Honkai Impact 3rd experience, starting with a thousand Herrschers

Chapter 178: The Transaction

"In fact, I don't want to fight you. I brought you to this consciousness space just so we could have a proper talk. You don't need to be so eager to kill me."

Cheng Xing vanished from the desolate planet in an instant, and then something enormous fell heavily from the sky, shattering the surface of the desolate planet and creating countless cracks.

"You must die."

Janna had absolutely no intention of negotiating; she was single-mindedly focused on killing the enemy in front of her.

"I really don't want to fight you. It's pointless. Besides, you love Kiana, don't you? If you love her, she'll be heartbroken if something happens to me. You don't want her, who always has a smile on her face, to be overshadowed by hatred and pain, do you?"

Upon hearing this, Janna paused for a moment, no longer chasing after the figure that had disappeared. Since the figure vanished, she could no longer sense its presence, but its annoying voice continued to echo in the space.

"But it's better than being watched by the gods and dying in agony."

Janna seemed to have made up her mind, and her Honkai energy surged dramatically, as if she were about to unleash a massive attack that would engulf the entire consciousness space.

Why won't you talk to me? Why are you so eager to fight me?

“I don’t want to communicate with a powerless, inferior being. Although your way of existence is strange, I can’t sense any powerful aura. You are just a variable in the cycle of reincarnation. All I need to do is kick you out, and everything will return to normal.”

"...Do you think I'm not qualified to talk to you?"

"Not only you, but all the weakest ants, including those humans, have no right to communicate with me as equals."

"Oh, really? It seems you have a purely animalistic mindset, after all, you yourself are a beast."

Cheng Xing's voice became unusually muffled and hoarse for some reason. At this moment, Janna suddenly felt a strange emotion growing in her heart, and the originally peaceful universe around her was now eerily silent.

Wait a minute, even though it's a space of consciousness, it also recreates the cosmic environment where I've lived for a long time. Shouldn't it be deathly still?

So why do I feel this way?

Janna shook her body, trying to shake off the strange thoughts, but just then she noticed a star in the distance that was emitting a faint red light, and then quietly watching her like an eye.

She felt uncomfortable and gathered a huge amount of Honkai energy to shatter the illusory star in front of her. This was just a consciousness space, not the real universe, so of course she could attack that illusory existence.

After that star dissipated, the stars that had been shining suddenly turned crimson, and then the starlight transformed into crimson eyes, calmly watching the once enormous beast.

Like countless hunting monsters, they now circled around the giant beast, licking its body with their greedy and bloodthirsty eyes, wanting to tear its flesh apart with their sharp teeth, suck the powerful blood, and swallow the delicious flesh.

The unprecedented gaze, as if being watched by a natural enemy, made Janna extremely uncomfortable. The massive Honkai energy transformed into countless rays, destroying the illusory pupils that suddenly appeared in this consciousness space.

After all the stars were destroyed, the entire universe of consciousness space was plunged into darkness, a darkness so dense that it was impossible to see clearly.

"what happened?"

Janna was somewhat confused. This should have been her own consciousness space, a place she could control and observe. Why couldn't she sense her surroundings at this moment, as if she were enveloped in a thick black mist?

Suddenly, Janna saw the surroundings light up again, and the countless stars reappeared in the background, bringing light to the dim space.

But that guy still didn't reappear.

Janna began to sway her enormous body as she wandered through this space of consciousness, but before she could actually search for anything, she seemed to bump into an invisible wall.

Janna tried to destroy the wall in front of her with all sorts of attacks, but all of them were in vain.

Suddenly sensing something, Janna focused her gaze upwards in confusion, only to see... a pair of eyes.

A pair of dark eyes calmly gazed at him.

As the view widens, a withered scarecrow stands atop a wheat field, holding a transparent cube in its hand. Inside, a tiny fish swims slowly, constantly crashing against the surrounding glass-like walls, its body emitting various kinds of light that attack its surroundings.

If Cheng Xing were to fight that enormous Herrscher of the Sea in the outside world, he would have no chance of winning without using his trump cards. After all, that massive body is the best weapon, and once the battle begins, it will be an earth-shattering force.

But in the realm of consciousness, this is where you truly belong.

"I'll ask you one more time, is there really no room for negotiation?"

"...What exactly are you?"

For the first time, Janna felt her own weakness. She had so much power at her disposal, and her body was so enormous that she could easily crush the body of that guy outside. So why? Why couldn't she even put up a fight in this world of consciousness?

"I know you're so anxious because you're worried about Kiana. Actually, I just want to talk to you to protect her."

“…I acknowledge your strength. Tell me your name.”

"Sigh, why did you have to make such a fuss? My name is Cheng Xing, and I'm Kiana's boyfriend in this reincarnation."

"……I see."

"So we both love her, why can't we be friends?"

Cheng Xing suddenly started making a joke, but no one understood what he was saying.

"Are you here to show off to me?"

"I just hope you can help me out at the last minute; I need your strength."

Why should I help you?

"Because I can end the cycle of this world this time, because I can free Kiana from the torment of the gods, because I can free the puppets that were dancing on the stage from their strings."

"...Although I don't know what you're trying to do, I think you're crazy. You're trying to rebel against something you can't even understand. Give up. It's impossible."

“Sometimes you have to do the impossible. If you give up knowing it’s impossible, then you’ll really have nothing. Besides, even if I lose, it’s just that I die, the cycle of reincarnation begins again, and you can be with her forever.”

"And even if I succeed, she will be troubling you a lot in the future."

“…………Okay, I’ll help you.”

After thinking for a moment, Janna made a decision. Since she would benefit anyway, why not see what this crazy guy was capable of?

