HIA Vol. 5 Chapters 1-25 (Patreon)

HIA VOL 5 Chapters 1-25

Chapter One: Finally Arriving at the Story's Starting Point (Big Sigh)

【About to Reach the Destination: St. Freya Academy】

The announcement from the driver brought Luo Lin back to her senses, and she scratched her head.

"Wow, it's been how many years since I transmigrated over; I've finally arrived at St. Freya for a check-in..."

Luo Lin looked at the European-style buildings appearing outside the porthole, which seemed out of place with the Far East, and the large runway, feeling a mysterious sense of emotion rising within her.

Soon, the transport ship landed, and a group of Valkyries and staff busily stuffed various supplies into the cabin. Luo Lin herself pushed a cart with cans on it down and handed it to the logistics Valkyrie who had been waiting for a long time.

"Running errands for scientists?" Luo Lin asked with a smile.

"Yes, senior, I'll leave now; they're urging me!" The young Valkyrie stuck out her tongue at Luo Lin, quickly loaded the bottles and cans onto the cart, then stepped on the gas and headed straight for the research institute.

Luo Lin found a place that wouldn't interfere with others' work and stood there, hands on her hips, recalling the busy days of the past few days.

"Since I'm here, handling the Honkai of Nagazora is quite troublesome. The more people, the more power..."

Since Ragnar said so, what else could Luo Lin do?

She reluctantly followed Hyperion back to Nagazora and assisted the Valkyries in setting up a temporary base away from the center of the Honkai outbreak.

Next was a set of standard procedures for handling Honkai outbreak areas: searching for survivors, dealing with Honkai beasts and zombies, and collecting samples of Honkai energy from various places for research.

As for Nagazora itself, which was affected by the Honkai, humans currently didn't have any cost-effective technology to clean up the environment affected by the Honkai energy. This city would probably be abandoned.

You might ask what could clear the effects of Honkai energy?

Isn't there still a floating Divine Key in Earth's orbit?

That thing was originally meant to restore the Earth's environment affected by the Endbringer, so it would more than suffice to clean up the effects of Honkai in Nagazora.

Setting aside whether Otto would be willing to use the 4th Divine Key, even if the Archbishop didn't consider the budget and energy consumption, choosing to repair with great mercy, the restoration method of the 4th Divine Key would be rather "rough" for Nagazora.

In terms of results, it was equivalent to directly leveling this city and rebuilding it, which was not very cost-effective.

Anyway, Ragnar believed that the Far East government wouldn't shell out this money, most likely they would give the survivors some funds, and then let them go wherever they wanted.

Then Ragnar instructed Luo Lin to be a firefighter, wherever there was a problem, she would go—mainly because she was handy, too handy.

Luo Lin's combat power was still quite good now, clearing ordinary Honkai beasts was simply easy and enjoyable.

Plus, she accidentally revealed her excellent tactical and strategic command abilities (Himeko even praised her), securing her position as an A-rank Valkyrie without the need for a promotion exam.

After Ragnar noticed this, she, who had been driven crazy by the complicated situation in Nagazora, brightened up when she saw Luo Lin, and without saying a word, piled more responsibilities onto Luo Lin, leaving the black-haired Valkyrie a bit overwhelmed.

But soon, Luo Lin calmed down and, following the teachings of Himeko and her own experience, began to take control of the situation, demonstrating the professionalism of an A-rank Valkyrie.

With her help, the speed of handling the Honkai incident in Nagazora increased significantly, and within three days, most of the survivors in the city had been gathered.

Luo Lin also specifically paid attention to whether there were any children named "Sora" or "Lyle," but did not find anyone.

The Valkyries could only pray for the safety of these children, and of course, it would be best if they were taken away by a certain island's crow.

After a short period of hardship for the black-haired Valkyrie, an urgent order came from the Far East Branch, issued by Theresa Apocalypse, requesting Luo Lin to return promptly to report for a mission.

Looking at the message on her terminal, Ragnar looked at Luo Lin with a subtle expression, "Did you get stuck with a confidential mission?"

She had seen too many orders in this format; they seemed vague, but they also proved that some things were not suitable to be written in orders and must be answered offline.

"Sort of...?"

"Okay then." Ragnar patted Luo Lin on the shoulder, "Then go back with this transport ship that just arrived."

Finally, Luo Lin broke free from the busy days and arrived at Saint Freya Academy.

"Luo Lin, over here."

A steady voice sounded in the black-haired girl's ears, she turned her head and saw Fu Hua walking over from the other side.

Jingwei said calmly, "The headmistress asked me to pick you up."

"Um, don't you still have a mission to infiltrate Saint Freya as a student?" Luo Lin thought of something and asked hesitantly.

"...It's been canceled, the Archbishop directly canceled the mission."

Fu Hua also felt helpless. Who could have expected to encounter so many things?

Herrschers, mysterious products from parallel worlds, the internal strife of Anti-Entropy, pseudo-Herrschers, the Honkai outbreak...

After finally arriving at Saint Freya Academy, Theresa took out Fu Hua's communicator and swiped it, and the large A-rank Valkyrie logo lit up directly.

The headmistress's expression at the time was a bit off; she remembered that there was a transfer student who was supposed to transfer to St. Freya Academy from elsewhere, and Theresa even remembered the name and appearance—now, isn't this Fu Hua?

An A-rank Valkyrie going to Saint Freya as a student?

Under Theresa's vigilant gaze, Fu Hua called Otto's phone. The Archbishop and Theresa had a friendly chat, dispelling the headmistress's misconception that "someone is trying to frame me"...

Then Archbishop Otto canceled the undercover mission and instead assigned Fu Hua and Theresa the task of monitoring the Herrschers.

Hearing this, Luo Lin couldn't help but laugh, "Monitoring Herrschers... Theresa must have been quite scared, right?"

"Yes, when she found out that Raiden Mei was actually the Herrscher of Thunder, she almost flew out of the office..." Fu Hua couldn't imagine that scene actually happened.

"How could she fly out?"

"With the Oath of Judah, it can carry Theresa out of the office."

Fu Hua recalled the situation at the time and gestured with her hand, "When she heard that there was a Herrscher in Saint Freya, Theresa immediately grabbed the Oath of Judah, ready to execute her on the spot, but fortunately Otto told her that the situation of this Herrscher is basically stable... Well, at least under your influence, it's stable."

Luo Lin's mouth twitched slightly, "No wonder Theresa was so anxious to call me back..."

The two walked leisurely on the street, surrounded by many youthful and beautiful girls, mostly students from the Valkyrie Academy, and occasionally they could see Valkyries hurrying by.

The Far East Branch was right next to Saint Freya Academy, or rather, some of the buildings were shared between the two.

After all, Otto was willing to spend money on Theresa, equipping Saint Freya Academy with the highest-standard memory battlefield system, and the Valkyries of the Far East Branch also wanted to use this equipment, so they smoothly ran into Saint Freya...

A few minutes later, Fu Hua brought Luo Lin to the headmistress's office, and the black-haired Valkyrie formally met Theresa Apocalypse for the first time here.

"Hello, Headmistress Theresa."

Theresa Apocalypse sat on a specially raised chair, her face serious and dignified, showing that she was learning from Otto.

"Hello, Luo Lin... I want to ask, how did you stabilize the situation of the Herrscher?"

Chapter Two: Hello, Everyone

"Just talking about it might be difficult to understand. How about the headmistress experiences it herself?"

"Sure." Theresa nodded.

"It sounds like this technique requires you to be close to others to work?"

"Yes," the black-haired girl replied with a bitter smile.

After thinking for a moment, the headmistress actively jumped out from behind her desk and walked to Luo Lin's side, looking up at her.

"Let's begin."

"Okay."

At the moment, Luo Lin had mastered some methods of using her emotional diffusion constitution, such as how to slightly increase the intensity of emotional diffusion, how to open and close the diffusion state...

The girl felt that there were still many things worth exploring. Luo Lin was still using the "clumsy method": to spread a certain emotion, she would immerse herself in that emotion, then open the diffusion state to influence those around her.

As for how to simplify this clumsy activation, or directly select the emotions to be diffused from her complex thoughts, and how to extend the distance of emotional diffusion, Luo Lin had not found a good method yet.

After all, she was still exploring the use of her special constitution.

Taking a deep breath, the black-haired Valkyrie began to search for useful memory fragments in her mind, preparing to enter a state.

Luo Lin skillfully brought out memories of her interactions with Cecilia, Sirin, and Kiana—especially memories of rubbing the purple-haired and white-haired puffs, which helped her immerse herself in inexplicable emotions.

At the same time, Luo Lin didn't forget to open the emotional diffusion state, and even used the power of honkai to enhance the intensity of diffusion...

A few seconds later, tears welled up in Theresa's eyes as she held the black-haired girl's hand.

Luo Lin looked at the headmistress with her iconic silver-white hair, subconsciously reaching out to touch Theresa's head.

Luo Lin seemed unaware that her hand was acting up; almost unconsciously, she used her fingertips to comb through Theresa's hair, untied Theresa's side ponytail, and neatly re-braided a side twist, just like Kiana's.

Under the influence of emotional diffusion, Theresa seemed to think she was back in the past, with Cecilia's indulgent smile on her face, embracing her and helping her with makeup.

"Cecilia... I miss you so much..."

The headmistress murmured.

"..."

The familiar words snapped Luo Lin out of her immersion in memories of rubbing the purple-haired and white-haired puffs.

She looked down tremblingly and realized that the person in her arms was not Sirin or Kiana, but a certain older loli...

The feel of Theresa's hair was somewhat similar to Sirin's and Kiana's, but a bit firmer, as if to prove that she wasn't as young as she looked.

After all, Theresa had lived for more than forty years...

Oh no, would the headmistress use Judah to blast me out of the office?

With this thought, the immersive emotions brought about by memories changed.

Even Fu Hua, who stood by as stiff as a wooden person, could feel the tense and awkward atmosphere in the air.

Theresa's face grew redder and redder, even the roots of her ears turned crimson, making her look like a cooked lobster, emitting steam.

"Okay, that's enough. I understand what your constitution is now."

The headmistress shot out of Luo Lin's embrace, returning to the chair behind her desk in a rush. She tried to maintain a calm tone, but the remaining redness on her face amused Luo Lin.

Theresa coughed twice, waved her hand, and activated the holographic projection.

A letter of appointment appeared in front of them: "This is an order issued by Archbishop Otto. You will be reassigned to the Far East Branch to continue monitoring the Herrschers. Luo Lin, you also need to use your special ability to suppress the Herrschers' destructive impulses."

"Luo Lin, although you are currently only a B-rank Valkyrie, your authority has been raised to S-rank by Archbishop Otto. Currently, you are directly under the Archbishop as a Valkyrie... Grandpa has high hopes for you, so keep up the good work."

The headmistress said very seriously, her innocent expression even made Luo Lin feel a sense of guilt.

"I understand."

Theresa put away the projection and handed two sets of keys to Fu Hua and Luo Lin.

"These are the keys to your dormitories, one set for each of you, right next to Raiden Mei and Kiana's student dormitories..."

Luo Lin's expression was subtle. "Student dormitories?"

"Yes."

The headmistress scratched her head helplessly. "In theory, we can't let Raiden Mei feel different from ordinary people. It's best to make her identify with humans, just like the Herrscher of Reason, fighting for humanity...

So making her a student of Saint Freya should be the best choice."

"So, do we have to be students too?"

Fu Hua interjected. Theresa covered her forehead.

"No, you are just borrowing the student dormitories for convenience in communicating with Raiden Mei... But if you want to attend classes with them, I can try to arrange it..."

"Let's forget about that." Kiana and Raiden Mei's courses are all starting from scratch, which is useless for Fu Hua and Luo Lin.

After thinking for a moment, Luo Lin spoke up, "By the way, can I attend the relevant courses for A-rank Valkyries? I plan to take the promotion exam for A-rank Valkyries."

Although the gold medal instructor, Himiko Murata, was outstanding, always using her assist time for classes was somewhat of a waste.

It would be more profitable to alleviate Himiko's pressure with the teaching staff from the real world and use the freed-up time to dive into the Abyss and the battlefield, wouldn't it?

"That's no problem, but you have to ensure that it won't delay the mission of monitoring the Herrschers..."

Theresa agreed. St. Freya Academy has a strong teaching staff, not only capable of teaching ordinary Valkyries but also responsible for the advanced education of Valkyries. The advanced memory battlefield system in this academy is large enough to serve as a venue for the A-rank Valkyrie promotion exam.

However, St. Freya can only issue up to B-rank promotion certificates for now; A-rank promotions must be done at the Schicksal HQ.

After all, A-rank is already considered elite talent, and Archbishop Otto must personally inspect it.

As for the higher S-rank, there is no promotion exam for this level, it is entirely based on your personal record, and the headquarters will directly evaluate and issue it—Luo Lin actually knows that basically, these are talents personally selected by Archbishop Otto.

Theresa tinkered with the terminal a few more times, issued the permissions to Luo Lin and Fu Hua, and finally said in a gentle tone, "Okay, go and see Raiden Mei and Kiana quickly... They've been waiting for your news for days."

"Thank you, Headmistress."

Luo Lin and Fu Hua exchanged glances, then pushed the door and left the office.

After the door closed, Theresa's forced calm facade collapsed directly.

She lay on the table, her eyes turning into mosquito coils: "Wuwu... How did I lose control like this... My dignity is gone now..."

The headmistress turned her head to the side, rubbing the freshly braided twist, muttering,

"But Luo Lin's skills are really not bad, making me think of Cecilia..."

Theresa also thought of the white puff she met a few days ago and couldn't help but smile, "Ah, Kiana, I didn't expect you to come to my school for study. This time, I will definitely take good care of you and not disappoint your parents' expectations..."

Chapter 3: The Turn of Project Bunny

Luo Lin and Fu Hua didn't take much time to find their dormitory.

After opening the door with the key, Luo Lin was somewhat surprised to find that it was actually a double room, with two bedrooms, a large space combining dining and living area, and a bathroom with a large bathtub.

The black-haired girl walked into Fu Hua's room next to her, somewhat puzzled, seeing a similar room layout.

Thinking back to the huge size of the dormitory building outside, she was afraid that every room here was designed the same way...

"So luxurious..." Luo Lin couldn't help but recall the dormitory she lived in before transmigrating in the university, where four people squeezed into one room, and in some exaggerated cases, six or eight people.

It was leagues away from the dormitory in St. Freya's.

Of course, ordinary students and Valkyrie reserves were completely incomparable. Even if Schicksal wouldn't discount their living facilities, they had money, and building a high-spec dormitory might not even be as expensive as a few pieces of Godslayer's equipment. Fu Hua didn't feel anything. She had always had low demands in this regard. As long as there was a place to sleep and enough food to eat, she was satisfied.

The gray-haired girl tidied her clothes a bit. "Let's go, let's go next door and see Kiana and Raiden Mei."

The two of them left the dormitory and knocked on the door of the neighboring dormitory.

"Who's there? Wow, Luo Lin's back! And Fu Hua!"

The dormitory door opened, and a white fluffy ball flew out. Fortunately, Luo Lin was prepared and braced herself, using the Edge of Taixuan's dissipation method to withstand Kiana's impact, then rubbing her head.

"How was your rest these days?" Luo Lin asked. "I rested quite well. Oh, come in and have a seat. Let me pour you some drinks."

Kiana led the two into the dormitory, then went to the living room to get paper cups. Soon, Luo Lin noticed some movement in the kitchen.

She looked over and saw Raiden Mei cooking, tying up her hair neatly, wearing an apron with plaid patterns, holding a pot and a spatula, looking very serious.

"Who's here?" Mei turned around belatedly, and her subtle gaze met Luo Lin's.

She hesitated for a moment, then threw the pot and spatula aside, trotting over to the black-haired girl.

"Luo Lin! You're back..."

She seemed eager to hug Luo Lin, but Mei realized she smelled of cooking fumes, so she stopped herself. The girl with blue-purple long hair blinked, nervously rubbing her fingers.

"Why did it take you so long to come back?"

"The situation in Nagazora was a bit complicated, delaying me for a few days, but I don't have anything else to do recently." Luo Lin looked Mei up and down. The girl's complexion was still good, seemingly adapting well to life at St. Freya's.

Mei asked, "Nagazora... Did it erupt again"

"Yes, you were there at the scene. That was the feeling of a Honkai eruption."

"Are there any survivors?" Mei asked nervously, "I read in the Honkai Chronicles that after such disasters, only few people survive..."

"There are, and compared to similar events, there are a lot of survivors," Luo Lin patted the girl with blue-purple long hair on the shoulder, "Because when the Honkai Eruption just started, we killed the pseudo-Herrscher, without high-level Honkai beasts commanding the battle, the Honkai beasts and Zombies were just mindless beasts."

"But still, many people died..." Mei continued, "What will happen to Nagazora next? Will the Schicksal repair it?"

"Repairing is unlikely. Nagazora should be directly abandoned, waiting for the Honkai to dissipate to a level acceptable to ordinary people before being dealt with..." Mei looked blankly, opening her mouth, "Is there really no way at all..."

"There is, but it consumes too much energy... The Far East Government won't spend that money." Mei fell silent, nodding her head. She knew very well about the "enthusiasm" of the Far East Government in disaster relief.

"Alright, don't think too much. What you need most now is to learn how to control your power. With power, you'll have more choices, right"

A crisp voice came from the side, "Mei-nee, your dish is burning."

"Oh no!" Mei's face changed dramatically, she turned around and ran back to the pan, starting to stir-fry the things she had before.

"Senior Luo Lin, Senior Fu Hua, hello."

The silver-haired twin-tailed girl who had just reminded Mei pushed her wheelchair closer. Luo Lin raised her eyebrows, "Bronya? What's wrong with you..."

"My legs have some problems, I can't walk normally anymore doctors are currently helping me assemble a suitable set of mechanical exoskeletons, it should arrive today."

Bronya said expressionlessly and calmly. Just then, Kiana came back with two drinks.

Listening to Bronya's words, she added, "Because Bronya has mobility issues, we, Mei and I, discussed it and decided to let Bronya stay with us for a few days, to facilitate taking care of her life."

Fu Hua frowned, "The Schicksal's medical technology is quite good, why choose a mechanical exoskeleton?"

"After examination, the doctor said that the reason my legs cannot move is because my brain has been eroded by Honkai energy, causing damage to part of the nervous system, which in turn prevents my legs from moving normally..."

Fu Hua nodded in understanding, shaking her head helplessly, "The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. Even Schicksal wouldn't easily touch it... Your luck doesn't seem to be very good."

"No, my luck is actually quite good..." Bronya denied Fu Hua's statement. She reached out, and something appeared from the void, with a strange but technological shape, like a mother hen protecting its ducklings.

Although it was completely different from the style seen at Senba Academy, and much smaller in size, Luo Lin recognized what it was at a glance.

[Project Bunny]!

"This is..." Fu Hua was startled by the sudden appearance of this robot, but she quickly realized that it had no hostility, and it should be under Bronya's control.

Because the Project Bunny extended its hands and held onto the handles of the wheelchair with the silver-haired twin-tailed loli, gently pushing Bronya closer to the two.

"The doctors said this is the ability I awakened after experiencing Honkai, is it called... good fortune awakening?"

Bronya tried to put on a puzzled expression, but her severely damaged brain couldn't perform such high-end operations, so she could only tilt her head to express her emotions.

Luo Lin looked at Fu Hua, who was lost in thought, with a subtle expression.

Would an honest person believe this?

"I see."

Fu Hua nodded, sighing,

"The power of Honkai, truly miraculous."

You actually believed it?

Chapter Four: Unable to Hear Her Voice

No, Jingwei, this glaringly obvious giant robot doesn't seem like something that could be brought about by Stigmata Awakening, right?

And the Project Bunny even ambushed Raiden Mei in the restroom of the Senba Academy.

Weren't you squatting on the rooftop of the teaching building? Didn't you see it?

Wait a moment, it seems that from Fu Hua's perspective at the time, she really couldn't see the appearance of the Project Bunny...

Then what about Kiana? She should...

The girl turned her head and found Kiana's eyes shining brightly. Unconsciously, she swallowed a mouthful of saliva and lowered her voice, asking in a somewhat ingratiating tone, "Um, Bronya, can I touch your robot?"

