As the Starcrusher Swarm King called out "Mama," Lynelle felt the very wrinkles in her brain smooth themselves out.
"Wait, what… what did she just call me?"
Lynelle's eyes widened as she looked over at Stelle, who was equally baffled.
"Um… Mama?"
"Huh? Does Mama not like being called that?" The Swarm King tilted her head. "Then… Your Majesty, Queen of the Swarm?"
"Ssssp—" Lynelle sucked in a sharp breath.
"N-no, that title really doesn't suit me! Getting called something like that as a kid once almost got me charred to a crisp by the Glamoth Iron Cavalry flying right out of the history books."
"Not quite that literal," Stelle muttered flatly.
"So anyway, Lynelle, how did you end up becoming… well, the Swarm King's mom?"
"Yeah, seriously?" Lynelle looked utterly bewildered. "How did I…"
"Mama is Mama." The Swarm King's face was a picture of innocence. "I couldn't possibly be mistaken about this. Should I… come closer to sense it better?"
"That's fine, I guess…"
Considering her own resurrection abilities and the physical enhancement from the Abundance's blessing, Lynelle figured she probably didn't have to worry about a surprise stab in the back.
Compared to that risk, the most important thing right now was clearly figuring out where this sudden "daughter" came from, and why—after they were just fighting fiercely—she was now calling her Mama.
"But could you maybe use a different form of address? The way you're calling me makes me feel a bit…" Lynelle scratched her head.
She hardly dared imagine what would happen if she showed up on Amphoreus with this face identical to Cyrene's, and then this Swarm King called her "Mama" in front of everyone else.
Phainon's and the Flame-Reaver's processors would probably overheat and melt.
"I'll call you whatever Mama wants me to call you!" The Swarm King cheered, then threw herself at Lynelle, wrapping her arms around her waist.
"Then just call me Big Sister Lynelle for now… at least in front of others."
"Okay, Big Sister!"
With that, the Swarm King buried her face in Lynelle's soft belly and took a deep, deliberate sniff.
"My senses weren't wrong after all. If Big Sister Lynelle hadn't been suppressing this power all along, I might have almost failed to recognize it…"
"This power?" A question mark slowly materialized above Lynelle's head as she conjured a faint emerald glow in her hand. "You mean… the Abundance?"
"Yes, yes, exactly this power! This is Mama's power!"
"But… aren't you a Swarm King of Propagation?" Lynelle felt like the question marks over her head were now numerous enough to flood the Seclusion Zone.
"It might be true that the Abundance power on you comes from me, but… what about your Propagation?"
"Who told you she belongs to Propagation?"
A voice sounded from above. A man wearing a plaster mask slowly descended via the elevator.
"Dr. Ratio?"
"Yes, it's me." Ratio gave a slight nod, removed the mask from his face, and looked at Lynelle with a strange expression.
"I was worried you might cause some trouble, so I never left. I never expected you to resolve this farce in such a manner…"
"Never mind. Soon, that lady Ruan Mei will probably come to personally clear things up for you."
"For now, all I can offer are a few personal speculations, lest you be kept in the dark by a genius… Since your power was used, you should at least have a basic understanding of the situation."
"For example, this Starcrusher Swarm King, as she has developed, can no longer be simply defined by Propagation alone."
"Although her body and abilities are still modeled after the Propagation's swarm, that peculiar Abundance power has long since gained control over her form during her growth."
"In other words, her seeing you as her mother and swarm sovereign isn't actually incorrect. Because in her consciousness, her core power, her awareness—or rather, her soul—was indeed born from your Blessing of Abundance."
"I don't know why the Abundance on you possesses such terrifying 'contagious' and 'assimilating' properties, to the point of forcibly transforming a Starcrusher Swarm King toward the Abundance and making her see you as her mother. But… let me give you a piece of advice."
Ratio's tone turned serious.
"For the rest of your life, you'd best not grant your Abundance blessing to anyone else like this, including that genius."
