MGSFV?! Chapter 419. Surfing MEI; The Ancient One's Vocabulary—Lacking
Some especially proactive players—
Were not just planning fun little videos about the Herrscher of Sentience, but even considering compiling a full "Greatest Hits of the Herrscher of Sentience" montage.
Of course, that's a matter for later.
Hokuto, for his part, planned to keep an eye on it.
If someone made something good, he'd even share it on the official account—so that everyone could share in the joy.
Meanwhile…
Far away at the dojo, Senti was half-watching the stream with Li Sushang, half wrestling with someone in her DMs.
She suddenly furrowed her brows and felt an ominous chill on her back.
What… was that?
"Something wrong?"
Li Sushang looked over.
"...Nothing."
Senti hesitated, but eventually ignored the bad feeling in her chest.
She put her phone down and refocused on the stream.
…
Back to the story—
After Senti's rather eloquent, if creatively limited, complaints—
Kiana just scratched her head and chuckled:
"I can't fully believe it either, but... let's prove it with actions."
She closed her eyes.
Her stance, her posture—everyone recognized it.
[Wait a second—isn't this the Tai Xu Sword Style opening move?!]
"I don't really understand the underlying principle, but..."
She opened her eyes.
Her originally cerulean irises turned golden.
Honkai energy gathered on her forehead.
She whispered:
"Divine is the utmost transformation!"
With those words, an intangible Tai Xu Sword Qi sliced through the air.
The chaotic spatial turbulence that had plagued MEI's plan melted away before it—
as if meeting its natural predator.
The broken space—two banks separated by chaos—were reconnected once again.
Everything had gone surprisingly smoothly.
But then again, that was only to be expected—this was Dr. MEI's plan, after all.
If anything didn't go smoothly, that would be the real surprise.
"..."
As the space calmed—
Senti observed the restored void. She thought about congratulating Kiana...
But remembering how the girl had only pulled this off after being beaten up by her—
The words spun around in her mouth.
Finally—
She just stretched lazily and offered a half-hearted congratulations:
"Yay."
Then lowered her voice:
"...Unbelievable."
[Yay ^o^/**
[I've been laughing nonstop because of Senti, my stomach hurts.]
[Take a breather, it feels like Senti's story arc isn't over yet.]
Kiana just smiled gently, unbothered by the Herrscher of Sentience's reaction.
Instead, she explained:
"While we were fighting in that dreamscape, as my mind weakened under your assault, the mental shackle on my powers loosened too."
"And for some reason... the Tai Xu Sword Qi itself wasn't particularly affected by the shackle."
Wait, Tai Xu Sword Qi wasn't affected?
That... actually made sense.
Some players started to put the pieces together.
Not because of "mysterious eastern energy," of course—
But because Kevin's spiritual lock on their Herrscher powers likely involved the Herrscher of Discipline's powers—
and Tai Xu Sword Style essentially originated from Divine Key: Sound of Discipline.
In-game, Kiana turned toward Senti and gestured with her palms.
"So that's why I asked you to keep hitting me—"
"To help me find a technique using Sword Qi to bypass the shackle."
"Hmph."
Senti scoffed.
"If it were that easy, I'd have helped you ages ago."
"Well... even I can't explain it. I kind of stumbled into it."
Kiana shook her head, then smiled slightly.
"But it's also thanks to you, Senti. Right now, you're the only one with the ability to weaken others' spirits from within."
Senti: "...?"
Uh-oh, she didn't like hearing that.
Some players were already muttering in chat.
[Careful, don't let it go to her head.]
Actually—
What Senti seemed to care more about…
was the name Kiana had used.
"I told you not to call me that! It's weird—who's older between us anyway?!"
—She practically forced the complaint out.
So that's why she doesn't like the nickname "Senti"?
And the reason she lets MEI call her that?
One: "Bloodline Suppression."
Two: MEI really is older than her.
[Senti's finally realized… she's still a baby (lol)]
[Don't say "thanks Senti," say "thanks Sensei Senti"!]
[You're not older than her by age. And you're not older than her by rank either (lol)]
[Careful—those words are a headshot (寸劲开颅)!]
Senti may have sensed something was off, so she straightened up again.
"Hmph. You just got lucky. My only goal was to beat you to a pulp."
The Herrscher of Denial activated her Mouth-Hardening Authority. (Not really.)
"Alright, alright. Whether it was dumb luck or not—only Dr. MEI would know."
Kiana spoke like she was calming a child.
She clearly had a full handle on Senti's temper.
"Let's just hurry back to Mei and the others. I'm sure the Doctor is over there too."
[Kiana's tone here really sounds like Mei's, lol]
[Kiana knows how to soothe kids, but Hua's still an emotional brick. (Sad)]
[Ultimate Mega Adorably Overpowered Kiana.jpg]
Senti: "..."
As it turns out—
Our Herrscher of Children really is easy to pacify.
After just a few words, Senti was mollified.
Though she still had a sour expression, she quietly followed behind Kiana.
The two retraced their steps.
Soon, they found MEI standing in a high vantage point, surveying the changeless world around them.