"Smack!"

The Valkyrie slapped her forehead, and the corners of her mouth twitched.

This white puffball is also quite confused. Obviously, she didn't see it clearly at the time.

Luo Lin recalled for a moment, remembering that the Project Bunny had directly smashed the wall outside the restroom, causing a burst of "mist," and it even supplemented several smoke bombs. The scene was chaotic...

Perhaps among the four people present, only Luo Lin remembered the appearance of the Project Bunny.

The black-haired Valkyrie observed Bronya from the corner of her eye. She found that the silver-haired girl with twin tails was relying on her "injured" status to hide behind an almost expressionless face, carefully observing the reactions of the others.

Kiana was not afraid. She already considered Bronya a friend, and in a safe environment where she didn't need to be constantly vigilant, her IQ plummeted, quickly approaching the level of a single-celled organism.

As for Raiden Mei, after spending a few days with her, Bronya had more or less figured out her temperament. As long as she went along with her, everything would be fine.

The main problem now was the two Valkyries in front of her, Fu Hua and Luo Lin.

Bronya still remembered Fu Hua's battle with the Pseudo Herrscher in the warehouse. She believed that this gray-haired girl, who could exchange blows with such a monster (from what she saw, Fu Hua almost defeated the Pseudo Herrscher), must be a combat specialist...

As for the other one...

Bronya took a deep breath and stared at the distinctive Valkyrie uniform on the other person, her mind spinning rapidly.

AE and Schicksal are not often at odds on the surface; most of the time, the intelligence departments of the two organizations clash in the shadows. As Cocolia's "good daughter," Bronya naturally understood the value of the Schicksal Intelligence Department.

Those Valkyries belonging to the intelligence department, with their powerful physical qualities, coupled with the absurd techniques and tactical skills they gained after being equipped with Schicksal's individual equipment, as well as their surplus loyalty in most cases, effectively offset the technological advantages that AE had gained in modern technology with great difficulty.

If most of the Schicksal Valkyries didn't go head-to-head with Honkai, and only a few Valkyries were qualified and capable of entering the intelligence department, the Valkyries who came out to perform field missions would be even fewer...

Although on a global scale, the number of field Valkyries from the intelligence department is extremely small, encountering them means that AE's plans will encounter unexpected setbacks.

And in front of her was a black-haired Valkyrie who had demonstrated impressive combat capabilities before—clearly, she was an elite of the intelligence department. Bronya didn't underestimate Luo Lin's presence at all.

Luo Lin didn't know what evaluation the silver-haired girl had made of her, but Senti inside her could feel what Bronya was brewing in her mind, as well as the obvious nervousness overflowing from her.

Senti looked at Bronya with interest for a while, and finally spoke up, "Luo Lin, there seems to be something wrong with this person."

"Of course, I know she has a problem, I'm quite familiar with her... Oh, maybe not so familiar here."

Luo Lin rubbed her temples and replied in her mind, "But now she's an acquaintance of my acquaintance... I guess Seels is still frantically 'calling' me, she's probably started squeaking like a groundhog in distress, right?"

The black-haired girl sensed the reaction of the Key of Revelations. Sure enough, Seele was still persistently trying to contact Luo Lin.

Seeing Bronya, Seele was no longer satisfied with only observing the real world with her "eyes."

She now wanted to communicate directly with Bronya, to know what had happened in the past days, why Bronya's legs were unable to move, why she, who used to be able to show a warm smile, now had a blank expression, and even her voice had lost its fluctuations...

"Please... Luo Lin, Sister..."

"Why does it sound like I'm bullying you? Clearly, I haven't done anything yet."

Listening to Seele's tearful voice, Luo Lin shook her head helplessly, "If I could, I would let you communicate with Bronya too, after all, I also want to gain her trust... but the barrier between the Sea of Quanta and the real world is too thick. It's already a pleasant surprise that you can use the Key of Revelations to observe my surroundings. As for speaking..."

Luo Lin put her hand into her pocket, pretending to take something out, and secretly used the Key of Revelations to condense a golden hairpin. Then, she handed the hairpin to Bronya.

"What's this...?"

"It's a little gift from me to you? To celebrate the start of a new life?"

The silver-haired girl looked at the hairpin in her hand, flipping it over and inspecting it carefully. No matter how you looked at it, it was a very ordinary Project hairpin, with only the intricate hollow pattern looking extremely exquisite.

—But the person who gave this thing is a Valkyrie from the Schicksal Intelligence Department. Could it really not be some kind of listening device?

Bronya remained silent for a few seconds before finally putting it on her head, letting the Project Bunny push her to the mirror to check the effect.

"Just now, Seele, you should be able to feel the connection between the Key of Revelations and the hairpin. Try talking to your Sister Bronya now."

"Sister Bronya!"

The urgent shout rang in Luo Lin's ears. The black-haired Valkyrie crossed her arms and observed Bronya's expression.

"Sister Bronya! Can you hear me? I'm Seele! Seele Vollerei!"

"...It seems quite good. Thank you, Luo Lin."

Bronya didn't hear Seele's shout at all. She fiddled with her bangs for a few moments, then took off the hairpin and put it in her pocket.

I should find an opportunity to lock it in a signal-proof box... the silver-haired girl thought.

"How could this be..."

Seele's voice sounded somewhat desperate as she murmured, "Clearly, Luo Lin, you can hear what I'm saying..."

"She's different from Bronya, Seele. Not to mention the fact that Luo Lin possesses that 'System,' she also has very obvious marks from the Sea of Quanta..."

Veliona didn't know when she had awakened, calmly saying, "We can borrow the resonance of this mark, use the power of quantum, penetrate the barrier between the sea and reality, and observe the situation inside the world. But the power of quantum is not something everyone can understand. Now, it seems that Bronya doesn't have much talent in quantum..."

In the Quantum Sea, Veliona held the despondent Seele in her arms, wiping away the tears from her eyes.

"For her, the words we speak through the Key of Revelations are just some untraceable strange energy fluctuations."

"What? I still have a mark on me? Oh... I see, otherwise, how could the big shots chase me everywhere without a mark." Luo Lin raised an eyebrow, not particularly surprised by what Veliona said; she had been prepared for it long ago.

"Don't be so disappointed, Seele. Besides using your Fist to open the door of the Sea of Quanta, I may have other ways to let you talk to Bronya... "

The black-haired Valkyrie opened her system panel and looked at the newly added character in the Valkyrie list.

She had short black-blue shoulder-length hair, ocean-blue eyes like the sea, wearing a gorgeous white dress with flowers, and holding a scythe with dream-like colors.

And behind her, there was another figure exactly like her in appearance, but the tones of her hair and clothes were completely different from the calm ocean blue, with a crimson-black hue.

[Seele Vollerie - Stygian Nymph]

Chapter Five: How to Enter My Body

After enjoying the cafeteria at St Freya, Luo Lin returned to her dormitory carrying a bag of toiletries and toothbrushes bought from the school supermarket.

Closing the door, Luo Lin immediately conducted a detailed scan of the dormitory with her Honkai power but found no listening devices or hidden cameras in the corners.

Theresa seemed quite trusting of her; perhaps she considered Luo Lin to be a Valkyrie directly under Otto. She trusted her grandfather, so she naturally had no defenses against Luo Lin herself.

"Hey, hey, Seele, are you still there?"

Luo Lin locked the bedroom door, drew the curtains, sat on the bed, tapped the hairpin on her head, and called out to Seele, who fell silent due to Bronya.

"...I'm here, Sister Luo Lin."

After a few seconds of silence, Seele replied.

"Okay, okay, don't be so down, let's talk about how to get you to talk to your beloved sister, Bronya..."

Luo Lin began to count on her fingers. "First of all, Bronya indeed lacks talent in quantum physics. In the X-10 experiment, Bronya participated later, just to see Seele in the end. However, this experiment burned her brain, causing her to lose control of her leg movements and severely damaging her emotional center, resulting in her current expressionless appearance..."

"How could..." Seele covered her mouth, tears welling up again.

Hugging Seele, Veliona asked, "How did you find out about this?"

"You can consider it Bronya from a parallel world telling me."

Luo Lin sighed. "Fortunately, this experiment allowed her to see Seele again and even received the gift of 'Project Bunny'... 'Seele' do you have any way to improve Bronya's quantum adaptation? Or could you give her a dedicated connection—like the one I have on me—to Bronya as well?"

Although Luo Lin's tone when calling Veliona sounded a bit strange, now wasn't the time to worry about that. Veliona frowned and said, "I don't know how to improve someone's quantum adaptation. After all, I myself have only a partial understanding of it..."

She paused for a moment, stroked Seele's head, and continued, "As for the mark on your body, I can't make it. It looks simple, but the techniques and energy required are extremely exaggerated. At least for now, I can't create such a thing."

"For now? Meaning it's possible in the future?"

"Perhaps... But even if I have enough skill and energy to give Bronya a quantum mark, I can't bury it on her body across the barrier between the Sea of Quanta and reality."

Veliona shrugged. "Besides, if you could directly open the door between the Sea of Quanta and the real world, would we need to go through all this trouble? We could just come back directly through the door."

"Well, I have another slightly hopeful plan here—You should have seen the body I transformed into another person before, right?"

Luo Lin nodded. "And not long ago, I acquired a rather familiar body..."

The girl spread out her hands, and to the incredulous gaze of Seele and Veliona, the exquisitely dressed "Stygian Nymph" appeared out of thin air and landed lightly on the bed.

"This... this is... me? So beautiful!"

Seele was so surprised that she couldn't even speak clearly. She immediately lowered her head and looked at her plain white shirt, dark blue and light blue skirt (the initial battlesuit Swallowtail Phantasm), and compared them with the girl lying on the bed, like a princess in a fairy tale, a subtle feeling of grievance rising in her heart.

Veliona immediately sensed Seele's disappointment and said, "Do you like that outfit? I can make you one right now."

She sprinkled quantum energy and wove a set of even more gorgeous clothes than the "Stygian Nymph," which she draped over Seele.

"Thank you!"

Seele smiled again, and Veliona turned her head, somewhat annoyed, saying, "Okay, is this your newly acquired body? What do you want to do with it?"

"If I hand over control of this body to you, can you indirectly talk to Bronya?"

Veliona: "There's still such a thing?!"

Seele widened her eyes. "But how do we control this body?"

"Well... that's a problem."

Luo Lin propped her chin and fell into thought.

So far, she had only given the bodies of Valkyries in the formation to Senti and Himeko to use.

"Senti, how did you control the body I gave you?"

Senti Lu flipped her eyes. "I am the Herrscher of Sentience. You gave me a body without will, and I just controlled it with my Herrscher power, is that okay?"

Luo Lin then asked, "Can your Herrscher power help Seele and them control this body?"

"You've got me there. Shall we give it a try?"

Senti Lu became interested and jumped out of the system space, sitting on the other side of the bed, reaching out to Luo Lin, "Give me your hairpin, let me see if I can establish a connection for them."

"Here you go."

Senti pinned the "Key of Revelation" hairpin on the bangs of the "Stygian Nymph" and pressed her finger on the surface of the hairpin. The deep red pupils gradually brightened, indicating that her Herrscher power was in full operation!

"No, I can't capture their connection."

Senti let go of her hand, scratched her nose, and muttered, "Perhaps it's because the power of the imaginary and the quantum doesn't match. Once I try to grab that connection, it will cut off the phone line between them... I'm afraid I can't help you."

Luo Lin and Senti looked at each other for a few seconds. Senti seemed to feel that she had lost face, so she returned to the system space.

It looks like they'll have to try with Himeko...

"Luo Lin? Who are we fighting this time?"

As soon as Murata Himeko appeared, she said this, causing Luo Lin's mouth to twitch: "Teacher Himeko, this time I didn't call you to fight..."

"Tsk, don't you always call me to fight something? Abyssal battles, pseudo-Herrschers, Honkai beasts..."

Himeko clicked her tongue, hanging the Prototype Godslayer Greatsword of Vermillion Knight on her back. She looked around and found the surroundings somewhat familiar.

"Is this St Freya's dormitory? Are you here at St Freya's?"

"Yes."

Himeko suddenly remembered something and asked, "Did you see me?"

"No, the you here doesn't work at St Freya's. Captain Ragnar replaced your position, and she's also the captain of the Hyperion now."

"Ah..."

Himeko was stunned for a moment, then smiled. She patted Luo Lin's shoulder. "I forgot until you mentioned it. Haha, would you take me to see Captain Ragnar when you have the chance? Oh right, why did you call me this time...?"

"Oh, I just wanted to ask if you knew how you're controlling the body you have now? I mean, the 'Vermillion Knight Eclipse'..."

"?"

Himeko looked puzzled, staring at Luo Lin.

After spending some time making Himeko understand what Luo Lin meant, she spread her hands helplessly and said, "Is this some new kind of technical problem? I just feel like I can control it, and then I do. And we've experimented before. If I were to change into 'Miss Pink Elf,' I wouldn't be able to control it at all... I can't explain the specifics, so I can't help you."

Himeko rubbed her fiery red hair and joked, "After all, I'm just a battle Valkyrie. I'm not good at research or anything..."

Oh no, what should they do now?

Is there anyone making strides in the bizarre scientific ield of consciousness for entering a body?

Luo Lin pondered anxiously, and the figure of a blond man appeared in her mind.

Otto Apocalypse, the most powerful scientist in the current era, was adept at transferring consciousness between different soulium bodies...

But he wouldn't be up for it!

The girl shook her head vigorously, shaking Otto out of her mind and bringing up another option...

Luo Lin opened the system panel, her gaze falling on one of the buttons—

"Elysian Realm"!

Chapter Six: Research Direction and Candidates

"The reception hall of the Elysian Realm hasn't been this lively in ages..."

Elysia sat on a chair beside the bar, scanning the room. She observed Griseo vigorously working on a drawing board, fully engrossed in her task. By Griseo's side, Kosma stood silently, as always, serving as her vigilant guardian.

On the other side of the sofa sat two individuals, Hua and Sakura. Sakura's serious demeanor made Hua appear somewhat awkward and uncomfortable.

"Yeah, but it seems like everyone's waiting for someone," Eden remarked as she pushed a glass of wine towards Elysia.

Without hesitation, the pink Elf downed it in one gulp.

"Indeed, I wonder what Little Luo Lin has been up to outside, making Miss Raven so anxious..."

"She looks quite fierce," Eden commented, casually swiping the tablet on the bar. The screen started playing a shaky, low-resolution video where a pink figure aggressively pursued the person filming, causing them to retreat continuously.

Elysia had watched this video many times before.

Propping her head with one hand, she muttered, "Oh, Luo Lin isn't quite proficient with my powers yet. If it were me, I wouldn't have let Raven escape like that."

"Swish, swish~" In the dim corner of the reception hall, a black cloak trembled slightly.

Pretending not to notice the newcomer, Elysia continued, "Oh well, just thinking about Luo Lin causing trouble in my image makes me feel quite distressed... I'll probably end up shouldering a lot of blame..."

Eden tapped the tabletop with her fingertip, smiling as she said, "I think you actually enjoy it, don't you?"

"Haha... well, maybe just a little?" the pink Elf gestured, squinting her eyes.

"Hmm?" Eden paused her action of pouring wine for Elysia, taking a deep breath before whispering, "Miss Luo Lin is here."

All the inhabitants of the reception hall turned their heads towards the direction of the stairs.

Luo Lin ascended the steps with Senti in tow, surveying the lively scene in the reception hall. She paused for a moment, exclaiming, "Wow, so many people!"

"You're finally here," Elysia exclaimed, leaping off her chair and rushing to Luo Lin's side. "What brings you here today? Planning to attempt the trial of Elysian Realm?"

"I could, but before that..." Luo Lin glanced around, noticing everyone's gaze fixed on her. The dark-haired Valkyrie lowered her voice and asked, "Elysia, is there a place where we can be alone? I have something else to discuss with you..."

"Oh? Quite bold of you," Elysia raised an eyebrow.

Luo Lin chuckled awkwardly, "It's serious business! Please, Elysia."

"Since you put it that way..."

"Miss Luo Lin!"

The pink-haired assassin approached, stopping a short distance away. "Sakura, hello! Is something the matter?"

"...Kalpas hasn't been in the best mood lately. It seems he's been wandering around the outskirts of Elysian Realm after being interrupted during the last battle. If you're planning to undertake the trial of Elysian Realm anytime soon, be sure to avoid the outskirts and be cautious," Sakura warned.

Luo Lin paused for a moment before replying, "Thank you for the reminder, Sakura. I'll keep that in mind."

Nodding, Sakura briskly turned and walked away. She had been waiting here for quite some time, seemingly just to give Luo Lin a warning.

Luo Lin glanced at Senti beside her. With a sudden inspiration, Senti interrupted, "I wasn't able to go all out last time... well, let's focus on helping Seele now. Let's get moving."

"Seele?" Elysia heard the new name and, hands on her hips, her eyes lit up. "I have a feeling she must be a very pretty girl!"

"Your intuition is quite sharp..." Luo Lin was at a loss for words.

Elysia led the two to the teleportation gate. With a gentle touch, she opened a portal and stepped through.

Luo Lin and Senti followed, arriving at a quiet area. The sky here emitted a soft, gentle pink glow, not harsh on the eyes.

"Alright, there should be no one to disturb us here," Elysia said, closing the portal. She locked eyes with Luo Lin. "What do you need my help with?"

Shrugging, Luo Lin explained the issues and challenges she had encountered.

Elysia stood with her mouth slightly open, "I thought it was just a simple matter... I didn't expect your problems to be related to the Sea of Quanta. And you're even holding the 'Key of Revelation'..."

Approaching Luo Lin, Elysia furrowed her brows as she asked, "Hmm? I remember Vill-V mentioning that the 'Key of Revelation' also had a 'Prometheus' AI inside. Why is there only a blank now?"

"Uh, Void Archives..." Luo Lin's gaze wandered. "It climbed the Imaginary Tree ."

"?" Elysia raised an eyebrow.

"Cough, it's actually a parallel world's 'Key of Revelation', so having some issues is quite normal..." Luo Lin coughed twice, steering the conversation back. "To help Seele, I want to explore how others manipulate the body I summon. I want to understand the entire process..."

"Hmm, for that, we should find Dr. Mobius..."

Elysia pursed her lips, chuckling bitterly. "Ah, now that I think about it, whenever I encounter a problem, Dr. Mobius is the first person that comes to mind... It's a pity..."

The Pink Elf shook her head.

Luo Lin fell silent for a moment. She was well aware of Dr. Mobius's research expertise.

If she could enlist Dr. Mobius's help in researching herself, there was a high probability of some earth-shattering results, perhaps even causing ripples in the void tree and the Sea of Quanta.

But they obviously couldn't ask the real Dr. Mobius for help now, considering she had been gone for fifty thousand years.

After a brief pause, Luo Lin continued, "Then... shall we go find Dr. Mobius?"

"Finding her? That's quite appropriate..." Elysia nodded. "I remember she's been pondering how to leave the Elysian Realm. Your problem seems to overlap with her research direction."

After a moment of thought, Elysia nodded.

Luo Lin took a deep breath. "So, you know what Dr. Mobius is up to..."

The pink Elf flashed a mysterious smile. "Cute girls are can do anything, you know!"

Senti glanced around, a sudden spark of inspiration igniting in her mind. She interjected, "Luo Lin, since you have Elysia's character card, why not let Elysia also try controlling this possession thing?"

"Right!"

Luo Lin turned to Elysia.

The pink Elf's eyes gleamed. "Interesting, count me in!"

Chapter Seven: Dance and Unexpected Visitors

Luo Lin replaced the role card of "Miss Pink Elf" into her lineup, then summoned this body.

The system performed flawlessly as always; its functions were unaffected in the Elysian Realm.

Luo Lin adjusted the movements of the role card slightly, finding a spot for her to sit so she wouldn't topple over.

Elysia looked curiously at the body that suddenly appeared before her, circling around it several times before steadying it.

"What do I do next?" Elysia asked softly, looking at Luo Lin.

The Valkyrie scratched her head. "Um, I'm not sure. How about you follow your instincts?"

