Honkai Impact 3rd: My Days as a Captain in Schicksal

What a terrifying enemy that must be.

The battlefield was littered with corpses, but there were only the bodies of soldiers from one side. The corpses were strangely shaped, and none of them were intact. If it wasn't due to internal strife, it could only mean that the gap between the two sides was too great.

It was so large that it wasn't a battle, but a massacre.

The city was dilapidated and on the verge of collapse; even a child's building blocks were more sturdy than it.

The ground looked as if it had been plowed by missiles, with deep trenches and the wreckage of various large machines everywhere.

Keng Huo could almost imagine the fearlessness of these soldiers defending the city.

Keng Huo could almost empathize with the pain and anger of the last remaining warrior.

But...the enemy...

That's right! Enemy attack!

The battle is not over yet!

The soldier roared, his bare hands unable to frighten him in the slightest. He lunged forward, his entire body radiating a fierce and indomitable spirit.

In a moment of clarity, Keng Huo seemed to hear the warrior's roar.

He was roaring.

He was roaring.

He was demonstrating through his actions: a will to fight to the death!

The scene before Keng Huo suddenly changed, but it vanished in an instant. He was kicked out of that visualization space as if he had been disconnected from an online game. His head was throbbing, and his whole body was limp. He didn't even have the strength to support himself. He slid down the table and chairs and collapsed to the ground like a corpse, motionless. He could barely breathe and his chest was not rising and falling.

After a long while, when Keng Huo finally realized that the sunlight was shining on his face, he had the strength to get up from the ground.

His physical strength wasn't depleted to the point where he couldn't move at all; the major drain was on his mental energy.

Making this jade pendant took a lot of his energy. Although his body wasn't very tired at the moment, the extreme mental exhaustion left him with no strength to use.

Keng Huo sat in the chair, staring blankly into space. It took him a while to slowly come back to his senses.

“Making this without the cauldron is so tiring…” Keng Huo smiled wryly, picking up the jade-white pen with his limp hands to give the blue crystal its final shaping. “The visualization isn’t complete, so the jade pendant will probably be less effective… And using broken crystal to make a jade pendant… that’s not a good idea. A jade pendant can be slowly nurtured by wearing it, eventually achieving a spiritual connection between the wearer and the object, allowing for a deeper understanding of the ancestors’ will and enhancing the pendant’s effectiveness… But broken crystal… without the filter of jade, even if I do nothing, just wearing it for a day would probably kill me…”

He had regained some of his energy by then, and the final touches weren't too difficult, so the little object was completed in half an hour.

As time passed, the softened crystal slowly hardened. Keng Huo carefully collected the crystal fragments that had been scraped off the table and placed them carefully into the small box from which the crystal had been taken out. In that small box, there was another crystal of the same type, but smaller than this one.

Keng Huo, as if still not satisfied, carefully inspected the table and floor again, afraid of missing even a single crumb.

After finishing the inspection, Keng Huo seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and lay sprawled on the ground, not caring at all whether the ground was dirty or not.

He held the crystal, carved into the shape of a small jade pendant, in his hand, and held it up to his eyes, looking at the ceiling through the crystal pendant as if looking through a kaleidoscope.

"No impurities, the shaping was a success." Keng Huo beamed, but then looked troubled. "What should we call a jade pendant made of broken crystal? A crystal pendant?"

Keng Huo felt the intense fighting spirit surging from the crystal pendant, as if he were holding not a small crystal pendant, but a blood-stained, deeply wounded, and fractured iron fist, still full of fighting spirit, swung at an enemy a thousand times stronger than himself, with a tragic and irreversible momentum.

The crystal pendant that Keng Huo just made was originally called "Nangong's Fist". It would increase the wearer's unarmed attack power to an absurd level, and it would also become stronger in battle as the amount of Honkai energy released from the enemies killed during use increased.

The technique he used to make jade pendants also has a long history and a name.

Alchemy.

In the five thousand years of struggle between the inhabitants of the Divine Continent and the collapse, outstanding heroes have emerged from ordinary people. They either defended their homes with superhuman abilities or sacrificed their lives for righteousness with ordinary bodies. They have done many things, which could not be told for a day and a night, but they all have one thing in common.

