Honkai Impact 3rd experience, starting with a thousand Herrschers

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"So, Cheng Xing, you have fulfilled all your promises to me, and now it's my turn."

Raiden Shin stepped onto the battlefield.

Chapter 145: Alternative Plans

"Can I assume... you're trying to pursue me?"

Looking at Raiden's serious expression, even if Cheng Xing was slow to understand, he already knew the choice the girl had made...

"I used to think that no one would ever try to pursue me or embrace me. But without realizing it, I found myself surrounded by more and more people, and I made more and more friends. Originally, I really thought I was fine on my own. If I ever found someone I loved, I planned to stay with her forever, never leaving her, and never looking for anyone else..."

"So, for you, Bronya is your only love?"

Upon hearing this, Raiden involuntarily tightened his grip on his sword. For some reason, a strange regret welled up within him; he regretted being too late, regretted why he could have reached out to him much earlier, but instead…

"That was actually what I thought at first, but as things went on, I had to face a certain person."

Cheng Xing knew about his relationship with Xilin; they had long since reached the point of being inseparable. He could choose to regard that feeling as familial affection, but the girl would never agree to that.

"I'm actually a very indecisive person, really. If you really want to pursue me... you won't be happy. No one wants to share their lover; everyone wants to have their other half all to themselves, so I..."

"There's no need to say anything more. My decision will not be shaken."

"...So what is it about someone like me that makes so many people like me?"

Cheng Xing smiled as if mocking himself, and then the crow he was relying on turned into smoke and dissipated.

Raiden looked in the direction the person had left and muttered to himself, "Because you always appear when others need you most."

Cheng Xing followed the two men and, after some time, finally met up with another teammate and arrived at a temporary base.

"I'm sorry, sir. Although we've traveled a long way and been frequently harassed by monsters, we urgently need to understand the situation in Saint Fontaine, so we'd like to get some useful information from you right now."

Raiden Mei stood in front of Cheng Xing, first expressing her apology, and then immediately inquired about the situation in the city.

"I don't really know much, I just know that it was accompanied by some inexplicable light, and then I mysteriously lost my sight and consciousness... When I came to, I found myself standing on the street for no reason, and those monsters were trying to kill me! I could only run for my life, and luckily I met this guy just when I was about to die and was saved..."

As he spoke, Cheng Xing curled up as if he were extremely frightened, his whole body trembling slightly, cold sweat seeping from his forehead, his pupils contracting, as if he were recalling an unpleasant past.

"I'm sorry I reminded you of a painful memory. Please rest here for the next few days, and we will notify the people outside to take you out immediately."

Seeing Cheng Xing's frightened and panicked appearance, Raiden Mei knew she shouldn't ask any more questions. She apologized again and immediately led her team to a corner to start a meeting.

After making sure that the three people's attention was not on him, Cheng Xing gradually calmed down from his extremely panicked expression, and finally his consciousness connected with the sub-body that he had previously split off from outside.

In a dark corner of Saint Fontaine, a pigeon dressed in a white coat and wearing small glasses, looking almost like a cartoon character, was intently watching a monster that was bound by countless chains.

It's a pigeon.

Oh my God, why a pigeon?

The pigeon stretched out its wings, pushed up its small glasses that had slipped down its face like a human, and then made a sound like a middle-aged man's voice from its beak.

"These monsters do indeed bear traces of Honkai within them, but these traces are definitely not a savage and brutal variant of Honkai; they are more like something artificially cultivated. So, this is the work of the so-called celestial beings?"

"That's right. According to the information we learned from the main body, they seem to have become fully proficient in using Honkai energy and have multiple colonies in the universe, as well as the strength to deal with native civilizations."

A crow, with a cigarette in its beak and wearing a white coat, suddenly flew over.

"Really? To be able to defeat a Honkai God... that's an unimaginable level of civilization!"

The white dove couldn't help but sigh.

"Yes, back then we abandoned everything. Even carrying the will and aspirations of all the people in several cities, and with an endless supply of Honkai energy, we still couldn't touch the gods. But unexpectedly, other civilizations have already emerged that can completely defeat the Honkai and even plunder it..."

With a puff of smoke, the black raven mimicked human-like gestures, using its wings to retrieve the cigarette from its beak. It continued, "However, now that civilization knows of Earth's existence, it's probably not long before their main force appears. Given Earth's current fighting strength, I don't think we have enough power to fight that civilization. After all, in the current situation, humanity in this world is simply skipping classes."

