294. Rita Awakens
"Ling...why did you tie me up?" Yuexia struggled, finding herself unable to move.
"You're terrifying. I thought you were going to eat me," Yun Ling explained.
"So, are you really Ling?" Luna Kindred's crimson eyes were filled with longing.
"Didn't you already have the answer?" Yun Ling scratched his head.
"I don't know. I want Ling to tell me himself." Luna Kindred shook her head fiercely, then looked at Yun Ling earnestly.
"Luna, I'm not that great detective Sherlock Holmes, but...he is me."
Even Yun Ling himself couldn't explain this. He had simulated being Sherlock Holmes for the eighth simulation, but that didn't mean he was Sherlock Holmes now.
"I don't understand, but you are Ling!" Luna Kindred said firmly.
Only Kongming and Ling knew this name, and the taste of blood doesn't lie!
"...Whatever makes you happy." Yun Ling pinched the bridge of his nose.
Since Luna Kindred believed it, then he was Sherlock Holmes.
Anyway... he wasn't losing out.
Wouldn't it be great to get a vampire wife for free?
Seeing that Luna Kindred had calmed down, Yun Ling put her down.
Before the two behind could even process the situation, they saw Luna Kindred tightly hugging Yun Ling, inhaling his scent like a madwoman.
"Ling...Ling...it really is my Ling..." Luna Kindred nuzzled her head against Yun Ling's chest, the feeling of having regained him almost driving her mad.
Kongming was about to step forward to separate the two when someone burst out of the maze, leaving her stunned again.
Isn't that her mother?!
"Rita?!"
Hearing someone call her name, Rita turned around in confusion.
"Lady Theresa?" Rita was equally bewildered.
Why was Theresa here? Could the mist here create hallucinations?
But looking at the 'Theresa' before her, she had never seen her before.
"Hey! Jingwei! What's going on?!" Kongming immediately looked at Fu Hua beside her.
Fu Hua was also bewildered.
As one of only two people on the scene who knew most of the situation, she felt immense pressure.
"Explain to me what's going on with her first," Fu Hua said, her face dark as she looked at Yun Ling and Luna Kindred acting like a pair of lovers not far away.
A feeling of displeasure began to creep into her heart.
"Lady Theresa, what are you doing here?" Rita asked, stepping forward in confusion.
"I'm not Theresa, I'm Zhuge Kongming!" Kongming replied.
"Huh?" Rita was startled, but quickly realized that this might be Otto's doing.
Was the child in front of her also a clone of Kallen?
But why did she recognize her?
The scene was chaotic, making it difficult to understand what was happening.
"Alright! Everyone stop! I know what's going on!" Kongming used her 256-thread brain to sort everything out. The Rita before her might be the reincarnation of Prime Minister Rita, and as for whether she truly was, she naturally had ways to verify it.
She first stopped the two lovers who were whispering sweet nothings over there, forcefully pulling them over to hear her analysis.
"First of all, I am not the Theresa you speak of, and I have no relation to the Theresa you speak of! I am the second emperor of the Ming Empire, the Sage King, Zhuge Kongming!"
Kongming waved her fan as she introduced herself.
Rita's eyes flashed with surprise. She had naturally heard of this Sage King, but hearing her speak of her now carried a strange air.
"Don't even think about it. I've lived since the Ming Empire era. As for why I know what you're saying, it's because that 'breast-like woman' over there is most likely the same kind as the Theresa you speak of."
"Breast...breast-like woman?!" Upon hearing this term, Luna Kindred immediately wanted to tear Kongming to pieces, but fortunately, Yun Ling stopped her.
"?" Rita observed Luna Kindred with a puzzled look, realizing that Luna Kindred did indeed resemble Theresa remarkably much—she was practically a giant version of Theresa!
As a seasoned Theresa enthusiast, Rita's restless heart began to stir.
Luna Kindred shivered, feeling as if she were being watched.
"When I met her, she was being hunted by the Schicksal, supposedly as an escaped experimental subject. So the Theresa you speak of must be the same thing," Kongming explained.
"As for why I look like her, it's purely coincidental. I'm much older than them," Kongming said, adopting an air of elder.
"The Ming Empire era was almost five hundred years ago. Speaking of which, I've learned a bit about that period's history, Miss Rita. There was apparently a prime minister also named Rita back then," Yun Ling suddenly said.
"Oh? Is that so?" Rita nodded nonchalantly. There were too many people with the same name in history; it wasn't a big deal…
Wait, Rita suddenly realized a serious problem. She looked at Kongming with a slightly uneasy expression.
Then she found Kongming looking at her too.
The first thing Kongming called out to her was "Rita"…
So…it wasn't a coincidence? Was that Prime Minister Rita really connected to her in some way?
"You and Rita look exactly alike," Kongming said, revealing her suspicions.
"…Perhaps it's just a coincidence, just like how Lady Kongming and Lady Theresa look exactly alike—isn't that a coincidence too?" Rita chuckled.
"I don't think it's a coincidence," Kongming said, glancing at Yun Ling beside her.
At this moment, the key figures for the fourth simulation hadn't all gathered, but she could deduce the general outline based on the fragmented information.
"How can we prove it?" Rita suddenly became interested.
"Before Rita died, I used magic to preserve her memories. These memories belong only to Rita, and only she can see them. If you can see them, then you… Are Rita!" Said Kongming as she took out a bead.
"Can Honkai energy really do everything?!" Yun Ling repeated the question, this time genuinely surprised.
Only Fenghuang Down could preserve and even lock away such memories, right? And Kongming actually accomplished this with that so-called magic?
"This was just an experiment. At the time, Rita was overwhelmed with grief, her spirit was broken, and she was plagued by illness. I thought of someone; if reincarnation truly exists, then perhaps Rita could be reincarnated as well. So I tried to preserve these memories," Kongming explained.
"Reincarnation? Does such a miraculous thing exist? Could it be just a rumor?" Yun Ling seemed to have grasped the key point.
Sure enough, someone spread this information. No wonder even Otto knew of his existence.
So who was it? The system?
"The facts have proven that this is not mere speculation, but a fact," Kongming shook her head.
As she spoke, she handed the bead containing Prime Minister Rita's memories to Rita.
"Please hold it," Kongming said to Rita.
Rita looked at the bead before her, and out of trust in 'Theresa,' she picked it up and held it in her hand.
In an instant, memories flooded into Rita's mind like a torrent.
Meanwhile, Yun Ling also sensed the atmosphere of a massive battleground being slowly unfolded.
…