MGSFV?! Chapter 459. Spare the Blade; Cyber Tombstone
The livestream chat was in a festive uproar.
However...
Although the cheerful mood was largely thanks to Hokuto's presence, the moment viewers joked that Bronya was still just a "duck egg," his expression subtly shifted—difficult to describe.
It was... similar to that look he gave Elysia once, right before ominously telling her, "The next part of the story gets really... interesting."
Because...
While Bronya may still be a "duck egg" right now, she was about to face the greatest crisis of her life—before even being born.
You might wonder, How could that be possible? After all, Duck Mom had stabilized, and Mistelin was taking care of her. What danger could possibly threaten Bronya now?
Well...
In the upcoming story—
Duck Mom (Alexandra) experienced noticeable physical improvement thanks to Mistelin's aid in awakening her Stigma. Her condition, which had one foot in the grave, drastically improved.
Stigmas were truly miraculous things.
With this turn of fate, Alexandra and Mistelin grew close—getting along quite well.
After that...
Skipping over some slice-of-life content, time passed quickly, like flowing water.
The game screen faded to black—then back to light.
"Although I've never had any formal medical training, trust me—I may know more about medicine than anyone you've ever met. So... it's best not to go out."
"Shaniat (?)" tried to stop Duck Mom from venturing outside.
Worth noting: Mistelin's name was suddenly shown as "Shaniat (?)" during this segment.
While it wasn't inaccurate—Shaniat could technically refer to her—the abrupt change in the script raised a few eyebrows among players.
Was there some deeper meaning?
Writers rarely change naming conventions arbitrarily...
With curiosity piqued, they continued watching.
Despite "Shaniat (?)"'s strong objections, insisting Alexandra's body wasn't ready to move around—
Alexandra clearly thought otherwise.
"Really? I actually feel much better since meeting you."
Shaniat: "..."
Hearing Alexandra's words confirmed something: Mistelin had indeed awakened a Stigma Bearer, granting her extremely rare resistance to Honkai energy.
[So... what kind of Stigma is that? Just higher Honkai resistance?]
[Think about it—Mistelin's presence alone kills off Honkai Beasts instantly. Duck Mom spent three days by her side and felt better?! That's some god-tier resistance.]
[Honestly, she might have the highest Honkai resistance out of everyone we've seen in the game.]
Even so, Shaniat clearly had no intention of letting Alexandra freely roam outside.
Because—
Not every Stigma Bearer turns out like Li Sushang or Dudu (Durandal), who could literally run from the moon to Earth.
Some awaken with incredible resistance—yes—but still remain powerless in battle.
Alexandra's situation was one of those.
And Shaniat's concern for Duck Mom...
Some players picked up on the nuance.
They could vaguely understand how Shaniat must feel right now.
It was like—
Someone who had wandered through a post-apocalyptic world searching for another living person—endlessly—and just as she was about to give up and end it all...
She found someone.
Someone alive.
Someone who warmed her world.
Or, to put it another way...
Duck Mom may have been the only person left in Shaniat's life who could truly get close to her.
[...I can kind of feel Mistelin's happiness here. Even the background music is full of hope.]
[Wait, am I the only one feeling... slightly uneasy?]
[What do you mean?]
[If the story suddenly kills off Duck Mom when Mistelin finally finds hope...]
[???]
"'Mr. Otto,' you're not... about to pull a sudden twist and kill off Duck Mom, are you?" Elysia asked cautiously.
"Do I seem like that kind of person?"
"???"
Is that a serious question? Do you even know yourself?
"How could you ask that with a straight face...?"
"...No... I guess not?" Elysia responded, "reluctantly."
Hokuto: "..."
The mood turned awkward.
"Ahem."
After a couple of coughs, Hokuto clarified:
"Relax. There's no sudden accident that takes Alexandra's life. I'm serious."
He wasn't lying.
Duck Mom didn't suffer any unexpected misfortunes.
She simply... made a choice.
...
Back in the story.
Shaniat didn't understand why Alexandra was so determined to leave the house.
But...
"Anyway, what exactly do you want to do today? I still don't think you should go out alone—"
"But if I can do it for you, I'd be happy to help."
"Ah... wait a second!"
Alexandra propped herself up and carefully rummaged through a wooden cabinet, pulling something out.
She handed it to Shaniat.
"Here—it's just a bunch of dried flowers I found in the specimen room nearby, but it's better than nothing."
In her palm—
A small bundle of faded botanical specimens. Even Shaniat had to draw upon Stigma knowledge to recognize it as cornflower.
Cornflower's flower language: encounter and happiness.
She wanted to place these flowers at her husband's grave.
For graves with no visitors are the most desolate—those buried there are truly forgotten.
She didn't want her husband to become one of them.
[Wait—Duck Dad's already dead?]
[If I recall, he went to visit the imprisoned Korya and got killed by a sudden Honkai Beast attack. See the manga for details.]
[Which... which manga?]
One comment floated across the screen.
