Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

Chapter 210 Domination Theater

A few days later, in Salt Lake City in the western United States, a plane slowly descended from the sky.

Then a red-haired man appeared in the immigration area, and left after completing all the immigration procedures.

As the captain exited the airport, he looked up at the dazzling sunlight. In just one month, it would be American Independence Day, and Salt Lake City was filled with a lively atmosphere.

A large event was being held in the plaza, and even Anti-Entropy's Titan-series mechs were patrolling nearby. However, the captain knew that all of this was just an illusion; a Herrscher had secretly been born and would soon cause a disturbance here.

The original purpose was to make the government lose trust in Kiana, and to take the opportunity to isolate Kiana so that the consciousness of the Herrscher of the Void could regain control of Kiana's body.

After all, given the original strength of the Herrscher of Domination, anyone could easily fight her to a standstill. However, she also has a very overpowered ability as compensation.

That is, as long as someone is weaker than Him in a contest of power, He can seize their power, and even make the other party bear the cost of using that power.

However, this power can only be used against Herrschers like Bronya who have not yet ascended to immortality. It is completely useless against Herrschers like Mei who have already ascended to immortality, and may even cause a backlash.

The captain came mainly to check on Anna and Chen Tianwu's situation, and also to find a way to help deal with the Herrscher of Domination.

After all, he had completely disrupted the plot of this world, causing it to develop in an unpredictable direction. Thinking back to how he had tried his best to ensure the plot's direction, he couldn't help but laugh.

However, all of that is in the past. Judging by the time, not only have Anna and Chen Tianwu already built good relationships with others in Anti-Entropy, but Fu Hua should also have woken up by now.

Although Fu Hua betrayed Theresa and the others, given their personalities, they wouldn't be unable to forgive her if Fu Hua apologized sincerely.

It's just myself...

Thinking of this, the captain couldn't help but smile bitterly. He wasn't from this world and hadn't established any connection with Theresa and the others. Even with other people's assurances, it was inevitable that they would doubt the captain's motives if he appeared in front of them at will.

But just as the captain was thinking this, Seele's voice came from behind him.

"Isn't this Captain? What are you doing here?"

The captain turned around and saw Seele standing behind him with Anna.

"Seele, it's been so long! I didn't expect to see you here!"

"Yes, after all, the Salt Lake Base is right here, and most people gather there. By the way, Captain, do you know about the Salt Lake Base...?"

Before Seele could offer any further explanation, Anna quickly interrupted her. This was all information subject to confidentiality measures, and it wouldn't be appropriate for Seele to blurt it all out like that.

Anna was worried that Seele might tell the captain the location of the Salt Lake Base if she didn't interrupt her. However, Anna secretly glanced at the captain, her heart filled with curiosity.

She was genuinely curious about how the captain had gained Seele's trust, and such unwavering trust at that.

However, it's clear she has no way of knowing why.

"Get away from Seele! Otherwise, I can't guarantee my gun won't go off accidentally."

The captain, feeling the cold touch of the pistol on his back, obediently raised his hands. "Calm down, Bronya. I'm just here for sightseeing, so could you put your pistol down?"

"No way! Who knows if the Snake's executives in this world have ulterior motives for appearing here?"

As she spoke, Bronya pushed the pistol forward slightly, at which point Seele quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

"Alright, Bronya, just trust Captain Bronya this once. What if he really is just here for sightseeing? We can't just spoil his fun like this."

"But…!"

Before Bronya could say anything, a riot broke out in the square. For some reason, the Titan mechs went on a large-scale riot, and no matter how the Anti-Entropy members tried to control these out-of-control Titan mechs, they would not obey orders.

When all else failed, Bronya and her team stepped in and quickly wiped out all the out-of-control Titan mechs.

By the time they came to their senses, the captain had already left this place of trouble with the chaotic crowd.

Shortly afterward, at Salt Lake Base, Einstein convened a meeting to discuss the Titan out-of-control incident.

"The above is the report submitted by the technical department after inspecting those out-of-control Titan mechs. As you can see, the Titans have not been invaded by hostile forces, nor have there been any signs of malicious tampering with their programs."

"So why did such a large-scale loss of control occur? This is the third similar incident this month."

