However, no one said anything. After all, judging by Mei's appearance, she seemed somewhat restless, unlike the others, who were merely confused.
Apparently, Kiana sensed this, quickly approached Mei, firmly took her small hand, interlaced their fingers, and whispered in her ear: "Mei, don't be afraid, I'm here."
Kiana's actions immediately calmed Mei.
Back at Chiba Academy, it was Kiana who held her hand so firmly and rescued her from hell.
She believed that as long as Kiana was by her side, she would have the confidence to face anything that came her way.
The video was still playing.
In the video, after Mei finished saying that the Herrscher of Domination had been destroyed, Kevin replied: "I know."
"Its Core has vanished, and its whereabouts are unknown."
This was another statement packed with information.
This time, the man did not reply.
Mei, in the video, seemed unconcerned and continued: "But that's not why I came today."
Finally, the man spoke again: "What do you want to ask?"
"When I used the Herrscher's power to clash with the puppet, my consciousness was brought into an indescribable space. That should have been the origin of the Herrscher's power. I felt an infinite consciousness enveloping that place. That consciousness seemed to want to pour something directly into my brain... but this attempt was blocked by the excess electromagnetic waves emanating from my body."
Man: "..."
"Kevin, this confuses me."
Here, Mei's voice in the video revealed the man's identity for the first time. While everyone could guess who he was based on the previous questions, they were not as certain as Fu Hua. Now, it was virtually confirmed.
"If that consciousness is the supposed corrupt god, would it really be incapable of influencing its apostles for such a reason?"
"You, who have fought since the previous generation, the last hero of the previous civilization, could not be ignorant of this. How many more secrets are you keeping that you haven't revealed to this generation of humanity?"
"I need an answer."
"Right now."
Kevin's silence made Mei's tone more urgent.
Just as everyone thought Kevin would remain silent or refuse to answer, similar to Mei in the video, Kevin said something unexpected.
"No problem. You are already qualified."
What?
Mei's question stemmed both from her surprise at Kevin's willingness to agree and her confusion about the meaning of that condition.
"The right to seek answers."
Then, the screen went black, and just when everyone thought the video had ended, a sound was heard on the screen again—this time it was footsteps.
Following the footsteps, a sweet voice suddenly resonated, and then the darkness before them dissipated, revealing a beautiful, pink-haired girl with a pair of pointy, elf-like ears.
The girl was sitting languidly in an ornate chair, muttering: "Kevin, Kevin. You truly love causing trouble for people."
The video had come to an end.
"Is that Elysia, one of the Thirteen Fire Moth Heroes?"
Theresa was clearly surprised by Elysia's appearance.
At the same time, her gaze shifted to Fu Hua, circling her several times, even attempting to reach out and lift Fu Hua's long gray hair to see if a pair of pointy, elf-like ears were hidden underneath.
However, Theresa's efforts were fruitless, as Fu Hua easily dodged her attack.
"Fu Hua, you don't look like Elysia at all!"
As she spoke, Theresa's gaze also drifted, intentionally or unintentionally, to Fu Hua's chest.
A fleeting look of embarrassment and annoyance crossed Fu Hua's face before she said with resignation: "The Thirteen Flame Chaser Heroes were not gathered due to their physical resemblance. Elysia's ears were caused by the immature Fusion Warrior technology of the time, so I hope you use it with caution, lest the test subjects become outcasts. As for Fusion Warriors... you can consider them supersoldiers even stronger than S-class Valkyries, beings capable of facing Herrschers, though not every Fusion Warrior has the sufficient strength to kill a Herrscher."
After watching the video, Fu Hua had a premonition that many things she didn't want to discuss would come to light on the Q&A platform.
Therefore, at this moment, she didn't mind being a little more honest.
"And do you have the strength to kill a Herrscher?"
Theresa asked again.
"I..."
Fu Hua shook her head: "Right now, I cannot."
So, was it possible before?
At least, Fu Hua's words answered some of Theresa's questions.
After all, Fu Hua had such a powerful past. If she still had the strength to kill a Herrscher, then it would be hard to believe she was an undercover agent sent by Otto, unless she suffered a great loss of strength for some reason.
Furthermore, Theresa was now paying increasing attention to the super mutant factor technology she possessed.
Is it possible to create a supersoldier capable of killing a Herrscher?
In that case, would this generation of humanity be able to defeat the Honkai?
Theresa did not know, but she was willing to try and even use it herself to determine if the technique was truly flawless!
[Question 2: In the Fourth Herrscher incident, who betrayed everyone and captured both the Fourth Herrscher and the Third Herrscher after Bronya persuaded the Fourth Herrscher to return and break free from Honkai's control?]
What?
Kiana shouted in surprise.
Even if she was slow, she knew that the Third Herrscher was the Herrscher of Thunder, which was Raiden Mei.
In other words, someone kidnapped Mei.
How could she tolerate this?!
