Honkai Impact 3rd, but I have too many mods.

Page 558

Liu Bai remained silent.

"What kind of image do you have of me?"

"A guy who can't control his charm," Ruan Mei teased with a smile without even thinking.

"..."

Such a comment leaves one speechless.

"Ahem, let's skip that." Bai coughed twice. "By the way, Möbius just said you were secretly researching something. It's not something I forbade you to research, is it?"

“Those studies aren’t as important as you,” Ruan Mei denied with a smile. “That was just a baseless framing by Möbius to win favor… Alright, I’ll go pack my things now. We’re leaving tonight. See you tomorrow, darling~”

Ruan Mei didn't give Liu Bai any time to react before hanging up the phone.

So suspicious.

It felt like I had a thorn in my side.

Mebius's phone was completely unreachable.

...The fate of the loser?

...It seems I'll have to discuss this further with Ruan Mei in person tomorrow.

So next...

Liu Bai took out the Fireworks Summoning Doll.

How can I deal with the "innately evil Pleasure Imp"?

Chapter 393 The Innately Evil Pleasure Imp Deserves to Be…

Hello, hello! I am—

The moment the fireworks appeared, pink light shone into their eyes.

In an instant, the sparkle in Hanabi's eyes vanished completely.

— He summoned a naturally evil, joyful imp, and he also possessed a hypnosis app.

How could there be such a coincidence in the world?

"Fireworks, is that right?"

Liu Bai waved at the fireworks.

“Yes…” Hanabi, who was under hypnosis, answered in a deathly tone.

Hmm, it seems there are no problems.

But how do we stop Hanabi from causing trouble?

Should we force her to develop a respectable personality?

...This method seems a bit too extreme. It could be reserved for last, but it's probably unnecessary now.

Moreover, if that were the case, the fireworks wouldn't be fireworks anymore, and Liu Bai was not willing to directly "destroy" a person.

Moreover, Hanabi, whose personality was forcibly implanted, was ultimately just a puppet, wasn't she?

How can we limit fireworks while preserving their essential nature...?

Liu Bai pondered the question carefully.

The key lies within oneself.

Only with a hypnosis app can one effectively control a fun-loving person like Hanabi.

"Hanabi, you seem more interested in Liu Bai than the others."

This is the most basic, underlying logic.

The reason for not using the more focused statement "only caring about Liu Bai" was for the sake of collective unity.

...Liu Bai didn't even dare to imagine how many people Huohua, who was pestering him from morning till night, would clash with.

This family is probably going to be unable to live together from now on.

Moreover, hypnosis also needs to avoid bugs—the advantage of hypnosis over programming is that the hypnotized person will resolve any unclear or ambiguous points on their own.

Okay, the core strategy is set. Next is the policy for dealing with fireworks.

However, there doesn't seem to be any other option.

To conquer, or rather tame, such entertainers, the methods employed are crucial.

People who are extremely pleasure-seekers have very strong mental fortitude; relying solely on hypnosis will only result in them becoming puppets under hypnosis.

Well……

Liu Bai felt that an idea was taking shape in his mind.

"...Fireworks, you will remain mentally alert during the hypnosis sessions that follow."

This is the second one.

Article 3...

"Hanabi, once you're sober, you'll suggest we play a game with the theme of 'obedience'."

The third point is insurance—Liu Bai felt that Huo Hua's personality would eventually pose a similar "challenge" to him.

This is not mere speculation, but rather... oneself and the group centered around oneself constitute "order".

And what the Fireworks Dancers…the artists (and the Masked Fools) love most is to disrupt a stagnant pool of water, or what they consider a stagnant pool of water, order and rules—of course, they would use a more palatable term to say, “to have fun.”

On the other hand, they don't mind becoming the source of amusement.

Even if these three hypnotic techniques are revealed later, they will not affect the relationship.

...However, on the other hand, if the most radical member of the Masked Fool among the Pleasure believers were turned into an ordinary, unremarkable person, it feels like...the person who did such a thing might receive the blessing of Pleasure.

But how do the masked fools feel about this? Do they find it amusing? Or do they feel a fear of "becoming boring"?

Ordinary—this is probably the thing that the masked fools hate the most.

It might even be more resistant to them than falling into nothingness.

Suddenly, I discovered a rather interesting proposition.

Well, but from another perspective... this proposition isn't actually that perplexing.

After all, once the executioner's blade falls, the victim no longer has the fear of death.

After the Masked Fool becomes an ordinary person, he is no longer the Masked Fool, and he is not even a joyful believer. Naturally, he will not lament that he has become an ordinary person.

...Wait a minute, does that mean this is the best way to "execute" the Masked Fool?

