Herrscher of Dominance in Honkai, starting with the abduction of Kiana

The conversation had ended, and Jian Yun had already left. Mei's heart was still unable to calm down.

She believed that no one's feelings for Kiana could surpass hers. Yet, compared to the members of this organization—people who wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice their own lives—how strong was her own resolve?

"If there comes a day when I have to sacrifice myself, could I be like them?"

She asked herself the question, and immediately gave herself the answer.

Yes.

After solidifying her resolve, Mei closed the door and opened the black box. Inside were a few specially-made, flat, thin chips.

Mei still didn't entirely trust The Obsidian Concord. If they had given her an unknown injection to use on Kiana, she definitely wouldn't have accepted it so easily.

But it seemed The Obsidian Concord had anticipated her hesitation. Instead of injections, they had provided topical agents. The effects would be greatly reduced, but at least she could use them without worry.

The cold chips were placed on Kiana's skin. Her body, which had been burning up due to the erosion, gradually returned to a normal temperature. These chips absorbed the excess Honkai energy through her pores, lessening the erosion's grip on her.

After confirming the agents were effective, Mei sat back against the wall. She should have continued to rest, but her heart couldn't calm down. The deaths of The Obsidian Concord members weighed heavily on her mind.

She pulled out the phone Jian Yun had given her. Its functions were barebones, limited to communication and a forum module.

The contact list was divided into two sections: Attendants and Servants. It displayed only codenames, with all personal details—gender, appearance, backgrounds—carefully concealed.

Yet, not all codenames were active. Some were grayed out, marking a third of the list. These belonged to the fallen.

Mei's gaze stopped on a familiar name. Kalpas. Next to it was a tag: 「Deceased」.

The list offered sparse details about the deceased. Basic personal information. Their contributions.

One by one, Mei read through their entries. The oppressive weight in her chest grew heavier with each line. Finally, she stopped at the name of a child.

Griseo. Female. 12 years old.

Her breath quickened. Mei clenched the phone tightly.

When she had been 12, she was still a naive, carefree girl. But Griseo—this child had given everything. She had sacrificed herself in the city to buy Mei and Kiana enough time to escape.

The heavy feeling in her heart intensified. Mei suddenly felt scared.

What would happen if Kiana saw this list?

Mei knew Kiana too well. Even though these people had willingly sacrificed themselves, Kiana, with her selfless nature, would undoubtedly take all the blame onto herself.

"I absolutely cannot let her know about this," Mei thought, her grip tightening. "I'll carry the burden of The Obsidian Concord's sacrifices."

With that decision made, there was no need to look at the remaining names. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and switched to the forum module.

The forum was named [The Obsidian Concord], but its design was anything but conventional. The background resembled an extravagant theater, its stage illuminated by golden lights. Black shadows danced eerily across the scene.

It looked unsettling, almost otherworldly. Mei gasped, hesitating for a moment before browsing the contents.

At the top of the forum was a pinned post: a mission report.

Perhaps out of absolute trust in the members of the organization, the report laid everything bare—detailed records of the mission's objectives, the outcome, and even the casualties.

"No wonder they didn't allow us to contact anyone else through this phone," Mei muttered to herself.

If such a report fell into the hands of Schicksal or Anti-Entropy, The Obsidian Concord would be wiped out in an instant.

Mei couldn't tell if this openness came from carelessness or from an unshakable trust between the members. But here it was—classified information, exposed for anyone in the group to see.

Unfortunately, Raiden Mei didn't know the truth. The data she held was nothing more than something Ren had thrown together in half an hour. The phone itself was a crappy, outdated device without any encryption software—it wasn't even connected to a network.

It could only send and receive messages by using the Dominance Theater as a relay station.

Most of the names on that long list were fabricated. The rest? Just puppets. Mei was the only living person in this entire organization. Even if she handed over all the information, the investigation would lead nowhere.

As for Aunt Himeko, she had no idea that something called The Obsidian Concord even existed. Ren had deliberately kept her separate from his other puppets, leaving only Taxue by her side to keep watch. After their encounter in ARC City, Himeko had already started thinking of Ren as one of her own.

Now that Ren had been captured, and Aunt Himeko had successfully escaped, she was probably plotting ways to rescue him from Schicksal.

What she didn't know was this: it wasn't the real Ren who'd been caught. It was a puppet.

And what did that have to do with me, the Herrscher of Dominance?

In the Dominance Theater, Ren breathed a quiet sigh of relief. After all, he had finally succeeded in tricking Mei into joining his side.

Overall, this plan could be considered a complete success. Ren had achieved most of his objectives.

Sitting alone in the audience seats of the Dominance Theater, he began his review.

The first goal was to change the Herrscher of the Void's image among the civilians.

Kiana's act of sacrifice—sending the Honkai bomb into the sky—had already left a deep impression. The name Magical Girl Kiana was now etched into the minds of the people. All that remained was to spread this image further, at least enough to cover Shenzhou. That shouldn't be too difficult.

The second goal was the introduction of The Obsidian Concord.

Ren had deliberately tied The Obsidian Concord to the Herrscher of the Void. This wasn't just to catch the attention of the three major forces; it was also a way to boost Kiana's influence.

After all, if you were going to act, you needed a foundation, a power behind you. In the future, when someone asked which side Kiana belonged to, what would her answer be?

If it had been just her alone, the three major organizations would have certainly found ways to manipulate her. But now, with the shadow of a mysterious organization looming, anyone trying to act against her would have to consider the potential for retaliation.

Originally, Ren had planned to shift all the blame onto Kiana, confirming the words of her black fans.