"Instincts..." Elysia pondered, feeling a bit troubled. She sat down next to Miss Pink Elf, holding the role card's hand and gazing into her lifeless pink eyes.

She sighed, "I never thought making this expression would be quite intimidating."

Under the gaze of Luo Lin and Senti, Elysia pressed her forehead against the role card's head and closed her eyes slowly.

"Phew... Am I coming in now?" Elysia's body gradually emitted a pink light, resonating with the role card summoned by Luo Lin, gradually linking together.

"Hi? Did you miss me?" Both of them spoke simultaneously.

It seemed to work?

Elysia and Miss Pink Elf stood up from the ground.

At this moment, Miss Pink Elf flashed a bright smile, bending down in an inviting gesture. Elysia naturally nodded and grasped her hand.

The next moment, the two of them moved in sync, dancing before Luo Lin's astonished gaze.

Two pink figures intertwined, countless crystal flowers floated down, reflecting light and creating a dreamlike atmosphere.

Their boots tapped rhythmically on the ground, their skirts swayed behind them, rustling.

Even Luo Lin, who had never appreciated dance before, was enchanted by Elysia's movements. The entire routine was both elegant and graceful, yet tinged with melancholy and loneliness.

However, Elysia soon changed her style, making the dance more fluid. Her pink hair billowed as if gravity had lost its hold, allowing their whims to control them.

Luo Lin had no doubt that if Elysia wanted, she could fly off the ground at any moment.

The pink girls abandoned the fixed steps, expressing their emotions freely. The millennia of loneliness were cast aside in these few steps, replaced by blooming happiness.

Loneliness, happiness... Were these Elysia's emotions?!

"Oh my..." Luo Lin widened her eyes, instinctively sensing the absurdity of this action—without a special constitution like hers, Elysia could actually spread her emotions just through dance?!

Was this... art?

And according to the whole theory, couldn't Eden do the same...?

But soon, Luo Lin didn't have time to think about these questions because Elysia, still dancing, approached the edge of the stage, extending her hand towards Luo Lin.

"I... I don't really know how to dance?"

"Come on!" Senti pushed Luo Lin's shoulder from behind, causing her to stagger onto the stage.

"Don't worry, just follow my rhythm!"

The two pink figures enveloped Luo Lin, gently guiding her movements. The black-haired girl wasn't sure how she entered this state herself. She listened to the tapping of their boots on the ground, keeping up with Elysia's steps.

Before she knew it, the two pink figures merged into one. After a splendid spinning dance move, Luo Lin fell into Miss Pink Elf's arms.

Elysia supported Luo Lin's waist with one hand and held her other hand high. She lowered her head, her breath brushing against Luo Lin's cheek, her pink eyes shimmering as they locked onto the black-haired girl's.

"Well, success! I can now perform Fusion!" Miss Pink Elf beamed.

"I, you, I..." Luo Lin's face flushed red, almost stumbling out of Elysia's embrace and gasping for breath.

Terrifying, absolutely terrifying, Elysia!

The black-haired girl covered her face, emitting a small whimper.

How could she inexplicably end up in her arms, it's terrifying!

Applause!

The clapping came from the unexpected figure beside them.

—Vill-V.

She sat on a floating steam-punk style box, exclaiming, "It's been so long since I've seen you dance, Elysia."

"Yeah, because there was no one to appreciate it before, and I didn't feel like dancing." Elysia blinked, moving her wrists like a lively rabbit, then raised her eyebrows and asked, "Vill-V, what brings you here to visit me today?"

"I, I came to see this girl in front of you." Vill-V sighed, pointing at Luo Lin, and asked through gritted teeth, "How did you manage to enter the Elysian Realm? I've been studying for more than ten days and still can't figure it out. I've got dark circles now! Hurry up and tell me!"

"Huh?" Luo Lin was taken aback for a moment. How could she explain? It was all thanks to the system's good work, wasn't it?

Seeing the blank look on the black-haired girl's face, Vill-V laughed in frustration, putting on a gentle look and saying, "Let me introduce myself. I am the youngest owner of the Helixcraft, the developer of the Kevin Killer, the Magician King of the Sundown Alley, the overseer of the stars, and—the lover of creating 'genius trash,' Vill-V!"

"The Kevin Arms...?" Senti propped up her chin, seeming to have heard an interesting term.

"That's right, so when you hear these great titles, you shouldn't hesitate to hand over your methods, right? Um, wait a minute, aren't you Hua?"

Vill-V rubbed her eyes and took out a lens from her magnificent and exaggerated hat, placing it over her left eye and looking at Senti.

Then, the lens emitted a piercing screech—

"Anomalous Breakthrough Ability detected! Anomalous Breakthrough Ability detected! Identified as, Herrscher! Identified as, Herrscher!"

Vill-V trembled slightly as she removed the lens, throwing it aside, and asked the pink fairy girl who was watching the show beside her, "Elys, has the Elysian Realm collapsed?"

Chapter Eight: Lowering the Average Education Level Present

Elysia felt somewhat speechless, "It seems like you've really buried yourself in research for over a dozen days, completely oblivious to recent events in Elysian Realm..."

"Oh, when I get into my research, I tend to lose track of everything else." Vill-V's mind shifted slightly, guessing that the current situation might not be as dangerous as it seemed. At least Elysia was still in the mood to poke fun at herself rather than running around trying to solve this Herrscher...

She rubbed her wrist, feeling herself relax.

Senti, the Herrscher, sensed Vill-V's diminishing alertness and turned to look at Miss Pink Elf, saying, "Elysia, everyone in Elysian Realm trusts you a lot!"

"Mm-hmm!"

Elysia blinked, continuing to circle around with light steps, as if the previous dance hadn't been fulfilling enough.

Soon, Miss Pink Elf explained the meaning behind her actions to Luo Lin and Senti, "I'm adjusting to this brand new body; it's quite compatible with me, but there might be a bit of an issue with exerting force..."

Elysia casually took out "Whisper of the Past," hooked her finger onto the bowstring, and a purple crystal arrow formed. In the next moment, the crystal arrow shot out, splitting into five, twisting through the air, and exploding into five pink fireworks in the depths of the data space.

Afterwards, Miss Pink Elf looked somewhat regretful, shaking her head, "With just the power of this body alone, I can only do this much."

Luo Lin didn't hesitate to say, "Teach me that move!"

It was like piloting a Gundam; even with a high-performance unit, the difference between an ace pilot and a novice pilot was huge. The former could become a powerful force determining the outcome of the battlefield, while the latter could only end up being beaten like a golden chef.

"Sure, little Luo Lin, but wasn't that what you wanted just now?" Elysia pointed her index finger at her lips as a reminder.

Luo Lin snapped out of it, asking, "Right, did you feel how you're controlling this body?"

"Of course, it's all about feeling!" Elysia looked at Luo Lin's puzzled expression, feeling a bit embarrassed as she scratched her head, "Well, if I have to explain, it's like using Honkai Energy. It's like saturating a sponge with water, gradually filling it with your own power, and then naturally being drawn in..."

"...Honkai Energy, huh." Luo Lin glanced at the conspicuous deep blue quantum attribute background of "Stygian Nymph" on the Valkyrie panel, furrowing her brows gradually.

Thinking carefully, Seele awakened her Stigmata very early on. Stigmata Awakeners had a higher resistance to Honkai Energy, and there was a high probability that they could also manipulate Honkai Energy. However, after Seele underwent the X-10 experiment, she quantumized herself, disappearing from the real world and inadvertently receiving the gift of the Sea of Quanta, thus gaining the power to manipulate quantum energy.

As it was well known, the Tree of Imaginary Numbers and the Sea of Quanta were mortal enemies, and the relationship between imaginary and quantum was not very friendly either.

So, Seele, who awakened her Stigmata but could manipulate quantum energy... she probably didn't even know what kind of feat she had accomplished, right?

Comparable to a certain gorilla in an infinite horror series who exchanged for a vampire bloodline and cultivated true qi after practicing, playing with opposing attributes like bombs every day...

Wait, didn't Seele seem completely unaware of any conflict between these two powers? Then how did she manage that?

Watching Luo Lin lost in thought, Vill-V snuck up to Elysia and whispered, "What's wrong with her?"

"Same as you, encountered an interesting problem, and got lost in thought." Elysia wasn't particularly surprised; she had seen this situation too many times before.

Every day, she could see Dr. Mei completely absorbed in her research, not eating or sleeping, almost needing to be hooked up to a nutrient solution, refusing to sleep, and going crazy with research for twenty-four hours.

Because Dr. Mei was just too much of a genius, ordinary people couldn't keep up with her train of thought, so she was usually a bit lonely, and Elysia had to often check in on her in her lab...

Of course, Mobius was similar, but thankfully she had a few close assistants, although they weren't very good at cooking, they could at least bring Mobius some instant noodles.

Even though Mobius had experienced being force-fed noodles into her own nose, she could still eat properly most of the time.

Vill-V... Vill-V wouldn't encounter the completely absorbed in research and unable to eat situation, after all, among her multiple personalities was a chef who loved cooking, so if she researched for a few more days, "Chef" would come out to protest, and she would have to cook something delicious herself.

Narrowing her eyes, Vill-V asked, "I heard you say 'this body' just now, what does that mean?"

Elysia patted her chest, "Literally, look at me now, using the one provided by little Luo Lin with a physical body, I probably can just walk out of Elysian Realm like this..."

"Oh... Huh?!"

Vill-V almost fell to the ground, showing rare signs of panic, trembling as she took out another lens from her magnificent hat.

This thing and the previous alarming lens should be the same type of product; the 'Expert' aimed the lens at Elysia, and dense data appeared on it.

"Really different..."

Vill-V widened her eyes, putting her hand on Elysia's shoulder, and several mechanical arms emerged from her back, each equipped with various tools like pliers, drills, saws, and welding guns... everything you could think of.

Miss Pink Elf had black lines all over her face as she pushed away one of the approaching mechanical arms with her longbow, saying somewhat discontentedly, "Wake up, 'Expert', don't just get lost in the world of research on your own."

Vill-V took a deep breath, "Hiss! You're right, why don't you come back to my Helixcraft with me now..."

"Hey hey hey! How could you forget what you wanted just now, like little Luo Lin?"

Vill-V said carelessly, "Well, then I'll just take this Miss Luo Lin with me as well."

"It seems like I have to personally experience the feeling of simultaneously controlling Honkai Energy and Quantum Energy..."

Just then, came Luo Lin's grumbling from beside them. Elysia and Vill-V turned their heads together, seeing the black-haired girl transform, "Stygian Nymph" appearing before everyone.

"Luo Lin version - Stygian Nymph" wielded a simple black sickle, with purple and light blue dots flickering in her hand at the same time.

Then, the two conflicting forces suddenly annhilated, causing a small explosion.

Luo Lin held her head, her eyes turning into mosquito coils.

"Ugh, I feel so uncomfortable..."

Vill-V looked at the girl with a splitting headache, her mouth twitching, "Didn't anyone teach her not to use Quantum and imaginary powers at the same time? Did she not go to school?"

Elysia pondered for a moment, raising her index finger, "Is there a possibility that she really didn't go to school?"

Luo Lin struggled to retort, "...Doesn't attending the Valkyrie Training School count as education? At least it's undergraduate level!"

Vill-V's face showed obvious pity, "Poor child without a doctorate..."

Luo Lin coughed twice, looking at Elysia.

Miss Pink Elf's gaze drifted, chuckling awkwardly, "Well, in the last era, some school gave me an honorary professorship out of face for Eden, so that should count as being a professor..."

Senti covered her chest, feeling like she had been wrongfully accused.

When Fu Hua was still in high school, she encountered the Honkai, then directly joined the Fire Moth, and fought against Honkai Beasts for tens of thousands of years. Would this count as dropping out of high school...?

You old fossil, why are you so useless, why didn't you go get a few doctorates while your brain was still good...

Chapter Nine: The Price of Everything

Vill-V's attempt to bring both Luo Lin and Elysia back to Helixcraft together didn't succeed. After all, Elysia herself didn't want to be studied, and the protected Luo Lin didn't show much enthusiasm either.

Moreover, there was a nearby Herrscher of Sentience who was increasingly displeased. Vill-V pursed her lips and whispered, "It seems like you all care quite a bit about this issue. Why not let me conduct the research?"

"Probably because our fields don't align," Luo Lin explained, rubbing her somewhat sore head. "We want to delve deeper into understanding the relationship between consciousness and the body. Judging from your marvelous inventions, it seems we're quite far apart..."

"No, I can actually conduct research corresponding to that," Vill-V's demeanor became serious, her aura different from before. Luo Lin could tell she had switched to another persona – judging by her tone, was she a scholarly type?

Vill-V looked at Luo Lin's expression, silent for two seconds before realizing, "Ah, so you had already decided on who would conduct the research before this. It's Mobius, isn't it?"

Luo Lin nodded.

The Expert propped her chin, calmly stating, "Ah, I recall she has been researching consciousness for a long time. I believe she even used successors from Elysian Realm as guinea pigs... As for whether those subjects survived, I'm not sure."

Upon hearing this, Elysia sighed, "When I found out she wanted to escape from Elysian Realm, I knew this would happen... Clearly, I couldn't stop Mobius."

"So, Miss Luo Lin, hearing this, don't you think you should turn to me? At least here, under my research, it won't be as risky as under her."

Vill-V gave Luo Lin an inquisitive look. After a moment's thought, Luo Lin smiled, "Why can't I have both?"

"Both...?" The Expert tilted her head, her research-focused mind not quite understanding the implication of this phrase. However, Vill-V's other personas weren't idle. Soon, they provided her with an answer.

"You mean, you want to exploit my unwillingness to give up the opportunity for research? Allowing Mobius and me to conduct research on you together?"

Vill-V pondered for two seconds before adding, "And doing so would also make your situation safer because I wouldn't stand by if Mobius made any moves that could harm you..."

The Expert sighed, "A very clever choice. I seem to have no reason to refuse."

Elysia couldn't help but clap in encouragement, but after a brief thought, she asked another question, "Luo Lin, before this, you must have already decided to seek out Mobius for research, right?"

"Yes."

"Then, before that, how did you think you could safely undergo research with Mobius?"

Looking at the pink fairy, Luo Lin grinned, "Because of you, Elysia. You wouldn't stand by if Mobius mistreated me."

"So, you were plotting against me!" Seeing Elysia pout, Luo Lin quickly explained, "Hey, that's not scheming, it's trust in you!"

Elysia's lips curled slightly, "Hmph, then, as compensation, I'll take you to Elysian Realm's studio and dress you in lots and lots of beautiful clothes..."

"No, please don't..."

Hearing this, Luo Lin's face turned pale, her hands trembling, and her legs feeling weak against the ever-resolute Vill-V.

"Oh? Look at you... I want to do it even more now!"

The Herrscher of Sentience laughed heartily at Luo Lin's pitiful appearance, "Luo Lin, you're not exempt! When the time comes, you'll join me as a dress-up doll!"

"Don't laugh, you won't get away! When the time comes, come with me to be a dress-up doll!"

Luo Lin grabbed Senti's hand, and Senti effortlessly turned into a shadow, rehousing herself into Luo Lin's mind.

"What about this? You can't catch me now, can you?"

"Hmph, do you think that's enough to get rid of me?"

Luo Lin hinted softly, "Do you remember the time when I lent Fu Hua's body to you? Then I'll use her as your final meal! I'll make her wear a little skirt, preferably a light, fluttery wedding dress..."

As she spoke, Luo Lin's mind flashed with fragments of the classic skin of the "Azure Empyrea" Battlesuit - "The Garden of the Blue Bird."

It could be said that this skin was more like a wedding dress...

Perhaps the impression was too deep, or Luo Lin's contemplation too intense, but the Herrscher of Sentience hiding in her mind naturally saw the fragments of Luo Lin's memories and saw the image of Fu Hua in a long blue dress adorned with lace.

"Wow! Stop thinking about it! It's too scary, Ahhh--!"

Senti shouted, launching a mental attack on Luo Lin, leaving her feeling dizzy.

Taking advantage of the moment, the Herrscher of Sentience ran out of Luo Lin's body, touching her chest, her face filled with fear, "Luo Lin, how did you come up with such a terrifying scene?"

"Uh..."

Luo Lin felt somewhat embarrassed, touching her nose. Perhaps the scene just now was too stimulating for the Herrscher of Sentience.

The Herrscher of Sentience muttered, "I don't plan to tamper with your mind anymore. It's hard to imagine a person's thoughts could be so weird..."

Vill-V turned her head to Elysia and said, "Are all the Herrschers of this era like this? I feel the hope of defeating the Honkai has greatly increased!"

"Um, I'm not sure."

Elysia put away her smile and gazed at the playful Herrscher of Sentience and Luo Lin, her thoughts wandering elsewhere.

-------------------

After tidying up a bit, the group set off towards Mobius's laboratory.

Elysia led the way, opening one portal after another. Suddenly, the scenery changed, the sky turning overcast and the ground becoming a hard, dark green material.

Luo Lin stepped on the ground, the sound of her footsteps echoing around her.

She muttered, "It's so oppressive... Mobius conducts research in this kind of environment? No wonder she always seems in a bad mood."

"My bad mood isn't because of the surroundings, but because my experiments are always disrupted by some ungrateful visitors, like this unfamiliar one." Mobius's iconic, somewhat affected voice echoed from somewhere, surrounding the group.

"Hi, Mobius!" Elysia greeted.

"...What are you doing here? Elysia? And Vill-V?"

Vill-V didn't speak, but the pink fairy tilted her head, "Um... protecting Luo Lin's personal safety?"

Mobius was silent for two seconds, then asked eagerly, "Luo Lin? She... wait, did you say she's Luo Lin? She can only transform into your appearance, right?"

Seeing the slightly shy face of the "Stygian Nymph," Elysia replied, "I've never said such a thing, have I?"

Chapter Ten: Better to Just Blow It Up

Mobius was already quite focused on Luo Lin, especially since she saw the two Elysias together, igniting her research fervor.

Now, she discovered that Luo Lin could even transform into other forms...

Mobius couldn't help licking her lips, taking a deep breath as she stood at the door of the laboratory, watching the open portal not far away.

Elysia led the way, with Luo Lin following closely behind her, and Herrscher of Sentience also walked out. She stared at Mobius' green snake pupils for a while until Vill-V's closing of the portal interrupted her gaze.

Mobius's laboratory in Elysian Realm was similar to the one Luo Lin had seen in Schicksal, Encased Objects and filled with all sorts of instruments that Valkyries couldn't understand - hghly advanced technological stuff.

"Miss Luo Lin, welcome to my laboratory," Mobius said, still with her somewhat childish, high-pitched tone that almost gave Luo Lin goosebumps.

The girl vaguely remembered that she used this tone to lower the vigilance of her subjects? And it seemed like she was imitating Elysia's tone?

"Um, Dr. Mobius... Let's get to the point. I want to request your assistance in conducting research. The subject is myself, and the goal is to explore the relationship between consciousness and the body..."

Luo Lin thought for a moment, directly telling Mobius about her situation and goals.

As the Valkyrie described the situation, Mobius's face gradually became unpleasant, her lips pressed together, her voice returning to a more calm, less girly tone: "...How did you find out about me... Ah, I see, it's you guys."

Her green snake pupils turned to Elysia and Vill-V standing beside her, Vill-V crossed her arms, showing little expression.

While Elysia smiled and shook her head: "It wasn't me. Actually, little Luo Lin knows a lot about things inside the 'Elysian Realm.' Before she chose to come to you for research, I didn't provide any intelligence."

Mobius's face turned sour as she looked at Luo Lin: "It seems like you know what kind of person I am?"

"Probably, a scientist who seeks endless human evolution... And quite ruthless..."

Luo Lin thought for a moment before giving her answer.

Mobius raised an eyebrow: "Oh? Just 'quite ruthless'?"

"Ahaha..."

The Valkyrie forced a laugh.

After all, with Dr. Mei setting the standard, Mobius naturally felt outmatched... Besides, isn't there still an Otto in the current era? In terms of not minding one's own business, Mobius might not actually be able to beat a certain bishop.

"Forget it... Since you're already prepared, let's start."

