Kiana didn't notice the change in Ren's body, just instinctively felt something was off. But now wasn't the time to dwell on it; she needed to handle the current situation first.
Hanging up, she silenced her phone and, before long, arrived in front of a towering office building.
Three days prior, while consolidating ARC City's supplies, Himeko discovered that materials provided by one supplier were contaminated with residual Honkai Energy. After some investigation, she found out the transportation process had been entirely outsourced to other companies.
More importantly, the outsourcing went through multiple layers. After extensive digging, they finally traced it back to this company located in New Jersey, North America.
It was ten o'clock at night; most businesses had already closed. This office building was no exception. But that didn't matter to Kiana. As long as she found the company's records, she could naturally figure out where the problem occurred.
Briefly surveying the surroundings, she found a spot without surveillance cameras and easily vaulted over the barrier. With her experience infiltrating Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical, sneaking into places like this was practically second nature.
However, she didn't notice that just as she slipped into the building, a man with blood-red eyes followed her inside.
Making her way up the fire escape, Kiana quickly located the company's floor. Unexpectedly, the office, which should have been empty, was lit.
But due to the drawn curtains, it wasn't visible from outside.
Is someone working overtime? Pondering this, Kiana was about to change her route when she noticed strange sounds coming from the office.
She paused, listening intently. After only a second, she quickly retreated.
"This..." Although she didn't understand intimate matters, the lewd sounds coming from the office were far too obvious.
Fortunately, after two minutes, the sounds inside stopped. Seizing the opportunity, Kiana slipped from the shadows into the finance office.
This company wasn't small; logically, there should have been many cameras. Strangely, most of them were turned off at this hour. But considering what was happening in the main office, the situation suddenly seemed much more plausible.
The infiltration went smoothly. Soon, she found the company's recent business records. The only downside was she couldn't really understand them; she'd have to take them back for Ren or Himeko to analyze.
But just as she was preparing to leave, a grating, grinding sound reached her ears, like someone gnashing their teeth. When she listened carefully again, however, she heard nothing.
Having obtained what she needed, Kiana didn't linger, using her powers to instantly teleport away. Only after she left did the man who had been following her slowly reveal himself.
This was, naturally, the man chosen by the Herrscher of the Legion in the alley earlier. However, his purpose in following Kiana wasn't nefarious; it was an instinctive urge to protect her.
After all, even if Ren wasn't controlling the puppet, the Herrscher of the Legion was still fundamentally his power. Under no circumstances would it pose a threat to Kiana.
The man didn't know why he was doing this. He only realized, upon following her to the office building, that this was actually his workplace.
And Kiana's target... happened to be his destination as well.
The power of the Herrscher of the Legion wasn't inherently evil; it merely amplified the host's emotions and provided corresponding strength.
Due to his long-standing cowardice, even after gaining power, the man's first thought wasn't revenge, but simply coming back the next day to demand his salary. If the boss refused, he'd make him experience some pain.
However, when he saw the identities of the people in the office, all reason instantly evaporated.
"Why?"
Pain contorted the man's face, his teeth nearly grinding to dust. When he heard the conversation inside the office clearly, the last thread holding his sanity snapped completely.
"Quit? Him? Just wait, he'll come crawling back tomorrow. Besides, I have you, right? That guy really likes you, you know."
Clearly, no matter how much of a doormat the man was, seeing the person he loved most entangled with the person he hated most was unbearable.
The puppet's voice suddenly echoed in his ears—no, it sounded like his own voice.
"Indeed. The only truly fair thing in this world... is death."
...
"Another one chooses destruction. At this rate, it won't be long before the scene I envisioned appears."
Back in the hotel, sensing the change in his own power, Ren couldn't help but sigh. At the same time, the unquenchable golden light in his eyes seemed to grow even brighter.
"Tsk." Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Ren pressed his fingers to his temples. The golden patterns in his irises trembled continuously before finally, slowly dimming down.
Clearly, the loss of control over his Herrscher authority didn't mean it escaped Ren's grasp entirely; rather, he lacked the spare energy to control it.
After all, his power came from the puppets. Previously, amplified by three to four hundred puppets, Ren could fight evenly with Karma Demon Kevin. One could imagine the terrifying level of power he would wield once the thousand were complete.
But fully mastering this power wasn't truly simple.
When the number of puppets was small, Ren usually chose to personally experience the host's life, understand their desires, and then selectively grant them power. The benefits were obvious: every puppet was under Ren's complete control, allowing him to even play multiple roles simultaneously without issue.
However, with the execution of Project Stigma, he had to devote most of his energy to absorbing Herrscher authorities. This left him with insufficient mental capacity to screen each candidate individually. Thus, the current Herrscher of the Legion puppets were closer to the original timeline's version, born autonomously from human malice.
To use an inappropriate analogy, the joining process for the Herrscher of the Legion changed from the group leader personally approving members to automatic joining. While drastically increasing speed, it also meant the members were entirely random.
And as mentioned long ago, Ren's power of Dominance had two components: puppets choosing benevolence increased his lifespan, while those choosing malevolence increased his power.
Evidently, judging by the near-uncontrollable surge in his power, most had chosen malevolence.
Of course, this was within Ren's expectations. No one understood human nature better than him. Even before entering the Elysian Realm, he knew this day would inevitably come.
Just as Kevin had said, World Serpent's Project Stigma involved recklessly throwing everyone into a dream state. Ren's Project Stigma, however, returned the choice to humanity itself.
By delegating power to humans, he was inherently giving civilization a chance to evolve.
If humanity could unite, with Ren's power, elevating civilization to a whole new level wouldn't be difficult. With such unity, humanity could even overcome Finality on its own, making Kiana and Kevin irrelevant.
But conversely, if this power was used against humanity itself, it would result in an unimaginable catastrophe.
However, none of this really concerned Ren anymore. Whether humanity flourished or declined was their own choice. All he needed to do was complete Project Stigma and make the final preparations for Kiana's salvation.
Pulling his thoughts back, Ren drew the curtains.
Placing the landline phone back on the nightstand, he glanced at the time on the screen. Half an hour had passed since Kiana left; she should be starting her investigation around now.
Since we came all the way to New Jersey, might as well explore, right? After the investigation, maybe I'll take Kiana to experience the beach at night.
However, before he could even plan their outing, a wave of intense dizziness suddenly washed over him. The feeling was familiar; it was the same dizziness that had forced him into slumber that afternoon, leading him to the hotel.
What's going on?
The thought flashed through his mind as Ren felt his strength draining away, replaced by intense, tearing pain throughout his body.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
The next second, a violent coughing fit seized him. He covered his mouth, weakly sliding down the wall for support.
Strangely, as the intense coughing subsided, the pain in his body also gradually faded, returning to normal after a short while.
Lowering his hand, a splash of crimson immediately entered his vision. The coughs had brought up a significant amount of blood.