After everyone returned to the hotel, the scene was actually much more peaceful than some might have imagined.
After all, while everyone did experience a certain degree of mental shock upon seeing the child, they weren't idiots.
Once they calmed down, everyone realized--this child might be biologically related to Leo Ash, but Leo Ash himself was probably unaware of her existence.
If nothing else, the child looked to be at least eight to ten years old. Eight to ten years ago...
Eight to ten years ago, Leo Ash wasn't even ten years old!
Besides, they hadn't interacted with the child before.
But now, after everyone met the little girl, the only thought left in most of their minds was 'she's so adorable'.
At the end of the day, everyone present except for Fu Hua was a young girl.
And although Fu Hua was a bit older, her honest nature prevented her from overthinking things too much.
In short, after Rita's explanation, most of the people surrounding the child believed the story that 'it must be World Serpent's doing'.
However, Fu Hua didn't believe a single word Rita said.
Rita wasn't a bad person in her eyes, but as Otto's trusted subordinate, Rita would definitely help cover for him.
And on top of that, Otto had secretly created a clone of Cecilia behind the scenes...
At the thought of this, Fu Hua felt a murderous desire surging within her.
To be honest, if not for the consideration that Otto was not someone who should be 'killed right now' for various reasons, Fu Hua felt that her increasingly impatient self would be unable to suppress her desires and would head to Schicksal HQ to smash her fist into Otto's Soulium face.
"Um, Auntie Fu Hua, did I... make you angry?"
The child, surrounded by everyone, looked at Fu Hua's seemingly calm face and suddenly spoke with a bit of unease.
"Ever since we were on the beach, I felt like after you saw me, you've seemed... angry inside."
This child... The Kaslana intuition seems to be even stronger in her.
"I'm fine, or rather..."
Forcibly suppressing the frustration in her heart, Fu Hua smiled at the child before her and said.
"I'm not angry because of you. You don't need to look so apologetic."
"Oh, is that so."
Listening to Fu Hua's words, the girl's expression changed as she moved closer to Fu Hua's face.
Then, she nodded with a feigned air of profundity and suddenly said to Fu Hua with utmost seriousness.
"Auntie Fu Hua, although I don't know what happened to you, I think that pink-haired auntie was right."
"She told me--since being sad won't solve any problems anyway, you might as well greet each new day with a smile."
After saying this, the child suddenly grabbed Fu Hua's hand and began to plead like a spoiled child.
"Just for my sake, okay? Smile, please smile~"
This child...
Sigh, well, she has a point.
And now I'm certain. Although I don't know how she did it, she must have met Elysia.
Elysia, even after you've opened a new path for us, are you still watching over us in this world...
"Alright, stop that. I promise, okay?"
Looking at the lovable child before her, Fu Hua gently stroked her hair and said to her in a warm voice.
"Auntie promises you, I won't be like this anymore."
"Oh, really?"
However, facing the gentle-faced Fu Hua, the child looked at her with suspicion for three seconds before gently shaking her head.
"Auntie Fu Hua, although I know you're just comforting me to humor me, I still don't want you to lie."
"Lying isn't a good thing, you know--you're clearly still angry and worried."
"...That's true. But child, I think everything needs a process, don't you?"
"That's true too."
After finishing her conversation with the girl, Fu Hua, to avoid being questioned by the others, immediately bid farewell to everyone and returned to her room.
As for what Fu Hua was angry about right now...
Who else could it be?
In this world, there were only two people left who could so easily ignite Fu Hua's anger.
One of them, without a doubt, was Otto.
And the other, of course--was Fu Hua herself, for constantly enabling Otto and indulging his evil deeds.
From the time she regained her power until today, Fu Hua suddenly remembered something.
In the past, she was supposed to be protecting Shenzhou... well, her alliance with Otto was to protect Shenzhou, that was true, but in reality, both she and Otto knew that this so-called 'protect Shenzhou' alliance had some shady aspects.
If Shenzhou had no external enemies, it could deal with most Honkai Beasts just by relying on the remaining martial artists and the patrol mechs developed through advanced technology.
Fu Hua's 'protect Shenzhou' alliance with Otto was actually more of a protective talisman--a talisman to keep Schicksal from interfering with Shenzhou.
And it was because of this alliance that Fu Hua became Otto's Valkyrie and worked for him.
But now, Fu Hua had regained her power, and she knew for a fact that Otto was up to no good.
So now--why should she continue to stand on Otto's side?
Fu Hua didn't know exactly how evil Otto was, but even with her restored power, she could sense a danger from him.
This danger wasn't a 'power suppression' where Fu Hua, even with her restored power, was weaker than Otto. Rather, it was that Fu Hua judged Otto's 'mental state' to be extremely dangerous.
And this person with an extremely dangerous mental state happened to be the powerful leader of Schicksal. The moment she remembered that she hadn't dealt with this man in the past, Fu Hua felt she had made a grave mistake.
As for the alliance with Otto--alliance, my ass!
Fu Hua couldn't remember the detailed process of why the Second Eruption turned out the way it did.
But for that battle to have been so disastrous even with her participation could only mean that Otto must have pulled some shenanigans again.
Her lost memories were definitely connected to Otto's foolish actions.
Furthermore, Fu Hua did learn some information afterward.
At that time, after Sirin devoured the Herrscher Core of Anti-Entropy's leader, Welt, she had obtained six Herrscher Cores at one point.
Even though the [Gem of Conquest] was taken by an Anti-Entropy mech, she still had five cores.
If Sirin with five cores had gone berserk before her death, the resulting Honkai Energy would have definitely contaminated the surrounding areas.
