[Dad]: Your Majesty?
[Queen of the Void]: I'm here.
[Queen of the Void]: But you don't need to send me any more food for now. There's far too much, I can't possibly finish it all.
The Queen of the Void seemed to have grown accustomed to the fact that whenever Chen Li called her, it was to feed her.
[Dad]: Is that so. Then how is your vessel's condition?
[Queen of the Void]: Same as always, struggling to survive.
Hearing this, Chen Li had to admire Kiana.
At the tender age of twelve, her father left her, and she had to summon the courage to embark on a journey to find him all by herself. Although her father, Siegfried, was actually watching over and protecting her from the shadows, the fact that Kiana could investigate Honkai outbreaks all over, making her way from Europe to Asia… was nothing short of miraculous.
In Chen Li's eyes, Kiana was born with an Innate Vagrant Sacred Body. She was the type of person who… if she had no companions, her brain would operate at its peak, but if she had companions, she would donate her brain to them.
In game terms, she was a natural Single-Bond Sacred Body.
Vagrant: When Kiana is the only allied hero on the field, ATK +80%, HP +80%, DEF +80%. When HP drops to 1, there is a chance to dodge the fatal attack and instantly recover to full health.
[Dad]: How about this… Your Majesty, why don't you bestow the snacks you can't finish upon your vessel?
[Queen of the Void]: Why should I?
[Dad]: Because it pains my heart to see your body starving.
[Queen of the Void]: ...
[Dad]: While it may seem like your vessel is the one suffering now, once you regain control, it will be your own body that is left depleted. It would break my heart.
[Queen of the Void]: You do have a point…
[Queen of the Void]: But I cannot use my powers right now. I can't transform the food in my mindscape into real food to grant to her.
[Dad]: Leave that to me. You can try using this projectile. It's a little something I made by combining the Authority of the Void with other things. It can briefly and weakly interfere with the spatial relationship between reality and consciousness.
Chen Li sent a few projectiles to the Queen.
In truth, these were "barrage" projectiles, or rather, chat logs, that Chen Li had obtained from Yakumo Yukari. After getting the [Friends Circle], he had naturally experimented with the chat logs of different friends. He discovered that not only did these barrages have different effects and colors, but they also came with little surprises.
For example, Yakumo Yukari's gaps could allow someone to move from reality into a painting, breaking the barrier between realms. Her barrage projectiles had a similar, albeit weaker, effect.
By using this "barrage" within the dreamscape constructed by Sirin, Chen Li could even toss the small cakes Sirin had left for him in the illusion out into the real world.
The influence carried by the "barrage" was faint, but transferring some food was no problem at all.
[Dad]: Also, I suggest that when Your Majesty bestows food upon your vessel, you should choose a resonant and endearing name for yourself. It will both reflect your benevolence and make your vessel subconsciously submit whenever she hears your name. This is very important.
[Queen of the Void]: That makes sense. What name should I use?
[Dad]: Queenie the Sprite!
The dagger is revealed!
---o---
"...How were you able to follow me out?" Sirin asked, bewildered, as she stared at the Golden Homu King swaggering behind her.
"Your Majesty, is it possible that... I don't look all that out of place in this world?" Chen Li pointed to another person in a yellow Homu mascot costume who happened to walk past them as he followed Sirin.
"..." For some reason, within the dreamscape created by Fenghuang Down, Homu had become an incredibly popular toy that had taken the world by storm. So much so that if a person had a Golden Homu King following them, people would only think they were fashionable, not strange.
Sirin thought about it and concluded it was probably her own fault; after all, she was the one who created this dreamscape. It never occurred to her that Chen Li was the one who had copied her dreamscape in the first place.
"Alright, Your Majesty, you should continue enjoying your wonderful time," Chen Li said, observing the illusory world.
"Wh-what do you mean, 'wonderful time'?"
"My apologies, a slip of the tongue. Your Majesty, you should continue to lie in wait by these two's side, biding your time for a weakness to appear, and then strike them with a devastating blow." Chen Li rephrased.
"Hmph! That's more like it." Sirin gave a reluctant nod.
"Sirin, hurry up! This mall just opened last month. It has so many interesting shops! I've been wanting to bring you here for ages. Let's shop till we drop today!" Cecilia's voice rang out at the perfect moment.
Watching Sirin's figure walk reluctantly toward Cecilia, Chen Li could sense her satisfaction with this dream world.
Although this world was just an illusion, the environment simulated by the Eighth Divine Key, Fenghuang Down, felt completely real. Any activity, any delicacy, could be experienced with extreme, even hyper-realistic, fidelity within Fenghuang Down.
And Chen Li had already been in this dreamscape for three full days.
He was personally enjoying this carefree, illusory time. After all, in this world, he could study, accumulate uses for [Then I Ask You], and give himself a nice vacation.
Of course, this also meant that Chen Li had been hugged by Sirin for three straight days, and Sirin truly didn't treat him like an outsider...
[You're doomed. You've fallen into the web of causality.]
[So, after spending three days in this illusion, can you still easily accept the ending Sirin is supposed to have?]
"Ermm... I guess so. Alright, stop your chirping and continue teaching me the Source Text." Chen Li had no desire to discuss this issue with the little sprite.
[Of course, my dear Master. However, today we won't be learning a new Source Text character, but reviewing. Come, repeat after me...]
