Chapter 80: Establishing Connection

Luo Lin and 'Fu Hua' strolled along the deserted street, their shoes crunching on debris and dust, emitting crisp sounds.

The girl turned her head slightly, casting a sidelong glance at the "ghost" floating beside the Herrscher. Fu Hua's hands cradling the Fenghuang Down emitted a much brighter glow than before, and half of the quantum erosion had already disappeared.

Originally, there were six pieces. When Kiana was in a good mood, she dealt with one piece; when Siegfried accepted the truth, he dealt with another... Luo Lin pondered for a few seconds and attributed the disappearance of the third piece to Raiden Mei.

Raiden Mei had personally seized the power of the Herrscher of Thunder, then held onto Kiana without letting go. Obviously, she treated her as a good friend... For the previously lonely "Thunder Queen" this should be quite a rich and colorful experience.

What about the remaining three pieces?

According to the pattern of erosion fragments before, one of them was definitely related to Sirin, and the current one is probably Senti so... who would be the last one?

Luo Lin sighed, feeling a slight headache.

'Fu Hua' instinctively sensed the girl's feelings of entanglement, anguish, and confusion. She couldn't help but speak to comfort her, "Luo Lin... Siegfried isn't really that angry... those words..."

"He just wants to scold me awake, to set my mindset right... I know," Luo Lin whispered, "But, Siegfried is indeed really angry... right?"

"...Yes."

'Fu Hua' paused for a moment and said, "But after you mentioned wanting to talk to Sirin, Siegfried didn't hesitate for long. In the end, he chose to believe you..."

"Of course." Luo Lin turned her head to look at the Herrscher beside her and met her gaze. "He believes in me, and I believe in you, Fu Hua."

"...Believe... Fu Hua..."

Under the gaze of the girl's black eyes, the 'Fu Hua'''s expression was subtle, as if she had thought of something. She blinked uncomfortably and deliberately shifted her gaze.

"Ahem, let's discuss the matters related to linking our minds..." the Herrscher coughed twice, "Not long ago, I had Kiana and Sirin complete a mental link. At that time, Sirin was relatively relaxed, but maintaining the link also put a lot of pressure on me... Now, Sirin's emotional fluctuations are extremely intense. I don't know how long the mental link can last in this situation..."

"How long do you estimate it can be maintained?"

"Perhaps a few minutes?"

The Herrscher felt helpless. Her gaze drifted to Fu Hua flying in the air, especially the Fenghuang Down in her hand. She could naturally see that the Divine Key had taken a big step in the right direction, but unfortunately, 'Fu Hua' couldn't use the Fenghuang Down.

- Could this Divine Key be broken?

It had been fifty thousand years, and there had been no after-sales maintenance for the Divine Key. It was not impossible for some loopholes that could be exploited by Herrschers to appear... After all, except for some individuals purely showcasing the power of nature, the abilities of other Herrschers were extremely strange:

Manipulating life and death, spreading terrifying attacks through specific words and sounds, and even specializing in anti-Honkai abilities... It's really incomprehensible why Herrschers have such abilities...

With such a wide variety, it's not impossible for someone to appear now who can use the memories stored in the Fenghuang Down to create an illusion that accurately hurts others' hearts.

Fortunately, Fenghuang Down just couldn't be used; it didn't launch any mental attacks against her... The illusion currently arguing with her didn't pose much of a threat, and its attitude... was a bit strange.

'Yes, she was the one acting strange, not me'.

'Fu Hua' comforted herself in this way.

Fu Hua vaguely sensed the complex emotions in 'Fu Hua''s eyes. She twisted her wrist and finally broke the silence, saying, "I support your plan. Take Fenghuang Down and use it."

"?"

'Fu Hua''s pupils contracted. "What? But... aren't you afraid? Aren't you afraid I'll directly use the Divine Key...?"

"You can't do it, and besides... you wouldn't do that."

Fu Hua's expression was very calm. She reached out and handed over the feather contaminated with quantum erosion. "Because you don't have much time to waste."

"...I'll keep an eye on you, don't think about any tricks."

Listening, Fu Hua snorted.

She probably had some thoughts about the existence of this "Fu Hua."

