Yuno, Did You Pay for the Cream Puffs?

Satou Yunona was very angry.

She pouted her unnaturally red lips, looked at the hamburger in her hand, and said:

"Why is this so spicy?!"

The warning signs next to the shop window were clearly visible.

However, the little girl, whose common sense hadn't been fully absorbed by her Honkai Consciousness, had already entered a state of illiteracy, which led her to be unaware that the spiciness of the hamburger in her hand was unusual.

The Honkai Consciousness naturally felt no guilt, but in order to keep Satou Yunona in a good mood and accelerate the integration between her powers and soul, it still responded:

[There's water and cola nearby, sweet cream puffs in the cupboard, and ice cream in the mini-fridge.]

The girl's jewel-like eyes instantly sparkled, and her anger vanished in an instant. But then, with a hint of hesitation, she said:

"Won't I get diarrhea if I eat it all? It's spicy, sweet, and icy."

[You are Herrscher, not a human. You don't need to concern yourself with those common-sense human rules.]

Satou Yunona muttered resentfully in a low voice:

"Gods, you big liar! My sense of taste is exactly the same as a human's; my lips are swollen from the spiciness!"

As she spoke, she reluctantly put down the hamburger in her hand.

The girl then pulled the tab on the can. Listening to the crisp sound of the bubbles, she tilted her head, as if she was curious about this drink that she could only vaguely recall.

Satou Yunona took a sip of her carbonated soda.

Immediately, the bubbles spread on the tip of the tongue, stimulating a refreshing tart sensation, while the cool liquid soothes the senses.

The little girl looked comfortable, happily sipping her cola.

After a while, the pain from the spiciness finally subsided considerably after drinking half a can of cola.

Satou Yunona sat properly in the chair where the shop assistant should have been, glancing guiltily at the silent Zombie beside her.

After staring at the Zombie for a while and confirming that she had no reaction, she quietly reached out her fingertip, picked up a piece of cream puff, and quickly stuffed it into her lips.

This scene looks exactly like a small animal stealing food.

The soft, flaky pastry, broken open by a bite, revealed cool, creamy filling. This smooth, sweet texture made the little girl's eyes squint, like a kitten that had just been stroked.

She clenched her small fists and muttered to herself:

"Tasty!"

Therefore, the Honkai Consciousness's recommendation for her to travel and enjoy nature was temporarily shelved.

The great Third Herrscher has been successfully trapped in this bakery.

The journey to find Satou Yunona was truly full of twists and turns.

Whether it's to gain an advantage in an inevitable battle or to avoid directly provoking strong hostility from the opponent, the search effectiveness of [momentum] must be greatly reduced.

The boy used his Void Sword Qi to detect the Honkai Energy fluctuations left behind by his opponent along the way, trying to find his trace.

However, [Thousand Stars]'s normal speed seems to be on a completely different level from the opponent's.

The Honkai Energy particles in that open space were unstable and volatile, as if they had just been born. However, Su Qing'an's ability to detect the soul aura within a few kilometers showed a blank, and he could not detect the other party's location at all.

This power... is definitely different in nature from the Yuno once possessed.

The combat power of Pseudo-Herrscher can undergo drastic changes and magnitudes depending on the opponent's mental state, personality, intelligence, and specific powers.

The boy had no idea of the limits that the pseudo -Herrscher Authority could reach, meaning that the strength of Satou Yunona, whom he was about to face, was likely completely beyond any reference point based on the past.

This is tricky.

However, there is still an upper limit.

The superiority of the Soul Essence is enough to give Su Qing'an a huge advantage when dealing with adversaries who possess a soul.

In pure combat, the boy has the confidence to take the initiative and subdue his opponent.

The loss of the original healing power means that the threat of assassination will become infinitely greater.

Let alone Pseudo-Herrscher, even real Herrscher, if their physical attributes and weaknesses are unrelated to this, are still subject to the limits of human nature.

A broken heart will kill you, a broken neck will kill you, excessive blood loss will kill you, and being cut in half at the waist will also kill you.

Unlike the thick-skinned Honkai Beast, the defensive capabilities of the Pseudo-Herrscher and Herrscher, aside from their powers, are no different from those of ordinary people.

