However, to everyone's surprise, the agreement in the question-and-answer domain determined...
[The answer is incorrect; the correct answer is a.]
In the question-and-answer room, the punishment was not immediately announced. At that moment, the holographic screen text gradually disappeared, and the video appeared.
An introduction appeared in the video.
The Valkyrie Rank Exams have concluded, and everything returns to normal. According to a message from the central authority of the Lunar Throne, the Valkyries have begun their search for the four gems. Their first destination is the Oceania branch in New Zealand. The Gem of Desire awaits them there.
This opening statement gave the feeling that a higher-dimensional being was monitoring everyone's every move, which made the video's viewers very uncomfortable.
Similarly, this opening statement also revealed to everyone a glimpse of the future.
The Lunar Throne, the Four Gems, the New Zealand Oceania Branch, and the Gem of Desire.
In the following video, Himeko, from the command center, informed Kiana and her group, who were on a mission to find the Gem of Desire, of bad news: a day before Kiana and the others arrived in New Zealand, a violent Honkai attack shook the region, which is now riddled with zombies and Honkai Beasts. The Oceania branch is also paralyzed, and the Gem of Desire everyone was looking for was lost during the attack.
Fortunately, the Hyperion's detectors managed to locate the Gem of Desire, so Kiana and the others embarked on their journey to find it.
During the search, information about the Lunar Throne, which Kiana referred to as the Ghost Ship, was also interspersed.
For example, the peak output of the Lunar Throne's Honkai reactor is 12,000 hw, while the Honkai energy intensity of the Third Herrscher's attack that destroyed the Hyperion was 3,200 hw. In other words, the energy of four Herrschers would be needed to fully activate that warship.
In fact, by this point in the video, Theresa, Himeko, and Fu Hua, who were already familiar with the Second Honkai Impact 3rd, had already guessed which four gems were being referred to.
In subsequent videos, the Gem of Desire was quickly found and implanted into Wendy, a green-haired girl in a wheelchair.
"It really was her."
When Theresa saw Wendy appear in the video, she muttered something.
Himeko and Fu Hua also recognized Wendy, but Kiana and the other two were seeing each other for the first time.
They found it fascinating to see themselves in the video.
Even after knowing that the correct answer was Bronya, Kiana did not forget to take Mei to a corner far away from Bronya.
Bronya wanted to explain, but the video was still playing, so she decided to wait for the Q&A section to close before revealing everything.
In the video, Kiana and the others found out that Wendy, just like Mei, had a Herrscher core implanted. The difference lay in Wendy possessing the Gem of Desire, while Mei had the Gem of Conquest.
However, since Mei did not tell Wendy what had happened to her, Bronya, her closest person, took the initiative to tell her. Bronya, who, like Wendy, had suffered leg damage from the experiment, was the one who spoke.
The two kindred spirits quickly grew closer, and even at the end, when Wendy was completely controlled by the Honkai Will and became the Fourth Herrscher of Wind, she did not choose to attack Bronya and her group.
However, facing the relentless pursuit of Kiana and her two companions, they had no choice but to prepare for the final battle.
During the search for Wendy, an unexpected incident occurred: Himeko suffered a serious accident during the mission and, following protocol, notified Schicksal headquarters. This then sent the S-rank Valkyrie, Durandal, to take over the matter. However, Durandal was betrayed by Theresa, who was buying time for Kiana and the others, and was transferred to Anti-Entropy, which had also appeared in New Zealand.
The video is still playing.
As the title suggests, Wendy, persuaded by Bronya, decided to trust Bronya and herself once more, thus freeing herself from the control of the Honkai Will.
Afterwards, the group planned to return to the Hyperion. Wendy suggested she wanted to ride Bronya's robot, Heavy Bunny, once more. Just when everyone thought everything was going to end perfectly, something unexpected happened.
"Bronya, my dear daughter, now, retrieve the Fourth Herrscher. The Fourth Herrscher is an important experimental subject. If we cannot retrieve her, we must destroy her. We cannot allow her to fall into Schicksal's hands."
This is the voice of Cocolia, the leader of the radical Anti-Entropy faction. She is also the director of the Cocolia Orphanage and the "mother" of Bronya and other orphans.
Bronya, who had already awakened her own will, naturally chose to reject Cocolia's request.
However, Bronya, who had been subjected to experiments and had a biochip implanted in her brain, was completely unable to resist Cocolia's commands.
After Cocolia used the highest-level command, Bronya immediately activated Heavy Bunny's attack mode and aimed the cannon at Wendy.
