Chapter 258 The Swelling Sirin! A Wild Herrscher of Pufferfish has appeared!
When the Arahato landed on the Moon, Welt followed the original plan and, led by Bella, came before Sirin.
Siegfried, meanwhile, put on his spacesuit and began collecting information from the Soulium in the ruins.
At first, Sirin tried to persuade Welt to submit to her, but Welt rejected Sirin without a second thought.
This didn't annoy Sirin; rather, it meant she could thoroughly torture this traitor of Honkai who had made her suffer so much.
Welt understood Sirin's temperament perfectly, capturing her full attention with just a few words.
He didn't fight Sirin head-on at all, but used various means to stall for time.
Such a blunt and unpretentious tactic of attracting attention to stall was obvious to anyone who wasn't a fool.
During the battle, Welt used the power of the Star of Eden to drag himself and Sirin into a "Lightless Realm." In this realm, the flow of time was different from the outside world, allowing Welt to maximize the time gained for Siegfried.
On the other side, Siegfried, having finally finished collecting the Soulium, returned to the Arahato.
At this moment, the true face of the Plan B Welt mentioned was finally revealed—it was for Siegfried to leave the Moon with the precious Soulium samples.
And this meant that Welt had to be left behind.
Siegfried was once again pushed to a crossroads of choice. The precious Soulium samples might become a weapon to defeat the Herrscher, saving far more than tens of millions. However, this required sacrificing Welt Yang's life...
For Siegfried, this was an unsolvable Trolley Problem.
No matter which side he chose, Siegfried would suffer inner torment. Giving up Welt would mean returning to Earth with the hope of more people, while fighting alongside Welt would most likely... no, definitely result in dying together on the Moon.
The disparity in strength was vast; even Welt had said that even if Siegfried piloted the Arahato to join forces with him, the winning rate against the current Sirin was less than one percent.
At this moment, Siegfried's heart struggled and wavered; logic told him he should give up Welt, but his emotional side made him unable to leave Welt behind...
After all, Siegfried was originally a person whose emotions far outweighed his logic, which was why he was in such pain and conflict.
At this time, the phantom of a younger Siegfried appeared beside him.
He kept urging Siegfried to help Welt, but seeing Siegfried remain silent, he angrily grabbed Siegfried's collar and questioned him.
["Have you forgotten your own last name? You're a Kaslana! A true Kaslana would never stand by and watch someone die!"]
["Have you forgotten the oath you once made? What did you say you were willing to sacrifice for humanity?"]
Facing the questions of his younger self, a look of loneliness flashed across Siegfried's face.
["If sacrificing myself could save all of humanity, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment."]
["Welt is the same."]
["He and I made this choice precisely to save humanity, and what I sacrificed is more precious than life."]
Siegfried's body passed through the phantom of his younger self, his voice barely audible yet filled with endless sorrow.
["I sacrificed you."]
The phantom dissipated, and a silent Siegfried took the pilot's seat, starting the Arahato.
[The choice between one person and tens of millions.]
[The choice between one person and hundreds of billions of living beings.]
[It's that time again.]
[I have the answer.]
[—This is my choice.]
Siegfried poured strong liquor down his throat, but the stinging liquid couldn't wash away his inner grief. He buried that young version of himself with his own hands, making a choice that the former "Siegfried Kaslana" would never have made.
At this moment, Siegfried's eyes were dull, as if he had aged a dozen years in an instant.
As the Arahato ignited and took off, speeding away from the Moon.
Sirin finally noticed the Arahato's departure. She used her power to shatter the Lightless Realm created by Welt. Welt's body fell to the ground like a broken kite, instantly smashing a crater into the surface.
["Well done... Siegfried."]
Welt looked at the sky; he was already covered in wounds, with blood constantly seeping from the corners of his mouth.
He smiled at the departing friend—a hint of relief, but more so, a readiness to face death.
Watching this plot in the game, the people in the livestream all sighed in unison.
"Dad really didn't have it easy... having to face such a cruel choice."
Kiana shook her head. Although she usually liked to bicker with her dad, it didn't mean she really hated Siegfried—after all, they were family.
Seeing the Siegfried in the game in such pain and self-blame, she naturally couldn't remain unmoved.
"Ask me to choose..."
Siegfried's eyes flickered. He put himself into the perspective of the Siegfried in the game and found himself in the same dilemma.
No matter the choice, he would surely regret it.
Leaving Welt and escaping the Moon... this choice made Siegfried feel like ants were crawling on him!
But if both he and Welt died here, the possibility of defeating the Herrscher would vanish, and the entire Earth would be destroyed.
His most important family members would also...
"This is the classic Trolley Problem, right? Whether to sacrifice tens of millions for one person, or sacrifice one person for tens of millions... Hmm, if it were me, Elysia, choosing..."
Elysia showed a very troubled expression.
"Su Mu, Su Mu, if it were you, how would you choose?"
Facing Elysia, who threw the question to him, Su Mu smiled faintly: "Me? I'm just a passerby holding a plunger."
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"It means not everyone encounters this kind of Trolley Problem. I have more self-awareness; in this situation, I'm usually just an average passerby."
