Honkai Impact 3rd experience, starting with a thousand Herrschers

To be precise, it was a mission issued by allies on the Anti-Entropy side, seemingly to investigate the secret laboratory beneath the cathedral to obtain information.

Gray Serpent entrusted this matter to Cheng Xing. Although it was a direct subordinate ordered by the Lord, this task also served as a test, and could be used to evaluate what position this guy could be used for in the future.

Cheng Xing had no expectations left; to him, it was just a mission location.

He was unfamiliar with the things there, and he was unfamiliar with the people there. He was just a monster passing by who came to steal information. Those beautiful young girls, it would be better if they stayed as far away from him as possible.

Because scarecrows only bring disaster.

Chapter 18: No more knives, let's have some candy!

Cheng Xing stepped off the plane. He had now arrived outside St. Freya Academy. All he had to do was transform into a crow, fly into the academy, and reach his target location to easily obtain the lab report and leave.

Although he had played Honkai Impact 3 before, he didn't know much about the plot and details, and he skipped most of the story. As a result, he had no idea what secrets the experimental base hidden under that church held.

Before doing that, Cheng Xing went to see his old friends to see how they were doing.

He then discovered that Bronya was unconscious.

"what's the situation?"

Cheng Xing was a little confused, then flew to the ward, and when no one was around, he transformed back into his original body and read Bronya's greatest fear.

Then he saw himself committing suicide in front of Bronya.

"...Wait, isn't this the scene where I committed suicide in the simulation? Why is Bronya seeing it!"

Cheng Xing was dumbfounded.

“Host, although you have been forgotten, the scene before your death had a great impact on this girl. Her love for you and her hatred for herself made the simulated past become a real existence when the conditions were met.”

"I rely on!"

Cheng Xing had no idea how Bronya discovered the scene of his suicide. She had already left, and even the crows had been removed. How did she manage to track him down?

"I have a feeling this is a conspiracy. Did the system do something?"

"Are you wondering why Bronya found you? Actually, when you were watching her through the crow, she already had a vague feeling about it. And then, perhaps out of a woman's intuition, she told herself that the crow was you. After you committed suicide, the crow didn't disappear immediately. After all, you know you weren't human to begin with. I needed to spend some time retrieving you from the river of time, and that's when the crow led her to you."

"Oh, I see."

Cheng Xing nodded knowingly, then suddenly he seemed to remember something; the system had just said something incredible.

"Wait, you just said you pulled me out of the river of time! So what happened before wasn't a virtual simulation or some other parallel world, but..."

"That's right, that's the real history of the past. That's why you in that world don't have any memories of the past, only some equipment and skills that fit your identity."

"…Holy crap! Isn't this a life simulation? How can it take people on time travel?!"

"Host, please do not question the system's professionalism. Life simulation naturally means that it can simulate anyone's life. If it cannot even simulate the lives of people from the past, how can we call it a system? If it cannot even interfere with the time of a world, what kind of system is it?"

This time, the system's voice clearly carried an arrogant tone.

"...You didn't come from a certain point, you're from a certain Lu."

Cheng Xing sighed, but when he came to his senses, he suddenly remembered a very troublesome problem. He had just decided to sever all emotions and desires and become a free-spirited wanderer, but now the system had created this problem.

"...Bronya, now I know that it's already good enough that you still remember me. I just hope you can live a happy and carefree life, and that's enough. You don't need to feel guilty because of my existence."

Cheng Xing stroked Bronya's long, light gray hair, which had become disheveled as she lay in the hospital bed, and then a genuine smile appeared on his face.

Then, as he decided to leave, a slender hand suddenly grabbed his hand as he tried to pull it back.

Cheng Xing stood there, stunned, staring at the girl who had opened her eyes.

"This time, I won't let you leave alone."

Bronya's eyes were stubborn.

Seeing the girl's attentive attitude towards him, Cheng Xing felt that was enough.