"But humans in this world have no other choice but to skip classes. If we didn't exist in the main world, we'd probably still end up skipping classes... But speaking of which, who is your personality template?"

“Oh, Gerald… if I remember correctly, your personality template is the supervisor, right?”

"Yes, the entity simulated us beings based on those people's personalities... So, is there a way for us to reverse engineer these projects?"

When this topic was brought up, the black crow's expression turned strangely human-like, like an expression only a cartoon character could make.

"Well, I originally thought that the creations of such advanced civilizations would have some kind of technological locks or similar things, but when we conducted various studies and dissections, we found that it was simply like... well, an industrial product specially displayed for you, without any hidden traces... In fact, we are wondering if this alien civilization is using this small incident to test the level of civilization on this planet?"

"This possibility cannot be ruled out. After all, some civilizations, although they have not left their own planets, have become extremely advanced due to various reasons. So, for this reason, those extraterrestrial civilizations may also want to use this opportunity to investigate the level of civilization on Earth."

The white dove also thought it made perfect sense, and touched its throat with its wing.

"Well, so through the combination of bioengineering and Honkai, we have reverse-engineered a lot of practical developments... Speaking of which, it seems that we have fulfilled Dr. Mebius's wish because of this."

"Theoretically, if we conduct enough simulation experiments, it should only take a few months to confirm a preliminary human evolution plan. At that time, we can achieve the goal of enabling humans to fully adapt to the Honkai through modification."

"What are the drawbacks?"

"The downside is that people will lose their original humanoid bodies and carbon-based life forms and evolve into a species similar to silicon-based life forms. Then, Honkai energy will replace air, water, and food as the only resources we need to rely on. At that time, as the population continues to increase, we may even have to plunder Honkai energy from other planets like the people in the sky."

"What's this? Genetic ascension?"

"I guess you could say that, but the main body has only temporarily shelved this plan, saying that it will only be activated when absolutely necessary."

"Yes, if this plan is actually implemented... I'm afraid humanity will truly become extinct. In that case, it will just be a completely new race hatching on the body of human civilization."

Chapter 146: Another Path

"But speaking of which, I feel like I've forgotten something?"

At that moment, the crow, who was smoking a cigarette, suddenly spoke.

"Why am I so vague about the fact that we tainted the gods with our emotions? I asked the other simulated personalities, and they had the same phenomenon. It seems that most of them have some inexplicable vagueness about that memory. They only remember that we did it, but the specifics are very vague. They can only recall some minor details, but can't remember the main things at all."

"That's true for me too. But it's probably because when we were infected by the gods, our personalities were completely burned away and we were corrupted by some kind of god. That's why we have this side effect, but it doesn't have much of an impact."

The white dove shrugged its wings, then looked at the humanoid monster that was still struggling and roaring, bound by layers of chains, and said, "I never expected that these creatures, which were merely modified by the artificial Honkai phenomenon, could slowly awaken self-awareness... We can't figure out the principles behind this yet. Could this have already involved research on the soul?"

"So I still don't understand, which has a higher status: the brain or the soul? Through the existence of the physical body, we know that the soul truly exists in this world, but since the soul exists in the body, then what determines the physical body, the brain or the soul?"

"If the physical body undergoes mutation, how will the relationship between the soul and the body change?"

"Actually, there's no need to separate them so much; the connection between the two should be mutual..."

The two then engaged in a profound discussion about the connection and influence between the body and the soul, and finally conducted a deeper dialectical analysis using the on-site experimental subject.

Finally, they successfully deciphered the interaction between Honkai energy and the soul, and how the soul could, under certain circumstances, slow down the erosion process of Honkai.

"Well, even after keeping the brain highly active and administering extremely strong drugs, maintaining his abundant emotions will still lead to being consumed by the Honkai... But once the existence of a soul exists, and when the soul and emotions resonate and erupt, it has a very significant impact on the Honkai... So, can we equate the soul with the Honkai to some extent?"

"After the genetic ascension, have we started researching psionic ascension?"

However, despite the white dove's complaints, this inexplicable connection did indeed point to a direction worth exploring. After informing all the dolls through the airport's internal communication system, the dolls, who had been haphazardly studying these monsters in various locations, suddenly lit up with a thirst for knowledge, like wild beasts that had been starving for a long time smelling blood.