Based on this, it is even possible to allow the masked fool personality to remain active and lucid, while allowing an ordinary person personality to take over his life.

To make him, from this moment on, only able to watch his own boring life unfold day after day until his death...?

(...Oh no, I feel like this idea of ​​mine is so villainous.)

People who find joy in death may not be afraid of it, and those who find joy in death are not uncommon in various works.

But without the fun...

However, this very "wicked" idea actually clarified Liu Bai's thoughts on fireworks.

For example, punishment play for "the inherently evil little devil".

—What would normally be considered punishment play might actually be a reward for Hanabi, a fun-loving person who has no taboos.

"Next, you will forget the irrational parts and continue your previous behavior."

Snapped.

"Ling-/- Fireworks! If you ever have any dangerous errands to run, just come find me. After all, as long as I'm interested, the price is negotiable. The key is to have fun, right?"

Once the fireworks returned to normal, they felt no sense of hypnosis at all. They continued with the first half of the sentence before the hypnosis and waved to Liu Bai in a very cheerful manner.

"Hello, I am Liu Bai. Please take care of me in the future."

—In every sense.

Liu Bai casually put his phone away and greeted Hanabi, who was all smiles.

"No problem, no problem~~ Of course I know your name, boss~" Hanabi said, her hands behind her back, as she happily circled around Liu Bai, observing him.

"Hmm... but you don't seem like the kind of interesting person, boss."

"so?"

"So how about we play a game?"

"what game?"

Everything was proceeding according to hypnosis.

well.

"It's a very simple game." Hanabi's smile brightened. "We'll play pranks on each other, and the loser has to unconditionally grant the winner one request."

...Shouldn't you be more detailed when designing your own game theme?

That's far too simplistic and crude.

"Of course, you can't use force to tease someone~ After all, fighting and killing is pretty boring, right?"

Fireworks jumped up from behind, wrapped her arms around Liu Bai's neck, and nuzzled against Liu Bai affectionately.

"How about it, want to play with me?"

"Playing pranks on each other... no violence allowed, doesn't this rule seem too simplistic and obvious?"

"After all, it was just a game that we decided on the spur of the moment~" Hanabi said with a coquettish expression, but her eyes were shrewd.

Liu Bai knew perfectly well what was going on—the key to this game lay in the definition of "teasing".

For a normal person, kicking someone's stool while they are writing, or sticking a note on someone's back, are all forms of teasing.

But for the Masked Fool, manipulating the life and death of a faction can also be called "playing tricks".

In this respect, he has truly captured the essence of Aha – after all, Aha is the kind of guy who could lie in wait for a year and blow up half a train and a planet to smithereens just to play a trick on Akivili.

Fireworks' game... it really has ulterior motives.

Therefore, Liu Bai felt that he should have refined the hypnosis more at the time—although there was hypnotic induction, the game project was obviously decided by Huahuo herself.

Of course, Hanabi wouldn't do anything big right away; if she were to do something big, she would do something small first to lull him into a false sense of security and gather intelligence.

In Liu Bai's view, the people who were entertained were just ordinary people with traceable patterns; those who were truly unrestrained and unpredictable were called madmen.

But clearly, Aha is not a madman, nor is the Masked Fool. There is a fundamental difference between a madman and a madman.

Whether they appear out of nowhere or follow the rules, their actions are all governed by "logic"—the pursuit of happiness.

It's just that his way of thinking seems a bit more unconventional to ordinary people.

For example, Aha disguised himself as a mortal and hid on the train for a year in order to play a trick on Akivili.

What's incomprehensible is the illogical goal of giving and receiving—a normal Star God wouldn't risk war with another Star God just for fun—while the entire logic and process of the action can be described as seamless.

The masked fool can often escape unscathed after causing a ruckus.

There are only two problems—normal people cannot understand the logic of these people, and these people are "catfish" that have jumped in from the outside.

Even Liu Bai wouldn't consider whether the opponent's pawn might move to the bottom and become a queen when playing Chinese chess.

but……

(Now that it's on the chessboard, it's no different from a regular chess piece... it just requires a few more moves to calculate.)

So-called strategy is nothing more than intelligence.

From the moment Hanabi appeared in front of Liu Bai, it became impossible for her to win.

The fact that Hanabi can still stand here like a human being is all thanks to Liu Bai's kindness.

(Actually... as things stand right now, as long as the 'catfish' that jump in doesn't have the Star God rank, they're all insignificant. The biggest problem right now is how to reduce civilian casualties in the turmoil.)

—This is the purpose of force.

Therefore, Fireworks should also avoid armed confrontation. The Masked Fools' advantage lies in their intelligence; force is not their forte.