MGSFV?! Chapter 533: A Hundred Valkyries Shouting "Long Live Lady Herrscher of Sentience!"; Are You Brainwashed by Her?
Li Sushang and Rita's visit to Mt. Taixu wasn't just about reclaiming land.
Before they set out, Fu Hua had mentioned something to Li Sushang.
That certain someone—after escorting Kiana, Mei, and Theresa from St. Freya to the Salt Lake Base—had chosen to leave the group out of her innate desire for "freedom."
"I'm not your errand girl. I'm a Herrscher of freedom."
"Don't think you can squeeze any more favors out of me."
"I've been helping you guys for so long—it's time I take a break."
...With such "difficult" lines, the person—no, Herrscher—vanished without another word.
So, where would a Herrscher obsessed with freedom go?
Well, when tired, most would go home to rest, right?
And a Herrscher of Sentience's "home"... Fu Hua's body? Ahem, technically there's only one place.
So...
That's why they came to Mt. Taixu first. While reclaiming territory, they could also casually look around for someone—Herrscher, more accurately.
After all, Little Sentience is completely different from Mei and Bronya. She was a Herrscher from the moment she was born.
Thinking of it that way, it makes sense why she always wanted to run off.
She's not human. Humanity's future doesn't really concern her.
Whatever becomes of Earth in the end has nothing to do with her.
And as for her actions—everyone knows: all tsun, all softie.
[So Sushang came to Mt. Taixu to find Little Senti?]
[Correction: the great Lady Herrscher of Sentience.]
[But it looks like she's seriously thrown in the towel this time. Maybe she's fully committed to freedom now?]
[Herrscher of Sentience: Unless Schicksal sends one hundred Valkyries to chant "Long live the great Lady Herrscher of Sentience!" in unison before me—I'm not coming back to help, got it?!]
[Hahaha, that image is hilarious—imagine a hundred Valkyries surrounding Senti shouting that... Why does it not feel cringey? Actually, that'd be kinda cool. (For Senti only)]
Of course they'd think that because...
[Feels like Senti would actually enjoy that kind of pomp.]
[But Sushang wouldn't go that far, right? Having her persuade Senti—just shows how our old relic's EQ is holding steady... ()]
After all, it's obvious that Senti and Sushang don't get along.
Senti's still holding a grudge over Sushang's fight with the Old Timer.
You dare lay a hand on my mom.jpg (fog.png)
[So how exactly is Sushang going to convince her? I'm curious.]
[We'll have to wait and see.]
...
Anyway.
Li Sushang's goal at Mt. Taixu was now clear.
Next—time for action.
"All right, let's move out! Let's clear out all the monsters nearby first, shall we?" Sushang suggested.
"Just as you command, Lady Sushang."
Rita nodded, and together they delved deeper into Mt. Taixu.
Unlike the calm outside, its inner area was chaos.
Floating Imaginary cracks distorted the space around Mt. Taixu—like half the game map's textures had been deleted.
"Looks like nothing's really changed around here."
Nothing changed?!
Sushang, girl... your heart is way too big.
Players were internally roasting her while still seriously managing the combat.
As hordes of Imaginary creatures charged in from every direction—
No more chatter.
Boom—Sushang's ultimate: "With heart as sheath, I nurture my sword."
Taixuan Swordmaster, screen-clearer.
So what happened?
Any surprises when fighting mobs?
...Well, not really. Except—
After triggering the ultimate, an extra voice line played:
"Using Taixuan Sword Qi for the first time at Mt. Taixu—and it's against things like this? Never saw that coming."
[What's that supposed to mean? You wanted to use it on your great-grandmaster instead? (doge)]
[I didn't even activate the ult, and they force-played it at the end. miHoYo must really want us to hear this.]
[miHoYo: If I made it, you will hear it! (manual meme)]
[Okay okay we're listening, we're listening.]
While half-joking in the chat, players still finished listening to the mutter.
They didn't dwell on it much, though.
After all, the fight was still intense. Waves of Imaginary beasts required solid focus and effort.
...
After some time—
"..."
"That's it...? It's over?"
Li Sushang scanned the area, uncertain if all the enemies had been dealt with.
If so, then it was time to go find... Taixu—uh, no, that won't do.
How should she refer to...?
Yeah, that needed to be figured out first.
Her thoughts suddenly drifted somewhere odd.
But honestly, this was important...
Imagine if the first thing Sushang said after finding Herrscher of Sentience was:
"Little Senti, Old Timer asked me to bring you home."
Boom—no other words needed.
She's not Dr. Mei. Senti won't take kindly to being called "Little Senti" by her.
In terms of seniority, even if Senti was "born" only... relatively recently, she could arguably be considered Sushang's elder, right?
At that moment, Rita walked over after surveying the area.
Calmly, she said, "For this region, our operation is almost complete."
"But to expand spatial control to our advantage, we may need a little more time."
"Additionally... there's something more important we need to confirm."
"Something more important?" Sushang snapped back. "You mean... something's wrong?"
Rita: "..."
She looked around. Mt. Taixu—previously looking like it had been chewed by a snake—had mostly returned to normal.
