Lies, Fakes, Everyday Life.

Half a week has passed since we first met.

Seele becoming the Sixth Herrscher doesn't seem to have affected Fu Hua's normal interactions with her. Perhaps this experience has made the young girl even more doting on her, to the point that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it indulgence in many ways.

The shadow of the Herrscher did not possess the same demonic terror and distortion as that of ordinary people for Fu Hua, who was at the third level of the Void Sword Qi. Apart from her unique basic power, the keen senses and intuition she gained from it made her extremely sensitive to danger.

When Fu Hua first met the little girl, she perceived her as completely harmless in terms of good and evil. However, even though she understood that the little girl meant no harm, she could still vaguely sense that the little girl was indeed very different from the one she had met before.

For example, the Honkai Energy naturally surrounds and draws close to it, as well as the subtle wavelengths within its small body that seem to condense thousands of Honkai Energy reactors pulsating together, and the terrifying sense of crisis that occasionally flashes through the nerves like an electric current, numbing the consciousness.

Referring to the case of the Third Herrscher being born and complaining that she couldn't walk very well, but could easily fly and run around, and combining this with Seele's recent incident of feeling like she was stepping into the void when walking up the stairs, we can conclude that Herrscher instinctively use Honkai Energy to amplify their bodies.

All of these are merely the most basic bodily functions of Herrscher. The situation that Fu Hua can perceive right now is probably the result of the other party not acknowledging their identity and subconsciously suppressing their bodily instincts.

For ordinary people, it's incredibly difficult to approach someone with a completely normal attitude.

The better one's Honkai Energy literacy, the more one can perceive the inhumanity and omnipresent danger emanating from Seele Fulei.

Fu Hua should have been among the people who found it hardest to suppress her instinctive fears, because her Honkai Energy cultivation was unique. However, the refinement of the Sword Heart Technique and the existence of the Mind Lake acted like a filter, allowing her to consciously control and filter out some unnecessary distracting thoughts and emotions.

This ability is essentially the Mind's Mind's Eye realm in martial arts, corresponding to the State of Still Water when the Sword Heart is first formed. And after the Void Sword Qi reaches a higher level, the corresponding micro-management can also be refined.

For example, by filtering out the body's instinctive fear of the Herrscher and retaining only the intuition to observe the other party's emotions, one can get along perfectly and normally while retaining a keen awareness of crises.

While it doesn't possess the divine version of the State of Still Water that can forcibly suppress all emotions and enter a perfect state of mind, it still has a surprisingly good effect in this situation.

And it is precisely because of this that Fu Hua can better understand that it is really difficult for a normal human with adequate Honkai Energy literacy to have a friendly relationship with Seele.

Even for myself, if I hadn't cultivated the Void Sword Qi and only possessed excellent Honkai Energy aptitude, I would probably find it very difficult to maintain our current relationship.

This has nothing to do with personal feelings or prejudice; it's a matter of bodily instinct.

Even if Dr. Mei believes that the Herrscher's physiological functions can still be classified as human, the elements of Honkai and interference are things outside of those functions.

Putting a normal human in the same room with Seele and having a friendly conversation is practically like conducting some kind of special training that goes against the body's instincts.

Even if one is trained in Virtual Pod to the point of remaining calm in the face of tsunamis and avalanches, it is not certain that one can maintain a normal mindset when facing Herrscher, a life form that seems completely different from oneself.

After all, no matter how much training you do, the dangers in the Virtual Pod are still illusory, and that will never change, but reality remains reality.

From this perspective, Fu Hua greatly admired Dr. Mei, whom Seele had mentioned.

The other person was the first to meet Seele when she had just become Herrscher, and it is said that they gently comforted the little girl at the time.

In a sense, this courage, decisiveness, and willpower far surpass those of battle-hardened soldiers.

In the girl's mind, professions like researcher and scientist are noble and arduous, but not the kind of profession that would grind a person down to the point of making them go against their instincts.

Dr. Mei, who is almost always at the forefront of global attention, may not only possess talent worthy of the title, but also an extraordinary willpower that is hard to match.

Fu Hua began to doubt whether the rumors circulating outside that Mei had been sleeping no more than three hours a day since the Great Honkai were true.

Because in a sense, this high-intensity work pattern also goes against human instincts, following this logic, ignoring instinctive warnings and treating Herrscher normally... seems quite normal?

On this warm afternoon, the girl's thoughts undoubtedly became somewhat leisurely. She sat upright, her back unconsciously straightening gracefully, and her blue eyes were slightly lowered, gazing at her beautiful hair, which appeared even more tangerine blue in the sunlight.

These silky strands of hair, like the first strokes of color on a blank sheet of paper, are reflected in the pupils and intertwine with the slender, fair-skinned fingers to create unrestrained lines.

Fu Hua glanced at the little girl resting her head on her lap, a slight smile playing on her lips.

She pinched the other person's cheek, but then looked at the home's interior and layout, which remained unchanged.

An elegant vase sits on the coffee table beside the leather sofa. The bouquet inside has been trimmed, secured, and arranged in a specific order, resulting in a symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing arrangement.

