Honkai Star Rail: Starting With Marrying Acheron

Lin Shuang was trying to treat the Herta Doll as a "mount" that she could use at will. This was her method.

Although she could ask Silver Wolf to borrow an AI for control, experiencing the assimilation brought by riding skills made her realize something important—if she could control the Herta Doll in that state, it would unleash even greater functionality.

More importantly, she wouldn't have to speak when giving orders.

That was incredibly convenient.

The reason she had to work so hard to condition herself was because of the conditions required to activate her riding skill.

Lin Shuang needed to identify something as a rideable mount and have the desire to tame or assimilate it.

Only then would the skill trigger.

But clearly, the Herta Doll didn't fit the definition of a mount. So, to activate her skill smoothly, Lin Shuang had no choice but to convince herself otherwise.

"A mount... I can ride the Herta Doll..."

Muttering to herself, she focused hard, but other than a bunch of irrelevant thoughts flooding her mind, there was no response from her skill.

"Still not working? Looks like I need to take more drastic measures."

Lin Shuang's face turned slightly red.

She pushed herself off the sofa and looked down at the motionless Herta Doll. Reaching out, she grasped its waist and thighs, turning it over so it knelt on the sofa in an awkward position.

"Guh... I'm sorry."

Blushing, she clasped her hands together in silent apology as she glanced at the hem of its skirt, which had lifted due to its raised position.

Thinking for a moment, she retrieved two stickers Silver Wolf had given her.

With two quick motions, she placed them on the doll's arms.

The red cross sticker blocked the signal, while the smiley face sticker functioned as a simple control program.

The doll could now only perform basic actions based on Lin Shuang's voice commands.

As the stickers blinked, glowing like pixels, the Herta Doll, which had kept its eyes shut, suddenly opened them. Facing away from Lin Shuang, still kneeling on the sofa, it spoke in a flat, emotionless voice:

"Please give your order, Master Lin Shuang."

"Hiss..."

Lin Shuang turned even redder upon hearing the phrase.

With this posture—kneeling, back arched—and those words, it was way too easy to misinterpret the situation.

And the voice... It was Herta's built-in voice. For a second, Lin Shuang almost thought it was Herta herself speaking.

She was serious! She had never set any strange activation phrases.

Silver Wolf must have added them without permission.

That girl did this on purpose! Lin Shuang silently took note of this in her mind before coughing dryly and giving a command.

"Uh, alright. I order you to lie down!"

"Understood, Master Lin Shuang."

Without emotion, the Herta Doll followed the command, pressing its arms against the sofa and lowering its waist.

Its spherical jointed hips became even more prominent under the skirt, and its slender legs stretched out in an elegant display.

Lin Shuang resisted the urge to investigate further and quickly grabbed the doll's shoulders, pulling it upright.

"No, no... I shouldn't do this. This is making me seem like the ultimate pervert."

She hesitated before ultimately abandoning the idea of simply straddling the doll.

If she sat on it now, it would be too much. If Silver Wolf ever found out about this, the humiliation would be unbearable.

The entire Stellaron Hunter group would brand her as a pervert.

She had to change the approach first!

"Step down from the sofa and squat on the floor."

"Understood, Master Lin Shuang."

Now that the doll had moved down and squatted, Lin Shuang felt a lot less embarrassed.

Meanwhile…

The complete signal blackout of the Herta Doll caught Herta's attention.

Every Herta Doll had a positioning system that could only be destroyed through extreme force.

This independent security feature was meant to prevent them from being misplaced.

Though Herta had relinquished control over this particular doll, the positioning system had remained active due to its independent design.

This meant that while she had no idea what Lin Shuang was doing with the doll, she still knew where it was.

Initially, Herta wasn't interested in what Lin Shuang planned to do. After all, there had been no proper shutdown function in the original design—this was simply a byproduct of that oversight.

But now, the signal had suddenly disappeared.

Silver Wolf's shielding program was undeniably effective—too effective.

The sudden loss of connection piqued Herta's curiosity. She decided to investigate. Her design wasn't so easily overridden.

Had the doll been destroyed?

With this in mind, Herta diverted some of her attention to forcefully hack back in.

However, with the initial control severed and Silver Wolf's shielding methods in place, even Herta couldn't easily breach the system in a short amount of time.

…

Lin Shuang remained oblivious to the fact that her precautions had drawn Herta's notice. Right now, she was focused on her experiment. Holding onto the Herta Doll's head, she raised her foot, preparing to mount it.

With a smooth motion, Lin Shuang seated herself on the doll's shoulders.

"Alright, stand up and walk around the room."

"Understood, Master Lin Shuang."

The puppet's palms naturally supported her calves as it stood up and began to move.

At last, Lin Shuang felt something shift.

She could sit on it, move, and issue commands!

This—this was a mount!

The realization clicked into place.

Boom!

The riding skill activated. Power surged from Lin Shuang into the Herta Doll's body.

Living creatures could be assimilated, and so could puppets! Flames poured into the doll, making Lin Shuang's control over it sharper and clearer.

Since the puppet lacked consciousness, it felt as if Lin Shuang had gained an extra body she could fully manipulate.

Moments later, the flames subsided, and the Herta Doll returned to its normal appearance. But now, Lin Shuang no longer needed words—she could control it just by thinking.

It moved as easily as her own limbs, as though it had truly become an extension of her body.

"Wuhu! Success!"

Overjoyed, Lin Shuang jumped off and led the doll toward an empty room.

"Next up, it's time for the real challenge! Marriage!"