"A'Luo, I'm back!" A door appeared out of thin air in the living room, followed by the seemingly ever-carefree voice of the Herrscher of Sentience.
Naturally, Chen Luo had granted the Herrscher of Sentience permission to return home from the Honkai world.
"Wah!" But then the Herrscher of Sentience let out a cry.
Bang! Followed by a loud noise.
"What? What happened?" Chen Luo instantly stuck his head out from the kitchen.
Then Chen Luo saw the puppet he had painstakingly carved for over two hours standing in the living room was now shattered wreckage. In front of the wreckage stood the Herrscher of Sentience, still in a punching pose.
"Senti, what are you doing?! That was the fruit of over two hours of my labor!" Chen Luo, holding a spatula, instantly let out a pained cry.
"Ah, sorry." The Herrscher of Sentience apologized obediently.
"This really is my fault; I can't argue that. But you're partly to blame too! Why did you carve the puppet to look like a Herrscher of Domination puppet? That kind of puppet is just annoying to look at." The Herrscher of Sentience muttered under her breath.
Just imagine, you open the bar door and see a joint-twisted Herrscher of Domination puppet standing right in front of you. Wouldn't you have an extreme reaction? Of course you would, especially since their faces look so punchable.
"You still dare to talk back? I am the Herrscher of Domination. It's perfectly normal for me to carve Herrscher of Domination puppets." Seeing the Herrscher of Sentience talking back made Chen Luo's anger flare up.
Two hours! A full two hours! He had spent so much time and effort to 100% recreate the young girl puppet of the Herrscher of Domination from the story, and the Herrscher of Sentience shattered it with one punch.
"It's not entirely my fault to begin with." The Herrscher of Sentience was still being stubborn.
"Then don't eat dinner tonight."
"Fine, I won't eat. Will missing one meal kill me or something?" The Herrscher of Sentience said disdainfully.
"Oh, in that case, go ahead and throw away those few candles on the dining table too." Chen Luo said nonchalantly.
"Candles? Why are you lighting candles? And why are you cooking at home? Isn't the bar's food better and more convenient?"
The key point was that you didn't have to wash dishes when eating at the bar.
"Well, I was planning to cook at home tonight to celebrate the full half month since we met, with all its rugged yet spectacular experiences. But since you said that, we might as well go to the bar." Chen Luo nodded, then stored the spatula in his hand into his inventory.
To be honest, Chen Luo personally didn't like cooking much either, and washing dishes was troublesome. Eating at the bar was better.
"Sorry, I was wrong. Eating at home is great, really." The Herrscher of Sentience instantly apologized obediently.
She had forgotten about that.
The past half month had indeed been a bit too thrilling.
"Hmph, women." Chen Luo turned around and went back into the kitchen.
The Herrscher of Sentience peeked into the kitchen, then looked at the shattered Herrscher of Domination puppet in front of her that was beyond recognition. After thinking for just half a second, she used her storage ring to collect all the debris.
Cleaning up was too much trouble.
The storage ring in the Herrscher of Sentience's hand was the one Liu Wenxuan had given Chen Luo.
And right now, the Xuanyuan Sword was resting quietly inside the storage ring.
Similarly, there were also two Domination Keys.
Although there were only 1000 Domination Keys in the Previous Era, Fu Hua, as the executor of the Project EMBER, inherited about 100 Domination Keys from the Previous Era.
Although some Domination Keys were destroyed in battle, there were still some left in Taixuan Mountain. But the Herrscher of Sentience didn't take them all.
These two: one was prepared for Chen Luo, and one was for the Herrscher of Sentience herself.
Although the Herrscher of Sentience didn't need it, isn't it interesting for two people to use the same type of weapon?
Roughly four and a half hours had passed from when the Herrscher of Sentience left to when she returned.
It was only because the Herrscher of Sentience's travel speed was fast enough, and she didn't need to return to Nagazora City, she could come home through the bar, otherwise four hours wouldn't even be enough for a round trip, let alone finding the Domination keys.
"Ying!"
"Hmm?" A strange sound came from the kitchen, catching the Herrscher of Sentience's attention.
Hearing this strange sound, the Herrscher of Sentience immediately walked towards the kitchen.
Then she saw that besides Chen Luo busy working in the kitchen, there was also a little fox sneakily eating pieces of fried chicken.
"A'Luo, what is this?" Looking at the new little fox in the house, the Herrscher of Sentience was utterly bewildered.
How long had she been out? Just over four hours. How did a fox suddenly appear?
