Faced with Elysia's teasing,
The viewers naturally responded with maximum enthusiasm.
[Motoro-Duck: Me, the Herrscher of Reason, still have to obey traffic rules while riding a bike?]
[Herrscher Reason: Just some traffic cop—can they keep up with my speed? They're only worthy of seeing my taillights!!]
[Duck-Duck: No one can ever separate me from my beloved little motorcycle! No. One. Can!]
...
The livestream audience delighted in playing with memes,
Meanwhile, Bronya—who was watching the stream—was frowning harder by the second, her expression turning increasingly irritable.
Hokuto quickly reassured her:
"No worries. Once Bronya grows up, her driver's license will be forever out of reach. That way she'll never have to worry about it being revoked again."
"..."*N
A sudden silence fell over the entire miHoYo studio.
The atmosphere turned oddly eerie.
Just then, Fu Hua walked into miHoYo with Fu Shibao.
Seeing everyone uncharacteristically quiet and focused on the livestream, they instinctively lightened their steps and moved silently to the back of the crowd.
Fu Shibao curiously stared at the monitor.
Was this the newest animated short from Honkai Impact 3rd?
Since she was visiting the miHoYo studio today, she hadn't progressed the new story chapter yet.
Ever since Fu Hua had emotionally devastated her with Honkai's story last time,
Fu Shibao had vowed to get back up from where she fell—
Resolutely stepping into the Honkai Impact 3rd pit.
On-screen, the plot continued.
While Bronya raced wildly across a bridge,
Heavy Bunny, now in motorcycle form, suddenly issued a defensive warning—alerting Bronya to danger.
She glanced to the left—
And saw:
Fu Hua, wreathed in black mist and laughing madly, stomped down on a missile—or maybe a rocket—and flew past Bronya right before her eyes!!
"Hahaha..."
She cackled wildly.
The missile under her feet suddenly turned and launched directly at Bronya's bike.
In the nick of time,
Bronya swerved, making the motorcycle skid across the wet bridge surface to narrowly dodge the attack.
She then used her Herrscher of Reason powers to construct crystalline blue runways midair,
Launching into another spiraling burst of speed.
But—
She had underestimated the missile's speed.
Fu Hua swiftly caught up on her guided missile,
And with precise control, landed a direct hit on Bronya.
Boom!!
A huge explosion tore through the bridge.
Thankfully, Heavy Bunny had deployed a protective barrier just in time,
Shielding Bronya from the explosion's damage.
Even so,
The massive impact sent both Bronya and the barrier flying—crashing into the deep sea.
And still,
The other party refused to let her go.
Fu Hua dove in after her, sticking to Bronya like a phantom,
A crazed grin spreading across her face.
"Hehehe~~"
She grinned, pressing both hands against the barrier—
And then, horrifyingly, began phasing through it.
Sensing the threat,
Heavy Bunny immediately disengaged the barrier—
One hand grabbing Fu Hua, the other hurling Bronya upward.
But of course, it was no match for the current Fu Hua.
Almost instantly,
Heavy Bunny was blown to pieces by Fu Hua.
Her voice pierced the seawater:
"Ahahaha... Now—let me reshape this world with my own hands!"
The screen shifted again.
Atop a tall building, dense clouds spiraled and gathered,
Scarlet lightning flashing within, forming a sinister crimson vortex.
Fu Hua stood at the vortex's heart.
Kiana knelt on one knee, struggling to resist the raging Honkai energy.
Looking toward the figure in the vortex,
She wore a disbelieving expression: "You're..."
Fu Hua slowly turned her head, casting a sidelong glance at Kiana,
Her smile growing increasingly... 'healthy':
"What? You don't recognize me, Kiana-san?"
The moment the line ended, the screen went black.
In the darkness, Fu Hua declared:
"I shall—reshape all creation!"
The two-minute short ended.
Everyone watching was filled with adrenaline.
From start to finish, the short perfectly captured Fu Hua's return in her blackened, domineering, manic glory.
"So hype! Now I really want to play the next chapter!" Elysia couldn't help but exclaim.
If Chapters 18 and 19 made one contemplative,
Then this short titled Return left her positively itching with anticipation.
Fu Hua, returning in blackened form—
Punching Schicksal, kicking World Serpent, reshaping the world in her image!
Unhinged! Totally unhinged! But unbelievably cool!
As expected, miHoYo never disappoints.
And the bullet comments had already exploded:
[Today, my Fu is gonna beat all you Herrscher elders into Beyblades!]
[Miss Pink Elf is a prophet! Bronya actually did get her license revoked by the 'traffic cop'?!]
[No one can revoke my Reason Queen's license? Fu Hua, say that again? (lol)]
[If Honkai 3rd doesn't get renamed Fu Hua 3rd after this, I'm not buying it.]
[Three years have passed—All hail the return of Immortal Fu Hua!]
[Urgent! Urgent! I need the next chapter NOW!]
