Seele immediately said: "I'll go investigate with Big Sis Bronya."
Dark Seele reminded: "Be careful, we still don't know if that's a trap."
"Mm."
Seele informed Bronya of the anomaly on her side, and the two approached, discovering it was a spatial rift.
A spatial rift appearing inside the base was extremely abnormal in itself!
The two had just gotten a little closer.
And were swallowed into the rift.
By the time Bronya came to her senses, she was already inside the Theater of Domination.
The puppet also appeared in front of her: "We're done for~ We're done for~ The sisters are separated again~"
Bronya immediately became vigilant: "Puppet... No, it's a Herrscher!"
The puppet said: "Welcome, welcome~ Welcome to my—Theater of Domination. I am today's host, Jerry Barabara!"
"Dear audience friends, please remain calm, the first act is about to begin, and it is also—the final act of the Herrscher of Reason."
Bronya ignored her.
And first analyzed the structure here, noticing that it felt somewhat similar to her first entry into the Sea of Quanta, but she could confirm that this was definitely not the Sea of Quanta.
"Hey hey, what are you looking around for?" Seeing that she ignored her, the puppet kept talking: "Oh~ Looks like you're looking for that cowardly little sister, right?"
"Don't worry, don't worry, none of you can escape from here. She's different from you, she's still a bit useful, I won't take her life."
"—Not for the time being!"
Hearing this, Bronya also confirmed that Seele was in this theater.
The puppet was still talking to herself: "Alright, alright! The audience is getting impatient! Let's first introduce today's protagonist to the audience—"
"The Herrscher of Reason—the first traitor of Honkai, the guardian of the ant civilization!"
"And among them—! This one right in front of us is the most pathetic!"
"First, let me review her life—"
"Bronya Zaychik, born in Siberia…"
"…Let's fast-forward straight to the end! After experiencing a period of bedridden life not worth mentioning, she finally became the Herrscher of Reason, congratulations."
"But unfortunately, after obtaining this core, she hasn't won a single fight."
"Can't beat the World Serpent leader, can't get out of the Sea of Quanta, and even fell asleep when facing the Herrscher of Sentience, hahahaha!"
Hearing this, the audience burst into laughter first.
The reason was simple: everything she said was true.
"Ahem, sorry, the host shouldn't laugh during the show. I really couldn't hold it in!"
"But dear audience, she still thinks she's very powerful!"
"She's only where she is today because of good luck, picking up a Herrscher core."
"Look at her peers, which one isn't stronger than her? She doesn't even dare to take Welt's name."
While this Herrscher of Domination was speaking, the chat group was also unusually lively, almost all saying that what she said was spot on.
But Bronya remained calm: "You know quite a lot, it's like you've been watching the whole time."
The puppet laughed: "Haha, the host naturally has to preview the characters in advance. Don't worry, I won't get you wrong. If I were to say, without that core, you'd be just like us."
"Honestly, if I had the Herrscher of Reason's core, I could perform better than you! That Herrscher of Sentience, I could crush her face with my motorcycle the moment I see her!"
"Hey hey, why not just give me the core, I'll help you fight Honkai, how about it?"
Bronya just asked coldly: "Is the stand-up routine over?"
"Jerry Barabara, if Bronya remembers correctly, this name also appeared on the missing persons list. Seems like an obscure comedian."
"Are you playing him? Or are you him?"
The puppet said discontentedly: "Hey, I kindly summarized your failed life for you, and you can't even say thank you?"
"That's right!" Bronya nodded: "Bronya really does have to thank you. Thanks to you, Bronya has figured out a lot of things and has answers to this series of events."
"What?" The puppet was instead stunned.
Bronya continued: "However, this core cannot be given to you. Bronya still needs it. But speaking of telling jokes, you don't need a Herrscher core for that, right?"
This made the puppet very angry.
She directly announced that the program had reached the final act—the execution of the traitor.
And summoned several Honkai Beasts to surround and attack Bronya together.
Facing this situation, Bronya remained very rational, noticing the puppet's emotional side. While deliberately holding back her strength in battle, she waited to gather more intelligence.
Sure enough.
The puppet immediately couldn't wait to say: "Eh? Why aren't you riding your little motorcycle? Watch me drag you off it like the Herrscher of Sentience."
Bronya ignored it and continued analyzing the situation here.
The Herrscher of Domination didn't have abilities like the Herrscher of the Void, so this theater must be an appendage of some kind of power... Seele, who was dragged in, must also be somewhere in the theater.
