Honkai Impact 3rd experience, starting with a thousand Herrschers

Contrary to expectations, there was no scene of blood and gore flying everywhere. Instead, Cheng Xing was crushed into wood chips like a piece of wood being shredded by a shredder, falling to the ground as wood chips filled the air.

It didn't take long for the sawdust to reassemble. Cheng Xing patted his slightly dusty clothes and calmly gazed at Him.

"I guess the reason you didn't intend to use absolute power to capture and analyze me from the beginning is because your methods are limited, right?"

As Cheng Xing spoke these words, his body was crushed dozens of times, but each time he quickly reassembled himself, standing intact without even his clothes being torn.

“You know it’s useless to do this. My true form has never appeared in front of you. Oh, please don’t try to find my true form through me. You know that if I were so easy for you to find, I would have been crushed by you from the very beginning.”

He finally stopped after killing the puppet in front of him hundreds of times.

Perhaps it was inevitable to stop.

"...Foolish fellow, struggle before the end comes, and then die in despair."

Suddenly, Jiuxiao of Penglai Temple collapsed to the ground.

Cheng Xing stared at the Penglai Temple Nine Heavens on the ground, then suddenly covered his face and burst into wild laughter.

"Hahahaha! Even the gods of the universe cannot linger for long because of the rules. Even gods are bound by those invisible rules! Hahahaha! I've won by half a point, god. Before you even noticed me, I had already placed quite a few pieces before daring to attack you. This half-point victory was truly hard-won."

Chapter 193: Confusion

"Are you done laughing? Don't do such childish things anymore. I feel embarrassed just looking at myself."

The clone heard its own voice in its ear, causing it to cough awkwardly a few times. Wasn't it just excited and high earlier?

"It was purely an accident. It must have been Penglai Temple Jiuxiao's previous words and actions that led me astray. I could never have said something so... awkward."

Seeing the strange looks the elves were giving him, Cheng Xing couldn't help but wipe his forehead with the handkerchief in his pocket. Oh dear, this was a bit embarrassing. Maybe he should leave quickly.

Finally, the doll picked up the Penglai Temple Nine Heavens from the ground and quickly left the scene.

Far away on the edge of the city, Cheng Xing couldn't help but cover her face with her white hands, feeling too embarrassed to look at herself. Fortunately, the three of them would soon be returning to their own worlds, and they probably wouldn't be able to tell anyone she knew about the silly thing her doll had just done.

"It's definitely better not to simulate so many personalities for the dolls, otherwise some inexplicable and embarrassing things will always happen."

After summarizing his experience, Cheng Xing decided to add some restrictions to the personality simulation of the dolls in the future, otherwise it would be too embarrassing if such silly things happened every time.

"So the original thousand-person Herrscher puppets are all foul-mouthed and obnoxious, while mine are just occasionally acting silly? What kind of weird situation is this?"

After finishing his rant, Cheng Xing withdrew his hand and looked at Penglaiji Jiuxiao, who had just been brought over and was lying unconscious on the ground. Cheng Xing then placed his hand on the other person's forehead.

He transformed his emotions and will into invisible threads and probed into the other person's body, searching for quite some time. Only after confirming that there was nothing unusual inside the other person's body did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"What is certain is that this world, which is actually a massive, universe-like will of destruction, is also bound by rules and cannot act arbitrarily. Or perhaps, who set these rules, or did He set them Himself?"

Cheng Xing stroked his chin thoughtfully. Generally speaking, such rules would only be set by a higher-level being, or by the entity itself. So, from the beginning, the purpose of the Honkai was to select more powerful civilizations to enhance the power of its own universe. Therefore, it is more likely that it set such rules itself.

"After all, even the Honkai probably didn't think that even within the rules, they couldn't defeat humanity. Humanity created the Alaya Reincarnation System through the power of the End, which means that no matter what, the Honkai can't eliminate humanity within the rules... So, the huge reward was given so that I, as an exception, could bypass the rules and destroy humanity."

Thinking of this, Cheng Xing looked at his hands and muttered to himself, "If I really am on the side of collapse, the reincarnation system really can't stop me. I'm quite good at controlling things like the soul."

However, the unconscious Penglai Sejiuxiao on the ground is a bit of a problem for Cheng Xing.