"Also, it would be wise to prevent any factions of the Abundance's followers from learning of this ability of yours."
"Otherwise, your fate will be gruesome… They certainly wouldn't hesitate to devour you to obtain this highly 'infectious' and 'controlling' Blessing of Abundance you possess."
"That sounds terrifying…" Stelle murmured from the side. "But surely the Xianzhou Alliance wouldn't go that far, right?"
"The Xianzhou? Hah… I won't deny there are many righteous individuals among them, but the internal decay is equally shocking."
Ratio let out a disdainful snort. "Especially from the perspective of a partner like the IPC, this is particularly clear."
"Hm, so soon?"
At that moment, Ratio suddenly seemed to sense something and looked up toward a certain spot.
"It seems that, regardless of what Ruan Mei thinks of you, the master of Herta Space Station's concern for you exceeds my expectations. Indeed, your identity must be more than just her assistant…"
"Well…"
"It's fine. For you, this is for the best. With her protecting you, the warning I just gave might seem like unnecessary worry."
Ratio put his mask back on and waved the book in his hand.
"In any case, keep your wits about you. Someone as 'good-natured' as you, if not careful… will probably be left with nothing before long."
"He seems like a kind-hearted person too…" Stelle tilted her head.
"Coming all this way to tell you all that, almost like he was afraid you'd be deceived… Lynelle, Lynelle, does that mean people usually see you as a bit gullible?"
"I'm not like little March!" Lynelle pulled her hand free and rapped Stelle on the head.
"But he only explained why this Swarm King sees me as her mom… The mysteries surrounding the Swarm King herself are still just as thick!"
"Oh!" Suddenly, Lynelle's eyes lit up.
She quickly focused her consciousness inward, poking at a certain white cat who spent most of her time in standby mode unless called upon.
"Kiana-chan, Kiana-chan, come out! I suddenly have a daughter over here, come help me figure out what's going on!"
[Huh… What?]
She waited a good while before the white cat seemed to gain awareness. Apparently, she had been handling matters back on Earth.
[You have a daughter? Let me see… Wait, how is your daughter Corruption-chan again?!]
Lynelle's cheek twitched. "Maybe you should explain first—what do you mean by 'again'?"
[Just what it says… In the first timeline, because Corruption-chan had been hosted within you since her birth until she developed self-awareness, even though she called you "big sister," in terms of behavior, you were basically raising a daughter back then.]
"And… and after that?"
[After that, she turned into a mother-obsessive rebel.]
"..."
[Anyway, I originally thought that since you took the place of the Herrscher of Corruption this time, Corruption-chan probably wouldn't have had a role… but I never expected another version of her to step up…]
"So, this Starcrusher Swarm King shouldn't have any connection to the Honkai side, right?"
[Of course not—at least not from what I can sense within her… Hm?]
Kiana's voice trailed off oddly.
[Alright, I take back what I just said. She really doesn't have anything to do with Corruption-chan, but… her connection to you is significant.]
[Deep within the core of this being—to be precise, within the part of the core that carries your Blessing of Abundance—there's a certain amount of Corruption power.]
"I see…" Lynelle smacked her own forehead in realization.
"No wonder Dr. Ratio said my Blessing of Abundance had such strong infectious and assimilative properties… Mystery solved."
On the other side, just as Ratio had predicted, Herta acted swiftly. Almost as soon as she noticed something unusual happening here, she had already brought Ruan Mei over.
"Lynelle, is your body holding up alright?"
"My body? Yeah, why… Ow!"
"You dummy, I meant from the fighting! Every battle shortens your body's 'shelf life'—you really didn't remember what I warned you about earlier, did you?"
"Mmph… sorry, Madam Herta, I was wrong…" Lynelle mumbled, her face being squished and kneaded like dough by Herta.
"Let's set that aside for now. Where's that Starcrusher Swarm King?"
"Over there." Lynelle pointed toward a blue-purple figure not far away, happily playing with Stelle. "By the way, just call her Corruption-chan—she seems to like the name."
