Higokumaru was beaten up by Ai-chan. Already weak, it could no longer maintain its demon fox form. The giant fox transformed into a pink-haired girl and collapsed unconscious on the ground.
"Sigh... you poor little thing. I don't know why you've come here at this point in time, but..."
Ai-chan walked over to Higokumaru and knelt down, gently embracing her. The girl's face was streaked with deep tear stains. Her past experiences... Ai-chan couldn't comment. How to describe it? It was probably like having no blood in her body, only bullets.
"I'm sorry. I have witnessed your story, but I cannot change what has already happened in the past..."
"Let go of me... I don't need your pity... I don't need it..."
Higokumaru struggled to push Ai-chan away, but tears streamed down her face for some reason...
No one had ever smiled at her, and no one had ever liked her. Since her birth, she had been endlessly reliving the tragic nightmare of a girl named Rin in her memories.
Was it five hundred years, or fifty thousand years... At some point, hatred consumed Higokumaru, making her live in the hatred of that girl named Rin...
For so long, this was the first time she had felt... the warmth of being embraced by someone.
But Higokumaru would not forget the reason for her birth, nor would she forget Rin's heart-wrenching pain, because she was Higokumaru, and she was also Rin...
"Get away... I don't need the pity of a robot..." Higokumaru finally clenched her teeth and pushed Ai-chan away fiercely.
Ai-chan was a little taken aback by being pushed away, and at the same time, Higokumaru's words made Ai-chan's eyes darken, deeply stinging her heart.
Seeing Ai-chan's sad expression, Higokumaru subconsciously covered her mouth. She seemed to have said the wrong thing.
But Ai-chan stood up, gave Higokumaru a slight bow, and then retreated into the shadows.
"I apologize. It seems I acted on my own accord."
"I am very sorry for what you have been through, but if you dare to invade the Hyperion again, I will come to discipline you again."
"I..."
Higokumaru reached out a hand, wanting to stop Ai-chan, but Ai-chan had already disappeared. She had already left this world.
In the end, Higokumaru was left alone, hugging her knees and squatting in the Hyperion's database. The first person in tens of thousands of years to embrace her had been driven away by her.
After an unknown amount of time, the Hyperion started up again. It was Theresa, bringing Fu Hua along, preparing to head to Canghai City to support Ryn and the others.
Ryn and the others had discovered an abnormal Honkai energy reaction under the sea south of Canghai City, and there was a huge underground space on the seabed. Based on the on-site data, they speculated that it was Jiuyou!
Feeling the changes in the data space, Higokumaru, who was hiding in a corner, was also awakened.
She left the data space, her data transcribing into a physical body in the command room. As she materialized, she found Fu Hua and Theresa standing in front of her, looking at her.
"Why is there a child here? Appearing out of thin air? A Herrscher!"
Theresa took the Imitation Judah from her back and got into a combat stance.
Because that bastard Ryn had run off with Judah, and she wasn't used to other weapons, she had gone to Welt and acted cute, getting him to make a Divine Key for her.
Theresa had met Welt during the Second Honkai War. He hadn't been discovered because she had covered for him with her grandfather. Theresa had let Welt hide in her academy for so long, so it was only fair to get some compensation.
However, although Welt could replicate Judah, he couldn't replicate the Herrscher core, so this Imitation Judah was many times weaker than the real one. But for Theresa, it was enough.
Fu Hua looked at Higokumaru and fell into deep thought. She had already thrown away most of her memories, but some things are remembered not just by the brain, but by the body as well.
"Herrscher of Corruption..."
"I didn't expect to see a familiar face, Big Sis Hua..."
Higokumaru glanced at Hua. She knew Hua. Every time her sister took her to Fire Moth's social gatherings, Rin and Hua couldn't fit in and could only huddle together in a corner eating instant noodles.
"Do we know each other?" Fu Hua was a little surprised. Although she felt the person before her was somewhat familiar, she had no memory of her at all. However, seeing the conversion between data and physical form, Fu Hua still knew she was the Herrscher of Corruption.
"...No, we don't." Higokumaru didn't know why Hua was pretending not to know her, but she wasn't really Rin, so it was normal not to be recognized.
"Can we not fight? I'm not in the mood right now."
But it was clear that neither Fu Hua nor Theresa had any intention of not fighting. A Herrscher of Corruption who had secretly snuck onto the Hyperion could have done who knows what kind of damage. How could they not fight?
"Alright then... I surrender!"
Higokumaru raised her hands and gave up all resistance. It was better to surrender early than to fight and get beaten to a pulp by Hua. She was very confused right now. Ai-chan's warm embrace had made her a little infatuated, a feeling she had never experienced in tens of thousands of years. But she had hurt Ai-chan's feelings with her words and made her leave.
"Uh... then don't move. I'll tie you up first." Theresa shouted as she cautiously used the chains of the Imitation Judah to bind Higokumaru.
Fu Hua looked at Higokumaru, who was tied up and thrown to the side, with some confusion. This Herrscher of Corruption was definitely not from this civilization, but the Herrscher of Corruption from the previous civilization should have been... by whom again...
Hey, Fu Hua realized her memory was fragmented again. It seemed she needed to find time to go back to Mount Taixu to look for memories about the Herrscher of Corruption.
"What should we do? Should we escort her back to the academy, Fu Hua?" Theresa pulled Fu Hua aside and whispered.
"Let's continue onward. The matter of Jiuyou is also very important. Besides, Ryn and Judah are over there. Bringing the Herrscher of Corruption there is definitely safer than leaving her at the academy. We can also interrogate her about some things on the way," Fu Hua said seriously, pushing up her glasses.
"Hey, hey, hey, can't you talk a little further away? It's not like I can't hear you."
Higokumaru pouted. What's the point of whispering at such a short distance? Who were they looking down on?
*Thump—*
"You brat, adults are talking, children shouldn't interrupt."
Theresa punched Higokumaru on the head. Higokumaru, with a large bump on her head, was on the verge of tears.
Fu Hua looked at Higokumaru, who was tied up and squatting in the corner with teary eyes, and suddenly felt that this scene was a bit familiar.
Coincidentally, so did Higokumaru.
Higokumaru looked up at Theresa and Fu Hua with a wry smile. She was already in a bad mood, and seeing herself in this state through the glass made her feel even worse.
"Heh, I suddenly realize that I'm just like I was back then... imprisoned, teary-eyed... and then beaten to a pulp by the soldiers who rushed in..."
*Crack—*
The chains binding Higokumaru snapped. Higokumaru's crimson eyes stared at Theresa and Fu Hua, and the palpable resentment on her body resurfaced.
"Tell me, who was in the wrong? Me? Or them?"