"Herrscher of Domination? That's the weakest Herrscher, right?" This was Raven's subconscious remark upon hearing Chen Luo's words.
After all, the Herrscher of Domination's frontal combat ability was indeed quite mediocre.
"...Yae Sakura, beat up Raven for me." Chen Luo took a deep breath and said.
"Yes, Master." Upon hearing Chen Luo's command, Yae Sakura drew her demonic blade, Sakura Blossom.
Raven's strength was considerable, even capable of fighting a Judgment-class Honkai beast, but Yae Sakura was no pushover either.
Especially since Raven's Divine Key was still in Chen Luo's hands.
"Eh, wait, sorry, I was wrong." Raven surrendered incredibly quickly.
"Yae Sakura, stop." Seeing Raven's surrender, Chen Luo said.
"Yes." Yae Sakura sheathed her blade.
Yae Sakura was so obedient partly because she had said she would slay enemies for Chen Luo, and partly because as Chen Luo's puppet, she had no right to refuse any of Chen Luo's requests or commands.
"Roar!" At that moment, the Chariot-class Honkai beast stood dozens of meters away from Chen Luo and the others roared at Chen Luo.
"Chen Luo, your Honkai beast doesn't seem to listen to your commands very well." Looking at the Honkai beast brave enough to roar at a Herrscher, Raven said.
Using words to provoke could be considered half revenge for Raven.
"Quite normal, because it's not my Honkai beast at all." After seeing through Raven's little scheme, Chen Luo said to her.
"Huh?"
"The relationship between a Herrscher and Honkai beasts is actually more like that between a queen bee and worker bees."
"A Herrscher's birth accelerates the growth of the Honkai beast population in the area, just like a queen bee reproducing more worker bees to guard her hive."
"These Honkai beasts are extremely loyal to the Herrscher who rules them, like soldiers serving their monarch. Therefore, even if two Herrschers appear in the same area, they cannot control each other's Honkai beasts."
"When I awakened as a Herrscher, the Honkai beasts I accelerated were limited to within Senba Academy. But there were already Honkai beasts within Senba Academy's original range, like this one. They are masterless Honkai beasts, so making them submit to me is impossible." Chen Luo explained.
"So after all that, this Honkai beast still needs to be killed, right?" Raven commented.
Since it needs to be killed after all that, why didn't you kill it from the start?
"Emmm, it's not that it absolutely must be killed. As a Honkai beast, it wouldn't dare overstep and attack me. And it's not like I can't turn it into my Honkai beast."
Both Chen Luo's Herrscher of Domination authority and Herrscher of Corruption authority could turn it into his tool beast.
"But I'm not interested in developing my own Honkai beasts, so I can only inconvenience this one." Chen Luo stroked his chin, then lightly raised a finger.
Countless black-and-red threads transformed from authority instantly inserted into its body from various angles, beginning to plunder its Honkai energy.
As its Honkai energy was continuously devoured, it let out painful roars, but to no avail; it couldn't break free from these threads.
Before long, a giant Honkai beast had its Honkai energy completely drained and dissipated from reality.
In contrast, a fairly large Honkai Crystal appeared in Chen Luo's hand.
A Honkai Crystal this big was almost equivalent to ten minutes of Chen Luo's diligent absorption.
"It seems I've found a more efficient and faster method to obtain Honkai Crystals." After storing the Honkai Crystal in his inventory, a smile appeared on Chen Luo's lips.
Achieving in less than half a minute what used to take ten minutes—efficiency increased dozens of times.
"Wow, you really show no mercy towards Honkai beasts. You're a bit different as a Herrscher." Raven couldn't help but remark, looking at Chen Luo's skilled slaughter scene.
"Joke. Why show mercy to Honkai beasts?" Chen Luo scoffed.
"But you're a Herrscher. Shouldn't Herrschers normally destroy the world?"
"Normal Herrschers? Why would they destroy the world? If you ask me, the Will of the Honkai is utterly unlucky. This generation of Herrschers are all hard to manage." As if remembering something amusing, Chen Luo couldn't help but laugh.
[Ding! Honkai Faction item exchange discount decrease to 9.9%]
Hearing this prompt, Chen Luo lost his smile.
MMP, shouldn't faction exchange discounts be at the original price? Why can they decrease? This isn't scientific.
Did the Will of the Honkai hear me badmouthing it and lower the discount?
