Honkai Impact 3rd experience, starting with a thousand Herrschers

"Hello, Thunder Dragon Horse."

However, the CEO of dm company was not as energetic as usual. His heavy dark circles and listless appearance made him look like a corporate slave who had been working hard at his job for many years.

"Hmm? Hello, is there anything I can help you with?"

Raiden Ryoma looked at Cheng Xing with some confusion, and then took a can of coffee from the vending machine in front of him.

"It's just something about your daughter."

"...I understand. This isn't the place to talk. Please come with me."

Upon hearing this, Raiden Ryoma had some inexplicable guesses in his mind, and then he led Cheng Xing to his room.

When he opened the door, he saw the scattered papers and documents, the still-on computer, and the cans of coffee in the trash can. He smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "I'm really sorry, I didn't expect to have guests, so I didn't tidy up the room much."

"It's ok."

After Cheng Xing finished speaking, a very thick layer of black mist floated out from his body. Under the incredulous gaze of Raiden Ryoma, the mist gradually transformed into a human shape, and finally, a woman with long purple hair and wearing a kimono appeared in front of him.

“…Mei? No, you are not her.”

Raiden Ryoma looked at the face that was extremely similar to his own daughter, but the expression in her eyes and the aura she exuded were clearly completely different from Mei's.

"I am the Herrscher of Thunder, Raiden Mei's Herrscher personality... Perhaps I should also call you father?"

The Herrscher of Thunder looked at the lightning dragon horse in front of her with a slightly strange expression. Finally, she frowned as she looked at the messy room, and then immediately set off to tidy up, saying, "As expected, if no one is there to organize your supplies, you will still make a mess of things everywhere, just like before."

"...Ah, Father has been so useless all these years...I've really caused you trouble."

Raiden Ryoma scratched his head awkwardly, looking at the back of the person tidying up his room. He felt a sense of disorientation, as if he were seeing his deceased wife or his daughter from when he was a child.

"I haven't asked your name yet, sir."

Lei Dian Long Ma said to Cheng Xing beside him, feeling embarrassed.

"My name is Cheng Xing. I'm friends with your daughter. I'm here mainly because of her."

Raiden Ryoma looked at the Herrscher of Thunder, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Mr. Raiden Ryoma, would you consider her your daughter?"

"…Fine," Raiden Ryoma hesitated and struggled for a while before finally revealing a carefree smile. He then opened his coffee, took a deep sip, and said, "Does the fact that my daughter has a second personality mean I have to say that personality isn't my daughter? That doesn't make sense, does it?"

"But your daughter has already caused the loss of a city's life."

At this moment, Cheng Xing calmly uttered these words as if deliberately sowing discord.

"That wasn't my daughter's fault, it was all that bastard Cocolia's doing! My company went bankrupt, and my daughter was bullied during those days! The pain of knowing everything as a father yet being powerless to do anything!"

Raiden Ryoma's eyes, which looked extremely tired, were now bloodshot, and he had squeezed the can of coffee so hard that it was crushed.

“We have always been victims! My daughter is a victim too… I’m sorry, I’m getting a little emotional. Please understand, as a father, it’s understandable that I couldn’t control my emotions after learning about what my daughter went through.”

As Raiden Ryoma watched the coffee spill from the crushed can, he was about to look for a rag to clean it up when he saw a pair of hands approaching with wet wipes. They wiped the coffee off his hands and took the crushed can from him.

"...Thank you, Dad."

The Herrscher of Thunder's face no longer held its usual arrogance, but instead displayed a serious expression.

"...I can't exactly call you the Herrscher of Thunder, and you're not Mei's child... I'll just call you Raiden Shin. I hope you can have your own life, and have experiences that truly belong to you... As your father, I can't do anything for you anymore. Even if I wanted to take over my company again, I'm already overwhelmed with work... It's always been like this since you were little. I never have time to spend with you. Growing up without family must have been very lonely. And when you needed me the most, I couldn't do anything for you. I must have disappointed you as a father."

Thunder Dragon Horse slightly raised its head and closed its eyes. Cheng Xing could see that tears were welling up in its eyes.

This is just an old man trying to maintain his composure so he doesn't want to shed tears in front of his daughter.

"No, although I don't know what he was thinking, in my memory, you always did your best to make time for us. Even the Houmu Sword Saint, whose true identity we never knew from childhood to adulthood, was you in disguise, Father. Since Mother passed away, you have poured all your love for your family into your daughter... You are truly a qualified father."

The Herrscher of Thunder... no, Raiden Shin, also had a gentle smile on his face as he said, "I also want to thank your father. Thank you for acknowledging my true existence and for giving me affirmation."

"Zhen, you must live a good life. Your father has nothing to give you, and I'm afraid I can't make up for the gifts I've missed over the years, so this is all I can do now."

After saying that, Raiden Ryoma took a deep breath, and while Cheng Xing was still completely bewildered, he took one of Cheng Xing's hands and one of Raiden Shin's hands with each of his own, then put them together and solemnly said, "I wish you happiness."

"...Mr. Raiden, are you sure you haven't misunderstood?"

"I'm entrusting my daughter to you..."

After saying that, Raiden Ryoma actually left the room. Wasn't that his room?

Cheng Xing looked at Raiden Ryoma's back with a blank expression, then looked at Raiden Shin, and found that the latter was still smiling.

"So you really aren't going to explain?"

"I don't think there's anything to explain. By the way, when are you going to give me the real thing you promised? I've already got my father's approval, so nothing can stop my determination now."

"...Sigh, something's starting to feel off."

