Chapter 286: Main Story 22—I Alone Am the Honored One! Senti Has Become Like Fu Hua??
As the maintenance for Honkai Impact 3rd concluded, the special livestream officially began.
In fact, it wasn't just Honkai Impact 3rd players watching; members of the Interastral Peace Entertainment platform were also paying close attention.
Previously, Scott had felt a lingering suspicion about "Chen Ye," whose background so closely mirrored Su Mu's. Their experiences weren't just similar—it was as if they followed the exact same blueprint.
But as the stream started and he saw Su Mu appear in the live room, the last of Scott's doubts vanished.
With the two Stonehearts, Topaz and Aventurine, backing the new studio as major supporters, Scott couldn't pull any underhanded tricks. However, he was more than happy to see Songque Studio create a game that could rival miHoYo.
Over the past two years, Su Mu had been far too "conspicuous," becoming a household name in the gaming industry. The seeds of jealousy had long been planted in Scott's heart, fueling his resentment.
Though Scott regretted not being able to personally defeat Su Mu, if the platform-partnered Songque Studio could do it, wouldn't that satisfy his greatest grievance?
Consequently, Scott had been busy lately, providing both manpower and resources, using his connections to recruit many talented members for Songque Studio.
On their end, Songque Studio acted "grateful" for Scott's efforts, promising that his name would definitely be in the credits when the game was released.
The thought of his name appearing in a future Game of the Year—the world's first massive open-world mobile game—made Scott hum with excitement.
Meanwhile, Su Mu struggled to suppress his laughter whenever he thought about the day Scott would eventually discover the truth.
"The Honkai Impact 3rd stream is on? Oh, so the main story is updating today?"
Back at Songque Studio, Songque and the others were also watching the broadcast.
"If only Lady Durandal could make an appearance..."
Helia looked on longingly. She had been a loyal fan of Bianca for a very long time. The few recordings of Bianca as a guest on livestreams were still carefully saved in her favorites.
"Why not ask Big Boss Su Mu? Isn't he close with Miss Bianca?"
Songque looked at Helia with a mischievous grin.
"I bet Big Boss Su Mu would grant your little wish."
Helia stiffened: "I... I think I'll pass... If I actually saw Lady Durandal in person, I'd probably faint from happiness..."
Coralie nodded: "After all, Helia has been the president of the Durandal Fan Club for a long time. Her devotion is recognized by everyone."
The others nodded in agreement. Helia's status as a Durandal superfan was known throughout the school; it seemed only Durandal herself was unaware.
Everyone turned their attention back to the screen as the special livestream began, and the familiar Honkai Impact 3rd ambassador, Elysia, appeared.
"I can't help but feel... Auntie Chen and Elysia are a bit alike," Songque murmured.
"Really?" Senadina looked at Songque curiously.
The others nodded as well.
"Hmm... how to describe it? The vibe? The looks? That's not quite right..."
"Maybe it's the personality? Miss Elysia seems like a healthy, sunny, and positive person. Sena is the same way."
"I feel like the two of them would definitely get along."
Listening to their comments, Senadina felt a bit dazed: "R-Really?"
Soon, their chatter came to a halt.
"W-Wait, isn't that Big Boss Su Mu?"
Seeing Su Mu's virtual avatar in the stream, Songque slammed the table and stood up.
"Isn't Big Boss Su Mu at the studio? How can he be in the livestream?"
She was completely bewildered. Did Big Boss Su Mu have the power of teleportation? Did he just blink over to Tianqiu City to join the stream?
"Grandma Songque, calm down. It's just a virtual avatar. Who knows who's behind the screen?"
"Exactly. With a virtual avatar and a voice changer, you wouldn't know even if it wasn't him."
Songque waved her hand dismissively: "I don't know about voice changers or tech departments. I just know that with Big Boss Su Mu's rigorous work ethic, he wouldn't let someone else stand in for him!"
"Is it just me, or has Songque become Director Su Mu's little fangirl?"
"Hasn't she always been? Especially after coming back from the mahjong parlor yesterday—she's told us the story of Director Su Mu's legendary battle against the Little Sparrow God eleven times already..."
"Could Grandma Songque be in love? Ah, the bloom of youth~"
Songque felt a pounding headache: "You guys are just like the old folks at the parlor! I suffered enough there yesterday, and now you're torturing me too?"
She stood up: "Fine, fine. I'll go check if Big Boss Su Mu is in the studio. Maybe he caught a flight back to Tianqiu City without us knowing."
With that, Songque bolted like she was escaping, vanishing in an instant.
As she reached Su Mu's office, she saw Mobius walking out.
"Ah, Dr. Mobius..."
Mobius gave a slight nod, offering no further interaction, and walked past her.
"Did I... do something wrong? I feel like the Doctor doesn't really like me..."
Songque scratched her head in confusion. In her impression, Dr. Mobius was somewhat cold and unapproachable. But since she came with Big Boss Su Mu, what was their relationship? Were they a couple? It didn't seem like it...
Lost in thought, she knocked on Su Mu's office door.
No response.
Did he really go back?
Songque cautiously opened the door, only to find Su Mu lying on the sofa, seemingly resting.
"Eh?"
She looked at the "Su Mu" on her phone screen, then at the Su Mu resting on the sofa.
"W-What's going on? Did Big Boss Su Mu really find a body double? That shouldn't be right."
Seeing Su Mu asleep, Songque felt bad about disturbing him, knowing how hard he had been working lately.
But her curiosity got the better of her. She stepped forward and gently shook his shoulder.
"Big Boss Su Mu? Big Boss Su Mu?"
The next moment, Su Mu's body rolled right off the sofa as if it had no support at all.
Seeing Su Mu lying motionless on the floor, Songque's face went deathly pale.