'Fu Hua' pinched the feather contaminated with quantum erosion. She could feel that the Divine Key had released its permissions, and now her spirit and Honkai energy had immersed into it. With the help of the Herrscher core she had snatched, her mental abilities were once again strengthened.

At least now, the Herrscher felt that she could double the time of the mental link!

Although she still didn't know how much pressure accessing Sirin's inner world would put on her, the Herrscher had made up her mind to persist until the last second and give Luo Lin enough time.

The Herrscher secretly made up her mind and said, "There is one more thing. Regardless of whether we can successfully use the mental link, as the initiator, during the linking process, most of your thoughts will be known to both me and Sirin... Of course, if you're unwilling to do this, I can appropriately reduce the quality and level of the link..."

"No, let it be like this."

Luo Lin said, "Things have come to this point, concealment and deception are the biggest reasons of the problems here. Now, only with sincerity can we smoothly proceed with the conversation..."

"Okay."

The two continued forward, heading towards the direction where the honkai energy reacted most strongly.

Soon, they saw their target for this trip.

The purple-haired girl sat on the golden frame of the teleportation gate, tilting her head back. The dark clouds summoned by the Herrscher of Thunder had dispersed at some point, revealing the moon, but it was still hazy and unclear.

Luo Lin originally thought there would be countless Honkai beasts guarding her, or at least a few Templar-level Honkai beasts with shields like in the Memorial Arena...

But apart from Sirin next to the teleportation gate, there was nothing else.

Only the teleportation gate diligently emitted Honkai energy outward, and Sirin absorbed the energy it emitted. The battle suit representing the Herrscher of the Void had not fully condensed yet. It was draped over the purple-haired girl like a transparent model.

She was still wearing the clothes Luo Lin had personally picked out for her from the closet.

As if hearing a noise, Sirin lowered her head, locking eyes with Luo Lin with her golden eyes adorned with crosshairs.

"Deceiver."

"Sirin..."

"I thought someone like you, who resorts to petty tricks, would be alone and desolate after the plan failed... I just decided to fly in the sky, using honkai energy to remotely cleanse this city, so I wouldn't have to see your disgusting face again."

"Plan?" Luo Lin questioned, "What plan?"

The purple-haired girl said coldly, "Just like how you had that girl snatch The power of the Herrscher of Thunder, and with Cecilia's identity, you'll make Kiana take the authority of the Herrscher of the Void from my hands... And finally, easily kill me who lost my power. That's your plan if it's almost successful."

Luo Lin was speechless. She shook her head, "I never thought of that kind of plan."

"Still full of lies until now... Do you still want to attract my attention and then let that woman next to you, who's good at using psychic abilities to ambush me?"

Looking at the gradually glowing Fenghuang Down in the hands of 'Fu Hua', Sirin adjusted her sitting posture slightly. The golden spear of the Herrscher of the Void condensed beside her, pointing at Luo Lin and Herrscher of Sentience.

"No, I brought her here just to expose all my thoughts and ideas to you, to have a sincere conversation with you."

Luo Lin opened her arms, stepping forward, fully exposing her chest in Sirin's shooting line of sight.

"'Fu Hua", let's start the mental link now."

"Now? She's still watching!"

"Let's begin."

'Fu Hua' bit her lip, mentally connecting the Fenghuang Down and the Herrscher core.

Invisible mental tentacles attached to Luo Lin's body, she could already feel the girl's nervous and anxious emotions, and the moment the mental connection was made, the girl's thoughts were transmitted clearly to Herrscher of Sentience's mind.

["Will she launch an attack?"]

["Will she believe me?"]

["Herrscher of Sentience, you can't mess this up!"]

["Sirin, stop acting like a pufferfish, show your angelic side!"]

["We have too much left to do, too many regrets to make up for, too many tragedies to save, how can we stop here?"]

"Seeing you like this, I thought you had everything under control..."

'Fu Hua' clicked her tongue, throwing the other end of the mental link toward Sirin.

The purple-haired girl blinked, and all of Luo Lin's thoughts and ideas were transmitted to her through the invisible tentacles.

She didn't refuse, but she also didn't join the mental link, just unilaterally accepting the information.

But the most thing she was concerned about is...

"...What's a pufferfish?"