Cat (T)? Mid (M)? Newton (B)? What kind of trash are those?
Before my fully unleashed Puppeteer Stigma, they're all garbage!
A 60% increase in all damage caused by one's own summons—this maximized the potential of Chen Luo's Puppeteer class.
And the second effect of the Puppeteer was even more outrageous; it increased not the damage of the puppets, but his own damage.
Could the correct way to use the Puppeteer be to summon puppets for buffs, then rely on yourself to defeat the opponent?
Understood.
Chen Luo suddenly comprehended the essence of the Puppeteer.
Compared to this evolved Puppeteer, 5000 Crystals, though precious, seemed as insignificant as a firefly before the bright moon.
Evolving the Stigma didn't require a two-day wait like limit-breaking Void Archives; it just prompted him to wait a few minutes.
The original [Nuwa · Puppeteer] became simply [Puppeteer].
Simultaneously, Chen Luo's Crystal reserve instantly decreased by 4500, thanks to the ongoing 10% discount.
At the same time, even without using the Third Divine Key's sniper scope, a pink figure could be seen from the teaching building rooftop entering Chiba Academy.
"She's here." Chen Luo murmured softly, looking at the figure with a long sword hanging at her waist.
"Sakura?" Raven, who also saw the figure, instinctively exclaimed.
"..." Hearing Raven's exclamation, Chen Luo instinctively glanced at her.
It seemed Raven had indeed passed the trial of the Elysian Realm; otherwise, she wouldn't know Sakura.
Moreover, Raven and Sakura had a good relationship within the Elysian Realm, perhaps because they both enjoyed taking care of children.
Sakura, one of the thirteen Flame-Chasers of the anti-Honkai organization Fire Moth under the United Nations of the Previous Era, ranking "VIII", with the Signet of "Setsuna", wielding the weapon "Frozen Naraka", was a member of the covert operations unit "Cocoon".
In a sense, she was also Chen Luo's colleague.
Although Chen Luo currently only held a nominal position as a researcher in a Fire Moth subordinate research institute.
And Sakura looked very similar to Yae Sakura, or rather, almost identical.
Their relationship was probably similar to Dr. MEI and Raiden Mei—completely unrelated.
Sakura had a younger sister named Rin, who was discovered to be the 12th Herrscher and was subsequently killed.
Yae Sakura also had a younger sister named Rin, who was forced by their father to be sacrificed by Yae Sakura herself.
Overall, both were quite unlucky, and their experiences were indeed remarkably similar.
So, it was quite normal for Raven to mistake Yae Sakura for Sakura.
"That's not Sakura; it's Yae Sakura. Don't mistake her identity." Chen Luo said softly, holding the Third Divine Key.
"Yae Sakura? And why do you seem to know Sakura?" Raven looked at Chen Luo suspiciously.
"I already know about Gray Serpent. Is it strange that I know one of the thirteen Flame-Chasers?"
"That's true." Raven nodded.
When Chen Luo and Raven saw Yae Sakura, Yae Sakura also saw them. Upon seeing them, Yae Sakura's first instinct wasn't to kill survivors or anything similar, but to leave.
Yae Sakura still had her rationality. Although her soul was on the verge of collapse, she ultimately disliked killing innocents.
Even though she had already killed enough...
Just as Yae Sakura intended to retreat, Chen Luo's sniper rifle aimed directly at her head.
Feeling that piercing sense of crisis, Yae Sakura instantly halted her steps.
"Miss Yae Sakura, could we have a talk?" Chen Luo shouted loudly.
Chen Luo's Firearms Mastery combined with the Third Divine Key forced her to walk towards them.
With Chen Luo possessing long-range attack capabilities, even potentially a one-hit kill, whether escaping in an S-pattern or a straight line, she couldn't avoid the risk of a headshot.
If she wanted to break the situation, the only method was to close the distance for close combat.
Moreover, Yae Sakura was somewhat puzzled that Chen Luo could call out her name.
Just as Yae Sakura slowly approached the edge of the teaching building area, Chen Luo's Stigma finished evolving.
Seeing the Stigma was ready to be equipped, Chen Luo equipped it immediately.
Although this Stigma probably wouldn't have any effect on the upcoming negotiation, it was better to equip it first.
Even though Chen Luo currently had no puppets, he had teammates.
Raven and the Herrscher of Sentience were both Chen Luo's teammates, so equipping this Stigma should, in theory, grant Chen Luo an immediate 40% damage increase.
Unfortunately, since they weren't summons or puppets, they couldn't benefit from the 60% damage increase effect.
But the moment Chen Luo equipped the Puppeteer Stigma, he suddenly felt something was wrong.
