31. Su: I may not know the Herrscher of Sentience well enough, but I know Hua / 32. Reassuring her, talking her through it, and taking her Authority-all in one go

"Tch, a bunch of rude bastards."

"Don't you know that audience members aren't allowed on stage during a performance?" The puppets scattered and gathered in a rustling sound, like headless flies.

"That's not up to you, Hyperion, fire!"

The Hyperion's weapon systems activated instantly, unleashing a barrage of firepower on all the mechs and puppets in the arena, except for the main cannon.

A small number of dolls who tried to escape in the chaos were intercepted one by one by Theresa and the others.

Under the intense barrage of fire, the center of the arena was quickly reduced to a large number of mechanical fragments and the limbs of dolls.

"That's the end, Herrscher of Domination."

Kiana pointed her gun at the last doll in the room.

"Yes, that's it, we've failed..."

The doll looked dejected, but before everyone could even feel happy, it suddenly turned its head and put on a different expression.

"Hehe, did you think I would say that? Yeah, right!"

"Why don't you count how many puppets are in this 'theater'?"

"Oh, I almost forgot, Miss Kiana isn't very good at math."

The Herrscher of Thousand People twisted his body and assumed a posture.

"The answer is, there are fewer than a hundred! The rest of the dolls are all fakes, hahaha..."

At this moment, as if to confirm what the doll had said, the platform, which had already been ravaged by bombing, finally began to collapse.

As the surrounding walls gradually collapsed, everyone discovered something.

This platform is not connected to any other platforms at all; the entire platform is an "island" in Imaginary Space.

"Hehe, we also have to thank our Herrscher of Reason, Bronya, for her generous sponsorship in making this plan possible~"

"Without the power of the Herrscher of Reason, we couldn't have created such a realistic 'theater' that can be disassembled at any time~"

"So... shall we guess who our real target is?"

The doll chuckled and then placed its hand on its head and snapped it open.

The wooden structure could not withstand such destruction. Its head was instantly severed, and the doll's face still bore the expression of its death.

"This..."

Theresa's face was very grim. "Quickly take a headcount of all the personnel on the ship and see who is missing!"

"The other party must have taken people directly from inside the Hyperion when we were teleported here. There should still be traces of the opening of the Theater of Domination on the Hyperion."

"As long as Xia Ling can deduce the truth from the clues..."

Theresa's words came to an abrupt end.

Because, according to the statistics on the terminal, the missing members are—

Two Fu Hua, and Xia Ling.

"Okay, I was wondering why we didn't see Hyperion after we entered the theater."

Looking at the increasing number of puppets around him, Sirin's voice sounded somewhat annoyed.

"So, I was the target of these puppets after all..."

"Don't underestimate them; they came prepared."

Fu Hua, formed from within the feather, whispered beside Sirin.

Looking at the densely packed dolls around him, even if Sirin, he should have noticed that something was wrong.

After all, the main target of the Thousand-Man Herrscher should be Kiana. How could they ignore their main target and instead send hundreds of puppets to surround them?

There is only one possibility that this situation could occur.

That means from the very beginning, the other party's main target was themselves.

"Hehe, you got it right~"

The leader of the puppets had the smug look of a petty person who had achieved his goal.

"After all... even if you can fool your companions, you can't fool us, who are also Herrscher."

"Aren't you right, My Herrscher of Consciousness?"

Chapter Thirty-One: Su: I may not know enough about the Herrscher of Consciousness, but I know Hua.

"Who would consider themselves one of you disgusting bastards!"

Sirin clenched her fists; the unstable Honkai Energy emanating from her body undoubtedly revealed the turmoil within her.

"Yes, yes, no, they're not the same kind. As expected of the Herrscher of Consciousness, their ability to deceive themselves is top-notch."

The doll shook its head and gave Sirin a thumbs up.

"Alright, since we're kind-hearted, we'll just not consider you one of our own for now."

"Then, Miss Fu Hua, who is not Herrscher of Consciousness, could you please be so kind as to use your 'Feather Dust' on us?"

"Do I really need the God of War, Kunzaki Erikane, to deal with your bunch of grunts?"

Sirin laughed in anger, and black flames began to swirl around her hands—her "Sword God."

"Before you witness the power of the Divine Key, take a hit from my Great Void Sword God first!"

"Wait, the other side might..."

"Old Fossil, don't stop me! Today I'm going to burn all these puppets to ashes!"

"Oh dear, we're so scared!"

"Waaaaah, we're going to die! We're going to die! We definitely won't survive such a powerful attack!"

As Sirin's sword god took shape, the puppets showed all sorts of exaggerated expressions of fear.

Then...

"Hehe, then... why don't you just chop it down?"

All the puppets stopped moving at once, looking expectantly at the sword god who was still gathering his strength in the air.

However, Sirin was unable to move the Sword God even an inch.

Because... in front of these puppets, phantom images of "hosts" began to appear one by one.

The puppet and its host are connected by threads that extend into the void. Without a doubt, if one dies, the other's life will also vanish in an instant.

"Hehe, do you think it's not us puppets who carry out the decoy plan? Because we are all puppets whose hosts are still alive."