Mobius wasn't one to hesitate. She pressed a few buttons, and a peculiar-looking recliner appeared in front of everyone: "Take a seat, let's start with some basic tests... Wait, Vill-V, what are you doing?"

Before Luo Lin could react, Vill-V rushed forward, several mechanical arms popping out from behind her, probing towards the chair!

In the terrified gaze of Luo Lin, Vill-V dismantled many strange parts from the chair, including but not limited to shackles for restraining people, syringes with strange green liquid, and collars flashing with electricity... All clattering to the ground.

Mobius's face turned ugly again, questioning, "What are you doing?"

"I'm protecting the safety of my research material," Vill-V replied calmly.

Mobius suddenly realized, deeply looking at Luo Lin standing beside her: "So... you plan to use Vill-V to protect your safety?"

Luo Lin honestly said, "No, actually, my greatest reliance is still on Elysia. I'm really afraid that you two will team up and dissect me."

"Tsk."

The two scientists glanced at each other, seeing regret in each other's eyes.

"Ah, little Luo Lin is so cute. I'll definitely help you!" Elysia happily picked up Luo Lin, rubbing her head with her chin, "Hmm! It's a different feeling again! Next time, I'll dress you up in beautiful clothes with this appearance!"

"Please don't..."

------------------

After some turmoil, Mobius and Vill-V reached a compromise, and Luo Lin finally began her journey as a little white mouse.

Of course, the cost of reconciliation was that all the instruments in Mobius's laboratory were dismantled and repaired by Vill-V, with strange props taken from various places filling two large boxes, including shackles for restricting movement and syringes overwhelmingly more numerous than before.

In short, these things made Luo Lin sweat profusely, even Elysia couldn't help but quip, "Mobius, don't you trust your research subjects at all?"

"Trust? Hmph, I always use force, so I prepared so much... "

Mobius glanced irritably at Vill-V, who had even made some modifications after dismantling the instruments: originally square and very modern, they suddenly became rounded, with decorative hollows in strange places, instantly bringing the atmosphere of the laboratory back to the steampunk era.

If Vill-V hadn't also optimized the performance of the equipment, Mobius would definitely have fought her for three hundred rounds...

Luo Lin lay on the modified chair, looking at the strange instruments surrounding her, feeling a little panicked: "Um, have we started?"

"Mm, we have. Next, follow my instructions..."

Mobius started fiddling with her tablet, and Vill-V did the same. The two stood on opposite sides of the laboratory, with Luo Lin lying in the middle.

"Activate your Honkai energy."

Luo Lin followed suit, using her technique of Edge of Taixuan to coat her fist with Honkai energy. Even though she was now using 'Stygian Nymph,' after using Edge of Taixuan for so long, even if she changed her body now, she could still produce some results with intense concentration.

After a few minutes, Mobius and Vill-V both finished recording at the same time.

"It seems there's nothing noteworthy..." Mobius propped her chin, somewhat puzzled, "Strange."

Vill-V thought for a moment before speaking, "Miss Luo Lin, how about trying to activate your Quantum Energy now?"

Snake Snake paused for a moment: "...She still knows how to do that?"

"I see."

Luo Lin hadn't used 'Stygian Nymph' before, so she wasn't familiar with this role card. When told to use Quantum Energy, the first thing that came to mind was the move to activate the Quantum Shield by switching personalities and destroying it.

Then, memories from her physical body surfaced, Quantum Energy surged, and dark energy spread out, covering the laboratory floor.

This anomaly excited both Mobius and Vill-V, eagerly anticipating what would happen next.

Looking at the expensive instruments around her, Luo Lin forcibly suppressed her big move and instead lit up a blue light at her fingertips, panting, "How was that?"

Mobius and Vill-V simultaneously cast disappointed and disdainful glances: "You might as well just blow up all these instruments..."

"Uh, well..."

Luo Lin explained awkwardly for a few sentences, but neither scientist was very satisfied.

Mobius clicked her tongue: "Tsk, usually when the little mice are tested, I'm just observing, but now that someone has come voluntarily, I'm not used to it... You, go out and practice now, and we'll find a way to collect data from your battles!"

"That's right, it's time for a little practice." Vill-V nodded in agreement.

"Which means going to challenge the Elysian Realm, right... Oh, right!"

'Stygian Nymph' seems to be a true exclusive warrior, because her exclusive Signet rate is really low, and even requires three exclusives to be taken out before getting double rewards on the fourth level, which is really dependent on people's luck.

However, here, Luo Lin could use some clever tricks.

Luo Lin sat up and looked at Elysia watching the show on the side.

The pink fairy lady was puzzled: "What's wrong, little Luo Lin?"

"Elysia, could you please help me open a door?"

Luo Lin clasped her hands together, pleading.

Elysia: "?"

Chapter Eleven: Manually Opening Exclusive Gates

Before Pardofelis appeared, Luo Lin generally used the Herrscher of Thunder to play in the Elysian Realm.

In order to start with the necessary Signets like "Blessings of Tsukuyomi(directly usable basic attack after evading)" and "Blessings of Hazy Moon (fifth attack accompanied by lightning strike)," she often had to spend ten to twenty minutes brushing out the exclusive teleport gates on the first floor, and even after entering, she might not necessarily get the required exclusive Signets, so she could only reluctantly restart every time.

But with the Pardo, as long as she started with the Signets for "Back-Curled Tail (stacked range damage)" and "Setsuna Paw (enhanced branch attack, reduces ultimate cooldown)," she could directly have fun and easily fill up on crystals.

Probably every player of Elysian Realm in Honkai 3 has complex feelings about the teleporter with the Elysia Signets. It always disappears when you hope for it, and suddenly pops up to mess with your mindset when you don't need it. But now, well...

"Ely, after you locate me, help me open the teleporter three times in a row later..."

In the Elysian Realm lobby, Luo Lin held the communicator given by Eden and said to Miss Pink Elf.

"Okay, okay, I got it. You've said it countless times on your way back..."

Elysia sighed, "Really, Luo Lin, what's the point of having me open the teleporter for you?"

"When you open the teleporter, your Signets will appear on it, and I can get the exclusive Signets."

"I don't understand..."

Luo Lin looked at Miss Pink Elf with deep affection and said in a leisurely tone, "You don't understand, ah don't understand the miserable times of engraving those pits..."

Goodbye, all the incomplete exclusive signets! Today, she's going to let Elysia herself open the door for her! Second floor, third floor, fourth floor, all exclusive signets! Double up on the fourth floor, I am the five-exclusive signet war god!!!

"Ah, Luo Lin is talking about things I don't understand again."

Elysia's expression was somewhat melancholic as she turned to Herrscher of Sentience and asked, "Senti, do you know what she means?"

Senti felt the excitement rising in Luo Lin's heart and helplessly covered her face, "I don't know, if you're interested, you might as well ask her directly, she should be happy to share these things with you."

Luo Lin rubbed her hands, standing in front of the huge teleporter in the lobby, opened the system panel, and finally clicked fiercely on the attack button.

The figure of "Stygian Nymph" disappeared from the lobby, and Eden flipped out a remote control from the drawer of the bar counter, casually pressed it twice, and a huge hologram appeared in the lobby. The screen displayed Luo Lin's figure.

"How interesting, how many different appearances does she have?" Eden smiled and then said to Elysia, "I've located her, Ely, go help her."

Miss Pink Elf nodded and stepped into the teleporter.

The Flame Chasers in the lobby adjusted their postures, watching the girl on the screen.

Luo Lin beckoned, and a golden scythe fell into her hands. The familiar aura emanating from it greatly shocked the Flame Chasers.

Sakura's slender fox ears stood straight up, "This is... a Divine Key? She's holding the 'Key of Revelation'?"

Griseo blinked. She didn't know much about the Divine Key, after all, compared to those Divine Keys that attracted countless people's attention and competition, the blue-haired girl preferred painting.

Eden squinted, shaking her wine glass, "Let's continue watching, I feel like this trial seems different from before..."

Luo Lin calmly chose the Signet for "Setsuna Blade: Mugenjigoku (reduce the cooldown of extreme evasion during ultimate, reduce the cooldown of extreme evasion during charging attacks)" and then picked up the communicator.

"Hey hey hey? Ely? Are you there?"

"Okay, I'm right next to you, I've arranged the teleporter."

Luo Lin looked up and found a shiny "Ego" Signet on the teleporter in front of her.

At this moment, the girl's mouth crazily curled upwards, laughing loudly, completely breaking the pitiful demeanor of "Stygian Nymph."

"Here we go!"

"Embarrassing, Its really embarrassing... Why can't you behave like a lady?"

Herracher of Sentience covered her face with both hands this time. She listened to the discussions of the Flame Chasers about Luo Lin's embarrassing appearance, making her feel a bit embarrassed too.

But Senti quickly adjusted her mindset.

After all, it was Luo Lin, not her, who was embarrassed. She sighed and leaned against the wall in the lobby.

"The one hiding over there, come out."

"...Hello."

Raven, full of embarrassment, emerged from behind the sofa and swiftly stood beside Eden.

Raven felt like she was going to die. How did the Schicksal A-rank Valkyrie manage to sneak into the Elysian Realm? She couldn't figure it out no matter how hard she tried.

Clearly, according to the door records, besides herself, no one else had entered the "Elysian Realm" recently?

"Why are you so afraid?" Senti asked.

Raven spread her hands and said cautiously, "Um... because you're the Schicksal A-rank Valkyrie... I'm afraid you'll accidentally kill me."

Herracher of Sentience understood that Raven mistook her for Sif, she snorted and squeezed out a sentence from between her teeth, "Schicksal? Not familiar! You can rest assured, I won't do anything to you."

"Okay, believe her, Raven."

Even Eden spoke up for her, making Raven even more desperate.

Look, even saying she's not familiar with Schicksal, she must be lying!

She sat on the chair, took the wine Eden gave her, and drank heavily.

Drink today, die tomorrow, who cares, drink a little more before dying...

"What's that?!"

"Quantum energy?!"

"She's changed again!"

The lobby was filled with exclamations one after another. Raven put down the wine bottle and looked up at the projection in the middle.

A black hole appeared out of nowhere, pulling the monsters in the field together, and lightning struck them from the sky - obviously the auxiliary effects of "Special Weapon No.4" and "Saintess".

Luo Lin swung her scythe, white with crimson traces of slashing marks pierced through the bodies of the monsters, then she spread her arms, a pitch-black domain spread out with Luo Lin as the center, wrapping upwards, then suddenly burst open -

"Please, another me!"

"Yes yes yes~" came a voice with some electronic effects.

Luo Lin even had the leisure to voice herself. At this moment, her appearance had changed, with a pitch-black skirt matched with blood-red claws, looking very difficult to deal with.

Along with the attacks of the laced with blood-red form, black-red tentacles stretched out from the ground and lashed at the monsters.

Armor bent, shields cracked, the wails of the monsters surrounded Luo Lin's ears, sounding like they had received high damage.

Still...

Look at the health bars, not a single monster was taken down instantly.

"You really deserve to be called Stygian Nymph, I haven't even raised the difficulty too high this time... I'm afraid even a Titan would find it more comfortable to fight them than you..."

Luo Lin was speechless for a moment, and it took her a few more charged attacks to kill these monsters.

Soon, Luo Lin got the second Signet, "Blessings of Intergrowth (after switching personalities, restores all extreme evasion counts, increases the damage received by enemies when actively evading through them)".

The girl held down the communicator and continued her journey of cheating, "Ely, dear Ely, open the door quickly!"

Chapter Twelve: Baffling Everyone

"Boom!"

Under the lash of the pitch-black tentacles, the Honkai Beasts split apart and finally turned into fragments of data disappearing into the air. Luo Lin stood still, leaning on the handle of her scythe, her blue eyes gazing at the sparkling five exclusive Signets on the system panel.

"Kindred," "Union," "Vulnerable Duality," "Intergrowth," "Might of Duality."

Is this what it feels like to cheat?

With Elysia's "help," Luo Lin successfully completed the achievement of collecting all exclusive Signets in the first four levels, transforming into the complete form of "Stygian Nymph," with cycles upon cycles, but still... all her damage was mediocre.

So the next thing she should do is to obtain some Signets to increase her damage.

"Stygian Nymph" frequently uses extreme evasion and ultimate skills, perfectly matching Signets like "Setsuna" activated after extreme evasion and "Deliverance" activated after using the ultimate.

Luo Lin looked up at the four teleporters that appeared in front of her. Apart from the "Shop," icons representing "Daybreak," "Helix," and "Infinity" were gleaming, causing the girl's face to fall instantly.

The Signets of the "Daybreak" series require enemies to have shields to maximize their effectiveness, but currently, there are very few enemies in Elysian Realm carrying shields, and most opponents can only receive basic damage. Most players' evaluations of this are "promising for the future."

The Signets of the "Helix" series require characters to use weapon skills more frequently, but Luo Lin's makeshift whiteboard scythe made with the "Key of Revelation" does not have weapon skills. It only has slightly higher attack power on the panel, making it impossible to trigger Helix Signets.

As for the Signets of the "Infinity" series, they are based on summon creatures, auxiliary Valkyries, and puppets... "Stygian Nymph" has no compatibility with them at all.

Luo Lin is still not sure whether the Signets she obtains now are the new version or the old version, but even if it's the old version Green Snake Signets that can kill everything after collecting all "seven dragon balls," Luo Lin doesn't intend to go and check it out.

After all, she doesn't even have puppets at hand now. It's almost impossible to complete the operations of "left foot steps on right foot" and "damage sky-high" required for the "Infinity" Signets.

"...I knew it wouldn't be so smooth."

Luo Lin sighed and turned to walk towards the shop.

Her actions were observed by the Flame Chasers in the lounge, and even on the other side of Elysian Realm, in the laboratory, Mobius and Vill-V watched clearly.

Mobius rubbed her chin, murmuring softly, "Oh? Guinea pig, why didn't you enter the teleporter representing 'Infinity'?"

"She didn't even take a look at the teleporter with my symbol, it's really..." Vill-V clenched her fist, the metal gloves on her hand emitting a faint friction sound.

In the lounge, Sakura scratched her head, "Um... what's that place with the cat paw symbol? It seems to be related to Pardofelis?"

"Maybe it's Pardofelis's storage point for supplies?"

Elysia walked out of the teleporter and back into the Elysian Realm lounge.

After looking at the screen for a while, she explained to Sakura, "Pardofelis usually hides her collected supplies in various places. Perhaps even she herself doesn't remember exactly where she hid the good stuff."

The pink-haired girl nodded, "It feels like a squirrel..."

After arriving at the shop level, Luo Lin hurried to the stall and opened the system panel. A series of options appeared in front of her, and there were exactly the "Setsuna" Signets she needed.

"Pardofelis, I love you to death!"

After buying two Signets that increase damage after dodging with "Setsuna," Luo Lin had already spent almost all the silver coins dropped from the monsters she just fought. The girl then casually opened the interface to adjust the "Memory Token" and "Support Characters"...

Unfortunately, Luo Lin now has nothing to replace except for "Crest of Flame," and her support characters are only "War Chariot" and "Saintess," giving off an aura of poverty from head to toe.

But the girl was quite satisfied with this. After all, she already had all five exclusives. What more could she want?

However, Luo Lin's purchase of Signets from the shop truly startled the Flame Chasers watching her trial!

Mobius and Vill-V immediately took out their tablets, and Mobius began searching for files related to activating Signets on visitors. Vill-V even made a call to Klein, "Klein, is there any abnormal data in Elysian Realm?"

A somewhat weary voice replied, "...There's just too much of it. What aspect do you need?"

"Regarding Signets."

"Well... there doesn't seem to be any problem in that aspect..."

Vill-V looked at the Signets flashing on Luo Lin's body, gritted her teeth, and shared the video, asking, "Then you explain to me what exactly happened to her?"

"What? What's this!?"

On the other side, Hua exclaimed somewhat flustered, "What did she do?! How did she suddenly come up with two 'Setsuna' Signets?!"

Everyone turned their heads to look at the pink-haired assassin, only to find Sakura looking equally stunned. She opened her mouth, "I... I didn't actively help her activate the Signets either? According to common sense, activating Signets is a very difficult thing, it's impossible for it to suddenly..."

Eden put down her wine glass with a serious expression and said, "It seems my hunch was correct. Miss Luo Lin's current trial is completely different from what we remembered. Everyone, observe more and see if you can find any anomalies..."

"Alright."

"Mm."

"I understand."

The Flame Chasers responded one after another.

Raven rubbed her eyes, her gaze shifting back and forth between Hua and Senti. She took a deep breath and shoved the bottle back into her mouth.

"What's going on... why are there so many people who look like me everywhere... my faith in Flame Chasers is about to Collapse..."

Herrscher of Sentience couldn't help but chuckle at her muttering, then redirected her gaze to the holographic projection.

Leaving the shop level, Luo Lin obtained a "Deliverance" Signet on the sixth level. She looked at the sparkling teleporter on the seventh level and took a deep breath.

"Kallen, here I come!"

Yes, Kallen, it's Kallen again!

Luo Lin was mentally prepared. She gripped her scythe and quickly dealt with the two simple waves of monsters ahead.

The "Transcendence Kallen," with her "sturdy" figure, appeared out of nowhere, charging towards the girl with a formidable aura!

"Hehe, take my powered-up attack!"

Luo Lin flashed, her red claws and tentacles striking the nun-clad Kallen, making a dull sound.

Compared to the previous Kallen almost instantly killed by Luo Lin using "Miss Pink Fairy," this time the difficulty of Elysian Realm's trial has increased.

"Transcend ence Kallen" appears to be more aggressive, even displaying some tactical skills.

She no longer rigidly sticks to combo attacks but uses a set of Kaslana spear techniques. With high kicks as a cover, she stabs Luo Lin from below with a spear, catching her off guard.

"Wow, playing dirty, huh?!"

Luo Lin became serious. She looked at the serious face of "Transcendence Kallen" and activated the effects of the support characters "War Chariot" and "Saintess."

With the help of the vulnerability effect, Luo Lin quickly reduced Kallen's health by half.

Finally, Kallen spread her arms, and the "Oath of Judah" descended from the sky, piercing into the ground.

She just need to avoid it...

Before she could think, a golden barrier spread out from Judah as the center, enveloping the girl.

The Honkai energy around her instantly transformed from a flowing river into a muddy swamp, almost causing Luo Lin to fall to the ground.

"No, my Honkai energy is being suppressed?!"

Luo Lin's face changed drastically. She turned her head and saw Kallen wearing a wicked smile.

Why is the Elysian Realm I'm playing in different from everyone else's?!!!

Chapter Thirteen: Link, Summoning Links!

In the original world, Honkai 3rd, as a "mobile" game, had very low intelligence and logic for monsters due to technological and hardware limitations.

Most monsters would just stiffly wander around, randomly selecting moves from their repertoire. To increase difficulty, monsters could only become tougher and deal more damage... Or special mechanisms could be introduced, such as counters and reverse counters, where monsters had to be weakened by certain characters' special moves before becoming easier to defeat...

But as Luo Lin delved deeper into the Abyss and her Arena level increased, she sadly discovered that the intelligence of monsters in the system's Abyss had significantly improved.

They were no longer the kind of fools who only knew how to hack and slash. Missiles of Titans could even coordinate with Templar-class Honkai Beasts, and when Chariot-class Honkai Beasts charged forward, there were even ranged archer death soldiers to block movement with arrows!

As for Arena bosses, they had always shown tactical and strategic choices, but recently there had been some super-evolutions—when Luo Lin stared into the eyes of certain bosses, they were almost like real people, with eyes shimmering with inscrutable emotions.

Just like now in Elysian Realm, facing "Transcendence Kallen" across from her, whose eyes flashed with cunning and ferocity.

—She still wants to ambush me!

A faint realization arose in Luo Lin's heart. She struggled to raise her hand, and a tentacle rose from the ground, blocking the bullets flying towards her, but it was cut off at the waist due to the force attached to the bullets, causing a slight tingling sensation in the girl's nerves.

In the lounge of Elysian Realm, Griseo held up a paintbrush, carefully studying the agile and vigorous figure of the black-clad nun. Some inspiration struck her, prompting her to prop up a canvas and start painting on it.

