Chapter 287: Senti: Go Kiana, Don't Lose to the Honkai!
Amidst the dissatisfied grumbles of the real-life Senti in the livestream room, the Senti in the game plot finally met with Kiana and Bronya.
However, facing this woman who looked exactly like the Class Monitor but felt entirely different, both Kiana and Bronya remained extremely wary.
Despite Senti repeatedly claiming she was Fu Hua and addressing them affectionately, the two recognized instantly that she was not the real Class Monitor.
Consequently, Senti released Fenghuang Down, allowing Fu Hua to appear and explain the situation to Kiana and Bronya.
When that familiar figure appeared, Kiana visibly froze, her originally calm expression shifting.
["Hi... Kiana, Bronya. Are you both doing well?"]
That familiar voice made it difficult for Kiana and Bronya to hide their inner excitement.
["Class Monitor...!"]
Ever since their parting in North Africa, Kiana had believed that Fu Hua had died at Kevin's hands while trying to protect her. Now, seeing Fu Hua appear before her, how could she not be moved?
However, before Fu Hua could continue the conversation, Senti's power suppressed her, rendering her unable to speak.
["I told you no extra talking. We have to compete fairly; don't cheat. Just telling them who we are is enough."]
Under Senti's "threat," Fu Hua spoke again, though this time she used a different way to explain.
["I am the feather of Fenghuang Down that was previously attached to your body. She is... the Fu Hua who was killed by Otto."]
For Kiana, who had traveled with Fu Hua for a long time, the meaning conveyed by this sentence was crystal clear.
["...That sounded weird, but I guess it works."]
Senti, however, didn't notice anything unusual. She snapped her fingers, causing the Fenghuang Down feather to dissipate.
This immediately filled Kiana with hostility, as she demanded to know what Senti had done to the Class Monitor.
Even Bronya raised her palm, and Project Bunny entered a state of high alert. A battle was on the verge of breaking out.
["Hey, hey—what are you doing! I just let her rest for a bit!"]
Faced with Senti's explanation, Bronya remained unconvinced.
["Your intentions are not simple. Bronya knows... Bronya can see it. Why build a fake Mount Taixuan? Why make us watch the Class Monitor's memories? And why use that sister's image to deceive us? You could have revealed yourself openly without going in circles."]
Bronya's analysis was logical.
But for the viewers in the livestream who knew the full story, this was quite amusing.
[LOL, Senti does have an ulterior motive—she wants to be acknowledged as Fu Hua.]
[Watching the memories was probably just to help Kiana and Bronya understand Fu Hua better so they could make a judgment, right?]
[What bad intentions could Senti have? She just wants to be Fu Hua!]
[Bronya is overthinking it. Senti truly believes she is Fu Hua... but honestly, why is she actually kind of cute?]
It was clear that Senti had gone to all this trouble just to help Kiana and Bronya understand Fu Hua better.
As for other malicious intents, there truly weren't any.
After all, you can't expect a newborn "child" to have complex schemes. If she were truly that cunning, she wouldn't have been toyed with by Otto.
In fact, it was exactly as the audience suspected.
Facing Bronya's suspicion, Senti replied bluntly.
["I used to be a closed book and never told outsiders anything, which caused a lot of trouble. Now I've had an epiphany: I will be very honest with you. All the past mistakes, failures, and stubbornness—I will let you see them clearly."]
["...That way, you can make a fair judgment."]
She explained away Kiana and Bronya's doubts one by one. However, what seemed perfectly ordinary to Senti made Kiana and Bronya quite angry.
["You are toying with us. What is your goal?"]
Bronya's words made Senti's eyes widen in indignation. She looked as aggrieved as a child wrongly accused of stealing candy.
["Toying?"]
["How did I toy with you? Were you hurt? Did you encounter danger? You were under my monitoring the whole time; there wasn't even a sliver of a chance for anything to go wrong."]
["And yet, you reward me with such hostility!"]
