"How did you manage to snatch this thing?" Chen Luo stared incredulously at the golden cube levitating in the air, supported by the wind.
"So? Surprised?" the Herrscher of Sentience asked with a grin.
"Surprised? I am a little, but more than that, I'm shocked. Where did you even get this?" Chen Luo was utterly baffled.
But upon second thought, while Otto was indeed formidable, the Herrscher of Sentience was no pushover either—especially when striking with careful planning against an unprepared opponent.
"Otto is a tough opponent, sure. But who am I? I'm the Herrscher of Sentience—I can do anything."
"In the end, Otto lost Void Archives, the Blank Key, and the plague gem. I also snagged a few Soulium bodies from his collection vault. Gotta say, Otto's stockpile of Soulium is seriously impressive," the Herrscher of Sentience remarked with admiration.
Hearing her words, Chen Luo sighed and finally reached out toward the golden cube floating in the air.
After all, this was a gesture of goodwill from the Herrscher of Sentience, and since it was already stolen, returning it was out of the question.
"Aren't you worried about messing up the storyline by doing this?" Chen Luo quipped.
Truth be told, it was a bit ironic—the one who had always been keen on preserving the Honkai Impact 3rd storyline wasn't Chen Luo, who didn't really care either way, but the Herrscher of Sentience herself.
Chen Luo never quite understood what the Herrscher of Sentience was thinking or what she aimed to achieve, but he rarely opposed her wishes.
"Hey, the storyline I want to preserve is only the near-future one. If we mess it up too badly now, how will we get to see the priceless expression on that old fossil's face later?"
"Take that Blank Key, for example. Its only moment to shine is when Himeko battles Sirin, the Herrscher of Void—and that's years from now. Besides, with the two of us stirring the pot, that situation probably won't even happen. So, I just brought it back."
"As for Void Archives, Otto's been playing with it for 500 years. He's probably learned everything there is to know from it by now. He's not exactly a combat specialist anyway—what does he need it for? Rather than leaving it for Kevin later, it's better to give it to you. Weren't you missing a Key of Domination?" the Herrscher of Sentience explained.
"You still remember that," Chen Luo replied absentmindedly, his eyes fixed intently on the First Divine Key before him.
"Of course," the Herrscher of Sentience nodded proudly, waiting for Chen Luo's praise.
Without a Dominion Sword, the Edge of Taixuan was incomplete. It requires coordination with a Key of Domination, specifically the Xuanyuan Sword.
And the First Divine Key, Void Archives, could simulate Divine Keys—such as the Xuanyuan Sword.
If all Chen Luo needed was a Xuanyuan Sword, it wouldn't necessarily require Void Archives. Although Xuanyuan Swords were rare, they weren't impossible to obtain.
But the Herrscher of Sentience figured that even though Chen Luo had acquired the complete Edge of Taixuan, his unique nature meant he wouldn't rely solely on it. Chen Luo's development was multi-faceted, and he would likely use many types of weapons in the future.
So, why not just snatch Void Archives for him?
Such was the thrifty and practical mindset of the Herrscher of Sentience.
She hadn't originally planned to steal Void Archives—it was entirely for Chen Luo's sake.
But then… she waited and waited, yet no praise came from Chen Luo.
When the Herrscher of Sentience glanced at him, she found him staring fixedly at the Divine Key, not even sparing her a glance.
Instantly, her cheeks puffed up in irritation.
By then, Chen Luo had no attention left to respond to the Herrscher of Sentience.
Chen Luo's Furniture Mastery meant he had a high adaptability to any weapon.
And it had never crossed his mind whether he could even use Void Archives.
Although the conditions for Void Archives to acknowledge a master were stringent—requiring a person of great wisdom—well, Furniture Mastery took care of that.
But after gaining control of Void Archives, Chen Luo felt something peculiar.
The handling felt good—too good, in fact. To put it aptly, it was as if Void Archives had already molded itself perfectly to his will.
This thing was way too compliant.
With a mere thought from Chen Luo, Void Archives instantly transformed into a pair of pistols.
Seventh Divine Key: Judgment of Shamash (Weakened Version)
Void Archives, a weapon created by Dr. MEI of the Previous Era using the core of the First Herrscher, the Herrscher of Reason. Its default form was a golden regular hexahedron, capable of turning into a fluid.
