"Honestly speaking, a train dragging a bubble world is basically a turtle."
Since the Herrscher of Reason was moving at a crawling pace, the Vill-Vs even had the leisure to chat.
"By the way, can we manifest physically?" Id Vill-V had always been curious about this.
Expert explained to her, "No. Because in essence we are still a single existence. Even if we forcibly emerge, it would merely be a quantum projection that has lost the positivity of real-number matter."
Magician said, "In other words, the only thing you'd encounter would be your own shadow. No different from looking in a mirror. You might as well let me perform a magic trick and conjure up a whole bunch of 'me's!"
Conductor added, "The internal space of the Cosmic Juggernaut is stable. There won't be quantum projections, nor any discrepancy in the flow of time. Rest assured."
Id sighed. "Ah, what a pity."
"What exactly are you pitying, Id? You can't get lewd with yourself!" Conductor declared righteously.
Pure Evil suddenly cut in, "You can get lewd!"
"Hey now, classmate Pure Evil, stop messing around with Id. I brought you out as a safety measure," Conductor complained.
Pure Evil spoke in their mind with an arrogant tone, "Hmph, Conductor, are you telling me how to do things? You think you can stop me from getting lewd with Id?"
Listening to Id and Pure Evil toss around the word "lewd" like they were performing cross-talk, Conductor covered her face. "No... Pure Evil, why are you copying Id?"
"Heh. I'm not some shallow creature like Id. Challenging conventional notions and breaking through conceptual boundaries—that's how new insights are discovered. It is precisely these taboos and controversies that make research richer and more interesting.
"And besides, don't you want to see Id sink into pleasure and descend into depravity?
Hey, if Id were to lose her 'self'... what would that look like?"
A chill ran down Id's spine. Fortunately, Pure Evil had not undergone fifty thousand years of malice. Otherwise, she might actually try something like that.
"Speaking of which, where did Scholar go? I don't feel like chatting with you bunch of timid cowards. It's boring."
"Scholar is controlling the Herrscher Core of the Cosmic Juggernaut."
The Honkai energy stored inside the Cosmic Juggernaut would be rapidly depleted whenever spatial abilities were used.
But Vill-V was not worried. The Cosmic Juggernaut could connect to Imaginary Space and draw Honkai energy from it.
In the original Honkai storyline, Su had used the Cosmic Juggernaut to violently siphon Schicksal's Honkai energy. Naturally, Vill-V's Cosmic Juggernaut could do the same.
Although without a beacon the Cosmic Juggernaut could not reach the Imaginary Tree, Imaginary Space—as the reverse side of real-number space—existed across all dimensions. Therefore, using the authority of the Herrscher of the Void to open Imaginary Space was not difficult.
And Honkai energy, as a byproduct born alongside Imaginary Space, was always present within it.
This granted the Cosmic Juggernaut an almost inexhaustible energy supply.
However, because the Herrscher Core had an output limit, and because the user required mental manipulation during the process, the Cosmic Juggernaut still had an upper limit on extraction.
The act of drawing Honkai energy also imposed immense mental strain upon the user. As an example, it felt somewhat like Otto facing the "Honkai God" directly.
This was likely why, in the future, the Second Divine Key would be entrusted to Su, a MANTIS specialized in mental perception.
Right now, that burden was being borne by Occultist. That was why Vill-V appeared completely unbothered—this was what thought partitioning looked like when pushed to its limits.
"Hah, you sure know how to order people around. Id, give me your body."
Hearing that Pure Evil wanted to seize control of Conductor's body, Id asked warily, "Huh? What are you planning to do?"
"Ha, what do you think? Beat up the Herrscher of Reason. What else would I do?
"You don't actually think I'd do something unspeakable to my own body, do you? I'm not like a certain someone who spends nearly every night under the blankets with flushed cheeks and wandering hands.
"I don't have the patience to listen to your domestic squabbles. Just watch and see whether I don't sink the Herrscher of Reason to the bottom of the sea—
"Yes... if it's me, I can do it more perfectly than Conductor... more magnificently than Magician... and moreover...
"I will leave no future troubles behind."
The so-called "future troubles" naturally referred to that feather left by Wendy.
Conductor folded her arms. "Perhaps, Pure Evil. But our objective... is not to kill the Herrscher of Reason."
"Oh? So you don't want to grind the Herrscher of Reason into ashes?"
Pure Evil's tone turned meaningful. "I see... so that's how it is... In that case... I suppose I can't interfere with your 'that plan'... After all... I have no desire to be turned into ashes by you.
"Of course... if you want to kill me—
"That depends on whether you have the ability."
Pure Evil made an expression in their mind that said "I'll chop you all to pieces," then sank back into silence. Only Id remained bewildered, unable to decipher the riddle Pure Evil had been speaking in.
Rumble—
The Cosmic Juggernaut maintained a steady pace as it dragged the Herrscher of Reason deeper into the Sea of Quanta. From time to time, it collided with strange objects—such as quantum-projected nuclear warheads.
Expert explained, "Because the MOTH base stored a great many nuclear warheads, encountering them in the Sea of Quanta is not unusual."
Id asked anxiously, "Then if we collide with a nuclear warhead here, will it explode in reality?"
Expert answered, "No. A projection is ultimately just a projection. Like two overlapping shadows, it does not affect the original entity. Of course, that is under normal circumstances."
The Herrscher of Reason was clearly unwilling to be led around like this. Her armed train began to transform, turning into a propulsion rocket and accelerating in pursuit of the Cosmic Juggernaut.
Incidentally, when the Herrscher of Reason's armed train had moved earlier, it would generate levitating rails beneath its wheels before advancing. Vill-V found that style incredibly cool and decided to add it to the Cosmic Juggernaut in the future.
Completely useless. And a waste of resources and energy...
But undeniably awesome!
Although the Herrscher of Reason had modified her train, the Cosmic Juggernaut wielded spatial authority. Nothing in this world could catch up to it once it had fully activated.
Moreover, this was the Sea of Quanta. Whether propulsion relied on friction or reaction mass made no difference whatsoever.
At the same time, countless cannons and missiles extended from the Herrscher of Reason's bubble world, surging toward Vill-V's Cosmic Juggernaut.
That part was troublesome. Although only a small portion could truly reach their target, their sheer volume meant that some inevitably would. It was perfectly consistent with quantum theory.
After all, according to quantum theory, if you strike a wall enough times, eventually your hand will pass through it.
Who could guarantee that none of these bullets would, by virtue of quantum properties, pierce through the Cosmic Juggernaut's soulium hull?