Anyway, it won't cause any harm.

Chapter 179: Autobiography

Janna has left the realm of consciousness. Now, on this golden wheat field, only a lone scarecrow stands. It stands there like a guardian, watching the golden ears of wheat gleam in the setting sun.

As the breeze blows, the golden ears of wheat form golden waves, creating a warm and beautiful scene.

"You are afraid."

A voice rang in my ears; it was the voice of one of my most familiar friends.

Jerak appeared beside him, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and then looked at the scarecrow-like figure, saying, "You're afraid, you're hesitant, so you created this fake version of me, to comfort you with this illusory existence? You need to know that the real us are long dead. The simulated personality you're creating is ultimately just you talking to yourself."

"I know, I just want to get a little more motivation from you to keep going... I really thought about relying on the power of the system, taking my friends and loved ones from this world and leaving this world. This isn't the world I'm familiar with. Even without my participation, this world will just keep searching for that one light in endless cycles. Even if I do nothing, it will still change and be redeemed, won't it?"

"Even the savior of this world can change everything if he appears in the next few cycles, so why should I bother to risk my life and my future to change all of this?"

Cheng Xing covered up his scarecrow appearance again, transforming back into the slovenly-looking researcher with short hair and a white lab coat.

“Jerak… I never intended to save this world. No matter how terrible or devastated the collapsing world is, what does it have to do with me? The lives and deaths of those strangers are none of my concern.”

Cheng Xing shouted as if venting his frustration. The heavy pressure of the past few days had made it hard for him to breathe, and the internal change was already on the agenda. He truly had no way back.

He needed to release some pressure, otherwise the accumulated stress would eventually cause his hands to tremble.

This is like a delicate surgery; any mistake can have irreversible consequences.

The simulated Jerac calmly looked at Cheng Xing, who was roaring in front of him, took out a cigarette from his pocket, handed it to him, and said, "So, you're not from this world, or even this universe, so why are you so determined to save the people of this world and defeat the Honkai?"

Cheng Xing took the cigarette and put it in his mouth. He then pulled out a lighter from somewhere in his clothes and lit it. As the familiar taste passed through his lungs, the stimulating sensation reminded him of the laboratory in the freezing cold.

"In fact, at first, I didn't care what the world was like... until I met you bunch of bastards."

"You young people, brimming with passion for resisting the Honkai, people full of dreams for the future, are locked up in those cold operating rooms. Repeating one meaningful experiment after another, yet bloody, cruel, and nauseatingly vile experiments. What keeps you going? I've wondered..."

"You see, every experimenter can be equipped with a gun, and you also see, every experimenter can get all sorts of drugs from the pharmacy. Suicide is really easy, painless, and there are many ways to die."

At this point, Jerak threw a packet of sleeping pills from his pocket onto the ground and continued, "Like you said, why do we, who are considered evil scum even by demons from hell, survive? Isn't it because the bishops of Schicksal told us that we do all this so that humanity can defeat the Honkai?"

"So at that time I felt it was so incomprehensible... Later I saw other things, do you remember the souls of people from that city, no, I should say several cities? I saw their past."

“I can still clearly remember what each of them looked like in their daily lives, everything they experienced from childhood to adulthood, what each of them said, and their names. These are things we didn’t pass on; these are secrets I’ve kept.”

"At that time, I was thinking, did they really, really deserve to die like this?"

Jerac didn't reply to Cheng Xing. The two stood silently in the wheat field for a while, smoking. Then Cheng Xing threw the cigarette that had burned out on the ground and said with a carefree smile.

"Sorry, I said some nonsensical things."

"Well, it doesn't matter. Anyway, you're just talking to yourself in this situation. So let's answer the first question: Why do you want to save the world?"

Cheng Xing stood on the ground, gazing at the setting sun in the sky, and answered after a long silence.

"Perhaps, what I want to protect is just ordinary life, the peaceful and mundane daily life that belongs to most people."

"Or perhaps it will be after I can go home, and be able to hold my head high and proudly say to my parents."

"Mom and Dad, your son hasn't disgraced us or become the kind of trash who bullies others with his power. Instead, he's become a hero! Hahaha! Why am I getting more and more dramatic? Okay, all the negative emotions I've been holding in have been released. Now I should go back to the real world, otherwise everyone outside will worry."

Cheng Xing smiled calmly and gently again, then turned around, and his research coat, which was covered in mud, fell to the ground.

He was wearing a plain casual outfit.

Gerald still had that cigarette that seemed to never burn out in his mouth. He looked at the white coat that had fallen to the ground and was covered in mud, bent down to pick it up, and then put it on his shoulder, completely unconcerned that the mud on it might make his clothes dirty as well.

Or perhaps, his clothes were just dirty to begin with.

Then, as the sun set, the figure in the wheat field vanished without a trace.

Cheng Xing opened his eyes and found himself lying in bed, with someone holding him tightly beside him as if afraid he would disappear.

Cheng Xing turned his head and looked at his girlfriend, whose hair was disheveled and whose face was full of peaceful sleeping expression. His expression softened even more.

Kiana, I love you too.

Cheng Xing lowered his voice and whispered.

Chapter 180: Narration

Kiana opened her eyes and found herself in someone's arms. She moved her head slightly and looked into the eyes that had been staring at her, asking, "How long have you been awake?"

"I don't know, I just kept watching you, and I don't know how much time passed."

Am I that good-looking?

"I never get tired of looking at you."

"You're always so talkative, so can you tell me what exactly happened? Who is that guy? Why did you go to see her? And why did you two suddenly fall unconscious? And why did that woman disappear without a trace?"

Kiana's expression darkened as she spoke.