Chapter 160: The Gap in Intelligence
"Oh, right. The lucky draw!" Rovel slapped his forehead, the thought suddenly surfacing through the clutter of his mind. He had nearly forgotten about his pending rewards. "Random Lucky Wheel, let's see what kind of miracles you can spit out for me this time."
With a practiced flick of his wrist, he summoned the translucent system interface. The colorful wheel materialized, spinning into a blur of neon light before slowly ticking to a halt.
[Congratulations, you have obtained the item: Fenghuang Down - Part I.]
[Fenghuang Down - Part I: A feather carrying the Remembrance of the Red Kite Immortal. Unlocks the special long-term instance: Divine State Broken Sword Record (Part I).]
"Hm? Divine State Broken Sword Record?" Rovel blinked at the glowing text, stroking his chin. 'Isn't that the lore detailing the history between Fu Hua and her seven disciples?'
Recalling the main storyline of the game, he remembered how the narrative eventually tried to justify the actions of those seven disciples. The game claimed there were complex, tragic reasons behind their betrayal, ultimately leading them to murder Fu Hua. Yet, no matter how he turned the lore over in his head, the logic felt incredibly flawed.
The official plot explicitly stated that Lin Chaoyu, the head disciple, had purchased rouge for one of her martial sisters who had fallen into madness. The makeup was meant to conceal the creeping, purple veins of Honkai Energy erosion—and more, this desperate cover-up was never actually hidden from Fu Hua's eyes.
If Fu Hua had truly become an unfeeling, cold-blooded machine who executed anyone showing the slightest hint of corruption, she would have slaughtered that infected disciple the very second she noticed the symptoms. Why on earth would the Red Kite Immortal allow a corrupted student to remain safely on Mount Taixu?
He shook his head, dismissing the tangled web of ancient drama. It was all just speculation for now. To uncover the real truth, he would have to dive into the instance himself.
"I still have one more draw. Might as well pull them back-to-back." He tapped the glowing button once more.
[Congratulations, you have obtained the item: Fenghuang Down - Part II.]
[Fenghuang Down - Part II: A feather carrying the Remembrance of the Red Kite Immortal. Unlocks the special long-term instance: Divine State Broken Sword Record (Part II).]
"Ahem. You're not even trying to hide the rigged RNG anymore, are you?" Rovel's mouth twitched as he stared at the screen. He wasn't sure if his luck had simply skyrocketed, but the system had practically hand-delivered the complete set to him in one go.
Still, the time span required to clear a long-term instance like this would be massive, likely spanning several decades of simulated time. If the first part covered the tragedy of Fu Hua and her seven disciples, then the second part undoubtedly focused on the era of Li Sushang testing her blade against the world.
The only problem was that the original lore for the Divine State Broken Sword Record was notoriously incomplete. The developers had practically abandoned the storyline halfway through, leaving a massive, gaping hole in the timeline. Rovel had no idea what actually transpired between those two eras.
With a flick of his wrist, he summoned the golden, heavy blade of the Xuanyuan Sword. He ran his fingers along the cold metal, wondering if diving into that martial arts instance would finally allow him to comprehend his own Sword Intent.
But there was no need to rush. Dismissing the blade, he pulled out a carefully wrapped gift box from his inventory. He had originally planned to gift Fu Hua a sharp, tailored suit, but Himeko had completely stolen that idea out from under him. Thankfully, he had only mentioned it in passing and quickly pivoted to a backup plan. What rested inside the elegant box was a beautifully crafted, traditional cheongsam.
As Rovel stepped back into the living room, the tense atmosphere immediately dissolved. Mei and the others let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Rovel," Mei began, her voice dripping with a sickly-sweet honey that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. She smiled, her eyes entirely devoid of light. "If you ever disappear without a word again, I will break your limbs, tie you to a bed, and ensure you can never leave my sight."
Rovel froze, his heart skipping a beat. 'What?' He stared at her, utterly bewildered. This wasn't his Mei. How could his gentle, sweet, and perfectly domestic cooking angel suddenly harbor the dark, twisted soul of a yandere?
"Hahaha! Look at his face! The idiot was actually terrified!" Kiana clutched her stomach, completely failing to hide her boisterous laughter.
The dark aura around Mei instantly shattered. A soft, embarrassed flush crept up her cheeks as she stepped forward, gently wrapping her arms around Rovel's arm to soothe his spiked adrenaline. "We are playing Truth or Dare..."
He let out a long breath. 'Thank God. This gentle, blushing girl is my actual Mei.'
"Whew. That Dare of yours was a little too intense for my heart," Rovel muttered, wiping a bead of cold sweat from his forehead.
"Hm?" Mei blinked her beautiful eyes, tilting her head with a look of pure, feigned innocence. "But I chose Truth, you know."
Rovel stiffened. The cold sweat he had just wiped away instantly returned with a vengeance.
"Pfft..." Mei couldn't hold the act any longer. She reached up, gently pinching his cheek as a radiant, teasing smile bloomed across her face. "I'm just kidding."
"Wow. The idiot actually fell for it twice in a row," Kiana chimed in, tossing a smug, mocking grin in his direction.
"Truth or Dare, huh? Count me in." Rovel narrowed his eyes, locking onto the white-haired girl. This little paramecium was getting far too arrogant for her own good. It was time to teach her a lesson.
