The time it took for Chen Luo to tell Yae Sakura the story seemed quite long, but through mental communication, it was exceptionally brief.
After listening to Chen Luo narrate the story of Sakura and Rin, the look in Yae Sakura's eyes gradually became confused.
After the confusion, the way Yae Sakura looked at Rin also softened.
Watching Rin cautiously apologizing to her in a dogeza posture, Yae Sakura thought of her own sister.
The outcomes were almost equally tragic.
Could this truly be a cycle of reincarnation, as Chen Luo said?
Moreover, back when she came into contact with the black box containing the Herrscher of Corruption, it was Yae Sakura herself who, due to her hatred for the Yae villagers, actively sought the demon in the box, hoping it would grant her the power to kill all those she hated.
In the end, it was the evil fruit she herself had sown that she ultimately reaped.
The cycle of cause and effect is precisely this.
"Please rise. I... forgive you." Looking at Rin, who so resembled her own sister, Yae Sakura finally sheathed her blade.
If one had to find the true culprit in the events of 500 years ago, perhaps the culprit was Yae Sakura herself, not Higokumaru.
Moreover, this child before her was also one of the victims.
And with 500 years having passed, saying anything now was futile.
When Rin heard Yae Sakura's voice, she cautiously raised her head and saw Yae Sakura looking at her with an expression Rin couldn't decipher.
"Brother Luo, you didn't manipulate her consciousness, did you?" Seeing Yae Sakura's attitude change so abruptly, Rin asked Chen Luo.
"This is her own choice. I merely told her the whole story from beginning to end." Chen Luo shrugged.
"It's been 500 years. What should be forgotten is almost forgotten. Right and wrong have long lost their meaning. If you truly wish to apologize, then please ask this 'Master' beside you to allow me to end my own life." Yae Sakura sighed.
After comparing the stories of Sakura and Rin with her own and her sister's, Yae Sakura gradually extinguished her desire for revenge.
Revenge? How? Against whom? For whom?
With Kallen long gone, Yae Sakura's only wish now was to sleep forever.
And now might be the best opportunity.
Yae Sakura had already sensed that after being enveloped by the other's authority, her control over her own body had diminished to a terrifying degree. Only when the other gave no orders was she truly herself.
It seemed that Rin had a good relationship with him; otherwise, he wouldn't have gone through such great effort to explain her background and seek forgiveness on her behalf.
In Yae Sakura's view, this should be her only chance to fall into eternal slumber.
"Eh?" Rin looked up in astonishment at Yae Sakura.
What's this about? What blow did you suffer now? Suddenly wanting to seek death.
Shaken by this shocking statement, a flustered Rin looked at a loss towards Chen Luo.
Rin was just a 50,000-year-old child; matters of life and death were a bit too much for her.
"Well, Miss Yae, given the debt relationship between you and my little sister here, I can allow you to end your life, as this is practically the only way to restore your freedom."
Once someone becomes a puppet or apostle of the Herrscher of Domination, restoring their freedom isn't that easy.
There are two ways to restore someone's freedom: first, they commit suicide, achieving freedom in death.
Second, Chen Luo abandons the Herrscher of Domination authority, allowing everything to return to nothing. In that case, the Herrscher puppets would naturally regain their freedom.
There are no other methods.
At most, after they become Herrscher puppets, if Chen Luo doesn't command them, they can achieve the greatest degree of freedom possible within their scope.
So theoretically, if you want them to truly regain freedom, the only way is for Chen Luo to abandon the Herrscher of Domination authority. But...
If Yae Sakura could generate a five-star commission with a reward of 10,000 Primogems or more, Chen Luo might consider this idea. Otherwise, Chen Luo wouldn't engage in a losing business.
"But are you truly prepared? Do you really have no will to live left at all?" After a moment of silence, Chen Luo asked again.
"Correct." Yae Sakura nodded.
"Even if Kallen could possibly be resurrected?"
"No... Wait, what did you say?" Yae Sakura, who had been about to nod again, stopped halfway.
"You just said Kallen could possibly be resurrected?" Yae Sakura looked at Chen Luo in disbelief.