“I understand your doubts, Ms. Theresa,” Einstein said. “We are also investigating the specific reasons, but unfortunately the results are not ideal.”

“The government is even pressuring us to hand over Bronya, Mei, Anna, and Chen Tianwu.” Tesla’s voice came from her projection. “I’m currently arguing with those officials. If you find anything, remember to let me know so I can refute these good-for-nothings.”

"The government is demanding that we be handed over?" Bronya asked.

“That’s right. In the end, it’s still because we covet the power of you Herrschers and don’t want these powers to be controlled by us, Anti-Entropy,” Tesla said.

“After all, the United States’ international influence has been declining in recent years, and they are eager to acquire the power to change all of this,” Einstein added. “Who says that anti-entropy only has a cooperative relationship with the government and has not really been incorporated into their national system? They have long been wary of the growing power of anti-entropy.”

“I see. Dr. Tesla, do you need any support?” Theresa asked.

“Dr. Tesla, don’t worry, I’m here.” Himeko Murata’s voice came from the projection. “So you should think carefully about what’s going on with these strange events.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the alarm went off in the base. Einstein hurriedly turned on the communication system, and a Honkai Beast attack instantly appeared on the conference room screen.

Without time to hesitate, Theresa urgently ordered Bronya, Mei, and Seele to handle the situation.

However, by the time the three arrived, the matter was already over. According to the survivors at the scene, the Honkai Beasts seemed to have entered the area by mixing in with the statues.

At first, these Honkai Beasts were indeed as still as ordinary statues, and there was not even a trace of Honkai energy reaction on them.

However, as more and more people came to participate in the event, these Honkai Beast statues suddenly came to life and began to wreak havoc.

Fortunately, before these revived Honkai Beasts could cause any major damage, a young man with red hair appeared in time and killed all of them. The young man then left with the chaotic crowd.

After listening to the report from the Anti-Entropy members in charge of security on site, Mei immediately thought of someone. Coincidentally, the other two thought the same thing, but this created a new problem.

So how did the captain get here and stop the riot?

According to him, he was just here for sightseeing, but it was too much of a coincidence that he encountered attacks twice in a row. Mei and the others found it hard to believe that it was just a coincidence.

So they decided to split into two groups: Bronya and Seele would investigate the origin of the Honkai Beast statues, while Mei would go to find the captain's whereabouts.

Mei had a premonition that the captain might know the whole story, and at that moment the captain had arrived in front of a cheap apartment.

According to the information in my memory, one of the hosts of the Herrscher of Domination lives here. The reason I came here to investigate first is because this host has the skill of carving.

The reason he was chosen to become the Herrscher of Domination was quite simple: his artwork was not appreciated and his life began to become difficult, to the point that he could only live in such a cheap apartment.

He was even struggling to pay the rent for this apartment, and it was these negative emotions that made him the Herrscher of Domination.

The captain came here to investigate the host's room, hoping to find the teleportation node leading to the Domination Theater.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard the captain searched, there was no unstable point in the room.

This means that the teleportation node here has long since disappeared. In other words, the host who can carve became a Herrscher much, much earlier than the captain imagined.

So much so that he no longer needed fixed teleportation nodes to travel between the theater and the real world, or rather, he had abandoned everything in the real world and completely become one of the many puppets.

The captain, having gained nothing, sighed and left the apartment, where he then encountered an unexpected person.

"Chen Tianwu? What are you doing here?"

"captain?"

Chen Tianwu was equally surprised to see the captain there, but then he realized why the captain was there.

"Could it be that you, Captain, are also here to investigate those attacks?"

"Yes," the captain admitted without hesitation.

"So, Captain, have you uncovered any clues? Or could you tell me if the attacks over the past month are related to the Herrscher?"

The captain joked, "You really are something. You become so enthusiastic just because you're in a new place. Does having someone you've been longing for all the time change you so much?"

Chen Tianwu scratched his head sheepishly. His relationship with Anna had indeed improved after spending time together. Now that he knew his sister's final fate, and with his inner turmoil resolved, Chen Tianwu was no longer the gloomy man he once was.

"Captain, please stop teasing me. Can you tell me about your discovery?"

"It's a pity it's too late." The captain said, his joking expression fading. "This incident is indeed related to a Herrscher, and I can tell you which Herrscher it is."

