[Ten minutes before the Arahato's launch, Siegfried and Welt entered the control ship. Following Dr. Einstein's countdown, the rocket launched.
During the 48-hour journey to the moon, Welt and Siegfried talked a lot, from embarrassing stories of running away from home as a child to their youthful hobbies and future dreams. By tacit agreement, neither of them brought up which of the two plans Siegfried had chosen...
After the Arahato landed on the lunar surface, Siegfried, who was preparing to put on his spacesuit, stared dumbfounded as Welt walked directly out of the control ship. It turned out Herrschers didn't need spacesuits at all.
Welt, stepping onto lunar soil for the first time, quickly adapted to the gravity, which was only one-sixth of Earth's. He looked up at the pseudo-Herrscher of Thunder, Benares, flying in the air before him.
There was no air on the moon, so sound couldn't travel, but Benares's voice rang out in Welt's mind.
Benares had been sent by Sirin to guide Welt. Welt didn't know what tricks the Second Herrscher was playing, but he followed Benares to the center of the lunar ruins.
After seeing Welt and Benares leave through the Arahato's window, Siegfried quickly put on his spacesuit. Recalling the plan of action Einstein had told him before the rocket launch, he wasted no time getting to work.]
"Herrschers are so amazing~ ♥" Elysia said.
"If a Herrscher can survive in a vacuum, then what's the difference between their bodies and a normal human's? What allows them to not need to breathe? If it's on a genetic level, could it be considered another form of evolution..." MEI's questions gushed forth like a spring.
"Huh?" Yàqīng was baffled.
Good heavens, I just had a long dream and wove it into a script. Now you want me to explain the imaginary things within it?
Kevin rubbed his forehead. "Alright, MEI, it's just a movie."
"Oh, right..."
"Just in terms of Herrscher authorities, it's so cool!" Kevin was a bit envious. He turned to Su in the row behind him and asked, "Su, if I became a Herrscher, what kind of authority do you think I'd have?"
Before Su could reply, Rin raised her little hand. "I know, I know! Brother Kevin would definitely be the Herrscher of Instant Noodles!"
"Pfft."
A series of stifled laughs rippled through the theater. Sakura's face flushed as she tried to hold it in. "Kevin, kids say the darndest things, don't... pfft."
Sakura's words were like a fuse to a powder keg. For a moment, the theater was filled with joyous laughter. Kevin looked around in confusion; even his girlfriend in his arms was laughing.
Who am I? Where am I?
"I think Rin is right," Su added, landing the final blow.
"That's right. There's an old saying: children never lie," Yàqīng said with a straight face.
"What old saying?" Elysia played the perfect straight man.
"A saying from my grandma."
Yàqīng and Su, in the back, shared a high-five.
"I'm gonna get you guys!" Faced with his friends' teasing, Kevin went after Yàqīng, who was sitting right next to him.
[Arriving at the center of the lunar ruins, Welt saw Sirin sitting on the same throne the 'god' had once occupied. With her legs crossed, she looked down on Welt with arrogant disdain.
"You're finally here, First Herrscher."
Sirin stood up, frustrated by his lack of ambition. A fellow apostle of God, yet he would choose to trade his own life for the lives of ants. She flaunted the power she had received from the 'god,' three pairs of blue-glowing purple wings unfurling behind her.
"If you are willing to obey me, I can consider sparing you."
"All you have to do is kneel and swear allegiance to me."
Hearing Sirin's words, Welt gave a scornful laugh. He had no desire for Sirin's pardon, nor did he care for the so-called power bestowed by a god. He told Sirin that he had already prepared a plan that was sure to succeed.
"Allow me to teach you about the wisdom of humanity."]
"This Welt guy is so annoying!" Sirin scratched her head, her purple hair a mess. She said, puffing her cheeks, "All he talks about is humanity, humanity, humanity, as if I'm not human."
"But Sirin, in the story, you really aren't human anymore. You're a Herrscher..." Bella said weakly, completely oblivious to the fact that in the story, she wasn't even a person.
Sirin puffed her cheeks and pulled at Bella's round face. "Bella, whose side are you on?"
"Mmm, I'm on Her Majesty's side," Bella mumbled indistinctly.
[Sirin snapped her fingers and floated into the air. Three Lances of the Void materialized behind her. She looked at Welt, who was also floating, and launched a few tentative attacks, which Welt easily dodged.
"An attack that slow won't hit anyone." The Star of Eden in Welt's hand crackled, and black-and-red lightning-like energy swirled around him.
Easily provoked by Welt, Sirin's arrogance once again overtook her common sense. Without caring if it was a trap, she ordered Benares to chase after him.
As a red, a purple, and a blue meteor streaked across the starry sky, Siegfried took the opportunity to slip into the center of the lunar ruins and collect the Soulium. Although Welt had said he would buy him 30 minutes, Siegfried highly doubted Welt could actually hold off Sirin for that long.
