"I heard from Dr. Mobius..."
"The Third Herrscher you captured... she looks a lot like me, doesn't she?"
Miss Mei carefully considered her words as she looked at Kiana.
Kiana nodded without denying it. "Yes. She's a Herrscher created by the Honkai in your image."
"My image..."
A strange expression flickered across Miss Mei's delicate face. She couldn't help but feel a sense of surreal wonder upon suddenly learning that she had become the template for a Herrscher created by the Honkai.
Did this mean that, in the eyes of the Honkai, she was... actually quite impressive?
"Can I go see her?"
"Hm? Sure~"
Kiana didn't refuse.
Though strictly speaking, she had only granted Elysia the privilege to freely enter and exit the Imaginary Prison.
But if Miss Mei wanted to visit, she was more than happy to allow it.
Just imagine~
When Herrscher of Heavenly Punishment sees her own prototype standing right in front of her...
What would she be thinking?
"You? My prototype? Heh... How are you so weak?" Perfect. The Herrscher of Heavenly Punishment took one look at Miss Mei and immediately looked down on her.
She could see it plain as day.
Miss Mei was frail and delicate—no strength, no stamina, probably out of breath after just a few steps. How could anyone be this pathetic?!
"..." Miss Mei gazed at her with an unreadable expression.
She wasn't someone to be easily bullied.
The Herrscher of Heavenly Punishment mocked her weakness.
Miss Mei casually glanced around the cell.
In her eyes, the entire place was filled with childish trinkets, scattered everywhere.
So, naturally, the Herrscher of Heavenly Punishment also seemed like a child in her eyes—utterly naive, looking like a complete fool.
"At least I'm not... as dumb as you. If your brain doesn't work well, you should try reading more books."
"Hah?" The Herrscher of Heavenly Punishment acted like a delinquent, still treating Miss Mei with disdain.
She didn't see any problem with her room full of figurines and merch.
After all, in her eyes, these were all gifts from Elysia, what could possibly be wrong with that?
Nothing!
So.
She only knew Miss Mei was mocking her.
But she had no idea why Miss Mei was mocking her.
Sesha, do you get it?
"?" Miss Sesha was even more clueless than the Herrscher of Heavenly Punishment.
She blinked her big, adorable eyes, tilting her head slightly with a blank, confused look.
Absolutely hopeless.
Dr. Mei let out an almost imperceptible sigh.
She suddenly felt... if the Honkai—no, if Herrschers—were all like this…then maybe there wasn't much to worry about after all.
She hoped this one was just an exception.
Please don't shatter her illusions.
Just think about it.
Wielding authority countless scientists could only dream of, embodying the full manifestation of physical phenomena...
If this was all they amounted to... well, as one of those physicists, she couldn't help but feel a bit conflicted.
Kiana didn't directly enter the Imaginary Prison.
She simply took a peek from the real world.
Watching Dr. Mei silently scrutinize the Herrscher of Heavenly Punishment, while the Herrscher of Heavenly Punishment utterly despised Dr. Mei in return, she couldn't help but laugh.
Usually, a person gets along best with themselves—more in sync, more self-appreciating than with anyone else.
But while narcissism exists, self-loathing isn't uncommon either.
Besides, strictly speaking, the Herrscher of Heavenly Punishment wasn't Dr. Mei.
Dr. Mei's rational, almost monstrous way of thinking wasn't something a newborn, clueless Herrscher could ever keep up with.
And even though Dr. Mei seemed normal now...anyone who spent real time with her knew she was only normal on the surface.
Even if the clueless Herrscher actually read books—real, knowledgeable books—and even made it through grad school or a PhD, she'd probably still struggle to keep up.
Geniuses are geniuses precisely because their thinking is unique, different from ordinary people, right?
What seems like a leap to us feels perfectly natural to them.
"So, what do you think?" Even so, Kiana, holding little Griseo in her arms, smiled and asked, already knowing the answer.
"..." Once Dr. Mei stepped out, she finally let her composure crack.
She sighed.
"Now I understand why Elysia described her that way."
"Oh?"
"She said, as long as you treat that child like a little kid and play along with her... she's easy to handle. Seems like she was right..."
Dr. Mei spoke with a tinge of melancholy.
She hadn't come with the intention of studying the Third Herrscher anyway.
If she really needed research materials, she could just ask Mobius.
After all, with the Third Herrscher as a natural resource, Mobius could get as many samples as she wanted. Even materials from the Third Herrscher herself, which were top-tier, didn't seem all that rare to her now.
Life had gotten more luxurious and with that came a bit of extravagance.
But it was fine!
Kiana doted on Mobius.
Girls should be spoiled, after all.
Not just the Third Herrscher—even she and Elysia often got pulled into simple experiments now and then, or had little samples taken from them.
Every time Mobius visited, it was like a thief never leaving empty-handed.
She'd call Kiana "hubby" so sweetly, so eagerly.
But she only called Kiana "hubby" when she needed something, acknowledging the future hinted at by the Sky Screen. When she didn't need anything, it was just "Kiana, Kiana," casual as could be.
Totally the type to walk away without a second thought.
But maybe that was part of Mobius's charm?
Honestly!
When you like someone, everything they do seems endearing. If you don't, nothing about them moves you.
At least, Kiana remained indifferent to the other girls in Fire Moth.
She knew they had their own little agendas—nothing major, just wanting to get close to her, to latch onto her influence.
Or maybe they were sent by higher-ups as part of some "honey trap."
Or, more directly, to serve her...and so on.
None of it really mattered.
But if she didn't like them, she just didn't.
It wasn't like she meant anything by it.
It was just a matter of drawing clear lines.
After all, no matter what you do, as long as you know where you stand, isn't that enough?
A couple of days later.
Kiana finished producing the new episode of the Sky Screen video.
As agreed earlier, she sent out an advance notice.
During this period, anything related to the Celestial Screen took top priority.
So, whether it was announcements for new episodes, discussions about past content, the setup of various forums, the networking of information sites, the building of databases, or the compilation of wikis—everything had been well developed.
Therefore, once Kiana notified Fire Moth, the news about the upcoming Sky Screen episode spread from them like wildfire, radiating out to the entire world.
Tonight at 7, prime time.
Everyone, be ready.
What? You ask which time zone's 7 o'clock?
Don't be silly.
It's obviously based on wherever the young lady is.
You didn't actually expect her to consider time zones, did you?
Only when officially announced would the time be adjusted and communicated according to local time zones.
But even then the same frustrating issue still remained.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
20+ advanced chaps on my patreon.
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.