Facing the purple-haired girl's question, Luo Lin answered with sweat pouring down her forehead, "Pufferfish, ah, Pufferfish is a kind of fish, a type that can absorb water and expand, using its size to intimidate other predators..."
However, after establishing the soul link, her thoughts were uncontrollably transmitted to Sirin at the same time.
[Pufferfish is Sirin.]
Sirin: "?"
The corner of 'Fu Hua's mouth twitched. Even she hadn't expected that Luo Lin would think of something almost nonsensical at this moment...
The originally indifferent expression on the purple-haired girl's face also showed a slight fluctuation, obviously very confused by Luo Lin's idea.
"What on earth are you thinking? Why would you associate people with fish?"
Luo Lin continued to explain, "But Pufferfish..."
Before she could finish, Senti and Sirin already knew what the second half of her sentence was going to be.
[Pufferfish is quite cute, you know? When it absorbs water and puffs up, it becomes all round and chubby, munching on carrots with a crunching sound, it sounds very relieving.]
Somehow, Luo Lin even sent a short video clip through the soul link. It depicted a puffed-up Pufferfish munching on carrots, and indeed, the sound was as refreshing as Luo Lin had described.
"You actually think I'm like that thing!? Do I bear any resemblance to it, whether in color or physique?!"
Sirin's voice raised by eight degrees, her originally calm face contorted, and there was even a hint of redness due to anger, making her look less like the Herrscher that would destroy the world and more like an ordinary, angry child.
Due to the angry emotions of the Herrscher of the Void, the Honkai energy condensed around, forming substantial Honkai energy radiance, pressing on Luo Lin and 'Fu Hua's nerves.
'Fu Hua' was fine, but Luo Lin felt a bit suffocated. She coughed, but the girl didn't pause for long. She continued without hesitation, "It's not about appearance or color, Sirin."
"Pufferfish often inflates itself in response to external stimuli, but that inflation only brings intimidation, it's a false strength - you've also inflated yourself more than once after gaining new powers, thinking you're invincible, only to be deflated and defeated by warriors from all sides... Isn't that also a false strength?"
"..."
Sirin's complexion became even uglier. She gritted her teeth and said, "Who knows those guys would be so exaggerated - especially that Herrscher, ruining my good things time and time again! If given another chance, I..."
"I'm sure you'd still be defeated by them, Sirin."
Luo Lin said decisively, "Because your soul and those powers are both false strengths - tell me, Sirin, why are you seeking revenge?"
The purple-haired girl's tone was full of hatred, "Because of those Schicksal bastards! They threw me into prison without a word, oppressed the weak, injected me with Honkai energy, and laughed as they watched me suffer, they're the most inhuman bastards!"
"Yes, I also think they're inhuman."
Luo Lin genuinely felt that those researchers were a bit crazy from the bottom of her heart. Putting aside whether there were any problems in the process, they casually grabbed little girls to experiment on, treating them as consumables... It's probably not just high-tech brainwashing, they had completely lost their humanity.
After all, most of the technology researched by Schicksal was a legacy of the previous era, which was almost destroyed by various Herrschers, and most research was radical and unscrupulous - perhaps those researchers and scientists were also influenced by the madness and despair in the data, assimilated into ruthless lunatics.
Although Sirin didn't quite understand what Luo Lin meant by "previous era" and "legacy," she knew that the girl didn't sympathize with those damn bastards at all, and even felt disgusted with them. So Sirin calmed down a bit, squinted her eyes, and listened to Luo Lin's words.
"So, you killed them - at that time, you intended to continue seeking revenge against Schicksal, right?"
"Yes."
"But why didn't you continue seeking revenge against Schicksal? After that, you met Theresa, Siegfried, and even Cecilia, aren't they all people from Schicksal? Could it be because you couldn't defeat them..."
Sirin erupted in anger again, "How could I not defeat them? With the power of the gods, I could easily destroy this world!"
"You could indeed destroy this world, Sirin. If you had honestly stayed on the moon and smashed meteorites at the Earth, throwing a few every day, each time hitting the center of important human cities..."
Luo Lin calmly made suggestions to Sirin, "Or just move a big-enough meteorite from the asteroid belt and smash it directly onto Earth, instantly changing the Earth's environment, causing humans to die from climate change, causing food shortages... Oh, don't forget to destroy one of those Divine Keys floating in the sky used to repair the Earth's environment."
"Luo Lin?! What are you talking about?!"