"Hey! You're too cunning! Using this way to avoid the question? Su Mu, you're bad!!"
Elysia puffed out her cheeks, her angry look appearing extra cute.
"Even though this guy Siegfried usually looks unreliable, with many strange rumors outside... I know him."
Theresa spread her hands.
"Making this choice feels worse than killing him."
The audience in the livestream was also somewhat sentimental at this moment.
Precisely because they had learned what kind of person Siegfried was from the stories before the Chronicles, they could so truly feel his sadness and helplessness.
In this regard, Kiana truly inherited Siegfried's character perfectly, having also faced the same moment of choice.
During the Main Story "Dust in the Wind," to protect Kiana, Fu Hua exhausted her remaining power to stall Kevin. To fulfill her promise to Himeko and fight to make the world better, Kiana had to leave Fu Hua behind to face Kevin alone.
And clearly, just before that in "Meteoric Salvation," Kiana had decided not to run away anymore and was unwilling to see anyone else sacrificed... one can imagine how much pain and torment her heart felt at the moment she abandoned Fu Hua to escape.
Both Siegfried and Kiana, father and daughter, are cut from the same cloth—for the sake of saving the world and others, they wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice themselves.
But if they had to give up one person's life for the sake of the big picture, it would feel worse than killing them.
From this moment on, the audience's perception of Siegfried finally began to change from "Kiana's dad" and "the man whose whereabouts have been unknown for years" to a more complete and refined character.
[Father-in-law is a real man!]
[Old Thief Su Mu, are you even human? You're not satisfied with using beautiful girls to hurt us anymore? Now you're using men?]
[Sigh, honestly, I think the father-in-law is also damn charming...]
[Wait? Keep your thoughts to yourself, brother! Siegfried is a married man!]
[What are you thinking? I mean Siegfried's character is really charming! Rather, all named men in Honkai Impact 3rd are charming, okay!]
[Then let me ask you, do you think Otto is charming?]
[Why wouldn't Otto be charming? Are you looking down on our Priest Otto?]
[LOL, not mentioning the Otto from the Main Story at all, right?]
Even though it was a discussion sparked by Siegfried, Otto somehow got caught in the crossfire again, making him look at the sky speechlessly.
This really was a case of sitting at home and having a disaster fall from the sky.
But there was no way around it; who told his role in Honkai Impact 3rd to be a big villain? The kind that is nailed to the pillar of shame and lashed every day...
Sigh.
Although he was used to being a villain lashed by players, there was still a sliver of expectation in Otto's heart.
Expecting that he could also have a spotlight moment to grab people's attention and gain a wave of big fans.
In the game.
After Siegfried left, the man named Welt Yang also began a tragic "final battle" with Sirin on the Moon.
The secret of how Welt trapped Sirin was finally revealed; he used the expansion and time effects of a black hole to trap himself and Sirin together.
Although only one minute had passed for them, an hour had passed in the outside world.
If not for this method, it would have been impossible to stall Sirin for so long.
Now Welt was at the end of his rope; facing Sirin with five cores, all his resistance was in vain.
Looking at Welt, Sirin maliciously tore up the original agreement and decided to continue throwing meteors toward Earth.
["I won't... let these meteors reach Earth!"]
["Still have the strength to resist? Your eyes are quite good. That's it, amuse me to your heart's content. Let's play a game~ see if my meteors are faster, or those toy bullets of yours..."]
Sirin's body rose into the air, meteors circling around her. She looked down at Welt from above, her face full of mockery.
["Hmph! Come on! Second Herrscher!"]
Welt stood up straight, clenching his fist and placing it over his chest.
["This is... my final battle..."]
["I am very proud that at the final moment..."]
["I can still fight to protect this world."]
Welt did his best to use the power of the Herrscher core, draining every bit of strength in his body to condense the phantom of a Titan behind him.
Although they knew Welt survived in the end, seeing him work so hard to protect the world still made the audience feel extremely sad.
After all, for the Welt in the game, he didn't know he could survive safely to the end.
This battle on the Moon, in his view, was likely his final one.
Under Welt's stubborn resistance, all four meteors were shot down. The surface of the Moon was covered with huge craters from missiles and artillery fire, along with the constantly dissipating wreckage of Titan mechs.
Even having exhausted all his strength, Welt still didn't surrender. Instead, at the moment Sirin was about to take his core, he grabbed Sirin's arm, trying to detonate his core and take Sirin down with him!
Before setting out, Welt had asked Tesla to find a way to detonate the Herrscher core. He knew this trip was ill-fated, so he wanted to use this method to die together with the Second Herrscher.
Tesla had driven Welt out while crying; for her, this was undoubtedly sending her favorite person to his death with her own hands.
But despite this, Tesla still sent the research results to Welt at the last moment.
However... just before the core exploded, Sirin pulled it out, meaning Welt's plan to detonate the core ended in failure.
After the Herrscher core was taken, Welt's figure turned into countless streams of data and finally dissipated.