Who knows where Penglai Temple Nine Heavens will go after the other dimension dissipates, since it originally did not belong to this time and space?

Or perhaps she was recycled by the Honkai, and then, when needed, this body could be retrieved to fight against herself again.

"No, first of all, the reason why Penglai Temple's Nine Heavens appeared here is because of the system's arrangement. In other words, everything that's happening to me now is within the system's expectations. It deliberately arranged this... Well, I really don't quite understand you."

Cheng Xing originally thought the system simply wanted to imprison him here and wait for everything to end, but now he couldn't figure out what this guy was trying to do.

If it's to help oneself, then why block all exits?

"Or is the reason for sealing off the exit to prevent the Honkai consciousness residing in the body of Jiuxiao of Penglai Temple from using its own power?"

Unable to figure things out, Cheng Xing temporarily suppressed his doubts. What was more important now was that he had found a way back amidst the chaos of time and space, and subsequently disbanded this alternate dimension.

What happened next was quite simple: all that was needed was to create a large number of puppets to confuse Tohka Yatogami's actions, and then stab her in the back with the puppet strings to extract all the Honkai energy and spiritual power from her body.

Of course, if all the spiritual power in an elf's body is extracted, it will die. So only the surface power is extracted, and the deeper core remains untouched.

While this doesn't eliminate all the corruption caused by the Honkai, it at least allows her to regain a significant amount of self-awareness and memories.

After the space was opened, Cheng Xing stood on the land outside again, only to find that he was still in Changkong City.

"That's strange. Logically speaking, I should have appeared directly at St. Freya Academy. Could it be that the coordinates of the phantom are off?"

Thinking of this, Cheng Xing tried to reconnect with the coordinates of his phantom, but strangely, the coordinates showed that they were now aligned with his real body.

"???"

Cheng Xing was confused because the coordinates of the point he was at coincided with his current location, meaning that his coordinates had been set to this place at some point in time.

"...Jana? Did you do this?"

Cheng Xing teleported to the seaside and spoke to the vast ocean.

However, the sea responded with utter silence.

"Something's not right... I've felt something's off since earlier. Why is Changkong City so quiet? Those assassins and Honkai Beasts shouldn't have been eliminated so quickly, so why is the whole city so eerily silent?"

As Cheng Xing thought of this, many birds suddenly appeared on the sand. All kinds of birds gathered on the beach, then spread their wings and scattered in all directions of the city.

Soon the flock of birds transmitted the various scenes they had seen, and surprisingly, there wasn't a single living creature left in the city.

"...Sigh, what's going on here?"

Cheng Xing scratched his head, completely bewildered by the current situation. He had thought he had the victory firmly in his grasp, but now he had been thrown into some strange place. Who did this? Was it the system or the corrupted consciousness?

"Um, are you... alright?"

Just then, a timid little girl's voice suddenly rang in my ears.

Cheng Xing turned around curiously upon hearing the voice and saw a blue-haired girl holding a notebook, looking at him with some fear.

"Hello, my name is Seele."

"…………Yes, I am Cheng Xing."

Chapter 194: Seele's Redemption

I am Seele. A long time ago, I participated in an experiment led by my mother. Although the experiment was successful, an accident happened afterward, and I ended up here.

This place was originally a vast grassland, and I was the only one walking there alone. There were no animals, no insects, just the unchanging sky and grass.

I walked alone for a long time. The weather here didn't change, and time seemed to stand still. Even without food or water, I didn't feel any hunger or thirst. But this was really scary. This world where nothing would change, where I was always all alone, was truly terrifying.

I don't know how long I've been here. It feels like only a few days, but it also feels like so much time has passed. So much time that I've almost forgotten what Bronya's voice sounds like. So much time that I've almost forgotten what Anzu looks like.

A long time has passed, and the world seems to have finally changed. The sky has changed from the unchanging blue sky and white clouds to a dazzling starry sky. Wow, it's so beautiful! Seele counts the stars in the sky and recalls the past. She feels that her chaotic heart has calmed down again.

But this went on for a very, very long time, so long that I had recalled everything from the past, so long that I had nothing left to remember, so long that I was almost forgetting the face of the person I truly loved. No! I must write it down, I must write down the past! I don't want to forget those things!

