Ruan Mei: You Called Me "Doctor" Today, So I'll Let It Slide

The Herrscher of Dominion suddenly shivered.

At this moment, Ruan Mei's gaze shifted from the Herrscher of Dominion to the living room.

"Is Liu Bai not here now?"

"Master and La Signora. Kafka have gone out. Madam Bo, is there something you need from Master?"

Although the Herrscher of Dominion couldn't understand why Ruan Mei's attitude had suddenly changed 180 degrees,... there was indeed some truth to it.

Last night, Eden successfully made the Herrscher of Dominion understand that the power of pillow talk is limitless.

She didn't want to be kicked out one day—it would be too embarrassing to have over a thousand people working in the field.

—So the attitude of the Herrscher of Dominion has also changed 180 degrees, and now he suddenly has a sycophantic expression.

"When is he coming back?" Ruan Mei asked as she walked into the bedroom.

She didn't ask where she went, because based on other people's experience looking for her, asking that directly and then going there would most likely result in not finding her.

Ruan Mei didn't want to send Liu Bai a message either—this was her last bit of restraint.

You can offer to pay them, but you can't show that you're too eager.

"If nothing unexpected happens, the master will be back tonight."

"So, what unexpected events might occur?"

"... was he captured by Lady Acheron halfway through the journey, or something like that?"

That's quite unexpected.

Ruan Mei's face was expressionless.

"But it's okay, I can wait here."

Night

"Where is Liu Bai, the one you mentioned?"

After dinner, Ruan Mei took a shower and waited for Liu Bai, but she noticed that the expression on the Herrscher of Dominion's face was gradually becoming hostile.

"The latest information is that Master is staying at the Wangshang Funeral Parlor tonight..." the Herrscher of Dominion said, forcing herself to speak.

Without Liu Bai's support, Ruan Mei actually exerted a lot of pressure on her.

"The Wangshang Funeral Parlor?" Ruan Mei frowned, thinking for a moment before remembering what that place was. "... What was he doing there?"

"Because a funeral ceremony will be held throughout Liyue tomorrow, the master decided to stay there."

Among the Herrscher of Dominion, there are those who track... cough cough, provide close protection, so the Herrscher of Dominion have a very clear grasp of Liu Bai's movements.

"... That is indeed the case."

Ruan Mei nodded slightly. She had heard about this from Suikyo and Cai Tianyi, with whom she had studied together.

"Activities to commemorate the dead..."

"... If you wish, you can go to the Wangshang Funeral Parlor now."

"No, although I won't participate in this kind of activity, I will maintain the necessary respect."

Ruan Mei takes matters of life and death very seriously.

After all, she embarked on this path because of her parents' death—so Ruan Mei is not the kind of scientist who would casually take a few lives for no reason.

Of course, from a certain perspective, if no one stops this person's various life-creation experiments, including Propagation, sooner or later they will indirectly disregard human life.

"I'll sleep here tonight. Whether you tell Liu Bai or not is up to you."

"... Just don't touch anything."

"You went to see Elinore again today?"

"Hmm, but as you know, it was a fruitless effort."

"Haha... not surprising at all."

Reanna and Liu Bai sat together chatting.

Liu Bai was very curious about this Valkyries who was almost a background character in the original work, but was also an indispensable person for the establishment of Anti-Entropy.

In the original story, if Reanna hadn't switched sides, everyone in Anti-Entropy would have died, including Joyce had just awakened.

"To be honest, I don't really have much time to waste on Elinore... Isn't there a better way?"

"Interpersonal relationships always need to be developed gradually," Reanna said with a smile in response to Liu Bai's complaint. "However, the chances of turning her against us are probably slim."

"Hmm... that's true."

Liu Bai nodded, indicating his understanding of Reanna's statement.

Elinore has seen Otto as her savior for so many years, yet she has ignored even someone as virtuous and carefree as Kallen.

If I were to turn them to defect...

I feel like it would be better to find a way to brainwash her and make her evil/addicted.

It has a higher success rate than Huairou.

"However, personal relationships are not entirely useless sometimes."

Liu Bai scratched his head.

"At least Otto ... no, there is no absolute contradiction between everyone's goals."

If Otto were the Otto who had already killed Kallen, Liu Bai would definitely turn around, grab his weapons, and fight him head-on.

There's nothing I can do; my own cheat code obviously can't save Kallen... Well, I can at least brainwash Otto into becoming evil/corrupted.

But with that kind of skill, how many times could you have taken down Otto?

Otto, who had lost Kallen, wasn't incapable of cooperating; he was utterly incapable of cooperating.

The lame joke in the Honkai Impact 3rd world is that Otto made a great contribution to the fight against the Honkai.

... This statement is not entirely wrong, at least not for the five hundred years from when Otto became a bishop until the Main Quest timeline.

Otto did indeed do a lot of things, and occasionally hunting down a few Valkyries who he considered unstable factors and who had defected was not excessive; it was at most a matter of personal morality.

But what happened next... we don't even need to mention the establishment of Anti-Entropy. At that point in time, Otto and Joyce broke up simply because of their different ways of doing things.

Around the time Anti-Entropy was established, Otto was probably also tired and was preparing to step down and hand over the position of bishop to Joyce. However, Joyce and Otto had significant differences in their views, and Joyce was also quite passionate, so the two eventually broke up.

Otto died with Kallen, was actually causing trouble during the Second Honkai Impact 2... The reason might be that he learned about the existence of the Will of Honkai, and Theresa appeared in the middle of it.

If the second wave of Honkai doesn't cause any trouble, Cecilia will successfully influence Sirin.

