production technology for armed puppets.
It could be said that as the simulations progressed, the Honkai had become smarter and wiser, and human civilization was becoming stronger as well.
"So that means that for now, research is the main thing, and fighting the Honkai is secondary. Am I right?"
Elysia used her pure mind, which had not been overloaded with knowledge, to carefully consider everything for a while before she managed to understand what Mei meant.
"Yes. Unless there is a miracle, humans have absolutely no chance of winning."
"Or, perhaps..."
Mei paused again for a moment, and then said uncertainly.
"Do you remember that simulation where humanity managed to defeat the Honkai?"
"Of course I remember. That was the only simulation where we fought all the way up to the 13th Herrscher, and also saw the essence of the Honkai."
"In a way, we did not fail in that simulation. Instead, we left the fire of resistance and hope against the Honkai to future generations."
"If we really cannot find a way to get close to the Honkai, perhaps this is also a way to carry on."
Mei pushed up her glasses again, her tone serious.
She hadn't had a habit of adjusting her glasses at first, but as the number of simulations she'd gone through increased, she had also been affected by her simulated self.
And her simulated self just happened to like adjusting her glasses, so she had unknowingly picked up the habit.
It wasn't just Mei. As the number of simulations that the other Flame-Chasers experienced increased, they also picked up many habits from their simulated selves.
Like Kevin, for example.
Kevin hadn't liked instant noodles before. But now he liked them a lot.
And when he ate instant noodles, he also learned how to slurp them down all at once in a very short amount of time.
Even Mobius, who had seemed to be a very composed older sister, had learned to stick out her tongue from time to time like a bratty girl.
It was very strange, but also extremely alluring.
But these were all harmless.
After all, when fighting the Honkai, you had to sacrifice something.
For example, some people sacrificed their lives, while others also sacrificed their lives.
But unlike the former, the latter were constantly sacrificing their lives.
"Hehe~ In that case, let's start a simulation. Begin~♪"
Elysia said with a smile, while also cheering the Flame-Chasers around her.
She didn't seem to have been affected by her simulated self.
Or rather, Elysia, as her "true self," was always that same Elysia, no matter what.
She was always the same.
"Simulation, start!"
Although it was not at the same time, it was at the same place.
The Flame-Chasers all shouted the familiar phrase once again.
And so, the simulation answered them.
A new simulation had begun.
At the same time, Yuhao, who had finished his tea and was taking a walk in the garden, yawned.
His intuition, honed from who knew how many years of fighting in the sea of stars, told him that something was going to happen.
But it had nothing to do with him.
"Now that I think about it, it's about time for me to go to the pleasure district and enjoy some music."
Such peaceful days, everything was so still and beautiful.