Siberia and Shenzhou are only about a thousand kilometers apart. If Sirin's death caused Honkai Energy to spread wildly, then Shenzhou...
Shenzhou would definitely be doomed, no question about it!
Once she realized this, Fu Hua discovered that Otto's actions during the Second Eruption not only didn't help her protect Shenzhou, but almost led it to ruin.
In the end, the ones who protected Shenzhou were Cecilia and Siegfried, the very people he had wronged. And now, Cecilia's family...
He was the one who broke the alliance first. Why should I have these unnecessary psychological burdens over this son of a bitch!
Su has already decided to come out of seclusion, which means he has either given up on Project Sahasrara or it has borne fruit.
Instead of continuing to help this scumbag Otto do bad things, why don't I go find my old friend and kill Otto together, and bring peace back to this world!
And, if we manage to take care of Otto, Kiana won't have to be tormented, and at the very least, Leo Ash won't have to face all that crap.
Damn it, not only did that son of a bitch almost doom Shenzhou, he also tried to harm my disciple.
I was so stupid.
I should have smashed that bastard's head in with one punch long ago, and then usurped his damn throne for myself...
Something's really wrong with me lately.
Putting aside these vulgar words, when did my thinking become so radical?
Otto is not a good person, but precisely because of that, I must deal with him carefully.
After all, if he really decides to act recklessly, no one else will have a chance to stop him from harming innocent people.
Just as Fu Hua was about to reflect for a moment, a thought contrary to her current one suddenly popped into her head.
Radical my ass!
Because this son of a bitch is hard to deal with, you just drag it out, drag it out, drag it out--the more time you give him, the bigger the problems he can create!
Instead of making excuses for myself and procrastinating, I might as well go to Schicksal HQ right now, find Su, and crush Otto with him!
But, in the process, Otto certainly won't let us kill him quietly...
If he starts to fight back--there will surely be sacrifices, but if we don't act, there will be even more sacrifices in the future!
Kill Otto...
Kill Otto.
Kill Otto!
At this moment, Fu Hua clutched her head and suddenly realized something with utter shock.
These two intertwining thoughts were less like two different ideas popping up in her head and more like...
Yes, at that instant, Fu Hua recalled a metaphor that elementary school students in Shenzhou liked to use.
Right now, it was as if two little people were fighting inside Fu Hua's head.
One little person had the four large characters for [Act with Caution] pasted on its head, while the other had the four blood-red characters for [Kill Otto] on its head.
Moreover, the two little people were not evenly matched.
In Fu Hua's view, the little person with the four blood-red characters on its head was already beating the other one into a retreat.
Does my heart truly harbor such a violent nature...
--But this is also Otto's fault!
If he didn't cause trouble and instead seriously fought against the Honkai, I wouldn't mind helping him once, let alone a thousand or ten thousand times.
Something is really wrong with me.
At this moment, Fu Hua did something she would have never done in the past.
Realizing that her mind was out of control, Fu Hua actually used Fenghuang Down to forcibly control her own mind and stop it from continuing to 'rampage'.
But, even if I suppress the violent emotions in my heart, I can't deny that I really should go see Su.
Su, perhaps you haven't taken the initiative to meet me because you have your own plans.
But now, I feel that we should meet, after all.
Otto is too dangerous. If you could have dealt with him, you probably would have done so long ago.
But if we join forces, perhaps we might have a slight chance of winning against him.
That night. Inside Leo Ash's room.
After a chaotic day, Leo Ash finally returned to his room.
However, he wasn't the only one who returned to the room. There was also...
Oh, and the constantly snickering Rin.
And the daughter he had just gained today.
"Hey, Daddy."
The child, who had followed Leo Ash into the room, suddenly looked towards Rin, who was 'sitting' on the windowsill, and asked, staring inquisitively at Rin's location.
"Is there someone else in this room besides us?"
???
???
At this moment, Leo Ash and Rin looked at the child beside Leo Ash in utter astonishment, feeling that this child was truly a bit... terrifyingly strong.
No, wait a minute. Rin is a spirit right now, and you can sense her?
This can't be explained by the Kaslana family's intuition anymore, can it!
[Ah, this indeed has nothing to do with the Kaslana family's intuition.]
[But have you forgotten something?]
Mr. System, please guide me.
[Since you asked so sincerely--oh, you're really being sincere this time. Then this System will graciously tell you.]
[At the point in time when that drop of your blood was taken by Gray Serpent 1904 to World Serpent, you had already obtained Yae Sakura's Stigmata.]
[And Yae Sakura's Stigmata was originally bound to Rin. Under these circumstances, it's not strange that this child, who has 'Leo Ash's' genes, can sense a soul related to the Stigmata, right?]
That makes sense, but I still think--my daughter is this strong right after she was born.
"Um, daughter."
Looking at the girl beside him, Leo Ash suddenly asked.
"I've been meaning to ask, how exactly did you--"
"Mm, Daddy must be wondering how I got here, right? The pink-haired auntie showed me the way!"
Elysia, you really carried this one.
"As for the method--"
At that moment, Leo Ash saw the child in front of him disappear from sight.
The next second, the girl, now sitting on Leo Ash's bed, looked at the calm-faced Leo Ash with a playful smile.
"I'm Mommy's daughter, so as her daughter, it's perfectly normal for me to use Mommy's power, right!"
Seeing this scene, although Leo Ash was mentally prepared, he still felt that this was a serious problem.
Oh no. Although it wasn't Kiana, the 'Herrscher of the Void' has indeed awakened.
This, this, this...
--Anyway, being able to use the Herrscher of the Void's power of teleportation right after being born is just too ridiculous (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
......