"Hmph! Just you wait! I'm going to dig out every single one of your embarrassing secrets!" Kiana declared, puffing out her chest. She could clearly sense the hostility radiating from him, but when had Kiana Kaslana ever backed down from a challenge?
The rules were simple: everyone drew lots in order, and whoever pulled the shortest stick had to choose between Truth or Dare, drawing a penalty card from the corresponding deck.
The first round began.
And within seconds... Kiana lost.
"I... I choose Dare!" Kiana announced bravely. She snatched a card from the top of the Dare deck, flipped it over, and instantly turned to stone.
[Hug the table leg and giggle for ten seconds.]
"Well? We're waiting." Rovel immediately whipped out his smartphone, opening the camera app with a wicked grin.
"Fine! I'll do it!" Kiana grumbled. True to her word, she dropped to her knees, wrapped both arms tightly around the wooden leg of the coffee table, and forced out a deeply awkward, "Heh... hehehe..."
The entire humiliating ten-second display was captured in glorious high-definition by Rovel's camera.
"Again!" Kiana shouted, scrambling back to her seat with a red face. "This time I definitely won't lose!"
The second round commenced.
Kiana lost again.
"Wuwuwu! Why did I draw the shortest stick again?!" she whined, slamming her hands on the table.
"A bet is a bet. Make your choice," Rovel said, crossing his arms in amusement.
"I... I choose Truth!" Kiana gritted her teeth. She aggressively snatched a card from the Truth deck, holding it against her chest before slowly, carefully peeling her fingers back to read the text.
[Please tell the opposite-sex friend you have the highest favorability for the reason why you have a crush on him/her.]
"..." Kiana fell dead silent. Her eyes darted around the room. Aside from Rovel, where on earth was she supposed to find a male friend to confess to?
Rovel interlaced his fingers, resting his chin on his hands as he adopted a deeply melancholic, dramatic expression. "Go on, Kiana. I would love to hear the exact reasons why you harbor such a deep, secret crush on me. Unless, of course, you can magically conjure up another male friend out of thin air." He looked at her with a perfectly polite smile, fully respecting her impending doom.
"It's definitely not you anyway!" Kiana stuck her tongue out at him. Desperate, she pulled out her phone and began frantically scrolling through her contacts. Suddenly, her blue eyes lit up with triumph.
She quickly dialed a number and pressed the phone to her ear. As soon as the line connected, she launched into a rapid-fire string of incredibly cheesy, overly dramatic pickup lines—praising the mysterious man for his gentle nature, his rugged handsomeness, and his reliable charm.
Rovel raised an eyebrow, noticing a slight flaw in her brilliant acting. He casually shifted his gaze toward Bronya, giving the small hacker a subtle nod.
Bronya immediately understood the assignment. Her fingers danced across her holographic keyboard, effortlessly hacking into Kiana's device. With a thoughtful, deadpan expression, she remotely activated the speakerphone just in time for a polite, feminine voice to echo through the living room.
"I am very sorry, miss, but I believe you have dialed the wrong number. This is Kentucky Fried Chicken. Would you like to place an order?"
"..."
The entire living room plunged into a suffocating, absolute silence.
Kiana's face instantly ignited, turning a shade of red that rivaled a ripe tomato. Feeling the heavy, judgmental gazes of everyone in the room boring into her soul, she silently tapped the 'End Call' button and buried her face in her hands.
"Do the official rules mention how we should handle this blatant cheating?" Rovel asked the room, his tone perfectly flat.
"The Bronya suggests an additional penalty," Bronya replied, staring at the cowering white-haired girl with undisguised contempt. She hadn't expected Kiana to stoop so low as to fake a confession to a fast-food worker. Even she wouldn't cheat at a parlor game.
"Well, considering how pathetically cute she looks right now, let's let it slide just this once," Rovel said, waving his hand magnanimously.
Kiana peeked through her fingers, her blue eyes shimmering with genuine, tearful gratitude.
"However, you still have to complete the Truth prompt," Rovel added smoothly, instantly causing Kiana's grateful expression to shatter into pure despair.
"...Rovel!" Kiana squeezed her eyes shut, abandoning all dignity as she practically screamed her answer. "Because you are handsome, have a gentle personality, and are very considerate, I have high favorability for you! Are you happy now?!"
"I am so sorry," Rovel sighed, placing a hand over his heart and looking away with a tragic, sorrowful expression. "Although you love me so deeply, I... I simply cannot return your feelings at this time."
Kiana felt her fists clench so tightly her knuckles popped. She wanted nothing more than to launch herself across the table and print her knuckles squarely into his incredibly punchable face.
"Idiot Kiana," Bronya sighed, shaking her head in sheer disappointment. "You could have completely insulted him. The card only required you to state a reason. You could have said you liked how utterly shameless he is, and then used the opportunity to verbally abuse him for five minutes straight."
Hearing Bronya's flawless logic, Kiana grabbed her own hair in horror. A high-pitched, shrill whine—sounding exactly like a boiling tea kettle—escaped her lips as she rocked back and forth.
For the very first time in her life, Kiana Kaslana truly, intuitively understood the massive, unbridgeable gap in their intelligence.
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