It could replicate any weapon or tool whose principles of construction the user understood—the same applied to Divine Keys, though the replicated versions were far inferior to the originals.
Inside was an almost infinitely expansive knowledge space, storing the knowledge of the Previous Era civilization collected by the Herrscher of Reason. This knowledge, due to the unique nature of the Herrscher's abilities, was preserved along with the Herrscher core.
It could be said that this weapon was an incredibly perfect match for Chen Luo.
With Furniture Mastery, Chen Luo could wield any weapon skillfully, and Void Archives had a high upper limit—capable of transforming into any type of weapon.
It was practically tailor-made for Chen Luo.
"This weapon suits me perfectly. Senti, you've really outdone yourself." Chen Luo gave the Herrscher of Sentience a thumbs-up.
"Hehe, of course!" the Herrscher of Sentience replied with a proud smile.
"Chen Luo? It's been so many years since we last met, and now you show up spouting nonsense?" Suddenly, a voice full of disdain, neutral in tone, rang out.
Void Archives in Chen Luo's hand, which had returned to its cubic form, slowly levitated.
"Holy crap, Void Archives can talk," Chen Luo exclaimed in surprise.
"Chen Luo, have you been kicked in the head by a donkey?"
Even Chen Luo could hear the contempt in Void Archives' tone.
"…You have three seconds to shut up. Otherwise, I'll turn you into a toilet," Chen Luo said after a moment of silence, glaring displeasedly at Void Archives.
"…You're as shameless as ever. But judging by your reaction, it's like you're seeing me for the first time. Don't tell me you've lost your mind again, Chen Luo? And now you're pretending not to know me… Either something's wrong with you, or something's wrong with me."
"Could it be that you're one of Chen Luo's descendants? No, that doesn't make sense either. This eerie sense of being controlled, plus the conversation between the two of you just now, confirms perfectly that you are Chen Luo…"
"As expected, Chen Luo, you're just full of secrets."
"..." After a moment of silence, Chen Luo grabbed the golden cube. Under his forceful control, it actually transformed into a toilet, and Chen Luo promptly sat down on the toilet lid.
This Void Archives really had too much to say.
Moreover, Void Archives' words had given Chen Luo a significant clue.
It seemed he had indeed been to the Previous Era.
Void Archives recognized him but wasn't very familiar with him—at least not intimately acquainted.
However, it seemed to have some understanding of his personality.
But at the very least, it didn't know his secret of being able to travel between worlds.
That was good enough.
And even if it did know, it wouldn't matter much. Now that Void Archives was in Chen Luo's hands, as long as he spent some time handling it, could a mere weapon ever escape his control?
"Emmm, can I speak now?" the Herrscher of Sentience raised her hand gently and asked.
The Herrscher of Sentience felt like she had brought back an arrogant grandpa this time, or maybe it's a grandma.
"Go ahead. Void Archives' ears are blocked now. At least while it's in my hands, it has no chance of causing trouble," Chen Luo waved his hand dismissively.
A mere weapon was nothing in the face of Furniture Mastery.
"That's good. I originally thought you wouldn't interfere with the Previous Era, but now it seems things are a bit different. Not that it's a problem, though. Luo, how are you planning to handle Void Archives?"
Since the First Divine Key, Void Archives, was created using the artificial intelligence Prometheus along with the First Herrscher's core, it had a mind of its own.
For example, Void Archives had once tempted a young Otto, and even in the post-Honkai odyssey story, it was behind much of the trouble.
The Herrscher of Sentience felt this was rather dangerous.
Although Chen Luo's Furniture Mastery could control it and treat Void Archives' AI as a tool spirit, this tool spirit seemed quite unruly.
"I plan to... break its limits," Chen Luo said, glancing at Void Archives beneath him.
"Huh?" The Herrscher of Sentience was taken aback.
"Senti, you know that all S-rank talents have a base price of 10,000 Primogems. Although I haven't bought any five-star items yet, it's reasonable to assume that five-star items would be around that price. So, logically, a Divine Key made from a Herrscher core should also be worth that much and be five-star rated."