She immediately decided to move around more in the theater; maybe she could run into Seele.
She fought while moving, while analyzing these strange Honkai Beasts.
Only after analyzing the Honkai Beasts did she launch the final attack, shooting toward the puppet.
Countless energy cannons, plus the motorcycle crushing...
The puppet let out a pained scream: "Ah! It hurts so much! You attacked with the intent to kill me!"
Her voice gradually became eerie: "So mean! So mean, Bronya! How can you call yourself a partner of justice like this!"
"But... I've been waiting for this moment."
The eerie power turned into a cage, trapping Bronya inside.
"What!!"
Bronya was shocked; she hadn't expected the other party to have such a move.
And the puppet excitedly said: "Dear audience friends! Thank you for your patient waiting. Now, with my sacrifice—let the final curtain fall for everyone, and declare the death sentence of the Herrscher of Reason!"
"The end!"
As the words fell.
Bronya immediately felt intense pain throughout her body. This pain was unbearable, causing her to kneel on the ground.
The pain itself wasn't fatal, but it felt like a part of her soul was being forcibly torn away.
Correspondingly, the weapons Bronya had constructed during the battle all dissipated.
The core was taken?
—Bronya hurriedly clutched her chest, as if confirming something.
The core was fine, still safely in her body, only...
The power of the core had been completely taken away!
And at that moment, Seele also arrived here following the sound of the explosion: "What happened? Big Sis Bronya, are you injured?"
Bronya hurriedly said: "Seele! It's really great that you're okay. Bronya is fine too, but... the authority of the Herrscher of Reason... cannot be used...?"
"Bronya can feel that the core is still in her body, but after being attacked by that puppet, the power is flowing away like grains of sand..."
"This is bad, the enemy is more dangerous than imagined. That puppet has disappeared; we must leave here immediately!"
Seele pulled Bronya and immediately looked for a way to escape, constantly heading in one direction.
During this time, they encountered quite a few puppets. These puppets didn't actively attack them, but strangely, all these puppets were muttering complaints...
"It's all a conspiracy! Everyone ignores me, isolates me, excludes me... Gives me the dirtiest and most tiring work, assigns me impossible tasks, even the lunch they pack for me has less than others!"
"I've had enough; I want to get revenge on them, I want them all to know what the company will become without me!"
"Let them all regret it! Hahahahaha!"
"..."
"Why? Why? Why? Why change it again? How many versions is this?"
"Bigger but smaller, multicolored black, here's the pen, why don't you draw it yourself?"
"Enough, enough, enough, I give up."
"I have no talent at all; I shouldn't be doing design. I shouldn't have been born in this world."
"My life is a joke. A rotten joke."
"..."
"I know, Mom and Dad, uncles and aunts, all like big sister more. They always tell me, you should be proud to have such an excellent big sister."
"The teachers also favor big sister more. They always ask me: Your sister can answer it correctly, why can't you?"
"Even when picking gifts every time, she picks first, and I get the leftovers."
"I'm not her shadow!!!"
"Ah, if she disappeared, would Mom and Dad love me a little more?"
"If only she would disappear... Why hasn't she disappeared yet?!"
"..."
Listening to these puppets' words, all the audience watching TV was confused.
In the official chat group, someone said: "No... Why do I have a familiar sense of déjà vu, like it's... me?"
"Not just you, this is exactly my situation at work today. That damn client demands exactly this."
"Ah? You too? I'm always excluded at the company."
"Wori, no wonder it's so familiar; isn't this exactly me as a kid?"
"Damn it, I was just watching TV, how did I become a Herrscher?"
"So after all that, this damn Herrscher of Domination is us?"
"No, did that dog director stalk me? It's written exactly the same."
"...I get it, this is revenge from the director because we wanted to kill him before, so he wrote us as villain Herrschers."
"Is this really a villain? Where do we look like villains? It's just daily life, how does it become villainous on TV."
"It hits too hard; this plot is too familiar, it stabs my heart too much. I want revenge too!"
"That dog director, if you have the guts to stalk me, have the guts to stand in front of me. Watch me not kill you."
"..."
At this moment.
The audience collectively broke down.
Fire Moth company.
Pardofelis, who had just joined the company, saw the chat in the official group and showed a scared expression: "Is working so terrifying? Is the Herrscher right beside us? Does our company have one too? Will I turn into a puppet too?"
Before Hessian could speak.
Elysia smiled and said: "Don't worry, little Pardofelis, our company is full of love and wouldn't give everyone that kind of pressure."