Chen Tianwu nervously swallowed and looked at the captain.

"This Herrscher is the one known in the previous civilization as the Herrscher of a Thousand, whose greatest skill is manipulating people's hearts. The attacks over the past few months are probably intended to destroy the relationship between you Herrschers who fight for humanity and humans. Once trust is lost, they have the opportunity to slowly invade and take over all of humanity from within."

After listening to the captain's words, Chen Tianwu also showed a serious expression.

"So that means there's a Herrscher of Domination living in this apartment, right?"

"Yes, but as I just said, it's too late. The hosts here have become completely part of the Herrscher of Domination, and it's very difficult for us to trace their whereabouts from here."

"Then what should we do now?"

"What else can we do but leave first!"

After saying that, the captain left without looking back. Anyway, the clues here had been cut off, and staying here any longer would be useless. On the contrary, it might alert the other party. The captain didn't want to passively listen to a group of puppets shouting "Welcome to the Domination Theater" or something like that.

Seeing the captain turn and leave, Chen Tianwu didn't think much of it and quickly followed.

"Captain, wait for me!"

"Didn't you already leave World Serpent and join Anti-Entropy? Is it really okay for you to follow me like this?"

Chen Tianwu paused, clearly not realizing at first that he was no longer a cadre of the World Serpent.

It's indeed inappropriate for him to stay by the captain's side right now, but as a member of Anti-Entropy, he can't just stand by and watch the captain leave.

So, Chen Tianwu gritted his teeth and followed the captain. Since he didn't have any leads anyway, he might as well stay by the captain's side. This would allow him to monitor the captain and also gather information about the Herrscher of Domination.

The best course of action for Chen Tianwu, both emotionally and rationally, was to stay by the captain's side. The captain understood Chen Tianwu's thoughts and simply let him continue to follow him.

"here it is?"

The captain replied, "It's obviously a university."

This is near the university town of Salt Lake City, and the captain is leading Chen Tianwu to the entrance of a university.

"Of course I know, do you mean there are some here too?"

The captain didn't answer, after all, the security guards at the gate had already noticed the two of them. To ensure the secrecy of the Honkai, the captain didn't directly answer Chen Tianwu's question in such a crowded place as the university gate.

After casually dealing with the security guards and entering the university, the captain finally answered Chen Tianwu's question.

“That’s right. Since you’ve come along, why don’t you come with me to investigate?”

The captain then told Chen Tianwu the name of the person they needed to investigate, and the two began their investigation.

The investigation was over in no time. The good news was that there was indeed a person named Sean at the school, but the bad news was that he had been missing for two or three months.

"Captain, tell me honestly, is this Sean the same resident you investigated in that apartment building before?"

"Did you notice?"

Chen Tianwu nodded, and the captain, seeing this, no longer concealed anything and told Chen Tianwu all the information he knew.

"A person who is about to become the Herrscher of Domination will receive a letter from an unknown source two or three days in advance. After that, he will be transported to a place called the Theater of Domination, where he will become the new Herrscher of Domination."

"So, Captain, you want to find that letter and then follow the clues to find the Theater of Domination?"

“Yes.” The captain nodded. “The reason I only investigated him is because he was the victim I knew the most about.”

"But will that letter still exist in the real world?"

"Don't worry, that letter is the only thing that has a connection to the real world after becoming a Herrscher. It usually takes a long time to gradually disappear. Sean has only disappeared for two or three months, so there should still be time."

During their conversation, the captain and Chen Tianwu arrived at Sean's student dormitory building. At the same time, Bronya and Seele followed the clues and arrived at the apartment that the captain and the others had visited before.

Like the captain, they found no useful clues, but an accident happened when they left the apartment.

Bronya felt a sudden darkness engulf her, and then her consciousness was plunged into complete darkness.

When Bronya woke up, she found herself in the center of a broken stage, surrounded by equally broken audience seats that were now full of people.

Or rather, dolls, which are identical in every way except for their gender.

The same blonde hair, the same black eye patch, the same appearance, and a black bodysuit with gold trim.

At this moment, a puppet that seemed to be the highest-ranking among these puppets stood on a separate platform and spoke to Bronya below.

"Welcome to the Domination Theater!"