Having been led on a wild goose chase, Bella sensed something was wrong. She told Sirin, but Sirin had already noticed and didn't care. The familiar large, white hands appeared again, grabbing Welt and bringing him before her.
Caught, Welt remained calm and immediately used his strongest move, the Zeroth Power of the Star of Eden, Pseudo Black Hole. But against Sirin, who now possessed five cores, the pseudo black hole couldn't harm her as it had before.
As a fellow Herrscher, Sirin could feel that Welt's power was less than half of what it was last time, so she wasn't surprised when Welt fled.]
"Why does Sirin feel like a pufferfish? The moment she has a slight advantage, she puffs up," Kiana commented. "But it's not that different from how she is in real life."
Kiana recalled how every time Sirin tried to prank Uncle Yàqīng, she would end up being the victim of her own prank. But that never stopped her from trying again. The moment she got arrogant, she would lose everything.
"She clearly absorbed so much knowledge from the Previous Era, yet she still fell for such a clumsy diversion tactic. I really don't know if Sirin is too... or if it's just for the plot," Bronya said.
[Welt fought desperately to hold Sirin back and buy time for Siegfried. Siegfried did not disappoint. After collecting the Soulium, he returned to the Arahato.
Recalling his conversation with Welt, the audience finally learned that Plan B was for Siegfried to abandon Welt and leave the moon alone. The technology of the Previous Era and the Soulium were more important than one Welt.
"The fate of this world depends on your decision, Siegfried. To you, what is more important? The survival of humanity, or the life of one person..."
That was what Welt had said. The difficult trolley problem was now before Siegfried. Should he pilot the Arahato to support Welt, in which case both of them might die on the moon? Or should he escape alone and fight for a chance for human civilization?
Siegfried stood up. In front of him was a younger version of himself, or perhaps his inner demon.
"The Soulium has been collected. Let's go, let's go support Welt."
Siegfried said nothing.
"What are you hesitating for? He has no chance of winning alone. He's just putting on a brave face."
Siegfried said nothing.
"Hey, are you really going to listen to him and leave him to die?"
Siegfried still said nothing, even slapping away the hand his younger self extended.
His past self angrily grabbed him by the collar.
"Have you forgotten your own family name?! You are a Kaslana! A true Kaslana would never stand by and watch someone die! Have you forgotten the oath you swore?!"
"You said you would sacrifice anything for humanity!!!"
Siegfried took his younger self's hand. The passionate eyes that looked back at him made him unable to meet their gaze. But those once-passionate eyes were now filled with the vicissitudes of time.
"If sacrificing my life could save all of humanity, I wouldn't hesitate for a second. Neither would Welt."
"The choice he and I made was precisely to save humanity. And what I've sacrificed... is more precious than life."
Siegfried let go of his hand. He walked past the phantom of his younger self. In that instant, his back seemed to stoop a little. "I've sacrificed you."
The phantom dissolved like a bubble, symbolizing that Siegfried had completely killed his younger self.
The choice between one person and tens of millions.
The choice between one person and hundreds of billions of lives.
Siegfried had made his choice. This was his answer.
The Arahato started up. Sirin seemed to sense something on the moon rapidly moving away. She realized she had been tricked. She angrily crushed the Star of Eden, and Welt, losing the force holding him, fell hard onto the lunar surface.
The battered Welt looked at the Arahato leaving the moon and smiled. He knew Siegfried had made his choice.
"Well done, Siegfried."]
For a moment, all the viewers fell silent. They asked themselves, if they were in this situation, would their choice be any better than Siegfried's?
"Kevin, if it were you, what would you choose?" MEI asked.
"I..." Kevin didn't know how to choose. Emotionally, he wanted to save MEI, but rationally, he knew that the continuation of civilization was more important. Kevin couldn't imagine the agony he would go through if he really had to make that choice.
"What about you, Yàqīng?"
"Me?" Yàqīng also pondered what he would choose if it were him. After a moment, he said, "It depends on the person. If it were someone particularly important, I think I would choose the former."
"And what counts as an important person?" A cunning glint flashed in MEI's eyes.
The others grew curious as well, especially one person whose ears perked up.
"Of course, it's..."
Yàqīng's pause held everyone in suspense.
"...Cecilia."
"Tch!"
On the top floor of the Anti-Entropy Group's building, the atmosphere was a little strange. Welt Yang and Dr. Tesla were both blushing and excited.
Einstein looked at the two with amusement. "Let me remind you both, we're not the only ones watching this movie. This is a global release. I imagine that as soon as the movie ends, Planck and Edison will be calling to ask you two about the situation."
Welt Yang and Tesla froze.
Einstein had long sensed that something was not quite right between the two of them, but she hadn't believed it at first. After all, Tesla had watched Welt Yang grow up.
"But how did that young director know? Yang, did you tell him?"
"How is that possible!"
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