Thinking of this, Kiana stared intensely at the holographic screen displaying text in front of her with bloodshot eyes. She wanted to see who had the audacity to capture her Mei.
Like Kiana, everyone nervously watched the holographic screen, hoping to find the real culprit among the four options provided by the Q&A space.
If there was any doubt before, everyone could now be completely sure that the questions raised by this mysterious Q&A space must be related to the future.
Furthermore, unlike Question 1, the Sovereign of Domination mentioned in Question 1 seemed to be the tenth in order in the previous civilization, and it would take some time before it appeared, so it did not have much value for the moment.
However, the Fourth Herrscher mentioned in Question 2 was different, because there were already three Herrschers in this generation, and the next Herrscher would be the fourth.
In other words, the future this question referred to was probably not too far off for everyone, and it might even be right around the corner.
Chapter 4: Where Do You Stand?
At this point, knowing the details of the Fourth Herrscher's birth, and thus being able to change the future, became crucial.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the options on the holographic screen updated in synchronization with a sound.
[a: Bronya]
[b: Fu Hua]
[c: Himeko]
[d: Theresa]
Swish, swish, swish!
Immediately, several gazes turned toward Fu Hua.
After all, of the four options, only Fu Hua, whose identity as an undercover agent had been confirmed, was the most suspicious.
Even Fu Hua herself was pondering what her answer would be if Otto truly gave her the order to capture and retrieve the Third and Fourth Herrschers.
Undoubtedly, the answer was yes.
As a former Flame Chaser Fusion Warrior and one of the Thirteen Flame Chasers, Fu Hua understood the danger Herrschers posed to humanity better than anyone.
Although an anomaly like the Herrscher of Reason had emerged in this generation, and the current Herrscher of Thunder seemed to have suppressed her Herrscher personality, judging by the information revealed in Question 1, this attempt ultimately failed.
Similarly, Fu Hua agreed to Otto's request to go to St. Freya to monitor Kiana because she knew Kiana was the "recipient" of the Herrscher of the Void, and that Kiana would obey Otto's orders and betray everyone at crucial moments.
After all, her mission has always been the same: to destroy the Honkai.
This had nothing to do with whether it was an order from Otto or not.
Although the Shenyin was shattered, her mission was deeply engraved in her heart.
Aside from her mission, she had nothing left after experiencing constant loss.
Moreover, of the four options given in this question, the other three were not even selectable.
Bronya was the first to be discarded.
After all, judging by the question, the Fourth Herrscher was convinced by Bronya's persuasive words. If the answer was that she betrayed everyone and captured the Third and Fourth Herrschers, then what exactly was happening here?
As for Theresa and Himeko, that was even more impossible.
Although in Fu Hua's eyes, both were somewhat unreliable.
A dean of an academy who preferred reading comics during work hours and had many childish hobbies.
Another case was even more outrageous: knowing she had class the next day, she still drank until she had a hangover, or even didn't come home all night.
But these two were undoubtedly responsible teachers; they would never betray their students.
However, Fu Hua still had doubts.
After all, her initial task was to monitor Kiana.
Although Otto's true purpose was unknown, based on Fu Hua's understanding of him, since he created a clone after the death of the Herrscher of the Void and introduced the Herrscher of the Void's Core into it, it meant he likely needed the power of the Herrscher of the Void to do certain things.
As for what exactly that was, she had no idea.
In other words, Otto should not have given her any commission that could reveal her identity until he achieved his goal.
But just as she had thought when analyzing the answer to Question 1, after eliminating all impossible options, what remains, however improbable, will be the truth.
Therefore, under the watchful eyes of St. Freya and the others, Fu Hua slowly said: "The answer to this question is B, myself."
After Fu Hua revealed the answer, everyone's expression changed immediately.
For example, Kiana's gaze toward Fu Hua at that moment was as if she were about to launch fire.
Before, she thought Fu Hua was a bit annoying; after all, she was too rigid, supervising her to learn this and that all day, and even her proud combat skills were no match for her.
But Kiana still acknowledged Fu Hua's seriousness and responsibility.
However, at that moment, when Kiana learned that Fu Hua was an undercover agent and would betray everyone at a crucial moment by kidnapping Mei, the only thing left in her heart was anger.
If it hadn't been for the shocking scene where the Q&A Space punished Himeko, which deeply marked her, she would have rushed over to give Fu Hua a good punch a long time ago.
Fu Hua noticed the change in the looks of Kiana and the others, including St. Freya.
However, her expression remained unchanged.
Not to mention that, from the start, she had ulterior motives when establishing friendship with these people.
Even if she truly became friends with them, so what?
Were those gazes more lethal than the swords her disciples wielded five hundred years ago?
Furthermore, Fu Hua still had some doubts, which is why she chose to answer the questions herself, also risking answering them incorrectly.
Although the possibility was extremely low, and she still didn't know what the punishment for giving the wrong answer was, let it serve as atonement.