The name Raven Island was not, in fact, Raven Island.
The reason Li Zihan called it that was because the island's original owner was the World Serpent operative—Raven.
After Su, the trailblazer from the Previous Era, learned of the so-called "Artificial Herrscher" Project, he felt the plan was not entirely reliable.
Although the survival of this era's humanity mattered little to him now that there was a new Project: Fire Seed, Su was, after all, the one with the most upright moral compass among all the trailblazers.
Even if he no longer held any hope for the second generation of humanity to continue civilization, he did not wish for them to be prematurely annihilated by a crisis potentially caused by a collaborator's experiment.
Therefore, he wished to monitor the "Artificial Herrscher" Project to some extent.
He then spoke to Kevin about this matter.
After fifty thousand years of companionship, Kevin's bond with Su had likely surpassed even his adoration for MEI. He naturally wouldn't refuse his good friend over such a small matter.
He took out a map of the territories controlled by World Serpent, flipped through it, and found an uninhabited island that wasn't too far from Chaldeas.
And so, this island became the experiment site.
This island was Raven Island.
According to a certain simpleton of a researcher within World Serpent, on the second day after receiving the盟主 (Alliance Leader)'s order to hand over the island, the floor of the meeting room, which had not been particularly clean before, was polished to a brilliant shine.
—Someone in a black robe had been rolling on the ground for a very long time.
"So, you're saying that for various reasons, my workload has increased?"
A voice rang out on Raven Island.
The source of the voice was a young man.
He had short gray hair interspersed with a few streaks of grayish-white, dull, dark-cyan dead-fish eyes framed by a pair of dark circles, and an expression that suggested he could never get enough sleep.
Chen Tianwu. The man who, in the future, would have the seeds of Herrscherization planted within him during the Manila Honkai Eruption, and who would then fully awaken as a Herrscher in the aftermath of the Coral Island Great Honkai Eruption.
His number was Six, and his title was Herrscher of the Star.
Although his number was Six, his abilities were identical to the Ninth Herrscher of the Previous Era—the Herrscher of Rock.
The current era's human civilization had not yet developed to a level where the Honkai consciousness would consciously target it and administer trials.
In a sense, this guy proved one thing.
The positions of the Sixth Herrscher of Death, the Seventh Herrscher of Flame, and the Eighth Herrscher of Consciousness were likely already filled.
It was just that the Herrschers occupying those positions were, like the previous Chen Tianwu, latent.
"It can't be helped. If we proceeded according to the original plan, I would die."
The boy, who would have indeed faced mortal danger under the initial plan, stood before the future Herrscher of Rock, shrugged, and said.
In his hand, he carried a doll.
A Soulium doll that looked exactly like Chen Tianwu.
Chen Tianwu knew what it was.
It was a doll modified from one of Schicksal Overseer Otto's spare bodies, and it was part of the reward from the Director of Chaldea for his participation in the experiment.
Once he underwent Herrscherization, the Director of Chaldea would kill his Herrscher form and then implant his soul into it, allowing him to obtain the combat power of an S-rank Valkyrie.
A controllable power, one that could protect his family.
"Sorry, but the number of experiments you have to go through is going to increase."
While Chen Tianwu was lost in thought, the boy with exquisite features and strikingly vibrant red pupils turned his head and gave him an apologetic smile.
"That's not important," said Chen Tianwu, who always looked listless.
"Instead of talking about this, we might as well start the experiment sooner."
"My family is still waiting for me. If I'm gone for too long, they'll worry."
This was the truth.
Li Zihan disliked lying, so he had told Chen Tianwu everything—about the Honkai, about his unique nature, and about the Artificial Herrscher Experiment.
Therefore, Chen Tianwu's family knew he was participating in a human experiment that sounded incredibly dangerous.
The term "human experiment" really didn't sound like a good thing.
And Chen Tianwu wasn't some child his parents had found in a garbage heap; he was their biological son.
His family was naturally very worried about his safety.
"Then as you wish."
The boy with vivid red eyes chuckled lightly.
Divine blood surged through his veins, releasing its power.
Then, crimson Magic Circuits lit up across his body.
Mana that should not exist in this world surged forth from the boy.
"Last night's moon is not the moon of tonight; a year has twelve, yet how long can youth remain? Even at its fullest, I fear the moon's bright face begins to wane."
A remarkably clear voice echoed through the air.
And then—
The sky changed.
The sun vanished from the world.
Light and shadow fell into disarray, overlapping layer by layer like tangible things, piling up in the dome of the sky.
Then, a distant, long river manifested at the edge of vision.
The flow of the illusory, seemingly unreal river suddenly accelerated, parting like a torrential flood.
This was no longer the original time and space, but another world entirely.
A world manifested based on the Emiya family's magecraft, with knowledge of the Fifth Magic integrated into it.
"W-What is this?"
Chen Tianwu, who had always looked half-asleep, stared with wide eyes.
As someone who would become a World Serpent operative in the future, Chen Tianwu's willpower and tolerance had always been extraordinary.
But after witnessing this scene, he lost the ability to speak.
He had imagined countless times what kind of place his human experiment would be conducted in.
A heavily guarded laboratory? Or perhaps a grim, cold dungeon? Maybe even a hidden underwater city, or a floating one?
The latter locations he imagined were clearly a bit sci-fi, giving off a sense of detachment from reality.
But they also fit the profile of a mad scientist.
And yet, this was the real development?
Cold sweat gushed from his pores like water from an open faucet.
And what was happening before his eyes right now was far more…
Terrifying, insane, and incredible than anything he had ever imagined.
Chen Tianwu's brain had lost the ability to command his body; he stood there like a wooden block, unmoving.
A layer of goosebumps involuntarily rose on his skin.
A guy who could do something like this… was he really human?
"It's just a mindscape world, don't mind it too much."
The magus, having unleashed a Great Magecraft that bordered on a "miracle" within the world of Honkai, turned his head and spoke to the completely stupefied Herrscher candidate.
His tone was very relaxed.
The shadow beneath his feet extended continuously, and from it spewed forth extremely precious, blue-purple crystals.
"The experiment site has been deployed. Next up is our experiment."