After Sirin awoke from the illusion, she didn't even ask Chen Li where Cheng Lixue had gone, because she simply didn't care.
As Chen Li was brought into the illusion by Sirin, he had taken one last look at the Cocoon of Finality.
A faceless, formless giant, hammer in one hand and nail in the other, viciously drove an iron spike into the Cocoon of Finality.
With that, the initial phase of Chen Li's plan was a success.
The next thing he had to do was sever the temporal connection between the Previous Era and the Current Era. But before that, he needed to use [Then I Ask You] on [Myriad Phenomena Severance] to learn its more detailed instructions.
[Then I Ask You] could only be used once a day, and only twenty hours had passed since he had last used the Miracle Card to make the little spirit talk. But Chen Li wasn't worried, because he would have plenty of time to wait.
He said this because he had just discovered that the cooldown time for [Then I Ask You] was based on his own subjective perception of time. And the illusion constructed by Fenghuang Down, where he was now, had a time flow countless times faster than reality. The fact that, in the original story, Sirin had enjoyed several days of motherly love in the illusion while the battle outside was still ongoing was proof of this.
However, there was one thing that did catch him off guard: he simply couldn't understand why, after pulling him into this environment, the very first thing Sirin made him do was act as a body pillow.
"Your Majesty, are you saying... their daughter Kiana has a Homu doll, so you have to have one too?" Chen Li asked, looking confusedly at Sirin, who was lying in bed hugging him.
When Chen Li had the Previous Era's higher-ups forge this "Golden Homu King" costume—one he might be using for a very long time—he did consider that it needed to be sufficiently soft and comfortable. That way, it might confuse the Herrscher of the Void, making her go easy on him and giving him enough time to react. Although forging Soulium into a soft outfit was a tall order, it didn't matter; Vill-V would lend a hand, and so would the Elation Die.
But Chen Li had never expected that the result of making the costume soft and comfortable would be him being used as a body pillow.
"It's more than just that. Retainer, just obey my commands. I am never wrong!"
"Yes, yes, Your Majesty is unparalleled in this world, Your Majesty is supremely intelligent, Your Majesty's beauty makes fish sink and geese fall!"
Faced with such a confident Sirin, what else could Chen Li say? Though he felt like he had said these exact words to many different people... oh well, it's not like they'd ever meet. No proof!
Lying in her own bed and hugging her super-sized Homu doll—one much bigger than Kiana's—Sirin paid no mind to Chen Li's praise, her mind wandering instead. Clearly, her thoughts were more honest than her words. Even now, Sirin was questioning herself, wondering why she hadn't just killed Cecilia and Siegfried after entering the illusion, but had instead, by some twist of fate, become their second daughter and even managed to snag a piece of Kiana's birthday cake.
A rustling sound was heard, and a hand was placed on Sirin's shoulder. Startled by the sudden closeness, Sirin tensed up.
"Sirin, don't be angry. Your father just had a bit too much to drink today. I'm sorry, we've been so busy preparing for Kiana's birthday these past two days, you must have been lonely," Cecilia's gentle voice sounded.
"..."
Sirin had originally entered the dream with the intention of destroying their happy illusion. When she arrived at their door, Siegfried had opened it and rightfully demanded to know who she was. Sirin had been about to attack, but then Fenghuang Down suddenly activated, seemingly making Siegfried and Cecilia mistake her for their second daughter.
"Let Mommy hold you while you sleep tonight," Cecilia said softly.
"..." - by Chen Li.
Sirin's bed was large, but it was still a single bed. Wasn't it a bit too crowded for three people?
And so, Chen Li, as the Golden Homu King, lay on the far left, with Sirin hugging him, and Cecilia hugging Sirin. They passed the night in this inexplicably strange arrangement.
---o---
"I fell asleep? Why didn't you wake me up!"
When Sirin opened her eyes again, it was already the next morning. Her first act wasn't to reflect on why she had fallen asleep, but to pat Chen Li's stomach and shift the blame onto him.
"..."
"Say something."
"Didn't you tell me not to speak, Your Majesty?"
"You..."
"Besides, I saw how soundly you were sleeping, Your Majesty. I didn't have the heart to wake you."
"..." Sirin had to admit, she hadn't slept well since she'd been taken to that laboratory. The mere thought of it made her angry.
"If you don't mind, Your Majesty, could you show me your experience of becoming a Herrscher? I'd like to understand more about what you've gone through in this cycle," Chen Li suddenly said.
"...Here."
Sirin didn't seem to mind her past being known by her retainer. She used Fenghuang Down to condense a dream bubble and tossed it to Chen Li.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Chen Li made a heart shape with his hands.
He pressed the dream bubble into his body and watched as the extraction progress bar above his head began to rise rapidly.
[Second Eruption] Entry extraction in progress... Progress: 25/100 (Progress is increased by completing the full story of the Second Eruption from any perspective)
Fenghuang Down is so useful!
Different Entries had different methods for increasing their extraction progress, and this one was a perfect match for Fenghuang Down. Moreover, after brewing for 50,000 years, the Entries on Fenghuang Down were exceptionally distinct. Even a single feather was enough for Chen Li to forge an excellent Curio. As expected, old things are the best!
"Come on, Sirin, time for breakfast~" Cecilia pushed the door open, holding a plate of freshly made sandwiches.
"It's the weekend today. Kiana and Siegfried are completely absorbed in their DS4 (that's not a typo), so you can come shopping with me," Cecilia said, standing behind Sirin and placing her hands on her shoulders in a manner that was both gentle and brooked no refusal.