Even Sirin, not to mention 'Fu Hua', widened her eyes because of Luo Lin's words, "Are you serious? Are you telling me this? Aren't you afraid that I'll actually do this after I leave?"
"That's your business, I'm just reasoning with you. You can indeed easily destroy this world... But even so, you still can't beat those few old acquaintances."
Luo Lin spread her hands. "Your return from the moon to Earth, I think, to a large extent, was also to prove yourself, that after gaining new powers, you could defeat them... It's truly an indomitable will, fighting repeatedly—don't you feel it's similar to what I mentioned earlier, a fish called 'Pufferfish'?"
"..."
'Fu Hua' glanced around and noticed that the substantial Honkai energy points around Sirin were increasing, some even condensing into fragments, falling onto the asphalt road with a clatter, decorating it with a dazzling purple.
―Luo Lin, stop talking about Pufferfish! I'm scared!
Unfortunately, 'Fu Hua' only thought this in her mind. She didn't send this through the soul link to Luo Lin, afraid of disturbing her thoughts.
"So, let's make an assumption. You've killed Theresa, Siegfried, Cecilia... even Otto, all of them. You've destroyed Schicksal's headquarters, exiled that damn floating island to the imaginary space, killed all those wearing Schicksal uniforms, and anyone related to Schicksal..."
Wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth, the black-haired girl asked loudly, "And then? What do you plan to do?"
Sirin vaguely felt something was off, but still followed her instincts and said bluntly, "And then? Of course, destroy this world."
"Very good!"
Luo Lin clapped her hands, her face full of satisfaction. "A very lawful choice, Sirin—setting aside those disgusting adults, now you've killed thousands... even billions of children, just like you once were."
Her words exploded in Sirin's mind like thunder, leaving the purple-haired girl staring blankly at Luo Lin.
Luo Lin smiled, but it was bitter. She said in a hoarse voice, "They should have lived their lives quietly, but because of your choice, it's as if those researchers reached out and forced you and your friends into their hands..."
"Boom!"
The black-haired girl made an exploding gesture, suddenly raising her voice, "They died meaninglessly because of you, Sirin—a person who resisted the oppression of the strong against the weak, prayed to the gods for power, and succeeded. You turned into a powerful Herrscher, killing countless 'Avrora, Agata, Galina'..."
"Just for revenge... Hmph."
Luo Lin's words were full of disdain. "Sirin, have you figured out who your revenge is aimed at?"
"Is it those researchers? You've already killed them all, but as far as I know, there are still organizations similar to Babylon Laboratory in the world, continuing those damn experiments for decades, sacrificing innocent boys and girls... Oh, sorry, they don't discriminate, as long as they're human."
As the black-haired girl spoke, memories of the information she had seen in the Schicksal Intelligence Department surged in her mind—there were too many, almost everywhere in the world.
Anyone who understood the "Honkai" phenomenon would feel panic, especially those in power. They cherished their lives greatly and dreaded such disasters that could erupt anytime, anywhere. Hence, they would wield the stick of money and power to seek ways to solve the disaster.
No matter what the cost, as long as it didn't involve themselves.
Sirin frowned. "And you just watched?"
"Like you, going to kill them all? Come on, I don't have that convenient skill of teleportation. If I go find them, I'll also have to run away," Luo Lin said, "Besides, I've done it too, Schicksal also has such missions..."
Luo Lin's emotions were conveyed to the purple-haired girl without reservation, and she could feel the Valkyrie's helplessness and bitterness—it was a bottomless sense of powerlessness.
"But people can't be killed endlessly... Kill one batch, and another batch will emerge... I don't even know where so many lunatics come from. Not everyone has the legacy of the previous era like Otto, but they've all embarked on this path of human experimentation... Why?"
Yeah, why?
For the first time, Sirin began to seriously consider this question.
"Perhaps it's for survival, but more so for profit," Luo Lin said softly. "Honkai energy, Honkai energy, Honkai can do anything... What a fantastic energy source, besides being unfriendly to living organisms, its benefits are simply endless..."
"Not only can it be converted into any other form of energy, but it can also be stored in solid-state. Its reserves are enormous. As long as a passage to the imaginary space can be opened, it can create what appears to be a perpetual motion machine..." The girl picked up the fragments of Honkai energy on the ground, pinching the eerie purple crystals with her fingers. "It can also enhance human functions, making them immensely powerful, and even... granting immortality."
As she spoke, Luo Lin glanced at Senti.