"Big Boss Su Mu! What happened to you, Big Boss Su Mu! Wake up! Say something to me!!"
She shook his body frantically, but no matter how much she yelled, Su Mu didn't respond.
"C-Could it be that Big Boss Su Mu actually died from overworking? H-How am I going to explain this to Senior Bronya? What should I do? C-CPR? Artificial respiration? Aaaaaah—don't die on me, Big Boss Su Mu!!"
The commotion in the office drew Senadina and the others.
"What's happening? Songque?"
The group pushed the door open to see Songque sitting on top of Su Mu, her hands on his chest as she tried to perform CPR, visibly panicked and in a total mess.
Especially after seeing Senadina and the others, the "Little Sparrow" became even more incoherent.
However, her position, combined with Su Mu's clothes being disheveled from her frantic efforts, made the scene very easy to misunderstand...
"Sena, I—you—I—"
Senadina and the other two slammed the door shut.
Well.
They completely misunderstood.
Senadina, Helia, and Coralie stood in the hallway, the visual shock having been too much for them to process.
"Did we... interrupt Grandma Songque's 'private business'?"
"I-In broad daylight, in the office... Just how much has Songque been holding back?!"
"As Songque's friends, we never realized she was this kind of person..."
"Indulging in lust during the day... as expected of Songque, she easily achieved what we couldn't!"
"Everyone, regardless of this, Songque is still our friend. Even if we know her 'true nature' now, it won't affect our friendship, right?"
Inside the office, Songque's roar echoed: "Friendship my foot! Sena, Helia, Coralie, get in here and help already!!"
As Mobius returned with a large mug that said "We Workers Have Strength" after getting water, she watched the frantic Songque and the clearly mistaken group, and slowly typed a question mark in her mind.
...
Su Mu was, of course, unaware of the chaos in Canghai City.
However, he was finding it a bit hard to ignore Senti's frequent sideways glances.
"...Is there something on my face?"
He used Kiana's phone to send a message to Senti.
"More than just 'something'! It's everything... Su Mu, how does this puppet work? Does it breathe? Does it have its own thoughts? How are you controlling her? She doesn't have a nervous system or anything, right?"
Su Mu: "..."
Su Mu: "It's Fenghuang Down. I'm using Fenghuang Down!"
Senti: "Oh, it's Fenghuang Down! That explains it! Fenghuang Down can do anything!"
Senti: "Wait! Wasn't Fenghuang Down made up for the game? You're messing with me again!"
Su Mu: [Elysia emoji sticking out her tongue .jpg]
Senti: "Hey!!"
Fu Hua coughed lightly, reminding Senti that they were live and that she shouldn't be staring at her phone; it was impolite.
Thus, Senti had to swallow her mountain of questions.
Fortunately, she was already extremely interested in this main story update, so she quickly settled down and focused on the stream.
The new chapter immediately began by explaining how Senti was born.
Senti wasn't a Herrscher born from Fenghuang Down; rather, the Will of Honkai had set its sights on Fu Hua's perfect, soulless body.
The Will of Honkai created a new Herrscher consciousness and projected it into Fu Hua's body.
However, what the Will of Honkai didn't expect was that this Herrscher consciousness would be so weak and small when faced with the 50,000-year torrent of Fu Hua's memories. This caused it to completely forget its mission and become shaped entirely by Fu Hua.
...It even believed that it was the MANTIS who had fought Honkai since the Previous Era, the Guardian of Shenzhou, Fu Hua.
"Wait, wait, wait! Hold on a second!"
This plot twist left Senti completely dumbfounded.
"What? So I'm actually a Herrscher consciousness? The Will of Honkai stuffed me into the Old Timer's body? So that's how it happened?"
Although she now knew the secret of her birth, Senti felt that this was beyond ridiculous!
"What even is this Will of Honkai? Is it a double agent? Look at the Herrschers it picks! Every single one is a traitor. Those who aren't traitors are either overconfident or just plain weak... Is the current era's Will of Honkai's taste really this bad?"
When a person is speechless to a certain degree, they can only laugh.
Previously, Senti had been guessing if she was a Herrscher awakened because of Fenghuang Down.
But now, it wasn't even a matter of being a clown anymore.
Being stuffed into the Old Timer's body by the Will of Honkai, only to be turned into an idiot by the Old Timer's memories and completely shaped in her image.
Despite being a Herrscher consciousness, she was shouting about fighting Honkai.
"This... this makes me look like a total moron! Su Mu, is this the 'highlight moment' you promised me?!"
Senti looked at Su Mu with dissatisfaction, feeling quite aggrieved.
"But I think if it weren't for this, we wouldn't have met such a cute Senti~"
Elysia looked at Senti with a giggle.
[Actually, that's true...]
[But for real, the Will of Honkai is a bit too much. I'm starting to suspect it's a mole.]
[Right? Look at the Herrschers from the Previous Era—not a single one was this backwards. They were all single-mindedly focused on destruction. How many traitors have we had in this era? Some flipped immediately, some flipped for love... I feel like this can't all be a coincidence.]
[There must be some other reason, right? Regardless, it's a good thing for humanity... After all, if the current Herrschers were like the previous ones, we wouldn't get to see Kiana and the others fighting for all that is beautiful in the world.]
The viewers in the live room were also amused by the Will of Honkai's "pro-gamer moves," while speculating if it was playing some long-term strategy.
The Will of Honkai's actions were simply bizarre; there had to be a deeper reason.
However, what no one noticed was that while they were debating why the Herrschers of this generation were all traitors, Su Mu's gaze shifted toward a pensive Elysia.
Yeah, why is that?
I wonder what kind of expression Elysia will have when she finally learns the truth, hehe.
END OF CHAPTER
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