"Alright."
Without much elaboration, Aponia nodded softly in agreement.
She then followed Chang Yuan to Vill-V's workshop.
"Oh, so this is the person with the innate special ability you mentioned? Let me take a look."
Seeing Chang Yuan bring someone over, Vill-V immediately became curious and stepped forward to inspect Aponia.
"Aponia, show her your special ability. Otherwise, with Vill-V's personality, she won't let this go easily."
"Alright."
Aponia then looked at Vill-V and said, "Could you please get me a glass of water?"
Hearing this, Vill-V instinctively wanted to refuse, but her body acted faster than her thoughts.
She went to fetch a glass of water and handed it to Aponia.
After completing the task, Vill-V looked at Aponia with a gaze full of admiration.
"My goodness, impressive. But it seems that, for now, it only works on ordinary people like me. It probably won't affect you or Elysia, who are MANTIS soldiers.
But perhaps after undergoing the MANTIS surgery, her abilities will be enhanced. Otherwise, you wouldn't have brought her here, right?"
In just a few minutes, Vill-V had figured out why Chang Yuan had brought Aponia to her for the MANTIS surgery.
Chang Yuan didn't deny it. It wasn't surprising that Vill-V could deduce this.
"Then I'll leave her to you. And, barring any surprises, after she becomes a MANTIS soldier, her original abilities will be greatly enhanced. At the same time, she'll also gain the ability to see fate—or rather, the future."
"Hmm! Like you?"
"Not the same. I'm like someone who's read the script—I know how everything will unfold, but I don't know what changes might occur.
Aponia is different. Although her vision isn't as far-reaching as mine, she can see the changes. However, the fate she sees is largely unchangeable."
"Got it. But whatever, let's go. The Honkai beast DNA prepared for you is ready."
After Chang Yuan's explanation, Vill-V nodded and stopped pressing the matter.
She waved for Aponia to follow her.
Seeing this, Chang Yuan didn't linger and went out to catch up with Kalpas.
A few days later, Aponia's transformation into a MANTIS soldier went smoothly.
However, after becoming a MANTIS soldier, she fell into a deep state of depression.
Many people couldn't see the future because they saw it too clearly—unlike Aponia.
In the future she saw, humanity was doomed to fail.
"So, Aponia, why are you so depressed? Did you see me in the future you witnessed?"
"..."
Hearing this, Aponia fell silent.
In the predetermined future she saw, Chang Yuan didn't seem to exist at all.
Only Chang Yuan himself knew why this was the case.
As someone who had crossed over, neither the Imaginary Tree nor the Quantum Sea had any record of his existence.
Thus, they couldn't document his past or future.
If even they couldn't do it, there was no way Aponia could.
What Aponia saw was merely the future that had been altered by him.
"The past cannot be reclaimed, but the future can be changed. Instead of shutting yourself off here, why not join me in executing a plan to prevent the Tenth Herrscher?"
"...Alright."
Aponia didn't refuse and nodded in agreement.
Chang Yuan then used his authority to summon all deputy captains and above to the conference room.
Everyone was puzzled by Chang Yuan's summons.
Of course, a few who knew the dangers of the Tenth Herrscher had already guessed Chang Yuan's intentions after learning about Aponia's abilities.
"Everyone, quiet down. I've called you here not for anything major, but simply to implant a mental imprint."
"What! You want to restrict our freedom? I won't accept this!"
Before anyone else could object, an unnamed deputy captain from a small squad voiced his protest.
Anyone who had been to university knew about mental imprints. Once implanted, it would ruin their lives.
"I'm here to inform you, not to ask for your permission. Whether it's to prevent betrayal or something else, this is necessary."
Ignoring the protest, Chang Yuan turned to Aponia. "Aponia, proceed as we discussed earlier."
"...Alright."
After a moment of silence, Aponia clasped her hands together.
Those who wanted to resist tried to fight back.
But these MANTIS soldiers, who had only fused with Honkai Emperor DNA and not even a single Emperor-class Honkai beast DNA, were powerless to resist.
"Everyone, 『please』 never betray your race. 『Please』 always trust your comrades without any doubt. 『Please』 report any abnormalities in yourself immediately."
After imprinting these three 『Commandments』 on everyone present, Aponia stopped.
Hearing that these were the only three mental imprints, the crowd quickly gave up their resistance.
After all, these imprints wouldn't affect them much, as they were all warriors fighting for humanity's future.
"Since you're all at least deputy captains, there are some things you should know. I'll explain them to you here, but please keep them confidential.
The origin of Honkai is..."
Since everyone present had been given the 『Commandments』, Chang Yuan felt confident in revealing everything about Honkai to them.
Upon hearing about the nature of the Tenth Herrscher, they immediately understood why Chang Yuan had imposed these 『Commandments』.
It was all to prevent the harm caused by the Tenth Herrscher.
After all, when the time came, humanity would be riddled with suspicion. No one would know if their comrades would turn into Herrschers the next moment.
This would lead to a breakdown in morale, with everyone distracted during battles, potentially causing significant losses to Fire Moth.
At the same time, they were also shocked by the knowledge of this First Squad deputy.
They had thought he had risen through the ranks purely through strength, but it turned out he knew so much.
"So, everyone, do you understand why I imposed these mental imprints? For our future, for the continuation of civilization, we must think in extremes."
After letting everyone digest the information, Chang Yuan spoke slowly.
"Understood." xN
"Since you all understand, the next step is to spread the 『Commandments』 to all Fire Moth branch bases and the main base."