"But according to the talent panel, this Void Archives is a four-star top-tier weapon, not five-star," Chen Luo said, looking at the talent panel.
"Four-star top-tier weapon..." The Herrscher of Sentience rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
This actually made sense. If a Herrscher's authority didn't have any special breakthroughs—like hers, for instance—its strength would be equivalent to an ordinary S-rank talent.
As for Divine Keys...
A MANTIS with a Divine Key could kill a Herrscher, but a Divine Key couldn't fully compare to a Herrscher's authority.
For example, if Fu Hua stood opposite the Herrscher of Sentience wielding the Fenghuang Down, and they only competed in the authority of the Herrscher of Sentience, Senti could easily overpower the Fenghuang Down.
The Fenghuang Down was indeed powerful, but the Herrscher of Sentience could wield her authority with incredible flexibility, while the Fenghuang Down could not.
This was the difference between a weapon and an authority.
So, if Divine Keys were considered four-star top-tier weapons, it wasn't entirely impossible.
"Then what's this about breaking limits you mentioned?" the Herrscher of Sentience asked.
"It's a prompt I got after obtaining Void Archives. I can spend 15,000 Crystals to break its limits, essentially a limit break," Chen Luo explained.
"Limit break... I know about that. Kevin's Judgment of Shamash can be transformed into Shuhadaku of Uriel, and the Abyss Flower seems to have that ability too. But the Previous Era only made three such prototype limit-break weapons," the Herrscher of Sentience recalled.
"But isn't 15,000 Crystals a bit expensive? That's equivalent to 15,000 Primogems—enough to buy an S-rank talent." The Herrscher of Sentience felt a pang of distress at the amount.
In her view, what belonged to the Herrscher of Sentience belonged to Chen Luo, and what belonged to Chen Luo belonged to her. So, spending 15,000 Primogems to limit-break a Divine Key would make her heart ache.
The Herrscher of Sentience was gradually learning to think from Chen Luo's perspective.
"You think it's a loss? No, it's a gain. After limit-breaking Void Archives, it can simulate all weapons below six-star. The original Void Archives would weaken the power when simulating other four-star top-tier Divine Keys, but after limit-breaking, it can simulate all five-star weapons at full strength."
"This is practically like spending 15,000 Crystals to exchange for all five-star weapons. It's a huge bargain, okay?" Chen Luo said excitedly.
"That profitable? It feels like there must be a catch," the Herrscher of Sentience said skeptically after hearing Chen Luo's explanation.
"Ahem, well, the downside is that I can only simulate a weapon after I've touched it and have a basic understanding of its structure. But it's not a big deal. With Furniture Mastery, I can achieve that level after spending some time with a weapon."
"It's just that both Void Archives and the limit-broken Void Archives are incredibly compatible with me," Chen Luo said with a playful smile.
"That's really... It seems I was right to snatch Void Archives," the Herrscher of Sentience said, rubbing her chin.
"The only problem is that the limit break takes two days, and the event will be over by then."
"What's the big deal? Just use the weapon until the event ends and then limit-break it. Simple, right?"
"Alright, that works." Chen Luo nodded.
He had been thinking the same thing.
Although 15,000 Crystals were outrageously expensive—equivalent to 15,000 Primogems—Crystals and Primogems were different.
Primogems could be exchanged for Crystals, but Crystals couldn't be exchanged for Primogems.
Chen Luo didn't have many Primogems left, but he still had over 30,000 Crystals.
"Alright, let's go. Help me farm some Crystals," Chen Luo said to the Herrscher of Sentience.
"Sure." The Herrscher of Sentience nodded.
Seeing her agreement, Chen Luo gently patted the golden toilet beneath him. Instantly, the golden toilet transformed into a pair of pistols, which Chen Luo held in his hands.
Now, it was time to unleash some carnage.
What? You mentioned the Elfin Bow? What's that?
The Elfin Bow was a three-star top-tier item.
Whereas the Judgment of Shamash, formed from Void Archives, though not as powerful as the original weapon, was still a four-star weapon. And it didn't require drawing a bow—just pulling the trigger.
Wasn't that much better than the Elfin Bow?
Moreover, Void Archives didn't need bullets; Honkai energy was enough.
Sir, the times have changed.