This was a fresh bouquet that Su Qing'an had picked from the garden downstairs that morning, demonstrating that her flower arranging skills, honed at the St. Freya Academy, were still impeccable; the ever-dust-free clock and the calendar in front of the machine cabinet continued their daily cycle; the robot vacuum cleaner made its usual rustling noises in the room; the news was playing on the television...

All the details seem to be the same as they were a few weeks ago, but in reality, the garden was destroyed once due to the birth of the Herrscher of Death, and the current garden is the result of a hastily replanted garden overnight.

Clocks, calendars, and robot vacuums are all equipped with trigger-based Honkai Energy sensing systems. They will sound an alarm as soon as they are disconnected from the port, thus indirectly breaking the interference effect of Honkai Energy.

All news content, animated shorts, and films have been implicitly screened and reviewed to ensure that no film or information that could cause negative effects appears before the Sixth Herrscher.

These things, which seem to have no impact on quality of life or daily routines, are like underground streams lurking among the snow-blue mountains, exuding a silent chill.

The girl looked out the window following the curve of the swaying flower branches. The ancient trees with their lush foliage were verdant and the garden stretching as far as the eye could see was a riot of color. And if you looked further up, you would see a magnificent view with clear skies and light clouds.

The simulated scenes in Soul Steel Prison can completely deceive the human eye; even someone with abnormal physical functions like Su Qing'an wouldn't be able to detect many flaws.

For Seele, apart from having to go to the research institute near the villa every day, her life is almost no different from usual.

The girl is a homebody; when no one was home, she would almost always be happily playing duo queue with Prometheus.

Although Seele's skills and awareness were almost entirely lacking, having a super AI as a teammate made the game experience quite good, which led her to enjoy PVP games for a while.

After Fu Hua came to keep her company, the little girl gradually played this game less and less.

--Because it cannot be paused at any time.

Seele rubbed against the girl's smooth thigh, her cheek pressed against the cool skin. She held her phone in both hands, her deep blue eyes fixed on the CG completion rate displayed on the galgame interface, revealing a regretful expression.

While Prometheus could directly unlock all the CGs to 100%, that would make the game dull and unremarkable.

Fu Hua withdrew her gaze from the scenery outside, glancing at the strange image on the other person's screen. Her gaze immediately shifted, and her fair face flushed a pale pink, her lips moving slightly as she asked in a calm tone:

"Seele... what game are you playing?"

The little girl's light blue hair draped over the corner of her nightgown. Upon hearing this, she shook her head, her expression momentarily becoming subtle, but quickly returning to her innocent and bewildered look.

She spoke those devilish words with utmost seriousness:

"I don't know either. My brother said he was worried I'd be bored by myself, so he copied all the game data from his terminal to Seele."

Seele bypassed the screen full of images and character portraits sealed with holy light, her slender fingertip precisely pointing to the 81% displayed in the corner of the screen, explaining:

"Look, Sister Hua, only this game's gallery doesn't have all the CGs unlocked, so I'm trying to help my brother play through it a few more times. That way, all the dozens of games in there will be unlocked."

Dozens of games like this?!

For a moment, Fu Hua's heart was greatly shaken, but she immediately realized that it actually made perfect sense.

Master Su... is a normal adult male who is still in his adolescence.

Recalling the short essays she had read on the forum, Yuno's enthusiastic explanations, and Carole's daily boasting, Fu Hua's mind was caught in a strange vortex, unable to pull her attention out. The discovery of her crush's fetish caused her attention and judgment to falter.

This prevented the girl from noticing something amiss in the little girl's upturned smile.

Fu Hua suppressed the strange restlessness in her heart. Looking at Seele raising her head as if seeking praise, she tapped her forehead with her fingertip and asked, seemingly casually:

"... What type of CG does he like?"

Upon hearing Seele, Seele's mind went blank for a moment.

Oh no, why would Sister Hua ask such an unexpectedly suggestive question?

She glanced at the scene on her phone screen, completely obscured by holy light, and thought wistfully, "Is this what they mean by 'ignorance is bliss'?"

If Sister Hua finds out too much, she'll definitely give herself away to her brother, so let's just brush it off for now.

So Seele Fulei answered seriously:

"The fact that my brother can play these games means he likes them all."

The girl paused, her moist lips slightly parted:

"Why?"

Seele tossed her phone aside, then wrapped her arms around the other person's slender waist in a coquettish manner, and complained softly:

"My brother cooked green peppers for me a few days ago, that was really mean."

Fu Hua pinched the little girl's cheek helplessly, wondering why Seele seemed to be more obedient in front of Su Qing'an, but preferred to act coquettishly in front of her.

But that's not a problem at all; becoming Herrscher doesn't diminish the little girl's cuteness.

She lowered her face, casually brushing aside a stray strand of hair, and Mind's Eye whispered a warning in Seele's ear:

"If he hears this, he might chop up all the green peppers and secretly put them into all the dishes."

"???"

Seele's head, which was buried in the girl's waist, stiffened. She cautiously peeked out half of her face, her eyes fixed on the other girl with a resentful look.

Fu Hua smiled and said:

"He can be Mind's Eye at times."