The interaction between Cocolia and Bronya took place in Bronya's mind. To be precise, Cocolia transmitted information to the biochip in Bronya's brain, something completely undetectable to others. Therefore, in the eyes of Kiana, Mei, and Wendy, Bronya suddenly began to attack Wendy for some unknown reason.
Wendy, who had just decided to trust Bronya and herself, was overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events, triggering a wave of negative emotions. Her Honkai regained control of the body and returned it to its Herrscher form.
Kiana, Mei, and Wendy, in the video, were unaware of the reason for Bronya's unusual behavior, but those outside the video, with an almost divine perspective, understood that Bronya's betrayal was not of her own volition, but because she was unable to resist Cocolia's ultimate authority commands.
Of course, this does not change the fact that Bronya betrayed everyone.
Although everyone now knows Bronya's true thoughts, as long as Cocolia still holds the highest authority, Bronya will remain a ticking time bomb for everyone.
Of course, with Schicksal's technological reserves, resolving the hidden dangers surrounding Bronya should not be too difficult, but it still depends on Bronya's own wishes.
At that moment, Theresa had already decided that if Bronya was unwilling to accept the removal of the hidden danger, she would have no choice but to expel her from St. Freya Academy.
She has to be responsible for her students; doing so is good for everyone.
In the next video, Kiana and Mei joined forces to attempt, with great difficulty, to defeat Wendy in her Herrscher form. However, just as they were about to succeed, Cocolia appeared.
Cocolia first used Anti-Entropy's latest tactical mecha to defeat Wendy, whose power had been considerably weakened by Kiana and the other two. She then ordered Bronya to execute the highest-level command to retrieve the Third Herrscher.
The order continued to be issued through the chip, and as expected, Mei, who was completely unprepared for Bronya, was instantly ambushed.
Had Bronya not detected the approach of high-speed Schicksal forces when she was about to attack Kiana too, not only Wendy and Mei would have been captured in the end.
After the Anti-Entropy group left, only Kiana remained in the video, kneeling helplessly on the ground.
The video ends with another somewhat unsettling narration from a divine perspective.
Afterwards, Himeko arrived and only managed to rescue Kiana. Mei and Wendy were captured by Anti-Entropy forces. Full of regret, Kiana could only return to St. Freya Academy and, with the help of Theresa and Himeko, devise a plan to rescue Mei.
The video ends here.
This video was much longer than the one for question 1. By watching the entire video, everyone gained a lot of information, and their mentalities changed repeatedly.
Himeko rubbed her forehead, looking worried: "Principal, is there a problem with St. Freya's admission process? Not only did we get a monitor suspected of being a fusion warrior from a previous civilization, but we also got someone from the hostile Anti-Entropy force..."
Himeko finally didn't say the word "spy."
After all, Bronya was her student, and one she had always held in high regard and considered to have great potential.
Furthermore, the video also shows that Bronya did not intentionally want to betray them, so using overly derogatory terms to describe her at this moment feels somewhat unfair.
"I will handle their problems appropriately; the most urgent matter right now is..."
Theresa also had a bad headache.
Although this question-and-answer space emerged out of nowhere and its methods were quite strange, it at least immediately identified the two spies infiltrating St. Freya's den and even provided a technology for creating fusion warriors of dubious authenticity. So far, it seems to be more beneficial than harmful.
However, is it really a purely good thing to be able to predict the future through questions and videos in a question-and-answer space?
Giving an answer will take time.
Now, what worries her the most is the punishment Fu Hua will face for answering the question incorrectly.
This will determine how they choose between the following questions.
It's not about choosing an option, but about choosing whether or not to answer.
If the consequences of answering incorrectly are too severe, she would prefer to remain indefinitely in this question-and-answer space rather than allow another person to answer questions.
Not even Bronya and Fu Hua would work.
Theresa's words and gaze managed to draw everyone's attention to Fu Hua.
Yes, it is useless to think about anything now until the five questions in the Q&A section are resolved.
It only makes sense to talk about something once the questions have been answered.
Even Ji Lin, who thought Fu Hua had chosen to wipe her memory, looked at her with a tense expression.
Compared to the others, Ji Lin, who had directly faced that golden light, better understood the terrifying nature of that question-and-answer space.
If the punishment for answering a question incorrectly is too severe, she suspects that even Fu Hua might suffer a harsh blow.
Fu Hua, on the other hand, did not seem nervous at all.
