MGSFV?! Chapter 452. Twin Ducks Walking Side by Side; Video Material-1
Speaking of which—
Once again, Honkai Impact 3rd's plot aligned with its core theme: bright, positive, and uplifting.
After all—
If even that "Don't praise suffering, but thank the self who overcame it" wasn't positive enough, then what is?
This whole section may have felt a bit risky, arguably pushing past the 12+ rating boundary—but wow, it sure radiated positive energy.
Workers shedding tears on the spot ( ).
...
Alright.
Let's not dwell too long on that.
Prometheus also knew when to stop.
She said, "Ahem... we've been standing here without moving for quite a while. For the sake of operational efficiency—how about we walk and talk?"
["Been standing here a long time"]
[Nonsense, you and Duckie are clearly floating!]
[Realistically speaking, only Kiana is running. Even Mei should count as gliding.]
[Among the Herrschers, only Flamescion actually walks on the ground.]
[That's right. After all, Flamescion's meaning is different from the other Herrschers.]
"So Bronya can fly thanks to Project Bunny... but what's Prometheus's principle for flight?"
"It's anime logic. Don't overthink it."
"...Anime logic can explain anything?"
While the players reacted to Prometheus's suggestion—
Bronya turned to Kiana.
"Bronya's fine, but Kiana might already be tired from standing?"
"Huh?"
Kiana made a confused sound, like a student zoning out in class and suddenly being called on.
Feeling the focus of everyone's gaze, she scratched her head a little awkwardly.
"Haha, I'm not that impatient, you know."
It wasn't that she didn't want to listen—she just didn't understand. Big difference.
"But..."
Just as Kiana started to fall into slight embarrassment, Mei spoke up to smooth things over.
Tch.
Everything goes without saying. Fine, fine.
"Prometheus, when you say 'walk and talk,' do you mean the memories we saw earlier too?"
As an AI, Prometheus didn't really understand all these subtle interactions, but she still followed Mei's words.
She confirmed Mei's assumption—yes, she planned to show them more memories.
Then turned and took the lead.
As they walked, she continued—
"I heard from Hare—"
"Bronya, as the Herrscher of Reason, you possess a distributed core. It can be divided into approximately 300,000 fragments."
"...That should be accurate, yes?"
[Herrscher of Sentience: I only got 1,000, why does Reason get 300k?! 乆乆乆!]
[Because compared to Reason, Sentience was just a rabble. Look—300,000 wills could work together in harmony, but Sentience's 1,000 couldn't even hold a meeting without chaos.]
[These 300k people had incredible moral fiber. Most would've had at least some resentment, right?]
[Every time we enter the Reason Core the scene is on fire—clearly there's grudges—but it's still rational overall.]
[Herrscher of a Thousand? More like Herrscher of Thousand Failures.]
...
"You guys keep dragging the Herrscher of Sentience through the mud—careful, one day she'll jump out from some dark corner and scare you!"
Elysia joined in the fun, following the mood of the chat.
[No way! Absolutely not! The Herrscher of Sentience—she's already dead~~]
[Haha, that's using the enemy's tactics against them. Careful, you might provoke a resurrection.]
[Not scared. I dare her to come back!]
Hokuto: "..."
"Elysia, you'd better continue the story."
If she kept going, he'd seriously have to worry she might accidentally create a new meme...
Which would just give him more editing material for videos... Hm? Actually, that sounded great. Why was he stopping her again?
Hokuto suddenly realized.
Video Material-1.
Misstep.
"Ah~! True enough."
Elysia nodded and resumed controlling Bronya to follow Prometheus.
Twin ducks walk beside the ground—drifting further and further away.
In the story—
When Prometheus asked about the structure of the Reason Core,
Bronya didn't hold back and shared everything she knew.
With confirmed data in hand, Prometheus launched into another analysis.
Conclusion (as mentioned): the Herrscher of Reason and Project STIGMA share many structural similarities.
However, she added one new detail.
About Joyce...
She deduced that Joyce might have been a "Conceptual Being" born from the unique structure of the Reason Core.
In other words, Joyce might never have existed as a real person in the first place—he might have come into being from nothing.
Bronya: "..."
She hadn't expected Prometheus to be that sharp.
"Indeed... before the Honkai event in Berlin, there was no such consciousness on Earth known as 'Welt Joyce.'"
[Huh?]
"That Herrscher, born nearly from nothing, was influenced by the mind of a certain victim—and instinctively began gathering the thoughts of other victims."
"As these thoughts grew in number... his Herrscher Core became more and more complete."
"No one knows what exactly he did."
Bronya narrated slowly—
Her tone full of reverence for Joyce.
"But everyone knows—those countless thoughts, the echoes of that entire city, were humanity's final cry for a savior. Their final resistance against the Honkai."
"—And so, the man later known as Welt Joyce, rose from the ruins."
"In the name of the world."
The game screen shifted just then.
A short cutscene began.
Huh?
Players immediately focused up.
Even though it looked brief, HoYoverse actually animated a segment?!
The camera showed a city engulfed in flames.
If war created hell on Earth...
Then present-day Berlin was a graveyard where not even wandering souls remained.
And yet—there were still "people" moving within.
A young man walked forward numbly through the rubble.
Only ashes lay beneath his feet.
Suddenly!