Pardofelis, however, said: "But... Ellie, didn't Kiana almost get depressed by the director?"
"..."
The entire break room instantly fell silent.
Some even began to reflect on whether they had been bullied by the company like this too.
Seeing the situation wasn't right, Hessian said: "Then ask Kiana herself, does she feel so pained that she can't continue filming?"
Everyone looked at Kiana, who gently shook her head: "I want to keep filming; I want to witness the ending of this story."
Hessian pursed his lips: "See? I didn't bully anyone. Instead, some people are thinking about killing me every day."
Kalpas snorted coldly: "Killing you is doing justice for the people!"
"Right!"
Many quietly agreed.
But when they noticed Hessian's gaze sweeping over, they all immediately looked at the TV; they couldn't let him target them.
The TV was still continuing.
Seele also noticed what these puppets were saying: "Big Sis Bronya, I feel it's so strange. Those puppets... they seem like they were originally ordinary people. Why did they become like this?"
Bronya immediately said: "No, they are the Tenth Herrscher, not humans. They're just puppets that plagiarized human thoughts, imitated human behavior, and are controlled by the Honkai Will."
Seele, however, was somewhat concerned: "But the experiences they recount, those pains, are real. They truly happened to some people we don't know, and in that person's heart, despair was bred..."
Bronya reminded: "Seele, don't be deceived! Everyone has pain and sadness, but there are also moments of happiness, touch, and joy."
"But these puppets are different; they're like... some negative emotion in the heart infinitely amplified, then going to extremes. Don't let them pull you into that vortex!"
At that moment.
"Hee hee hee hee hee..."
The puppet's giggling suddenly rang out.
More and more puppets gathered toward the two, all emitting such laughter: "So fun, so fun, the new toy is so fun!"
One puppet said: "We should thank Jerry's sacrifice! Long live Jerry! Jerry long live!"
Another puppet said: "What an idiot; for that filthy traitor, just kill her outright."
Yet another puppet said: "Can't kill, can't kill; if we kill her, we can't play with the new toy! Hee hee hee hee hee!"
The puppets shouted one after another: "I want to play too! I want to play too! My new toy, everyone's new toy!"
"Hahahaha!!"
"Hee hee hee hee!!"
"Hahahahahahaha!"
Amid this eerie laughter, the lead puppet conjured a small knife out of thin air.
It was immediately despised, as another puppet conjured a chainsaw.
No doubt!
This was the ability of the Herrscher of Reason!
Bronya's body suddenly went soft, nearly kneeling on the ground: "This feeling... sure enough, what you're using is..."
The puppet sneered: "Hee hee hee hee hee hee! You figured it out! You figured it out! We're just borrowing it to play for a bit! Stingy!"
"But we didn't really take it! Didn't take it! Don't believe us? Look, the cost is still being paid by you! Hahahaha!"
Seele said in shock: "You mean... you're using Big Sis Bronya's power, and the cost still has to be borne by her body?"
The puppet laughed loudly: "Hahahaha! Correct! Correct! After all, we are the Herrschers of Domination! Thank you; now we've become stronger!"
Bronya instantly understood.
This was the true purpose of the Herrscher of Domination.
Fortunately, she was acting separately from Kiana; otherwise, if both their powers were taken, it would be dangerous.
The puppets were still laughing maniacally.
Declaring that no matter what they did, they couldn't escape.
Bronya immediately decided and said to Seele: "The Tenth Herrscher still can't proficiently use the Herrscher of Reason's power. We have to seize this opportunity... At least, pass the intelligence out!"
Seele still wanted to take back Bronya's power.
But Bronya knew very well that it was impossible for them to completely eliminate these puppets now; they could only escape first.
In the end, she decided to use Project Bunny to calculate the time when the spatial rift would open.
While Seele guarded her.
However...
The puppets' obstruction became even more frantic; not only did they summon large numbers of Honkai Beasts to attack, they even disregarded their companions' lives, charging forward one after another.
Even if Bronya calculated the location where the rift would open.
When Seele was about to attack the weak point, the puppet split the theater, making her appear in another location.
Seele hurriedly asked: "The other me, how did you bring me out of here last time?"
Dark Seele said: "Just like now, but back then the theater's master wasn't guarding against me much, and a single strike smashed open the exit. But this time is different; even using the power of the twins, I don't think I can succeed."
Seele also grasped the key point: "But, it's not impossible, right? The other me, you're different from me; I still can't use the full power of this body yet, but you can."