Honkai Impact 3rd experience, starting with a thousand Herrschers

Chapter 141: Long Time No See

"...I knew you wouldn't die so easily. Look at that cockroach-like tenacity, is that what helped you survive to this day?"

Mebius, however, did not show much excitement or joy. Instead, he said in an almost mocking tone, "So now you're going to shatter humanity's hope from the perspective of Honkai, Herrscher of Domination?"

"I'm sorry, Doctor, that I haven't been able to visit you all these years. After losing Klein, Danzhu, and Cangxuan, you must have been very lonely. All your friends in this world have left, and the people who could understand you are no longer alive. I can understand that kind of loneliness."

"What are you talking about? How could I feel lonely just because I don't have friends or companions? Am I some kind of kid who loses the motivation to move forward without the company and support of others? Don't come any closer!"

Mebius wanted to do something more, but found that the man in front of him had already quietly embraced him.

"I'm sorry, Doctor, I was walking too fast."

"........."

Mebius remained stiff and motionless. Then, the serpentine coldness in his eyes faded, replaced by a look as if the past were still alive, as if he were still in that research institute.

“Cheng Xing, you are someone I acknowledge. Although I don’t know how far you have come on the path of fighting against the Honkai, so much time has passed, you must have achieved even more success than I have, right? But I am now just a memory... It is a memory like me who killed the real me with my own hands... Do you hate me? Do you hate this false existence that killed the real Mebius?”

Eden watched as Mebius spoke with an indifferent expression, but having known her for many years, he could naturally tell that she was actually nervous.

"Oh! I understand."

Eden's face showed a look of sudden realization, but in the end he just smiled calmly.

"Doctor, if you don't want to die, do you think you can be killed so easily? I found the genes of the Honkai Beast you chose, I performed your super-transformation surgery, and every change that happened to you, every mutation that occurred in your genes, and every transformation that took place in your body was something I had foreseen. As long as you choose to escape, you can live, even after the final Honkai arrives."

"So the truth is already obvious, isn't it?"

At this moment, Mebius scratched Cheng Xing's back with his sharp-ornamented fingers and said, "Alright, have you hugged enough? If you keep doing this, I'll start to think you're a lolicon."

"I didn't expect you to be shy, Doctor."

"Cheng Xing...you're as straightforward as ever."

"That proves I haven't changed, right?"

When Mebius heard this, he felt a strange sense of absurdity for some reason.

They pursue an infinite lifespan, an infinite evolution, and yearn for themselves to change endlessly.

But has this guy remained unchanged?

But for some reason, I don't dislike this unchanging nature.

Just then, a beautiful girl with pink hair took out a megaphone, looked at the two embracing, took a deep breath, and shouted with a smile, "Attention everyone! The lover of Möbius, who has been talked about since the last civilization, is here! Attention everyone, Möbius's husband is back!"

"Alicia!!!"

Upon hearing this, it was unclear whether Mebius was angry about the damage to his reputation or more like a feeling of shame and annoyance. He bared his teeth and claws, trying to pounce on Alicia.

As a result, Alicia kept circling around Cheng Xing, forcing Mebius to go around Cheng Xing every time he wanted to catch her.

"Oh, Möbius, don't be so shy. You used to talk about him all the time, why are you so shy now?"

Alicia's face still wore the same dazzling smile as before, and then she poked Cheng Xing's cheek and said, "Ah, so much time has passed. Although your appearance hasn't changed much, your temperament has improved a lot. I wonder how many girls will be deceived by you if you keep going like this?"

“Alice, the Doctor and I don’t have that kind of relationship. At least in my eyes, we are just very good friends…” Cheng Xing said, looking at the pink-haired fairy who was as unfathomable as ever. “Besides, as I said before, she doesn’t need a partner.”

"Gu..."

Mebius suddenly froze at this moment, then coughed to appear calm, and turned around to say, "Now that it's confirmed that everything is alright, I'll be going. Klein still has a lot of work waiting for my help."

"Doctor... Klein, how did she get there?"

Upon hearing this, Möbius paused slightly, lowered his head a little, and then said, "Buried along with the previous civilization."

"……Yeah?"

Cheng Xing couldn't help but recall the scene when he first met that hardworking senior sister... He was very naive back then, and there was a group of chattering rascals around him who never stopped talking.

Now that all my old friends are gone, haven't I finally fulfilled my long-held dream? To stop those guys from nagging.

But why does it suddenly feel so quiet around me?

"It's rare for us all to meet again, so let's not make the conversation so awkward. Oh, by the way, you might not be familiar with her or even know her at all, but this is Eden, the most famous star of the last civilization! She is also the owner of the entire Paradise of the Past, and she is an extremely wealthy woman."

Alicia smiled and began to introduce herself to Cheng Xing.

"Oh, right, right, the one walking towards us right now... I don't think I need to introduce it..."

The white-haired man, dressed in a trench coat, exuded an inexplicable chill. He strode confidently to a spot not far in front of Cheng Xing, then crossed his arms and said coldly, "Long time no see."

"Yeah, long time no see, Kevin."

"...Are you still on the side of humanity?"

"of course."

"That's good."

Kevin seemed to have come here only to ask that one question, and after getting the answer he wanted, he turned around and left.

