---o---
Dad: Your Majesty?
Herrscher of the Void (Sirin): I'm here.
Dad: Good to know you haven't fallen back asleep, Your Majesty. Here, spicy crayfish-flavored instant noodles.
Herrscher of the Void (Sirin): Mm. Thank you for the trouble.
---o---
"Is this really okay?" Chen Li asked, turning his head after delivering the food again.
"Okay? Why wouldn't it be? You need to understand, you're doing this 'training' of the Herrscher of the Void to save the world, so you don't need to feel any guilt," Kaguya said.
"..."
"And if you ask me, you're being too soft. If it were me, I'd be incredibly gentle with her first. Then, once she couldn't live without me, I'd say, 'Oh, so you weren't my queen after all? Goodbye, I'm off to find my real queen.' I guarantee she'd be utterly defeated!" Kaguya exclaimed with excitement, all while grinding her game.
"...Kaguya, are you a demon?" Chen Li had thought he himself was pretty absurd, but he never expected someone to be even more so. That wasn't saving the world; that was pushing the Herrscher of the Void off a cliff!
"Gyehehe, a broken Herrscher of the Void sounds pretty good too, doesn't it?" Kaguya couldn't help but lick the corner of her lips.
"..."
One look at Kaguya and the diagnosis was clear: she'd been playing too many games.
His friends truly always managed to offer suggestions that made his vision go dark. Najenda, who yesterday was talking about purifying the entire Empire and making humanity great again, was one. And today, Kaguya, who wanted him to 'train' the Herrscher of the Void only to abandon her and completely break her spirit, was another.
"But seriously, if you want that not-quite-sane Herrscher of the Void, Sirin, to be a bit more normal, I suggest you forge a Curio with a [Purification] Entry that can create delicious food. That way, you might be able to help her break free from the Honkai's influence," Kaguya said.
The truth was, the Honkai consciousness was largely to blame for Sirin's mental instability. Of course, that bastard Otto had to shoulder the other large share of the blame.
From a purely objective standpoint, it was wrong for Sirin to try and destroy the world after becoming the Second Herrscher. Fleeing to the moon after her defeat and hurling lunar pillars at the Earth like meteors was an even greater sin.
But from a purely personal perspective, if Chen Li had become the Second Herrscher, he would only think that Sirin was pathetically inept. He would have been better off doing it himself; he definitely could have wiped the Earth clean in one go.
The conservatives thought the radicals were too conservative. The radicals thought the conservatives were too radical.
"But I only have 41 crystals left," Chen Li lamented.
"It's easy to go from frugal to lavish, but hard to go from lavish to frugal, right? Think about it, how many crystals did you have when you first started? Are you scared of running out now? At worst, you can just go on another Encounter. Who knows, you might even find another world to use as a base," Kaguya said, unconcerned.
"You have such a great attitude," Chen Li remarked with a sigh.
"Naturally. It's not my crystals, after all."
"...I take back what I just said. Forget it, I think I have a way to solve two problems at once."
After a moment's thought, Chen Li summoned his forging table.
He suddenly remembered that he still owed Yurine Hanazono a tablecloth that could produce delicious snacks anytime, anywhere. If he just made a few modifications to that Curio, couldn't he satisfy both Yurine's commission and the need to normalize the Herrscher of the Void's mind?
Holy crap, I'm a genius!
He could even earn some more crystals!
As for Yurine Hanazono? She wouldn't mind. It was a freebie for her anyway.
"Speaking of which, I remember coming across a [Purification] Entry before. Where was that?" Chen Li scratched his head and began to search through his Entry library and forging records.
After some searching, he suddenly realized...
"Damn it! It was from the Shikon Jewel, and I threw it in the recycling bin!"
At the time, Chen Li had figured he wouldn't have much use for a [Purification] Entry, so he hadn't bothered to spend precious crystals to preserve it.
"Damn, where can I get a [Purification] Entry?" Chen Li began to pace back and forth in Kaguya's room.
"Stop pacing, you're making me dizzy. If you don't have a [Purification] Entry, you can just get a [Mother] Entry. The Honkai's influence is only so powerful. The Honkai can tempt, but the Herrscher can also choose not to listen," Kaguya grumbled.
The Honkai consciousness was, to some extent, a bit slow in the head. And its temptations weren't absolute. For example, it once tried to make the Herrscher of Sentience, born from Fu Hua's body and memories, destroy humanity. But all the Herrscher of Sentience could think about was proving to everyone that "I am Fu Hua."
Did the Herrscher of Sentience hear the Honkai's temptation? Yes.
Did she listen to it? Not at all.
"Good point... Mom! Go stir-fry a dish for me!"
Chen Li flicked a Starstone, summoning his mother to his side, and then pointed towards the kitchen.
"Huh?" The summoned Li Changxi had a bewildered look on her face.
"I need to use the taste of a mother's cooking to forge a Curio, one that can produce food with the feeling of a mother's warm care."
"You got it! This time, your mom's gonna give it her all!"
After hearing his explanation, Li Changxi rolled up her sleeves, rushed out of Kaguya's room, and charged into the kitchen.
Five minutes later, a plate of blackish goop was placed in front of Chen Li.
"My apologies." Chen Li bowed to his dear mother, then turned and walked away.