In his vision, life seemed to appear once more.
"Do you wish for a savior?"
He heard a voice in his throat that didn't belong to him.
"Yes! Of course I do!"
He didn't know why—but he still answered.
And as his words fell—
Countless glimmering eyes emerged from the dust and darkness.
They prayed to him. Blessing hands touched his forehead one by one.
Their memories were etched into his soul.
As if—that was salvation itself.
As if—he himself was the savior.
Countless wills began constructing something entirely new.
It was...
Of humanity. Of civilization...
The Herrscher of Reason.
At the end of the animation—
An illusory butterfly landed on his fingertip.
Then—materialized into reality.
Trailing brilliant light, it soared skyward.
[!!!]
[Didn't expect the writers to give Anti-Entropy an animated scene in the main story. Anti-Entropy fans are thrilled.]
[That "certain victim" must've been Karl, right? Karl guided Joyce?]
[Savior, humanity's Adam... And then Otto, that bastard, killed him. Funny when you think about it.]
[See? It's not just Otto getting blamed for everything—he's got plenty of skeletons in the closet.]
[Otto did some good too, or else he wouldn't have had such a strong rep in Schicksal.]
Indeed.
Otto did take out quite a few people who genuinely fought for humanity against the Honkai, but he also made meaningful contributions.
No one can easily pass judgment on him.
[There you go again—dragging Otto through the mud. According to Miss Pink Elf's logic, careful he doesn't jump out from nowhere and scare you to death!]
[Am I supposed to be scared?]
[Dragging the Herrscher of Sentience, Otto... that's just routine. Oh right—Corruption's now joined the "targets of mockery" list too. Maybe the three can team up and do something live on stream!]
[Hahahahahaha]
...
Laugh all you want.
We'll see who's laughing last.
For now—back to the story.
Bronya finished recounting the story of Joyce's birth to Prometheus.
Joyce may very well have been, as Prometheus said, humanity's Adam.
But—Bronya had a different view.
Joyce did possess the power of a savior—but she knew what he truly believed:
We don't need a savior—we can save ourselves.
He may have been born as a savior, but his ideals went far beyond the concept of salvation.
[Never rely on gods or emperors—we must save ourselves!]
[Why are the words white, but they feel so red...]
[If the BGM here had been "The Internationale," I'd call it perfection.]
[The writers really went wild here.]
[Kinda curious what players from other countries will think of this scene. It's practically dialectical materialism.]
Honkai Impact 3rd's global version has been out for quite a while.
It's doing well.
Naturally, it has spawned many international streamers, just like in China.
Some players often check out global streams just to see reactions.
[Hmm... not sure, but I can recommend a few international Honkai 3rd streamers... unrealdreamer, zkodla...]
[Feels like the issue isn't whether they understand it, but whether they accept these ideas.]
[HoYoverse is spreading ideology through games now (not really)]
Well...
Text is a powerful vehicle for conveying ideas.
Why else did the ancients always write books to pass down knowledge?
Even if the writers didn't mean to do this... they've undeniably slipped in a bit of a "people's history" worldview.
Perspective: Expanded.
...
Back to the main story.
Bronya truly is a Russian—her words are so red.
"Herrschers are apostles of the Honkai. But they can also be warriors for humanity. Neither devil, nor angel... All Herrschers are just ordinary humans."
The First Herrscher of Reason, Welt Joyce, proved that.
He arguably had no connection to humanity at all.
But from beginning to end, even now—almost no one questions whether Joyce is human.
Because compared to what he did, his identity doesn't matter.
He is a hero of humanity. No doubt about it.
Prometheus listened to Bronya's words—and after a brief moment of contemplation—
Nodded lightly. "Thank you for your explanation. It helped me fully understand what the name 'Herrscher of Reason' means in this era."
But—she quickly changed the subject.
"But if one day... those 300,000 wills become an obstacle to saving the world—then as the third Herrscher of Reason, what choice will you make?"
Huh?!
Was Prometheus hinting that Duckie will later face a choice...
Erase the 300,000 wills and move forward—or preserve them and abandon progress?
That...
Some players furrowed their brows, sensing a hidden blade in the future.
The upcoming story... might be sharp.
"For an individual, 300,000 thoughts might seem overwhelming... But to Project STIGMA, which aims to encompass 7 billion humans—it's merely an extra 300,000 dreams."
"I mean no disrespect to history... I'm just stating the fact that the Herrscher of Reason's power faces unique difficulties against a system built similarly."
"And my earlier attempts to scatter and then reunite you all proved that the Herrscher of Reason's power is riddled with holes—forced into inferiority within STIGMA's net."
[Prometheus: Armor Stacking!]
[Still, Prometheus, don't think you can just spout all that and expect us not to notice you're calling Duckie weak! As a Duckie fan, I will not tolerate this!]
[No, honestly, if you hadn't said anything, I might not have noticed.]
[Duckie fans are so perceptive~~ But wait—you guys don't also love Prometheus? She's getting kicked out of the Duckie Club now?]
[HoYoverse Russian Female Executive: Disclaimer: That guy earlier was speaking for himself. Not affiliated with the Duckie fandom (ᗜ‸ᗜ)]
Hokuto: (ᗜ‸ᗜ)
Wait—did he just see a weird username?
Isn't that... himself?
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