[Pope, have you escaped yet?]
"Damn it! Who the hell are you!?"
Amid the chaotic, crowded scene, a petite girl in a torn, once-elegant gown squeezed her way forward with the advantage of her size and agility, cursing furiously all the while.
Behind her, a swarm of drones, like a black storm cloud, pursued relentlessly. Any gap in her movements was met with laser blasts or razor-edged drones swooping in, leaving bloody wounds in their wake.
The crowd around the Pope, hypnotized by her abilities, remained oblivious to the chase and instead subconsciously shielded her with their bodies.
[I'm the Director of the Research Institute.]
"Got it. I'm still running. What about you?"
[Same here. As expected, the First Executor of Anti-Entropy went straight for the key targets. Those armed revolts are irrelevant. Once the war machines of Anti-Entropy and Schicksal are deployed, they'll be crushed like insects. The real focus is on individuals like us who are guiding public opinion and fragmenting society. That's why the pressure on our group is much higher… Anyway, straight to the point—don't return to the Theater of Domination.]
"Why not? Are you trying to get me killed?"
[A vote just passed. Each of us targeted individuals carries significant intelligence value. Our collective strength can preserve consciousness, but the bodies we inhabit are disposable. If necessary, abandon them. As for why—three minutes ago, one of us fled to the Theater, and its imaginary coordinates were calculated. Long story short, it's now a zone of high heat and radiation.]
"…Understood. I hope you die a horrible death."
[Thanks, same to you! Hahaha!]
The Director cut off the psychic communication, leaving a playful laugh in her wake.
Moments later, a mistake in her high-speed movements left the Pope vulnerable. A laser beam pierced through her calf.
Zing!
"Mother of—!"
The Pope's face turned pale as she rolled onto the ground, grabbing a few nearby bystanders to shield herself.
Hiss—
Curled up within her human barrier, she glanced at the charred hole in her calf, took a deep breath, and peeked through a gap at the dark swarm outside. She raised a middle finger.
"(`｀0´)凸!!!"
Zing!
Her middle finger was severed by another laser, leaving a scorched stump that spurted blood.
"You son of a—"
Zing!
Thud!
Another laser from the side pierced her throat, cutting off her elegant retort.
Despite the cover of the crowd, it was no match for Sigurd's personally controlled swarm. The Pope had anticipated her fate but hadn't expected to last even this short.
"凸(◣д◢)!"
Collapsed among the crowd, she shakily raised her other middle finger.
Zing!
The second middle finger met the same fate. Meanwhile, drones with slender mechanical appendages gently parted the hypnotized bystanders, slowly closing in on their now-defenseless target.
The Pope lay on the ground, unable to make a sound or resist.
She glared venomously at the swarm above, her bloodshot eyes glowing with Honkai energy as she detonated her own brain in defiance.
Boom!!!
Her head became a gruesome mess of red and white, splattering over the nearby bystanders. The fragments extended several meters, staining everyone in the vicinity.
The mental suggestions she had planted in the crowd dissipated, revealing the bloody scene and the swarm of black drones to the public.
A young man touched an odd sensation on his face, only to find bits of nauseating red-and-white matter on his trembling fingers.
"Ahhh!!!"
A bloodcurdling scream echoed, and in the impossibly congested crowd, chaos was about to erupt.
The next moment, countless fine needles laced with anesthetic shot out from the swarm.
<+>
"Another failure. They're decisive, clearly unafraid of sacrifice. It's almost certain that the Herrscher of Thousands has a collective survival mechanism—if the collective persists, the individual cannot truly die. This time, the incident was in Los Santos. Welt, assign someone to clean up the aftermath."
"Again? Our manpower is already stretched thin..."
"Then call on your friends, seek help from those you've supported in the past. They are the true majority."
"...You're right. I'll try."
Welt removed his black-rimmed glasses, wiped them clean, and renewed his resolve before diving back into his command duties.
Einstein entered the operations command room at that moment, handing Sigurd a concise report filled with data.
"We've tested it. The Herrscher of Thousands has indeed shifted their imaginary space coordinates. The entrance can no longer be found."
"As expected. But receiving gifts from both Welt and me within two days, combined with their losses in the real world, they must be severely weakened."
Sigurd glanced at the report data and casually tossed it onto the table.
Einstein noticed on a virtual screen the image of the Pope's headless body being carried away by the drones. She frowned.
"Still couldn't capture one alive?"
"These individuals are cunning, using crowds for cover, and most choose to commit suicide— Such a nuisance!"
Sigurd shook his head in exasperation, letting out a sigh.
He couldn't help but reminisce about the simpler Herrschers of the past—those straightforward ones who just stood there, letting him obliterate them with ease.
Einstein pondered and suggested, "Why not just put the crowd to sleep from the start? Wouldn't that make capturing them easier?"
"We can't let them feel cornered from the outset. Otherwise, these anti-human entities are likely to lash out in desperation, dragging many others down with them. The key is to guide them—to keep each individual focused entirely on escaping, rather than seeking scapegoats. We exhaust them, corner them step by step, and lead them to an inevitable dead end. That's how we minimize unnecessary casualties."
"I see your point. I hadn't considered that."
"It's just a matter of balancing priorities. Sacrificing our long-cultivated image of Anti-Entropy as a benevolent force for their sake would be counterproductive."
Sigurd replied coldly as he processed various data on a projection screen. The faint light illuminated his face, giving him a mechanical, almost emotionless aura—perhaps best described as cold and indifferent.
Einstein remained silent for a moment before returning to her station, continuing to provide support for the operation.
Welt glanced at Sigurd, shook his head slightly, and said nothing.
Sigurd's words might make him sound like a villain, but Welt had long understood that actions speak louder than words.
Sigurd had consistently protected civilians. Even with the Herrscher of Thousands wreaking havoc, he hadn't rashly pursued victory at the expense of innocent lives. That alone was enough.
<+>
Tn: If you want to see more chapter of this story, please go to my Patreon[1], just for $5 each month, you can read till the latest chapter.
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 307: This Is a Coup[2]
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