How is that possible?
"But I'm different. The Honkai gave me a new life; I super love the Honkai!" Chen Luo immediately changed his tune.
[Ding! Honkai Faction item exchange discount returned to original price]
Oh ho, Chen Luo seemed to have discovered a very awesome key point.
"I, Chen Luo, belong to the Honkai in this life and will be its ghost in death! The Honkai will definitely defeat humanity!" Chen Luo said with considerable determination.
[Ding! Honkai Faction item exchange discount set to 10.1% off]
"Emmm, I have a bold idea." Looking at this almost absurd discount method, Chen Luo's brain trembled madly.
As long as you're bold enough, the Honkai will give you maternity leave.
"Ahem. The old heaven is dead, the Honkai shall rise! The year is Jiazi, great fortune shall prevail upon the land![1] You filthy, vile humans, let me, the Herrscher of Domination, dominate the entire world!" Chen Luo said in a monotone.
[...]
"Tch, this Honkai is so hard to please." Chen Luo said displeased.
It seems it has at least the most basic discernment ability.
[Ding! Honkai Faction item exchange discount decreased to original discount]
"..."
Dammit!
"It seems it's time for foolish humans to feel the wrath of the Honkai! What garbage were all those previous Herrschers? Herrschers should act like Herrschers! Allow me to solo this civilization!" Chen Luo said confidently.
[Ding! Honkai Faction item exchange discount increase to 10.1% off]
"What madness are you spouting?" The Herrscher of Sentience looked surprised at Chen Luo, who seemed to be communicating with something.
If it weren't for the Herrscher of Sentience's authority not detecting anything unusual about Chen Luo, she would have thought the Herrscher personality had emerged again.
"Ahem, it's nothing. Where were we?" Chen Luo turned his head and asked.
"Speaking of why you show no mercy to these Honkai beasts." Raven reminded.
"This? Well, of course, it's about making use of waste. Beings like these, though not dangerous, are completely uncontrollable and should definitely be the first to be eliminated. Fence-sitters are the most detestable, and those Herrschers who enjoy the power brought by the Herrscher core yet refuse to serve the Honkai are utterly despicable!" Chen Luo exclaimed with fervent dismay.
[Ding! Discount for exchanging items in the Honkai faction: 10.9% off]
The Will of Honkai gave you a like and gave Welt a dislike.
"..."
"And honestly, I think these weakling Honkai beasts are truly useless. So rather than letting them wander aimlessly, it's better to turn them into something beneficial to me, like Honkai crystals."
After sensing that damn Will of Honkai—which was as unpredictable as a menopausal woman on her period—Chen Luo decided not to intentionally try to gain its favor anymore. Frequently seeking favor can easily lead to losing it.
This was a little tip Chen Luo had learned from countless experiences dealing with bar patrons.
You can appear proactive, but not too proactive, and you need to know when to hold back and when to press forward.
"But I remember you said earlier that quite a few Honkai beasts under your command were born within the grounds of Chiba Academy, right?" Raven asked.
"So how do you plan to handle them?"
"And also, why is it that after a Herrscher like you emerged in Nagazora, the Honkai energy didn't completely disappear? The concentration only dropped by about half, maybe even less than half. What's going on?"
This was something Raven was very curious about.
"Ahem, well, actually, this is mainly because of the Herrscher of Domination. As you know, being a thousand Herrscher, individual strength isn't very high. So when I was born as a Herrscher, I didn't absorb all the Honkai energy—I was full after just half." Chen Luo explained after coughing twice.
This kind of knowledge didn't require any investigation; he knew it instinctively.
A thousand Herrscher is a thousand Herrscher. No matter which version of the Herrschers you look at, the thousand Herrscher is among those with relatively low combat prowess.
And Chen Luo actually got a pretty good deal. When has the Will of Honkai ever infused Honkai energy into a thousand Herrscher upon their emergence?
Those other Herrschers of a thousand were all about collective lurking, quietly plotting major schemes. None of them emerged alone like Chen Luo did.
So, if we're purely comparing individual strength, Chen Luo's Herrscher of Domination would definitely lose to the Herrscher of Sentience, or even the Herrscher of Reason.
Of course, this is assuming only the authority of the Herrscher of Domination is used.
But if you add the Puppeteer Class and the Puppeteer's Stigmata, then it might be a different story. And if you throw in the Honkai Terminator, then...