Their will was incredibly strong, their pursuits incredibly noble, their souls incredibly pure, and their story is as epic as a ballad.

Their souls and spirits lingered even after death, collected by the Honkai Hunters of other continents. They studied the last and most magnificent battle of their lives, feeling their spirit and understanding their will in that fantastical memory. They engraved the image of these passionate, unwavering, and protective souls deep in their hearts, and then used the projection of their will to imprint the spirit and will of these heroes on jade pendants.

These wills manifest unique abilities under Honkai energy, an energy that could not be explained by common sense at the time. Some people's souls can cause the wearer's sword to shoot out sword energy, some people's obsession can make the wearer who has suffered a fatal injury survive for a moment, and some people's tenacious will can reduce the damage the wearer suffers.

The hunters, who inherited the will of these heroes, then passed that will on to their descendants and others.

True intention gives rise to true knowledge, and spiritual knowledge will naturally respond. When the three schools unite as one, body and mind will suddenly find peace.

An empty room is filled with light, and stillness brings forth yang energy. Gather the herbs and diligently refine them, and they will transform into purple-gold frost.

When the mind's eye shines with wisdom, one's true nature manifests and worldly desires vanish. Like a bright pearl in the night, it shines radiantly everywhere.

Noise transforms into true nature, and the human heart becomes the heart of the Way. If not forged by divine fire, how can gold be extracted from the ore?

—The Golden Elixir Manual

This is the origin of alchemy.

This is the technology that the Destiny Headquarters has been dreaming of.

This is a unique skill passed down for countless years by the Honkai Hunters of the Divine Continent. They use materials containing Honkai energy to craft equipment, or infuse their will and spirit into jade pendants to gain the power to control Honkai energy. Moreover, because they do not use Honkai energy directly in their bodies, but indirectly through jade that is infused with Honkai energy and has good tolerance and conductivity for it, even ordinary people without resistance to Honkai energy can borrow its power for a short time. However, prolonged use at one time will cause Honkai energy to invade the human body, corrupting the user and turning them into a deadly being.

Compared to the technology of Destiny, the abilities of the Honkai Hunters of the Divine Continent are more idealistic, exhibiting principles that cannot be explained by science.

All Honkai Hunters in the Divine Continent must create their own Honkai weapons and infuse them with their own will in order to use the Honkai energy within the equipment freely. Otherwise, if someone else forces them to use the equipment, they will burn their brains in the clash between the creator's will and the Honkai energy contained within the equipment.

Moreover, not everyone can use this ability. Even if someone with a weak will manages to create their own anti-Honkai weapon, they will not be able to resist the erosion of their spirit by Honkai energy, and will become a puppet of Honkai in just a few breaths.

However, this ability also has its flaws. If one is not a true Honkai energy user, they will inevitably be slowly eroded by long-term use, and will almost certainly become a suicide soldier in the end. Therefore, Honkai hunters in Shenzhou will undergo clan testing after reaching a certain age. If they fail the Honkai energy concentration test, they will be captured on the spot. In severe cases, they will be imprisoned in a deep and heavily guarded underground prison with their bodies covered in Demon-Subduing Nails until the Honkai energy in their bodies is completely dispelled by the Demon-Subduing Nails after many years.

Those who pass must also be constantly monitored by their clan and undergo regular testing. If they fail a test, their fate is the same as those who did not pass. Therefore, every Honkai Hunter on the Divine Continent is extremely strict about their abilities and the use of Honkai weapons. After each mission, they will proactively test their Honkai energy concentration and then cultivate their mind through quiet rest and seclusion, expelling the effects of Honkai energy on their soul.

But no one had any objection to this seemingly heartless system.

Because too many tragedies have occurred on that land, where heroes who saved the people turned into demons who slaughtered cities in the blink of an eye, this system was created not only to destroy the Honkai Hunters themselves, but also to protect innocent people from disaster.