Kosma held his chest, taking a deep breath—he had once had the privilege of encountering "Oath of Judah," and the feeling of being enveloped by the Grace Field was still fresh in his memory.

But could Elysian Realm's data really completely reproduce it?

On the other hand, Vill-V watched the two figures swirling in the field, as well as the golden cross stuck in the ground. She glanced down at her tablet, and the monitoring data from the Helixcraft showed everything was normal.

Vill-V couldn't help but laugh at herself, "What kind of normalcy is this?"

"Fascinating, truly fascinating... It seems it's not just the Divine Keys; this lady herself also possesses the power to suppress Honkai... And, the guinea pig seems to be tinkering with something..."

Mobius didn't care much about how all this happened, she was more interested in the fluctuations coming from Kallen and Luo Lin.

As time passed, the struggle between Luo Lin and "Transcendence Kallen" became more intense. Luo Lin felt the surrounding Honkai energy gradually solidify, from a muddy swamp to reinforced concrete. Although she managed to break "Oath of Judah" when she had a chance to catch her breath, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief, Kallen quickly summoned a brand new cross again. A shower of golden spears fell from the sky, chasing Luo Lin all over the place.

"This is just waiting to die..."

Luo Lin gritted her teeth and once again activated the ultimate of "Stygian Nymph." The scythe swept past, but Kallen avoided it in a strange posture, only shaving off a small portion of her health.

However, Luo Lin's eyes lit up.

This move seems to be quantum energy? Under the suppression of Honkai energy, there was no sense of stiffness at all in the fight!

Moreover, even if it seemed like she only took a bit of Kallen's health, Kallen herself didn't have much left!

If she could use the performance of character cards more flexibly, like using the ordinary strengthening arrows of "Miss Pink Fairy," rather than being so rigid...

Luo Lin squinted her eyes, trying to feel the flow of quantum energy within her when she activated her ultimate.

The countdown for the double-layered reward had long disappeared, and the girl continued to engage with Kallen in a relatively calm state.

The suppression of Honkai energy was indeed uncomfortable, but the pressure was still within Luo Lin's tolerance range—consider it as returning to Class C, fighting monsters with a scuffed gun in hand.

She was too familiar with such a scene.

The figure of "Stygian Nymph" traversed through the light rain projected by the cross, and the butterflies formed by quantum energy flew over the trajectory she dodged, obscuring Kallen's vision.

"?!"

Finally, Luo Lin captured a faint inspiration, a hint of sea blue flashed in her crimson eyes, and the blood-red giant claws disappeared, solidifying back into a scythe like rubber mud.

On the blade, the blue of quantum energy surged like the sea.

Different from before, the power of quantum energy no longer just appeared briefly with the activation of the ultimate; instead, Luo Lin firmly held it in her hands!

"Go, guard our pact—"

The body of "Stygian Nymph" unexpectedly light, Luo Lin tiptoed, her figure disappearing in a flash.

In a trance, the girl seemed to have crossed a long distance, as if crossing a warm ocean, supported by the waves.

When she came to her senses, Kallen's defenseless figure had already been brought under her scythe.

Everything seemed to fall into place, completely unaffected by the suppression of the Oath of Judah!

"Swish—"

The black-red traces were deeply engraved on "Transcendence Kallen," obvious data damage burst out, and her health plummeted rapidly!

"But..."

However, Kallen, who had frustrated countless players, was not one to go down easily. She hadn't died yet, and in the next moment, she abruptly turned around, two bullets heading straight for Luo Lin's forehead and chest!

The girl dodged the bullets somewhat awkwardly, but was kicked in the abdomen by the nun, and flew out horizontally.

However, Luo Lin had already figured out some moves. Even in mid-air, she adjusted her posture, and the light of quantum energy appeared again. The rain of light from "Oath of Judah" struck aimlessly at her last position before she disappeared.

Half a second later, Luo Lin went back to Kallen's side again, the scythe diagonally cutting off her body, wiping out the last bit of her health!

"Huff, cough..."

The girl coughed twice, leaning on her scythe that had returned to its normal state, watching as "Transcendence Kallen" disappeared into dots of light.

"So tough... Is there going to be a Benares on the next level?"

Luo Lin took a deep breath, preparing to adjust her state to continue the fight, when a strange call rang in her ears.

Just like the gentle sea of warmth she felt when she used the power of quantum energy in the battle, it was captivating.

This is... the Sea of Quanta?

"Guinea pig, maintain your current state, I'll be there soon!"

Luo Lin heard Mobius' voice coming from the communicator, but it seemed distant and unclear, as if through a thick layer of wool.

Soon, the girl couldn't stand steady anymore. She eventually chose to sit on the ground first, squinting her eyes.

In a daze, she seemed to hear Seele's voice.

"Um... Sister Luo Lin, aren't you...? Why are you in the Sea of Quanta?"

"Wait a moment, Seele, this is just a projection, her condition is not very stable, ah... Gone again..."

Luo Lin blinked and found that Mobius in front of her. The serpent was carefully examining Luo Lin's face with her green snake pupils.

"Oh, what a pity, it didn't last long... But, Guinea Pig, it seems you have mastered some usage of quantum power."

Chapter Fourteen: Come Over Here

Facing Mobius's face so close, Luo Lin couldn't help but tilt her head back, trying to create some distance between them.

Mobius raised an eyebrow and then leaned even further, bringing her face close to Luo Lin's neck. She chuckled lightly and asked, "Oh my, little guinea pig, are you shy?"

"Why are all you people from Elysian Realm like this, with no concept of personal space?"

Luo Lin couldn't help but recall the actions Elysia had done to her before. She leaned her scythe against the ground and shifted her buttocks backward.

"All of us?"

Mobius squinted her eyes and sat back on the floating aircraft. "I see, it's Elysia, isn't it? That person... forget it. Do you still plan to continue this trial?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Luo Lin had finally managed to start with a five-fold exclusive "Stygian Nymph" opening. Although she struggled a bit against "Transcendence Kallen," overall, the outcome was satisfactory.

Even if she didn't get double rewards on the seventh floor, she still had two "Setsuna" and two "Deliverance" Signets. She even managed to summon a "Setsuna" portal on the eighth floor, allowing her to obtain the "Setsuna" core. Victory was within reach.

The girl with green snake pupils stared at Luo Lin and hinted, "Little guinea pig, the trial you are currently undergoing is not a normal Elysian Realm procedure. I have never seen such... monsters before."

Mobius turned her head and extended green lightning from her fingertips, probing towards the direction where "Transcendence Kallen" had disappeared, weaving into a dense network in an attempt to search for something.

"Let me do it, Mobius. I've brought a specialized signal detection device."

At this moment, Vill-V finally arrived. She jumped out of the portal with a huge instrument floating behind her, almost as big as the front of a truck. Luo Lin couldn't figure out how this thing had squeezed out of the narrow portal.

Mobius controlled her floating seat and approached the device. Under Vill-V's guidance, she quickly found the console of the device.

After tapping the keyboard a few times, Mobius confirmed the device's function.

Mobius looked puzzled, "Why do you have the leisure to make something that is not needed in Elysian Realm?"

Vill-V gritted her teeth, "You'll have to ask your 'little guinea pig' behind you about that."

In order to find a way for Luo Lin to enter Elysian Realm, Vill-V specially made a high-precision detection device, but judging from her frustrated expression, it was obvious that she hadn't achieved any results.

The 'Expert' took a deep breath and continued, "Moreover, this abnormal trial program might also be caused by her."

"Oh? That's... quite interesting indeed."

Mobius's snake pupils narrowed even further, her fingers brushed across her lips, and she gradually became excited.

Elysian Realm had been calm for far too long, and there had never been a visitor like Luo Lin who could cause so much impact and change.

"I'll observe you more carefully, little guinea pig."

Being locked in by Mobius's sharp gaze was uncomfortable, but Luo Lin was well aware of what kind of person Mobius was. She had come to Elysian Realm seeking help, naturally prepared for such scrutiny.

Luo Lin even considered this journey as a rehearsal for her confrontation with Otto in the future, so she could perform with ease.

"Then I'll continue on my way?"

The Valkyrie stood up and walked towards the "Setsuna" portal to the next level.

"Just wait a moment... Alright, you can go now."

Vill-V angrily pulled out a probe from the device and aimed it in the direction Luo Lin had left.

Luo Lin shrugged and walked into the radiant light of the portal.

As soon as she entered, a penetrating roar came from directly ahead. The Valkyrie squinted her eyes and stared at the massive dragon-shaped Honkai Beast in front of her.

It had a pure white carapace unique to Honkai Beasts, with glimpses of flesh interwoven with deep blue and black in the seams. There were obvious fluctuations of Honkai energy on its claws and wing membranes, emitting a sky-blue light.

It was the companion of the Second Herrscher Sirin, a Judgement-class Honkai Beast, Benares!

2:30

Exceeding the time limit will result in failure!

A semi-transparent countdown appeared directly above Luo Lin's field of vision, slowly and steadily ticking away.

In the lounge, the Flame Chasers became more alert, carefully watching the terrifying Honkai Beast emanating dreadful aura.

Raven was naturally among them. Seeing Benares's figure, even just in the holographic projection, the imposing aura still affected her, causing the mercenary to almost spit out the wine she had in her mouth.

"Natasha, do you recognize this Honkai Beast?"

"Cough, I...," Raven crossed her arms and answered in a deep voice, "This is Benares, the companion Honkai Beast of the current-era Second Herrscher Sirin..."

"It seems that this is the change brought by Miss Luo Lin... However, the companion Honkai Beast of a Herrscher... even if Elysian Realm's data cannot fully simulate a Judgement-class, it shouldn't be..."

Eden carefully chose her words, and finally said helplessly, "It shouldn't be this weak."

"Roar!"

Benares stared at Luo Lin with its eyes, and the Valkyrie, undaunted, raised her scythe and charged forward.

The Judgement-class Honkai Beast raised its claws and lunged at Luo Lin!

But "Stygian Nymph" flickered, turning into quantum butterflies, flying past this terrifying attack. Then Luo Lin delivered a powerful blow to Benares.

Following that, Luo Lin didn't hesitate to unleash her ultimate move, the black tentacles and red claws lashing at the Judgement-class Honkai Beast's neck.

These attacks caused significant damage to Benares. It roared, stirring up a gust of wind and taking flight.

Luo Lin, of course, was prepared for this move. She had encountered Benares on the Arena before, so even though it had entered Elysian Realm, its moves should be almost the same... Wait a minute, almost the same?

As mentioned earlier, as Luo Lin delved deeper into the Abyss and her Arena level increased, the intelligence of monsters, especially bosses, had noticeably improved.

And an increase in intelligence meant that bosses would exploit their strengths, "playing to their strengths and attacking the weaknesses of others"!

So, what would be Benares's strength?

"No way..."

The Valkyrie raised her head, watching as Benares soared freely in the sky, no intention of landing again to engage in close combat. Luo Lin's forehead was covered in cold sweat.

"I don't have 'Miss Pink Elf' now, with no long-range attack power at all?"

The Valkyrie leaped with all her might, trying to reach Benares. She even unleashed a wave of energy shockwaves like the "Crescent Moon Sky Charge," but it only caused Benares to flap its wings twice to dodge, without inflicting any damage.

Luo Lin looked at the countdown ticking away, finally slowing down at "0:00."

"I failed... sob... now I've let the big guy down..."

Chapter Fifteen: Preparing to Turn the Tables

After the failed challenge, Luo Lin was directly teleported back to the Elysian Realm lounge. The Valkyrie looked dejected as she slowly made her way to the bar counter, casting a somewhat resentful glance at Elysia and Eden.

The expressions on the two Sims' faces were subtle. Elysia seemed like she wanted to laugh, but considering Luo Lin's pride, she managed to restrain herself.

As for Eden, after taking a deep breath, she adjusted her mindset and kindly pushed a glass towards Luo Lin. "Here, it's just a regular beverage. I won't risk giving you alcohol again. Drinking something refreshing is better for your body and mind."

"But I feel like I need alcohol for comfort right now... sigh, my five-fold exclusive 'Stygian Nymph' performance..."

Elysia quickly reached out to pat Luo Lin's head. "Oh dear, don't be disheartened. Next time, I'll continue to help you open the portal."

"Sob... Elysia, you're so kind!"

Luo Lin was touched by Elysia's gesture and enjoyed her comforting touch. However, from the corner of her eye, she noticed someone at the bar counter trying to shrink her presence and blend in—a certain Crow.

Why is there someone else besides the Sims and Senti?!

Coughing violently, Luo Lin quickly straightened up and tried to salvage her reputation. But she realized that Raven's gaze had changed. Perhaps Raven had initially thought of Luo Lin as a highly skilled and powerful Valkyrie, but now, the label "not quite right in the head" might dominate her perception.

Seeing this, Elysia finally couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.

Luo Lin covered her face, murmuring, "This is so embarrassing."

But thankfully, now she looked like "Stygian Nymph." Raven probably hadn't seen her like this before...

Raven glanced strangely at Luo Lin, sensing no hostility from her. It seemed like this Valkyrie didn't care much about the battles in Nagazora City.

"Um, Miss Luo Lin, I understand that being a Valkyrie gathering intelligence can be quite stressful. It's okay."

After hesitating for a moment, Raven finally said these words.

—Perhaps her mental state might be unstable after her transformation, Raven guessed.

Raven's words completely crushed Luo Lin's sense of shame, leaving her speechless with her face covered.

Ah, how did she know it was me?!

"Anyway, see you tomorrow!"

The Valkyrie stood up, grabbed Senti, who was trying to talk to Hua, and dashed towards the exit leading to the negative first floor of the lounge.

Raven, holding her glass, watched as the two disappeared behind the iron door of the negative first floor. After pondering for a few seconds, she stood up and followed them to roughly the same spot.

After hesitating for a moment, the mercenary took a step forward, crossing the invisible boundary where they disappeared, as if nothing had happened.

"Am I going crazy?"

Raven looked like she was questioning her life choices as she returned to the bar counter.

Eden patted Raven's shoulder. "It's okay, you're not crazy. Everything that just happened was real..."

Raven choked up for a moment, then asked Eden, "Eden, how did those two enter the Elysian Realm?"

"I don't know, but Mobius and Vill-V have already started investigating. We'll get results soon," Eden reassured her.

Eden stared at Raven with her golden eyes, as if she could see through Raven's thoughts, and gently comforted her, "Don't worry, Raven. I personally feel they're not bad people... But if you plan to report what happened here to World Serpent, remember to do it quickly, okay?"

"Sigh, okay..."

Raven scratched her head, feeling a sense of foreboding that a series of troubles was about to come her way.

---

The next day, Luo Lin woke up early as usual. She prepared a pile of breakfast and realized she was alone in the lounge.

So, the Valkyrie knocked on the door of the neighboring dormitory where Kiana and Raiden Mei stayed.

Before long, Mei, with a smell of smoke and fire, opened the door. Her hair was messy, and there were traces of flour and sauce on her face, looking quite disheveled.

"Cough... What's that smell?"

Luo Lin waved her hand, trying to dissipate the smell in front of her. She peeked inside and saw that the kitchen looked like a battlefield:

The frying pan was pitch black, the range hood in the kitchen area was working at full capacity, emitting a fine noise. The oil bottle, which looked full yesterday, was now almost empty, and there were several strange dough shapes lying on the cutting board.

Kiana and Bronya sat at the dining table, staring solemnly at the plates of charcoal in front of them.

Yes, charcoal.

Luo Lin couldn't fathom how these ingredients turned into such a miserable sight.

Clearly, Mei's path as the "Herrscher of Rice" didn't start off smoothly.

"Mei... What's this..."

Even Kiana, who could eat "Kaslana Family Specialties" without changing her expression, looked troubled. Not to mention Bronya, who had a relatively normal palate. After noticing Luo Lin outside the door, they both looked at her with pleading eyes.

Luo Lin scratched her head and said, "Um, I made too much breakfast. Let me bring it over..."

A few minutes later, a hearty breakfast was placed on the table, and Luo Lin finally had the chance to ask Mei what happened earlier.

"Well, um... The Headmistress told me that if I wanted to relax, I should find a new hobby."

Mei looked somewhat embarrassed as she stole a glance at Kiana and continued, "Because Kiana loves eating, I thought, why not learn cooking...?"

"Mei..."

Hearing this, Kiana, despite being touched, still firmly pushed the plate of charcoal aside. "Even if that's the case, this is way too much, right?"

Bronya finally spoke up, "Mei spent the whole night reading cookbooks... Perhaps it was a lack of sleep that led to this disaster."

Luo Lin glanced at Mei's bloodshot eyes and asked, "Didn't you already join St. Freya Academy? Don't you have classes today?"

Kiana paused for a moment, "Um, today is Saturday..."

The Valkyrie slapped her face. "Oh no, I've been living my days without distinguishing between day and night, not even knowing what day it is... But even so, Mei, you don't have to push yourself so hard, right?"

"Hehe, couldn't help it, couldn't help it..."

Mei chuckled awkwardly and whispered, "I just feel like I need to find something to do quickly. Here, I feel... a bit out of place."

"Out of place?"

Luo Lin pondered.

At that moment, Kiana, who had suddenly become emotionally intelligent, held Mei's hand and whispered a few words to her. After getting her consent, she began to tell Luo Lin about what had happened over the past few days.

Before coming here, Raiden Mei was just an ordinary student. St. Freya Academy was a standard Valkyrie training school, and the courses taught here were completely different from regular schools.

For example, the practical combat classes with Valkyrie characteristics required students to battle against Honkai beasts and soldiers in the Memorial Arena System.

Kiana and Bronya had some experience in practical combat and quickly adapted, but Raiden Mei took a bit longer to adjust. Moreover, Kiana was a social butterfly who quickly bonded with her classmates, while Bronya didn't need much social interaction and only cared about Kiana and Raiden Mei, ignoring others.

Compared to these two, Raiden Mei seemed a bit ordinary in terms of interpersonal communication—mainly because in the past, she had always been approached by others due to her powerful background, rather than actively seeking friendships.

Now, the students at St. Freya were clueless about Raiden Mei's identity, giving Mei a chance to start fresh in social interactions.

Mei didn't hesitate for long. With Kiana's help, she tried to communicate with other students in the class.

However, just last week, Mei appeared awkward in front of a group of unfamiliar Valkyries and was ultimately defeated in the Memorial Arena System, feeling quite embarrassed.

As someone with thin skin and a certain level of pride, Raiden Mei naturally felt uncomfortable. Perhaps staying up all night reading cookbooks was a way to compensate psychologically.

"Oh... I see..."

Luo Lin clapped her hands. "Perfect, we made an agreement back in Nagazora City to teach you some things here, right? That agreement still stands. We'll give you some guidance. Next time, you'll impress them all!"

Chapter Sixteen: Training Ground Observations

Due to Raiden Mei's all-nighter, Luo Lin persuaded her to get some rest, and a sweet nap brought them to the afternoon.

At this time, Luo Lin and Kiana's group emerged from the dormitory. Luo Lin held a personal terminal, found the map of the Far East Branch, and led the trio towards the training ground.

Training grounds in any branch of Schicksal were always bustling. As combat units, Valkyries needed extensive training to maintain and improve their skills.

The Far East Branch was no exception. Interestingly, because the Far East Branch and St. Freya Academy were basically built together, not only were formal Valkyries trained here, but also some ambitious Valkyrie students.

Luo Lin recognized some familiar faces in the training ground. Fu Hua occupied a small area, practicing martial arts against wooden posts with simple yet decisive movements.

For a martial arts master like Fu Hua, even an amateur could appreciate the beauty in her movements. As industry insiders (in terms of combat), Valkyries could easily discern Fu Hua's extraordinary skills.

So, several Valkyries surrounded Fu Hua, earnestly observing her movements and occasionally gesturing in admiration.

"Oh? You're here too?"

Fu Hua stopped and greeted Luo Lin.

Observing Fu Hua, who was already emitting heat, Luo Lin exclaimed, "You've been training for quite some time, haven't you?"

Calculating on her fingers, Fu Hua replied, "Not much, just since this morning."

"Impressive."

Luo Lin respected her.

She had intended to take the trio to find a place nearby for practice, but Fu Hua stopped them, "I'm almost done with my workout. I can help you guys instead."

