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

A 3D projection appeared above the communicator.

The 3D projector displayed a scene that seemed strangely familiar.

“Connecting…”

"..." Theresa silently turned her face away. "Ahem... just a moment, she should answer in a bit..."

Keng Huo didn't answer, but stared anxiously at the screen, his heart pounding like a war drum.

Finally, the 3D projection flickered and revealed the face that Keng Huo had been longing for. Upon seeing this, Theresa quietly left the room, leaving the space to the two of them.

"Moshi Moshi?" On the other end of the camera was a young girl wearing the kind of white lab coat that researchers often wear. Her long green hair was draped over her shoulders, and she wore glasses on her youthful face. "Theresa?"

"Elisa!" Keng Huo pounced on her in an exaggerated manner, "Did you miss your brother?!"

"..."

"?"

"Theresa...who is this pervert?" The projection of Elisa seemed to be frightened, took a step back, and looked around, but could not find Theresa.

Seeing Keng Huo, who had fallen into a state of dejection and hunchback at the speed of wind, Elisa couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh: "Okay, okay, I was just kidding, brother."

A fierce flame suddenly ignited in Keng Huo's eyes. He stood up, hands on his hips: "Hahaha, I knew you were joking! You weren't disappointed at all! It was all an act! Were you amazed by your brother's superb acting skills?"

“…Brother, please be more dignified.” On the projection, Elisa seemed to have long been used to Keng Huo’s nonsensical antics, raising a hand to support her forehead.

"How's the food at Destiny's? Have those nerdy researchers around you done anything scary to you? If they bully you, tell your brother! I'm telling you, I'm really strong now! If they really dare to bully you, I'll..."

Elisa simply sighed and looked away.

"Don't look away! Don't you want to see your brother, whom you've been longing for day and night, a few more times!" Keng Huo righteously accused Elisa. "Your brother went through countless hardships to find you, fighting his way from Siberia to the Middle East, and then from the Middle East all the way to Europe..."

"Yeah, it destroyed several of our research facilities along the way, causing lifelong psychological trauma to countless Valkyries..." Elisa's expression turned both amused and exasperated. "It's said that now, the Valkyries stationed at the research institutions in the Middle East branch sometimes run out of the restroom because of some noise coming from who-knows-where, without even bothering to pull up their pants..."

Keng Huo looked around and spoke of other things.

"Honestly!" Elisa huffed, hands on her hips, her finger seemingly poking Keng Huo's forehead. "Do you know how much effort I put into dealing with those Valkyries who were so enraged that they collectively petitioned to put you on the kill list?! Destiny was going to execute you when they finally caught you! If it weren't for your clever, capable, virtuous, considerate, and resourceful sister pulling strings..."

"Hahahaha..." Keng Huo laughed awkwardly, his eyes darting around. "I was just worried they'd bully you..."

"And another thing!" Elisa seemed to be angered by Keng Huo's unrepentant reaction. "Do you even know what your physical condition was like back then! The Honkai energy corruption level was already severely exceeded! If you had used your ability so recklessly back then, you probably would have turned into a suicide soldier before you were even caught!"

"Haha..." Keng Huo scratched his head, seemingly terrified of his sister's scolding, "This was all an accident... an accident..."

"If I hadn't begged Archbishop Otto to use the Demon-Subduing Nails, a relic of the Divine Land he had acquired before, to imprison you, you would have already..."

"Let's not talk about that now!" Keng Huo cleverly stopped Elisa from speaking and changed the subject, "Your brother has prepared a lot of gifts for you!"

Before Elisa could speak, Keng Huo magically pulled all sorts of gift boxes out of his pocket, and some of them were unwrapped and simply placed on the bed.

"Look! This is a fragment of a cat mummy I dug out of the Egyptian pyramids... your birthday present this year!"

"And this! A mask, a specialty of Venice! Your birthday present from last year!"