The little girl recalled the cruel scene of being forced to eat green peppers obediently for a strange reason a while ago, and protested somewhat weakly:

"My brother wouldn't go that far."

Her fingertips ran through Seele's orange-blue hair, and a smile played on her lips as she asked:

"So confident?"

The little girl released her grip on Fu Hua's arm, grabbed her phone, curled up in the corner of the sofa, and stared intently at the gray-haired girl dozing on the phone screen. She said seriously:

"Sister Hua is so mean, so Seele wants to play games now."

Then they began to change the clothes of the innocent Prometheus.

But after only a moment, Seele couldn't help but gently touch the girl's exposed thigh with her white-socked foot, and whispered:

"Is my brother working today too?"

Fu Hua responded softly:

"Yes, recently, Emperor-class Honkai Beast continue to be spawned at a frenzied pace, and cities in various regions have all been attacked to varying degrees."

She grabbed the little girl's foot and, in the brief moment the girl froze, carefully put on the sock that had been half-off, and continued:

"So he's been working really hard lately, but didn't Su Qing'an ask me to come keep you company not long before he left? Even so, Seele still feels lonely."

She was silent for a moment, but honestly chose not to deny it, and said with a slight pout:

"A little bit."

For some reason, I've been acting all cute and affectionate around Fu Hua lately.

Essentially, this stems from the birth environment's yearning for and lack of maternal love, coupled with the Fu Hua is the only woman among her closest relatives, which unintentionally led to the current situation.

However, this attitude will still be restrained to a certain extent, making the girl, as the one being coaxed, feel both surprised and adorable.

Seele might be more attached to Master Su than you might imagine.

Thinking this, she rested her chin on her hand, looked at the other person, and smiled, saying:

"What if I told you that Qiluo and Pepper would come to see Seele together today?"

Upon hearing this, the little girl's disappointment vanished, and her beautiful eyes seemed to brighten considerably. But then she hesitated, asking:

"Are you really... okay?"

"Won't Sister Qiluo and Sister Pepper dislike me?"

"I've worked in the branch's logistics department, so I know that everyone really, really hates Herrscher."

Fu Hua said softly:

"They really couldn't accept it at first."

Before Seele could show any sign of sadness, she continued:

"But that was just a struggle against my own preconceived notions, and a feeling of sadness for Seele's plight."

"If Pepper and Qiluo really couldn't accept it, then they wouldn't have chosen to come see you, right?"

"They really want to see you, and they've decided that even if it means overcoming their preconceived notions, they'll still come."

"Would Seele not welcome them?"

The little girl shook her head vigorously, then raised her face and said earnestly:

"I welcome everyone to come see me, and I'm glad that you're still willing to come see me like this."

The girl pinched her cheek and smiled.

"Then let's wait a bit, they're already outside."

Carole gazed at the scene outside the Soul Steel Prison. The view, as cold and solemn as mercury, seemed to cover her vision. From the outside, it truly lived up to the name of a prison. She had heard that the Soul Steel reserves outside had been under emergency mobilization for the past few weeks, in the hope of perfectly sealing the Sixth Herrscher with the greatest possible guarantee.

She exchanged a glance with Shiyu Qiluo beside her, and at the same time covered the surface of the soul steel with her palm. The solid steel seemed to transform into some kind of soft substance the moment it sensed the human body temperature, and the clear palm lines seemed to be connected to some kind of switch.

Prometheus's intelligent module glanced at this spot, and after confirming the other party's identity, issued a command, successfully separating the barrier formed by the soul steel like flowing water.

Apart from the gift they brought for Seele, the two, who were completely empty-handed, successfully continued their journey after passing through numerous checkpoints.

The fact that Dr. Mei was also present made any review seem reasonable, which in a sense is one of the reasons why the higher-ups were willing to approve resources so readily.

Along the way, there was almost nothing familiar in sight. The vast amount of soul steel, like flowing liquid, naturally extended into a dark road that blocked out all sight, making it impossible to see a single ray of sunlight from the outside world. In fact, this Soul Steel Prison truly could not allow any sunlight to shine in.

What appeared to the two girls was an end that seemed perpetually dark, while a soft, silvery-white light illuminated their vision, yet it exerted an even more eerie psychological pressure.

It's hard to imagine how uncomfortable Seele would feel if she were imprisoned in such a world for an extended period of time.

This thought made the two of them unconsciously quicken their pace. In reality, the path that Seele took to the research institute was almost always pre-constructed with Soul Steel to simulate a path filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers, striving to complete every detail to the greatest extent possible so that the other party would not even realize that they were being imprisoned.

The current issue of their treatment is entirely due to Prometheus's judgment that it was unnecessary, so he simply revealed the most primitive Soul Steel Tunnel.

Ten minutes later.

They walked to a familiar door, and their fingerprints easily unlocked the villa's door. Shiyu Qiluo and Carole took a few deep breaths before finally pushing the door open and entering.

As the door slid open, a flood of sunlight, accompanied by a gentle breeze, rushed in. The girl who came into view, her face backlit, was somewhat indistinct. Her orange-blue hair swayed in delicate, uneven arcs, and her lips parted slightly, as if to say:

Welcome back.