"Because the authority of my Herrscher of Domination requires gradual development, the amount of Honkai energy absorbed at the initial awakening wasn't very much. I can't explain the specifics to you." Chen Luo didn't share more details about the Herrscher of Domination with Raven. After all, as the saying goes, it's always wise to be cautious.
Although, in terms of Honkai energy level, Chen Luo seems exceptionally weak—only able to absorb half of Nagazora's Honkai energy, which has been drained who knows how many times—compared to other thousand Herrscher, Chen Luo is undoubtedly much better off.
The individual strength of other thousand Herrscher can truly be described as weak.
At least Chen Luo's current individual strength is enough to take on a pseudo-Herrscher.
"As for those Honkai beasts under my command in Chiba Academy... of course, they'll leave Chiba Academy to go cause chaos, destruction, and mayhem for me!" Chen Luo spread his arms toward the sky and declared.
As if sensing Chen Luo's command, countless Honkai beasts under his control let out excited roars, then broke through the barriers of Chiba Academy and spread out across Nagazora.
"Chaos, destruction, and mayhem? Herrschers care about that too?" Raven was momentarily puzzled.
But Raven didn't think about stopping Chen Luo.
After all, whether she could stop him was one thing, but what would be the point? There were almost no survivors left in Nagazora anyway. What was there to stop?
Or rather, more than half of Nagazora's survivors were already in the [Nest].
"Other Herrschers don't care about this, but I do."
After all, in Chen Luo's view, being able to cause chaos and destruction without any restraint, especially demolishing buildings, is something that can only be done in a city like Nagazora, which is practically an apocalypse experience zone.
If he didn't complete that "Lunatic's Hand" achievement in Nagazora, Chen Luo was afraid that if he went somewhere else to demolish buildings, the police would show up and drag him to the station right after.
And since those Honkai beasts were born alongside Chen Luo, they naturally count as his summons. So, the number of buildings they destroy is credited to Chen Luo.
Being a Herrscher isn't so bad. You can mold Honkai beasts out of Honkai energy, and these Honkai beasts count as your summons.
The only downside is that Herrschers don't get crystals or Primogems for killing Honkai beasts.
For example, that Chariot-class Honkai beast from earlier—it didn't drop a single crystal.
Because no zombies or Honkai beasts will show hostility toward a Herrscher on their own side.
Kiana and the others don't count. Kiana and the others have been stripped of their authority to command Honkai beasts, so they're naturally seen as enemies by the Honkai beasts.
Can a Herrscher who's turned traitor still be called a Herrscher?
It's kind of sad when you think about it. If you pick ten Herrschers from this era, how many of them still possess the most basic Herrscher authority of controlling Honkai beasts? Probably not even enough to form a mahjong game.
There are just too many traitors.
"Alright, now let's all go back home and find our mothers." Chen Luo turned around and addressed everyone behind him.
"Um, Brother Luo, where should I go?" Rin asked after looking around for a while.
"...You'll come with me for now." Chen Luo paused for a moment before answering.
Since he was probably the only familiar person Rin had, and although Raven might take her to find her sister, it wasn't fully confirmed yet, right?
"I have nowhere to go." Seeing Chen Luo's gaze shift to her, Yae Sakura immediately said.
"Then you'll come with me too, for now." Chen Luo paused again.
Compared to the Herrscher of Domination in the original story, Chen Luo doesn't have a Theater of Domination, but he does have a Puppet Vault where he can store puppets.
The Puppet Vault is essentially a dimensional space with the attributes of the Theater of Domination but without all the fancy functions. It's just used to connect Chen Luo with his other puppets.
Chen Luo can remotely control other puppets to instantly enter the Puppet Vault.
The Puppet Vault doesn't have size distinctions; it only has 999 slots for storing puppets, excluding Chen Luo himself.
Of course, there's no rush to have Yae Sakura enter the Puppet Vault just yet.
Chen Luo's gaze then shifted to the other two people present.
When he saw the Herrscher of Sentience gradually clenching her delicate yet steel-shattering fist, Chen Luo instantly averted his eyes.
"What, you want me to go find my mom?"
Though the Herrscher of Sentience didn't say anything, her eyes conveyed exactly that.
Probably…
TL Note:
[1]: A reference to a Zhang Jue quote, it means the end of an era and the arrival of a new better one. He started the Yellow Turban rebellion in China