"..." by Chen Li.
"..." by Sirin.
"..." by Kaguya Houraisan.
Six eyes met, but the moods of the three individuals in this moment were a kaleidoscope of complexity.
The root cause of this situation was, naturally, Kaguya Houraisan's single question: "How's your progress with your other Queen?"
Chen Li had thought that grabbing Kaguya as she passed his door was a good idea. He wanted her to break the ice between him and Sirin, a situation where neither knew what to say to the other.
He didn't want her to shatter someone's emotional defenses.
Chen Li genuinely felt that Sirin's current state was not right.
"Sirin, let me explain..."
"Mm, I'm listening," Sirin nodded.
"Huh?" Chen Li was honestly surprised by how stable her mindset was.
"I'm someone who's already died once. What is there that I can't let go of?" Sirin said, hugging her Benares doll. "It's just a shame that from now on, there will only be one person calling me Queen. Perhaps... being alone is the ending I deserve?"
Sirin sighed.
"Long live the Queen!" the Benares doll in her arms shouted loudly.
"That thing can move?" The sudden voice from the previously silent Benares startled Kaguya.
"It can. I originally planned to make Benares into something like an armed puppet, but I don't have the skills for that, so I'll have to revisit it later. Alternatively, it wouldn't be impossible to use Fiction Value to return her to human form. For now, the Benares doll needs to remain in a long-term energy-saving state. But according to Benares, as long as she stays by Sirin's side and absorbs Sirin's energy, she can accumulate power for more actions," Chen Li explained.
However, Chen Li had always felt that Benares was just looking for an excuse to be hugged by Sirin all the time.
Hmph, what a clumsy excuse!
But one was willing to cling, and the other was willing to be clung to. What could Chen Li do?
"Don't change the subject. Tell me about your other Queen," Sirin said again, stroking the head of the Benares doll.
"Oh, that's a long story..."
"Then make it short."
"The 'Queen' I was talking about is one of your twin daughters."
"???"
Chen Li's topic was so explosive that Sirin, who was stroking Benares, couldn't help but pinch the doll.
"M-m-my... twin daughters?" Sirin began to stutter.
"You really didn't have to make it that short," Kaguya quipped from the side.
"Explaining it is really a hassle. Why don't we just read a manga together?" After wrestling with it for a moment, Chen Li ultimately chose to hand his phone to Sirin and let her see for herself.
The relationship between Sirin, Kiana, and the Queen of the Void was, in fact, incredibly complex.
Whether Kiana and the Queen of the Void were separate continuations of Sirin's good and evil personalities, or two different souls born from Sirin's wish... countless people held their own opinions.
Chen Li was more inclined to see them as "Sirin 2.0."
A resurrection like Welt's was a true resurrection because Welt could store his entire consciousness within the Herrscher of Reason core. But the fact that the remnant of Sirin's consciousness in the Herrscher of the Void core could be awakened was purely a coincidence.
However, the fact that the Current Era's Herrscher cores could store memories and emotions was definitely true, as the Gem of Haste also stored Himeko's memories and emotions. For instance, Kiana saw a residual image of Himeko's consciousness within the gem's mental space.
You could even say that Kiana and the Queen of the Void were another reincarnation of Sirin, much like Bailu and the Vidyadhara.
Since opinions were so divided, Chen Li was quite looking forward to seeing what kind of view Sirin herself would express after reading the whole story.
"Speaking of which, Kaguya, shouldn't you be in a PK match with Silver Wolf right now?" Chen Li suddenly remembered.
"Oh, so you do remember I'm in a PK match with Silver Wolf?"
"Er..."
"But don't worry, Silver Wolf has already lost."
"Ah, that fast?"
"Grinding the same game nonstop for three days and three nights, only to narrowly lose to me... I wouldn't call that fast. I don't know the specifics, but the person on the other end of the Friends Circle terminal claimed to be Kafka. She said she's already tucked Silver Wolf in. Silver Wolf just fell asleep, she didn't die suddenly, so I don't need to worry," Kaguya said.
"I actually think it's more likely that Kafka knocked Silver Wolf to her knees with one punch, dragged her back to her room, and forced her to sleep," Chen Li mused, stroking his chin.
He felt that for a hardcore gamer like Silver Wolf, pulling three all-nighters shouldn't be enough to make her collapse from exhaustion.
"Emmm... what if Silver Wolf had been staying up all night gaming before our match?" Kaguya offered.
"Oh, then never mind. I hope she'll be okay. I'm still looking forward to her calling me 'Dad' every day."
"Seriously, what kind of trauma did you suffer to make 'Dad' your online nickname?" Kaguya sighed.
The reason for her expression was that she had been the very first victim of Chen Li's screen name, a victimhood that lasted for two and a half years.
"Don't you worry about that."
"So what's the deal with Sirin? You only got to the part where you wanted to send her to a parallel world, but she didn't want to go, grabbed your hand, and then bit your ear," Kaguya asked.