"That's great! Help me give Raiden Mei some pointers!"

Luo Lin was delighted. With Fu Hua's assistance, the quality of their practice would surely skyrocket.

So the two tidied up the area, retrieved swords, pistols, and assault rifles from the nearby armory, and handed each of the trio a suitable weapon.

Luo Lin turned to Bronya and said, "Bronya, you should join too. Learning more skills is better, and let's see if your current exoskeleton fits well."

"Alright, Bronya understands."

The silver-haired twin-tailed girl nodded and got ready.

The Valkyries who had been watching Fu Hua's training didn't leave. They were interested in Luo Lin and the trio and could naturally tell that Luo Lin was about to conduct a teaching activity.

"A rare sight of practical teaching!"

"And with a high-level instructor, perfect! Today's trip to the training ground was worth it."

Considering that Fu Hua might continue to guide these three students, these Valkyries calmly and shamelessly moved closer, prepared to listen to the "goddess's guidance" and learn as much as they could.

Then, they were pleasantly surprised to find that Luo Lin, wearing the Intelligence Department uniform, seemed quite knowledgeable. She demonstrated excellent technical proficiency and was organized in her teaching approach.

The Valkyries couldn't help but exchange glances, suspecting that Captain Rita had somehow arranged for two high-level Valkyries to become teachers.

"Come on, be more decisive with your strikes!"

"Your form has some issues; focus your strength here!"

"Yes, just like that!"

Luo Lin and Raiden Mei had a brief sparring session, quickly assessing her progress over the past few days and identifying weaknesses and flaws in Raiden Mei's movements.

As a disciple of the martial arts grandmaster, Fu Hua was also adept at combining theory and practice. She quickly helped Raiden Mei find ways to improve, and then Luo Lin began addressing each issue.

During this time, Fu Hua was not idle either. She also assisted Kiana and Bronya in their training.

Although Fu Hua didn't have much expertise in Kaslana gunplay, she could still provide valuable insights into the combat aspects of gunplay. After some contemplation, she offered some suggestions to Kiana.

Luo Lin frequently used Kaslana gunplay herself. After teaching Raiden Mei, she returned to provide extra lessons for Bronya.

To her surprise, she discovered that Kiana had already begun integrating Kaslana gunplay with the powers of the Herrscher of the Void. Facing the expectant gaze of the white-haired bundle of energy, Luo Lin felt a headache coming on.

Thankfully, after numerous battles, the black-haired Valkyrie had mastered Kaslana gunplay to a considerable degree, especially in the realm of exploring unconventional techniques.

As Luo Lin and Kiana brainstormed, the targets nearby suffered. The training bullets infused with the power of the Herrscher of the Void inflicted serious damage, to the point where the logistics Valkyrie responsible for maintaining the site began to doubt her own mental faculties, fetching previously used and nearly obsolete equipment.

As for Bronya, her situation was somewhat unique. Due to her limited mobility, she primarily relied on coordinated combat with "Project Bunny."

Thus, she wielded an assault rifle, manipulating "Project Bunny" to launch attacks from various positions, honing her coordination skills.

Observing this, Fu Hua pondered for a moment and offered her suggestion, "I think you should practice some boxing to improve your focus. Additionally, this boxing technique can also be used by 'Project Bunny' in combat."

"...Understood."

Bronya contemplated, eventually agreeing and practicing boxing with Fu Hua.

In this environment with instructors' assistance, time passed quickly, and before they knew it, the sky had darkened.

Luo Lin called a halt to the training, giving each of the panting trio some lightly salted water. "Let's call it a day for now. Let's go eat and remember, practice should be balanced with rest."

Fu Hua nodded in agreement. "That's right."

Kiana quickly drank up her water and stretched lazily. "Ah, it's great that Luo Lin can help me study Kaslana gunplay. I would have taken so many detours on my own."

"Well, your path is quite unique... Borrowing your sister's power, you might suddenly 'teleport' behind an enemy one day, aiming at the weak point and... bam, one shot..."

As she spoke, Luo Lin supported her chin, lost in thought.

It seemed like quantum energy could also be used for teleportation, huh? If I could just teleport myself directly onto the back of Beneath the Light, then maybe...?

"What are you thinking about?"

Fu Hua asked.

"I'm thinking about how to teleport onto Benares's back and give it a good thrashing," Luo Lin replied.

Fu Hua was speechless, watching Luo Lin furrow her brows in thought. After a moment, she couldn't help but comment, "Teleport? But you're not a Herrscher of the Void... And isn't Benares the name of your sister's companion Herrscher beast? I remember it can fly."

"Yes, it can fly, out of reach."

Luo Lin recalled the tragic scene in the Paradise, donning a mask of anguish.

Scratching her head, Fu Hua was puzzled, "Then why don't you just fly up there yourself?"

Luo Lin: "?"

Chapter Seventeen: Transform for Me!

Some things, when you ask the big shots, they might wonder why you can't do such "simple" things.

For Fu Hua, she had too many means to deal with aerial units: rubbing Ki waves for long-range attacks, using Edge of Taixuan to blast people down from the sky and then strike them, changing into the [Shadow Knight] Battlesuit to take off on the spot. If that didn't work, she could even use [Fenghuang Down] to burn her own memories, briefly returning to the [Immortal Phoenix] form and relying on her strength to fly freely...

"Wait, according to your precise manipulation of Edge of Taixuan, isn't flying with a sword very simple?"

Facing Fu Hua's question, Luo Lin spread her hands helplessly.

"First of all, I don't know the technique of flying with Edge of Taixuan yet; secondly, my Honkai energy reserves are not enough to both fly and fight at the same time."

Yes, Luo Lin's own Honkai energy reserves were only at the normal level of A-rank, which was indeed a bit less compared to those with solid S-rank abilities, MANTIS Soldiers and Herrscher.

Thanks to the [Moon Ring], its long-lasting Honkai energy conversion function provided her with a lot of convenience, but in the face of the high-energy scene of "combat in flight," perhaps only the [Moon Ring] in "White Heat Mode" could afford to play a role.

But "White Heat Mode" couldn't be activated for long, which was very awkward—she couldn't just fly for a while and then perform a set of looping exercises to accumulate enough SP to unleash a big move, could she?

This was still based on Luo Lin's own superior performance, accumulating energy relatively quickly. If it were someone like Durandal, with a slower SP accumulation rate, she might directly fall to the ground like a pancake.

"The technique of flying with a sword is very simple. I'll teach you right now... As for the problem of insufficient Honkai energy reserves... Wait until we confirm Raiden Mei and Kiana's situation stabilizes, and then come with me to Taixu Mountain."

Fu Hua felt it necessary to take some time to return to her hometown. She might be able to find the "Xuanyuan Sword" wrapped in oiled paper from the vegetable fields behind the mountain.

The [Key of Domination·Xuanyuan Sword] allowed people to manipulate Honkai energy in the environment for various operations, indirectly increasing the holder's Honkai energy reserves, and could also be matched with people, transforming into a form suitable for the holder's combat.

The bracers Fu Hua once held, the [Grip of Tai Xu], were transformed by the [Key of Domination]; Cheng Lixue's was transformed into the long sword [Water's Edge]; Ji Lin, being more straightforward, wielded a giant [Xuanyuan Sword] that could be used while riding on horseback.

Having Luo Lin wield this should solve a large part of the problem of insufficient Honkai energy reserves.

"In fact, I found that after someone with talent learns Edge of Taixuan, they will be given a [Xuanyuan Sword]... It's just that there are fewer and fewer such people. In the past few decades, apart from Lixue, no good seedlings have appeared."

Fu Hua's expression dimmed, she gently patted Luo Lin's shoulder and said softly, "Also, thank you, Luo Lin, for helping me recover a lot of memories, especially those related to Lixue..."

Luo Lin nodded, "Well... It's nothing. If possible, I'll try to help you remember more things."

"Haha, I won't force it. Let it be." Fu Hua chuckled and beckoned Luo Lin and the others to go to the cafeteria together, finding a spacious table to start dinner.

Because they had trained hard in the afternoon, everyone ate a bit more. But Kiana, with a big appetite, seemed particularly exaggerated. She brought over a mountain of food all at once, then swept it away like a whirlwind, startling the Valkyries around her.

In the evening, Luo Lin returned to the dormitory. After reading the textbooks for a while, she called "Seele" in the Sea of Quanta.

"Good evening, Seele. I hope both of you are awake now."

"Good evening, Sister Luo Lin." Seele said very obediently, "The other me just woke up not long ago."

"How did your observation of Bronya go this afternoon?"

Seele recalled the figures she saw in the training ground in the afternoon and hesitated, saying, "She... wasn't very good, but not particularly bad either."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of Bronya, and I'm also actively looking for ways to bring you both over..."

"Luo Lin, you suddenly appeared in the Sea of Quanta yesterday. What happened?"

Veliona's question had been brewing for a whole day, and she straightforwardly asked it.

Luo Lin briefly explained what happened last night and concluded, "It was an accident that happened during the research on that body... By the way, do you have any thoughts or discoveries about this phenomenon?"

"...Luo Lin, you better transform into that... [Stygian Nymph] you mentioned." Veliona said somewhat awkwardly, "It sounds weird to say that..."

Luo Lin complied readily, switching to the role card: "And then?"

"Your appearance last night was too sudden. We were just surprised and didn't do anything else." Veliona said, "How about trying to reproduce the accident that happened last night today and see if you can project your consciousness into the Sea of Quanta again?"

"Okay."

Luo Lin closed her eyes and began to ponder the feeling she had when the accident happened last night...

Then she heard the frightened voices of Senti and Seele in her ears:

"Hey, be careful! Don't blow up the house!"

"Sister Luo Lin! Be careful!"

When the Valkyrie opened her eyes, she found that the pitch-black domain had already submerged the dormitory, and she had almost completed the ultimate move of [Stygian Nymph].

She smiled awkwardly, retracting the overflowing power back into her body. "Sorry, it was a bit intense just now..."

Seele nodded in confusion, but Veliona heard something from this sentence, "Were you fighting last night? Inside your strange system?"

"Uh, after all, no one will die, and real combat is the best practice method."

Luo Lin closed her eyes again. This time, she controlled her power and began to search for the feeling of synchronizing with the Sea of Quanta.

It was like warm water enveloping her body; it was like dandelions floating in the air.

At this moment, Luo Lin's consciousness was particularly clear, thanks to the help of the Edge of Taixuan's realm of "Blade Mantra· Form."

She could capture the changes in her emotions more finely and the quantum power that changed with the fluctuations of emotions.

Gradually, the girl heard the sound of waves in her ears, and she used quantum energy as a thread to pull herself in the direction of the sound.

Then, like drilling out of a narrow pipe, everything suddenly became clear!

"Splash~"

Luo Lin opened her eyes and looked at the undulating "waves" around her, as well as the figure beside her that was like a twin, and smiled.

"It worked!"

"Um, Luo Lin, Sister...?" Seele's voice was a bit hesitant.

Luo Lin put her hands on her hips and replied, "That's right, it's me. What's wrong?"

"You look like a doll now, Sister Luo Lin."

Luo Lin lowered her head and saw her reflection on the "sea surface."

"Wow, where did this three-headed ELF come from?"

Chapter Eighteen: Unlocked Matters

It was a cute chibi figure with three heads, black hair, and black eyes. One could still discern traces of Luo Lin's original appearance between the eyebrows and eyes, but strangely, she was dressed in a shrunken, cartoonish [Stygian Nymph] outfit, looking as if she were bugged character

...Perhaps it truly was bugged, otherwise how could I end up in such a situation?

Luo Lin appeared lifeless, tightly embraced by Veliona. The red-eyed girl vigorously rubbed her own cheeks, then lowered her head like she was cuddling a cat, using her chin to nuzzle Luo Lin's head.

"Stay calm, calm down... sniff..."

"...So cute!"

Seele herself was also enchanted, her eyes gleaming as she joined in rubbing the chibi Luo Lin's round face, causing the Valkyrie to babble incoherently.

A few minutes later, a somewhat embarrassed Seele called a halt to the activity: "The other me, let's stop for a moment. Sister Luo Lin seems like she has something to say..."

"Um, I'm a bit..."

Veliona looked dazed, and Seele could see the struggle in her red eyes. After a few tens of seconds, Veliona took a deep breath and directly threw Luo Lin out.

"Ah!"

Luo Lin was thrown into the Sea of Quanta in a position resembling a falling onion, struggling to wave her arms and legs, finally landing with a slap on the "sea surface."

After exerting a lot of effort, Luo Lin finally crawled up from the ground, looking at her matched chibi with short arms and legs, even her hands and feet were nowhere to be seen, turning into what seemed like a low-polygon "stick figure."

"After all that rubbing, you just throw me like that?"

Veliona shouted loudly, "That evil charm on your body has started to take effect, I can't control myself!"

Luo Lin was stunned, was it because of my physique?

She checked her own situation and found that the emotional diffusion switch had inexplicably turned back on. Luo Lin decisively turned off this thing, but Veliona's situation only improved slightly, from extremely uncomfortable to somewhat uncomfortable... she ran away from a distance.

Luo Lin tried to take a few steps, but due to unstable balance, she fell down directly, luckily Seele was quick to lift her up.

Seele weighed the chibi Luo Lin, she wasn't heavy at all. She glanced at Veliona, who had closed her eyes and was engaged in an internal struggle, then imitated her previous actions and hugged Luo Lin in her arms.

Soft and plump, with a fresh scent... like some kind of fruit?

Seele pursed her lips, lost in thought.

"Why are you holding me so tightly?"

"Ah, sorry."

Seele placed Luo Lin on the ground and took two steps back.

Chibi Luo Lin looked at her "stick figure hands," unable to scratch her head.

"How am I supposed to hold things like this? Do I have to use 'unscientific' methods like a certain fingerless robotic cat to grab onto things? Then how do I pull the trigger... no, I should turn back!"

Luo Lin chose to solve the problem fundamentally.

She tried to recall the feeling from before, allowing herself to return from the chibi cartoon form to the normal-sized girl.

This time it went very smoothly, Luo Lin quickly grasped the essence of the Sea of Quanta, submitting her desire to return to her normal form.

As a result, she felt everything around her becoming turbulent, like being thrown into a washing machine and spinning wildly for a few minutes. When everything calmed down, Luo Lin was back in the real world.

"Ugh..." The girl retched a couple of times, murmuring, "You just sent me straight back to the real world, huh..."

Senti suddenly shouted, "Luo Lin, you disappeared just now!"

"What? Disappeared?" Luo Lin was puzzled, "I disappeared just now?"

The Herrscher of Sentience popped out, excitedly gesturing and explaining to the Valkyrie what had just happened: "You know I'm resting in your brain, right? Then you said you wanted to try entering the Sea of Quanta, and then whoosh, your body disappeared from the real world and came to this dark place around you..."

Luo Lin was puzzled, "Are you sure it wasn't the Sea of Quanta? Without adaptation to the Sea of Quanta, you can't see anything around you in the sea."

"No, the Herrscher can definitely distinguish between the Virtual Tree and the Sea of Quanta, it's an innate instinct!"

Senti emphasized again, "What I saw was everything around the body of [Stygian Nymph], which was dark and murky, and your consciousness was not in your body, but directly flew into the Sea of Quanta! These are two different things!"

"Huh?"

Luo Lin blinked, her expression becoming serious.

Well, this situation seems a bit familiar...

The Valkyrie tapped the system panel that popped out, saying, "System, check if you're about to malfunction again?"

[Check complete, all systems normal. After the accidents of the past two times, the system has strengthened its vulnerability detection tools to ensure that such major bugs will not occur again.]

"So minor bugs might still occur..." Luo Lin was a bit speechless, it left a lot of room in its speech, "So what exactly happened to me just now?"

[Hmm... To alleviate the host's unnecessary worries, the system pre-declares that this is also one of the unlockable projects in the system, not a bug phenomenon. The host can explore it on their own and unlock the project by completing achievements or challenges.]

"Hmm, this won't affect my communication with Seele in the Sea of Quanta, will it?"

There was a firm assurance in the system's electronic voice: [Absolutely not!]

"...The more you say that, the more worried I get. Well, since that's the case... Senti, can you please observe the body of [Stygian Nymph] again?"

Luo Lin sighed, clenching her fists, enjoying the feeling of her five fingers moving flexibly for a while.

Then, the Valkyrie took two small loaves of bread she had baked in the morning from the kitchen, holding one in her hand and tossing the other into the system's warehouse.

With a solemn expression, she once again invoked the power of the quantum, entering the embrace of the Sea of Quanta.

"Tsk, why am I still in this chibi form... and still wearing the [Stygian Nymph] dress... besides..."

Luo Lin stood with her hands on her hips, looking up at Veliona's face, "Stay calm, okay! Don't come over!"

"I won't take a step." The red-eyed girl nodded, looking serious.

The girl couldn't help but complain, "Your feet really didn't move, but you're floating towards me now!!"

"Tsk." Veliona clicked her tongue, "Can you find a way to contain your 'charming' appearance..."

"Um..."

Luo Lin felt the almost overflowing quantum power inside her, as for her most frequently used Herrscher powers, there was now only a small amount left, barely enough to manipulate her emotional diffusion for a while.

So, Luo Lin began to reminisce about her past life's quiet nights, appreciating the "masterpieces" such as movies and pictures of various "teachers" on her computer and phone during quiet nights...

Then, the corner of the Sea of Quanta quickly calmed down.

Chapter Nineteen: Learning a Little

"It's so strange, this feeling..." Seele said with a strange expression as she caressed her small abdomen, feeling that something was off.

Veliona seemed to intend to glare at Luo Lin, but was affected by the emotions surrounding her, and could only roll her eyes lazily.

"Luo Lin... I dare say, this is definitely not something normal..."

"As long as it works, right?" Luo Lin carefully turned off the emotional diffusion function and then smiled awkwardly. "By the way, Seele, I want to ask you some questions, like how to use quantum energy... why are you looking at me like that?"

The corner of Veliona's mouth twitched slightly. "Is there a possibility that being able to use something and being able to teach it to others are two different things?"

"This..." Luo Lin suddenly remembered that Seele seemed to be the kind of person with not much formal education. She had only received basic education at the Siberian orphanage and had relied on her talent to come this far.

The Valkyrie's gaze changed, somewhat resembling the demeanor Vill-V had when she looked at Luo Lin who didn't have any doctorate before, which made Veliona very uncomfortable.

She took the initiative to pinch Luo Lin's cheeks and said fiercely, "Don't underestimate me, let me think... about the use of quantum energy, right?"

"Yes."

"Turn around!"

Without hesitation, the three-headed Luo Lin turned around completely, fully demonstrating her trust.

Veliona's eyes flashed twice, and she hugged Luo Lin. The Valkyrie was startled, but she heard the whispered words of the red-eyed girl in her ear, "Don't be afraid, I'm still very clear-headed now. If I can't control myself, I'll throw you out again."

"Well, if you can't handle it, just tell me, maybe I can help you suppress the impulse again with the same method... huh?"

Velionaer sighed, and with flickering blue lights, she directly inserted her hand into Luo Lin's chest as she continued talking.

The three-headed Valkyrie didn't feel any pain but instead felt a strange sense of comfort.

"Relax, don't resist, the quantum energy in your body has been taken over by me... next, I will take you around the vicinity, and you can tell me what kind of skills you want, I will use the quantum energy in your body, remember to observe."

"Okay."

Luo Lin nodded earnestly.

With that, Veliona flew up with the three-headed Valkyrie and headed towards the depths of the Sea of Quanta.

It's hard to say how effective this beast-like, somewhat bloodline-warlock-style teaching method was, but Luo Lin did gain a deeper understanding of quantum power.

And precisely because of this understanding, Luo Lin had many more doubts in her mind. —Is Veliona really this strong in the plot?

Although Seele didn't know that she had become a very rare "Quantum Side Herrscher," during the days she spent drifting in the Sea of Quanta, she could feel her increasing control over quantum energy.

Originally, Veliona could barely create a small grid on the floor of the Sea of Quanta to place objects, roughly equivalent to a piece of wood floating on the sea; Now she could anchor a small area of the Sea of Quanta, making the waves here no longer turbulent. Even when faced with tsunami-like waves from other places, the "house" Veliona built could withstand the attack.

