Within the vast, empty building, Ashara's delicate frame trembled ceaselessly, while Fu Li propped up his head, listening to the doctor's tale with considerable focus.
But beneath this calm conversation, through his earpiece, Irene was reporting the situation in her singer-like cadence.
"Report. The situation in all affected areas has been stabilized. Special reaction forces are methodically clearing out the remaining Honkai Beasts."
"Regarding the refugees, the current estimated death toll is around 400,000. However, the losses have now been contained, and we are coordinating with the American military to evacuate the civilians."
"Boss, it's strange. Those mechanical constructs have suddenly ceased all activity and disappeared."
The first two reports sounded like good news, but the last one made Fu Li's brow furrow slightly.
Creations brought to life by the Herrscher of Reason's authority do not simply vanish into thin air. Their disappearance must be based on the Herrscher's will.
There were two possibilities. The first was that Ashara had regained some of her sanity and wanted to reduce civilian casualties, to keep from staining her hands with more blood.
The second was that Ashara was using the conversation as a cover to consolidate her power, preparing to strike at him.
Looking at the woman who seemed to have descended into a helpless frenzy, venting her pain to him, Fu Li's lips tightened into a thin line as he sighed internally.
His sensibility made him want to believe the first possibility, but his rationality told him to trust the second.
Still, Mobius was still recording data, and he had only used less than thirty percent of his strength.
He was willing to keep listening.
Even if it made his own heart ache a little.
Sitting opposite Fu Li, Ashara, as if not noticing his momentary hesitation, continued her story.
When Ashara was admitted to the mental hospital, although she was anxious, terrified, and even on the verge of a breakdown, she was by no means mentally ill. Anyone could see that.
But the fact remained that she had killed someone.
Although her actions were technically self-defense, no one besides her mother had witnessed the act, so there was no one to testify for her.
And the sole witness, Ashara's mother, had been driven mad with hatred for her over the incident. Not only did she twist the truth, painting her as a patricide, but she also sold off her last assets just to bribe a psychiatrist to diagnose her as mentally ill.
Because that woman felt that juvenile detention was too good for Ashara.
From that day on, Ashara lost her freedom.
Mental hospitals... everyone knows what those places are like. Even a sane person will become unstable if they stay inside long enough.
Ashara was no exception.
Faced with all sorts of strange patients, the young Ashara was terrified. Although she received slightly better treatment due to her minor status, she still ended up retreating into her own world.
It was a safe room, with no sharp objects, no ropes. There was only endless emptiness and waiting.
Until one day during recreation time, she caught a spider in a bottle.
The spider added a new joy to her life. From then on, she began to observe the spider's behavior patterns and developed a deep fascination with it.
Until one day, the spider died...
She became despondent again, lamenting the fragility of life. If she could, she wanted to create a life that was eternal and undying.
And that was the machinery she had loved as a child.
"The spider was the prototype for the Hunter..."
Ashara gave a bitter smile, exhaling as if lost in memory. "After that, I asked a nurse who took care of me to find many books on mechanics."
"In that environment, I spent nearly eight years, completing advanced mechanics through self-study."
"And studying calmed my heart, allowing me to successfully leave the orphanage. But when I got out, I discovered that things weren't as simple as I had thought."
She paused here, then smiled bitterly. "I tried to apply for a student loan but was rejected. I tried to find a job and was rejected. The way they looked at me was strange, but I don't blame them."
"It's my problem. I'm not capable enough. This is all my fault. It's been like this since I was a child..."
"But, just when I was in despair, the Alan Institute found me..."
Ashara looked up, her eyes filled with a fanatical gratitude. "You said I had a talent for mechanics, that I should see a wider world. You invited me to join the organization. I was really... I was so happy."
"From then on, I received resources provided by the organization and learned more profound knowledge. I finally obtained my doctorate as I had always wished. In that moment, I was so happy I thought I would go mad."
"Boss... I know that according to the organization's rules, the reason I was chosen won't be revealed. But right now, can I ask you, please, to tell me why you chose me?"
Her eyes were a mixture of pleading and anticipation. Fu Li finally sighed. In his earpiece, Irene had already recited Ashara's file.
"Because of the draft papers you left in the mental hospital. After reviewing that file, my seekers classified you as a B-rank mechanical genius," Fu Li recited.
"Is that so... I see." Ashara smiled with relief.
But after the smile, her mood sank again, and the atmosphere became awkward.
Fu Li broke the silence. "Is your story finished?"
"Of course... not yet." Ashara said softly. "My mother, not long after my nineteenth version of the Hunter blueprints was rejected, she found me."
"More than a decade had passed. I thought she could have let go of the past, but she still hated me just as much."
"I felt disheartened, numb to her accusations. But just as I decided to escape from her, to work hard to improve myself and contribute to the Alan Institute, she actually... ran me over with her car..."
"As I lay in a pool of my own blood, I saw her... she was smiling..."
"I felt death. It was different from the peace the nurses always said people feel when they die. What I felt was... an unintelligible whisper in my ear."
"But I could recite the words along with them. It's my problem. I'm not capable enough. This is all my fault. It's been like this since I was a child..."
"Then, a different voice suddenly appeared. It said, give it your body, and it would solve all my troubles for me."
"I fell asleep amidst those whispers. When I woke up again, what I saw was a city engulfed in a sea of fire, and wandering around me, the 420,000 resentful souls."
"Even now, I can still hear them. Their scorn, their curses, their hatred for me."
"The reason this city became like this... it's because of me, isn't it?"
Ashara's emotions suddenly flared. The floor behind her burst open, and a giant, white shadow—half-machine, half-Honkai Beast, like a colossal spider—crawled out, its eight eyes glowing with a ferocious red light.
The Herrscher of Reason's companion Judgment-class Honkai Beast—Unknown.
Fu Li let out a soft sigh and slowly rose to his feet. Facing one Herrscher and one Honkai Beast, his heart was a tangle of complex emotions.
He had found the reason.
But it was a painful one.
---o---