"You mean, that Kojirō Sasaki is a dead person? How is that possible!?"
Rentaro's eyes widened as he looked at the doctor. The resurrection of the dead was something he couldn't even imagine, just like how his parents disappeared, but he never dared to investigate their whereabouts, directly assuming they were dead, not even bothering to investigate the cause of death.
Rentaro was such an indecisive person.
This was one of the reasons Sumire often went out of her way to belittle him.
"Although your brain isn't much better than a pig's, I think I've made it quite clear: not a dead person, but a Heroic Spirit."
Sumire pressed the remote control in her hand, switching to other videos, and soon some intelligence from outside Tokyo appeared on the screen.
"This is also one of the powers of what I call God."
A series of strangely dressed people killing Gastrea appeared on the screen, looking like news from other countries, and Rentaro even saw unfamiliar characters on it.
"Humanity's past heroes transform into Heroic Spirits and descend upon the world, protecting the civilization of human reason."
Sumire shook her head; she had always believed that humanity could defeat Gastrea.
After all, the opponent had obvious weaknesses; even two of the fifth-stage Gastrea, named after the twelve zodiac signs, which could survive in outer space, were killed.
So, it's just a matter of time.
Don't think that humanity has been forced into the Monolith for self-preservation; in reality, human civilization has not declined.
"I've always believed that Gastrea would be eradicated by humans, and even the Gastrea virus would be rooted out, but..."
Sumire looked at the screen, at the scene of the person called an 'Heroic Spirit' conversing with people from other countries.
"There are always those in this world who want to fight amongst themselves. When there's an external threat, they can't wait to consume humanity's own strength. Then, human civilization will be ended by such foolish behavior. It is precisely because they saw such a future that these Heroic Spirit descended."
Sumire turned to Rentaro: "Rentaro, didn't you say before, 'If there are gods, why haven't they saved us?'"
Sumire smiled: "Because in the eyes of gods, they see not individuals, but the entire civilization."
"..."
Rentaro fell silent, because he knew Sumire was right, and his personality prevented him from truly resenting the so-called gods.
After all, the explanations just now made him realize that the so-called gods were not the omniscient and omnipotent beings he had imagined.
Perhaps... they were also great figures in human history?
Even though Rentaro hadn't read much, he had heard some legends.
But that's not right!
"Doctor, you mentioned gods before, and that building that appeared out of nowhere outside Tokyo, and these Heroic Spirit. But what's the connection between these three? That building and the Heroic Spirit have no connection at all."
Sumire gave Rentaro a deep look: "I'm very pleased, Rentaro."
"?"
Rentaro hadn't quite grasped Sumire's meaning when she already explained: "It took you this long, but you finally realized it. It seems you're not completely hopeless."
"...Doctor..."
Rentaro was speechless, watching Sumire belittle him at every opportunity.
"Alright, no more jokes. Actually, the only thing the world knows right now is the Heroic Spirit. And here in Tokyo, ordinary people don't know about the Heroic Spirit. Do you know why?"
"Why?"
Rentaro naturally couldn't know, so Sumire didn't keep him in suspense: "Because they've been sealed off by the big figures in the Tokyo area."
"That existence has already visited the leaders of the Tokyo area. He clearly has the power to make everyone submit, yet he didn't use any force. But he found me."
"!!!"
Even Rentaro realized Sumire's meaning: "What did he want with you?"
"He invited me to join them, and the location of the work is..."
Sumire switched the screen to the building that had appeared out of nowhere.
"He wants to help those children, but even a god has things he cannot do, so he hoped I could join them."
Hearing this, Rentaro felt something was off.
"That's not right, Doctor. If the person you're talking about is really a myth, would he need us to join?"
"You haven't been tricked by someone, have you? Although these things are indeed incredible, they're not impossible."
Although he didn't know how it was done, Rentaro just felt that others could do it too.
As the saying goes, the more ignorant one is, the more confident; the more one knows, the more one understands the opponent's terror.
Sumire and Rentaro were two such extreme cases.
After all, the New Human Remodeling Project was already a ridiculous matter in Rentaro's original mind, coupled with Hiruko Kagetane's repulsion field and a series of seemingly supernatural abilities, which made him think these things were also possible.
"It's different, Rentaro. Regardless of whether the other party is truly a god, at least..."
Sumire looked at the screen: "They might truly bring some hope to this desperate world."
...
Inside a laboratory in a building on the outskirts of Tokyo.
"So I've already told you, give me more time. With only two hours a day, what can I do? Even if memories can be retained, inspiration will disappear."
A tender, childlike voice came from within, attracting many passing girls who peeked in curiously.
"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking, Mobius. I summoned you not for you to research biological evolution and your 'infinity,' but for a way to cure the virus in the children, or at least to prevent their erosion rate from increasing. And I don't have that much time to waste with you."
In front of the young girl, Takatsuki stood with his arms crossed, looking at the green-haired young girl in front of him.
"Heh, so what if you know? Foolish. Your so-called virus is actually proof of life's evolution. What you see and despise, those ugly Gastrea, are precisely on the path of evolution."
Mobius sneered: "Do you think life's evolution is beautiful? No, quite the opposite. It is extremely ugly, utterly hideous. But only by going through this process can humans truly understand the beauty of life."
"Even if I don't go through this, I don't care. Anyway, I've told you, I want to see results within half a month. It's already the second day."
"Half a month!"
Mobius shrieked. Just as she was about to say something else, her figure suddenly vanished.
Takatsuki rubbed his temples, a little headache-inducing, looking at the suddenly vanished Mobius. He naturally knew the reason.
Time was up.
This Mobius in front of him was summoned by Takatsuki using the Multiverse Card.
Because of their Throne of Heroes contract, and his efforts to summon a weaker Mobius, the summonable time for this Mobius was maintained at just over two hours.
The purpose was to have Mobius research something that could treat the Gastrea virus.
Unexpectedly, the other party regarded Gastrea as a ladder of evolution, different from external things like Honkai; it belonged to the evolution of life itself.
And the situation spiraled out of control like this.