Chapter 125: Wendy: Fooling Oneself is Really Fun
"So far, it's running normally."
Little Corruption nodded. That was her masterpiece; unless they encountered someone with the Key of Consciousness or powerful psychic resistance.
Otherwise, it should be impossible to see through. After all, it was created by two people possessing the Bodhi imprint. As for the App itself, that was made from the Corruption virus.
In this world, she wouldn't dare say that there was absolutely no one who could discover the Corruption virus while it was trying its best to hide itself, but in Wendy's area, the probability was zero.
Unless it was really, really that coincidental, and that bastard Otto suddenly had a whim to go inspect the area, and then had another special whim to check Wendy's communication terminal.
It would even require him having Void Archives do the checking for it to be possible.
As for Wendy herself, their two Bodhi imprints weren't purely just to keep others from discovering the App itself.
Moreover, their Wendy here would also try her best to fool her past self, making her believe that this App was simply a fantasy, a projection of her own heart.
This way, the probability of her speaking out about it would be smaller. Of course, if Wendy herself was too stubborn, it would be useless.
However, Wendy herself had stated that at this time, she absolutely had no friends worth chatting with. If she had had a friend willing to listen to her cry and console her back then, she wouldn't have broken down.
"As long as it's running smoothly, that's fine."
Irene nodded. She knew very well that expecting Wendy to do a 180-degree turn in her mindset right now—going from a state of being ready to jump off a rooftop at any moment to a sunny and cheerful girl—was basically a fairy tale.
Having suddenly fallen from being a genius to rock bottom, and enduring numerous cold stares... She was originally supposed to be a Valkyrie who protected the world, but now she could only become a neglected piece of trash.
Sigh. It was mentioned before that the vast majority of Valkyries became Valkyries to seek revenge against the Honkai, except for the Shaniat Family or the Kaslana Family.
Wendy was like that at first too, but now she had ended up in this state. The disparity in her heart could be easily imagined; not everyone had a mindset like Xiao Huohuo.
And even Xiao Huohuo himself had been somewhat prone to giving up on himself. If it hadn't been for Yao Lao helping him rebuild his confidence and his name as a genius, he would have also remained devastated and unable to recover.
And Wendy herself had also said that at that time, she was almost viewing herself with an objectified mindset.
As long as she was still alive, this gem wouldn't explode, and it would be able to protect the people around her. This was her final wish, but a wish was just a wish; it was merely a string stretched taut on the verge of snapping.
It wasn't that easy to twist around. Even Kiana, the most thick-headed person Irene knew, couldn't have her mindset twisted around so easily, so they could only slowly pull her back little by little like this.
Irene looked at Wendy and asked, "How's Wendy's situation? How is the chat going?"
"Still communicating. Hmm, but it seems to be very effective."
Wendy showed the communication terminal in her hand to Irene, who leaned in to take a look.
Subsequently, looking up, Irene gave Wendy a somewhat strange look: "Did you catch something from that woman?"
"Hmm? Which woman?"
Wendy tilted her head in confusion, while Irene waved her hand, signaling her not to mind it.
Irene said this because, in order to make her past self believe that she was 'another her,' Wendy was frantically digging up her own dark history.
She even brought up embarrassing things from her childhood, starting right off with how she was like when she was little. Judging from the subsequent question marks the past Wendy sent back, the other party was truly frightened.
"So, everything is going smoothly, right? She should believe that you are another her now?"
"Mhm, she believes half of it, I guess."
Wendy nodded. "After all, I can't see an affection meter, and theoretically speaking, I am another her."
Kallen also leaned over, clearly quite interested in this matter: "Then since the other party believes it, is it time to teach her how to use the Herrscher's Authority now?"
"But I have a question. During this time period, you shouldn't be able to use the Herrscher's Authority, right?"
Irene snapped her fingers, conjuring a chair, and sat down next to Wendy.
If she could drive the Herrscher Core, Wendy wouldn't have ended up in her current state.
"Don't worry, just teaching her something simple will do. It's just that my method was wrong before."
Wendy smiled as she typed on the communication terminal, "Now I think you should believe my identity, my other self."