After obtaining the Core of Reason, Sirin merged it, gaining the power and knowledge of the Herrscher of Reason and constructing a massive aircraft carrier as her mount.
She returned to Earth with thousands of Honkai beasts and attacked the Babylon Laboratory.
In this defense battle, the elite A-rank Valkyries of Schicksal, Patricia and Salome, finally died in battle while covering the evacuation of the crowd.
February 2, 2000, 12:30.
Near the Babylon Tower.
["Avrora, Agata... I'm back."]
["We were once tortured by those ants; now, it's our turn to torture them!"]
Sirin returned to her companions' graves. On the snow-covered ground, there were only three bare branches—the tombstones she had set up for them.
["Join me and enjoy this revenge."]
The iron hooves of tens of thousands of Honkai beasts trampled the Siberian snowfields, carrying the Queen's wrath and launching a revenge against this world.
Welt was dead, the Herrscher core was taken by Sirin, and Sirin, possessing six Herrscher cores, returned to Earth with a massive army of Honkai beasts... it was like the sounding of the doomsday horn.
Watching Sirin make her declaration of revenge by her companions' graves.
Elysia finally couldn't suppress her inner curiosity and asked Su Mu: "Sirin has even mastered the power of the First Herrscher, she's become even more powerful! How on earth are the humans on Earth going to fight back now?"
Kiana also had a suspicious look: "Yeah... anyway, Sirin's current combat power is a bit too ridiculous, right? That's six whole cores... she could destroy humanity with just that, couldn't she?"
[Yeah, I want to say the same... Sirin has become even stronger now, how exactly was she defeated?]
[I didn't expect Sirin to continue getting stronger... Could it be that Otto really invited Ancestor Kevin over?]
[But how should I put it, Sirin coming from the Moon to Earth at least gave humans a chance to attack her... if she stayed on the Moon, humans wouldn't even be able to touch her.]
[True, if Sirin had stayed on the Moon, humans wouldn't have been able to do anything to her. But now that she's proactively come to Earth... it actually gives humans the possibility of defeating her.]
The audience in the livestream was also discussing Sirin's power.
Soon after, Sirin used the power of other Herrscher cores to create three Pseudo-Herrschers who controlled different powers.
Wind, Fire, and Death.
The three Pseudo-Herrschers caused massive destruction in the cities, becoming the embodiment of disaster and doomsday.
Tens of thousands of humans died under their power, and for a time, the three cities were filled with people's wails and cries.
Watching these three Pseudo-Herrschers destroy the cities, the audience also knew that Sirin's revenge against humanity had begun.
A Herrscher is a walking natural disaster, vividly demonstrated by the tragic state of these three cities.
The A-rank Valkyries sent by Schicksal were also unable to deal with them; even Otto said that A-rank Valkyries could only stall for a little time.
These were just Pseudo-Herrschers, and they already had such terrifying destructive power.
The power of Sirin, who created them, was even more unimaginable!
And as the three Pseudo-Herrschers continued to destroy the world, Sirin's power would become even stronger, just as the Honkai God had said.
[Although a Herrscher with six cores sounds intimidating, I always feel... Sirin is purely "swollen" now; she doesn't take humans seriously at all. She says it's revenge, but she sends these subordinates to destroy cities everywhere; if she wanted to kill all of humanity, there would be faster and better ways, right?]
[True, no matter how strong these Pseudo-Herrschers are, their efficiency in destruction and killing can't compare to Sirin herself, right?]
[But it's understandable; after all, the current Sirin is "invincible." she's so strong she doesn't even know how she could lose...]
[Sirin was just a child to begin with; it's normal to get arrogant after suddenly gaining such powerful strength, right?]
[It's like playing cards; if you have a hand full of bombs, can you resist showboating?]
["I'll play a single 4! Hey, you think you can one-shot me with seventeen cards? If you can one-shot me, Sirin, I'll eat this Babylon Laboratory on the spot!"]
Looking at the comments sent by the silly netizens, Su Mu's mouth was as hard to suppress as an AK.
It must be said that the silly netizens' eyes are indeed very accurate; Sirin is indeed "swollen"...
Originally, in the official certification of the previous life, Sirin always liked to disguise herself with a thorny exterior, yet her childish temper was written all over her face—easily angered yet pretending to be mature, just like a pufferfish.
And in the Second Eruption...
Honkai gave Sirin power several times, so it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her its own daughter, but she was extremely prone to getting arrogant...
It would have been fine if it were just being arrogant, but every time Sirin got arrogant and started "Even if I hold the Primordial Imperial City in one hand" kind of showboating moments, she would always encounter some white-haired person or "undead" to torture her...
Getting arrogant when excited and deflating when defeated, so some silly netizens called her the "Herrscher of Pufferfish."
Now it seems this nickname is very appropriate.
Seeing Su Mu unable to suppress his smile, Theresa asked curiously, "What are you thinking? Is it that funny?"
—"I'm thinking about how the white-haired and the undead torture the pufferfish."
Su Mu's answer made Theresa post several question marks in a row.
What white-haired, what undead? Why would they torture a pufferfish? Is this some kind of industry jargon?
END OF CHAPTER
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