But... something was missing.
After thinking for a moment, she shook her head.
"Mt. Taixu has always been sparsely populated. It's too soon to draw conclusions."
"Hey, don't leave me hanging."
[Exactly—stop being cryptic!]
"...Apologies. To put it simply—"
Rita began explaining.
In previous reclaimed areas, people who had been merged into the Stigma Plan would return to reality.
But here...
Mt. Taixu was still completely deserted.
That is, those who once lived in this region were still trapped in the dream—they hadn't returned.
So despite reclaiming more and more of Earth...
They weren't actually liberating more humans.
[Straightforward. Clear. No cryptic BS.]
[Honestly... I feel like the writers haven't used cryptic dialogue in a while.]
[You guys always derail. Shouldn't we be wondering what Sushang and Rita are gonna do now?]
[What else—report to command.]
Exactly.
They're not going to analyze it themselves, or charge in recklessly like some action hero.
Obviously, heading back to the airship and reporting to Schicksal HQ is the best course of action.
[But wait—does this mean Sushang won't be able to find Senti anymore?]
[Priority first.]
[What, finding Little Sentience can't be a priority? ()]
[If I'm being honest, it doesn't seem like there's anything only Senti can do going forward. Not saying she's unimportant—just not top priority.]
Clearly, many didn't understand...
Why Hokuto chose Mt. Taixu for the first stream background—and why they gave Senti's iconic scene a shot before entering.
That's because...
Hokuto: "Little Sentience said she wanted—ahem—that the great Lady Herrscher of Sentience deserves proper stage presence. What more reason do you need?"
Hokuto: "Loyalty must be absolute! Now repeat after me—LONG LIVE THE GREAT LADY HERRSCHER OF SENTIENCE!!"
If anyone saw that, they'd definitely ask:
"Are you... brainwashed by Senti?"
...
Anyway.
Realizing something was wrong, Sushang and Rita quickly turned back toward the airship—
And contacted the current Overseer of Schicksal, Theresa Apocalypse, to report what they'd discovered.
Theresa, however, wasn't surprised. Many field Valkyries had reported similar issues.
Now the real question was—what could she do to change the situation?
"Our current operations are progressing smoothly. Reclaiming Earth is certainly possible."
"—But if we don't adopt a new approach, all we'll reclaim will be an empty Earth."
[That's not gonna work!]
[A civilization without people is meaningless.]
"No way!!"
Li Sushang, always emotionally aligned with the players, reacted strongly: "How could we fight all the way here, only to end up no better than the Stigma Plan?!"
"Exactly. That's what we urgently need to fix."
Theresa paused. Her tone was serious and determined.
"Fortunately, we're not entirely without options."
"For instance..."
"Since the issue stems from dreams, maybe we should consider entering them ourselves."
[Huh?! Enter the Stigma Plan? Isn't that risky??]
[Given the situation, even if it means never coming out, someone has to try. Second, both Durandal and Theresa have entered dreams before and returned.]
[Durandal even got stuck in a massive dreamscape before... wasn't that basically like a proto-Stigma Plan?]
[Theresa doesn't seem like she's making this up. She probably has a detailed plan.]
...
And yes—there was a plan.
Even before Sushang and Rita made their report, a strategy meeting about Earth's future had already been held in the rear lines between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy personnel.
As for the operation itself—
What exactly would they do?
Ding-dong~~
Here we go again.
[...] *N
What happened? Well, it's self-explanatory.
But before they could start reacting like usual in the stream—
A gentle BGM began playing.
Clang~~ clang-clang~~
Enchanting. Stirring. Familiar, yet strange.
The melody stirred the soul—like stepping into a dreamlike ball.
Every changing note felt like a lightfooted dance, sending ripples through their hearts.
Indeed, a captivating track has magical power. It instantly tugs at the listener's emotions.
[The moment I heard it—I felt it.]
[miHoYo music never misses.]
[Now that I think about it—I never really paid attention to who composes miHoYo's music.]
[I remember miHoYo was in touch with Miss Fairy early on. Which means they're connected to Eden. So... there's only one answer!]
[Wait a minute... it all makes sense now!]
"..."
"'Mr. Otto,' aren't you going to explain?" Elysia shot a look at Hokuto.
"Yeah, I should clarify. Otherwise Eden might get some awkward credit."
Hokuto cleared his throat.
"Cough. Everyone, I hate to disappoint, but these tracks weren't composed by Eden. They were..."
"...brought into this world by another person—one most frequently mentioned by Honkai Impact 3rd players."
He chose his words carefully: "Brought into this world," not created.
[So it wasn't Eden?]
[The most frequently mentioned person? That's gotta be...]
[Only one person gets brought up that often. Honestly, I mention Fairy Girl less than that guy.]
[So it was... We still don't know how many roles this person is secretly juggling.]
[Also, saying "brought" instead of "created" is so humble.]
"..."
[I get it, I get it. That guy: I don't compose music—I merely transport the music of nature. Each melody is but the echo of the world's inspiration.]
Hokuto: "..."
He just started—and the players had already filled in the rest.
Peak performance.
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