"And another thing! This is one I carefully selected, I'm sure you'll love it! Ta-da! I had someone buy this limited edition Phoenix Flying Sandalwood Hairpin! It was my birthday present two years ago! Next time I can braid your hair into a 'Following Clouds' bun!"

"Look at this! The teddy bear pajamas you've always wanted..."

"Alright, alright! I'm not a child anymore!" Elisa yelled, as if she couldn't take it anymore. "My brother is always like this! I'm not a child anymore! I can take care of myself!! These... these are things for children! I don't like them at all! Don't bother Elisa's work anymore! Elisa is very capable and very busy! Don't send these things anymore! Elisa doesn't have room for them! Humph!!!"

"This...this was all carefully selected by your brother..." A clear look of disappointment flashed across Keng Huo's face. "My little sister has grown up...she doesn't want her brother anymore...does she have a boyfriend outside and that's why she doesn't care about her brother at all..."

"No...no way! Keep these things and give them to the girls at St. Freya Academy! You're so old and still single! It's shameful! Elisa doesn't have a brother who's a total loser!"

"This hellish academy is full of yuri! No wonder I can't find a girlfriend!!"

"...I don't care! You just have to find me a sister-in-law! Elisa has programming tests to do! She doesn't have time to play with her brother! I'm hanging up!"

After saying that, Elisa seemed to angrily disconnect the communication link.

Only Keng Huo remained, holding the pajamas that resembled a onesie mascot costume in both hands, standing there with a forlorn expression.

……

Somewhere on Earth, there is a huge laboratory buried deep underground.

In the very center of the laboratory, a massive, crystal-encrusted tubular structure stood in the empty hall. Countless conduits and wires connected to this enormous structure, which was filled with a pale green liquid. A green-haired woman in a black and red robe, whose features vaguely resembled the AI ​​Ai-chan from the Hyperion battleship, floated silently in the viscous liquid like Sleeping Beauty. Dozens of metal conduits and wires, as if growing from her body, were also connected to her, extending along her spine and deeply embedded in her form.

In the dim light, the woman's expression was as indifferent as ice.

A single, almost invisible tear seemed to slowly seep from the corner of her left eye, melting into the liquid before it could even announce its arrival to the world.

……

Noticing that the arguing had stopped for a long time, Theresa cautiously peeked into the ward and saw Keng Huo slowly putting down the nightgown, looking utterly forlorn.

Before she could even speak, Keng Huo's sharp, cold gaze pierced her like a knife.

"She's not Elisa... Where's my sister? What did you do to her?" Keng Huo's voice was somewhat gloomy, even terrifying.

"Huh? Impossible! She's your sister!" Theresa's shock was palpable. If this Elisa wasn't the Elisa from the past, then...

"Do you think I'm stupid?! How could I not recognize someone I've spent so much time with?!" The veins on Keng Huo's neck bulged, and his eyes were bloodshot. "She can't be Elisa! Impossible!"

Before Theresa could even comprehend this sudden turn of events, a furious roar silenced her. His fury echoed for miles: "Before, even if I was out all morning, she would always want her brother to kiss, hug, and lift her up high when she saw me come back!! Now, she doesn't even ask if I've eaten well!! Tell me!! Did you do something to her?!"

"...Hello? Is this the police station? There's a pervert here..."

Chapter Ninety: Dreams and the Taste of Home

Keng Huo suddenly woke up from his sleep, sitting on the hospital bed covered in sweat.

This nightmare has haunted him ever since the day he returned from Changkong City.

In that dream, Keng Huo saw the life of a woman named Yae Sakura, a life tormented, mocked by the god of fate, unbearably painful, as dark as ink, a life that could not even be called a life.

Rather than calling it life, it's more accurate to say it's...

Bound and manipulated by so-called responsibility, so-called fate, and so-called "care and respect"...

A hell like a doll.

The dream contained the birth of a woman named Yae Sakura.