Then everyone gathered together, captured many monsters, and conducted in-depth research.

Cheng Xing retrieved his consciousness from his various selves, and then had some complaints in his mind.

"Seriously? I just rejected the research direction on genetic ascension, and you guys come up with some kind of psionic ascension for me? I'm not some green-skinned guy! How come you're all so amazing?"

Although Cheng Xing felt that this research direction was rather fantastical, he could, by combining his existing knowledge and theoretical knowledge with his own unique characteristics, manage to construct a research model in this area.

Once this experiment yields results, it will mean that humanity can, to some extent, restrain collapse through its own will.

Because of the duality of the soul and the body, it makes no sense that the body can so strongly influence the soul, and the soul cannot influence the body.

Once the soul is strong enough to restrain the body and resist the erosion of Honkai, then one can gradually improve the stability and strength of one's soul, just like in cultivation novels, and then continuously absorb more Honkai energy to enhance one's soul and body. Under this continuous progress... it seems that one can truly defeat Honkai!

"Furthermore, the ancient heroes of China cultivated a certain kind of energy by relying on Honkai energy... We can learn from this. By combining these methods, we might actually be able to use Honkai energy to replace spiritual power and allow humans to enter the realm of cultivation."

At this moment, Cheng Xing's mind started to wander and consider the feasibility of this idea, to the point that he completely forgot that his original main purpose was to make initial contact with the people in the sky and see just how powerful the so-called aliens were.

And if, when necessary, those aliens cannot coexist peacefully with Earth, then…

Those are all living, breathing experience packs!

This is a war between civilizations, and there is no room for mercy.

Meanwhile, the three-person team had finished their initial discussion and decided to focus on studying the monsters first, collecting enough data for researchers at the Destiny Headquarters to conduct technological analysis in order to investigate the cause of their appearance.

However, the three of them had a headache, because the only survivor would probably have to stay here for a long time. Due to some special circumstances, there weren't enough people outside, so it was impossible to send someone in specifically to retrieve this man.

A commoner wouldn't warrant such a massive intervention from Heaven. If ordinary people were sent over, the monsters hidden in the corners of the city, who might not even know if there were any flying creatures, could easily annihilate the entire ordinary force sent over.

Sending a Valkyrie specifically to reclaim a civilian would indeed be a huge waste.

Therefore, after a moment's thought, the current Archbishop Theresa of Destiny decided to let the survivor stay in the temporary base for a short period of time, and then take him with her when the third squad withdrew.

Just as Raiden Mei was about to apologize to the man, she inexplicably felt something flash through her mind like an electric current, a distinct stimulation.

"This feeling!"

At this moment, Raiden Mei could actually feel that the Herrscher power within her, which should not have been active for a long time, was starting to stir.

This is completely abnormal. Since that final battle, the remaining abilities I possess should not possibly be so active...

"What on earth is going on?!"

Before Raiden Mei could even react to what was happening, a bolt of purple lightning suddenly ripped through the sky and fell straight down from somewhere in the distant city, accompanied by a thunderous roar that shook the heavens and the earth.

"The Herrscher of Thunder... her authority... this is impossible!!!"

Raiden Mei lost her composure for once.

Chapter 147: Showing Off

The three-person team immediately regrouped and headed in the direction Raiden Mei had sensed, which was also the place where the purple lightning bolt had descended from the sky.

Throughout the journey, Raiden Mei's face was filled with doubt and confusion. There couldn't possibly be a second Herrscher of Thunder in this world, so why would the Herrscher of Thunder's abilities still exist?

"What exactly is going on?"

Cheng Xing immediately controlled one of his clones, spread his wings, and came to the direction where the lightning was coming. He saw the lightning standing majestically on the rooftop, with a large, blackened mass of things in front of him.

"What's going on? Are there still creatures in this city that require you to activate their powers on a large scale?"

The clone controlled by Cheng Xing resembled a parrot, with an eyepatch over its left eye and a pirate captain's hat on its head, giving it a pirate-themed appearance.

"No, I just want to lure that guy out for a chat. I'm still quite curious about what kind of path that coward in this world has taken?"

Raiden crossed his arms and looked at the figure rushing towards them in the distance. He calmly said, "If this affects your plans, I can cancel it."