The Herrscher of Sentience reached out, grabbed the little fox that was stealing chicken pieces by the scruff of its neck, and lifted it up.
"A fox. Obviously." Chen Luo said while cooking.
"Of course I know it's a fox. The important thing is, why is it in our house?"
"Oh, that. This little fox's situation is the same as yours. It was also spat out from the space-time turbulence above our backyard vegetable patch. I suspect there's a space-time channel above our backyard, but I have no evidence."
"I see..." Feeling the unusually high intelligence of the little fox in her hand, the Herrscher of Sentience nodded thoughtfully.
Since A'Luo said its situation was the same as hers, that meant it probably also issued a commission. A'Luo should understand its situation too, right?
The Herrscher of Sentience was the Herrscher who controlled consciousness. She could tell at a glance that this little fox was no ordinary little fox.
She had a rough idea of the intelligence level of small animals. The situation with this little fox before her was indeed probably similar to her own – it must have been quite injured, except she had internal injuries, while it had both internal and external injuries.
Although this little fox was severely injured, one could still tell that its original consciousness scale was definitely a bit higher than Chen Luo's current level.
It's not that it was stronger than Chen Luo, but rather that its soul was more resilient.
Simply put, it was an old monster.
However, due to its injuries, its intelligence wasn't sufficient to support the recovery of its full self.
Simply put, its brain was damaged.
Recovery for this little fox's condition was actually simple; just wait patiently. It would get better on its own after some time.
And before it fully recovers, it would probably remain in this state of extremely high intelligence, with an IQ not much worse than a six-year-old child, and still quite capable of learning.
It had no Honkai energy reaction on it. Could it be some kind of spiritual beast from another world or something?
"Meh, whatever, who cares." The Herrscher of Sentience threw it onto the distant sofa with very precise and harmless force.
Even if it might be some fox spirit or spiritual beast, that still doesn't mean it can steal the dinner A'Luo specially made for me with his own hands.
As for whether to mention this little fox to Chen Luo...
Hmm, I just made a mistake and talked back once. The more I say now, the more mistakes I might make. Better to just shut up.
Anyway, with A'Luo's talent, once he accepts the fox's commission, it will also explain their condition. No need for me to worry unnecessarily.
Besides, the Herrscher of Sentience could feel that even if the fox recovered its strength, it still wouldn't be a match for one of her hands.
"A'Luo, I still want to eat cola chicken wings." After putting these worries aside, the Herrscher of Sentience said.
"Got it, making them now. And stop stealing food; there won't be any left if you keep eating."
"Hey, then why can that fox eat?"
"Why are you competing with a fox? Besides, isn't it normal for a fox to steal food?" Chen Luo suddenly remembered the fox he used to raise that would inevitably steal food whenever he cooked.
Before, when Chen Luo caught his fox stealing food, he would try to stop it. Later, he found it completely uncontrollable and just gave up.
Eat, eat, just stuff yourself.
"Oh, alright." The Herrscher of Sentience nodded and left the kitchen.
Of course, not without grabbing a couple of chicken pieces on the way.
If you can't steal food, then staying in the kitchen is meaningless. Isn't the very purpose of a kitchen's existence to steal food?
Especially for an idle person like the Herrscher of Sentience.
Cooking? What's cooking? Never heard of it.
"Ying ying ying." The pink fox thrown onto the sofa by the Herrscher of Sentience was initially unhappy seeing the culprit, but when it saw the two fried chicken pieces in her hand, it immediately approached her again.
"What? Want some?" The Herrscher of Sentience ate one fried chicken piece, then held the other in front of the fox.
"Ying!" The little fox looked longingly at the fried chicken piece in the Herrscher of Sentience's hand.
"Heh, no!" The Herrscher of Sentience stuffed the chicken wing into her own mouth, then made a face at the little fox.
"Ying!" The hatred from having food snatched plus the hatred from being thrown onto the sofa erupted together. The little fox pounced at the Herrscher of Sentience.
Then it was suppressed with one hand by the Herrscher of Sentience.
Laughable. A mere pink fox...
After finishing the chicken piece, the Herrscher of Sentience picked up the little fox, wiped her oily hands on its fur, then threw it aside again.
"Ying ying ying!" The little fox was almost bristling with anger.
"Bonk!" Then it was suppressed again by a flick on the head from the Herrscher of Sentience.
You and your bristling fur seem ridiculous to me.
But then again, having an extra pink fox seems quite fun.
Especially since it can't beat me.