「Kiana, even if you become the enemy of the entire world, I'll still be with you.」

"But, why would I want to become the enemy of the world?"

「Don't worry, I'll help you become the enemy of the world.」

However, because of some special reasons, he had changed his plans a little.

Third, it was to fish in troubled waters.

Ren's original plan had been to claim ARC City for himself. But at the time, the city's order was stable. Its foundation was solid, and shaking it would have been difficult. Even if he managed to control those in power, it wouldn't have been easy to change the system from the inside.

But now, most of the city had been destroyed. Reconstruction was inevitable.

Ren had intentionally avoided attacking the civilians. Instead, he targeted the more developed buildings, leaving the suburbs relatively untouched. His reasoning was simple: by doing so, he gave the people in the suburbs a chance to resist, a chance to shuffle the deck.

Only in chaos could Ren silently seize control. And with the city in ruins, that chaos was his opportunity.

The Herrscher of Thousands' cores didn't need to be turned into puppets to be controlled.

Like the core Ren had given to Alvitr, they would go on living their lives as usual, following their normal habits. But in reality, they were subtly guided by Dominance, doing things according to Ren's will. At critical moments, Ren could take direct control of them.

Though this effect was weaker than that of a puppet, it was more discreet. Ren didn't need to personally intervene—everything could unfold without drawing attention.

Alvitr, for example, was an important intelligence officer of the Immortal Blades. She had access to highly classified information, and placing her in Schicksal headquarters could turn her into a key figure in shifting the war's balance.

But there was a catch. Her personality was strong and very distinct. If Ren fully controlled her, there was a risk of exposing vulnerabilities. That's why he hadn't turned her into a puppet. Instead, he allowed her to continue her life normally, only intervening directly when absolutely necessary.

After reviewing his plans, Ren turned his attention to the powers he currently possessed.

For puppets, he had [Ren], [Taxue], [Moth of Ink], [Mother (Believer)], [Himeko], [Griseo], [Kalpas], and [K424]. He didn't count the cores that had been given to others.

When it came to combat abilities—or rather, control over his puppets—his ranking went from highest to lowest:

1. Clones (Ren and Taxue)

2. Self-Aware Puppets (Himeko)

3. Slightly Autonomous (Griseo)

4. Mad Dog Puppets (Kalpas)

5. Lamb Spirit Puppets (K424)

6. Simple Core Influence

Next, Ren considered his personal powers. The most important was, of course, the Herrscher of Dominance's abilities.

Then there was the Gem of Haste. Though he had been intentionally defeated by Durandal, Ren wasn't foolish enough to hand over the gem to Otto. Instead, he had used his Dominance powers to steal its abilities and create a fake Herrscher of Flame core.

Whether Otto would discover this or not? That would be something for the future.

In addition to that, Ren also had Griseo's Stigmata power. It was incredibly useful. Not only could it imitate the Herrscher of the Void, but it could also cause massive destruction. In the future, whether he needed to ambush someone or disguise himself, this power would be a valuable asset.

Overall, excluding the puppets, Ren had already fully acquired the basic abilities of a Herrscher. Though he couldn't yet fully utilize the Gem of Haste's power, the Herrscher of Thousands core made his power nearly equal.

Finally, there were the spoils of war.

Ren had already used up almost half of Jackal's agents. If he needed more, he could always retrieve them.

And then there was the transport ship he had stolen from Schicksal during the explosion. Now it was piled up in the endless corridors outside the Dominance Theater, awaiting the scientists' work.

As for the Moth of Ink puppet, Gray Serpent had successfully infiltrated the Hyperion using the Humanoid Machine. His objective was simple: to shake Bronya's resolve.

Ren, being frugal, couldn't stand this kind of behavior, so he had already secretly taken the Humanoid Machine. Now, with the support of Gray Serpent's prosthetic eye, he would have access to a humanoid quantum computer. But this came with a catch—it would require excellent programmers.

In addition to his personal strengths, the assets of The Obsidian Concord were also steadily growing in this world.

E.T. Studio had already released their first game, Genshin Impact. Ren had taken an unconventional approach to marketing, using controversy to his advantage. He directly called out the currently trending Houkai Gakuen, sparking debate.

Although the gameplay and genres of the two games were completely different, this move attracted heavy criticism from loyal Houkai Gakuen fans. But it also brought a lot of attention. With the support of the manga industry, the revenue from Genshin Impact was steadily rising.

Additionally, Ren's initial manga industry was continuing to grow as well.

Honkai Impact Comics was already on its fifth volume. Despite the constant protests from people claiming to be descendants of ancient sects from Shenzhou, Ren didn't care. What did his Honkai Impact Comics have to do with their Shenzhou? Besides, his series was on its fifth volume—how far had they gotten? Ahem, where were they?

At the same time, Ren had taken over the industrial district where Mei and the others were hiding. His goal? To produce merchandise, like figures.

As long as there were enough raw materials, the factories would run 24/7. Not only was the quality high, but the output was massive as well. Ren wasn't stupid, though. To avoid accusations of monopolizing the market, he had created several different companies for sales.

Next, as long as he could get Anti-Entropy's blueprints, these figure-producing factories could instantly be turned into mecha production bases. Anyway, with the Dominance Theater acting as a relay station, he didn't even need to pay for transportation costs.

Everything was going according to plan, but Ren couldn't stop yet. The Sea of Quanta was about to open. He had to turn his attention to World Serpent.

As for the erosion on Kiana's body, the chips that Ren had provided to Mei had been created with his Dominance threads. There was nothing to worry about.