On the other side, the Herrscher of Sentience walked out of the sealed chamber, humming with delight.
"I really underestimated that wolf~"
[Don't forget the real goal.]
Scratching her head, the Herrscher replied, "I didn't forget! But he just won't come ou~t~"
"I've caused such a huge ruckus, yet Kevin hasn't reacted at all…"
"I can sense his consciousness—sharp and heavy, definitely him."
"But he hasn't responded at all… Maybe he doesn't even know I'm here."
[So what will you do?]
She grinned mischievously. "Obviously, make an even bigger scene!"
"For example… I could chop that wolf's head right off~"
Just then, Jackal's triumphant laughter rang through the halls.
"Hahaha… This is the end for you! I don't know what your purpose is, but World Serpent is no playground!"
"Now behold—our biotech weapon!"
But in front of the Herrscher of Sentience, Jackal's so-called weapon wasn't even as effective as a standard mech.
As the Herrscher of Sentience, controlling such creatures—alive yet mindless—was utterly trivial for her.
Before Jackal's stunned eyes, the spider-like "Death Weaver" collapsed without even lifting a limb.
"What did you do?!"
The Herrscher of Sentience tilted her head, watching the disabled creature with interest. "Oh~ so that powerful consciousness I sensed earlier was just this thing, huh?"
"Too bad. Anything living isn't a match for me. Go ahead, bring out all your toys—I'm in a hurry."
"Damn it!" Jackal gritted her teeth and barked another order: "Cut the instinctive mode. Switch to AI control!"
Seeing the creature stand back up, the Herrscher blinked. "Oh? What did you do now?"
Jackal smirked. "You said no living creature could beat you. Fine—I'll make it 'not alive' for a while."
Now, with its instincts gone and controlled purely by AI, the Death Weaver had become nothing more than a lifeless mech.
That meant her feather could no longer affect it.
Pleased with herself, Jackal gloated:
"Well? Impressed? Our technology is twenty years ahead of its time!"
"Not really," the Herrscher replied flatly. "Still about fifty thousand years behind the tech I've seen."
"...I'll kill you!" Jackal nearly exploded with rage.
Since becoming "Jackal," she had never been humiliated like this.
"Don't even think about holding back. Throw out everything we prepared for capturing Herrschers! All of it!"
She snarled through clenched teeth. "Today, I'll definitely—"
But before she could finish, a cold, detached voice came from behind her.
"No need to waste time."
Jackal's whole body froze. She turned in shock. "L-Lord!"
Kevin ignored her panic, instead focusing on the screen. His deep voice carried over clearly: "I'm here."
The Herrscher of Sentience's eyes lit up instantly at the sound.
"So you finally showed up."
Kevin: "…Let's take this outside."
The two soon left the underground base, stepping into the ruined desert city buried beneath sandstorms.
"Your underlings are funny. Where'd you even find them?"
Viewers in the livestream burst into laughter.
Thinking back to the comedic back-and-forth between Herrscher-baby and Jackal—they had the time of their lives.
Kevin: "..."
"She's useful. Not in combat, but in other ways."
The Herrscher of Sentience nodded. "I get it. Same old approach, right? If it helps against the Honkai, you'll use anything."
The two walked aimlessly through the wasteland.
The Herrscher had come looking for Kevin, but now that she was face to face with him, she wasn't sure what to say.
Kevin, meanwhile, studied this "Fu Hua" with quiet suspicion.
Though he already had his guesses, he still asked aloud: "Who… are you?"
The Herrscher rolled her eyes. "I'm Hua, of course. Your old friend~"
Kevin: "…Hua has never once called me 'friend.'"
Scratching her head, the Herrscher muttered, "Oh…"
"Honestly… I died once, you know. Otto shot me straight in the head. I just woke up, and I still don't have everything figured out."
"But I remember you. We fought together fifty thousand years ago. So… I thought we should be friends."
Kevin: "You don't feel the same as Hua."
The Herrscher laughed and nodded. "Exactly. I think so too."
"When I dig through the old memories, I can't help but think—what the heck was going on? How did things end up like that?"
"Maybe being reborn gave me a clearer view of things."
