Although Chen Luo, like the Herrscher of Domination personality, claimed he truly didn't know Rin at all, the problem was that since he had apparently treated Rin quite well in the past, there must have been a reason for it.
I wonder if I can get a few commissions from Rin...
"Brother Luo, I remember everything now. I hurt many people before and did some very terrible things to certain individuals..." At this point, the somewhat emotionally downcast Higokumaru glanced at the tightly bound Yae Sakura beside her.
Chen Luo's bizarre threads were transparent, allowing Chen Luo and the others to clearly see Yae Sakura subjected to bondage play.
"There, there, that's all in the past." Since Chen Luo currently knew nothing, he didn't know how to comfort her properly.
Moreover, the circumstances of Higokumaru's presence seemed a bit bizarre as well.
"Rin, if I heard correctly, you just mentioned something about Children's Funland, right?" Chen Luo asked after patting the little creature's head.
Perhaps due to Chen Luo's three achievements—Saint Chen, Friend of Non-Humans, and Friend of Lolis—Higokumaru showed no tendency to resist when he touched her head.
Having been in the consciousness space watching the Herrscher personality's actions, Chen Luo was also highly sensitive to everything around him, including the words Higokumaru spoke upon first appearing.
"Oh, right, speaking of this, I really need to thank you properly, Brother Luo. If it weren't for the Children's Funland, I might have been completely consumed by the Herrscher personality. During the time I was trapped in the black box, I relied on the Children's Funland to get through it."
"With the help of the Children's Funland, I seemed to be split into two different versions of myself. Since I couldn't defeat the evil me that appeared, I was thrown into the Children's Funland. By the way, Brother Luo, how many months has it been since I was killed?" Higokumaru suddenly asked.
"Months... stupid child, it's been over 50,000 years." Chen Luo said after patting Higokumaru's head.
It seemed that although she was gradually integrating memories, the progress was somewhat slow; she hadn't recalled some things yet.
This reminded Chen Luo of one function of the Children's Funland: it could adjust the flow of time inside and outside. Originally, Chen Luo thought this skill was useless, but now it seemed godly.
Otherwise, those tens of thousands of years in solitary confinement would have been enough to drive Higokumaru insane, whether it was the black Higokumaru or this red one.
Even if the Children's Funland was an amusement park, staying in an amusement park for tens of thousands of years would drive anyone crazy.
But if it was only a few months, although still somewhat difficult to endure, it would at most lead to great loneliness, not enough to drive someone insane.
Chen Luo didn't know if the concept of a Herrscher personality existed in the Previous Era, but clearly, due to the Children's Funland, Higokumaru had a distinction between her Herrscher personality and her true self.
Perhaps this was why Higokumaru now appeared less dark and cruel, still retaining the innocence a child should have.
"Tens of thousands of years? How is that possible? Then what about my sister?" Clearly, Higokumaru found it very hard to believe.
"Your sister... she currently lives in an underground palace. I happen to know a friend of your sister's. I can have her take you to find your sister." Chen Luo said after patting Higokumaru's head.
She forgot her sister died? Good, better not say it myself.
The friend Chen Luo referred to was naturally Raven, who was still locked in the bar.
When the Herrscher of Sentience came out earlier, she didn't bring Raven along.
And Raven, with her keen intuition, seemed to have sensed something bad was happening, so she chickened out and stayed in the bar.
After completing this task, Raven would probably return to World Serpent anyway. She might as well make a trip to the Elysian Realm then.
As for Chen Luo?
Chen Luo did promise Raven he would visit World Serpent, but he didn't say when.
After finally grinding through the 7-day event, wouldn't it be a disservice to himself not to go home and sleep first?
"Is that so... but Brother Luo, didn't you say it's been tens of thousands of years?" Higokumaru sharply noticed the key point.
"You idiot, did you forget? Your sister is a MANTIS, lifespan isn't an issue for her." Chen Luo said while patting Higokumaru's head.
Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean your sister is still alive.
"That's right, I almost forgot about that." Higokumaru said with a hehe laugh, rubbing her head.
"Oh, right, Brother Luo, you said that when we met again, I should return the Children's Funland to you." Higokumaru said somewhat reluctantly as she touched her brow.