...
As the dense bullet comments flew across the screen, the audience, whether excited or memeing, were once again fired up thanks to Honkai Impact 3rd.
Hearing that final line—"I shall reshape all creation"—Fu Shibao could no longer contain herself.
"That line—that line actually got put into Honkai 3rd!?"
Slightly flustered, she then confidently added,
"Too bad. Old Fossil, when you said it, it didn't sound half as impactful. What a waste of my iconic line."
"...?"*N
Others turned around in surprise, hearing an unfamiliar girl's voice.
What they saw:
A girl who looked about 90% like Fu Hua—but clearly more expressive and unrestrained in her manner.
"You must be Miss Shi, right?"
Hokuto just managed to avoid adding the over-the-top "Glorious" prefix.
"Miss Shi?" Fu Shibao's expression shifted slightly.
"You don't like being called that?" Hokuto mused.
"I thought it would better convey my... respect for you."
"Respect?"
Fu Shibao crossed her arms, leaned back, and gave a look that said,
'This guy's not bad at all.'
"That's a good way to put it. I like it."
"..."
Standing to the side, Fu Hua watched Hokuto casually close the distance between him and her sister.
She blinked discreetly.
Just as she expected—
Hokuto and her sister were getting along splendidly.
Or rather, if Hokuto put his mind to it, he could get along with just about anyone.
Whether it was Kiana or Theresa, Mei or Bronya—or even Fu Hua herself—
Hokuto had never once run into communication issues.
"By the way, Miss Shi's earlier comment... actually had a point."
After some small talk, Hokuto brought the conversation back around.
"My earlier comment?"
Fu Shibao thought for a moment, then recalled what she'd said—
And because Hokuto had been so polite, she now felt a little embarrassed.
She didn't understand game development,
But surely creators didn't like people pointing fingers at their work, right?
"Old Fossil actually did a decent job dubbing it. I guess it wasn't too much of a waste for my iconic line."
But Hokuto shook his head:
"With Fu Hua's personality, she's really not suited for a line that intense."
He paused, then added:
"But still, I haven't found a more fitting..."
"What's there to struggle with? I'm right here!"
Before Hokuto could finish, Fu Shibao volunteered herself.
"Aren't I the perfect candidate?"
"..."
"What, you think I'm not good enough?"
Fu Shibao planted one hand on her hip and raised her voice:
"I can do anything!"
"..."
"Ahem... I think... Never mind. If Miss Shi is willing, that'd really help a lot."
This was the first time Hokuto had encountered someone who crashed headfirst into a plan before he even started pitching it. He was slightly caught off-guard.
"Long live Miss Shi!"
"...What do you mean, long live? That's weird. Be normal."
Fu Shibao looked a bit awkward.
"Hahaha~~ I got too excited. My bad, my bad."
Inviting Shi to join Honkai 3rd ended up being both unexpected and completely logical.
After all... it was that Shi.
Beloved by all, insightful and understanding—
Glorious Miss Shi!
Long live Miss Shi!
...
...
After the animated short Return dropped,
The popularity of Honkai Impact 3rd exploded without question.
Even Hokuto, who thought he was mentally prepared, realized he had seriously underestimated Immortal Fu Hua's fanbase.
Just because she normally kept a low profile didn't mean she wasn't beloved.
Once this "Return of the Strongest" teaser dropped,
Every Honkai player lost their minds.
In just half an hour, the Return short had already reached the trending lists on every major platform.
Its meteoric rise left everyone else in the dust.
All they could do was sigh—
At the peak of popularity, who dares compete?
Once Honkai 3rd appears, all others fade to nothing.
Before long, everyone realized they'd gotten used to it.
If a Honkai update didn't hit the charts one day, that would be the real surprise.
And yet, despite this fever-pitch atmosphere and the anticipation of countless players—
After finishing the main story production, Hokuto didn't immediately release it.
Because he still had to update the manga and novel supplements for Fu Hua's arc—
Though Chronicles of the Shenzhou Blade had yet to be published.
One, because the original author, Miss Shi, had a lot of ideas for the work, so Hokuto decided to revise it.
Two, releasing it after Fu Hua's main story arc might just be the perfect timing.
Of course, Hokuto still rolled out a few mini-events to ease players through the content drought.
For example: Honkai 3rd characters invading miHoYo.
Thanks to the collective brainstorming of the girls,
Hokuto had more than enough event proposals on hand—
No issues there.
And so, the day of the Honkai Impact 3rd anniversary finally arrived.
miHoYo had already posted the anniversary announcement the day prior.
Alongside the long-awaited main story update:
A second official livestream,
Special guest Miss Shi,
A sneak peek at the new Homu Home system,
And the announcement of the Honkai 3rd feature film.
Packed content, full of sincerity.
Players were as hyped as if it were New Year's.
They couldn't stop shouting:
"Fill us up, miHoYo! We're ready—serve it all! We can't wait!"