Debate

As Feng Chen had expected, finding lilies blooming in a bamboo grove was perfectly normal. After all, the color of the bamboo grove seemed rather well matched with that green one.

However, this also proved something: Sakura's favorable impression of Kallen had surpassed Sakura's 300 favorability toward Feng Chen...

"System, was Kallen actually the perfect route for Sakura?"

"If it wasn't the perfect route, do you think Yae Sakura would have said that?"

That sentence? Feng Chen's heart trembled, and he fell silent.

"If there is a next life, let's go see the cherry blossoms together?"

"That idiot... In my eyes, she has always been a cherry blossom. Looking at her is just like looking at cherry blossoms. Why would we need a next life?"

Honkai itself had never expected Feng Chen to see things so clearly. Even she had never wondered why. After all, in her eyes, human love was merely a legitimate reason for doing certain indescribable things. Love between women might be pure love, but in the end, it would be forced to end prematurely by the surrounding environment.

"Can I leave now? I don't think I need to keep watching. Besides, my injuries seem to have improved somewhat."

His body and consciousness had already reestablished some connection, which meant that Feng Chen's physical burden was no longer so severe.

After all, recovering from a sixty-percent physical burden was still fairly quick, wasn't it?

"All right. As a reward for being able to see things clearly, I'll give you the third mission."

"Mission Three: Defeat Jizou Mitama and stop the Violet Heron Phantom Thief from stealing it.

--Mission Rewards: 1,000,000 Honkai Energy, Divine Key—Jizou Mitama, Special Instance—Stigmata World: Sakura Cycle."

"System, what's the difference between Stigmata World: Sakura Cycle and World in the Box: Sakura Cycle?"

"Of course there's a difference. The World in the Box is used to contain Jizou Mitama, while the one in the Stigmata World contains Yae Sakura's consciousness. You can think of it this way: the World in the Box is Tenshu-kaku, while Yae Village is in the Stigmata World. Combined, they form what the black box currently looks like."

"Since it's the Stigmata World... then what about the stigmata?"

"Of course the stigmata is Yae Sakura. Its abilities are Yae Sakura's three ultimate techniques: Dimensional Slash, Flash Slash, and Blade Return."

Although Feng Chen had never heard those three names before, he had seen them. He could guess from the name that Dimensional Slash was that invisible Sword Qi. Flash Slash was the sudden dash that created the illusion of something as fine as a mosquito's whisker. As for Blade Return, that was the technique Sakura had used to disrupt the Honkai Energy inside the Third Herrscher, wasn't it?

"Xiao Yun has a passive support ability called 'Clear Water, Still Mind.' Why doesn't Sakura have one?"

"As a Simulated Herrscher, Yae Sakura naturally has one. You simply can't learn it yet. You've seen that technique once, but you didn't pay attention to it. Don't worry. When you reach the highest level of Tenshu-kaku and face Jizou Mitama, Yae Sakura will definitely use it."

"Right, where should I get Sakura's stigmata? Sakura herself is already gone! This is only a wisp of her soul, so she shouldn't possess any stigmata, right?"

"You already have Yae Sakura's stigmata on you. Back then... Yae Sakura gave her stigmata to you. Otherwise, the poison couldn't have been neutralized."

"Then the stigmata..."

"Wait a moment. All right, I'm sending you back to Xiao Yun's Stigmata Space now."

After being teleported into the Stigmata Space, Feng Chen raised his head and immediately saw a huge mirror.

It turned out that a threefold magatama stigmata had appeared between Feng Chen's brows.

"Is this Sakura's stigmata...? System, can you make it disappear?"

"I can, but why hide it?"

"I just don't want anyone else to see it. After all, it's rather important to me."

"What an interesting human... No, you possess a Herrscher's body, yet still have human thoughts. You aren't controlled by a Herrscher personality, but you are influenced by a human personality. You aren't bewitched by a Herrscher's immense power, yet you loathe humanity's evil deeds. Can you tell me why?"

"People make mistakes, and only then can they change." This was a line from Mencius, one Feng Chen used to encourage himself whenever he made a mistake.

"Honkai is the will of the world. When the world decides that humanity's actions have caused a tremendous negative impact on it, it will take the initiative to destroy human civilization again and again."

"So you chose people who harbored resentment toward humanity's wrongdoings, turned them into Herrschers, and then had them destroy this world."

"But there are also Herrschers who chose to protect this world, aren't there? Besides, humanity isn't afraid of Herrschers at all anymore. The bishop of Schicksal even wants to control my power through a Herrscher."

"He can't do it." After nearly two months together, Feng Chen had gradually grasped Honkai's true strength.

Calling her GOD was absolutely no exaggeration.

Even if all the Herrschers were gathered into a single person, they probably still couldn't stand against her.

And that was assuming all the Herrschers were complete, rather than the incomplete Herrschers that existed in this civilization.

"Because he has never experienced such an overwhelming gap in strength, he thinks his plan is flawless. In reality, it's full of holes."

"Oh? Such as?"

"You said yourself that the Kiana we encountered before was a clone. So why did Siegfried raise that clone? I can't be certain, but I can make a guess: Siegfried had already figured out Otto's plan. He wanted to take the clone away and disrupt Otto's plans, and may even have considered killing her. As for why he didn't, it might have been because she looked somewhat like his daughter."

"Good. That's one point. What else?"

"And how could the Alliance Leader of Anti-Entropy not know about the clone's existence? You said that the Alliance Leader of Anti-Entropy had fought the Second Herrscher. There's no way he wouldn't recognize that kind of Honkai Energy. If Schicksal could detect the Honkai Energy here, Anti-Entropy certainly could too."

"Without me telling you about the clone and Siegfried's story, you were able to analyze so much. No wonder you're the one I chose."

Honkai applauded, seemingly without the slightest doubt about Feng Chen's analysis.

"Now I can tell you one thing, host. Did you know? The Black Abyss White Flower in Cecilia Schariac's hands is called the Herrscher Killer. But you should pay attention to one point: if the Herrscher Killer can even kill Herrschers, why can't it turn on its wielder? What's more, Cecilia herself has already become part of the Herrscher Killer. Oh, right. I don't think I've told you this before: Siegfried and Cecilia are husband and wife, and their daughter is named Kiana Kaslana."

"The combination of the Herrscher Killer and Kaslana... Then the real Kiana should also possess some factors related to the Herrscher Killer. And Siegfried gave her the name Kiana Kaslana... What was his intention?"

"I can't answer that. Human thoughts are far too complicated. I hate them."

Honkai shrugged, indicating that she didn't know either.