Honkai Hunters is a name used worldwide for the sake of a unified terminology. On their own land in China, these Honkai Hunters prefer to call themselves Taoists, Sword Immortals, and Qi Masters, etc., according to their favorite fighting styles. However, they are collectively referred to as Fangshi. Honkai Beasts and Death Warriors were called Monsters and Zombies at that time.

However, a major event that occurred in modern times on the Shenzhou continent caused the alchemists on the Shenzhou continent to almost disappear completely, and since then, the collapse and outbreak events on the Shenzhou continent have also disappeared.

Keng Huo didn't know if there were any other sorcerers in the world, because the various sorcerer families had long since lost contact.

"Maybe I really am the last one?" Keng Huo chuckled softly. "I always feel like I've become the hope of the whole village."

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Hunter Squad

Keng Huo put everything back in its place, muttering to himself, "It's such a hassle not having a cauldron... I need to see if there's any way to get one... Otherwise, I'm exhausted every time I make equipment, the efficiency is just too low..."

After tidying up, Keng Huo stretched happily, feeling that his life was full of hope.

"Although I don't particularly like using my fists, it's still the fastest way to build a combination... Next, I'll create [Knights Don't Die Bare Hands], which can complement [Nangong's Fist], and then make [Swift Wind Technique] to increase speed. Later, I can slowly visualize and enhance their power..."

"I just don't know how long it will take to recreate my favorite fighting style..." Keng Huo muttered to himself as he picked up a folder from the coffee table, glanced at it briefly, and, finding nothing missing, straightened his clothes, opened the door, and went out.

Today was the day he had arranged to discuss the academy's future development plans with Theresa.

Keng Huo strolled leisurely to Theresa's office door, cleared his throat, and gently knocked: "Headmistress? It's me, Keng Huo. I'm coming in."

After saying that, Keng Huo pushed the door open and entered. The moment the door opened, he suddenly felt a hurricane swirling in the office rushing towards him. He closed his eyes with practiced ease and turned his back.

Sure enough, a lot of paper documents were swept up by the hurricane and hit him.

After the wind subsided, Keng Huo lazily turned around, walked casually to Theresa's desk, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

"Who let you in!" Theresa's fierce but cowardly voice came from behind the desk.

"Oh, so what if you were secretly reading comics again?" Keng Huo waved his hand dismissively. "How many comics have you torn up already? Every time you do it, you make such a commotion. Himeko already said that your love for comics isn't a secret at school..."

"Snapped."

Keng Huo calmly peeled the "Introduction to Educational Psychology" book off his face and put it back on the table: "If you throw this book at me again, it'll probably have my face imprinted on it..."

"Snapped."

"Are you ever going to stop?! So what if I caught you secretly reading comics again?!" Keng Huo ripped the book off his face. "It's not the first time, why are you reacting so strongly?"

"That's a brand new volume that just arrived!" Theresa's little head suddenly popped out from behind the desk, her hands on the table, and she shouted back at Keng Huo fiercely.

"You tore it yourself! You just wanted to hide the fact that you were reading comics! Is it really necessary to tear up books every time?!" Keng Huo roared, slamming his fist on the table. "And you always blame it on me!"

"It's all because you always come in without knocking!"

"So I already said you stole... Wait a minute! I clearly knocked on the door! You were so engrossed in your comics that you didn't notice me knocking!" Keng Huo was willing to forgo his salary for this month just to argue with Theresa.

"Tch." Theresa sat back down in her chair, looking annoyed. "What is it?"

Veins bulged on Keng Huo's forehead: "Didn't you say you wanted me to come and tell you about the plans I made for the future development of the academy today?!"

“Oh…that…ahahaha…of course I remember…” Theresa changed the subject.

Keng Huo's face twitched visibly. He took a few deep breaths to calm his wildly beating heart and pushed the folder in his hand in front of Theresa: "The specific action plans are all in here. Do you need me to give you a brief introduction first?"

“Then you go first,” Theresa said, making the sound of a drawer being opened as if she were taking something out. “If your plan isn’t good, then I don’t need to look at it anymore.”