"Why couldn't she be resurrected?" Chen Luo asked.
"Because... because... 500 years have passed. Kallen should be dead, right? Unless Kallen isn't dead? But no, you clearly said 'resurrect' just now..." Yae Sakura said, biting her finger.
"Silly child, Kallen is indeed dead, but who said people can't be resurrected after death?" Chen Luo revealed an aunt-like smile.
"Provided someone wishes for her resurrection." Chen Luo added as an aside.
"If... if you can resurrect Kallen, I'm willing to pay any price!" Yae Sakura looked at Chen Luo with an unprecedented fervor.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
[Resurrect Kallen]: Resurrect Kallen. It's that simple.
Reward: 1500 Primogems + Random High-Level Reward.
Difficulty: Four Stars
"Of course, it's possible. It will just require you to wait a bit longer." Chen Luo accepted the commission while nodding.
"Don't worry. Waiting is something I've done most often in my life. If you can truly resurrect Kallen, then during this time, I will become the blade in your hand. Provided you can truly demonstrate the possibility of resurrecting Kallen." Yae Sakura looked seriously at Chen Luo as she spoke.
"Certainly. Come, let me show you the reason I feel confident taking on this commission." Chen Luo snapped his fingers, and the Midnight Bar appeared before everyone. Chen Luo pushed open the door.
"This is..." This door had appeared twice within Chiba Academy, but both times Yae Sakura hadn't noticed it.
The first time, Yae Sakura's attention was focused on Chen Luo evolving into a Herrscher; the second time, Yae Sakura simply hadn't opened her eyes.
When she saw this bar door, Yae Sakura was slightly astonished.
It wasn't that Yae Sakura hadn't seen big scenes; it was mainly that this thing looked truly quite miraculous.
"Remember this door. As long as you remember this door, when you visualize it in your mind later, you might be able to summon it." Chen Luo instructed both Yae Sakura and Rin.
Once someone establishes a connection with the bar, return customers are practically guaranteed.
"'A'Luo, you accepted that commission to resurrect Kallen?" The Herrscher of Sentience asked Chen Luo through telepathy.
The Herrscher of Sentience was quite familiar with Chen Luo's habits. Usually, situations like this could almost always produce a commission, and generally, as long as such commissions didn't involve Chen Luo's own moral bottom line, he would accept them.
"Of course, why wouldn't I accept it?"
"But, do you have a way to resurrect Kallen?"
"Not at the moment." Chen Luo shook his head.
"Then why did you accept it?" The Herrscher of Sentience asked in surprise.
"Just because I don't have one now doesn't mean I won't in the future. What if I do later? So isn't it better to just accept the commission if it's available? What if they don't have this request later? There's no penalty for failing commissions anyway, and there's no time limit either." Chen Luo said.
The only time-limited commission Chen Luo had ever seen in his life was the one related to Sentii.
Limited to 20 minutes, no extensions.
But after that, Chen Luo truly never saw another time-limited commission.
"That makes sense..." From any angle, Chen Luo's approach was flawless.
"And I'm planning to visit Otto." Chen Luo suddenly said.
"Otto? What do you want with Otto? Returning Void Archives?" Senti asked in surprise.
"Of course, to accept a commission. To take on another 'Resurrect Kallen' commission from him."
"Huh?"
"Think about it. Since it's about resurrecting Kallen anyway, accepting one commission is the same as accepting two. I don't know if I can resurrect Kellen, but I'll accept the commissions first. It's not like they'll lose anything." Chen Luo said quite matter-of-factly.
"..." The Herrscher of Sentience felt Chen Luo was increasingly showing potential to be an scammer.
The Herrscher of Sentience felt something was off but couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Whether the commissions would be completed or not... if Kallen was truly resurrected, both commissions would undoubtedly be completed.
But accepting commissions from two rivals in love at once—wasn't that a bit lacking in professional ethics?
Discussing how far a person would go for Primogems.
Although mental communication seemed to take a long time, in reality, it was over in an instant.
By the time the Herrscher of Sentience and Chen Luo finished talking, Chen Luo had just led everyone into the bar, where they saw Raven helping herself to drinks.
