—Cooperation??
In the conference room of Anti-Entropy headquarters, Dr. Tesla suddenly exploded upon hearing Otto's proposal:
"Stick it up your grandmother's dog's (bleep~)! Who the hell would want to cooperate with a bastard like you?!"
Otto completely ignored her.
In the remote projection, his gaze was fixed solely on Walter Young.
Facing the situation directly.
"Sigh~..."
Dr. Einstein sighed again, helplessly.
She knew perfectly well that this was now the only path left for Anti-Entropy to take.
So…
"Dr. Tesla, please calm down," she persuaded. "From the perspective of all humanity, there's truly no more room for internal conflict."
Dr. Tesla wasn't irrational.
Of course she knew that chicken-head was right.
But her overly impulsive nature simply couldn't tolerate that scum Otto.
"Do whatever you want!" Tesla shouted as she walked directly to the conference room door. "Just tell me the outcome afterward."
And with that, she left without hesitation.
Everyone sighed helplessly at the scene.
But everyone understood how Dr. Tesla felt.
It wasn't just her.
Walter Young also harbored deep emotions toward Otto.
After all, that man was the one who murdered his parents.
Everyone present, to varying degrees, had once been manipulated or set against each other by Otto.
No one had a good image of him.
And yet…
"Speak. What's your cooperation plan?"
Walter Young took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.
He was here now as the leader of the Anti-Entropy alliance.
So he would do his duty.
And then—
"Very well," Otto smiled. "Since you're willing to cooperate, I'll promise right here and now:
I, Otto Apokalypse, will not be your enemy until the Tenth Herrscher is completely destroyed."
Days later.
In the Theater Domain, inside a chamber Ling had deliberately sealed off, shrouded in total darkness...
"Hmm!!!"
"AAAAHHHH!!!"
The agonizing screams didn't stop.
It was a torture chamber.
The comfortable life Cocolia had enjoyed in the first days… was over.
From today on, for a total of 208 days, exactly as prophesied, Ling Ke ordered a group of subordinates to repeat, in full detail, everything he had once endured years ago—and inflict it upon her.
Of course, he was quite "considerate" and did not restrict her freedom.
Whenever she wished, she could leave the torture bed and sit at the table.
There, she would find a sharp dagger and could take her own life.
But...
That dagger lay directly in front of a group photo.
Every time Cocolia tried to give up and reached for the blade, her eyes inevitably fell first upon that photo from the orphanage.
"If you choose to end your life, your daughters will bear the rest of the pain."
That sentence echoed constantly in her ears.
Becoming the cruelest curse of all.
Its name: "Being alive."
Once...
"No! No more! Let me die! LET ME DIE!!!"
Cocolia, within the torture chamber, eyes bloodshot, face twisted, her entire body trembling—
Only now did she truly understand how unbearable it must have been for those she herself had once ordered to be tortured.
This torture, focused solely on the flesh, struck directly at the nerves in her skull.
Eventually...
"LET ME DIE!!! LET ME DIE!!!"
Her sanity began to shatter.
She broke free like a madwoman, crawling and rolling to the table.
As if she'd discovered treasure, she grabbed the dagger and drove it into her body.
But then...
"...!!!"
At that moment, aided by the faint light that Ling Ke had deliberately arranged beforehand, her eyes fell upon the group photo.
Bronya—expressionless.
Xing—displeased.
Rosalia, Lilia, Xier… all smiling.
Her daughters.
And in that instant, the dagger in her hand could no longer move.
Cocolia collapsed to the ground, still clutching it.
Tears fell, striking the back of her hand.
A long time passed.
Trembling, she returned the dagger to its place.
Step by step, she walked back to her own "hell."
This time...
"There are two hundred seven days, thirteen hours, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty-nine seconds remaining," one of the Dominator Figures reported coldly.
And then—
"Continue."
With that command…
The muffled, guttural, and piercing screams rang out once more in the torture chamber.
Now, Cocolia fully understood what Ling Ke had once felt.
Falling into an abyss, pierced by blades, burned in seas of fire, poisoned, devoured by insects, and no light in sight—the most primal despair.
She understood now.
In that place...
To die in peace was truly an unreachable luxury.
Meanwhile, in the Theater Domain's "throne hall"...
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a new game character template —— Dominator Doll-13807]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a new game character template —— Lycahn]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a new game character template —— Dominator Doll-13808]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a new game character template —— Ellen]
Until then, Ling Ke hadn't even bothered to look at what was happening with Cocolia.
To him, the "debt" she owed had only one outcome.
Better to leave it hanging...
That lingering anticipation was like aged wine—meant to be savored slowly.
He had more important matters to focus on now.
"According to my predictions, after all I've done, the three major organizations—Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and World Serpent—will, even if they don't form an alliance, at least put aside their grudges to come after me."
"And to ensure that I, the Tenth Herrscher, am truly destroyed... the only viable way is if they can't locate even a trace of my body…"
Ling Ke narrowed his eyes slightly.
"…So they'll throw out a bait no one can ignore."
Of course, it wasn't that Ling Ke was particularly cunning.
After all, this had already been foretold by the original storyline.
A pity.
"A pity they don't know I possess the gift of foresight."
With that thought, he raised his right hand, where a red crystal glowed:
The Gem of Disease.
In the original story, this object had been "given" to Kiana by the Herrscher who directly controlled the domain.
Thus was born the later "Herrscher of Flames."
Otherwise, she wouldn't have survived that internal battle against the Sky Queen.
Today, everything seemed arranged by fate.
With no Herrscher of Domination and no gift of power, many things had changed.
That's why Ling Ke chose to seal the Gem of Disease directly.
He would never reveal it inside the Theater Domain.
"In the end, the original Herrscher of Domination needed to plunder others' powers to grow."
"But I don't need that."
"I already acquired Bronia's Herrscher power and Kiana's Void without any difficulty."
And now...
The Dominator Figures scattered across the world already numbered in the tens of thousands.
It could no longer be called "the Herrscher of the Thousand."
To be precise:
The Law of Domination: The Law of All.
Yes.
Not the original "thousand," but the sublimated "ten thousand."
For Ling Ke, it was now the full Law of Domination.
From now on, having no one to trust and no need to share power with strangers...
The combat strength of "all" could be commanded by "a single will."
No betrayals.
No schemes.
Total unity to face the world outside!
And under this great premise…
"The threats I used on individual enemies before were mere child's play…"
On his throne, Ling Ke's eyes turned sharp.
"Now... it's time to declare war."