"About that... my initial idea was to have Sirin transmigrate to a parallel world. That way, she could enjoy the happy life that a 'what if' scenario brought her. But she was unwilling. She said something like..."
"The happy life the Sirin of a parallel world enjoys belongs to the Sirin of that parallel world, not to me," Sirin said, putting down the phone.
"Right, that's the line," Chen Li nodded.
"That does make some sense. After all, when Otto traveled back 500 years to revive Kallen, it came at the cost of his own death. He didn't become the Otto of that parallel world," Kaguya said, quite in agreement.
"And then? Did you revive Sirin with an advertisement, or did you use an item from the Path of Abundance to extend her life?" Kaguya continued to ask.
"Neither. I just spent some Fiction Value to impose the state of Sirin from the very beginning of the Second Eruption onto the dying Sirin," Chen Li said.
He then took out the [Fictional Historian] Miracle Card to show Kaguya, while also displaying the interface for the ["What If" Photo Album] Curio.
Chen Li had a lot of Fiction Value. After obtaining the Miracle Card, he discovered he had a considerable amount from the start, perhaps related to the civilization he had fabricated.
"...To be honest, the effect of this Miracle Card feels familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen it before," Kaguya said, scratching her head.
"You're imagining things. The Curio Forger is the original creator; all imitations will be prosecuted!"
"In that case, can you fabricate a world for me where everyone's gaming skill drops by a factor of ten thousand, but mine stays the same?" Kaguya asked, her eyes full of expectation.
"...I can create a world full of Tsukuyomis."
"That won't be necessary." Kaguya shook her head just hearing about such a world.
"Speaking of which... is the current Sirin still... puffy?"
"Ahem, woman, I can hear you. I'm not deaf," Sirin, who had just picked up her phone to read the manga again, said with dissatisfaction.
She could hear them the whole time. She was only sitting two meters away from Chen Li and Kaguya; how quiet could their voices possibly be?
"In that case, Sirin, what are your thoughts on people calling you a Pufferfish? They say your personality inflates very easily, and you've suffered because of it many times, but since you always gain new power after each setback, you never reflect on your actions," Kaguya asked with great interest.
"Why should I reflect? Was it my fault?" Sirin said with righteous indignation.
Besides, if I didn't get arrogant after gaining new powers, wouldn't I have suffered for nothing? Gaining new power and not showing it off is like wearing fine clothes at night!
"So, have you finished reading the manga?" Chen Li asked.
"Finished."
"That fast?"
"I discovered that you, my retainer, seem to have been slacking off the entire time after you appeared. You barely had any impact on the plot. It was all stuff I'd already experienced. Did you really think it would take me long to read?" Sirin leaned back, resting her arms on the sofa and crossing her legs.
Seeing Sirin in this posture, Chen Li and Kaguya exchanged a look.
Sirin was back to normal.
The depressed version of Sirin from just now was the abnormal one.
Chen Li seemed to have discovered the correct user manual for Sirin. The initially reserved Sirin had made him a bit uncomfortable, but after she adapted to her current environment and was provoked by Kaguya a few times, she reverted to that easily inflated mindset.
Now this felt right.
"Retainer, are you thinking something rude right now?" Sirin, who had been staring at Chen Li, suddenly asked.
"How could I? By the way, I remember you told me not to call you Queen anymore, saying you didn't want to share the title with someone else. Why are you calling me 'retainer' again?" Chen Li chose to change the subject.
An idiot's intuition truly was formidable. That was true for both Kiana and the current Sirin.
"Those are two different things. And I've changed my mind now."
"Alright, alright, your change of mind is successful. In that case, Your Majesty, what are your thoughts on Kiana and the Queen of the Void?" Chen Li asked.
"Nonsense," Sirin snorted coldly.
"Oh? Why do you say that?" Kaguya asked.
"I am who I am. I am Sirin. No one else can be me! But... if it's possible... I hope they can have a good ending," Sirin sighed.
Sirin felt that neither of them was much like her. One was obsessed with destruction, even more extreme than herself, while the other was obsessed with fighting for a beautiful world, which was far too naive. It was more like the result of splitting herself in two.
"Chen Li," Kaguya turned her head to look at him.
"What's wrong?"
"Do you feel like Sirin is just filled with maternal love right now?"
"Er..." Chen Li hesitated.
Maybe a little.
"So much maternal love at such a young age. Sirin might be a woman who could become my mother."
"???"
"Sirin, I'm hungry, go cook!" Kaguya executed a tactical lean back and then ordered Sirin.
"Huh? Why should I?"
"I need to determine if you are a woman who can become my mother."
"Y-You... do you have any shame at all?!" Sirin's face instantly turned beet red.
"Perhaps it's a difference in upbringing? I feel like anyone is more suited to be my mother than my actual mother," Kaguya said, resting her chin on her hand.
"???"
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