"Ugh... Where am I..."
As Project Stigma ended and Elysia proactively adjusted the nature of the Dream of Paradise, people gradually awoke from their beautiful dreams. Kiana, rubbing her somewhat groggy head, felt a bit lost about her current situation, until a magnetic male voice sounded beside her ear:
"You all had a dream."
Looking up, her eyes met Jiang Qiao's. Beside him was a girl with puffed cheeks, tidying her slightly disheveled clothes and smoothing her soft pink hair—Jiang Qiao's 'Standby Body No. 1,' Elysia.
The former's words instantly sobered Kiana up.
"A dream..."
"...So it was all a dream," Kiana muttered softly, feeling the unreality of it. But the next moment, as if remembering something embarrassing, her gaze towards Jiang Qiao became somewhat evasive and guilty.
Unlike normal dreams, the Dream of Paradise created by Elysia wasn't such a vague product. Therefore, even after waking up, the things she did in the dream, those feelings, were as if carved into her heart, vivid and clear.
Although recalling it now was more from an observer's perspective, the 'realness' of it, and the 'emotions' stirred by those incredibly 'despicable' means, still made Kiana blush furiously.
At the end of the day, though she seemed like a carefree girl, she was just a young woman who was a bit stronger than ordinary people.
Kiana's thoughts naturally couldn't be hidden from Jiang Qiao. He didn't comment on it, nor did he deliberately bring it up. After all... it was just a dream, wasn't it?
If he deliberately mentioned it, it might make her feel awkward instead. After all, not to mention the current Kiana was far from having grown to Elysia's level, even according to the original development, that God of Earth, the Herrscher of Finality, hadn't actually changed much from before.
Jiang Qiao's attention was more focused on the others.
As more and more people in the dream awoke, the world began to return to normal.
Theresa and the others were, of course, among them. Although she already had some PTSD from her work as the Schicksal Overseer, her sense of responsibility still pulled her away from the dream's allure and back to reality.
There were also Bronya, Seele, and Miss Raiden Mei... After setting aside those initial shy emotions, they also received a pleasant surprise.
"From now on, you don't have to worry about the Herrscher of Finality anymore."
"Could it be..."
"Yes, I have completely mastered the Cocoon." Seeing the speculative gazes of Theresa and the others, Jiang Qiao had no intention of keeping them in suspense and spoke frankly.
The existence of the Cocoon didn't need much elaboration. A simple explanation was enough to make it clear. As for the process—
According to the original development, to transcend Finality, one had to face the Cocoon directly, guided by the authority of all thirteen Herrschers.
Face oneself.
Although this seemed like an extremely difficult task, so much so that Kiana and the others nearly faltered—for Jiang Qiao, it was effortless.
What had always troubled Jiang Qiao was only the specific location of the Cocoon. Before all thirteen shadows of the Herrscher of Finality appeared, the inability to pinpoint it was the only problem he faced. Even if he could connect to the Cocoon through the supreme-level Herrscher authority of Origin and perform a series of micro-operations, Jiang Qiao indeed couldn't complete a 'reverse mapping' before all aspects manifested.
But now, things were different.
With the manifestation of the Herrscher of Corruption and the Herrscher of Sentience, all shadows of Finality had already appeared.
And Jiang Qiao, who himself possessed the power of multiple Herrschers, didn't need to deliberately gather the scattered Herrscher authorities. He only needed to use the traces to 'capture' the Cocoon's existence.
Everything was already over.
Face oneself?
There was no need for that kind of thing!
During those processes of [exchanging] with them, Jiang Qiao had already completed this transformation of himself, even stepping into a higher state... or rather, returning to his original state.
—My heart is me, I am I.
Just like Jiang Qiao's explanation of himself.
Any idealistic system, when pushed to its apex, to its very end, will inevitably develop towards 'converging the self, infinitely returning to one.'
That is to say... I alone am the honored one.
And for such a self, the 'kindred' sought by the Cocoon, that 'face oneself' Herrscher of Finality job application invitation, had clearly become meaningless.
