Honkai, but Spirit Simulator

"Everything checks out, the gloves' functions are normal. Liu Bai, are you ready to possess them?"

"Not yet. I want to get up in the air first and assess the situation."

Running fifty meters is a matter of seconds in anyone's eyes, but what about fifty meters in the air?

That's the height of a sixteen or seventeen-story building. To put it in more relatable terms... Ultraman, like Ultraman Zero, is normally 49 meters tall.

Therefore, as long as there aren't any major obstructions, Liu Bai has a clear view of the entire street.

"Found them. A clearing outside the alley. One is that white-haired girl you should remember, and there are two Death Soldiers. They haven't engaged yet, but I estimate they're about to..."

"Wah—!"

The girl's scream suddenly pierced the air.

"...Okay, they've engaged."

"What?"

Hua's pace abruptly increased, forcing Liu Bai, who was in the air, to teleport.

"Wahhhh! D-Don't come any closer! Stay away!"

Two Death Soldiers surrounded Carole, whose back was against a concrete wall. She had nowhere left to retreat. The crimson eyes of the Death Soldiers seemed ready to tear her apart with their claws.

(There really are zombies? Wahhhh!)

What to do? At this rate, she might end up as a headline in Canghai City's news tomorrow.

"Get away from her!"

Hua burst out of the alley, her fierce aura successfully drawing the attention of the two Death Soldiers.

"Liu Bai, please maximize the power output of the gauntlets. We need to find a way to instantly kill one."

"Understood."

Liu Bai, possessing the gauntlets, responded softly. In the next moment, the fabric on the outside of the gauntlets was torn apart by three steel blades that popped out from within, revealing the crude and simple metal structure inside.

This was the result of his and Hua's research over the past few days.

Temporarily named "Blade Fist Type I." Although Liu Bai wanted to give it a cooler name, the construction of this thing...

Giving it a good name just felt like "all the good names are taken by dogs."

The gauntlet's mechanical structure was simple. The main killing mechanism came from the three ejected steel blades. The steel blades were connected to a high-voltage current, but because the iron blades' maximum power could potentially break through the insulation and backfire on the user without Liu Bai's control, Liu Bai locked the highest power setting, which could only be unlocked when he possessed it.

Thanks to Himiko's sponsorship, this pair of gauntlets used a certain amount of military-grade materials from Moth Chasers to Fire. It was clear that Himiko strongly supported Hua's mechanical experiments.

After all, the most advanced black technology of the Previous Era, the "Fusion Warrior," hadn't even been proposed yet—which was equivalent to Destiny without Valkyrie Armor.

They couldn't rely solely on those "gifted" individuals to fight against Honkai, so Moth Chasers to Fire had a very high enthusiasm for developing ordinary anti-Honkai weapons.

By the way, a large part of the reason why the Previous Era didn't develop Valkyrie Armor technology was because Mei, the only suitable user of the Key of Emptiness, suffered irreversible damage to her body after using this God Key to fight against the Herrscher of a Thousand. After that, Mei was forbidden from using the Key of Emptiness.

The Previous Era lost out big time on this point, because while Fusion Warrior technology had a high upper limit, it also had a very low lower limit, and the risks were high. Even at its peak, there were only a few hundred.

In Fu Hua's memories of the future, most people were only at the level of "talented human soldiers who could reach it after hard training." Even if the physical fitness of the Previous Era's humans was stronger... it still wasn't worth it.

...So, the Thirteen Flame-Chasers were truly the result of one in a billion from a civilization, the final crystallization of the entire civilization.

Ahem, back to the main topic.

This was the first time this pair of gauntlets had been used in actual combat.

"Hua, whether we can scam funding and freeload off the government depends on you."

What do you mean by scamming funding and freeloading off the government?

As an honest child, Hua wanted to retort to Liu Bai's words, but with two Death Soldiers in front of her, Hua was able to control herself.

With the experience from last time, Hua's punches were now cleaner, more decisive, and more ruthless. The three steel blades went straight for the Death Soldier's head.

"Remember, the first mission is to save people. Killing these two Death Soldiers is just an optional task."

Liu Bai reminded Hua not to forget the main thing.

Hua's gaze sharpened, and she feinted a move, dodging the Death Soldier's counterattack. The special steel blade on her other gauntlet, also carrying a high-voltage current, pierced directly into the Death Soldier's waist like cutting tofu.

Instantly, under the terrifying voltage of the current, the Death Soldier's body instantly became a little soft and weak.

"Record: The high-voltage current added to the Blade Fist Type I still has an objective effect when applied to the bodies of low-level Death Soldiers, but it is not fatal."

Unable to obtain the Honkai research archives of Moth Chasers to Fire, Liu Bai could only record various information himself.

"As expected of military-grade steel from Moth Chasers to Fire. This level of sharpness can probably damage the shells of Honkai beasts. Hua, finish it off."

Uppercut!

The steel blade pierced directly into the Death Soldier's head from its jaw, and the sharp blade and high-voltage current directly destroyed its brain.

The process was too fast, so fast that the crimson in the other Death Soldier's eyes actually lessened slightly due to confusion about the situation. With its animalistic intelligence, it couldn't fully understand what had happened in that instant.

Hua with weapons and Hua without weapons were like two different people in terms of combat power.

"Roar—!"

The Death Soldier, barely reacting, had an even more intense crimson glow in its eyes, and charged towards Hua without the slightest fear.