And now, mastering the quantum energy within the three-headed Luo Lin was even easier, effortlessly.

Veliona, with Luo Lin, cut off several emerging quantum shadows, calmed several waves in the Sea of Quanta, and also observed the situation of the surrounding world before returning to Seele's side.

The whole process was smooth and familiar. Obviously, Veliona often did things like this to protect Seele's safety, almost "cleaning up" the surrounding area of the Sea of Quanta.

"How do you feel?" Veliona asked.

"I've learned some things; flying should be no problem... right?"

After thinking for a moment, Luo Lin tried to call out the system warehouse and was pleasantly surprised to find that she could still open it.

So she quickly called Seele over and took out the small bread she baked in the morning (which was a big piece of bread for her at the moment), and shared it with Seele and Veliona.

"Ah! It's bread! Thank you, Luo Lin!" Seele could feel the warmth of the bread and she thanked Luo Lin with a smile.

After undergoing the X-10 experiment and physical quantization, Seele only needed a firm will and energy supply to survive.

As for eating, she hadn't eaten properly for a long time. Veliona used to find a way to gather some quantum energy and mold it into the appearance of food for her to eat, but there was no taste when she bit into it.

Later, she met Luo Lin under the guidance of the sea and had a few bites of energy bars in the world of "Post-Honkai Oddyssey," and finally, she ate various snacks with Luo Lin, raising her standard of living by countless levels.

Veliona fiercely bit into the bread, treating it as Luo Lin herself, and swallowed it down.

"As long as you like it. Here, these are the cookies I hoarded before; you can have some when you're craving them later."

Luo Lin noticed that Veliona's emotions were gradually becoming unstable again, so she quickly left behind the "reward" for this teaching session and was flushed away by the "toilet" of the Sea of Quanta.

Veliona reached out her hand, as if to make a gesture of retention.

"The other me?"

"Yeah... it seems I've caught some strange Honkai energy readings."

 ————————————————————

"Mobius, did we lose signal over here?"

"Yeah, it's lost. I don't know where it's transmitted to..."

Mobius and Vill-V were still stationed at the location where Luo Lin had fought [Transcendence Kallen] last time, surrounded by piles of instruments and reports.

"Beep beep—Alert, detected experimental subject entering 'Elysian Realm."

At this moment, the communicators of the two scientists simultaneously sounded an alert, and they glanced at each other before running towards the teleportation gate in the Elysian Realm Lounge.

"Hey, missed me?" Luo Lin greeted the grim-faced Raven.

"Not at all."

The mercenary lady rolled her eyes, "Thanks to you, the World Serpent has decided to temporarily close the 'Elysian Realm,' prohibiting all other operatives except me from entering—how do you say it? Quarantine?"

Luo Lin almost burst out laughing, "What kind of analogy is that? Am I some kind of pathogen?"

"You can transform, even into Flame Chasers, which scared everyone... you get my point, right? Some even said you might transform into my appearance and take advantage of the opportunity to leave the 'Elysian Realm' and head straight to the World Serpent's secret base."

Raven took a sip of her drink, "Anyway, my salary is still being paid as usual, and I'm not lacking in food and drink... Hah, just consider it a paid vacation, right?"

Luo Lin felt inexplicably tired and sighed deeply.

Chapter Twenty: You're a Good Person

It was extremely rare to see no one else in the meeting room today except Luo Lin and Raven, which made it feel a bit lonely.

Raven held what might be a canned beer given to her by the World Serpent, looking rather demotivated.

Luo Lin blinked, feeling that the brand of ther beer seemed familiar—like the kind often drunk by a certain Buddhert nun.

"Is ther beer good?"

"You mean ther?" Raven tapped the can, "It's a popular beer brand in North America, but it seems to have the shadow of AE behind it... I've visited their manufacturing plant and found that they actually use Honkai energy in the brewing process... Well, you could say it's Honkai energy-flavored beer, right?"

"And you still dare to drink it?"

"Why not? If AE dares to sell ther stuff to ordinary people, it must be safe. The North American branch of AE is probably the least malicious, unlike other places, hmph..."

The mercenary rotated the beer can and muttered, "Sigh, I wonder how long I'll be stuck here... How many high-paying bounty missions are we missing out on?"

Luo Lin tentatively asked, "Are you short on money?"

She wanted to take the opportunity to see how Raven's little island purchase plan was going.

Raven countered, "Money can do so many things—buying houses, cars, land, fulfilling one's desires... Aren't you short on money too?"

But soon the mercenary lady "lay" back again, "Hmm... Your destiny Valkyrie doesn't seem to care much about money, especially someone like you who dares to infiltrate enemy territory... If you don't even care about your own life, why would you care about money?"

Indeed, Luo Lin didn't care about money, but she lacked crystals.

"If you could give me some blue, hard, mysterious items, I might just pester you like crazy."

"What blue things?"

Vill-V and Mobius walked out of the teleportation gate together, seemingly having heard Luo Lin muttering. Vill-V asked with interest, "I heard you like blue things?"

"I just like crystals... Um, a kind of versatile special currency."

"Boring, why is everyone so troubled by money? Back when I was with the Fire Moth, someone was always squeezing my budget, and even in the Elysian Realm, someone was still squeezing my budget..."

Vill-V glanced helplessly at Mobius, while the snake simply said coldly, "If you plan to use those funds and materials to make something utterly useless again, I'll cut your budget next time."

Vill-V put her hands on her hips, looking annoyed, muttering about "style is power" and "no surprises, no magic," filling the meeting room with a lively atmosphere.

Mobius turned her head, her long, green pupils fixed on Luo Lin.

"Alright, Guinea pig, during your absence, we've done some research and generated many questions, most of which require your cooperation to continue our studies. Come with me to the laboratory..."

"Okay."

Luo Lin nodded obediently.

The snake glanced at Raven, who seemed somewhat restless, squinting, "Miss Raven, if you're interested, you can also come with us... I can provide you with a copy of the research report."

"That would be great."

The mercenary immediately stood up eagerly and followed along.

On the way to the laboratory, Luo Lin used the communicator given to her by Eden to call Ely, "Hey? Ely, I'm back in the Elysian Realm again. I'm on my way to Mobius's laboratory now. Could you help me open the door after the experiment?"

"Amazing..."

Although the mercenary knew that "Elysian Realm" was a virtual world made up of data, and the Flame Chasers inside were just memory replicas, unable to unleash the full power of their originals.

But after facing these memory replicas face to face, Raven understood that the Flame Chasers' memories were still intact, emitting an almost tangible aura and sense of oppression, enough to make one fearful and awed.

In a sense, the World Serpent was actually a "religious organization," whose members believed in a certain "savior." Because of her formidable strength, they worshipped him as a god.

Even someone like Raven, who had "no faith," knew of the savior's strength, which led to her maintaining a respectful attitude toward other Flame Chasers.

But Luo Lin acted as if nothing were amiss, chatting casually with the Flame Chasers as if they were nothing to fear, even treating the aura surrounding them as insignificant.

Raven clicked her tongue, feeling a slight admiration for ther destiny Valkyrie.

Was it ignorance? No, Raven had gleaned some information from Eden as well. It seemed Luo Lin was quite knowledgeable about the Elysian Realm, familiar with the Flame Chasers...

But why wasn't she afraid?

"Yeah, Guinea pig, why aren't you afraid of me?"

The Valkyrie stood in the center of the arena, following Vill-V's instructions to switch her character image—Stygian Nymph, Miss Pink Elf, Vermillion Knight, Valkyrie Accipiter and herself.

Vill-V manipulated the instruments, trying to observe the changes that occurred during the character switch.

"Why should I be afraid? Aren't you a good person?" Luo Lin looked at Mobius with some confusion, "Or do you secretly think you're a wicked person?"

"A good person?"

Upon hearing ther term, the snake even paused for a few seconds.

Vill-V burst into laughter, "Oh my god, ther is really... Luo Lin, didn't you fry your brain with ther special ability?"

"Mobius doesn't seem to have done anything particularly wicked, right?" Luo Lin spread her hands, "Besides, in the previous era, everyone was going crazy, and Mobius seemed relatively normal compared to everyone else."

"A normal person, hahaha!" Vill-V laughed so hard her branches shook, "What about me? If Mobius is considered normal, then am I a great person?"

Luo Lin didn't hesitate to reply, "Definitely, all Thirteen Flame Chasers are great people!"

Vill-V almost cried from laughing, patting the snake's shoulder and giving her a thumbs up.

"Great person, Mobius!"

Mobius kept a straight face, swatting away Vill-V's raised thumb, "...Stop grossing me out. Let's focus on the experiment."

Vill-V shrugged and continued operating the equipment.

No, I'm a ruthless scientist. I don't care about the life or death of the experimental subjects...

Mobius had the serious expression he had when Luo Lin mentioned those words earlier, but those words seemed to be stuck in her throat, unable to be spoken.

Finally, she clenched her fist, a cold light flashing in her green snake pupils.

Chapter Twenty-One: Someone's Getting Impatient, Guess Who?

"Guinea pig, next, we're going to conduct a battle test..."

"I understand, are we continuing with the trials in the Elysian Realm?"

Mobius stated firmly, "No, it's you and me. You'll assume the form called 'Stygian Nymph.'"

"Huh?"

Luo Lin shuddered, her mind naturally conjuring up the image of the huge snake boss on the 17th floor of the Elysian Realm's final stage, along with its classic two lives and dozen health bars.

The girl chuckled awkwardly, "Um, could I go stack a few formed Signets first?"

"Oh?" The green-haired scientist stared at the Valkyrie with snake pupils, revealing a cruel smile, "Unfortunately, I'm not as good as you think, Guinea pig. Battle test—now, immediately, right away!"

Luo Lin frowned, finding it hard not to think of this as retaliation from the snake, wondering if calling Mobius a "good person" was some kind of particularly effective psychological damage method.

The Valkyrie turned her gaze to Vill-V, finding her eagerly moving equipment out, busy calling out, "Wait for me, Mobius, I'll add a protective shield to the detector!"

It seemed Vill-V was the one even more excited... Luo Lin was out of moves now.

No, actually, there was still a reinforcement on the way. At the moment Luo Lin needed her most, the pink figure jumped out of the teleportation gate, waving to the Valkyrie:

"Hi, Luo Lin, I'm here! Missed me..."

"Elysia! Save me!"

Elysia, who had just entered the room, asked, "?"

"Dr. Mobius wants to conduct a battle test with me! I can't possibly beat her right now!"

"This... What did you do exactly?"

The pink elf miss rested her chin on her hand, observing Mobius's stiff expression, and finally sighed helplessly, "Luo Lin, Mobius looks really angry. You'd better listen to her."

"Ugh..."

Luo Lin was eventually dragged to a spot next to the laboratory (just across a teleportation gate), surrounded by a large number of pale yellow protective shields covering detection instruments. She stood on the edge of the field, under the watchful eyes of Mobius on the other side.

The snake extended her hand, green arcs of electricity flowing between her fingers, illuminating her face, making her look significantly more ominous.

Mobius hadn't activated her AHR state, only intending to battle Luo Lin in human form, but rather than this, the Valkyrie hoped to fight the giant snake instead, relying on her experience in the game to have a rough idea of its moves.

But facing the human form of Mobius, Luo Lin was a bit at a loss.

According to the skill set of "Infinite Ouroboros," Luo Lin could only analyze that Mobius was a ranged output character adept at using lightning damage, similar to most of the characters from Elysian Realm. Like most of the character cards, she could enhance her attacks by pressing the ultimate skill key after basic attacks, and then... babababa loop to the opponent's face.

As for specific moves...

Uh, when "Ouroboros" outputted its attacks, the light pollution was too severe, Luo Lin only remembered a screen full of green light, nothing else.

Oh, when using the ultimate skill, she would suddenly transform into a giant snake, electrocuting others in an area, with quite high damage.

As Luo Lin racked her brains thinking about what other skills Mobius might have, the snake on the opposite side impatiently asked, "What's wrong, Guinea pig? Aren't you going to attack me?"

"Ah, um..."

The confused, watery eyes of "Stygian Nymph" met Mobius's, exuding a thoroughly pitiful aura like Hera's.

Elysia, Raven, and Vill-V stood next to the detector, watching the situation on the field through the protective shield together.

"So cute!!" The pink fairy miss held her hands to her face, stars twinkling in her eyes.

Raven pulled at her collar, feeling increasingly uneasy due to the rising concentration of Honkai energy around her.

Vill-V didn't seem to care much, more focused on the various data scrolling on the instrument.

Finally, Luo Lin stopped hesitating, raising her scythe and charging towards Mobius.

The snake narrowed her eyes, locking onto Luo Lin firmly with her elongated pupils, lightly tapping the jellyfish-like instrument she was sitting on—a device officially named "Kevin Killer, MK 244," just by looking at the name, one could tell whose work it was.

Although Mobius and Vill-V were in a competitive relationship in research, the snake still highly admired and respected her prowess in crafting equipment.

The next moment, the massive Honkai energy was injected into "Mk 244," its slender tentacles enveloped in verdant substantialized energy, stretching downwards, charging towards Luo Lin like a real snake, its sharp tip shimmering with terrifying lightning.

Luo Lin didn't hesitate to activate the ultimate skill of "Stygian Nymph," spreading a pitch-black quantum field that blocked the lightning tentacles, causing a fierce explosion where quantum and Honkai collided, whipping up a storm that blew Mobius's hair.

Then, the black and red tentacles of "Stygian Nymph" burst out from the hemispherical quantum field, slapping away Mobius's "Lightning Whip."

But Mobius sneered and waved her hand, conjuring many sharp green short spears around Luo Lin with the same action as the Herrscher of the Void, stabbing towards her.

Luckily, this move didn't come with "space-time lock." Luo Lin mimicked her method of dealing with the Herrscher of the Void, manipulating the giant red claws to dodge the attacks.

"Crack!"

Then she was ambushed by the tentacles of "Mk 244" emerging from under her feet, powerful electric currents coursing through her body, giving her a chilling and exhilarating feeling.

You have tentacles, don't I have them too?

The black and red tentacles of "Stygian Nymph" quickly detached the still-electrifying green arrows, entangling them together in a mess of green and black, looking somewhat disgusting.

"Hiss!"

Luo Lin felt tingling all over, her movements noticeably slowing down after enduring the tremendous lightning baptism.

Mobius, who should have taken advantage of this, furrowed her brows instead after two rounds of engagement.

She asked, "What's wrong? Why aren't you using your full strength?"

Are you a silly goose? Always babbling about "not using your full strength"?

Luo Lin struggled to defend against the attacks, barely surviving amidst the green lightning and the assaults from "Mk 244."

She finally realized that Mobius seemed to be treating her transformed form with numerous Signets from the Elysian Realm as her regular combat strength.

And now, Luo Lin was just an ordinary S-rank "Stygian Nymph," completely unable to compete with the five exclusive war god signet form!

In that brief moment of distraction, Mobius seized the opportunity. Raising her hand, a black cross flew out from somewhere, smashing down next to Luo Lin with terrifying lightning!

A circular shockwave burst forth, enveloping "Stygian Nymph," while the surrounding Honkai energy boiled unprecedentedly, as if in a world composed of lightning, even the air exuded obvious hostility!

Then, Mobius pressed down hard on the top of "Mk 244," accompanied by a slight mechanical rotation sound. The huge snake-shaped lightning struck Luo Lin, leaving her motionless, lying on the ground.

Luo Lin felt something wrapping around her arms and shoulders, lifting her into the air. She blinked hard, seeing seven or eight snake-like figures floating in front of her.

"...What's going on? Why are you so weak? Who gave you the courage to provoke me?"

Mobius grabbed Luo Lin's neck, her eyes full of anger. "So-called kindness and compassion won't change anything. In the battle against Honkai, the only thing needed is absolute power! Show me your previous abilities!"

"Wow, Mobius is really angry."

Vill-V continued to operate the instrument, saying indifferently.

Raven covered her head, "No surprises there..."

Elysia covered her chest, murmuring worriedly, "Luo Lin..."

"Cough... Are you... going to kill me?" The Valkyrie asked with difficulty.

"...This is the Elysian Realm, a world of spiritual and memory constructs. Killing you outright won't do anything, at most it'll just give you a headache for a while."

The snake threw Luo Lin to the ground, looking down at her while confused.

"Tell me, what's the difference between you before and now?"

Chapter Twenty-Two: What Exactly Are Signets?

"It's those Signets, isn't it..."

The onlooker Raven analyzed uncertainly, "After all, she showed such great strength during the Elysian Realm trials... That absolutely abnormal trial gave her so many Signets..."

"Oh? Maybe you're right..."

Vill-V supported her chin, pondering.

A few seconds later, Vill-V took the initiative to step out of the protective shield. Under the oppressive gaze of Mobius, she approached Luo Lin.

She even took out a strange syringe from her pocket—typical of Vill-V's style, it was one of those large syringes from the early stages of medical development.

The metallic syringe gleamed coldly, filled with a solution emitting a strange purple light, enough to make one's arm or buttocks ache just by looking at it.

Vill-V decisively grabbed Luo Lin's arm, skillfully injecting the syringe and pushing all the liquid into Luo Lin's body.

A cool sensation quickly spread from Luo Lin's heart, her slightly rapid breathing gradually calming down, and her drowsy consciousness seemed to be stirred by a gentle breeze, gradually rising and waking up.

Luo Lin was even surprised to find that the pain seemed to disappear as if it were an illusion.

"What's this...?"

"Gave you a shot of concentrated Honkai energy... Don't look at me like that, I didn't intend to harm you."

Vill-V helped Luo Lin up, brushing off the dust from her (was there really dust in the Elysian Realm?).

Changing her tone, Vill-V, with the demeanor of a professional, explained, "According to analysis, the 'Stygian Nymph' form has a higher adaptability to Honkai energy.

Under high-density Honkai stimulation, it can generate abnormal recovery abilities... Directly injecting Honkai energy can accelerate your recovery."

"...Thanks."

"So, tell me, was your previous performance related to the 'Signets' obtained in the Elysian Realm trials?"

Luo Lin nodded, "Yes."

"Are those Signets still effective?"

"No."

Vill-V revealed a mysterious smile. She slowly said, "Then the question arises, in my impression, once obtained, the Signets should always be effective, right?"

Luo Lin's mouth fell open.

Seeing the Valkyrie's surprised expression, Vill-V turned to Raven and called out, "Miss Raven, you should have received the 'Gold' Signet from Eden, right? Can you show it to us?"

"Okay."

Raven moved her fingers, condensing substantial energy at her fingertips.

Vill-V took out a single-piece eyeglass-shaped detection device, nodding in satisfaction, "Very good, just like the people I've seen before who received the Eden Signet, the condensation speed and quality of Honkai energy are much stronger than ordinary people, and the explosive power has also improved... Of course, this brings new questions..."

The steampunk-styled girl turned her head, staring at Luo Lin, who was getting up from the ground, and murmured softly, "What exactly did she obtain before?"

"You mean, that wasn't an Signet?" Raven was stunned.

"Obviously, that's what we need to investigate next."

Vill-V glanced at Mobius, "Why are you still looking so fierce? Don't you want to take a look together?"

"I don't... Alright, I do."

Mobius decisively changed her tune because she knew Vill-V's emotional intelligence was very delicate, fluctuating greatly, if she dared to say it, she would dare to believe it.

Vill-V turned around and looked at the still shocked Luo Lin. She adjusted her eyeglasses, "Wake up, we still need your cooperation."

"...I'm listening."

The specialist asked, "In your understanding, what exactly are Signets?"

Luo Lin thought for a moment and answered cautiously, "They are... a kind of power that, under certain conditions, can greatly enhance output, defense, or other attributes..."

Vill-V, Elysia, Raven, and Mobius exchanged glances, and the problem was clear.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"Is it that powerful?" Raven couldn't help scratching her head.

The specialist grabbed Raven's arm and used her as an example to explain, "The 'Gold' Signet represents control over Honkai energy, efficient accumulation, efficient utilization, and endurance in battle—this is what the Signet provides to Raven."