"Hey, you thief!" Chen Luo pointed at Raven.
"Eh, we're all old acquaintances; why so formal?" Raven waved her hand dismissively, showing not a trace of guilt after being caught red-handed.
"Acquaintances are acquaintances. You can steal my gold, you can steal my dollars, you can even steal my Honkai Crystals, but if you steal my alcohol, we're through!" Chen Luo said with profound grief and indignation.
"Ah?" Raven was taken aback.
Is alcohol more precious than gold, dollars, and Honkai Crystals?
"Can't I have even one glass? Or is this something very valuable?" Raven asked cautiously.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
"Who said that? Drink! Drink as much as you want! We're old friends; how could I not let you drink?" Chen Luo said with a grand wave.
"..." The speed of Chen Luo's change in attitude left Raven somewhat unprepared.
"Oh, I see. You just don't want others drinking your alcohol without your permission, right?" After thinking for a moment, Raven had a sudden realization.
"Ah? Mhm, mhm, yes, that's exactly it." Chen Luo was momentarily stunned before nodding.
Damn, that's a good excuse.
"Alright, everyone, please take a seat." Chen Luo slowly walked behind the counter and addressed everyone.
"Also, what would you like to drink?" Chen Luo casually asked.
"Brother Luo, didn't you say minors can't drink alcohol?" Rin was taken aback.
"Which is why you're an exception. You can only have ice cream or drinks." Chen Luo said after glancing at Rin.
"Eh, I shouldn't have reminded you." Rin muttered quietly.
"Then get me an ice cream, and a juice too, please." Rin said.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
"Sure. And you, Yae Sakura?"
"I don't really want to drink anything. I just want to know what method you have to resurrect Kallen?" Yae Sakura shook her head and asked.
"Is that so? You want to know what leverage I have to be certain I can resurrect Kallen, right? Senti, take Yae Sakura to see our world." Chen Luo said after snapping his fingers.
After Chen Luo snapped his fingers, the location behind the Midnight bar's door changed subtly upon opening again.
"Why do I have to do this kind of work?" The Herrscher of Sentience complained, but her body obediently hooked a finger at Yae Sakura anyway.
When a confused Yae Sakura followed the Herrscher of Sentience out through the bar door again, she suddenly felt uncomfortable.
"What's... going on?" Yae Sakura asked, holding her forehead.
Yae Sakura only felt that after entering this unfamiliar house through the door, there was a subtle sense of congestion.
"This world... actually has no Honkai energy?" After recovering for a moment, Yae Sakura discovered the problem and looked around the room in astonishment.
For Yae Sakura, a world without Honkai energy was as absurd as air without oxygen.
In the world of Honkai Impact 3, even if a major eruption hasn't occurred somewhere, the air still contains more or less Honkai energy, or rather, the entire Earth is permeated with Honkai energy.
But in Chen Luo's world, there is no such energy as Honkai energy.
Yae Sakura's voice was slightly loud, and since the bar door wasn't closed, Raven naturally heard her words too.
Raven's gaze turned towards Chen Luo, as if seeking confirmation.
"That's right. Outside that door is another world—a world completely devoid of Honkai energy. Of course, even without Honkai energy, it's not exactly a very safe world either." Chen Luo didn't mind revealing this information.
After all, if Raven ever visited the bar at night, she could meet those guests from other worlds.
"Since traveling between worlds is possible, resurrecting someone isn't impossible either, right? It's just somewhat difficult." Chen Luo said offhandedly.
Of course, this statement was primarily directed at Yae Sakura.
After repeated and lengthy confirmation, Yae Sakura confirmed she had truly arrived in another world.
When Yae Sakura returned to the bar, the way she looked at Chen Luo had changed.
"As long as you can resurrect Kallen, I will become your blade. Though I am merely an insignificant shrine maiden, I believe this worn body can still serve some purpose in defeating enemies." Yae Sakura said to Chen Luo sincerely.
"As long as it makes you happy." Chen Luo shrugged indifferently.
After all, even if Yae Sakura didn't agree, she would still be Chen Luo's blade.
The difference was just that one required an extra command, while the other didn't.