Fu Hua was a MANTIS soldier from fifty thousand years ago, and so was Kevin, who was also a survivor of the previous era. For fifty thousand years, their bodies had not been affected much, and it was foreseeable that they would maintain their youthful appearance in the future...
"Whether in the East or the West, for the searching methods of immortality, people in power have done how many terrible things—alchemy, Taoism, sacrificial witchcraft... It can be imagined how ecstatic they would be when something like Honkai energy, which can almost certainly strengthen the human body, appears."
Luo Lin turned her eyes back to Sirin and locked gazes with her.
The Valkyrie whispered, "Have you figured it out, Sirin? What is the fundamental reason behind the most important thing here, which makes people abandon their dignity, arrest unrelated individuals for experiments, just to seek longevity?"
Sirin pursed her lips.
"It's 'Honkai,'" she said.
Luo Lin raised her head, gazing at the sky illuminated by the purple-red color. "Without it, there would be no Schicksal, no crazy Otto, and the Black Death would just be an ordinary epidemic... Sirin, your parents might still be alive, and you would be living a peaceful and harmonious life in the small town."
She thought of many things, countless images flashing through the girl's mind, most of which were scenes from her homeland before she crossed over.
Wide streets, people walking with their heads held high, and smiling faces.
"...You should be avenging 'Honkai' itself the most, Sirin."
"..."
"Wait a minute, you seem to have seen... a world where 'Honkai' doesn't exist!?"
The scenes that flashed through Luo Lin's mind were too astonishing, even 'Fu Hua' couldn't help but interrupt her communication with Sirin.
After 'Fu Hua' mentioned this, Sirin also realized. She stared at Luo Lin with her golden eyes, her eyes filled with complex emotions.
"Yes, I am not from this world—I am a busybody transmigrator. In a sense, you and I are of the same kind, Sirin."
"Human beings and Herrschers are not the same."
"Really? I don't see any difference between you and humans." Luo Lin said, "You get angry, you get sad, you feel better because of delicious food, you feel frustrated when you can't enjoy delicacies due to overeating... You have all the emotions and desires, so why aren't you human?"
Thinking about this, Luo Lin couldn't help but thank Elysia. Thanks to this woman who went back to deal with the Honkai so ruthlessly, the Herrschers here were no different from humans.
"Elysia...?" 'Fu Hua' remembered the pink-haired girl who seemed very familiar to herself. She subconsciously pinched Fenghuang Down, feeling that this thing didn't feel as good to pinch as the Herrscher core.
Herrschers are human beings...
"I... am human?"
"Yes, and besides, don't you still have your family here? Kiana has truly accepted you, and Siegfried, that clumsy guy, didn't he show his sincerity to you before? Remember, the second Honkai when you used Fenghuang Down... And now, he has decided to trust me, trust that I can bring you back."
Luo Lin felt the Stigmata behind her gradually heating up. The figure of the white-haired person appeared, casting a gentle gaze towards Sirin.
―Of course, how could we forget Cecilia at this moment?
"...I have killed tens of millions of people. I know, I have become the same kind of person as those bad guys."
Sirin blinked and gently bit her lip.
"How could it be? Human beings make mistakes, as long as they correct them," Luo Lin said.
"Come back, Sirin. You can still supervise us. We will strive to bring all the bad people in this world to justice, and let smiles and warmth spread across the earth..."
"To prevent children like you from being persecuted again, to eradicate the source of all this suffering... and also to let you feel the warmth of home again, to make up for everything you've missed."
"I extend an invitation to you, Sirin, to return to our side and fight for all the beauty in the world."
"...Mm."
The next moment, Sirin rushed into Cecilia's arms like a swallow returning to its nest, tears falling on the crystals of Honkai energy, emitting colorful light.
And the Herrscher of Sentience saw a piece of quantum erosion on Fenghuang Down disappear without a trace.
"Haha, Herrschers are human beings... Hmm, human beings."
The gray-haired girl lightly tapped the Divine Key.
Luo Lin watched as Sirin and Cecilia hugged each other, feeling relieved. Then she turned to Senti, the Herrscher of Sentience, beside her and thanked her:
"Thank you, Fu Hua."
"I say, you haven't forgotten that our mental link hasn't been severed yet, have you?" The Herrscher rubbed her eyes and smiled bitterly, saying, "Senti, hmm? Luo Lin, you wouldn't have known I had a problem long ago, would you?"
"..."
Uh-oh, how did this happen?