There are people in this world who love you, and this world doesn't completely reject you. Isn't that enough?

Only after experiencing the beauty of the world will I be willing to be a good person.

“Bronya, what happened before wasn’t your fault. The reason you forgot me is because of my special ability, and time created a certain paradox. In fact, I can travel through time, so, so you need to understand that…”

Cheng Xing used a special technique, the self-destruction technique he learned from Teacher Da, which resulted in sacrificing himself to benefit and comfort others, in order to achieve a world where only he was hurt.

However, the girl didn't care about that. Those memories and feelings were real, and if they could be forgotten so easily, it would be her own fault.

“Cheng Xing… While your explanation does make a lot of sense, you shouldn’t forget that I was the one who forgot you first, right? It was because of the orphanage and Cocolia’s mother that I gave me more warmth than you gave me, which is why I forgot you. That’s the truth, an indisputable fact.”

Bronya struggled to get out of bed, but her body was too uncoordinated to react after her recent brain surgery. She looked like a fish thrashing about on a cutting board, which was somewhat comical. However, Cheng Xing felt a deep pang of sympathy for her and knelt down to hug the girl.

"Alright, let bygones be bygones. I'm happy that you remember me, I'm happy that you're willing to do this for a monster like me..."

"You are not a monster!"

Bronya retorted to Cheng Xing's words in an almost shouting voice.

"You are one of the most important people in my life, you are just as important as Seele."

"……Um."

Bronya reached out somewhat shakily, grabbed Cheng Xing's back with difficulty, pulled his clothes close to his ear, and whispered something.

“Xi’er is an inseparable sister to me, like family, and I want to protect her. But in my heart, you are the one who protects me, the one I can rely on wholeheartedly. Cheng Xing, thank you, and I love you.”

Cheng Xing's computer has crashed.

This is the first time a girl has confessed her feelings to him since he was born! He actually got confessed to by a girl! Wow, he got confessed to!

and then?

He agreed.

Chapter Nineteen: The Secret

After Cheng Xing agreed, he naturally wouldn't do anything. Although he accepted Bronya's confession, he knew he couldn't really do anything; she was just an underage girl! If you actually did something, this book would be over!

It is said that some unseen force is constantly influencing this place, and for some reason he has a strange feeling of unease, as if his future is destined to be fraught with misfortune.

(After reading the comments, am I better at writing angst than sweetness? Very good, very good. Haha)

After Bronya mustered her strength to confess her feelings and receive a response, she fainted again with a smile on her face. It was more of a miracle that she was able to wake up after undergoing brain surgery.

Cheng Xing calmly gazed at the unconscious Bronya. He tidied the girl's slightly disheveled hair, folded the bed, and then disappeared, leaving behind a single black feather.

He knew he couldn't stay here, nor could he take the girl away; this place was more suitable for her than the World Serpent.

The World Serpent was definitely a better fit for him than this place.

What's more, the person who likes me isn't even an adult yet. When Bronya reaches the level of a big duck in the post-Colombian era, well, that'll be a huge win!

Cheng Xing whistled happily as he arrived at the church. Using the information given to him by Gray Snake, he easily opened a hidden passage and entered the underground laboratory.

As soon as he entered, he was shocked by what he saw: a large number of clones were floating quietly in culture tanks.

Those people all had curvaceous figures and long, white hair. Were they all clones of Cecilia?

"Damn it! You shill! Are you doing this on purpose?!"

When Cheng Xing saw this scene, he felt a chill run down his spine. He thought, "I wondered why Theresa was so determined to kill her grandfather later on. I guess she saw this scene. And the reason Otto set up the laboratory here and revealed it was probably to lay the groundwork for his later plans."

If it were truly part of his plan, Otto would never have exposed the laboratory so easily, nor would he have placed it within St. Freya Academy.

Cheng Xing suppressed a nauseating urge and obtained the part he wanted from the experimental collection here, then looked at the experimental subjects whose fate was unknown.

