Back then—
Hokuto had solemnly gathered them to brainstorm a thousand different nas for the puppets.
Ideally, each puppet would also have its own backstory.
All just to replicate the concept of "1,000 distinct souls" as faithfully as possible.
At the ti, everyone was shocked by Hokuto's proposal.
Wasn't that a bit too much?!
Would players even care about this?
Still, despite their surprise, they took the task seriously and helped Hokuto complete the full set of puppet designs with both quality and quantity in mind.
As Hokuto put it:
Even if it only improves the player experience by a tiny bit—it's still worth it.
Thinking back to that,
Kiana couldn't help but sigh, "The way he polishes the details… sotis it feels a bit over the top."
"Kiana's evaluation of 'Mr. Otto' sure is high."
Elysia smiled, lips pressed together.
"But I do think 'Mr. Otto' really does deserve that kind of praise."
Hearing Kiana and Elysia's comnts, the stream chat exploded with questions about what kind of person 'Mr. Otto' was in real life to earn such unanimous praise.
But Elysia didn't intend to answer.
She continued progressing the main story.
i and Raven exited the Theater of Domination and returned to reality.
They looked completely at ease.
Naturally, players imdiately thought back to Bronya's experience in the Theater.
No comparison, no pain.
The gap between a fully awakened Herrscher and an incomplete one... was imnse.
Or maybe—i was just that strong now?
After coming out,
i spoke about what had happened inside: "Just now, the puppet used the power of the Herrscher of Sentience."
Raven responded quickly, "I saw it too. Want to look into it for you?"
"Mm..."
Even though they had parted ways,
Even though World Serpent never spoke of them again,
i still deeply cared about them.
Perhaps, just as the saying goes—
For those who always keep the hope of "reunion" in their hearts, they were never truly separated to begin with.
Moving on from that topic,
i analyzed the situation again.
She suspected the Herrscher of Domination had found a thod to bypass Herrscher cores and seize powers.
It was like diverting the water from your ho into their own reservoir—
And still making you pay the water bill.
The condition for triggering this ability likely had sothing to do with the puppets deliberately provoking Herrschers into using their powers.
"Raven, can I trouble you to take this puppet back for now?"
"Of course, but could you tell what you plan to do?"
"There's sothing I must confirm... personally."
...
That stage ended on i's loaded statent.
Clicking into the next stage—
To verify Dr. Einstein's theory, Fu Hua and Theresa disguised themselves as students and infiltrated a university suspected to be where the first Herrscher of Domination once worked as a dical professor.
However, as they were about to enter, they encountered so trouble.
The campus security guard stopped them.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa—you're at the wrong place."
"Hm?" Theresa tilted her head, surprised.
Fu Hua also asked, "The wrong place? This gate doesn't lead in?"
The guard shook his head and pointed across the street.
"No, no. This is the university. The elentary school's across the road."
"Elen...!?"
Theresa's eyes went wide, frozen in place and unable to respond.
[Hahahahahahahaha]
["The elentary school is across the road"]
[Official clowning—Theresa's vision just went black]
[Mr. Security, do you want to learn about the different uses of the Oath of Judah?]
[A forty-sothing child and a thirty-year-old uncle?]
...
The stream chat went into full ltdown.
Even Kiana, who had been composed all day, lost it at this scene.
"Pfft—Auntie really is... the sa in-ga and IRL."
"Hmm?"
Elysia perked up with interest.
"Theresa's encountered this in real life too?"
"Yep." Kiana answered without thinking.
"Auntie doesn't even need to—"
Bang!
A soft thud echoed.
Kiana looked up and saw Theresa—who had been spectating from outside the recording area—jump up and get tackled by soone trying to hold her back.
She promptly went quiet.
Even though Kiana didn't finish her sentence,
Elysia understood everything.
"Well..."
Elysia tried to speak in Theresa's defense.
"Maybe it's sothing to be envious of? Lots of girls wish to stay unchanged forever."
"True, but Auntie's... a little too small." Kiana replied carefully.
Elysia agreed:
"Mm, yes. Small is cute, but just a little bigger wouldn't hurt."
"Like in the ga—clearly a grown-up, yet mistaken for a grade-schooler... pfft~~"
She couldn't finish before laughing again.
"..."
"Elysia, if you don't want Theresa to co after you when the stream ends..."
Hiko gestured toward the outside with her chin.
"...you'd better stop right there."
"Mm."
Elysia blinked.
She obediently tapped the ga screen.
Although Theresa was fuming over being mistaken for a grade-schooler,
So as not to interfere with the mission,
She claid to be Fu Hua's little sister and said she was here for a campus tour.