"Sh-shopping?" Sirin was panic-stricken. This word had never held any vibrant color in her memory. Her childhood consisted only of her bedridden mother and the experiments in the Tower of Babylon.
"Sigh, she really is bad at refusing people," Chen Li remarked, leaning against Sirin's bed like a giant, seated Homu doll.
Although Sirin had torn out her human heart when she awakened as a Herrscher, it didn't mean she had become a completely different person. The idea that becoming a Herrscher turns you into an emotionless puppet of the Honkai was a nasty habit from the last civilization. A more fitting description for Sirin's situation was that she had undergone a drastic change in personality due to severe trauma, deciding to live the rest of her life fueled by hatred.
The old Sirin is dead. You chose this path, idol!
Between the factions of humanity and the Honkai, Sirin had decisively chosen the Honkai, spurred on by humanity's own actions... but she still had the emotions she was meant to have. This was, of course, all thanks to the humanity that Elysia had bestowed upon all Herrschers. Elysia gave them "humanity," a chance to choose between the Honkai and mankind, but fate (and humanity) chose to push Sirin permanently into the abyss.
A father who died young, a gravely ill mother, a dead friend, and a broken her. Putting himself in her shoes, if Chen Li had been through what Sirin had, he definitely wouldn't have just thrown Soulium pillars from the moon at the Earth to cause destruction... he would have thrown the entire moon.
Chen Li, who had originally intended to be a quiet observer, to sever the connection between the civilizations and then slip away, now sat on the bed, watching through Fenghuang Down as Sirin was dragged off shopping by Cecilia. She was unwilling, yet her face was filled with happiness. He fell into deep thought.
[Cause and effect, that's what this is. The best solution is not to get involved. Once you're involved, it's a hassle to resolve.]
"Tsk." Chen Li clicked his tongue and looked away.
Although Sirin had Chen Li watch her movements in real-time through Fenghuang Down, ready to rush to her side for support at a moment's notice, she was probably too busy to bother him right now. The more pressing matter was to finish reading the instruction manual for [Myriad Phenomena Severance] that he had obtained through [Then I Ask You].
[Myriad Phenomena Severance], a Curio that could cut anything. And after cutting, one could choose to sever or splice.
"Mm-hmm, so that's how it is. There's a price for cutting anything with these scissors..." Chen Li gradually understood everything.
A Curio isn't so inconvenient. The Teigu, Cutter of Creation: Extase, was said to be able to cut through anything in the Akame ga Kill! world without any cost. If the 1-Star Curio Chen Li had painstakingly forged required a price just to cut hair, it would be far too pathetic.
This "price" was actually divided into two stages. When you cut something and choose to sever, you only need to pay a small price when the level of the thing being cut is too high, because simple destruction is easy. But if you cut something and choose to splice, no matter what you splice or how you splice it, you must bear a corresponding price.
For example, if you "cut" a person's hair and attach it to a bald person's head, you would have to bear the price of losing hair, but generally, it would only be a few or a dozen strands. Saitama's case would be a different matter.
This price wasn't an equivalent exchange, but that was reasonable. If I didn't have a Curio, I'd have to bear the cost of an equivalent exchange. But I do have a Curio, and a 1-Star one at that. Why should I have to bear such a heavy price?
"Let's see, what's the price for severing the connection between civilizations in a cycle..."
"Hmm... if I choose to sever, I only need to pay 10 years of 'time,' meaning 10 years of my lifespan. That's a great price." Chen Li was somewhat surprised by the 1-Star Curio's assessment for severing a time loop. That was all it took?
"But if I choose to splice... Causal erasure? Erase my causal anchor in this world? Make this world forget me?"
Seeing the price for splicing, Chen Li was greatly shocked.
In other words, the results of his interference in the Second Eruption would remain, but no one would remember that he was the one who interfered.
The good news: This erasure was proportional. If the causality Chen Li generated through his interference in this world was too great, he might only have to pay with his causal anchor in the Second Eruption, without affecting his affairs in the Previous Era. The bad news was... uh, there was no bad news.
"Isn't this all good news? In other words, even if I go completely wild in this Second Eruption, no one will remember that I was the one who did it?" Chen Li's eyes lit up.
"Getting to take everything and still get a free pass... is this really okay?" Seeing the price he had to pay, Chen Li felt almost embarrassed.
How did that saying go again? If I could marry Elysia, I'd even let Sakura be my Imperial Guard, Hua be my personal bodyguard, Aponia give me a lap pillow, Eden sing me to sleep, Vill-V perform close-up magic for me, Pardo be a cat for me to tease, and Mobius walk on my back! Griseo? Er... Chen Li was afraid of being executed by the Flame-Chasers.
[I don't think the side effect of this Curio works that way. Because making a hero bleed and cry is, in itself, a form of punishment for that hero.]
"But this Curio can erase the bad reputation I'd get from causing trouble."
[...But is it really okay to just give up the favorability and trust you've worked so hard to build with Sirin? And Cheng Lixue will also forget that you saved her life.]
"Hah, is that all? If they forget, I'll just save their lives again and earn it back," Chen Li said with an indifferent wave of his hand. He could easily save them from fire and flood again. Where would the fire and flood come from, you ask? Don't worry about that.
"I feel like these scissors are telling me I can go wild in the Second Eruption," Chen Li said, stroking his chin.
[I don't think that's what it means.]
"If you don't believe me, we'll ask it tomorrow!"
[That really won't be necessary.]
---o---