Then, Vill-V reached out her hand, and the Signet representing 'Helix' appeared in her palm, "Helix means using instruments as weapons, the ability to operate Honkai energy devices, the ability to handle complex situations, and the inspiration for device creation... Various talents, just like me..."

Her tone was noticeably proud, but soon became despondent, "It's also because of this that my Signet doesn't have many adaptors... Not everyone has a flexible and open mind to bear all this."

"As for 'Infinite'..."

Vill-V turned her head, and Mobius reluctantly revealed her snake emblem, answering, "It's evolution, survival, the pursuit of life and death and the reversal of it, and... willpower."

After speaking, they both looked at Elysia.

The pink fairy blinked, smiling as she took out her pink Signet, "Ego... Um, it means trusting oneself, trusting everyone, cherishing the power of the world's beauty, right?"

"Tsk." "Hmph."

The two scientists synchronized their gazes, making displeased sounds.

Annoying, although it felt like Elysia was talking nonsense, but she had a big fist, so what she said was right.

"Realized it yet? Signets are just a way of thinking, a memory, or... a skill."

"This skill might enhance the power of your moves, improve your research life, but it's impossible for it to drastically increase your combat power like you've shown."

Vill-V narrowed her eyes, "If there were really such useful powers, we would have popularized them in the last era."

"I see..."

Luo Lin lowered her head, looking at the system panel, her expression complex.

Those mechanisms adjusted for game playability, clearly defined percentage increase in damage, numbers written in black and white...

It seemed that the game and reality were different... The only place to enjoy oneself might be in the Elysian Realm trials...

Right?

"If according to this theory... perhaps, these Signets are not only usable in the Elysian Realm..."

Luo Lin remembered the Edge of Taixuan, this operating skill did not disappear when she switched character cards.

Even a certain passive skill of 'Dark Feathers'—"Restore health and energy after multiple attacks"—could be effective when using other character cards.

Although compared to using the skills of the original body, the amount of recovery was much less, maybe one percent? But it still worked, which meant...

Luo Lin could truly master skills, master Signets, and then take them to fight against the Honkai, letting the monsters enjoy the absurd buffs from game mechanics...

That would be really interesting, wouldn't it?

Chapter Twenty-Three: Observer Effect

Elysia watched the pensive group and cautiously raised her hand. "Um, can I ask a question?"

Vill-V gestured with an open hand, "Go ahead."

"Earlier, Luo Lin mentioned that the 'Signet' she obtained is something that can only enhance combat power under certain conditions..."

The pink fairy turned her head, gazing at Luo Lin, "So, what are the specific limitations and effects of our 'Signets'?"

Vill-V nodded repeatedly, "Yes, I'm curious too! Why didn't you choose my and Mobius's Signets earlier?" Mobius remained silent, but that didn't mean she had no thoughts on the matter.

Purely because of her sudden loss of control earlier, she now felt she had been too harsh, and awkwardly tilted her head, nodding.

Luo Lin licked her lips and whispered, "Okay, let me think about how to explain..."

The girl briefly explained the activation requirements for 'Helix' and 'Infinity'—one involved using weapon skills at high frequencies, while the other required the activation of summoning creatures, assisting Valkyries, and ELF killing moves.

"Weapon skills? Summoned creatures? Assisting... Valkyries? ELF... killing moves?"

Mobius and Vill-V looked puzzled. Though they understood each word, the combination left them scratching their heads.

Clearly, the "proprietary terms" of Honkai Impact 3rd weren't straightforward to grasp literally, let alone the nicknames created by players during the gameplay's "popularization" and "localization."

What's a "Cat Swimming Bull," "Lelatelei," "Leaf Cattle," "Seaweed," "Black Core White Core," "X Wound Sky," "Honkai Pig," or "Show Lo"... especially Show Lo? Luo Lin still couldn't understand why "Illusory God Corpse: Nihilism" had such a name.

Luo Lin had no choice but to explain to everyone, "Assisting Valkyrie skills are the extra help provided during my 'special' trials, which can help me gather enemies or provide defense reduction effects..."

After hearing Luo Lin's explanation, Vill-V pondered, supporting her chin, murmuring, "Why do you still have moves like Black Holes and Sky Thunder during battle? Are those supposed to be Assisting Valkyrie skills? As for ELF... is it like Klein?"

Vill-V's words drew a fierce glare from Mobius, but at this moment, she was in her expert persona, unconcerned about saying something low-IQ.

"How about letting Klein accompany Luo Lin on a trial to show us?"

"Um, maybe not."

Mobius's gaze became even fiercer. Luo Lin tactfully changed the subject, "Weapon skills are special attacks carried by certain weapons, like there's a bow called 'Azure Flash,' which consumes its own energy after targeting an enemy's weak point to provide a teammate with an Honkai energy pack..."

"Is there such a thing? It sounds like some kind of Honkai compression and distribution technology?" Vill-V became interested. "The technological advancements in the current era are impressive."

Luo Lin scratched her head awkwardly. Although the equipment description in the game labeled 'Azure Flash' as "one of the latest weapons developed by the Anti-Entropy lab," after the baptism of the game's 'Signet' and the difference in real-world effects, she couldn't confidently say that the bow she found in reality had the same effect.

"In other words, Elysia, can I borrow your bow for a moment?"

Elysia decisively handed her bow to Luo Lin. The Valkyrie initially intended to shoot arrows directly, but after some thought, she switched back to the 'Dark Feathers' form.

At this moment, Luo Lin looked at her Valkyrie panel and unsurprisingly found 'Whispers of the Past: Sonnet (Lv.50)' in the weapon slot.

"?"

Why was it only Lv50? Could it be enhanced later?

Luo Lin stared at the heavy longbow in her hand and only snapped out of her daze after a few seconds.

She pulled the bowstring, smoothly aiming it into the distance.

With the infusion of Honkai energy, a pink crystal arrow condensed and then shot out, creating a pink-purple crystal barrier on the ground.

One second later, the barrier burst open again with crystal effects, quite spectacularly.

Elysia cooperatively exclaimed "Wow" and applauded.

Luo Lin breathed a sigh of relief. "This is the weapon effect of Elysia's bow... Raven, why don't you give it a try?"

"Me? Can I?"

Raven was stunned for a moment. She looked at Elysia and was surprised to see the pink elf excitedly urging the mercenary to try, "Natasha, you should try too."

"Alright."

Raven took the pink longbow, weighed it for a moment, then carefully aimed into the distance. Following Luo Lin's instructions, she infused Honkai energy into the bow, condensing crystal arrows...

"Boom! Splash!"

Raven looked at the identical domain exploding nearby, her mouth half open in shock. "It, it really works?"

"Let me see!"

In her low-IQ expert persona, Vill-V eagerly grabbed the longbow and fired again at the ground...

"Crack."

The crystal arrow created a pit, indicating that Vill-V had inputted too much Honkai energy, but the "weapon effect" she wanted to see didn't appear.

Vill-V frowned, realizing something. "It can't be used multiple times in a short period... the Honkai energy on the bow is somewhat chaotic..."

After waiting a few seconds, Vill-V tried to trigger the weapon effect again, and sure enough, it reappeared.

"Hmm..."

Vill-V stared at the longbow for a while before looking up at Elysia.

"Elysia, did you know your bow had this effect?"

The pink fairy shook her head, "Nope, if it weren't for Luo Lin, I might never have known about this feature."

"Is that so?"

Vill-V raised doubts. As a master weapon equipment maker, she could confirm that this bow didn't have such a design before. Strangely, they really could use this "weapon effect"...

Vill-V pondered for two seconds, then massaged her temples, saying, "No, I need to conduct an experiment."

The next moment, she opened her eyes, with a hint of confusion in them.

Vill-V raised her hand, pulled the longbow, surrounded by overflowing Honkai energy, and shot it out with a magnificent burst. However, it only created a pit on the ground, without triggering the "weapon effect."

Vill-V's eyes cleared up again as she looked at the pit, nodding slightly, "Indeed, the problem lies in the 'technique' and 'perception' of using the weapon."

Elysia seemed to realize something. She asked, "Did you just switch to a different persona?"

"Yes, it was a persona that had no knowledge of this bow's 'effect,' merely using Honkai energy for charging without triggering the effect..."

Vill-V stared meaningfully at Luo Lin, "Quite an interesting discovery, don't you think?"

Chapter Twenty-Four: Passed Long Ago

Luo Lin watched as the "Whispers of the Past: Sonnet" returned to Elysia's hands, observing her play with the newly discovered "weapon effect" like an excited child, feeling somewhat awkward.

Soon, Elysia became even more surprised. She murmured, "It seems like the power of the arrows I shoot has increased a bit!"

Luo Lin touched her nose, feeling that perhaps the passive effect of the bow, which boosts overall damage, had taken effect.

This ability to discover weapon effects was akin to identification skills or scrolls in RPG games. When Luo Lin held a weapon like this, she could see some additional attributes in its properties, and then she could explain the new functions in detail to the holder to "activate" the weapon.

"Why do I feel like I've discovered a whole new way to use it..."

At this moment, Vill-V brought out a still-steaming device from the side, appearing to be something she had just modified.

The floating device had an extremely exaggerated size for its detector, as tall as a person, not to mention the larger accompanying equipment. Coupled with Vill-V's flamboyant steampunk design, at first glance, it looked like some kind of floating laser tank.

"To capture the changes around you more accurately, I specially modified this device—"

Vill-V patted the shell of the "floating tank" and smiled at Luo Lin. "Next, you can go ahead with your so-called 'Elysian Realm trials.' This device will follow you throughout to collect data..."

"Um, is it sturdy enough?"

Luo Lin asked cautiously.

"I've installed a shield on it," Vill-V said proudly, puffing out her chest. "Based on your energy level during the previous trial, it would take at least five times as much to break through, right?"

Perhaps flipping five times after stacking the 'Paradise' Signet buff really wouldn't be a problem...

The Valkyrie's gaze became distant.

"Elysia, come on, help me open the door..."

"Sigh, coming..."

Elysia was dragged away by Luo Lin, still reluctantly holding onto her weapon, as if she hadn't had enough fun.

As for the floating tank, it seemed to have been set to automatic tracking mode by Vill-V and disappeared into the teleportation gate with the two of them.

"...Mobius, you seemed a bit off just now?"

"Yeah."

Facing Vill-V's questioning, Mobius crossed her arms, her expression turning ugly as she squeezed out a response from her throat.

"Do you really dislike her?"

"...No, it's just that I feel this idiot is..."

"Haha."

Vill-V adjusted her hat and turned to walk towards the laboratory. "Let's continue the research. I seem to see a different possibility in her..."

-------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------

"Oh right, Luo Lin, you still haven't told me what effect my Signet has, right?"

Luo Lin finally initiated another "Elysian Realm trials" after experiencing the five exclusive starts of "cheating." Elysia finally snapped out of her silly mode of playing with her weapon and remembered to ask her this question.

"Um... Activating human potential?"

Luo Lin thought for a moment and concluded, "Because each person's 'Ego' Signet content is different, we call it an exclusive Signet. Different types of 'Ego' Signets can complement each other and strengthen combat power, changing combat forms..."

Elysia held her face, looking very happy. "That's great! So what are the conditions for using it...?"

"Conditions? There's no such thing. Good thing Elysia's Signet doesn't have any restrictions; it's just that encountering your Signet requires a lot of luck..."

Luo Lin suddenly smiled, winking at the pink fairy lady, "But now I've found a way to cheat. As long as you open the door, I can get my exclusive Signet."

"No wonder you asked me for that before..."

Elysia shook her head helplessly, flicking Luo Lin's forehead with her finger, "So I'm just a cheating tool for you... That doesn't really fit my style."

Luo Lin stuck out her tongue, whispering, "Mainly because the exclusive Signet of 'Ego' isn't that strong... It's really hard to pass the trial... Huh?!"

The pink elf lady pinched Luo Lin's cheek and rubbed it, "No bad-mouthing me!"

"How is that bad-mouthing..."

"Hmph! Saying that the 'Ego' Signet is weak?"

Elysia held Luo Lin's cheeks and suddenly lowered her head, their foreheads touching, their eyes meeting.

Luo Lin was a little at a loss from the pink elf lady's sudden attack, but she found that she wasn't as panicked as she imagined. Her cheeks just reddened slightly, as if she was getting used to Elysia's intimate style.

Her pink eyes sparkled with flowing light, and the warm gaze transmitted from them almost melted Luo Lin's consciousness.

It was a strangely familiar feeling, and the contact had been made just yesterday.

"Sea...?"

No, it was something deeper... as if returning to the origin.

Luo Lin could feel a different energy circulating in her body, even infiltrating her thoughts.

Warmth, sunlight.

Floating lightly, soaring freely.

It was different from the Signet of the 'Elysian Realm trials,' yet subtly similar in essence—

"Ego."

Luo Lin blinked, realizing that tears were falling from her eyes without her realizing it. She panicked and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, but the more she wiped, the more tears fell.

"Alright, alright, little Luo Lin, you're making me want to cry too."

"Umm..."

Elysia hugged Luo Lin, gently wiping the tears from the girl's face, laughing and crying, "Just because I gave you my Signet, why would it move you like this?"

"Ego...?"

"Yes, it's your true, unique, unchangeable Signet."

Luo Lin looked at the other person blankly, murmuring, "But, I remember, don't you need to pass some kind of test?"

"I've seen everything you've done, little Luo Lin."

The pink fairy lady rubbed Luo Lin's head and took a deep breath:

"Facing the Herrschers with courage, running around resisting the Honkai, talking to me without hiding anything, choosing to seek help from the Flame Chasers for Miss Seele's sake... You truly love this world, don't you?"

Elysia grabbed Luo Lin's hand, gently tapping her hand, and the pink Signet appeared, instantly merging back into her body.

"My dear little Luo Lin..." The pink fairy lady smiled gently, "You passed my test long ago."

Chapter Twenty-Five: Shattered!

"Boom!"

Luo Lin moved freely amidst the onslaught, the quantum light flashing in her hands and on her weapon, occasionally leaving marks on the body of "Transcendence: Kallen."

Soon, "Oath of Judah" was firmly planted in the ground, accompanied by a crisp sound. A golden rain of spears descended from the sky, but no matter how they fell, they couldn't touch the graceful butterfly.

Judah's appearance signaled that Kallen's health had reached its limit, and the battle on the seventh floor was nearing its end.

However, what was surprising was that the countdown representing double rewards had not yet ended!

The scarlet eyes of "Stygian Nymph" revealed a sharp sensation as the power of quantum gathered, and the visible blue light even tore through Judah's anti-Honkai field, making Luo Lin's attacks even sharper and more deadly.

Finally, with two seconds left on the countdown, "Transcendence: Kallen" turned into data fragments, disappearing into the air.

"Phew, that was close!"

Luo Lin breathed a sigh of relief, looking at her clean hands and feeling the extraordinary power surging within her body, causing the Valkyrie to involuntarily smile.

"Hehe, Elysia... Hehe... so powerful..."

It's hard to imagine that a warrior who acted decisively, had top-notch skills, and faced various monsters without changing her expression could show such a silly smile...

How should they put it, there's a kind of innocent beauty to it.

"It's the Signet personally given to me by Elysia... Hehehe..."

If other Honkai 3 players heard this muttering, they might instantly turn sour or directly transform into similar to a man having a heart attack due to jealousy

"Cough, pull yourself together, pull yourself together."

Luo Lin patted her cheeks and listened to the voice of a certain Flame Chaser in her ears.

"Elysia advised me not to say a word to the successors, but I don't have anything to tell you. The power of language, only she believes in it wholeheartedly."

"Hmph, foolish Kevin."

Luo Lin pursed her lips and casually took down two "Deliverance" Signet.

"Have obtained three Signet from the same Flame Chaser, unlocking the core Signet!"

"Of course, it's Deliverance 1!"

The Valkyrie activated the first core Signet of "Deliverance," which enhances the effects of all normal Deliverance Signet after activating the ultimate skill, making it more effective for the output process of "Stygian Nymph."

From the first to the fourth floors, the start of the battle for the five exclusive war gods.

On the fifth floor, the shop, all damage from "Setsuna," enemies are susceptible to damage from "Setsuna."

Sixth floor, all damage from "Deliverance."

Seventh floor, physical damage from "Deliverance," physical penetration from "Deliverance," Deliverance 1 core.

Luo Lin cast a menacing gaze at the door of the next floor, where the cherry blossom-colored "Setsuna" Signet was prominently placed, awaiting another core Signet to be unlocked...

- Just need to take down Benares.

Luo Lin clenched her fist, feeling the quantum power surging through her body, as if at her command, squinting her eyes slightly.

The effect of Elysia's "Ego" Signet was extremely astonishing, allowing the transition between the Honkai ability and the power of quantum to be smooth and seamless, even without interfering with the expression of opposing forces.

The Valkyrie even felt that the effect of Elysia's "Ego" Signet on the Honkai manipulation ability and the power of quantum was fully powerful. She could even take it a step further, using them simultaneously or merging them together...

Uh, forget it, this feeling is too dangerous. Let's wait until she's more familiar with how to use the "Ego" Signet.

Luo Lin stepped forward, and the "floating tank" behind her followed suit, passing through the teleportation gate together, arriving at the next level of the trial.

"Roar—?!"

The roar of the huge dragon hadn't settled for a few seconds before it changed, sounding somewhat panicked.

It turned out that Luo Lin didn't say a word and went straight to attack Benares. She followed Fu Hua's guidance, aiming to suppress the flying unit before it took off, preferably preventing the opponent from flying altogether.

However, Benares was indeed not an easy-to-deal-with Honkai beast. It vibrated its wings, accompanied by the turbulent Honkai energy, whistling towards Luo Lin.

But "Stygian Nymph" just raised her sickle, and the unparalleled sharp cold light cut through the turbulence. She continued to advance through the gap she created, quickly reaching Benares' side.

"Swish!"

The giant dragon turned its head and raised its claw, only to find itself grabbing empty air. The azure stance instead spread out from there, enveloping Benares.

Benares was very familiar with this feeling; the special effect of the "Space-Time Rupture" stance came from its master, and it had a high resistance to it. Its movements were hardly delayed, and it swiftly struck at Luo Lin with its tail.

"Crack!"

Without hesitation, Luo Lin unleashed her ultimate move. The pitch-black sphere covered most of Benares' body, and the erosion of quantum energy made the Honkai beast emit a mournful cry.

It roared angrily, flapping its wings, but this only made it easier for Luo Lin to attack its wings.

After a dozen seconds of fighting, Benares realized that this small insect's attack power was astonishing. Its sturdy wings had already been pierced by several deep and long wounds.

Although these wounds didn't affect Benares' ability to fly, using Honkai energy to assist its flight, the pain still made it realize that it had to change the situation.

So Benares suddenly leaped up and flew away without warning, and the shock wave representing the power of frost prevented Luo Lin from severing Benares' wings.

The Valkyrie plunged her crimson claws into the Honkai beast's body and flew into the air with Benares.

Luo Lin felt like she was riding a crazily overloaded fighter jet, the pressure from constant directional changes making her face flush red, but she still couldn't disengage from Benares.

The giant dragon bent its neck, opened its mouth, and bit towards "Stygian Nymph."

With a flash of blue light, Luo Lin's figure appeared on Benares' head. She clamped the dragon's head between her legs, raised the sickle imbued with flickering quantum energy, and ruthlessly chopped down.

"Roar!!!"

The blade cut into Benares' neck, and it frantically struggled and shook. Its whole body overflowed with violent Honkai energy, alternating between flames and frost, with gusts of wind swirling around it.

Luo Lin continued to dodge amidst such a violent environment, maintaining her close combat status.

She even performed several thrilling aerial maneuvers around Benares, avoiding the opponent's wing and tail strikes while wielding her sickle or crimson claws, chopping and tearing at the Honkai beast's body.

In the sky, the dragon and butterfly fell from the high altitude, entangled in a downward dance representing death, sprinkling a shower of blood.

Finally, a loud impact sounded, and the blood-soaked Valkyrie stood up straight on the carcass of the Honkai beast.

- Benares, defeated!

"Burning, freezing, and windy..."

Luo Lin took a deep breath, her face pained, reaching down.

"My thigh... where did my butt go... ah, not on the —ow, it hurts!"