Technically speaking, it wasn't too big a stretch—Fu Hua was over 50,000 years old, after all.
Successfully blending in,
The two entered the university and found the target professor's office.
They rummaged through the room.
They discovered signs that the professor was under considerable financial pressure.
Just as they were about to keep looking—
A carelessly discarded notebook in the corner caught Fu Hua's eye.
Fu Hua picked it up and flipped through it with Theresa.
The early entries were fairly normal—
Mundane life notes, complaints about economic stress, and accumulated negative emotions.
Until—
[Last night, I dread of a theater... It was huge, but empty. I vaguely heard a voice saying I belonged there. That everyone belonged there.]
[I dread of the theater again. I danced and sang onstage... Maybe I should see a psychiatrist. Strange thing is—I want to dream about that theater again...]
From that point onward, every entry beca more and more incoherent.
[I think I slept the whole day yesterday. No mory of it. But when I woke up... a wooden version of myself was sitting in front of .]
[...Welco to the Theater of Domination, soone in my dream said. No, wait—that sounded like my own voice, like I was talking to myself...?]
The content suddenly turned bizarre.
Assimilation. Transformation. Distortion.
It exuded a surreal, indescribable tone.
The stream chat was flooded with comnts like "Creepy" and "Feels like an urban legend."
Even Elysia rubbed her goosebumped arms and said:
"Man, I wish the scriptwriter would write a cuter story soti."
Of course, cute stories do exist.
Take Elysia's own childhood—that was practically a fairytale.
The daughter of the stars and moon, traveling across the land like a picture book heroine...
Later, Fu Hua and Theresa decided to split up.
While Fu Hua was on her way to security to ask about so details,
A puppet suddenly approached her.
But of course, Fu Hua had nothing to discuss with a puppet.
The two imdiately engaged in combat.
Despite being unable to use Herrscher powers,
Fu Hua still beat the puppet easily.
It tried to flee, only to be caught and restrained by Theresa using the Oath of Judah.
Things were going smoothly.
But...
"This is going too smoothly. It's unsettling... They don't care about sacrificing comrades or themselves. It's like they're really just puppets..."
Theresa muttered.
Elysia had a feeling there were many hidden clues in this chapter.
"If only Mobius were here."
[Don't only think of at tis like this.]
"Oh my, Mobius, you are here."
Elysia sohow magically spotted a certain snake in the chat.
Still, it was surprising that Mobius was watching the Honkai Impact 3rd stream.
Or maybe not? Maybe the other Fla-Chasers were watching too. They were all fans, after all.
"I think of you at all kinds of tis—whenever there's sothing fun or tasty I want to share, mmm... as long as you're not against it."
The two just had very different understandings of the word "interesting."
[...]
[Maybe these puppets really are just puppets—the real Herrscher of Domination hasn't appeared yet.]
"The real Herrscher of Domination?" Elysia asked.
[Yes. To in-ga characters, it was just a line Theresa said. But to us players with a God's-eye view, it's clearly a deliberate hint from the scriptwriter—a narrative foreshadowing.]
Mobius's analysis was next-level.
"But if there's a puppet master behind them, doesn't that contradict the idea that the Herrscher of Domination is a collective?" Elysia asked again.
[...Maybe the scriptwriter just forgot. Who knows.]
At that mont, Kiana blinked beside her.
Of course, having read the rest of the story, she knew it wasn't a case of the scriptwriter forgetting.
But since Hokuto had reminded her not to spoil anything, she stayed silent.
Elysia looked at Mobius's analysis, then glanced at the viewers' barrage of theories.
She resud progressing the main story.
A few days later—
Inside Anti-Entropy's Salt Lake Base conference room.
After thorough investigation, they concluded that the Herrscher of Domination aid to steal Herrscher powers to grow stronger.
So, Kiana proposed a bait strategy.
She possessed two Herrscher cores—an irresistible lure to the puppets.
And sure enough, they weren't wrong.
Inside the Theater of Domination, puppets who intercepted Anti-Entropy's plan to relocate the Herrscher of the Void decided to respond directly to the challenge.
This ti, the Herrscher of Domination's council unanimously passed the decision.
They would launch a full-scale assault on the Herrscher of the Void and Anti-Entropy.
"This ti, it's unanimous—ATTACK THE HERRSCHER OF THE VOID!!"
As the puppet on the judgnt platform finished speaking—
Muahaha!
Muahaha!
Every puppet in the audience raised their right hand, spirits high, declaring their war cry against the Herrscher of the Void.
The scene was hilariously cursed.
Even the players couldn't help but join in:
[Muahaha!]
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