It was no longer the 'Cocoon' choosing its kindred, choosing a user who could master it.
Because Jiang Qiao was interested in the 'Cocoon,' he wanted to pick it up, to treat it as a 'toy' in his hands—his relationship with the Cocoon was just that simple.
"Seriously? You're already the Herrscher of Finality?"
After understanding the definition of the Cocoon, Theresa looked at Jiang Qiao with a somewhat doubtful and incredulous expression.
"That depends on you all."
The latter shrugged, not minding at all.
"The Herrscher of Finality is, at its core, just a title—if you all are very interested in this power, then you can also become the 'Herrscher of Finality'."
His words were calm, but what he said shocked most of the people present.
After all—even the original Herrscher of Finality, Kiana, couldn't do such a thing. Since when could something like the Herrscher of Finality be passed around like an 'item' or a 'gift'?
One must know, according to his statement, this was the source of the Honkai, something left behind by an incredibly powerful existence.
But, for Jiang Qiao, this was clearly just a statement of fact.
The Cocoon?
Was it that amazing?
The original Kiana couldn't do it simply because she was only a user of the power, not its master. Therefore, she would even encounter various inconveniences because she couldn't control the Cocoon's power well. This was the inevitable result of an individual mastering power beyond their capabilities in a short period.
And himself...
A sword can become my weapon only because I alone can break it—Kevin Kaslana had said something like this, and Jiang Qiao agreed with it wholeheartedly.
For him, the 'Cocoon' was such a thing.
At best, it was just a 'tool' containing immense power.
"This is the Cocoon—the authority of Finality."
He spoke softly, and an extremely special diamond-shaped halo appeared in his hand. It was the symbol of the Herrscher of Finality, containing infinite power that was incredibly heart-palpitating. Yet, at this moment, in Jiang Qiao's hand, it was like a well-behaved child.
Such a contrasting scene made the expressions of Theresa and the others extremely complicated.
"I entrust it to you all. Whether you use it to guard the world or destroy the world, it's up to you to decide."
"How could we destroy the world..." Kiana rolled her eyes in exasperation.
The latter smiled and said lightly, "I was just saying it casually. Sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?"
"So, have you all made a decision? Who will wield this power?" Jiang Qiao asked, not choosing to follow the original plot and leave the authority of Finality to Kiana—after all, from the original perspective, accepting this power was something done out of necessity.
Because Finality had to be overcome, someone had to wield this power. Given Kiana's personality, she definitely wouldn't be happy about it. After all, holding this power meant being cooped up on the moon like a 'Moon Princess,' spending every day either researching or studying.
As for being strong enough to kick Su's butt or something... Her original intention for mastering this power wasn't to pursue strength, so how could she care about such things?
Of course, from Jiang Qiao's perspective, he was just asking casually. After all, for him, it didn't matter who wielded it. Whether the authority was transferred or not, his ability to use this power would not be affected in any way.
"Let's put it away for now, leave it for Dr. Tesla and the others to research."
"After all, it's something left by who knows who. Letting one person control such power is neither fair nor safe," Theresa spoke up.
This was, of course, not out of concern that this power would be used for evil, but simply the thought of not wanting others to bear the burden of this power.
"A wise choice. You've grown a lot too, Theresa."
Jiang Qiao praised her decision with a smile.
It was from the heart.
Honestly, he wasn't fond of the original Herrscher of Finality Kiana. After all, the latter merely 'used' this power—this was wrong, a clear case of 'borrowing power from others.' Tools can be utilized, but they absolutely cannot be the foundation.
Therefore, Tesla and the others, understanding this point, their research on the Cocoon—this act of transforming power that didn't belong to them into their own power, was the most correct.
And humanity's progress must also understand this point.
Only what belongs to oneself is truly one's own.
"Don't put on that elder-like demeanor... Honestly, thanks to you, I can't even rest now." Theresa complained, full of resentment. "You! Since you're so free, stay here and help me work!"
"About that, perhaps you can look for Siegfried?" Jiang Qiao blinked, offering his suggestion.