Her life was controlled by her own father, the head priest of the shrine.

She has a kind and considerate younger sister, and memories of purgatory-like suffering from killing her own sister as a sacrifice to a so-called god.

There was... a Valkyrie named Kallen Kaslana, the one who smiled and said she would protect her, the one she deeply trusted and loved... who, at the end of the dream, personally plunged a golden spear deep into her body.

Even... after a five-hundred-year seal, three figures that Keng Huo was all too familiar with appeared.

Kiana, Raiden Mei, and Bronya.

The woman named Yae Sakura awoke from darkness and chaos, opening her eyes with tears in her eyes. Before her lay a face that was almost identical to that of the person she deeply loved.

Her heart seemed to be filled with tenderness and joy, and she reached out her hand, wanting to touch the face that had been the object of her longing for five hundred years.

But the owner of that face tilted his head slightly, dodging her hand, and pressed a weapon he had never seen before against her forehead.

The face, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the one she deeply loved, slowly opened its mouth and spoke in a cold voice:

"You who were born from the Honkai, I ask you, are you my enemy?"

……

Fragments of will, as their name suggests, are merely fragments. Each fragment contains only the deepest emotions and memories of the dead soul. Such complete memories as these fragments of will are unseen and unheard of by Keng Huo.

This is hardly a fragment; if it weren't for the lack of some mysterious and elusive elements, it could even be described as... a complete soul.

Every night, Keng Huo is trapped in this endless cycle of dreams, helplessly watching as the woman named Yae Sakura is tormented and ravaged by fate.

Keng Huo sat on the bed, his back hunched over.

Keng Huo raised his left hand, and the pale pink, cherry blossom-like mark came into view.

Through the analysis over the past few days, he has figured out exactly what this mark is.

It should be a fragment of the will left behind when the being named Yae Sakura disappeared, and Keng Huo, who was probably nearby or even next to her at the time, spontaneously attracted the attachment of this fragment of will.

The alchemist can indeed absorb those fragments of will that linger aimlessly in the world, but that is all under the alchemist's conscious guidance. As for those that spontaneously attach themselves to him like this...

It can only be understood as the world being so vast and full of wonders.

It was so intact that it didn't look like a fragment at all, and no one but him could see this tattoo-like mark.

Keng Huo's hands gripped the blanket tightly.

It was as if they wanted to grasp that elusive destiny.

"Yae Sakura..." Keng Huo murmured softly, "You...maybe you really aren't the enemy..."

"Your fate and struggles... I will remember them..."

"If you can know this from beyond the grave... then please bless me..."

"Please let me carry you... just as I carry others who share the same fate, abandoned by this world..."

"Be my strength... to save those... who are just as powerless to fight..."

……

On the second day at noon, Keng Huo's ward welcomed a guest who was both expected and unexpected.

Kiana.

“Why are you all like this…” Kiana placed the thermos on the bedside table, her eyes filled with worry. “Theresa had a problem on her mission, and you went out to do business and got hit by a car…”

This was Himeko's explanation to the others. She cleverly attributed Keng Huo's hospitalization to a car accident on his way to a business trip, erasing Keng Huo from Theresa's mission experience. After all, in everyone's mind, Keng Huo was just an ordinary person who had nothing to do with Theresa's mission.

Keng Huo greatly admired Ji Zi's idea and even planned to take her on as a disciple to teach her novel-writing skills. However, instead of a disciple, he received a charmingly disdainful look.

"As a wounded patient, I think you should focus on recovering..." These were Himeko's exact words.

As for gratitude, Keng Huo didn't care about that, or rather, he was the kind of person who would be at a loss if he received thanks. Himeko naturally understood this as well, so she didn't directly thank him for the important impact of his actions on St. Freya Academy. Instead, she silently took over all the work that he had taken care of.

It was only at this moment that Keng Huo learned that Himeko was actually a PhD student at Caltech...