Based on these weaknesses, Su Qing'an successfully created space to negotiate with the Herrscher's consciousness upon first meeting, giving him the possibility of finding a loophole in the other party's will.

Of course, given that Satou Yunona's power allows her to increase her speed to a level that [Thousand Stars] can only dream of, the preemptive strike approach has likely already failed.

But since Su Qing'an dared to come alone at such great risk, the simple plan of brute force education and talk therapy is clearly not the whole story.

After initially learning to utilize the Soul Essence, he had imagined whether, in the future where souls continue to accumulate, he could use this power to directly sever the link between the Honkai Consciousness and the Herrscher himself.

At that time, as long as the Honkai Consciousness is forcibly severed, many unnecessary tragedies will naturally be resolved.

Since there was no specific reference point, Su Qing'an herself was unsure whether she was capable of doing it now.

But since it's only Pseudo-Herrscher, perhaps the chances are quite high.

At least back in Changkong City, the dream the boy experienced had little effect on him, which is enough to prove that the level that the Honkai Consciousness can demonstrate after leaving the battlefield has its own tangible limits.

This tangible upper limit provided Su Qing'an with the foundation for his plan, but only after actually meeting the other party would he truly understand the difficulties involved.

But...

At that time, both fighting and words will lose their meaning.

All I can do is beat you until you disconnect.

A chilling wind swept around him, and the boy's figure vanished in an instant. The sonic boom arrived late and crashed down, creating a series of ear-piercing sounds, with its unrestrained aftershocks sweeping across the earth.

[Thousand Stars] transcended the Heat Barrier and the sound barrier in the blink of an eye during its activation.

Satou Yunona's speed made Su Qing'an realize that if he didn't show some strength, he might not even have a chance to face her directly.

The surface circulation barrier formed by Honkai Energy continuously shatters and regenerates, the skin on the surface feels slightly hot, and the muscles spasm, accompanied by a burning pain that creates a hallucination.

At this speed, without extremely high physical abilities and a Honkai Energy shield, it's common sense that the body would be annihilated by the heat generated at high speed.

Compared to a [Time Cutter] that ends in a fleeting moment, this kind of rushing actually consumes more of one's mental energy.

This is why Su Qing'an insisted on finding a vehicle before daring to set off. The situation to consider when traveling at high speeds with people is far too complicated, while driving eliminates many of these concerns.

Five minutes later.

Su Qing'an's steps stopped at the tallest skyscraper in Canghai City.

He stood on the rooftop, silently gazing at the endless, white sea of clouds, feeling a sense of unease.

Firstly, unless the opponent, seemingly bored, launched an attack high enough to pierce through the sea of clouds, then this can only prove that Satou Yunona...

She can fly.

The physiological structure of the Pseudo-Herrscher is not significantly different from that of humans on a physical level.

Therefore, this situation can currently only be attributed to Honkai Energy manipulation and authority.

The former possibility can be ruled out. To truly control this level of Honkai Energy, even one must abandon all burdens and concerns and fully unleash the true power of the Mirror Realm.

For a newly born Pseudo-Herrscher fights solely on instinct to achieve this, it would be reasonable to rely solely on related powers.

Regardless of the answer, Su Qing'an is starting to feel a headache coming on. He has the illusion that he's playing hide-and-seek with human cubs.

Moreover, this human cub's normal speed is above Mach 3, it can fly freely, and it is also very lively and active.

It was like a tourist attraction, constantly changing its location and address, making it extremely difficult for Su Qing'an, who was tracking it, to even catch a glimpse of the other party.

In fact, the fact that Su Qing'an was able to keep up with the speed of the Third Herrscher in such a short time without even using his full strength is enough to prove that Su Qing'an himself is not normal.

But the boy, who was unaware that Satou Yunona Herrscher, approached this encounter with even greater caution, unsure of its eventual outcome.

Ten minutes later.

The boy stared at the remnants of snacks and half-eaten chocolates scattered all over the Ferris wheel and fell silent.

The dismantled hatch silently testifies to how foolish the other party's methods of leaving and entering were.

