Honkai: Star Rail: I Can Fix This Gender-Bent World — Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Under Suspicion

Herta’s gaze first locked onto Caelus, who was being towed along by March 7th. The puppet’s eyes lit up with the thrill of a researcher discovering a truly rare specimen.

“This gray-haired young man… there’s a Stellaron reaction inside his body, and the energy readings are abnormally stable.” The puppet’s head tilted, its voice a crisp, analytical monotone. “It’s almost perfectly fused with his vital signs… this doesn’t match any known records of a Stellaron Host.”

“Interesting. How very interesting! I want to keep him for complete, long-term observation and research.”

The words made Caelus instinctively flinch, a nervous tension tightening his shoulders. March 7th’s brow furrowed, and his grip on Caelus’s hand tightened in response.

Then, the Herta puppet’s piercing gaze swiveled toward Chen.

“As for you…”

A rare flicker of genuine curiosity animated the puppet’s small, doll-like face.

“This… might not be your original body, correct?”

Chen was instantly struck dumb, his mind going utterly blank. A mask of pure confusion settled on his features. “W-what do you mean? Mr. Herta, I don’t quite understand…”

“The surveillance records are crystal clear,” the Herta puppet interrupted, cutting through his feigned ignorance. “Although most of the space station’s wide-area surveillance was jammed by the attack, the fragmented data we recovered can still be pieced together to form some… interesting images.”

The puppet continued, its eyes seeming to pierce straight through Chen’s facade. “In Corridor B7, an abnormal burst of Arlan’s energy signature was recorded. And at those exact same coordinates, fluctuations consistent with the Path of Erudition—belonging to one of my puppets—were also detected.”

Herta’s gaze was sharp, relentless. “The precise coordinates where these two anomalous energy fluctuations appeared overlap perfectly with your position at the time. Not to mention, you were the only unevacuated individual in Corridor B7.”

Hearing this, a cold sweat began to prickle at Chen’s neck. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt; he hadn’t expected the space station’s surveillance systems to be so damn sophisticated. It could actually capture and analyze subtle differences in energy signatures? Still, it seemed he hadn’t actually been filmed, which was a small mercy.

Watching his reaction, the Herta puppet seemed even more convinced of its judgment. It folded its arms, and the crisp, youthful voice delivered a statement that sent a fresh jolt of alarm through Chen.

“This ability of yours… it reminds me of the usual tricks employed by a very annoying fellow.”

The puppet tilted its head, as if dredging up an unpleasant memory. “A tavern clown who enjoys hiding in the shadows and stirring up trouble wherever he goes.”

The description immediately sent Chen’s mind racing. A name surfaced from his game knowledge: Sparkle. That Masked Fool, obsessed with role-playing, mocking others, and treating all of reality as her personal stage.

‘In this bizarre, gender-bent world,’ he thought with a grimace, ‘that Miss Sparkle… oh no, given the rules here, she’d probably be a Mr. Sparkle, wouldn’t he?’

After all, in terms of pure ability, that person’s penchant for mimicry and his own shoddy transformation system did share some unsettling similarities…

The Herta puppet keenly captured the fleeting change in Chen’s expression. Its eyes narrowed, and its small body leaned forward, bringing its face uncomfortably close to Chen’s.

“Oh? It seems you know who I’m talking about.” The puppet’s head tilted again, its exquisite yet emotionless face magnifying before Chen’s eyes. “An interesting reaction.”

“Let me guess… you’ve heard that annoying name somewhere before,” Herta mused, its voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “You immediately associated it with his unpleasant mimicry and chaotic abilities, thereby validating my words… Or…”

The puppet paused, its gaze turning ice-cold.

“Are you, in fact, Sparkle himself?”

The direct interrogation caused the already tense atmosphere in the room to practically shatter.

The word ‘tavern’ clearly struck a sensitive nerve with Himeko and Welt. Uncle Himeko’s brow furrowed deeply, his sharp gaze sweeping back and forth between the Herta puppet and Chen. He obviously knew exactly what ‘tavern’ and ‘Masked Fool’ implied: a faction of cosmic anarchists who treated the universe as a playground, acting without logic or reason, obsessed with creating chaos for the sake of ‘Elation’. Being targeted by them meant endless, unpredictable trouble.

Ms. Welt Yang’s expression had also become exceptionally solemn.

Even Dan Heng, who had been standing silently by the wall like a stoic guardian, now fixed her gaze on Chen. She had clearly learned of the Masked Fools’ ill repute from the Astral Express’s extensive data banks.

The only one in the room who didn’t seem frightened by the mention of the ‘tavern’—or rather, who cared more about the state of his companion—was March 7th.

His brow was knitted in a tight knot on a face that, in a baffling twist of cosmic irony, looked exactly like his original female self. Upon hearing Herta’s direct accusation, March 7th reacted on pure instinct. With a sudden tug, he yanked Chen—who was still reeling in a state of confused guilt—over to his side.

“Hey! Mr. Herta!” March 7th’s voice was as crisp and indignant as ever.

He planted himself in front of Chen. Though his slender frame and delicate features hardly made for an imposing figure, his intention to protect his companion was exceptionally clear.

“Stop scaring him!” he declared. “What tavern clown? What Sparkle? How could Chen possibly be some kind of mysterious bad guy!”

He turned his head, whispering urgently to the still-dazed Chen, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid! Ms. Welt and Uncle Himeko are both here! Mr. Herta is just being… uh, a little direct!”

Then he turned back to the Herta puppet, trying to make his tone sound more reasonable. “And even if Chen… even if he really does have some strange abilities, that doesn’t make him a bad person! Maybe… maybe he’s just special! Just like me! I don’t remember anything either, you know!”

Pulled to safety behind March 7th and hearing his unreserved trust and defense, Chen felt a complex wave of emotions wash over him. ‘This kid…’ he thought, a corner of his mouth twitching upwards, ‘he’s actually pretty damn loyal when it counts.’

The Herta puppet didn’t seem surprised by March 7th’s intervention. Its gaze remained locked on Chen, boring right through the boy standing in front of him.

“Special? Hmph.” The puppet let out a soft, dismissive sound. “Ignorant kindness is often the most dangerous catalyst for disaster. My judgments are based on data and analysis, not naive guesswork.”

Its gaze swept past March 7th, landing once again on Himeko and Welt.

“So, what are your opinions?” Herta challenged, the pressure in its voice evident. “Will you insist on taking away these two, who are clearly high-risk, unstable factors? Or will you accept my proposal to let them stay for complete security checks and preliminary research?”

The puppet’s voice dropped, laced with a final, chilling warning. “I must advise you, if their abnormalities are truly related to the tavern, allowing them to move freely could bring unpredictable trouble to the Express… and to countless others.”

The weight of the decision fell squarely back onto the shoulders of the Astral Express crew.