As Higokumaru's small hand touched her brow, a point of light emerged from the space between her eyebrows, suddenly enlarged, and a rocking horse landed in Higokumaru's hand.
"Eh, why has this rocking horse become so old?" But when Higokumaru saw the cute-styled little rocking horse in her hand, she was instantly shocked.
"Brother Luo, th-this... it's not my fault, right? It shouldn't be me; I didn't do it on purpose." Seeing this now somewhat worn rocking horse, Higokumaru tried hard to explain herself.
"There, there, it's not your fault." Chen Luo said with a smile.
Duh, after tens of thousands of years of use, of course it's old!
After taking the rocking horse in his hand, Chen Luo compared it to the brand new, pristine white rocking horse in his inventory and had to admire the quality of this random item.
Wow, after tens of thousands of years of use, it's only worn and not broken? That's truly remarkable.
"That's good, glad it's not my fault." Higokumaru breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Chen Luo's reassurance.
"Oh, right, Brother Luo, that, this... could you let her go?" Higokumaru asked hesitantly after some internal struggle, pointing at Yae Sakura.
"The other bad me seems to have done something very terrible to her, so if possible, could you let her go?" Higokumaru said cautiously.
"Rather than worrying about her, you should worry about yourself." Chen Luo pointed at Higokumaru's body.
"Huh?" Higokumaru was momentarily stunned before looking at her hand.
Higokumaru discovered her hand seemed to be gradually disappearing; her feet were the same.
"What's happening?" Higokumaru was momentarily stunned.
"After having your Herrscher authority plundered, you can no longer sustain your own existence. So disappearing is quite normal," Chen Luo explained.
"Ah, disappear?!! No! Brother Luo, save me! I want to live to see my sister!" Higokumaru pitifully threw herself into Chen Luo's arms.
Higokumaru now possessed the ability to fly. Although it was unclear why she could fly, it was probably similar to Paimon—an unexplainable ability.
It was like why Paimon, who can clearly fly, could still nearly drown in water.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
[Reunion After Tens of Thousands of Years]: Help Higokumaru see her sister again.
Reward: 400 Primogems + Random Item.
Difficulty: 3-Stars
Chen Luo was surprised when he saw this commission—not surprised by how large the reward was, but by how small it was.
After all, this was a reunion after tens of thousands of years. Why only 400 Primogems?
But upon second thought, it made sense. For that Herrscher personality, it might have been tens of thousands of years, but for Higokumaru, who had been staying in the Children's Funland the whole time, it was only a few months.
Although she was continuously receiving some memories from the Herrscher personality, her longing for her sister wasn't yet deeply etched into her bones.
If it were truly tens of thousands of years of longing, Chen Luo figured it might even reach 2000 Primogems or more.
However, if Chen Luo had completely refrained from interfering and hadn't given her the Children's Funland, she would have likely gone insane long ago. She wouldn't be obsessed with seeing her sister anymore but rather obsessed with killing everyone she saw and destroying humanity.
In that case, he wouldn't even get a 3-star commission.
"There, there, saving you is no problem at all. It might hurt a bit, so bear with it." Chen Luo positioned Higokumaru's body in front of him and then pinched her tiny head with his hand.
Herrscher of Corruption ability—activate!
This was Chen Luo's first time using the Herrscher of Corruption's ability, but it felt as natural as moving his fingers, used almost instinctively.
Chen Luo didn't become a Herrscher through a Herrscher core but relied on his own Honkai Energy Adaptability, which even Herrschers would find outrageous.
Chen Luo's situation was probably similar to Sirin's or the Herrscher of Sentience's—born able to use authority naturally.
What Chen Luo was doing now was turning Higokumaru into his puppet.
Returning the Herrscher of Corruption's authority was impossible. Leaving aside the preciousness of this Herrscher ability, if Chen Luo really returned the Herrscher of Corruption's authority, she would likely revert to being the Herrscher of Corruption, not Higokumaru.
So the best solution was to turn her into his puppet, imprint her with his mark, to maintain her existence.