"Then come on, Herrscher of Consciousness, strike down!"

"Let's see if you can bear the weight of these hundreds of lives?"

"You!"

Sirin's hands trembled slightly. She wanted to follow her heart's desire, disregard everything, and turn all these puppets to ashes with a single sword strike.

But she couldn't do it.

If she had just woken up, she might have comforted herself that this was a "necessary sacrifice," and then killed the dolls along with their hosts without hesitation.

But now... to put it somewhat inappropriately, under the joint education of Elysia and Fu Hua, she has become a "good child".

As her memories of Fu Hua gradually settled and the things in those memories began to feel real, her attitude towards life was no longer as indifferent as it had been at the beginning.

Perhaps if she hardened her heart, she could still do it with her eyes closed, but if she did, it would undoubtedly leave a deep rift in her heart.

The Thousand-Man Herrscher will continue to tear open this crack, creating an even deeper wound; it's only a matter of time.

Even if Thousand-Man Herrscher isn't enough, there are still constraints and corruptions behind her. Or even if she doesn't need these, she might not be able to get past her own conscience.

Are you thinking about whether there are any other ways to break the current situation?

"Of course! We are very kind to our fellow human beings."

The dolls hid behind their host and said with a grin.

"The connection between the puppet and the host is not as close as you imagine. As you can see, it's just some threads. You can easily sever the connection between the two with a simple mental touch."

"Then, where can we find such spiritual power? It's really a headache, don't you think? Isn't it Miss Herrscher of Consciousness of Herrscher of Consciousness?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, don't try to cheat with Feather Dust. With the power of a single feather, it's impossible to save all the hosts."

"Then, come on, make a choice: kill the host and bear the weight of these lives, or relinquish your power and let us each prove ourselves?"

The dolls looked at the Herrscher of Consciousness with expectant expressions.

"Hurry up and choose... If you take too long, don't blame us for starting the attack!"

"Phew... thankfully I made it in time."

Neither side noticed that while they were facing off, one—no, two—figures had quietly slipped into the vicinity.

"Although I've seen it once at Little Xi's place, the Herrscher of Consciousness has become Hua. No matter how many times I see this scene, it always shocks me so much that I can't help but open my eyes."

"Life is unpredictable... Su, how long can this painting last?"

"For a long time, almost all the power I had before I died was poured into this painting... Even after helping you this time, if Little Xi carefully repairs it, it can be used more than once."

That's right, this painting is not a work created by Xi Lin, nor is it an Elysian Realm Memory summoned by Xia Ling using the Cipher Plate, but... it is the painting left behind by Su's true self, infused with all his remaining power.

Xia Ling originally didn't want to use this painting here. In her original plan, she intended to save it for the Finality battle or for use in the later 1.5 part of the story.

However, after evaluation, Xi told Xia Ling that she could "repair" the painting by using data from the Soviet Union in the Elysian Realm, which would make the painting less unique.

More importantly, since the strength of the dominant force is still unclear, if Xia Ling uses the Cipher Plate to summon the memory, the power required to sever the connection between so many puppets at the same time and prevent the counterattack of the true Herrscher of Domination is completely unknown.

If the system doesn't provide enough time for the Herrschers to burn, Xia Ling will be in big trouble.

So, just to be on the safe side, Xia Ling decided to bring this painting with her to assist her.

"So... their current standoff seems to have reached a stalemate. If I were to make a move now, I would be absolutely certain that I could sever the connections of all the hosts at the same time."

Su's voice was very calm. He was simply stating the facts. As Herrscher of Consciousness in Previous Civilization, Su had considerable confidence in his own strength.

"So, should I take action now?"

"No, let's wait a bit longer. Even if we make a move later, Su, you're still 100% confident, aren't you?"

Xia Ling gently shook her head and said, "Then... I want to see what choice Sirin will make."

"Perhaps this is a good opportunity to completely resolve her identity issue and allow her to open up."

"Oh? So Xia Ling, what do you think will happen next?"

Su Yiyan withdrew her abilities and smiled faintly.

"Sirin will probably choose to sever the connection and then have his powers taken away..." Xia Ling replied after a moment of silence.

"I don't think that will happen."

"Su? Why not... Hua and Sirin's daily interactions can be said to have been guided by Elysia. Although Sirin may not have realized her own heart yet, she should never choose to kill the host. I believe her."

"You misunderstood me, Xia Ling. I also believe that Herrscher of Consciousness wouldn't choose to kill its host..."

"You may indeed understand the Herrscher of Consciousness, but... you don't understand Hua. She will not allow that to happen."

Chapter Thirty-Two: Appeasement, Guidance, and Seizure of Power – All Done in One Go

As it turns out, Su really does know Fu Hua well enough.

His words had barely faded when the scene on the platform below changed.

"Alright... Sirin."

Stop.

Fu Hua gently placed her hand on Sirin's shoulder, smoothing out the black flames on her body.

"How could you..." Upon hearing this address, Sirin turned around abruptly, her voice somewhat flustered. "Old Fossil, don't even you believe me?"