She didn't care about the punishment she was about to face.
It wouldn't matter if she died in this question-and-answer room. She believed that whatever Otto's plans were, he would still keep his promise to protect China even after learning of her death.
As for everything else, she wasn't even afraid of death, so what else could she be afraid of?
Perhaps, deep down, she longed for death.
[Since candidate Fu Hua chose the incorrect option for question 2, she must be punished by confessing all her personal information in detail to everyone.]
Fu Hua: ?
No, she is genuinely not afraid of death, but that doesn't mean she isn't afraid of this!
What is she supposed to say?
Does she say she had a boring and uninteresting childhood 50,000 years ago?
What about her bewilderment and helplessness after losing everything overnight?
What experiences did she have after joining Firemoth?
What role did she play in this era as the executor of the Fire Seed Project after the destruction of the previous civilization?
Does she say she was betrayed by her own disciple five hundred years ago, losing not only her immortality but also much of her strength and memories? She was forced to make a pact with Otto, giving herself up to destiny and working for him in exchange for the promise to protect the Divine Land.
Does she say she helped Walter Joyce, the former leader of Anti-Entropy, when she worked for Schicksal, but still couldn't change his fate of death?
Does she say she tried her best during the Second Honkai Impact, but still lost someone important to her?
Does she say that during the operation in Singapore, she clearly had the opportunity to harm Kiana, but chose to agree to Siegfried's request to take good care of her?
Does she say she came to St. Freya on Otto's orders to monitor the container for the Herrscher of the Void, the clone K423?
These are all the memories she has left, and the more distant the memories are, the blurrier they become.
These are her most cherished memories, and also her past, which she is unwilling to recount to others.
But just because she answered a question incorrectly, this question-and-answer space requires her to make it all public?
What kind of punishment is this?
No, in reality, this seems to be the greatest punishment for her.
[Resistance detected in candidate Fu Hua. Warning: You have five minutes to organize your thoughts. If you do not answer within five minutes, the question-and-answer section will forcibly reveal your information and deduct a random ability. Please consider carefully.]
Fu Hua: ?
Good heavens, so it now says no?
If she doesn't take the initiative, who knows what form this so-called forced disclosure will actually take in this question-and-answer space?
For example, publishing a series of short videos?
Not to mention the penalty of arbitrarily depriving someone of an ability.
Fu Hua could not bear the video leaks alone.
So, rather than letting the Q&A platforms cause trouble, it's better to be direct and confess.
At that moment, she did not want to test the limits of the question-and-answer space.
After all, she is no longer the fusion warrior who survived the final battle against the end. Her already weakened strength was further diminished in the Second Honkai. Now, she has no right to engage with the question-and-answer space.
Thinking this, Fu Hua didn't even last until the five-minute deadline was up. She began to talk about her time as a village girl 50,000 years ago, and continued until she arrived at St. Freya.
During this period, she did not give details about information unrelated to herself, such as Fire Moth, Captain Himeko, the Thirteen Fire Heroes, Cangxuan Danzhu, the Book of Cangxuan, the Seven Swords of Taixu, Otto, Cheng Lixue, and Kiana's clone identity, and some of them she did not even mention.
Fortunately, the question-and-answer section did not react to Fu Hua's behavior. Evidently, the information about Fu Hua mentioned in said punishment did not have to include other people.
For example, Fu Hua had no intention of revealing that Kiana was actually a clone at that moment.
Although Fu Hua omitted so many details, Theresa and the others could feel the flow of time and the vicissitudes of life through her narration.
Fu Hua's incredibly long life, in which she seemed oblivious to the passage of time, was plagued by countless goodbyes and even despair. She was brought to the brink of death in endless cycles of reincarnation, all for the sake of her mission.
Faced with such an experience, even though everyone knew that Otto had sent her to monitor Kiana, and they didn't even know why she had been entrusted with that mission, it was difficult for them to feel the slightest criticism.
For 50,000 years, she has suffered terribly.
As the city crumbled and was destroyed, sweeping away Hua's daily life, she had no room for herself in her heart. She only thought about inheriting her family's martial arts school. She diligently practiced the family martial arts, and although this made her an oddity to her peers and she failed to make a single friend, she didn't care at all.
Although she coincidentally made a friend and spent a relatively happy time with him, that was just a drop in the ocean compared to the long solitude of 50,000 years.
Hua, the Immortal of the Crimson Iris, and Fu Hua: these three titles represent three different identities, but all share the same mission.