As Cheng Xing watched Kevin's departing figure, he inexplicably felt a connection to the figure he had seen in the fragments of memory he had obtained years ago.

Chapter 142: The Show Begins!

Alicia then took Cheng Xing to meet several other friends.

Cheng Xing first went to an old friend. It seemed that the guy's eyes had become completely squinted since the surgery. Back in school, he would only squint his eyes when he wanted to increase his intimidation or when he was angry.

"Long time no see, Su."

Su appeared to have his eyes closed, but he could still see the outside world. He looked at Cheng Xing, as if considering his words, and finally smiled calmly and said, "Long time no see, Cheng Xing. You've come here again to carry out the same plan as last time, haven't you?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Xing's previously calm expression faltered slightly. He then looked at Su with a somewhat complicated expression and asked, "Is my plan so easily discernible? But I think you shouldn't know my situation at all. Logically speaking, you shouldn't have been able to see through it, right?"

"I experienced what happened to the Lawgiver of Knowledge."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Xing nodded in sudden realization, smiled, and said that he was indeed not mature enough. Then he left with Alicia.

Su watched the person's departing figure, slightly opened her eyes to gaze at them, and muttered to herself, "As expected, are you going to sacrifice yourself again? Why can't you try to rely on others more?"

Later, I met several other characters, all of whom were very memorable. Gretchen, a seemingly emotionless little girl, was described by Alicia as a girl with a rich personality who particularly loved drawing.

It is said that they will unconsciously imitate the behavior and personality of others.

However, when the girl was looking at Cheng Xing, she was unusually unable to describe the colors she saw.

"You are like a pencil on a drawing that is constantly being covered up and erased... Gretchen can't imitate your colors."

There was also a hot-tempered man named Qianjie.

"You're Möbius's lover?"

The masked man seemed to be sizing up Cheng Xing, then clenched his fists, cracking his knuckles as he said, "You look pretty strong, and I've heard you were once a Herrscher. Let's have a fight!"

"Qianjie, Cheng Xing can't fight you right now. I still need to show him around properly. Let's go!"

After saying that, Alicia grabbed Cheng Xing's hand and ran away quickly.

The flames that had been emanating from Qianjie's body subsided, and after watching the two figures leave, he scoffed and said nothing more.

"Hello, boss!"

A girl holding a cat was waving at Cheng Xing from a table that looked like a mobile vendor's stall.

"I am Padofelis, and I run a shop in Paradise. Prices are very cheap here, and we have a wide variety of goods. Would you like to buy something?"

"Meow!"

"Ugh! Canned food!"

Before Padofelis could even begin introducing her products, the cat named Canned Food, which she had been holding, ran out and came to Cheng Xing's feet, rubbing against him.

"Oh, really, Canned Food, how come you're so easy to get close to? I usually have such a hard time touching you, but now you're just sticking to me like that!"

Cheng Xing picked up the cat that was rubbing against his ankle and felt its joy. He smiled and then gently stroked its head.

"Whoo~"

The canned food started snoring contentedly.

"Oh my, it seems you're quite close to small animals, Cheng Xing. Usually, when we want to touch a can of food, it's never this proactive."

Alicia was even more surprised. Looking at Padofelis's jealous expression, she couldn't help but laugh and say, "Oh dear, poor little Phyllis, she looks like she's about to cry because her cat ran away with someone else."

"Sister Alicia!"

Cheng Xing stroked the cat's back, and then a faint mist seemed to linger on some of the cat's fur as he released his grip. The cat then ran back to Padofilis on its own.

"I'll visit your shop again later."

Cheng Xing and Alicia continued their journey deeper into the area, naturally encountering several other heroes along the way. After a brief exchange, they didn't ask any further questions, except for one character who particularly piqued Cheng Xing's interest.

"Spiral, Violet... possesses countless split personalities, which have brought her a wealth of knowledge and insights... It feels like there's a certain kind of overlap?"

After Cheng Xing finished speaking, he continued forward, but before leaving, he left a jet-black feather in the countless mirror worlds within someone's heart.

It didn't take long for the two of them to visit almost all of Ying Jie's men, except for one syllable, which Alicia didn't take Cheng Xing to visit due to special reasons.

Cheng Xing also remembered that person; it was someone he had subconsciously recognized in the illusionary world simulated by his own Traveler of Knowledge.

"She's the woman who gave me a more detailed direction to my research on Scarecrow's abilities... Aponia... So when exactly did I meet her?"

Thinking of this, Cheng Xing couldn't help but look at Alicia, who was smiling and leading him around, and said, "Alicia, we're friends now, right?"

Of course.

"Then can you tell me exactly when we first met?"

"Of course, it was in the distant past."

"You know that's not what I want to hear."

"In the distant past and certainly in the near future."

"...I understand. Anyway, thank you for introducing me to everyone...In the coming period, I will undergo trials in the Land of Rebirth. At that time, I may still need your approval."

"Oh ho! Then hurry up and give this cute and beautiful fairy lady some benefits, or I'll definitely turn your difficulty to the highest level! After all, you're a monster who can solo all of us right now!"

"Oh, that's an exaggeration. How could I possibly defeat all of you by myself? Even if the ancient civilization had received help from the Honkai, I still couldn't have done it."

"really?"