Clearly, some newcomers had joined the stream—or they wouldn't be asking a question that had been answered many times before.
At least no one was still asking, "Wait, why is Bronya pregnant?"
That was progress.
[comic.bh3.com]
[Shoutout to our resident Good Samaritan (flowers)]
The chat was buzzing again.
In theory—
This part of the story should've had a more somber tone, considering Duck Mom was talking about her late husband.
But...
Alexandra herself didn't seem too sad.
Was she no longer grieving?
Not quite.
It's just that...
"Surprised I can talk about this so calmly? I told you already—my body can't handle sadness anymore. Even finding medicine to keep up lung capacity is hard now."
"You... understand that, right?"
It wasn't that she didn't feel sorrow or pain.
She simply suppressed it—for the sake of the child in her womb.
"...I understand."
...
After a brief pause, Shaniat took the bundle of dried cornflowers.
Then—
She walked outside and soon found Duck Dad's grave.
"Aleksei Sidarovich Zaytsev... this should be it."
"He was a criminal, but he did his best to keep his family and friends from freezing or starving."
Reading the gravestone inscription aloud, Shaniat gently placed the dried flowers there, weighed down with a stone.
[That sounds like something Cocolia would've written.]
[Calling him a criminal because he trafficked arms with his superiors—but the rest shows he did it all for his wife and unborn daughter. He was a good man. Even after Cocolia reported him, he protected her—he had her locked up, not executed.]
A few lore-savvy players quickly pieced the full story together for others.
Of course—
Their conclusions were possible only because they had read the Second Eruption manga.
Not because that gravestone alone offered such rich detail.
"Just like... names. They're incredibly important to humans—but hold surprisingly little data."
[Gravestone too short, life too long.]
[Question Otto. Understand Otto. Become Otto.]
[Honestly, with today's tech, why not make Cyber Tombstones?]
[Cyber Tombstone? Like what?]
[Make the tombstone a USB drive—store infinite data!]
[???]*n
[Yet another day being blown away by fellow players' imaginations.]
[We all went through nine years of school—how are you guys so amazing?!]
"..."
"Isn't that basically Elysium Realm...?"
"...Kinda is."
The more you think about it, the harder it is to argue otherwise.
"So even 'Mr. Otto' believes tombstones should ultimately become databases."
"..."
Not wrong, yet somehow wrong.
...
Meanwhile, Shaniat didn't share the players' philosophical musings.
She returned to the cabin after placing the flowers.
"I'm back. I left the flowers there."
"...Thank you."
Alexandra gave a quiet thanks, then added, "You know, it's funny—both the people who helped me recently... one only gave me a surname, and one only gave me a name."
"Do you know her? Her name's Cocolia. She's a military officer..."
Hmm...
Yes, Cocolia had once saved Duck Mom's life.
But she had also pointed a gun at her head.
Yet here was Alexandra, speaking of her with such kindness?
Truly—Duck Mom was a good person, in the most universal sense.
"...No, I've never heard that name before." Shaniat shook her head honestly. "And it's not that I only want to give you my surname... it's that I've never had a given name to begin with."
"That won't do... Shaniat, is that what others call you too?"
[Wait a sec—does that mean Duck Mom came up with the name 'Mistelin'?]
[Looks like it...]
"Come over here. I've got something to show you."
"Something?"
The answer came quickly—
Alexandra emptied the cabinet of its remaining contents.
Several different plant specimens.
"Pick your favorite," she said.
"Is this... some kind of ritual?" Shaniat asked, stepping closer.
"Hehe~ I'll tell you after you choose."
Duck Mom's tone—adorable~
Shaniat: "..."
Oh well.
It wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
Alexandra's spontaneous nature was something Shaniat had grown used to.
She reached out—
And picked the most unremarkable one.
Shriveled, chaotic, bearing pitiful fruit—
Just like how she viewed her own life.
It was mistletoe—also known as Mistelin.
Yes.
Just as players had guessed—
Duck Mom used the classic "draw-a-name-from-a-hat" method from Shenzhou to name Shaniat—
Or rather, Mistelin.
Finally, she had a name again.
We can stop calling her "Shaniat" (bushi).
[Nice!]
[Such a heartwarming scene... but now I'm scared of what happens next.]
[Don't panic. Don't scare yourself. 'Mr. Otto' said there'd be no accidents, remember?]
[You actually believe him? I don't.]
"..."
"So Mistelin and Duck Duck are connected like that? That's kinda beautiful... Duck Duck's mother gave Mistelin her name, and Mistelin cared for Duck Mom in her hardest times..."
"They're practically soul sisters."
"Which means... Mistelin is like Duck Duck's aunt...?"
Suddenly, all of Hare's weird behavior started making sense.
Because—
She clearly cared more for Bronya than she did for World Serpent.
Of course her loyalties were inward-facing.
So, who would she support?
There was no suspense in that.
Unless...
Mistelin and Hare weren't the same person.
But come on—how could that possibly be?
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