At this moment—a certain white-haired uncle somewhere couldn't help but sneeze.
Although Mr. Jiang Qiao tried to divert the trouble to escape the exploitation of the black-hearted Overseer, Theresa, who already completely considered the former as one of her own, and even because she was also a 'victim of Jiang Qiao,' had a mistaken impression of Jiang Qiao akin to an 'old married couple'... though it seemed a bit strange... she felt this feeling wasn't bad.
After all, she was already in her forties or fifties and hadn't experienced much romance. Now, to unexpectedly have this 'old partner' feeling was quite nice.
Especially since this 'old partner' was quite capable.
Due to the influence of the Dream of Paradise, the world's order stabilized significantly. And because of Jiang Qiao's deliberate actions, the current civilization ushered in a wind of change.
With Schicksal as the main integrator of the three major organizations, and with people spontaneously developing beautiful visions, the concepts of nations and ethnicities that originally existed in the world rapidly disintegrated.
This was a very natural thing. After all, with highly developed intelligence, people would understand what those former shackles truly were. In the end, whether it was so-called nations or ethnicities, they were inherently a kind of 'label' spontaneously divided by human society due to various conditions.
And what Jiang Qiao did in the dream was precisely to awaken their longing for that not-so-distant noble ideal, and to bestow upon them the 'wisdom' to resist reality.
This would eventually become their power, the power of individuals, which is to say, the power of 'human civilization' itself.
Nations crumbled, Schicksal also fell, and the world turned a new page.
An organization named the Human Coalition (Renhelian) became the sole ruling power of the current civilization, of this planet.
The former Schicksal Overseer—Theresa Apocalypse became the leader of the Human Coalition.
However, much to Jiang Qiao's amusement and exasperation, the initial leader of the Human Coalition was not Theresa, but himself.
This was, of course, not his or Theresa and the others' doing, but purely the spontaneous support of the people.
After all—
In the dream, because the connections weren't very close, Jiang Qiao, who didn't appear in overly dramatic scenarios like Kiana and the others, appeared in the eyes of most people almost as a 'teacher.'
Although it was just a dream, the transmission of that 'knowledge,' that belief, was by no means false.
Therefore, even though everyone's perception of Jiang Qiao differed, he still unexpectedly acquired the title of 'Teacher of Humanity.'
Of course, there would also be a more fervent part of the population who would regard him as a 'god,' bestowing upon him titles like 'Allah' or 'Yahweh'...
Good news, Kiana wasn't put on a pedestal and turned into a god.
Bad news, he was being treated as a god.
Fortunately, he didn't have any particular thoughts about it.
After all, just like Little Senti's perception of Jiang Qiao.
—This person simply cannot be called human.
This statement was wrong, but it could also be said to be right.
The so-called 'human' was inherently a 'label,' an 'acknowledgment' of human society.
Although, using Jiang Qiao's own words—because I believe I am human, therefore I am human.
But everything he displayed, whether it was that wisdom or power, or even that state of being, clearly could no longer be encompassed by this label.
When he said he was human, it was really only himself and those around him who thought so. In reality, he had long since departed from the scope of human cognition of humanity—for such an incomprehensible, sublime existence, humanity would bestow the title of god.
However, none ofthis mattered.
After all, god, Herrscher, or human.
They were all just 'labels.'
If he had to use a more accurate label to describe himself, then Jiang Qiao's only, and also most accurate, answer was just one—
—Jiang Qiao is just Jiang Qiao.
It was that simple.
The current civilization was tending towards stability. Only a few days had passed, and there was still quite some time before the neighboring Xianzhou Alliance reopened its Martial Arts Ceremony. During this period, Jiang Qiao had originally planned to stay in the current civilization for a while. After all, this was his registered place of residence, yet the time he had spent here was almost the least.
But—
In the lively chat group that was active every day.
Furina, who often chatted with him, relayed a message that the Dendro Archon had entrusted her to pass on:
"The Sabzeruz Festival is about to begin in Sumeru. The Dendro Archon asked me to ask if you want to come and participate."