Looking at the angry Senti before them, Kiana and Bronya exchanged a glance. Although they still hadn't figured out the intentions of this person who looked so much like Fu Hua, they had reached a consensus—this person was extremely dangerous.
["Don't be misled, Kiana. This thing is the same as us!"]
["Mm. And, we have to take the Class Monitor back."]
No more words were needed. In the next moment, Kiana and Bronya tapped into their Herrscher powers, appearing before Senti in their forms as Void Drifter and Herrscher of Reason.
["Oh? You want to fight me? Fine, only fists make sense. If I don't give you two a lesson, I don't think you'll listen."]
Seeing three Herrschers in one scene, Kiana couldn't help but complain.
"What gives? I was just saying if the Class Monitor talked it out, maybe we could recruit classmate Senti... but after a few words, Bronya and I are already brawling with her? Su Mu definitely did this on purpose, didn't he??"
Beside her, Senti also looked piteous: "I mean, I explained everything so clearly and you guys still want to hit me. What was I supposed to do? What could I do?"
"It's normal for things to evolve this way. After all, even if a child is the one holding the gun, the bullet it fires is still lethal."
Fu Hua shook her head. "Furthermore, to Kiana and Bronya, it looks exactly like you've imprisoned me..."
"Uh, I guess it really does look like that..."
Senti scratched her head. Reviewing the conversation just now, her actions really did seem like she was holding the Old Timer captive. Not only that, she had threatened Fu Hua right in front of Kiana and Bronya, telling her not to say anything extra.
[No, why did you guys have any expectations for Kiana and Bronya's communication skills?]
[I won't even mention Bronya. With that expressionless poker face of hers, anyone who doesn't laugh for a second is a god. You want her to coax a child? For real?]
[Wait, this has nothing to do with communication skills, brothers. If you logged into a game one day and found your friend's account was stolen, and the hacker was insisting they were the original owner, wouldn't you see red too?]
[LOL, you'd definitely see red. In fact, anyone who could refrain from flaming them is a legend (Thumbs Up .jpg)]
[Well, they couldn't hold back, so it's time for a real-life confrontation. The battle of the century between three Herrschers is coming!]
[Going big right from the start? It's already going down? Wuhu!]
Though everyone felt that starting a fight like this was a bit hasty, as the saying goes: Art is an explosion, and explosions are good!
The audience's anticipation for this Herrscher battle was at its peak.
And so.
Kiana controlled the Void Drifter while Bronya provided support, and the two began their battle against Senti.
During the combat, Senti's chatter never stopped.
["Eh? You're an incomplete Herrscher? ...I see. You suppress your own power and only use the controllable parts to fight."]
["Very good! Great job, Kiana! Whatever you do, don't lose to the Honkai!"]
As soon as this line came out, the livestream burst into thunderous laughter.
No, wait.
You are the Herrscher of Sentience, an apostle of the Honkai, specifically arranged by the Will of Honkai to occupy Fu Hua's body.
And here you are saying "don't lose to the Honkai"?
Talk about a complete role reversal! If someone didn't know better, they'd think Senti was a heroic character guiding two students about to fall to the dark side...
Then again, Senti wasn't exactly a villain either. She was more of a... newborn baby character?
In any case, this battle only happened because the information gap was far too wide. This resulted in Kiana and Bronya having a terrible first impression of Senti. Combined with the fact that they could feel she was a Herrscher, how could they not be on guard?
If they had sat down for a proper talk, perhaps this battle could have been avoided, but the prerequisite was that they actually could talk.
Clearly, a civil discussion was impossible in the current state.
Immediately after, Senti turned her gaze toward Bronya.
["Welt actually gave the Core to you. Sigh, his life was miserable enough, and yet he lets you follow in his footsteps. This Core is unlucky; nothing good comes to those who touch it. Bronya, you should just give it up!"]