...Today... (marks of alteration)

………………

(The numerous crooked lines and messy handwriting make it impossible to decipher what the diary actually contained; all that can be seen is that the person at the time had suffered a mental breakdown.)

"Seele... wants to die..."

After attempting suicide time and time again, I discovered that I simply couldn't bring myself to hurt myself. Even if I did hurt myself through various attempts, my body would quickly heal itself.

I think I'm not going to die.

(Numerous signs of tearing and slashing.)

Today, the world has changed again. Countless buildings have suddenly sprung up from the ground, and the sky, which had remained unchanged for a long time, has brightened up at this moment, as if something has changed again.

Seele... saw someone else.

Cheng Xing looked at the girl in front of him, noticing her fear but also the longing and yearning in her eyes. He realized that the girl's mindset had undergone some kind of morbid change.

"That's great. Seele hasn't spoken to anyone in such a long, long time, hasn't seen anyone in such a long time. If this continues, if this continues..."

As Seele spoke, tears streamed down her face, and the notebook she was clutching tightly fell to the ground. She burst into tears.

Cheng Xing sensed the fear in the girl's heart, the emptiness and loneliness of someone who had lived in this unknown world with only themselves for countless years.

That was the madness and fear that could drive anyone insane.

Cheng Xing felt a deep pity for the girl. He silently opened his arms and held the weeping girl in his embrace, gently patting her back and humming a lullaby he had once sung on a snowy plain in the past.

Seele fell into a deep sleep, and even in her sleep, tears seeped from under her eyelids, a testament to the immense fear and loneliness she had accumulated over the years.

Behind Cheng Xing appeared a dark figure holding a tattered lantern and a sickle. The figure, resembling a scarecrow made of black smoke, silently opened its crimson mouth, from which a black thread extended and connected to Xi'er's body, continuously drawing something from the girl's body.

Those are the darkness buried deep within a girl's heart, a darkness that will rewrite her personality and will into a morbid state.

Perhaps this darkness will become a so-called second personality, but no matter what, it is still a kind of pathology, a disease that will affect life. Cheng Xing decided to take on the darkness in the girl's heart so that the originally innocent girl could live a peaceful life.

"Sleep well, child, sleep peacefully."

Cheng Xing rested Xi'er's head on his lap and calmly hummed a lullaby he had learned from somewhere and at some point. Perhaps he had heard it by chance on a music app years ago, or perhaps he had deliberately learned it when he was looking forward to his wonderful future.

But it has indeed come in handy now.

The scarecrow behind her dispersed, and most of Seele's memories of living alone in this world became blurred. The dark emotions that were enough to drive anyone mad and morbid were also eaten by the scarecrow.

When the girl woke up, she only remembered that she had been wandering in this world for a very long time and that many bad things had happened, but when she tried to recall them carefully, they were very vague, just like she had a nightmare.

The birds that had previously dispersed had finally reached the limits of this strange world; the area where the two of them were located was only about a thousand kilometers in diameter.

Beyond that, no one knows what lies beyond. After each doll crosses a boundary, they instantly lose contact, and nothing is transmitted. When they return, they have probably simply left this world.

"So, the foundation of the alternate dimension I was in before was based on this place. Then why were my coordinates moved here? Or is this place actually... a quantum space that borders the real world?"

Cheng Xing thought to himself that perhaps it was because of the instability of the space he left, or perhaps it was because someone had deliberately arranged it, that although his coordinates were perfectly aligned, he was in a quantum world that mirrored his coordinates.

This results in a situation where, although the coordinates correspond perfectly, there is still a thin membrane separating it from the real world.

"If that's really the case, then it's convenient. With a few adjustments and a few days' rest, we can easily cross the membrane and bring Seele back to the real world."

As Cheng Xing was pondering this, he suddenly realized that Xi'er was hugging his thigh tightly.

He looked down and saw the girl looking at him with teary eyes. After touching him for a while, she visibly relaxed and said timidly, "I'm sorry, I know it's not good to do this, but... but I'm really scared that you're just another illusion I've seen."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Xing patted the girl's head with pity and then said...

"Don't worry, I'm not a fake illusion, I'm a real person who exists here. And it won't be long before we can leave this place, and you can go see your beloved companions and family from your memories."

"Big brother, thank you. I will definitely find a way to repay this kindness."