And to make matters worse, it's a six-core Sirin who can communicate with the Honkai Consciousness — Prometheus.

After more than ten years of normal development, all those "Ice Rock Recognizes a Thousand People" are just mobile cores. Elysian Realm can still hammer out a wave of erosion and take another route to get the constraint core—who can be more orthodox than an eleven-core Herrscher?

With rich combat experience, the peak Herrscher with twelve cores and multiple God Keys fought against the Finality Kevin... No, when it really came to that, Kevin might not even get the Finality Power and would be beaten to a pulp, passing the trial directly.

Add to that Zhenqi—also known as Bianka, and the two ultimate overpowered protagonists are eating the legacy of the Elysian Realm...

Furthermore, Honkai Impact 2 involved important characters like Raven and Cocoilia, and a large portion of the Main Quest storyline revolved around various gems. If Otto hadn't caused trouble in Otto Impact 2, Main Quest might not have been any villains to drive the main storyline forward—not to mention that Honkai Impact 2 even existed because of Otto's meddling.

It can be said that what Otto did at the end of the Main Quest was actually a complete resolution, settling accounts. Of course, the fact that the world has been stable for five hundred years is his real achievement.

Now that Kallen is still alive, and Otto has just fallen out with her, his tendency to cause trouble has decreased significantly, and they are now at a point where they can genuinely discuss cooperation.

At least you don't have to worry about Otto suddenly discovering the possibility of resurrecting Kallen and cutting your kidneys.

"There's no absolute contradiction...that's true." Reanna nodded, surprisingly agreeing with Liu Bai's words.

I thought you would argue back.

"What's there to refute? We're all fighting against the Honkai, and we even cooperated during the Second Honkai Eruption."

Reanna shrugged.

"It's just a difference in perspectives. We haven't had a full-blown war in the last ten years or so. Most of the skirmishes have been localized. And while we say it's a matter of perspectives, there's also a lot of old grudges and distrust— Otto's trust in us is bankrupt."

Because trust has collapsed, Anti-Entropy would rather cease hostilities than cooperate—although Otto's betrayal was relatively minor compared to the original story that Liu Bai knew.

The history of this world began to change after Kallen survived her journey to the Far East by relying on Inazuma, a force that "should not exist".

The backstab was less severe, which is why Reanna Joyce didn't die, and why Cecilia and the entire Snow Wolf Squad were able to escape unscathed in the second Collapse.

"So, a mutual acquaintance is needed to act as a go-between?"

Liu Bai seemed to understand something.

Upon hearing this, Reanna smiled brightly.

"That's right. The initial choice was actually Kallen, but unfortunately, Otto's credibility with Kallen was also ruined."

In fact, the differences between Anti-Entropy and Schicksal are quite serious now that there is no blood feud, but they are not fundamentally serious.

Those who were immature back then have matured now, and those who were already mature have become more mature because of a change in perspective.

If Otto were to ask Joyce about abdication now, Joyce might be so eager to kick Otto aside and take over as bishop.

Even though all of Anti-Entropy's employees used to work for Schicksal, if they were to merge, the adjustment period might not even take long.

What's missing is someone who can vouch for Otto.

Unfortunately, the only person who could act as guarantor refused.

"Didn't you try to persuade Kallen?"

"...We tried, but Lady Kallen thinks Otto is unreliable. In her words, if Otto suddenly acts recklessly, she can't stop Otto." Reanna was also helpless about this matter. "But then again, I feel that the two of them haven't really broken up completely."

"It's not surprising. It's probably because the shadow of their falling out when they were young is still there."

Liu Bai shrugged.

Childhood sweethearts who walked side by side suddenly went their separate ways; anyone would remember that for a lifetime.

The first person Otto betrayed was Kallen —even though Otto believed he was doing it for Kallen good.

But this kind of "good" Kallen doesn't need to be—which is ridiculous.

In the original story, when Kallen was still alive, Otto felt that he could not defy his family at all.

After Kallen's death, Otto was disheartened and lived in seclusion for many years. When he came out of seclusion, he started from scratch and led the rebels to destroy the entire Schicksal, which possessed the Valkyries, or rather, the "Knights"—it can only be said that Kallen understood Otto.

In other words, Otto didn't actually need to take the wrong turn with Kallen, but Otto chickened out at that time and chose to compromise with his family.

If they didn't compromise, Kallen, who was completely Schicksal with Schicksal at the time, might have been able to help Otto kill Schicksal... no, to set things right.

It's not surprising at all that Kallen, who is still alive today, would remember this for the rest of her life.

"So now this person has become me?"

"Yes, you." Reanna nodded slightly. "Haven't you already united a bunch of forces?"

"But isn't the biggest hurdle still Schicksal?"

Liu Bai's rant.

"That's something you and Rita need to consider."

"... You found out?"

Liu Wubai glanced sideways at Qi, who was chatting with others, and said, "Kafka."

In contrast, Reanna looked at it very openly and generously.

"Rita is trying very hard to play the role, but there are still some things she can't change."

"... You seem to know Rita quite well."

"It should be said that La Signora. Kafka is too distinctive."

Reanna smiled—clearly, Reanna had seen Kafka, who had been transformed into Rita.

"... Then we should really be glad that Elinore and Rita aren't close."

Liu Bai's rant.

"So, speaking of which, what about you guys at Anti-Entropy? You keep talking about Schicksal, what's your point?"

"Of course we agree." Reanna chuckled. "Inazuma agrees with you, Liyue agrees with you, and even La Signora Kallen agrees with you... For the sake of a united world, we will naturally agree with you—you should understand that you are now highly sought after by any discerning person."