Far away in New Zealand, Wendy held her communication terminal, reached out to pick up a water cup nearby, and took a somewhat trembling sip.
If she had looked in a mirror at this moment, she would have noticed her face was completely flushed with embarrassment. At first, she hadn't believed that this software that suddenly popped up was anything good.
But now, the other party had practically stripped her down to her underwear. Even she herself didn't really remember experiencing such embarrassing things in the past, yet the other party enumerated them like treasured family heirlooms.
How could there be someone who knew her background so clearly? Other than herself... moreover, that Valkyrie earlier had also proven to her that this software seemingly didn't exist in the eyes of others.
In other words...
Wendy looked down at her own legs. Could this be the so-called Herrscher personality playing tricks? Or was it something else?
And right at this moment, another message popped up on the tablet. Wendy was terrified that 'she' would dig up more of her dark history, but upon closer inspection, it was a question.
[The Knower of Fate: Now I think you should believe my identity, my other self.]
Seeing that the other party seemed to finally plan on stopping the act of digging up her dark history, Wendy hurriedly typed out:[I believe you, I believe you, stop talking, stop talking.]
Subsequently, after pausing for a moment, Wendy continued to ask: [Then why exactly did you appear? What do you want to do?]
[The Knower of Fate: To help you, or rather, to help myself. I know your pain very well, and I also know how to help you. You are distressed because you cannot mobilize the Authority of the Herrscher, but I have a way.]
The moment she saw those words, Wendy's eyes shrank violently. Her hands almost subconsciously typed out a sentence and sent it: [What do I need to do?]
Just as her so-called 'other self' had said, this was her most troubling problem. All of her future depended on this matter.
It was impossible for the researchers to take the gem out of her body. As long as the gem couldn't be removed from her leg, she would have to rely on a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
At the very least, she couldn't be a normal Valkyrie anymore. The only way out she could find was to master the Herrscher's Authority and complete the researchers' so-called 'Artificial Herrscher' project.
However, reality had just poured a huge basin of cold water over her. Up until now, she hadn't been able to master the power that the gem was supposed to provide her.
And now, with this 'other self' saying she had a way to use that portion of power, Wendy could no longer care whether the other party had any ulterior motives.
[Of course there is a way. Close your eyes and feel it carefully. But don't feel the gem; instead, after touching the gem, communicate with the surrounding Honkai energy. This process is a bit complicated, but I believe you can understand it.]
Previously, Wendy had failed purely because her method was wrong, or rather, she was purely led astray by that group of researchers. Being able to keep the gem stable and existing within her body meant Wendy possessed Honkai Adaptability.
However, it was a pity that, unless you were a natural-born Herrscher, simply using a gem to change classes didn't come with an instruction manual. And Wendy and those researchers were entirely using the way Valkyries used Honkai energy to try and drive the gem.
It would have been fine if it were other Herrschers, but a tiny little problem happened with the Gem of Desire inside Wendy. Wendy did indeed have adaptability, but up to this point, Wendy's adaptability really wasn't high.
Her adaptability was obtained by gradually fusing with the gem later on, leading to the gem currently being in a low-activity state. Under these circumstances, using the already meager Honkai energy in Wendy's body to try and drive the Herrscher's Authority...
The final resulting outcome could only be completely ineffective. To use a somewhat inaccurate analogy, the gem was a nuclear reactor, and you wanted it to enter an output state.
But you were prepared to carry a fire stick to ignite it. The gem could only express that you could go find whoever you wanted, but if it even budged, it would consider you impressive.
However, Wendy, who completely activated the gem after experiencing a Great Eruption later on, and also obtained an Authority instruction manual, finally understood that her previous method was completely idiotic behavior.
How could the amount of Honkai energy inside a Valkyrie's body possibly compare to the Herrscher itself? Expecting that little bit of Honkai energy to have any effect? That was absolutely a joke.
However, borrowing the gem's access rights to mobilize the surrounding Honkai energy to release the Authority was effective. The effect might not necessarily be that great, given the gem's activity level lay right there.
But the effect that could be exerted by borrowing the gem's access rights would definitely be somewhat better than before. Just this much should be enough to build up Wendy's confidence.
