NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 123: End of Act Nine
"Did you find me, or did I find you?" In the empty darkness, Glenn's hoarse voice echoed.
「After seeing your own memories, I think you should already know the answer.」
The stage lights suddenly lit up, illuminating the judgment seat. Taxue stood on the raised platform, looking down at Glenn.
「So, do you still want to see the rest?」
The puppet was silent for a long time, before revealing a self-deprecating smile. He turned his stiff neck, and raised his hands.
"No need. Compared to existences like you, those memories are probably incredibly boring." Countless threads descended from above, gradually wrapping around Glenn's outstretched hands. "I only want to know one thing. Can my parents really return to how they used to be?"
「Naturally. That was part of our agreement. They will live the rest of their lives without any illnesses or financial difficulties.」
"…Thank you."
"If I'm not mistaken, you could have directly pulled me into this space, right? Why did you give me a choice?"
「It's simple. Because the master of this theater was also once like you.」
「Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.」
「In this world full of people, he is your shadow. And in this theater, you will be his fool.」
"I see." Glenn suddenly began laughing madly. "I see, so we are all just puppets wrapped in strings."
He suddenly raised his head, not looking at Taxue, but at the darkness above him.
"Turn everyone into your shadow, and make every fool dance in this absurd world, God of Dominance."
Thump!
The wooden hammer struck, and everything fell silent.
A melodious wolf howl and a soft sheep bleat echoed at the same time, pulling the existence called Glenn away.
What remained in the theater wasn't a wooden puppet. His heart was still beating, and his breathing continued.
This was a new type of puppet, or rather, a [Living Puppet].
He wasn't like other puppets, created from a Core of Corruption. He was a living being of flesh and blood, and after being chosen by the Lamb Spirit, two existences hadn't appeared, because his soul had been taken away by the Hungry Wolf.
This brand new body still belonged to a puppet. He could still change its appearance, but it wasn't tainted by the aura of the Imaginary Space. As one of the Herrschers who was closest to the Imaginary Tree, the aura of the Imaginary Space on the Herrscher of Thousands was very dense.
There were very few people in this era who could see Ren's puppets. But there were exceptions. The natural enemy of the Imaginary Space was the Quantum. Once they came into contact with each other, they would be strongly repelled.
Simply being repelled wouldn't be able to interfere with Ren's actions. However, it was easily noticed by those who had heightened senses, such as Kevin Kaslana.
If he wanted to continue coming into contact with World Serpent, then he would inevitably have to face Kevin directly. The Moth of Ink puppet had excellent disguise capabilities, but he couldn't enter the Sea of Quanta. If Ren were to try and compete for the Gem of Desire, then he would be exposed.
And it was because of this that Glenn existed.
Although he was a puppet, he was essentially human. He was like a blank slate, untainted by any auras. Even Quantum energy wouldn't be able to notice his presence.
Yet, he was still able to inherit the effects of the Hive Core, using the powers of other puppets, but because he was a living being of flesh and blood, the effect was greatly reduced.
If a person was killed, they would die. The same could be said for Living Puppets. Therefore, aside from special occasions, Ren wouldn't use him.
After briefly recalling his memories, Ren changed the puppet's hair color to dark green, and slightly adjusted his appearance.
From today onwards, you will be Kosma.
He didn't dare directly use the names of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers. After all, he would have to face Kevin directly in the future, which was why he had made some small changes.
He didn't have the horn-like receptors on his head, and the runes that had covered most of the original Kosma's body had also been replaced by a huge Obsidian Concord insignia, and so, aside from his hair color and general appearance, they were very different.
In this expansion of puppets, there were many others of different types. Most of them had chosen the Lamb Spirit, and a few had their souls swallowed by the Hungry Wolf, resulting in serious Honkai disasters.
However, those casualties had nothing to do with Ren. The sins of the puppets originated from humanity itself. Ren had only given them the courage to change.
After doing the math, Ren's previously extended lifespan of two years had now gone back to just one. And most of that had been taken by Kosma. The Obsidian Concord insignia would continuously consume his life force, which was the price for creating this blank slate of a Living Puppet.
The very existence of a Living Puppet had already defied the natural order. It was normal that the price would be high.
Aside from the additional abilities of the Herrschers, Ren's own power had finally surpassed the power of a thousand cats. He could now be considered a powerful member of the Cat Sect. Truly terrifying.
The most important thing was that he now finally had a puppet that could program. The quantum computing Humanoid Machine could finally be used. It would save him a lot of trouble.
Unfortunately, there weren't very many puppets with these top-tier specialties. In this expansion of several dozen, only a few had special talents. However, that was enough for now.
The number of employees at The Obsidian Concord had rapidly grown, the number of projects could also continue to grow, and various products created by The Obsidian Concord had appeared on the market. Fortunately, it hadn't yet attracted Schicksal's attention.
Speaking of Schicksal, Ren subconsciously turned his attention to his clone. Unsurprisingly, it was currently being subjected to various experiments.
However, because Ren was still sleeping, they couldn't do anything. They could only analyze the Herrscher using external methods.
"This sleep is far too long, Durandal. Are you sure you've only captured him, and not… killed him?"
In the Schicksal's Cape Hope laboratory, Durandal was talking to Otto.
In the previous battle, she had also sustained quite a few injuries, which was why, in addition to observing the Project Stigma experiments, she was also there to recover.
"Overseer, in that kind of situation, I couldn't hold back."
"…"
"I'm just joking. A Herrscher wouldn't be killed so easily." Otto was actually incredibly anxious.
Only with Project Stigma could he briefly glimpse what was on the Imaginary Tree, but relying on the Divine Key was not only incredibly resource-intensive, the amount of time that it lasted was also very short.
According to his calculations, if he wanted to find a way to resurrect Kallen, he would need at least tens of thousands of observations, and he didn't have that much time.
He had originally planned to use the Herrscher of the Void's power to pierce the membrane of the world, but now, that was no longer possible.
"That's not necessarily true," Durandal interrupted Otto, "I could sense a dense aura of death from him, as if he was nearing the end of his life."
"An exceptionally rare male Herrscher, with a combat power far surpassing that Herrscher from the Second Honkai War, he holds many secrets. Perhaps I could find a way to resurrect Kallen through him," Otto thought to himself.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was possible. The Gem of Haste had definitely fallen into the Imaginary Space. That Herrscher was able to obtain the gem meant that he had entered the Imaginary Space. If even an ordinary person could enter the Imaginary Space, then it wasn't possible for him, Otto, to be unable to.
After confirming that his existence had attracted Otto's attention, Ren breathed a sigh of relief. The thing that he had been most afraid of, was Otto stubbornly trying to capture Kiana.
Now that he wanted to research him, then he would let them research him. He would talk with them again after Kevin had appeared.