Before transmigrating, Ling Ke had once watched a movie called The Avengers.
He knew perfectly well it was not some profound film. It was just spectacle. A popcorn movie.
But one part of it had always stayed with him.
The part where Loki deliberately let himself be captured, then used that opening to throw the Avengers into tension, suspicion, mutual hostility—even a brief split from within.
And now, Ling Ke was doing the same thing.
He knew his own weakness very clearly. Right now, he still had not drawn any truly monstrous game character templates. He did not even have a single combat unit on hand that could genuinely be called Herrscher-class.
So if his side lacked top-end combat power, then naturally, he had to stay wary of the enemy's top-end combat power.
Like Kevin Kaslana.
And now that Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and World Serpent had already formed an alliance, he also had to guard against the possibility that old ancestor Kevin might quietly leave a back door open for his own descendants.
For example… opening the stigmata space to Durandal ahead of time and letting her enter that realm early.
And then there was Raiden Mei. Who knew whether the one in Elysian Realm might suddenly hand her an Origin-class awakening.
Then there was Seele. She looked harmless on the surface, but her potential could one day climb all the way to the level of that so-called god of Earth.
And Fu Hua too… in case that runaway brat finally got over her rebellious phase and came back as some horrifying mix of Herrscher of Sentience and a Garuda-style artificial Honkai transformation.
And then there was Otto.
Ling Ke understood very well that if the only people he had to deal with were the original protagonist group, things would actually be much easier.
He could just threaten ordinary human lives.
A vicious move, yes, but even if it did not work a hundred percent of the time, it would still force those so-called heroes to hold back, to hesitate, to tie their own hands.
Welt's earlier choice to publicly release Ling Ke's "hunting declaration" had already proven that much.
But—
if the same situation were placed in Otto's hands, or Kevin's, then things would be completely different.
Those two were the same type of monster.
The kind who could look straight at something and think: I know this is unjust. I know this is wrong. And I'll still do it.
They were far too decisive.
They would sacrifice others without hesitation.
They would sacrifice themselves too, if that was what it took.
So—
"A game that's too easy isn't interesting."
Inside the Theater of Domination, Ling Ke narrowed his eyes. "It has to be this hard before it feels worth playing. Only then is clearing it worth anything."
"And besides…"
His thoughts darkened.
"When it comes to my so-called enemies, if enough time passes and I hit them often enough, plain old killing stops being enough."
That much was true.
All he had to do was look at the recent changes in Raiden Mei.
The first time they met again, she had been completely unable to bear the pressure he put on her.
But by the second time, she had already started hardening herself.
That was not the result Ling Ke wanted.
He wanted these people to suffer forever.
Not for them to steady themselves, understand their hearts, and then decide together that they would unite and defeat him.
Rita was another example.
Her mind was even steadier.
That only made her harder to break.
Even if his methods worked on her, the effect was still limited.
So—
"So in the end, I still have to bring out the real main course. The one that needs to be set up in advance."
Yes.
Ling Ke had already come up with a plan cruel enough to drive all of his enemies into complete collapse—
and not just for a moment, but to leave them trapped in endless torment, over and over again, with no way out.
Sending "Ling Ke," that Domination Puppet, over to them was only the first step.
As for the second—
"For now, I'll just wait and see which one of you loses patience first and comes to contact 'me' in private."
At that thought, Ling Ke actually started looking forward to it.
At the same time, elsewhere—
Ling Ke was the kind of person who did what he said he would do.
Right now, his immediate goal had already been achieved. "Domination Puppet Ling Ke" had seemingly been captured, while in truth being deliberately left behind inside Schicksal Headquarters.
But he had not forgotten the other thing he had promised.
That was:
the full assault on the other nine cities, not including Manchester.
"A person should keep his word."
Inside the Theater of Domination, the real Ling Ke let out a cold laugh. "Otherwise certain people will start thinking I'm just putting on a show."
"And while I'm at it, what happens over there can grind on their nerves a little harder. That way, the 'negotiation' they think they want will come even sooner."
"I don't want to wait."
"And you…"
"can't afford to wait either."
Clearly, Ling Ke had planned all of this long ago.