Higokumaru herself became a Herrscher only after death, which meant she never had a true physical form to begin with. So it was normal for her to gradually dissipate after losing her authority.
Since Higokumaru followed Chen Luo's instructions and didn't resist his actions mentally, and since Higokumaru's strength was pitifully weak, it didn't take long for Chen Luo to turn her into a semi-puppet subordinate to him.
However, Chen Luo's type of puppet didn't involve Higokumaru losing herself. Instead, it allowed Higokumaru to maintain her self while still completely obeying Chen Luo's commands.
Moreover, Chen Luo didn't completely puppetize Higokumaru; he only achieved semi-puppetization.
A semi-puppetized puppet's body still belongs to herself. Chen Luo can only influence her, not completely control her.
This was also for the consideration of Higokumaru and her sister.
What if—Chen Luo means what if—Sakura, her sister, upon seeing her sister completely controlled, thinks it's some Herrscher-made counterfeit and cuts Higokumaru down upon their first meeting?
Besides, Chen Luo isn't lacking in Higokumaru's combat power.
Although Higokumaru lost her authority, her original [Monster Higokumaru] body had unique characteristics. So after being semi-puppetized, Higokumaru still retained abilities like spitting fireballs, similar to the adventure mode.
Overall, Higokumaru should be more capable in a fight than Paimon.
Paimon is 1/5 of a boar, while Higokumaru is at least 10 boars.
Higokumaru can fight 50 Paimons.
But weaklings are weaklings; it's better to just be a mascot.
Chen Luo originally thought it would be somewhat painful for Higokumaru, but as a former Herrscher, Higokumaru seemed quite comfortable during the Honkai modification.
"Here, put this on." Looking at Higokumaru's newly stabilized form, Chen Luo nodded satisfied and took out a heart-shaped necklace.
This was a modified Honkai Crystal.
Since Higokumaru had been puppetized by Chen Luo, she could maintain her form. But because she wasn't completely puppetized, she still needed sufficient Honkai energy for sustenance.
Therefore, gifting her a Honkai Crystal was essential.
To fit Higokumaru's size, Chen Luo's crystal was also concentrated, making it just right for Higokumaru.
"Then, Brother Luo, what about this Yae Sakura?" Higokumaru pointed at Yae Sakura and asked.
Because Yae Sakura looked too much like Higokumaru's real sister, Higokumaru was quite concerned about her, of course also feeling somewhat guilty.
"Don't worry, she's fine. At least she won't die." As Chen Luo spoke, he also took out a Honkai Crystal and tossed it onto Yae Sakura's body.
This Yae Sakura had almost all her Honkai energy plundered by the Herrscher personality. Perhaps because the Herrscher personality wanted to leave a puppet, he didn't absorb it completely, so her life wasn't in danger. However, she had now been transformed into a puppet, and this was irreversible.
In other words, Chen Luo had gained one more pseudo-Herrscher puppet.
"That's good." Higokumaru breathed a sigh of relief.
But just as Higokumaru relaxed, her body changed again. As Honkai energy continuously infused from the Honkai Crystal, Higokumaru began to grow larger at a visible rate.
"Eh, what's happening now?" Higokumaru looked at Chen Luo, almost wanting to cry but having no tears.
Why did she have to deal with so many troublesome things?
"Of course, you're about to return to your normal size. The previous Higokumaru form was because there wasn't enough Honkai energy. Now that there's enough Honkai energy, naturally, you'll revert to your normal size," Chen Luo explained.
And as Chen Luo finished explaining, she indeed turned into a normal human size as he said. With the help of Honkai energy, clothes successfully materialized on her body.
Honkai energy truly is omnipotent.
"Brother Luo, I'm back to normal!" After raising her hands to look at her current body, Higokumaru... no, Rin, pounced forward and hugged Chen Luo, expressing her excitement.
"Got it, got it. Let go quickly." Feeling the ethereal killing intent emanating from behind him, Chen Luo, with his survival instincts skyrocketing, hurriedly said.
To be fair, Rin's figure after returning to normal human size was really good. Most importantly, she was truly beautiful.
However, she was a bit too enthusiastic.
Emmm, are we really that familiar?