The Puppeteer Stigma seemed to resonate with Chen Luo's body in some way, and this resonance began to spread outward.
"Buzz!" A huge energy surge erupted. Chen Luo's vision instantly went black, but he didn't lose consciousness; his mind just suffered a significant impact.
Chen Luo, who had been clinging tightly to the Third Divine Key, shoved it into the arms of Raven beside him. Then, his body slowly began to float.
The Herrscher of Sentience, who had been standing on Chen Luo's shoulder, quickly left his body because she felt the Honkai energy within her draining away.
In Chen Luo's slowly ascending field of vision, endless purple particles converged towards him.
"MMP,[1] so the trigger for becoming a Herrscher wasn't the absence of other Herrschers in all of Nagazora, but equipping a Stigma!"
In the depths of his consciousness, Chen Luo felt as if something had set its sights on him. Then, a surge of Honkai energy gradually formed a gem within his body—or rather, a Herrscher core.
The moment that Herrscher core took initial shape, Chen Luo understood what kind of Herrscher core he possessed.
Herrscher of Domination.
Also known as the Thousand-Herrscher.
"Senti, take Raven back to the bar." Chen Luo, being washed over by a terrifying amount of Honkai energy, spoke with difficulty to the Herrscher of Sentience.
The difficulty wasn't due to pain from the Honkai energy washing over him, but because it felt too good.
After his Honkai Energy Adaptability reached 200%, Chen Luo had never felt any discomfort when using Honkai energy.
Upon receiving the order, the Herrscher of Sentience chose to trust Chen Luo immediately.
Although she didn't know why Chen Luo gave such an order, it didn't stop her from acting.
A bar instantly appeared behind the Herrscher of Sentience. Then, reverting to her normal size, she immediately grabbed Raven, who was still confused about what was happening beside her, and entered the bar, slamming the door shut instantly.
Yae Sakura, who had arrived at the foot of the teaching building, was also somewhat baffled by the current situation, but her hand was already on the sword at her waist.
Simultaneously, a fox-shaped black-and-red figure, as if solid, appeared beside Yae Sakura.
After the fox appeared, it stared intently, without a word, at Chen Luo, who was absorbing the Honkai energy of the entire Nagazora.
"If you don't want to die, run now. You can't defeat him." Finally, the fox figure spoke.
This fox figure was the Herrscher of Corruption.
"..." Although Yae Sakura didn't know why the Higokumaru beside her lost her nerve so quickly, it didn't stop her from agreeing with the statement.
Fighting Chen Luo now was truly unwise, and Yae Sakura hadn't intended to fight in the first place.
"Want to run? A bit late, isn't it? Hahaha!" "Chen Luo," floating in the air, enjoying the infusion of Honkai energy from the entire Nagazora, laughed arrogantly.
"There is no enmity between us..." Yae Sakura had some confidence in her strength but was unwilling to conflict with Chen Luo for no reason.
"No enmity? No, no, no. Your existence here is the greatest enmity. The Honkai energy around this Chiba Academy isn't enough! It's not nearly enough to perfect my authority! And I can't open the main personality's inventory!"
"However, if I add a pseudo-Herrscher and the Herrscher of Corruption, it should be enough to supplement nutrition and perfect my authority. So, for the sake of the Honkai, I need you to make a small sacrifice now! Hahahaha!" The floating Chen Luo spoke in a completely arrogant tone unlike his usual self.
The Honkai energy in Nagazora was completely sufficient to nurture one Herrscher, even with a little to spare, but it wasn't enough around Chiba Academy.
For some reason, the Herrscher of Domination wasn't receiving support from all the Honkai energy everywhere in Nagazora. The Honkai energy rushing into the Herrscher of Domination's body was probably less than half of the existing Honkai energy in Nagazora.
So it wasn't enough.
But luckily, there was a pseudo-Herrscher and a true Herrscher here.
Sensing danger, Yae Sakura instantly vanished from her spot.
"Run? It's already too late!" Watching Yae Sakura instantly "run" several dozen meters away, Chen Luo lightly snapped his fingers.
Instantly, countless dense threads appeared around the teaching building, even extending out to cover half of Chiba Academy.
Naturally, Yae Sakura was also within the restraints of these threads.
"Pseudo-Herrscher and Herrscher, I'll accept them without courtesy! And the Herrscher of Corruption's authority, I'll accept that too without courtesy! Hahahaha!"
Watching Yae Sakura continuously sever threads yet still get entangled by many, Chen Luo laughed madly.
Who would stand around spouting threats for no reason? This newly born Herrscher personality of Chen Luo was as clever as Chen Luo himself.