And sure enough—
on Schicksal Headquarters' side, barely ten-odd minutes after the puppet had been trapped, the top brass of all three organizations came to see him together.
At that point, they did not even have time to prepare a proper conference room.
Instead, they all went straight to the adjoining section of that prison chamber—the one whose space had already been sealed off by the Second Divine Key.
Look closely, and the place actually resembled some kind of combat simulation room.
And now, Otto, Welt, and even Kevin—the leaders of the three great organizations—had all gathered there with their subordinates, colleagues, and companions, standing behind the elevated observation window overlooking the chamber below.
Honestly—
"From where I'm standing, this really is one hell of a sight."
Inside the sealed chamber, the Ling Ke puppet let out a cold sneer and murmured that line to himself.
Naturally, his voice was picked up at once by the high-precision audio equipment installed throughout the prison—or rather, throughout this oversized sealed room.
And immediately—
"Tch."
It was hard to say what the others were thinking, but at the very least, Dr. Tesla genuinely could not stop herself from clicking her tongue.
Clearly, Kiana was far from the only person here who had no desire at all to stand in the same place as Otto.
As for Kiana herself, she could already feel the Queen of the Void inside her stirring more violently beneath her suppression.
What was that saying again?
Oh, right.
When enemies met, their eyes went red.
Then the Ling Ke puppet's mocking voice rang out again.
"Let me see…"
His gaze slowly swept across the people gathered behind the observation window, one by one.
Then he even raised both hands and mimed a little photo frame with his fingers, squinting through it with obvious delight.
"A person whose father was killed by Otto."
"A person whose mother was killed by Otto."
"A person whose dearest friend was killed by Otto."
"And there's even one person here whose 'self' was killed by Otto."
"And now…"
"you're all standing together with Otto?"
"Hahahahaha!"
The Ling Ke puppet kept his hands raised and even applauded them.
"You really are a perfect match, all of you."
"It's a pity I don't have a Polaroid with me. Otherwise I'd have to record this historic moment properly—the kind of black comedy that only comes around once in a lifetime!"
"Yes, exactly. You may have lost the people most important to you…"
"but you still have him, don't you?"
"Otto can fill that hole in your hearts just fine, can't he?"
That made quite a few faces upstairs turn ugly.
But clearly, Kevin and Otto were not among them.
Then, all at once, the expression on the Ling Ke puppet's face went cold.
"So this is the state of humanity in this era?"
"Then it's even worse than the last era."
He went on speaking like he was emceeing some stage show for himself.
"Speaking of which… how did the previous era of human civilization on Earth end again?"
"Mm. That's right."
"It was destroyed."
His eyes narrowed.
"So if this era is even more pathetic than that one, then naturally its ending shouldn't be any better, right?"
"Otherwise, where's the fairness in that?"
"You—"
A certain lobster doctor could not hold it in anymore and immediately looked ready to explode.
But Welt had clearly expected that. He raised a hand at once and pressed down on her shoulder, stopping her.
Tesla turned to look at him, only to see him give a helpless shake of the head.
"Don't forget why we're here."
Hearing that, Tesla took several deep breaths.
At last, she managed to force down that hair-trigger temper of hers.
But she still did not take her eyes off the Ling Ke puppet.
As for everyone else—
the ones present were:
On Schicksal's side: Otto, Durandal, Rita, and Amber.
On Anti-Entropy's side: Welt, Tesla, Einstein, Bronya, and, for now, Kiana, Fu Hua, and Theresa along with them.
On World Serpent's side: Kevin, Raven, Jackal, Gray Serpent, and likewise, for now, Raiden Mei.
All three girls were here.
Even so—
"Otto still hasn't exposed Li Sushang's existence for the time being."
"And Kevin hasn't exposed Hare either."
"On Anti-Entropy's side, Seele didn't come. Bronya probably doesn't want her dragged too deeply into anything connected to me."
"Raiden Ryoma isn't here either…"
Watching all of this from behind the curtain, Ling Ke's thoughts turned one after another.
And in the end—
"Just as expected. Not much different from what I predicted."
Ling Ke smiled.
"Since you all love clustering together so much, then I'll take this chance—using the live war footage from those nine cities as cover…"
"to make my move on the Moon ahead of schedule."