Miracle dutifully began to teach Chen Li the Source Text.
As Chen Li studied, he was also dutifully feeding Queenie the Sprite. To rapidly increase her affection, Chen Li had specifically spent Star Stones to link her perception of time to his own in the dreamscape.
Serving two Herrschers of the Void at the same time, Chen Li felt like an absolute master of romancing them!
Watching Sirin being pulled through the mall by Cecilia, trying on different outfits and experiencing brand new sensations, Chen Li was genuinely worried she would get completely lost in it.
No, perhaps she was already lost.
Chen Li watched Sirin's mood shift from "reserved" to "joyful," then to "pleased," and even to "proud." The defensive retorts from her mouth finally changed from "Is this one better, or that one..." to "Hey, do I look good in this?"
Cecilia, naturally, was full of nothing but sincere praise.
The two seemed to be getting along more and more harmoniously.
However, every time Cecilia wanted to give Sirin a hug, Sirin would show a tiny bit of resistance. Chen Li knew that Cecilia's "conquest" of Sirin had reached a critical moment.
Chen Li's gaze shifted away from Sirin and landed on Siegfried, who was laden with shopping bags and collapsed on a mall bench.
At that moment, a mature, brown-haired man wearing a trench coat, glasses, and a scarf was standing before Siegfried, seemingly subjecting him to some kind of soul-searching interrogation.
"Siegfried, every extra second you spend here, the real world falls into greater peril. Or have you decided to give up the fight and drown in this false dream?" Welt stood before Siegfried, pushed his glasses up, and spoke slowly.
Welt 'Master of Sit-ups' Yang. The Sovereign of Anti-Entropy, the 2nd Herrscher of Reason, a legendary man. He had taught students, produced animation, and even built mechs from scratch... of course, that was all in the future.
However, the current Welt was no simple man either. This was someone who could do sit-ups between life and death. Even after his body was crushed to paste by Sirin, he could still exist as a conscious entity hiding within the Herrscher Core, ready to reconstruct his body at any moment once he regained control of it.
For this man, death was merely the beginning of the next rebirth.
Faced with Welt's questioning, Siegfried sat slumped on the bench, countless images flashing before his eyes, as if he were in another time and place.
A time and place of blood and fire.
Siegfried subconsciously glanced at his left hand, but what met his eyes was a sharp claw, like that of a savage beast! This was the awakened form of the Kaslana family.
"BOOM!"
As Siegfried's mind fell into extreme turmoil and his power teetered on the edge of control, the massive floor-to-ceiling window behind him exploded.
Even Sirin, some distance away, was caught in the blast.
Just as Sirin was about to brush off the small shards of flying glass, completely unconcerned, a figure charged toward her without a second thought, embracing her tightly, utterly disregarding the glass fragments that instantly gashed his face...
The brilliance of that moment dazzled Sirin.
Chen Li stood right behind her, using the soft body of his mascot costume as a crash pad for the mother and daughter before him.
"You're doomed, Your Majesty. You've fallen in love!"
Seeing Sirin still lost in a daze, Chen Li turned and walked away.
Watching all this from a distance, Welt could only hope that Siegfried would awaken from the dreamscape soon.
However, just as Welt was about to turn and leave, a soft, fluffy hand landed on his shoulder.
"Who's there?" Welt instinctively raised his cane.
But when he saw it was just a giant Homu mascot, he felt he might have been overreacting.
"Phew..." But just as Welt breathed a sigh of relief, the mascot spoke, and his heart leaped into his throat.
"Joachim Nokianvirtanen..." the Homu mascot said slowly, speaking Welt Yang's real name.
"You..."
"You are already walking at a turning point of fate. I have high hopes for you, the man who will repeatedly save the world from peril." Chen Li said slowly.
"Save the world? Repeatedly?" Welt was completely stunned.
Chen Li's statement was akin to a time traveler going back to World War I and asking a passing soldier if this was the first or second World War. The immediate reaction of that soldier would surely be: Holy crap, there's a second one?!
"Who are you?"
"You don't need to know who I am. You only need to know that I will watch you forever... always. No matter which world you travel to, I will write down your story, every last detail, in my history. Then, when the ones who love you and the ones you love temporarily lose you, I will present it all to them." A bizarre smile formed on the Homu mascot's face.
"What do you mean? Who the hell are you?"
Holy crap, what does he mean, 'no matter which world you travel to'? What does he mean, 'the ones who love you and the ones you love temporarily lose you'? Can all you riddle-men just die already!
"This is merely a notification. I mean you no harm. You can call me... a Fictional Historian. I will be your eternal stalker. Forever."
"I'll remember you," Welt said, pushing up his glasses after calming himself.
"No, you won't. But don't worry, the next time you walk upon a turning point of fate, I will appear again. Only then will you recall this conversation. Take a guess, when will you forget me?"
"You!"
"Homu King!" Sirin's voice called out.
"Well, I must be going. Farewell."
Seeing the utterly tormented look on Welt's face, Chen Li left, completely satisfied.
Being a Masked Fool was so much fun.
Chen Li glanced down at the Elation die and was finally relieved to see that his Elation points had been fully replenished.
The points had been completely drained when he was forging this Homu costume out of Soulium, so he had been desperate to refill them.
Because, now that Chen Li knew this world would eventually forget him, he was preparing to go big!
---