Spouting threats was just a disguise, masking the formation of those countless threads.
"As long as I can absorb your authority and Honkai energy, I will inevitably be able to suppress that waste within who only knows about [selfless dedication] and obtain everything he has! Then I will become the strongest Herrscher!" Wind gathered behind him as Chen Luo flew towards Yae Sakura, who was gradually being wrapped in countless threads.
After Chen Luo became a Herrscher, these threads gained another ability: absorbing Honkai energy.
And a Herrscher losing Honkai energy would naturally see their strength decrease. It wasn't that they became completely powerless, but breaking free from those originally extremely tough threads was impossible.
"Tch, is my Herrscher personality this chuunibyou?" Within the consciousness space, Chen Luo sat cross-legged in a void, watching his extremely chuunibyou speech and actions in the outside world.
Although the situation seemed very critical, Chen Luo wasn't panicked at all.
Because...
[Spend 1 Crystal to completely eradicate the Herrscher personality?]
[Spend 10 Crystals to completely devour the Herrscher personality?]
"This... is it really this cheap?" Chen Luo looked at the talent panel in disbelief.
Wow, as expected of the talent panel; it's just awesome.
10 Crystals? That's just two zombies' worth!
Is the Herrscher personality really this worthless?
[Warning! The Herrscher personality is gradually growing stronger. If not expelled or devoured immediately, the required Crystal amount will skyrocket.]
"Hmm, skyrocket?" Chen Luo was startled.
[The required Crystal amount will double!]
"...Ah, that certainly is skyrocketing."
Doubling the required Crystal amount—what else would you call that but skyrocketing?
But the problem was... even doubled, it would only require 20 Crystals total?
"Should I spend 10 Crystals to devour him now? Or spend 20 Crystals to devour a stronger version of him? Yuanfang,[2] what do you think?" Chen Luo looked at the talent panel.
[After the Herrscher personality grows stronger, devouring it will yield a greater increase in mental power. It is recommended to wait until it devours and grows into the complete Herrscher of Domination before devouring it, which will grant a much larger mental power increase.]
Simply put, the piglet is still small; don't slaughter it yet, wait until New Year's.
"Holy shit, that's so me—wait, no, this isn't me!" After agreeing with the talent panel's suggestion, Chen Luo looked outside and saw something shocking.
The outside version of himself had actually stabbed his hand through Yae Sakura's abdomen, seemingly madly absorbing her Honkai energy.
The black-and-red fox figure that was the Herrscher of Corruption beside her was also entangled by those bizarre threads.
The Honkai is a conscious existence. The Herrscher core it gives isn't set in stone. The Thousand-Herrscher of the previous era is different from the Thousand-Herrscher in the original storyline of this era.
The Herrscher of Domination of the previous era focused more on lurking, shattering human unity, and incidentally destroying those Divine Keys. It possessed the power to dominate any energy, but its individual strength was very weak, not comparable to a proper Herrscher.
The Herrscher of Domination of this era, in the original storyline, leaned more towards dominating the authorities of other Herrschers—specifically to deal with those traitorous Herrschers.
It sounded like it had really good compatibility with the Puppeteer.
And this time, the Herrscher of Domination authority Chen Luo obtained, perhaps due to his Puppeteer talent and class, or perhaps because of the Puppeteer Stigma, or maybe because of other things, was slightly different from the Thousand-Herrscher in the original storyline and the previous era's Herrscher of Domination.
Chen Luo could also plunder and dominate the authorities of other Herrschers, but he wasn't like the Thousand-Herrscher with 1000 individuals. Chen Luo's Herrscher of Domination authority leaned more toward domination.
Just like what this Herrscher personality was doing now.
He was plundering the Herrscher of Corruption's authority while also plundering Yae Sakura, the pseudo-Herrscher.
That's right. Chen Luo's Herrscher of Domination could dominate others into becoming his puppets, or puppets, subordinates, slaves, apostles, agents, eventually developing into a scale of a thousand.
It could be considered an alternative Thousand-Herrscher.
"My Herrscher personality is so brutal." Watching the somewhat R-rated scene outside, Chen Luo ranted.
TL Note:
[1]: "MMP" is a Chinese internet slang term, It's an abbreviation of:
"Mā Mài Pī" (妈卖批)
This phrase literally translates to "Mother sold cunt" and is considered a strong vulgar expression in Chinese, roughly equivalent to "Motherfucker" or "Holy shit"
[2]: "Yuanfang" (元芳) is a reference to a famous meme from Chinese internet. The meme became viral around 2012 when people started parodying this phrase to humorously seek opinions on various topics, often in absurd or trivial contexts.