With that, she puffed out her small chest proudly. "You can think of me as… a better version of Hua~"
Kevin: "..."
After a long silence, Kevin drew the massive blade of Shamash.
"Friend or enemy—choose."
With that single line, the story of this interlude reached its cliffhanger.
The audience erupted with laughter.
[Kevin already knows this isn't Hua]
[Hahaha… our bubbly little Herrscher is too lively]
[Everyone knows she's not Fu Hua—except for her]
[Kevin: Otto, did your bullets lower her IQ or something?]
[Herrscher-baby: I'm a better, easier-to-please version of Hua~]
[Hahahahaha…]
Kiana was laughing just as hard. "This Herrscher is hilarious."
"But now I'm really curious—what was it like for Fu Hua to voice act as the Herrscher of Sentience?"
Fu Hua, off in the distance: "..."
The next interlude picked up with the scene teased in the PV—Kevin sparring with the Herrscher of Sentience.
For Kevin, this was only a test, a way to gauge the Herrscher's strength.
"Not fighting anymore?"
Kevin sheathed Shamash. "No. That's enough."
Stretching, the Herrscher smirked. "Well? Impressed? That move—[Hua Jin: Cloudhawk]—pretty awesome, right? Bet you didn't expect me to disperse Shamash's flames like that."
"'Hua Jin'?"
She nodded proudly. "Yep. It's from our old martial arts style. I just gave it new names—gotta blend in with the times~"
Then she sighed. "There were openings, but since you're the opponent… catching them is impossible."
"You still want to fight?"
She waved her hands quickly. "Nope, nope, I'm no battle junkie. I'm good."
Then she grinned smugly. "Now do you believe I'm the real deal?"
Kevin: "..."
After a pause, he pressed a hand to his chest, as if indicating something deeper.
"Yes. You're right here."
At the same time, he drew out a feather from Fenghuang Down.
What he meant was—Fu Hua's true self was sealed inside this feather.
The person before him was not Fu Hua.
But the Herrscher completely misunderstood. She thought he was offering the feather back to her.
"Ha? I didn't even say I came for this, but you guessed it right~"
Taking the feather with childlike delight, she beamed. "Thanks~"
Kevin studied the harmless, cheerful Herrscher for a while before asking:
"So… where do you plan to go next?"
It was a test—to see if this newborn Herrscher harbored any malice toward humanity.
The Herrscher shook her head. "Dunno. Haven't decided. I'm not in a hurry. I'll figure things out when I get everything sorted."
"Debts to repay, grudges to settle… friends to look after, and the Honkai to defeat… No rush. Break times like this are rare."
"Who knows, maybe someday we'll fight side by side again, old friend~"
The chat exploded instantly.
[Honkai Will: Damn it, what is this new creature you've spawned??]
[Hahaha… Herrscher-baby: I'm gonna defeat Honkai!]
[She said she has friends to protect… She's too cute. Too kind. I'm crying]
[This chapter is pure comedy gold—where's the tragedy, miHoYo??]
Even Kevin found her amusing.
After all, this "newborn Herrscher consciousness"… actually declared she would defeat the Honkai.
And from their conversation, Kevin could tell—she was naïve, innocent, and carried no hatred toward humanity.
In fact, she had mistaken herself for Fu Hua, burdening herself with the duty of fighting Honkai…
After some thought, Kevin tested further: "Do you want to join World Serpent?"
The Herrscher shook her head immediately. "No thanks~"
"I didn't even know when you came back. That Otto guy…" She mimed pointing a gun at her own head.
"Bang—next thing I knew, I remembered nothing."
Kevin: "..."
For a moment, he debated telling her the truth. But then, he dismissed the thought.
Talking had never been his strong suit.
"You can ask the feather I gave you. She'll tell you."
The Herrscher nodded. "Fine, I will. But as for joining you—forget it. I don't want to be your subordinate."
"Maybe… I'll start my own group instead?" Suddenly, an idea struck her.
"Oh right, didn't I used to have one? The… Taixu Sect or something? Does that still exist?"
She scratched her head. "Can't remember. I'll think it over."
Kevin: "That's fine. There are people here who don't want to see you anyway."
