MGSFV?! Chapter 450. Big do, Special do; Germany X Science
Back to the main topic.
Here, Kiana used the Herrscher of the Void as an example—it's definitely not because she, like the players, suddenly had a wild thought like...
Hare (Cecilia)'s daughter happens to be the Herrscher of the Void (Kiana).
More likely, Kiana just couldn't come up with a better metaphor to describe the inexplicable pressure Hare gave her...
So she referenced her former greatest "enemy."
After all, not everyone can be like a certain [Master of Metaphors] who always manages to come up with the perfect comparison on the spot—
Like that classic "riding a roller coaster while eating peanuts with your eyes" or "puffed up like a little pufferfish"...
Coming up with stuff like that really does take talent and imagination.
Of course, the most important part is having a sense of fun ( ).
And our Miss Pink Elf never lacks in the fun department. Compared to her, Kiana is sorely lacking... Looks like Mei will have to give her some serious tutoring on everything she learned from Elysia to help Kiana improve.
You'd better only be teaching knowledge, okay?!
Anyway—
Still somewhat naive and not yet fluent in shocking declarations, Kiana simply exchanged intel with Bronya.
They confirmed each other's condition and began considering what to do next.
The briefly glimpsed Joyce reappeared not far ahead.
"That silhouette is—?"
"Welt Joyce! He's back again."
Bronya quickly chased after him with Kiana in tow.
Her instinct told her—perhaps this "Joyce" was the key to breaking the deadlock.
Moments later—
The two arrived at Joyce's last location. He was gone again, leaving only a memory fragment behind.
Recalling her recent experience, Kiana immediately suspected that Mei might also be sealed within a fragment.
And instantly wanted to help Mei.
Kiana always gets flustered when it's about Mei...
But before they could touch the fragment, a sudden clap of thunder rang out—and the fragment disappeared as Mei revealed herself.
Mei had freed herself with her own power.
[Now you all understand the value of a Lightning Herrscher buffed by all thirteen Flame-Chaser enhancements, right? (doge)]
[It's all thanks to training in Elysian Realm~~]
[As expected of General Mei! Another solid proof that Mei = Number One!]
[??? Beware the Mei1 cult, always sneaking in.]
A portion of the livestream audience started arguing after seeing some of the comments.
But unexpectedly—Kiana was the first to "betray" them.
She praised: "Mei is really amazing. She broke free from that weird restraint all by herself without needing Bronya's help."
[...]*n
"It might've just been that the illusion had weakened,"
Mei humbly responded, and deliberately ended the topic.
At the same time, she began explaining the memories she saw inside the fragment—cutting off Kiana's praise.
Not because she didn't want to hear it—but because Bronya was still standing right there.
Duckie: Smooth. One boom in the sky and I turned into a third wheel.
Not a great feeling, right?
...
Afterward.
Mei finished describing the memory she had seen—
A dark-haired boy being interrogated by several people in lab coats.
And from a logical analysis, that boy should be Welt Joyce—the first Herrscher of Reason.
Mei sure catches on fast~~
As expected of someone who has been trained by the thirteen riddlemasters of Elysian Realm. This Herrscher of Reason is yours to handle...
Duckie: ??
...Ahem.
Besides studying the memory fragment, they also discussed the one who let them see these memories—Hare.
And they expressed caution toward her.
Mainly because Hare's methods—or rather, the power of Project STIGMA—was something they'd never encountered before. Facing it for the first time left them unsure how to respond.
How to seize the initiative from Hare—or even further, from Kevin—was a problem that required deep thought.
"To oppose the power of Finality and surpass Project STIGMA, we at least need to establish stable communication with the scientists from Anti-Entropy and Schicksal."
Just like how Kevin was currently executing Project STIGMA—it was written out in fifteen drafts by Mobius, under MEI's "supervision."
If Kevin had to come up with Project STIGMA himself...
Yeah, that's basically impossible. Even calling it "unlikely" is putting it mildly.
So, naturally, if Kiana and the others want to challenge Project STIGMA, they'll also need to find scientists from Anti-Entropy and Schicksal.
"On the bright side, maybe Dr. Einstein and the others were already prepared. Things might not be as bad as we think."
"...Yeah."
[But think about it—wasn't the main story of Honkai Impact 3rd set right after the Third Eruption?
It's only been a year or two since then, and now Finality is already descending. I mean, I trust Dr. Einstein and the others, but isn't that timeframe way too short?]
[Not necessarily. With data from the Previous Era, everyone already knew Finality would eventually descend.
Even if the story of the thirteen Herrschers was altered by v2v, the rest of the history is probably accurate.
So, operating under a "better safe than sorry" mindset, Einstein and the others would've definitely started preparations, whether useful or not.]
[Even if that's true—plans made over a year ago... would they really be useful now?]
[They can always be improved.]
[Ah~~ I know this pain. I can revise a plan three times in one day. In over a year...? Crap, I can't even imagine—total nightmare.]
[Stop. Stop. I'm getting PTSD.]
...
"No matter what... let's think positive..." Mei continued slowly.
"..."
But Kiana, watching Mei talk with such calm, fell strangely silent.
"Kiana...?"
Noticing the change in Kiana's expression, Mei paused and asked softly: "What's wrong?"
"No..."
Kiana thought for a moment, then shook her head. "It's nothing..."
Mei: "..."
What's this? Are they suddenly being awkward?
Bronya couldn't stand watching this!
She deliberately sighed: "Ah, Kiana really is such an idiot. You've already done that with Mei, and now you're hesitating over something like this?"