Cheng Xing discovered the key point.

Chapter 140: Reunion with an Old Friend

"The night view is also very nice tonight."

Cheng Xing sat alone in a good spot for stargazing, looking at the stars that dotted the black curtain of the sky, and couldn't help but be a little lost in thought. Maybe he should go and keep Bronya company... or maybe he should go and solve Raiden's problem.

However, there is now an even more important problem.

"You must have collected a lot of data by now, so in your eyes, what kind of existence is humanity?"

Cheng Xing looked at Selene, who had appeared beside him at some point, and asked with a peaceful smile.

"...You feel somewhat unfamiliar to me. Even after collecting so much data and so many human emotions, why is my previous understanding of you somewhat blurred in my eyes now?"

Selene originally thought that having collected so much emotional data from so many people, she would be more familiar with the memories and emotions of the guy in front of her. But why did Cheng Xing, who had long hair, feel so unfamiliar to her?

Could something have happened in the past that he was unaware of, changing the major events that occurred in his life?

I really want to know, I really want to see... but why can't I see anything?

"I'll be leaving for a while, so I'd like to trouble you to take care of them for me."

Are you really comfortable entrusting the most important person in your life to me for care?

"Because no matter what, you can't do anything out of line."

"...I'm so curious, what exactly have you been through?! Why do I feel that the image of you now is becoming more and more blurred compared to the young man I know? It's like something known is gradually changing into something unknown. This is really intriguing to me."

Cheng Xing simply looked at Selene calmly, his expression unchanged.

"In short, after I've resolved the issues here, I'll be leaving now."

Cheng Xing had promised to give Lei Dian a real body, but that time hadn't come yet. He hadn't yet grasped that last bit of leverage. Once he got that last bit, all the conditions would be met.

After Cheng Xing left, Bronya immediately went to the balcony, looked in the direction where he disappeared, and gripped a very small plastic scythe in her hand.

"...Idiot, you have to come back."

Not long after, Cheng Xing appeared at a hidden base of World Serpent. The Gray Serpent, who was in charge of the rendezvous, was somewhat taken aback when he saw the latter, feeling that this person was too different from the image of the person in his memory.

I still remember when I first met Cheng Xing, he was a somewhat neurotic man who seemed sunny on the surface, but had all sorts of chaotic and dark thoughts in his heart.

Later, it seems he talked about his girlfriend, and his heart was filled with light as if it had been purified. He seemed like the kind of caring and kind-hearted protagonist from a storybook.

But now it gives people a strange feeling, like the surface of water. You can see your own face through the water, which is clear but also has turbidity.

Like a reflection in ripples.

"That's strange, I really can't understand your current situation."

Gray Snake thought the Doctor would definitely be very interested in this person.

"Hmm, maybe I don't even understand my own situation anymore. But it's alright, it's about time I went there. Gray Serpent, how are the preparations going?"

"Everything is ready. You can go in anytime. But let me make this clear beforehand: you cannot leave before you pass the trial. So, have you said everything you need to say before you leave?"

Cheng Xing smiled and nodded, indicating that he had already prepared to say goodbye.

Led by the gray snake, Cheng Xing arrived at a strange door. The snake seemed to open the door through some complicated procedure and then gestured for Cheng Xing to go inside.

After walking a long way, Cheng Xing arrived at a lounge.

At this moment, in the lounge, a very beautiful woman was sitting on a sofa on the left-hand side, which looked like it was decorated in a bar area.

She had long, dark red hair, a slightly languid expression on her face, and was swirling a wine glass that looked like it was made of gold, with a bright red liquid inside that looked like wine.

"It seems we have a new guest here. Hello, my name is Eden. May I ask what this gentleman's name is?"

"Hello, my name is Cheng Xing."

"...Cheng Xing?"

Eden suddenly stopped swirling his wine glass, looked at the uniquely charismatic young man, then shook his head with amusement and sighed, "Your name really does remind me of some things from the past."

"Oh? It seems Miss Eden has known someone with the same name as me?"

Cheng Xing's eyes widened slightly, as if trying her best to express her surprise.

"I don't know that person personally, I just heard about him from my friend... Well, to be precise, he must be a pretty great person, right?"

"quack!"

Just then, a crow's cawing suddenly came from somewhere, and then a black crow with scarlet eyes flew out from the dark corner and landed on Cheng Xing's shoulder.

"Oh, isn't that Möbius's raven? We hardly ever see them. It's quite a rare sight to see them here today."

Eden looked at the raven preening its feathers with some surprise. Usually, this guy was even more mysterious than the canned food. Phyllis's canned food just often ran away, and everyone could always see Phyllis chasing after her own cat.

However, this crow rarely appeared in front of the crowd. Occasionally, it would only be seen quietly observing the crowd beside Mebius. Naturally, everyone asked Mebius why this crow appeared and what its name was.

Mebius said he didn't know the raven's name either, but from her feigned nonchalance, one could tell that it was something very important to him.

After all, in Paradise, only Padofelis, a girl who grew up with cats, has a cat in her memory. So, under the same conditions, this means that Mebius's raven is also extremely important to her.

Moreover, this crow never gets close to anyone, but today it actually landed on the visitor's shoulder on its own initiative, and what's more, it shares the same name...

For some reason, Eden had an absurd thought, and then blurted out, "Are you him?"

"...Yes and no."

"Eden, have you seen my raven? It just flew away suddenly."

Mebius's voice came over. The green-haired figure had just walked over when he noticed the raven perched on the person's shoulder. The person also turned around after hearing his voice.

"Long time no see... Doctor."

He said with a smile.