Even a vicious tiger won't eat its own cubs... Chen Li probably could eat this dish, but he really didn't want to.
"Hey, you..." Li Changxi, infuriated, was about to go and teach her son a lesson, but Chen Li sent her back with a wave.
"Where am I going to find a [Mother] Entry?" Chen Li picked up the unidentifiable dish and dumped it into the flame he had picked up this morning. He didn't know what the flame ate, so he figured a little kitchen waste could be considered a heartfelt offering.
He watched as the flame devoured the food from the plate, and yet, still ungrateful, it balled its little fiery fists and looked eager to fight him. Chen Li picked up The Guide to Forging Curios and smacked it again.
"Ah, I have a plan!" Chen Li's eyes suddenly lit up.
A very reliable idea had just come to him.
If he really couldn't find an item containing a [Mother] Entry to forge a Curio that could make snacks with a mother's taste...
Then couldn't he just become a mother?
Or a father. That worked too.
He could now extract Entries from stories, so his thinking didn't have to be so rigid. Since there was no [Mother] Entry, he would just create one.
So...
"Please, Screwllum. This is the request of a lifetime."
"...What are you planning now?" Screwllum glanced at the planetary-grade robot vacuum he was building, then at the embarrassed-looking Chen Li.
Seriously, my friend, what kind of trouble are you stirring up this time?
"Could I borrow your account one more time?"
"Query: What do you intend to do?"
As a member of the Genius Society, Screwllum had never met someone like Chen Li, who never played by the rules. So, out of caution, he had to ask.
"Save the world!" Chen Li said with a firm tone.
"Hmm?"
Although Screwllum didn't understand what Chen Li meant by "saving the world," he felt that since Chen Li's expression was so serious, it must be something important.
Therefore, Screwllum lent him his Genius Society account without hesitation.
"Thank you. To repay you, I've decided to let you use my Miracle Card once," Chen Li said gratefully.
"Conclusion: Unnecessary. Please proceed with what you must do," Screwllum replied, being very understanding.
"As expected of the mechanical aristocrat, Screwllum. To face the opportunity to ask a question of even an Aeon, one they must answer, without batting an eye. Truly, for a genius, the question is perhaps always more important than the answer," Chen Li said, looking at Screwllum with admiration.
"...I retract my previous statement." Screwllum urgently retracted a message.
"Just kidding. Screwllum, you've helped me so many times, I really can't think of how to repay you. So I plan to lend you a one-time opportunity to ask anyone a question that they must answer. But you need to be aware that you have to be in their presence to ask the question. And this opportunity won't be available to you for at least another two days," Chen Li explained.
He needed to use the ability twice himself. Once to ask Miracle to teach him the Source Text whenever and wherever. And once to ask [Myriad Phenomena Severance] to better understand its effects.
"Please proceed with what you must do," Screwllum said again.
"Alright."
Chen Li quickly got Screwllum's phone and, this time, expertly opened his account. Considering the phone might have a poor signal in a non-Honkai: Star Rail world, Chen Li quickly contacted Qingque to have her bring him over.
"...Are you kidding me? It's Sunday! I wanted to sleep in!" Qingque, who had been woken up early in the morning by Chen Li on her rare day off, sat on her bed feeling like her resentment was enough to power a demonic sword.
Chen Li said nothing, simply taking out Starstones.
"Thank you, boss." Seeing the 10 Starstones in her hand, Qingque's face immediately broke into a sycophantic smile.
"I preferred your defiant look from earlier." Chen Li rolled his eyes at her, then took out a Miracle Crystal and began to inscribe words onto Screwllum's phone screen.
"By the way, Qingque, remember to follow Genius Society Member Screwllum's public account," Chen Li said casually.
"Huh? Okay." Qingque was a bit confused, but she did as he said and followed Screwllum's account on her phone.
Just as she was about to exit after following, she saw that Screwllum had just published a new post.
Screwllum: Kafka (Image).jpeg. Good girl, call me Mom!
"Mom?" Looking at the picture of the cool and stylish Stellaron Hunter, Kafka, in Screwllum's post, Qingque blurted it out instinctively.
Meanwhile, Chen Li was looking at the text above his head.
[Call Me Mom] Entry extraction in progress... Progress: 146,546 / 100,000,000 (One Hundred Million)
And the progress bar was rapidly increasing.
"Hmm, I feel like something isn't quite right here," Chen Li said, looking at the Entry with some uncertainty. Whatever, it doesn't matter. I can just split the Entry later if I have to.
Due to Screwllum's wide-reaching fame as a member of the Genius Society, the 100 million progress points were quickly gathered in less than two minutes.
Seeing this, Chen Li immediately deleted the post and silently edited a new one.
Screwllum: Apologies, my account was just hacked by the Stellaron Hunter Silver Wolf. Why are the Stellaron Hunters so malicious!
"..." by Qingque.
Qingque silently watched Chen Li's operation, not for a second believing that this casual spread of a meme could be faked.
"..." by Screwllum.
Screwllum was pondering just what kind of trouble Chen Li was stirring up now.
"..." by Silver Wolf.
Silver Wolf had been in a gaming marathon against Chen Li for a full day and night. Just as her head was spinning, she glanced at her phone messages, and her world came crashing down.
Who hacked Screwllum's account? Me? This is slander!
Damn it, why is that Screwllum guy so malicious!
---o---