—Strangely enough, this sickly, physically weakest person present…
always happened to be exactly where she was needed.
Was that a jab?
It was, wasn't it?
It's a classic gaming trope—certain NPCs always pop up right where they need to be.
But somehow, it never feels wrong when it's MEI.
Mihoyo directly pointing out their own clichés had left players speechless.
All they could do now was focus on the plot.
A true display of High-Intensity Developer Surfing.jpg
…
In-game—
MEI turned when she heard footsteps behind her.
She looked at Kiana.
"It seems I owe you congratulations."
"Going to regroup with your friends now?"
Before Kiana could reply, Senti stormed up—
almost grabbing her.
[Senti: What the hell is wrong with you?!]
"What is going on?! Did you plan for this from the start?!"
"How should I put it… it was worth a try, wasn't it?"
MEI answered calmly, unfazed.
As mentioned earlier—
The shackle suppressing Kiana's Herrscher powers was akin to a Disciplinary Lock, possibly even derived from the Sound of Discipline.
As its developer, MEI naturally knew how to counter it.
"Provoking you was just an experiment... since the first step is always the hardest, I figured battle might exhaust both the 'mind' and the 'shackle' together."
"Even if you burned some stamina—well, everyone's happy now, aren't they? A win-win."
"Then why…"
Senti opened her mouth, but her pride made her stop herself.
MEI, of course, saw through her immediately.
"You want to know why you can't break your own shackle the same way?"
"Is it possible that… Kiana just didn't hit you hard enough?"
Senti: ???
"What?!"
She almost blurted out "Impossible! Absolutely not!"
If that were true, wouldn't she look like a total brat?
Oh wait…
Did she think she wasn't?
[Senti lost her cool. Kiana didn't.]
[Kiana really has grown up (serious tone)]
[You guys don't get it. Senti's just got heart.]
Yeah, yeah.
She's an emotional type.
Just as she was about to explode again—
MEI smoothly changed the subject.
"Just a joke. I don't have enough data to guess about your condition."
[MEI is evil for teasing Senti like this.]
[But also, teasing Senti is SO fun.]
[MEI's so charming—no wonder Kevin's obsessed with her.]
"But if I were to guess—perhaps it's because your Herrscher Core isn't in your body."
Senti's situation—
Was more ghost than Herrscher.
"But..."
Kiana stepped in on Senti's behalf.
"Doctor, why didn't you just explain it upfront? She got all worked up for nothing. That wasn't very fair."
Before MEI could answer—
Senti cut in:
"—Hey! What are you even talking about?! Worked up? Who got worked up?!"
[If Fu Hua was more empathetic like Kiana, Senti probably wouldn't have left.]
[Poor Senti. When 'Mom' is away, the kids bully her (not really)]
[Actually, when Mom is around, she gets bullied even worse (real)]
[After all, "Mom" studied Emotional Breakdown 101 for 50,000 years]
[LOLOLOL]
Once again, the story had the whole chat laughing.
Even MEI chuckled watching Kiana and Senti's exchange.
"Hehe…"
"Maybe I was just protecting my own image?
If the experiment failed, I could always say it wasn't my plan."
Senti: "..."
She stared wide-eyed.
Not so much stunned—more like on the verge of swearing.
Too bad—
After searching her 50,000-year-old vocabulary bank, she could only find a handful of weak insults.
So she said nothing.
"Alright, jokes aside—heading back to your team now?"
MEI gently brought the topic back.
"But… if you charge into the main path ahead too fast, it might be premature."
"Because someone is trying to communicate with us—through rather special means."
Kiana: "..."
She seemed to understand something.
…
Not long ago—
The game had shifted to Mei's perspective.
She had initially thought it was just an excuse to split up…
"But you really wanted to talk to me alone."
She continued:
"Even now, without your Herrscher powers—can you still hear the voices of those 300,000 people in your heart?"
Bronya shook her head.
"No… but after the core went silent, my perception of them grew even clearer..."
Apparently, she wasn't ready to stop calling Mei "sis" yet.
And she still referred to herself as "Bronya."
(But that's off-topic.)
"It was only through this process that Bronya finally understood—
'Legacy'... is something proven through disappearance."
Players: ?
Elysia: ?
That line sounded like it had sharp edges.
Legacy, disappearance...
A certain rose-haired figure suddenly filled everyone's mind.
Even past grief returned to stab them once more.
"Otto-san..."
Elysia had barely begun to speak when Hokuto jumped in:
"Sounds like you figured it out.
The Herrscher of Reason's inheritance is like... every time one of them falls, the next becomes stronger.
I'm being serious."
Despite his words, Hokuto's tone sounded suspiciously sly.
"?"
Elysia blinked.
She was about to say something else, but hesitated.
Was Hokuto... teasing Bronya?
This man, CEO of Mihoyo, fluently referenced every character meme—
sometimes even leading the charge on making new ones.
Something… seemed off.
If Hokuto knew what Elysia was thinking—
He'd probably respond without a moment's hesitation:
"Fluently memeing and creating new ones… only proves how much I love Honkai Impact 3rd."
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