Senti's words reminded everyone of the man who repeatedly sacrificed his life to fight the Honkai. Old Yang's life was indeed tragic, but it was because of this that his heroic deeds shone so brightly.
And looking at it from another perspective... by inheriting this core, maybe she inherited the ability to perform "Yang-style" sit-ups (not really).
As the battle intensified, Senti remained at ease, occasionally offering critiques.
["Two half-Herrschers joined together, and this is all you've got? Hehe, I don't blame you. It's just that I'm too strong."]
Kiana and Bronya could find no openings in Senti's defense.
Senti even told them that she hadn't even used Fenghuang Down yet—that this was her true strength. She had been completely renewed!
The peak body of a MANTIS combined with Herrscher powers... without a doubt, the current Senti was incredibly powerful. It was impossible for the current Kiana and Bronya to face her head-on.
"Uh... although I'm happy my power is great and all, is there something wrong here?"
Senti scratched her head, looking troubled.
"So in the end, the way my great power is demonstrated... is by beating up Kiana and Bronya? Hey, I'm supposed to join the main cast! If I beat up Kiana and Bronya before I even join, how am I supposed to fix this later?"
Elysia offered her own view: "Maybe it's that kind of trope? You start as the main cast's rival, then get redeemed by them later and join them to save the world together..."
Senti threw up her hands: "And then in some final battle against the big boss, to let the protagonist reach the end, I stay behind alone to hold off the enemies and eventually sacrifice myself, right?"
That kind of plot had been seen enough; it was a cliché that never grew old.
[But the problem is, the trope Elysia mentioned usually involves a villain being redeemed. Senti is different.]
[She was 'white' (good) from the start... wait, that doesn't seem right.]
[She was an idiot from the start!]
[Pfft, I think you're looking to get beat up by the Herrscher of Sentience too.]
The viewers in the livestream commented on Elysia and Senti's banter. Meanwhile, in the game, Kiana suddenly received a message from Fu Hua.
While Senti was immersed in the battle, Fu Hua contacted the two of them and briefly explained Senti's situation.
To allow Fu Hua and Kiana to discuss a strategy, Bronya chose to actively distract Senti.
Kiana also chose to stop her attacks.
Although puzzled by Kiana's behavior, Senti didn't notice anything amiss because Bronya had unleashed the power of the Herrscher of Reason, riding a motorcycle transformed from Project Bunny into battle.
["Kiana is more sensible after all. Well, I've been thinking too—two judges are a bit much. It would be a hassle if there was a tie. Besides, I'm not that close with you... so just enjoy your ride!"]
In the next moment, Senti used her power to construct an illusion of Arc City.
This scene perfectly matched the previous battle between the Herrscher of Reason and the Herrscher of Sentience in Arc City from the animated short Reawakening.
At the same time.
Fu Hua told Kiana that Bronya wouldn't be able to hold out for long. Once Senti got bored, she would notice Fu Hua's interference.
Possessing peak strength and Herrscher abilities, Senti was an opponent that could not be defeated by force.
The only way to break this deadlock was through wit.
["You must question her."]
["She suspects she is me, she believes she is me, she forces herself to be me—this is the foundation of all her actions. But at her core—she is just a newly born child. She still possesses kindness and rationality; the Honkai has not completely taken control of her yet."]
["If she realizes she isn't the person she thinks she is, if she understands her true identity, she will become flustered and unable to use her Herrscher abilities correctly."]
["The opening she shows then will be our only chance."]
["However, our goal isn't to destroy her—be very careful, Kiana. Do not push her completely into the abyss of the Honkai..."]
Fu Hua's words echoed in Kiana's mind, but her thoughts made everyone in the livestream wear very strange expressions.
They had to question Senti, but also prevent her from being pushed into the abyss of the Honkai?
"Old Timer, can't you just speak like a normal person?"
Senti's eyes went wide. "Couldn't you just say 'coax the child' and be done with it?"
END OF CHAPTER
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