"…" Herta glanced over at the two figures who had gathered a pile of shattered jars, placed a Lifeform Oven on top like a throne, and fell into a rare moment of silence.
Then, with unusual dryness, she remarked, "Well, at least Stelle found someone her own age to play with…"
"And come to think of it, whether it's Stelle, the Starcrusher Swarm King, or even those Cake Cats—they all seem to like you a lot. Do you have some kind of special affinity for newly-born life or something?"
"I don't know about that… Oh, right, where's Ruan Mei?"
"I sent her to retrieve her experimental data." Herta let out a light snort.
"I knew it—you're too soft-hearted. The moment Corruption-chan called you 'mom,' I was sure you'd end up keeping her. So I had Ruan Mei prepare in advance."
"You're pretty soft-hearted yourself, Herta…" Lynelle muttered under her breath. "But, getting the experimental data for… Ow! Wh-why are you pinching me again…?"
"Dummy, do you think this is just some stray animal you picked up off the street?" Herta said with an exasperated tone.
"Ruan Mei never anticipated such changes before the experiment, and Corruption-chan here is essentially a ticking time bomb. Until we give her a full-body examination, no one can say for sure how long she'll last."
"If she ends up burning out one day, you'll just mope around again. So, if you're really set on keeping her, having Ruan Mei trace back the experiment process and give her a full-body maintenance is the only way to ensure she's safe…"
"Trace back the experiment process?" Lynelle thought for a moment.
"Actually, I've worked out some possible reasons myself, Herta. Tell me if this sounds right…"
She then summarized Ratio's earlier hypothesis and the explanations provided by Customer Service Kiana-chan for Herta.
"Hmm…"
Herta frowned slightly, pondering for a few seconds before speaking.
"For the most part, that's about right, but some parts aren't as simple as you think…"
"Huh?"
"For example… the reason Corruption-chan sees you as her 'Mother' isn't just due to being assimilated by your Blessing of Abundance. Or rather, your Corruption power only acted as a catalyst."
"What's truly dangerous is actually your Blessings of Abundance."
"You might not realize this, but likely due to Nanook's influence, Yaoshi has placed significant protections on you…"
"The Blessings of Abundance THEY granted you are uniquely yours. Trying to take them away would come at a terrifying cost."
"For instance, if a Foxian or a Denizen of Abundance consumed your flesh and blood right now, the Abundance blessing within them would instantly be assimilated by the blessing in your flesh."
"Considering even ordinary high-level Blessings of Abundance don't have this ability, we lean toward the idea that this is Yaoshi's way of protecting you."
"Wait, so that means…" Lynelle's expression turned complicated. "If anyone absorbed my Abundance blessing, they'd end up like Corruption-chan, turning into…"
"Oh, no, not necessarily." Herta waved her hands dismissively.
"The reason Corruption-chan took on your appearance is actually due to another, somewhat amusing reason. Ordinary Abundance followers who ingest your blessing wouldn't undergo such a change."
"So, what's the reason, then?" Lynelle asked curiously.
"Because she thinks you're beautiful. It's that simple."
"…What?"
Herta's statement left Lynelle utterly bewildered again.
Seriously, what kind of situation is this? Did I wander into some kind of fluffy crossover skit?
"You have to understand, Ruan Mei's original plan was to guide the Starcrusher Swarm King toward survival, hoping it would naturally evolve into a stable form."
"Although your Abundance blessing ended up interfering far more than intended, the core of Ruan Mei's experiment never changed."
Herta spread her hands, explaining further.
"Under those circumstances, the Starcrusher Swarm King would instinctively transform toward what it perceived as the most perfect form in its consciousness—and coincidentally, within the power of your Blessing of Abundance lies Yaoshi's… well, approval and affection for you."
"So, to borrow the words of a certain Knight of Beauty from another world, in the Starcrusher Swarm King's subconscious, you are her Idrila."
"In that sense, her ending up looking like you is… only natural."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.