"Heh~" She chuckled softly. "Don't die before the Honkai are gone, old friend."
As she prepared to leave, she added one last warning:
"By the way—it was Otto who sent me to find you…"
"I heard you made an alliance with him? Don't trust a word he says. That guy calls you brother one day, then sends me to stab you in the back the next. You can see what kind of person he is."
With that, she took off into the skies.
"Otto wants me and Kevin to fight each other so he can profit off the outcome, huh…"
"Tch~" She sneered. "Like I'd fall for such a cheap trick? Look, I already reclaimed my feather without even trying~"
Tossing the Fenghuang Down feather into the air, she caught it with childish pride.
But upon closer inspection, she noticed something unusual.
"This one's sealed?"
With some effort, she undid the seal.
And from the feather emerged… a figure identical to herself.
But this form was dim, almost transparent, as though it could fade away at any moment.
Her first instinct was to assume it was one of her clones.
"You're drained of energy…"
She thought for a moment, then injected some of her own power into it.
"Don't move—I'll give you some energy. You can barely hold your shape. Another moment and you'd have turned to dust."
Once the figure grew stable, she grinned proudly. "There, all fixed~"
But the figure didn't obey her like a clone. Instead, it asked softly: "Who are you…?"
The Herrscher replied matter-of-factly: "I'm your master, duh~"
The figure whispered: "I… am your clone?"
At that voice, players watching immediately froze.
The tone, the cadence—it was unmistakable.
This… was the real Fu Hua.
The livestream chat exploded.
[Hahahaha… she got demoted to a clone]
[Immortal Fu Hua: Damn it, I've been hacked!]
[Immortal Fu Hua: Damn it, I got replaced!]
[Immortal Fu Hua: Damn it, I became the stand-in!]
With that, everything became clear.
Fu Hua hadn't become a Herrscher.
Instead, after Otto healed her body, a new consciousness was born.
This newborn Herrscher mistook herself for Fu Hua because of the five thousand years of memories she inherited.
Thus the title of this chapter—Newborn Feather.
It was both funny and a relief—especially for players who couldn't accept Fu Hua becoming a Herrscher.
From here, the Herrscher and the real Fu Hua began to argue.
Arguing over who the real Fu Hua was…
Even the Herrscher herself, deep down, had suspicions.
But she didn't want to believe it. She couldn't accept it.
So she desperately tried to prove she was Fu Hua—constantly saying it aloud.
And though she acted like she was pampering Fu Hua, anyone watching closely could see—she was actually craving recognition.
She wanted Fu Hua herself to acknowledge her.
Yes. She wanted to prove to that feather that she was the true Fu Hua.
But in the end, neither could convince the other.
Instead, both began claiming the other was the Herrscher.
Herrscher of Sentience: "With a single thought, I could silence you. Erase you completely."
"You're just a fragment of Fenghuang Down. A relic of the past era. I should destroy you instantly."
"But I respect you. I allow you to exist. I allow you to stay by my side. You should be grateful for my respect…"
"So don't interfere with my thoughts again—Honkai!"
This scene made players fall even harder for her—this lively, slightly silly Herrscher.
But by this point, even Fu Hua no longer saw her as an enemy.
Fu Hua was too honest—she couldn't lie.
So she told the truth.
If only she'd humored the Herrscher a little, things wouldn't have escalated.
But now, with Fu Hua's movements restricted, that familiar inner voice whispered once again in the Herrscher's mind.
It urged her to reclaim the feather immediately.
Its words sounded righteous.
But in truth, if she followed through… it would mean killing Fu Hua.
And the players realized at once—this "Ego" and "Superego" weren't simple at all.
They were connected to the Will of Honkai.
Yet, the Herrscher didn't give in.
Maybe because she was soft-hearted.
Or maybe because she was stubborn, wanting to beat Fu Hua fair and square—prove she was the real one.
So she proposed a bet.
Let the people closest to Fu Hua decide who was real.
Just then, Kiana and Bronya arrived at Taixu Mountain—tying the story back into Chapter 20.
The Herrscher created an illusion, showing them Fu Hua's past memories…
So they could truly understand who Fu Hua was.
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