But Hua balled her fist, facing the Death Soldiers charging towards her. The last trace of trepidation in Hua's heart vanished.

...Indeed, just as Liu Bai said, these Death Soldiers were truly just cannon fodder not even worthy of the battlefield.

As long as she had a weapon, even without Liu Bai's enhancement, she could easily handle them...

"Th-th-th-this..."

Carole stared blankly at the "zombies" that had been so ferocious just moments ago, now lying silently on the ground, a completely dumbfounded expression on her face.

"Are you hurt? Hmm... I think your name is Carole, right?"

Hua looked at the white-haired, brown-skinned girl with some concern. She seemed quite frightened, barely snapping back to reality until Hua called out to her.

"Uh... I, I think I'm okay? They didn't grab or bite me."

Carole subconsciously touched her body.

"If you weren't bitten, you're fine." Hua nodded. Himiko had taught her some knowledge about Death Soldiers.

"That's good, that's good." Carole nodded with lingering fear. Luckily, she had run like hell and hadn't been caught by those two zombies. But then, Carole suddenly seemed to remember something, and a look of surprise appeared on her face. "Wait, you know me?"

"Uh..."

"Let me see..."

Carole moved her head close to Hua, scrutinizing her up and down as if she wanted to grab a magnifying glass.

"Mmm... you look really familiar, who is it..."

"Um, Carole, my name is..."

"Wait! Don't tell me! Let me think for myself!"

Carole shouted, stopping Hua, who was about to speak.

"Don't worry! I'll definitely remember!"

"Uh..."

Watching Carole completely lost in thought, Hua was speechless.

She had never met someone with such a lively personality before.

"...Instead of this, we should call Himiko first and have her send someone to handle the scene. And of course, the confidentiality agreement."

Liu Bai reminded her quietly.

Chapter 64: Vacation, Hua's Dream

"Ah! I remember! You're that plainly dressed... that... Class 3, Grade 1! Hua, right, your name is Hua!"

Hua had just finished calling Himiko when Carole next to her suddenly slammed her palm into her hand in realization.

"...It's a wonder she remembers my name."

Hua's mouth twitched slightly as she faced Carole. If she wasn't quite famous in Canghai High School right now, Carole probably wouldn't remember her at all.

"It's okay, idiots are like that, you'll get used to it." Liu Bai comforted her.

"I didn't expect you to be so amazing... you actually killed these zombies in no time at all."

Carole looked at Hua in amazement, as if she was seeing Hua for the first time—no, she probably didn't even know Hua before?

A treasure.

Liu Bai couldn't help but think.

"Uh... because my family runs a martial arts gym."

Hua was a little uncomfortable with Carole's enthusiasm, and with a slightly wry smile, she offered the all-purpose excuse.

It had to be said that for people who hadn't been exposed to martial arts and weren't very skeptical, Hua's reason could explain anything related to combat.

Sure enough, the carefree Carole nodded with a look of understanding, not suspecting anything.

"No wonder you're so amazing... but I didn't expect there to really be zombies, I thought it was a joke... no wonder you kept staring at me back then."

Carole seemed to recall the scene when they first met.

"Zombies... more or less. It's best to avoid running to such secluded alleys at night." Hua said quite seriously.

"O-okay, if I knew there was such a thing, I definitely wouldn't come here!" Looking at the two Death Soldier bodies on the ground, Carole nodded with lingering fear, but as soon as she turned her head, Carole showed an excited expression again.

"By the way, what was that 'whoosh', 'whoosh' thing you had just now?"

Whoosh, whoosh?

Looking at Carole's excited gestures, Hua realized that she was talking about her gauntlets.

"I put them away, they're dangerous items after all."

No way, if this thing was found on someone else, they would be going to the police station.

Only Hua herself, with her Moth Chasers to Fire reserve soldier certificate, dared to do this—of course, no one else could do it either. Liu Bai put a lot of effort into the entire manufacturing process.

That power generation device... was a technology he learned from Tesla, and it largely belonged to the category of black technology—the turbine that Tesla used to make for Destiny, and Destiny still can't analyze how that thing works.

Although Liu Bai hadn't mastered everything, what he knew now was enough.

"Oh..."

Carole seemed quite disappointed, but she didn't make a fuss.

...Come to think of it, Liu Bai suddenly realized that if this Carole was truly an alternate-dimension counterpart of the Carole from Post-Honkai Odyssey, then being interested in gauntlets seemed pretty normal.

"Ah! By the way, Hua, are you one of those superheroes who act on behalf of the heavens in the darkness, protecting the city's safety?"

This girl Carole clearly thought of things as they came.

"No."

"Eh? Then how did you arrive so promptly?"

"...I just finished eating noodles at the noodle shop." Hua already felt a bit of a headache coming on.

It wasn't that she was annoyed or anything, but it was clear that she couldn't quite keep up with Carole's train of thought.

"Eh... is that so..."

Carole showed a disappointed expression for the nth time.

...It made it seem like she was ruthlessly stifling a young girl's innocent fantasies.

"Just get used to it, you won't be bored with someone like Carole around," Liu Bai said from the side with a smile.

Liu Bai, who had seen the world, was able to keep up with Carole's thinking... thanks to the eccentric Dr. Einstein.

"So next, are we going to call the police? Or contact the media?"

Carole showed an enthusiastic look for the n+1th time.

"I've already called the police, let's just wait here... we'll probably just need to give a statement and sign an agreement."

"Oh..."