"So, what do you think? My dear Kiana... happy? Got yourself a new harem, huh~" Elysia sat close to Kiana, nudging her playfully with her shoulder.
Teasing, joking. She even poked Kiana's cheek.
"That's the future, the future!" Kiana put on a serious face.
She even turned it around, feigning displeasure. "Hey, Ellie, in your eyes, am I really that untrustworthy?"
"Even content creators aren't sure about this stuff, so it's definitely nothing!" She declared with absolute conviction, her words ringing clear.
"Oh really? I'm not so sure I believe that." Elysia, ever the drama queen, pretended to be deeply skeptical.
Then she abruptly shifted gears. "Me, Eden, Sakura, Rin... and Seele, Mobius, Aponia, Vill-V... just taking us as an example. Who would you pick?"
"Kids make choices; adults take them all!" Kiana never lied, and she disdained those who did.
Aponia, sitting nearby, smiled gently.
Seele and Rin, who had been watching TV, turned back, looking a little shy.
Eden, meanwhile, just chuckled heartily.
Mama Kiana nodded seriously, chiming in with approval.
"Mhmm! Yes, yes... take them all!" She loved her daughter's attitude.
Mobius, however, walked over and placed a hand on Kiana's shoulder. As Kiana looked up at her, Mobius gazed down, a hint of displeasure in her expression.
"Young Lady, has your esteemed self, burdened with many important matters, perhaps forgotten something?"
"Eh?" Kiana was stunned. She did have a vague feeling that she'd forgotten to do something.
But she couldn't quite recall it right away. Vill-V the Conductor, seeing this, couldn't help but pipe up with a teasing tone.
"You forgot about your towers." She said.
"Back when you returned from the Sea of Quanta, you said you'd erect the towers three days later. How many days have passed since then? Where are the towers?"
"Oh! That's what it was..."
Kiana suddenly remembered.
Right!
She had originally planned to build 108 towers three days after that. Through comprehensive selection, 108 Herrschers would be chosen.
This was, in a real sense, the foundation she intended to cultivate continuously from then on.
However!
At the time, it had suddenly occurred to her that her livestream was about to start, and afterwards, the streaming sessions did turn out to be quite long. In reality, there were also many things to handle, including attending that birthday celebration...
With so much going on, her attention shifted.
Naturally, it slipped her mind entirely.
Couldn't be helped. And now, reminded of it, it all came back to her.
She wasn't planning to renege either!
In that case, no time like the present. Since she had some free time now, she might as well get it done. As for why Mobius and Vill-V were particularly concerned about this?
Especially Mobius.
The answer was actually quite simple, right?
The MANTIS surgery could create MANTIS warriors.
But if given the chance to become a Herrscher, probably no one would be unwilling. Besides, MANTIS could become Herrschers, and Herrschers could become MANTIS.
Under Kiana's influence, the two weren't mutually exclusive.
Since she pursued the infinite evolution of life, for Mobius, whether she attempted to climb the tower herself, or waited for someone else to succeed and then tried to negotiate, study, and see what could be learned from it, it was undoubtedly a highly meaningful endeavor.
She would naturally take it very seriously.
Because, for those like Mobius or Vill-V, if they weren't genuinely interested, they wouldn't be so proactive.
And so!
RUMBLEEEEE—
"What? What?!"
"What's going on?"
"An earthquake!"
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"Mommy..."
For a moment, the entire world shook. As if the continents were quaking, the planet itself trembled.
The earth's crust seemed to have abruptly awakened, shuddering incessantly.
It threw everyone across the globe, regardless of region, country, status, or position, into a state of panic. Screams of fear erupted, causing sudden, unprepared chaos.
But the situation came and went quickly.
Although it felt incredibly intense, it didn't cause excessive damage.
And at the same time!
The Far East, North America, South America, the Mu Continent, Australia...
Europe, Africa, Shenzhou, Central Asia...
And so on, and so forth.
One could see majestic, towering spires erupting from the depths of the earth.
Then, like swords, they soared into the clouds, piercing the heavens.
Those towers, tens of thousands of meters high, resembled one obelisk after another.
Never mind the people nearby, even those in distant regions, and even space stations, satellites, and so on! Could all clearly see these behemoths, like pillars of demon gods, now standing firm upon the earth!
Conspicuous, exaggerated!
They were like miraculous wonders, crafted with supernatural skill.
"That's... a tower?"
"Those are the towers?!"
"Wait, could these be the towers the Young Lady mentioned? Climbing them lets you become a Herrscher!"
"So spectacular!"
Gradually, gradually.
As if surviving a catastrophe, everyone still found it hard to calm down.
But as some people began to realize, to recognize them, more and more understood, learned, remembered, and the fear subsided.
Anything related to the Young Lady is fine.
The Young Lady would never harm us.
Discussions sprouted online.
Offline, it was even more bustling and noisy.
Even if the Young Lady had only mentioned it in passing before, now, remembering it, everyone couldn't help but feel their hearts surge with excitement.
Even if the odds were probably rarer and stricter than one in ten thousand, but, what if? What if there was hope for me? Wouldn't that be just fantastic?
Everyone had such thoughts.
Many people had thought this way before.
Previously it was so.
Now, even more so!
It's just that after waiting for so long without seeing the Young Lady bring forth the towers, everyone had started to think she'd stood them up.
Indeed, many were somewhat disappointed.
But so what?
Even if Kiana had truly stood them up, they couldn't really say anything about it.
After all, that's the Young Lady!
Thinking again, maybe it's our own fault? Perhaps the Young Lady just said it offhandedly, and you all actually took it seriously?
Or maybe the Young Lady had already erected the towers, but we just weren't qualified to see them?
Although now it seems the Young Lady probably genuinely forgot.
But, looking on the bright side, the towers are up now. The Young Lady remembered, and that's already enough.
What does anything else matter?
Now they just wanted to know: how do you climb the towers? What are the rules?
"Whatever!"
"I'm going to check out the tower right now!"
"Me too!"
"Let's all go together."
--+--
:"Hey folks, woke up to a giant tower right outside my door. What should I do?"
:"Lucky bastard, die!"
:"This one's a traitor, get 'em outta here!"
--+--
Yes.
The entire world was abuzz.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
20+ advanced chaps on my patreon.
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.