Elysian Realm: Hua, Reeling from Blow After Blow

As a Fusion Warrior, Griseo had developed quite well over tens of thousands of years. She had inherited Blanca's excellent genes, so it clearly wasn't a case of the Hyper-dimensional Factor affecting her development.

Taking everything into account, Mobius reached a conclusion: Hua's remaining the same after tens of thousands of years was entirely her own issue. Another possibility was that when Hua underwent the Fusion Warrior surgery, she had still been at an age when she could develop, but the Hyper-dimensional Factor had affected her. In other words, the Honkai Beast genes had conflicted with her own to some extent, hindering Hua's development.

Griseo, meanwhile, had undergone the Hyper-dimensional surgery only as a last resort. No matter how crazy Mobius was, she couldn't use a child as an experiment—especially not Blanca's daughter. Griseo had simply been a special case; without the surgery, she would have died. She had been so young then, so there had still been a possibility for her to grow and develop.

"White Mouse, how about I examine the you outside later and see whether there's still room for development?" Mobius licked her lips and revealed a captivating smile.

"Absolutely not!"

Hua answered without hesitation. Mobius would definitely put Fu Hua on an operating table. How many times had she personally gone through that? Wasn't it just because Mobius thought an honest person like her was easy to bully?

"Hua, your name outside is Fu Hua. As the executor of the Seed of Flame Project and the Crimson Heron Immortal of Divine Land, you protected this land. You took in several disciples, only to be betrayed by them in the end. You were stabbed several times, fell unconscious from severe injuries, and although the Hyper-dimensional Factor allowed you to recover, you lost the vast majority of your memories and strength. You then reached an agreement with Otto, the Bishop of Schicksal, carrying out shady missions in exchange for Otto's protection of Divine Land!" Zhang Wei gave a brief explanation.

Bang!

Chrono slammed his fist down on the stool, reducing it directly to powder. Zhang Wei paid it no mind. It was only a chair.

"Betrayal again! Those heartless beasts actually tried to assassinate their own master!" Chrono's voice brimmed with fury. Hua was family in his eyes, so the moment he heard that she had been treated this way, he could no longer contain himself.

"So this was what I went through..."

Hua let out a faint sigh, her expression extremely complicated. It was hard to say whether she felt grief or anger, but she truly was saddened, feeling that her own choices had not been worth it. The Garuda Factor could keep her from dying so easily, but losing most of her strength was enough to show just how vicious those worthless disciples of her original self had been. They had probably all gone straight for her head!

"Hmph, White Mouse, this is because you're far too kind-hearted!" Mobius snorted coldly, her expression equally unpleasant. The Flame-Chasers might have had their disagreements, but those were internal matters. Being bullied by outsiders was intolerable.

"Sister Hua must have been in so much pain..." Pardo's tail drooped as she spoke softly.

"What happened to Hua's disciples?" Kevin's voice was ice-cold, sending shivers down everyone's spine. The strongest of the Flame-Chasers was angry as well.

"They died, of course. They weren't Fusion Warriors. How could they have lived that long?" Zhang Wei spread his hands.

"What a pity," Extreme Evil Vill-V said disappointedly. If they were still alive, she had plenty of Fire Moth punishments for them to experience one by one.

"Extreme Evil, are you planning to dig up their graves to vent your anger?" Zhang Wei had not expected Extreme Evil to have a chance to come out instead of being suppressed by the other personalities.

"Huh?"

"That's actually a good idea. Let's do it—dig up their graves!" Extreme Evil Vill-V said excitedly.

"Ahem, just pretend you didn't hear what Extreme Evil said!" Conductor Vill-V appeared and gave a light cough. It had taken Great Magician and the others considerable effort to restrain the Extreme Evil personality.

Ever since they had listened to Zhang Wei's words and, on some strange impulse, lifted the seal last time, Extreme Evil had become impossible to suppress. She popped out from time to time, though she had not done anything too extreme, so they had all simply let it be.

Although digging up those graves would indeed feel rather satisfying, they would never truly do something like that.

"That certainly was a tumultuous experience. Hua, I'm sorry you had to endure so much," Eden said apologetically.

Her original self had remained on the land of the Previous Civilization and offered up her final song, while the heavy responsibility of the Seed of Flame Project had fallen upon Hua's shoulders.

"It's nothing. This was a trial my original self was destined to face. Being alive is already fortunate enough," Hua shook her head.

Zhang Wei's expression was a little strange. Hua—Fu Hua—really had terrible luck all the way until the end of the Honkai. One misfortune after another: either Otto shot her, or Kevin knocked her unconscious, and so on. It was hard to even know what to say.

"So Hua is currently working for Otto, the Bishop of Schicksal?" Elysia asked.

"Mm. As someone who ruled Schicksal for five hundred years, Otto's influence over the entire world is enormous," Zhang Wei nodded.

"Five hundred years? Interesting. Anyone who could come up with that use for Soulium isn't ordinary. He's deeply calculating. With White Mouse working for him, she might be sold off and still be helping Otto count his money!" Mobius curled her lips into a mocking smile.

Schicksal's scale was probably equivalent to Fire Moth in the Previous Civilization, though it was certainly more united than Fire Moth had been. That undoubtedly had much to do with Otto. Without sufficient means, Schicksal's complicated internal environment alone would have devoured him until he became nothing more than a puppet.

Thus, she could be certain that Otto possessed first-rate intelligence. Fu Hua, as unyielding as a block of wood, would be thoroughly manipulated. Once she lost her value or posed a threat to Otto, he would not go easy on her just because she had risked her life for him.

Still, Mobius wanted to meet Otto. She had a feeling that Otto would surely bring her quite a surprise.

"Surely it won't be that bad!"

Hua still defended her original self. Even if her original self no longer possessed her peak strength, she was not someone ordinary people could deal with.

The others all fell silent. Hua could be said to be the easiest among them to fool—or perhaps she was simply too straightforward. Otto sounded like an old fox, full of schemes. That Fu Hua might truly be manipulated from beginning to end.

Even Eden deeply regretted entrusting the Seed of Flame Project to Hua back then. Look what it had done to the poor girl.

Zhang Wei looked at Hua with considerable sympathy. You still don't understand yourself well enough.

The moment those words—"Crimson Heron Immortal, I wasn't lying"—were spoken, Otto would not care in the slightest about what you had done for him. As long as you stood in the way of reviving Kallen, even Kevin, whom he could not defeat, would be someone he racked his brains to find a way to scheme against.

But if you had a way to revive Kallen, even if it was merely an idea, Otto could worship you like his own father. He could even toss you the position of Bishop of Schicksal as though it were useless trash.

Hua understood the looks in their eyes and became depressed again, squatting off to the side. So this is what everyone thinks of me?

All of a sudden, dying in battle on the moon seemed preferable to surviving into the Current Civilization only to suffer. Life really was hard—the immortal was suffering.