After suppressing the little fox, the Herrscher of Sentience didn't stay idle. She took out the puppet, which was extremely similar to the Herrscher of Domination from the original Honkai Impact 3rd storyline and which she had shattered with one punch, and started trying to piece it back together.
Although Chen Luo didn't seem to care much about it, accepting an apology as sufficient, the Herrscher of Sentience felt she needed to glue it back together.
As for how to glue it... The Herrscher of Sentience remembered there was tape and glue at home.
* * *
"How about it! Am I amazing?" When Chen Luo placed the last dish on the table, the Herrscher of Sentience sneakily retrieved the Herrscher of Domination puppet she had worked hard to repair for 10 minutes from behind the sofa.
"You... want to hear the truth or a lie?" Looking at the puppet repaired by the Herrscher of Sentience, Chen Luo was momentarily speechless.
"Uh, a lie then." The Herrscher of Sentience hesitated before saying.
"You did a great job." Chen Luo gave a thumbs-up.
"Hmm..." Although praised, the Herrscher of Sentience felt subtly unable to feel happy.
The Herrscher of Sentience struggled with it for a moment, then threw the Herrscher of Domination puppet, wrapped up like a mummy, aside.
"Ying!" Seeing the puppet that the Herrscher of Sentience had held for so long thrown onto the sofa, the little fox immediately bit it.
If I can't beat you, can't I at least beat this puppet?
"Alright, Xiao Ba,[1] stop playing. Come eat." Chen Luo called out to the little fox.
"Ying!" The little fox called out, then jumped off from the puppet.
"Hmm, after four hours of treatment, the results look pretty good." Looking at the little fox's condition, Chen Luo nodded satisfied.
The little fox's energy and physical strength should be fully recovered by now, since it can jump onto the table via the chair.
Thinking this, Chen Luo put away his high-level Teleport Waypoint that cost 100 Primogems.
Since the little fox is healed, no need for further treatment.
"Is her name Xiao Ba?" The Herrscher of Sentience asked, sitting next to Chen Luo.
In the end, the Herrscher of Sentience still didn't turn off the lights and light the candles. It would be fine if it were just her and Chen Luo, but what's the deal with having a fox too?
"Correct. Her name is Xiao Ba, and she seems to quite like this name." Chen Luo nodded.
"..." Sensing the slight annoyance coming from the little fox upon hearing this name, the Herrscher of Sentience ultimately didn't voice this matter.
As long as A'Luo is happy. The little fox's feelings don't need to be considered. After all, getting free food, free lodging, and freeloading requires paying some price.
"Why is she called Xiao Ba?"
"Probably because she's the 8th pet I've raised." Chen Luo said after thinking for a moment.
"So the 8th pet is called Xiao Ba? Isn't that too casual?"
"Otherwise? Should the 8th pet be called Xiao Jiu [2]?"
"Is that the issue here?" When it came to naming pets, the Herrscher of Sentience couldn't follow Chen Luo's train of thought.
"Were your previous pets all called Xiao Qi, Xiao Liu, Xiao Wu?"[3] The Herrscher of Sentience couldn't help but ask.
"Not exactly. Only the 7th pet was called Xiao Qi. The other pets weren't named that way. But only the 7th pet survived, so I thought maybe a 'lowly' name is easier to raise." Chen Luo said.
"I see. I have heard of that custom before."
It's like how in the countryside, names like Gou Dan (Dog Egg) or Tie Dan (Iron Egg) are used.
"Here, Xiao Ba, eat more, but don't choke." Chen Luo put two chicken pieces into the little fox's bowl on the table.
Chen Luo didn't find it strange for a pet to be on the table.
Because the little fox he raised before also got on the table, and would even go on a hunger strike if the bowl was placed on the floor.
Maybe foxes are just smart creatures. After all, they can even do arithmetic.
"Mmm..." Seeing Chen Luo give the little fox extra chicken pieces, Senti was very unhappy and instantly puffed out her cheeks.
"These are for you." Feeling the gaze like needles on his back, Chen Luo picked up three chicken pieces and gave them to the Herrscher of Sentience.
But that left only one chicken piece left in the entire plate.
After all, the two kitchen thieves, the little fox and the Herrscher of Sentience, had already done quite a number on the fried chicken pieces.
"Thank you, A'Luo." The Herrscher of Sentience's mood instantly improved, and she triumphantly glanced at the little fox.
It's just a pity the little fox was devoting itself fully to its two chicken pieces and didn't see the Herrscher of Sentience's look.
TL Note:
[1]: Xiao Ba means little eight
[2]: Xiao Jiu means little nine
[3]: In order, it means little seven, six, and five