A strong intuition told him that Theresa seemed to be up to something, but he was too lazy to think about it at the moment. He just wanted to finish his report and go back to catch up on his sleep.

"Regarding the follow-up training of those newly promoted Valkyries... we will still follow the normal training method, and divide them into assault (melee), heavy firepower support, reconnaissance, sniping, battlefield medics, and logistics departments according to their individual combat styles. Of course, this is not really important, I was just mentioning it casually."

"Then let's start with the less favorable aspects. As the Far East branch of St. Freya Academy, I think it's unlikely that we'll have our own research institution within the next few years."

"The reasons are as follows: First, we are short-handed. The Valkyries you brought are all combat-oriented Valkyries, and there are no research personnel. The logistics department can only be responsible for repairs and daily maintenance of the warships, which is completely insufficient compared to research and development projects. As for our students, to put it bluntly, they are just a group of high school students. Their knowledge and experience cannot support them to complete scientific research work. Therefore, compared with other branches of Schicksal, our scientific research is a huge weakness."

"Attracting external research institutions is also unlikely. First of all, we cannot recruit researchers from the secular world. On the one hand, we cannot reveal the truth of this world to outsiders. On the other hand, the technology of the divine is far beyond the existing social system. Even if we recruit outsiders, they may not be able to complete our scientific research."

"Faced with this situation, I think we can take a different approach. Instead of establishing our own research institutions, we can choose to cooperate with other research institutions, or hire them, or you could say spend money to support the research institutions under other branches or headquarters for hired research."

“But this means we’ll have to spend a lot of materials and money to support those research institutions. How will we maintain our funding? And how will we establish an equal and mutually beneficial relationship with those research institutions?” Theresa’s voice came from behind the desk, accompanied by the sound of pages turning.

Keng Huo looked at the untouched report documents on his desk, took a deep breath, and decided not to think about why there was a sound of turning pages coming from Theresa's desk.

"That's right. We can't achieve an equal and mutually beneficial relationship with those research institutions in scientific research and technology. We can only use a lot of materials and funds to build the technology we want, or in other words, we hire them to do scientific research."

"Hiring? Schicksal's research organization has this function?" Theresa's voice carried a hint of doubt, but the sound of turning pages did not stop.

“I studied the research institutions of the Destiny Organization and found that although many research institutions have their own primary research projects, there are still many small research laboratories that are in surplus. Since the large-scale research does not require so many people, when the research is being carried out in the entire research institution, there are actually some people in a relatively relaxed state. They can only make coffee for the main researchers and print documents every day.”

"But these idle personnel are a resource!" Keng Huo's tone became excited. "In fact, every large research institution has one or two research labs that aren't under too much workload. Moreover, the internal competition within large research institutions is extremely fierce; survival of the fittest is practically a daily occurrence. Under this pressure, all research labs want more resources to complete their research or to achieve some unplanned research progress to gain favor with the headquarters. At the same time, I've also heard some information that these researchers secretly accept some employment during their spare time to earn research materials and some funding. If we can establish contact with them and, on the condition of providing more materials and funding, have them conduct short-term research for us, I think they can completely handle the current situation at our academy."

“But the method you’re talking about undoubtedly requires a lot of funding and research materials. Our academy is notoriously poor right now. In order to complete their own research, those research labs will inevitably demand more materials from us than the materials we provide for the research projects we request. How can we afford these expenses?” Theresa’s voice seemed casual, but every word she said hit the nail on the head.

“That’s what I’m going to talk about next,” Keng Huo paused, as if organizing his thoughts. “Regarding research materials, we can say that we are either penniless or overflowing with resources.”

"Changkong City is one of the hardest-hit areas in the early stages of the Third Honkai Outbreak. The Honkai energy reaction in the city is quite strong. Under this level of Honkai energy radiation, the number of Honkai Beasts and Death Knights will far exceed that of other areas. If we don't have the materials, we can just hunt them down."

"Who should I send?" Theresa's voice came as she closed her book, a hint of something ambiguous in her tone. "You previously arranged for my Valkyries to continue preparing lessons for the new recruits, supplementing their combat skills, and leading them in practical training..."