As for wanting to fully activate the gem, she would probably still need a massive amount of Honkai energy.
After reading the message, Wendy immediately closed her eyes. It couldn't get any worse anyway, right? Holding onto this mindset, Wendy began to perceive the Gem of Desire inside her body.
It wasn't the first time Wendy had done this kind of action, so she quickly felt the Gem of Desire inside her legs, which was just like a stone, not emitting any Honkai energy outward at all.
In the past, at times like this, Wendy would mobilize all the Honkai energy in her body into the Gem of Desire; this was also the method the researchers had always told her.
And according to her other self, her method was completely wrong. Wendy closed her eyes, trying hard to bring her perception closer to the gem. As she drew near, the gem emitted a faint tremor.
Finally, Wendy began to try hard to perceive the Honkai energy existing in the surrounding environment. Then, as if water naturally formed a channel, she seemed to very smoothly perceive the surrounding Honkai energy.
Subsequently, Wendy felt the wind begin to pick up around her. Startled by this sensation, Wendy opened her eyes. In the sealed room, a whirlwind centered on her was currently blowing.
Mixed within the whirlwind were things swept off the table. But looking at the whirlwind that was making a complete mess of her room, Wendy's face was full of smiles.
She succeeded! She succeeded! She was beginning to be able to use the Authority. She succeeded!
Schicksal HQ · Overseer's Office
Amber held a tablet and knocked on the door. After a while, a steady male voice from inside called for her to enter.
Hearing the voice, Amber breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Lord Overseer wasn't addicted to playing games today. She then pushed open the door, looking at Otto, who was sitting by the desk and seemed to have just finished handling matters.
Otto looked up at Amber who had just walked in: "What's the matter at this hour, Amber?"
"Lord Overseer, Lord Theresa has submitted a request."
Amber handed the tablet in her hand to Otto. "Lord Theresa needs the Gem of Desire that was previously assigned to the New Zealand Branch for research."
"Oh?"
Otto, who had originally been nonchalant, suddenly raised his tone, clearly having his interest piqued a bit. He took the tablet from Amber's hands and began to read it. After a while...
"Interesting. Why would my cute granddaughter suddenly need that kind of thing?"
Although he said this, Otto had actually already thought of the possible reasons. For example, that mysterious battleship that had suddenly appeared recently and was currently docked at the Far East Branch.
For example, using it as an energy source or something else. But he didn't care either; that gem had originally been distributed down for research anyway.
After all, it was quite troublesome to keep it stored. It was better to toss it down to the subordinates and let them have a headache over storing it; they might even be able to research something out of it.
However, according to the reports submitted by New Zealand over these years... oh, wait, they didn't seem to have submitted a report for quite some time now. Anyway, the situation was not very optimistic.
Miracles didn't happen so easily. Otto was very clear on this point. It would be great if creating an Artificial Herrscher were that simple.
Amber watched Otto put down the tablet and asked, "Lord Overseer, how should we reply to Lord Theresa's request?"
"Approve it, why wouldn't we?"
Otto intertwined his index fingers, a confident smile on his face. "Since my granddaughter wants it, just give it to her."
From the very beginning anyway, this Gem of Desire was a discarded piece tossed down for others to research. Now that it could be of some use again, why wouldn't he agree? This was all benefit and no harm for him, wasn't it?
Moreover, he also wanted to see what kind of impact having one more core come into contact with Kiana would have on the Herrscher of the Void.
Since this was the case, and there were so many benefits, Otto had no reason to disagree. As for the item being given and potentially being used to hit him instead, he was even happier.
He needed Theresa to have this kind of thought; otherwise, what would happen to the massive Schicksal in the future?
"Understood."
Amber nodded. "In addition... Lady Rita has also sent a transmission. She has already boarded the airship heading to St. Freya Academy and is expected to arrive around tomorrow morning."
"Mhm, I know. Let her go do it without worry."
Otto nodded. "Just have the New Zealand Branch prepare the handover recently."
"Is there anything else urgent?"
Amber shook her head: "No, Lord Overseer. Lord Overseer, do you have any other instructions?"
"That's good. Now, Amber, please leave. I need to go play Kallen Fantasy."
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