Are you going on a picnic?

Thirty minutes later.

Su Qing'an sat in a corner of the arcade, rubbing her temples helplessly.

Finding the other person was far more difficult than I initially imagined. If the child had stayed quietly at school and not run around, the matter might have been settled by now.

But now...

The boy glanced around at the mostly smoking, black-screened game consoles and the several joysticks broken off from the ground, and guessed what had happened.

The pseudo- Herrscher Persona created by the Honkai Consciousness this time is clearly an idiot.

Satou Yunona herself is not like that...

No, I seem to recall the other person deliberately avoiding playing games.

Her hobbies lean towards watching dramas and reading books, and she consistently declines game invitations, so who knows, she might actually be a complete gaming idiot at heart.

But to the point of causing destruction out of anger is clearly not something the other party would do.

Su Qing'an abandoned that thought.

Expecting the other party to fight back their Honkai Consciousness under such circumstances is clearly wishful thinking.

Satou Yunona probably couldn't resist the erosion of the Honkai Consciousness.

Although the specifics of what happened are unknown, her behavior this time was clearly somewhat unusual.

First, she possessed entirely different and unknown powers.

Secondly, his seemingly irritable behavior is different from the normal reactions of Pseudo-Herrscher and Herrscher to the outside world.

She tries to make some contact with human civilization, seems to have some interest in playing video games, and also likes to eat snacks.

Regarding this, Su Qing'an even suspected that the other person might be carrying a bag filled with snacks, because he had seen identical snack remnants and another half-eaten chocolate in the arcade's trash can.

By the way, this chocolate has a different flavor than the one I saw last time; this one is raspberry.

Aside from this small detail, there's something else that's strange.

That is, although there was trash everywhere inside the Ferris wheel cabin, Satou Yunona actually threw the remnants of her snacks into the trash cans where there were, which made her seem inexplicably well-behaved and obedient.

It's like a primary school student being led by their teacher to visit various tourist attractions.

She would wear a little yellow hat, carry a backpack full of snacks on her back, and keep her hands obediently on the backpack straps. She would occasionally want to throw a tantrum, but she would remember her parents' advice and hold back her emotions.

She will consciously abide by the rules that have been carefully explained, but she is very capricious about things outside of her understanding. Finally, she is also very curious about any tourist attractions.

Su Qing'an was indulging in this somewhat amusing analogy, while her body slowly began to recover from its overexertion.

In the still chilly season, the boy was surrounded by rising mist, and his skin gradually returned to a crystal-clear white within three minutes, from a blood-red hue.

Just as a machine pushed to its limit is doused with a large amount of coolant to prevent it from crashing, Su Qing'an also needs to do the same to ensure that his physical strength and bodily functions are still at their peak when he meets his opponent.

When facing an unknown enemy, he must perform at his absolute best in the instant they meet in order to quickly gain a short-term advantage; only in this way can he possibly achieve his goal.

Five minutes later, without activating [Thousand Stars], the boy leisurely walked to the mall about one kilometer away from the arcade.

Su Qing'an stood silently at the entrance of the mall, where he could clearly sense Satou Yunona's soul aura inside.

This was the first time he had come so close to the simulated Satou Yunona. Her soul aura had not changed in essence, but it seemed to have undergone a strange twist, becoming more profound and elusive.

He had never possessed the ability to understand the aura of a soul before, so whether the changes in the girl's soul now are a normal phenomenon after being simulated remains a mystery.

Although the other party didn't know why they stayed there, it certainly made things much more convenient for me.

Otherwise, this endless pursuit would continue for who knows how long.

Su Qing'an stepped onto the now-defunct escalator and walked to the corner of the second floor, in front of the third bakery.

The scene that came into view far exceeded my original expectations.

Satou Yunona's appearance has undergone a drastic change, appearing as a slightly older girl, a sight never seen in the previous timeline.

Her original emerald eyes were transformed into a pure hyacinth purple, and her figure and height showed signs of aging.

But compared to this...

Watching the little girl stuff cream puffs into her pink backpack, Su Qing'an said quietly:

"Yuno, did you pay for your cream puff?"