Player: ¿¿¿
That one line from Duckie flipped even their question marks upside down.
And immediately set off a storm.
The chat exploded.
[If you're going there, I'm wide awake now!]
[Details! What did they do? Bronya, explain yourself!]
[Big do Special do (doge)]
[Wait, did Duckie spy on them earlier? That's not cool!!]
[Let me off this bus, it's not headed to kindergarten.]
The players were hyped.
And Kiana wasn't far behind in her reaction.
She shouted in panic: "Uh... Bronya?!"
Mei just chuckled: "Hehe, Bronya is still so relentless."
Seems like Duckie's words were a bit outrageous—but they worked like a charm.
The weird atmosphere between Kiana and Mei was immediately broken.
Hmm...
As for why things had gotten awkward earlier?
Though it wasn't stated outright—
The reason Mei so desperately wanted a better option... wasn't it because Hare had hinted that Kiana might become Finality?
Kiana obviously realized what Mei was thinking. But what surprised her was how much calmer Mei was than she had expected.
Looks like Mei's recent growth... is far greater than anyone had imagined.
...
Anyway—back on topic.
After Bronya diffused the tension, the three of them discussed for a while longer.
Then, Kiana's group decided to keep searching for more memory fissures to uncover additional clues.
And through these memory fragments, the players learned quite a bit too.
Like...
Uncle Maksim, who had adopted Bronya, had been saving money to fix their house—and was accidentally shot and killed by a boy about Bronya's age while working.
And young Bronya, having lost all adult support...
"...Bronya."
Just hearing that part, one could imagine the hardships she had endured.
[This world has never been beautiful!]
[乆乆乆乆乆!]
[Disasters didn't break us—our fellow humans did.]
[Screw you, Otto!]
[Otto's already dead~~ (Herrscher of Sentience's voice)]
Even so...
Despite Bronya being in such dire straits...
"The state collapsed. War erupted. The once-orderly Siberia became a paradise for outlaws.
If a place falls that far, it may take generations to return to normal.
But... the home Bronya knew was already full of chaos.
Compared to the older generation who watched everything they knew fall apart, Bronya's generation might actually be luckier."
Bronya turned out to be far stronger and more optimistic than anyone expected.
Bright and upbeat, healthy and cheerful.
Of course, recalling established history like this, while moving, doesn't offer any real help in the present.
So they resumed their search for memory fragments.
With past experience, they quickly found the next one.
But this fragment was different from the others.
Bronya wasn't the protagonist of this memory.
Of course, that didn't make it any less important.
On the contrary—
Because this memory came from a very special individual—Karl Gustav.
If the combined will of the 300,000 victims of the Berlin Honkai and the Herrscher of Reason's will created Welt Joyce...
Then Karl was the first among those 300,000—the very first strand of will.
As for Karl Gustav...
One of the most memorable moments for players who read the Anti-Entropy novel is probably—
Karl once served as a psychological counselor for young Einstein, who, due to precocious intellect, became obsessed with metaphysics (aka mysticism).
(Real-life Einstein was obsessed with theology in his later years. In the visual novel, he was obsessed with metaphysics in his youth...)
Also, he was the cousin of Emma Planck—Einstein's later mentor.
Still, if it were just a plain and normal cousin relationship, it wouldn't have left such an impression.
The key is—
Young Einstein once joked...
"If Karl were... ten years younger? I'd pair him with Cousin Emma!"
Cousins?!
Well... maybe in some foreign countries that's not too strange?
Even more shocking...
Karl really did get ten years younger later on. Though by then, he was already known as Joyce. The real Karl had long since died.
It was only someone who looked like him.
But, how to put this... that scene was kind of "peculiar" (no comment).
Ahem.
In short—even if you ignore all the weird "gossip" (?), it's clear that Karl was extremely important to the Herrscher of Reason.
Therefore, the appearance of Karl's memory practically marks the beginning of the Herrscher of Reason's core collapsing under the influence of Project STIGMA.
Though the Herrscher of Reason's core was originally formed from those 300,000 wills, and in theory, they should be free to come and go from the core—
But... this kind of fragmentation clearly isn't normal.
[Oh, so basically some of the Reason Core's wills are refusing to work? Going on strike?]
[What kind of Soviet Herrscher is this.]
[??? Soviet... Can you even say that in a livestream?]
[Soviet Herrscher—everyone in the core is German. Isn't that kind of a dark joke?]
[Tsk~~ that's... hard to unsee.]
[Guys, isn't the real issue that the Reason Core is falling apart? That's serious, right?]
...
"...This situation isn't as terrifying as it sounds. The Herrscher of Reason is, after all, a unified concept.
So whether it's the two Mr. Welts or Bronya, we all have the ability to manage these 300,000 thoughts."
"So the real issue is... how to remove the Herrscher Core's dependency on Project STIGMA.
That way, Bronya may have a chance to recover her strength."
Hearing this, Kiana seemed puzzled.
"But Mei and I didn't encounter such trouble—ah, is it because our Herrscher Cores aren't what you call 'distributed'?"
"Maybe not only that."
Bronya shook her head. "Unlike you and Mei—Bronya... is not a Herrscher who has undergone transcendence."
Ah, so that's it!
The reason why the Herrscher of Reason isn't as overpowered as the legends claimed—finally revealed.
Like this story Leave a review ; it would really help me out a lot.
Want to Read Ahead in Advance?
Join my Patreon!
+75 Chapters
Support me in
Patreon.com/BestElysium