He naturally possesses the power of a scarecrow, the ability to see through the fears in others' hearts, but the problem is that the people here, or rather these experimental subjects, have no fear at all.

They had no fear of death; rather than clones, they were just a group of living corpses.

"...That's none of my business. Theresa should handle the arrangements for these clones, but judging from the fact that there's been no news about them in the main storyline, they've probably been destroyed."

Just as Cheng Xing was about to transform into a crow and leave, he suddenly received a system notification.

"Special location detected. This location matches the secret settings. A special simulation related to the secret can be initiated. Initiate?"

"Secrets? The simulations related to the trait of secrets are quite interesting. The previous simulation actually helped refine my personality and reduce Fiddlesticks' influence considerably. If this simulation goes smoothly too, I'll probably completely get rid of Scarecrow's mental illness... Actually, thinking back on it now, my previous behavior was quite artsy, tsk! That damned Fiddlesticks! When I get the chance, I'll definitely smash you with Sett 1000 times, 1000 times!"

After complaining, Cheng Xing started the simulation, and then the screen went silent.

"Special simulation initiated. Trait detected. Secret. Time anchor confirmed. Time river selection successful... Flow obstruction complete."

"Traveling to the pre-civilization era, simulating a character."

"An ordinary fusion warrior of the Firemoth."

After Cheng Xing regained his vision, he found himself lying on a cold experimental table, with a researcher with long green hair standing next to him.

"I really didn't expect this. Just now, all his physical signs had stopped, but suddenly he regained all his vital signs and woke up. This is the first time I've ever encountered such a situation!"

The experimenter with long green hair looked very strange. His eyes, filled with a fanatical desire for research, made Cheng Xing tremble. Without hesitation, he turned into smoke, broke free from the various restraints binding him, and stood on the other side of the room, watching her warily.

"Hmm, another ability that doesn't fit your genes. Turning into smoke, that's really amazing. This ability isn't in the Honkai Beast genes implanted in you. Could you be a special mutant? Okay, little guinea pig, can you cooperate with me for an experiment?!"

"Speak properly, don't come any closer, and put down the syringe you're holding!"

If Cheng Xing hadn't recognized the woman in front of him at a glance, he might have mistaken her for some kind of mad scientist conducting crazy experiments and slashed at her with his scythe.

Mebius, one of the Thirteen Heroes of the Fire Chaser, is a hero who wields the Infinite Imprint. His character is that of a genius who is able to think for himself from birth. He possesses extremely strong research talent and successfully developed the Super Transformation Surgery, giving birth to the Fusion Warrior and providing Qian Wenming with a glimmer of hope in his despair.

In her eyes, this is a kind of evolution, and the Honkai is a kind of selection. Only by adapting to its existence and constantly evolving oneself can one overcome the Honkai.

To be honest, Cheng Xing didn't even know if Mebius was really dead. The genes that this guy had fused with possessed the ability to be resurrected, and this was specifically stated in Paradise.

The Merius I saw in Paradise, although just a memory, was already a loli-like figure that had been resurrected many times. The current Merius is a mature woman with an excellent figure.

"Alright, Mebius, you're scaring people!"

A woman with an extremely sweet voice walked over from the other side of the laboratory. She had pink hair, a perfect figure, and gave off a very, very beautiful feeling.

As for Alicia, Cheng Xing didn't know about the subsequent plot. To clarify, he did quit the game halfway through. Although he followed the later story, he didn't actively pay attention to it most of the time.

So he didn't actually know what kind of person Alicia was or what her identity was.

During that period, he was busy playing the Old Man's Ring all day long, and he watched the Old Man's Ring videos the most online. He didn't watch Honkai Impact 3 at all.

Therefore, in his eyes, this woman gave off a strange feeling of hypocrisy.

"This way of speaking gives people the feeling that she is a bad woman, and I have to be careful."

Cheng Xing made his own decision.