The Solar System of the Honkai Impact 3rd Universe... was gone.
The newly born Herrscher of Finality had ultimately fled in disgrace.
During the process, Sa from Venus tried to hitch a ride... because she couldn't break through the Honkai Energy Tidal Belt at the edge of the Solar System.
Instead, she was slapped back by the Herrscher of Finality.
In short, everything went exactly as Ling Ke had predicted.
Not a single detail was off.
This was also the fundamental reason why he had left the Honkai Impact 3rd Universe early.
Because, if the subsequent developments were known in their entirety beforehand... it would be a very boring matter in itself.
And lately, the thing Ling Ke was most passionate about doing was "finding fun."
Therefore, he wouldn't pay much attention to boring things.
As for what he, who seemed to have found a new source of fun, was doing now...
It's simple!
As stated before, Ling Ke planned to plow through all the "Worlds" that had invaded the domain of the Imaginary Tree.
Without a doubt, this number was vast.
After all, using a "Tree" to analogize the world, and "thinning" to analogize the competition between worlds... was ultimately just a vivid metaphor that fit human imagination.
The reality was that the number of worlds competing for the same "woodland" was immense.
The Imaginary Tree was just one of them.
So, on this basis...
After Ling Ke felt that constantly playing defense was a bit suffocating and decided to "take the initiative," he very steadily... hid himself inside the absolutely safe Theater of Domination.
Yes, the One Who Ascends to Godhood had sat back down on his incomparably reassuring "Golden Toilet."
And then, on this basis...
Puppet of Dominance-9527 had successfully arrived in the "Marvel World: Marvel Cinematic Universe."
Puppet of Dominance-12580 had successfully arrived in the "Ultraman World: X Universe."
Puppet of Dominance-397231 had successfully arrived in the "DC World: DC Extended Universe."
Ling Ke, with his transcendent status, was not bound to act "personally" with his main body.
Whenever he discovered something interesting happening somewhere, he could directly send his main consciousness to descend remotely.
Thus, he could instantly take over a Puppet of Dominance already "on the scene," experiencing anything he wanted to "personally undergo," and facing anyone he wanted to meet... including other lifeforms.
Of course, besides these "vanguard shock troops," there were also many "defense force" units within the Imaginary Tree's domain.
For example, inside the neighboring Honkai: Star Rail Universe, there were groups of Puppets of Dominance loaded with various game character templates, distributed among different factions.
Some were field agents of the "Interastral Peace Corporation," while others were scholars of the "Intelligentsia Guild."
Some were mercenaries roaming the starry cosmos, and others...
...were Nameless of the "Trailblaze."
Speaking of which, there was one thing that Ling Ke had always found very interesting.
Namely: there was actually a Solar System within the Honkai: Star Rail Universe.
And in that Solar System, there was also Honkai, Herrschers, and MANTISes.
Even...
On the third planet of that Solar System, there also existed a newly ascended "God of Earth."
Her name was Kiana Kaslana.
Yes.
The third planet of the Solar System in the Honkai: Star Rail world seemed to be exactly the "world without Ling Ke" that Raiden Mei had once mentioned during her period of mental instability.
There, everything unfolded according to the "original plot" stored in the latter's memories.
It was like a dreamlike fairy tale.
Regarding this...
"That's why some say: when your perspective reaches a certain height, many things become 'insignificant'."
Indeed.
An ordinary person would feel grief over the passing of a close relative or a dear friend.
Because they would feel that they had lost that "one and only."
But if one looks out across the multiverse, across countless parallel worlds, how many "identical people" exist?
At the very least, under the "possibility" of Otto successfully ascending the Tree, another space-time "belonging to Kallen" had emerged.
There existed another Li Sushang, another Fu Hua, another Seven Swords of Taixu... and so on, and so forth.
Therefore...
It wasn't just that third planet of the Solar System that had followed the "original plot" and reached its "conclusion" many years ago.
Within the Imaginary Tree's domain, Ling Ke also discovered an Earth "currently in the Post-Honkai Era," an Earth "currently in the Second Honkai Eruption," an Earth "currently in the Middle Ages," and so on, and so forth.
Because of this, he harbored no ill will toward these similar yet distinct places.
At least, not for now.
As for the future... who knew?
Ling Ke certainly didn't.
For the sake of experiencing more fun and novelty, he had once again, yet again, begun to restrict his "Omniscience" power.
Just as he had done before in the Honkai Impact 3rd Universe, where he became the "Grand Player of Doomsday," he disabled the "Predicting the Future" module.
Then, on top of that...
"The last 'Future Prediction' showed that the Honkai: Star Rail Universe will face a major incident in ten days."
After learning this, Ling Ke immediately cut off all subsequent "predictions."
Clearly, to him now, everything was just a "game."
He did this not to save anyone, but because... he was looking forward to a brand new game and didn't want to be spoiled any further.
Fortunately...
First of all, he was never a native inhabitant born from the Imaginary Tree.
With no sense of belonging to this place, he wouldn't suddenly and inexplicably develop a self-righteous sense of "fighting for the sake of X."
Secondly, his deal with the Imaginary Tree was simply to preserve a "Small Imaginary Tree" sapling within the absolutely safe "Theater of Domination," so that if the Imaginary Tree were defeated, it wouldn't face total extinction and would still have a chance to rise again.
Therefore, whether he was repelling "invaders" or launching a counteroffensive against other "Worlds," these were all "free services" Ling Ke performed himself simply because he found them interesting.
And precisely with this mindset...
"Next stop, let's head to the Honkai: Star Rail Universe!"
In the Pure White Great Hall, Ling Ke's main body, seated alone on the magnificent throne of Wit, curved his lips slightly. "In the Honkai Impact 3rd Universe, although the various Aeons have only recently ascended to their Divine Thrones, they are already quite skilled in wielding the Path Power they respectively control."
After all, the Aeon of "Harmony" (Bastet) had already begun recruiting "Emanators."
In short, according to Ling Ke's estimation, even if a Void Monster appeared in the Solar System, the Honkai Impact 3rd Universe wouldn't be completely destroyed by it in a short period of time.
Not to mention, even if the Honkai Impact 3rd Universe were truly destroyed, Ling Ke wouldn't shed a tear.
After all, it was nothing more than a "stage that had already been used once."
By the same token...
"On a larger 'stage,' the next 'game' should bring me even more pleasure!"
Ling Ke was already rubbing his hands together in anticipation.