Expert continuously pulled out her various genius little "trash" from the Homu doll suit and stuffed them into the carriage of the Second Divine Key.
Now that she had Cosmic Juggernaut as a replacement, she could store even more masterpieces she was reluctant to throw away. This was excellent news!
At last, Vill-V retrieved a delicate soulium box from Homu's body. After unlocking and opening it, inside lay a feather radiating a faint green glow.
The Herrscher of Wind—Wendy's fallen feather.
"Ah... I almost forgot about this hot potato."
Vill-V's expression grew tense. She carefully stepped away from Cosmic Juggernaut and placed the feather onto the experimental platform.
Seeing how serious she looked, Dr. Mei could not help asking curiously, "What is that?"
"A relic of the Fourth Herrscher—the Herrscher of Wind, Wendy."
Only today did Expert finally begin studying this feather left behind by the Herrscher of Wind.
Previously, there had simply been no safe opportunity to research it.
Though the feather was important, her own safety was more important.
Thus, Expert had sealed it inside a soulium device and thrown it into the quantum space of the Homu doll suit.
To prevent the feather from suddenly stabbing her in the back, that had been her only option.
Once placed on the workbench, the scanning instruments of the laboratory resumed operation.
Because sufficient data had already been obtained from studying Herrscher Cores earlier, this research progressed remarkably smoothly.
"Hm?"
Expert frowned in confusion. It was not that she had encountered a difficult obstacle—rather, things were going too smoothly. So smoothly it was as if she were studying... another Herrscher Core!
Expert exclaimed, "This feather is actually a Herrscher Core!"
Well, if one called it unexpected, it was not entirely so. She had long known that the Fourth Herrscher's corpse had gone missing, and its Herrscher Core had never been recovered by MOTH.
And as for objects connected to the Fourth Herrscher, the only one was the feather Vill-V possessed.
That was precisely why she had sealed it so tightly inside a soulium box.
Conductor had suspected this possibility long ago. It was just that Vill-V had always refused to believe it was a Herrscher Core. Who had ever heard of a Herrscher Core being a feather...
Even Senti's Core was not Fenghuang Down, all right...
Oh. Senti had already become a Divine Key. Never mind, then...
And the consciousness within this Herrscher Core was alive.
Unlike the activated state of the Second Herrscher's Core, this one not only contained the Herrscher's power—it possessed autonomous consciousness.
It could cause trouble.
So all this time, I've been carrying a living Herrscher on me?
In contrast, Elysia—the true living Herrscher—had a Core that remained in an unconscious dormant state, practically as if it were dead.
Thankfully, she had not dared to inject Honkai energy into this thing for testing earlier.
If she had...
Wendy might have burst out of her coffin and twisted Vill-V's head clean off.
Looking at the feather's data, even Dr. Mei clicked her tongue in amazement. "This is... truly astonishing. A Herrscher can actually maintain her consciousness in such a state?"
"Yes. It's just unclear why she hasn't made any moves. Perhaps she's in a kind of dormant state."
After all, very few Herrschers could continue to act within real space while reduced to nothing but a Core—aside from Welt, who kept performing miraculous resurrections.
"Then... should we erase the Herrscher consciousness inside?"
Dr. Mei entered a password and opened a warning cover marked with red and yellow stripes. Inside were several unconventional experimental instruments. Judging by how they were stored, one could tell how dangerous they were.
At a single command from Vill-V, she would activate those devices and destroy the consciousness within the feather.
Expert rejected Dr. Mei's proposal. "No. This is precious experimental material. Turning it into an unconscious Herrscher Core would be a waste."
After all, this was the relic of the Herrscher who had nearly achieved ascension—Wendy.
Dr. Mei closed the hazardous cover. Looking at the seriousness on Vill-V's face, she neither voiced agreement nor opposition.
Dr. Mei was not a pure researcher. Her concerns lay more with human civilization. In truth, she opposed Expert's plan.
Though Expert was not wrong, researching a living Herrscher carried far more risk than benefit. One mistake could spell a crisis for humanity.
Yet out of respect for Vill-V, Dr. Mei did not stop her. If it had been anyone else attempting this, she would likely already be considering how to eliminate that person and destroy the feather.
Expert naturally understood just how dangerous the feather was. Mishandled, it could trigger a Fourth Honkai Eruption.
Even if it lacked Welt's ability to rebuild a body through repeated resurrections, give it the slightest opportunity and it could accomplish anything.
Because it was a Herrscher.
Just like Senti—who, even as a mere feather, could fight Kevin empowered by Finality to a standstill.
This was also a feather bearing Herrscher consciousness. Who knew whether it could likewise contend with Kevin of Finality.
But for the sake of Seele, who might become the Sixth Herrscher in the future, she needed this feather with Herrscher consciousness for experimental research.
Moreover, she required more trump cards to deal with the impending imaginary invasion.
In this era, there was no false god Otto to consume Honkai energy. An imaginary invasion... would inevitably occur.
Expert sighed. "Sigh... It's just that this feather can't be forged into a Divine Key. Only a completely deceased Herrscher Core can become one..."
"Injecting Honkai energy into the feather..."
At that very moment, the alarm within the S-1 Laboratory in the Pacific Ocean blared sharply.
"Warning. Extreme Honkai energy outbreak detected in the Pacific region..."
"Suspected historical Herrscher revival. All units, prepare for combat!"
Expert lowered the feather in her hand. "How is that possible? I haven't even begun the experiment yet!"
...
In the Pacific region, MOTH's B-2 Laboratory was the closest experimental base to the core S-1 facility.
Though merely a backup research base, its current scale already rivaled MOTH's top-tier S-designated laboratories.
The corpse of the First Herrscher was stored within this facility.
In the laboratory corridors hung signs reading [No Running] and [No Loud Noises].
Yet Dr. Tesla was sprinting down the hallway while shouting.
"Ahhh! What the hell is this? Since when do corpses fake their own deaths?!"
Dr. Einstein, panting heavily, replied, "That's why... I told you not to stimulate her Imaginary Singularity. You were too impatient... Dr. Tesla."
"After finally finding it, if we didn't stimulate it, wouldn't that have been pointless? Chicken-Nest Head, you know this was pure dumb luck. Next time... we might not be so fortunate to locate that Imaginary Singularity again."
Tesla's stamina was clearly superior to Einstein's. She could still argue fluently while running.
Alarms blared throughout the base, and the ground trembled—clear signs that the facility's armed systems were fully activating.
While running, Dr. Tesla pointed at the screen on her exoskeleton glove.
"See that, Chicken-Nest Head? The old lady's body is slowly repairing itself."
A tremor ran through Tesla's voice, laced with a trace of excitement. It was unclear whether she was thrilled at her teacher's revival or exhilarated by the new discovery.
To an outsider overhearing her tone, it might have sounded like she was talking about skincare and beauty treatments.
But Einstein knew exactly what she meant.
The Herrscher of Reason had revived!