So I added Cocolia's related plot into this book.
After all, according to the original work, it was quite unlikely that Cocolia, after orchestrating all these events, would just watch the cooked duck fly away.
Panicking was even less likely; she dared to send a bunch of Titans to ambush a Herrscher, so would she panic?
Therefore, she simply had to be present.
Moving on, with Cocolia stirring up trouble, the Dynamic Duo of Chicken-Nest and Lobster couldn't possibly be completely in the dark, especially since Ryoma was already locked up.
There was no way they would charge to the front lines in a situation like this. At such a time, Anti-Entropy had to find a way to prevent Cocolia from pinning the blame on them, which meant they had no choice but to send Siegfried out.
Siegfried appearing in Changkong City wasn't actually strange either; his old friend Ryoma's daughter was being targeted, and his own second daughter was in danger. With his personality, could he possibly just sit still?
Continuing along this line of reasoning.
In the original work, Theresa said to trust Major Himeko, but looking back at the Second Honkai Eruption, we can see that was complete nonsense.
Theresa brought a Divine Key to face a newly awakened Sirin, and the end result was that Sirin beat Theresa to near death not long after.
Old Yang's words at the time clearly pointed out that Siegfried had to take Theresa and leave immediately, or Theresa's life would be in danger.
An S-rank Valkyrie paired with a Divine Key was knocked down in a couple of moves by the Herrscher of the Void, yet anyone with a brain would know that an A-rank sending the Nexus system together with the Hyperion was pure suicide.
Furthermore, Otto himself certainly knew about the Third Honkai Outbreak. As a person of extremely high intelligence, would he just leave the Gem of Conquest and a Herrscher over there as a gift to Anti-Entropy?
That was obviously impossible.
Referring to the Moon Shadow arc—though actually, I don't think the plot of the Moon Shadow arc is much more logical than what came later, at least a portion of it is normal.
Upon learning that Cocolia was about to unleash the Herrscher of Death, Otto immediately had Durandal prepare for battle.
At the time, Fu Hua was also near K423, which could be called a double insurance.
Given that his intelligence was normal, dispatching enough personnel to Changkong City was the only logical course of action.
Rita being promoted to S-rank was my own fan-made addition, and there's nothing much to say about that, but she was a genius to begin with, so reaching S-rank a few months to a year early wasn't a major issue.
Besides, anyone who has read the Escape from Changkong arc knows that the arc itself didn't have much plot to speak of, leaving behind a massive pile of blank spaces.
With so many blank spaces, I figured that as an author—well, not an author, let's say as a cash-grabbing fanfiction writer—filling in those narrative blanks according to my own understanding shouldn't be a problem, right?
Or perhaps everyone would prefer it if I wrote a strictly authentic Changkong City plot where Theresa abandons her old friend Himeko to be killed by a Herrscher, where a mastermind like Otto makes no preparations to ensure the Gem of Conquest and K423 return to Schicksal, where Cocolia the mastermind behind the scenes does nothing while watching Raiden Mei get captured by Schicksal, where the Lobster and Chicken-Nest duo turn a blind eye to Cocolia treating human lives like grass, and where Siegfried stands by and does nothing while his friend's daughter and his own daughter are in danger?
It's true that fanfiction should respect the original work, but fanfiction can't possibly follow the original material to the letter.
Especially not with early-stage original work that had this many glaring flaws.
To put it bluntly, if I really wrote it strictly according to the Escape from Changkong arc, that would instead be a sign of disrespect toward the later plots and settings.
Since when did fanfiction writers face criticism for writing their own supplementary plots deduced from the original work...
There is also one more thing that needs to be made clear.
This book is a work of fanfiction, and some modifications to settings and plots are inevitable.
If any inconsistencies in the lore arise, I would like to apologize in advance.
However, there is something I must say, even if it offends people.
While things turning out this way is certainly partly due to my own understanding of the lore being insufficiently comprehensive, even if you had miHoYo's writing team tackle it, they wouldn't be able to straighten out all these retroactive contradictions either.
Let me briefly bring up a few questions below.
1. Are the Four Great Gems four fragments of the Herrscher of the Void, or are they independent cores?
2. Was Kallen's father, Francis Kaslana, dead or alive before Kallen died?
3. Did the Third Honkai Outbreak happen in 2014, 2010, or 2011?
4. When Siegfried defected from Schicksal, was Kiana two years old or older?
5. In the main storyline, who is the head of the Apocalypse clan: Otto or Theresa?
6. Was the Oath of Judah made by Otto, or by the Previous Civilization?
7. Did Siegfried actually touch the butts of every Valkyrie on the Hyperion?
Now it is time to reveal the answers.
1. Are the Four Great Gems four fragments of the Herrscher of the Void, or are they independent cores?
The answer is both.
The only difference is that the early main storyline explicitly stated that the Four Great Gems were four fragments of the Herrscher of the Void—even offering the explanation that she couldn't use her full power because she possessed only four-tenths of a core—whereas the manga later retconned them so that each one is an independent gem core.
2. Was Kallen's father, Francis Kaslana, dead or alive before Kallen died?
The answer is both.
The only difference is that in the Schicksal database during the Sakura Remembrance arc, Kallen explicitly mentions when she is dragged back for execution, It's no use, Dad has already made his decision, clearly indicating that Francis was alive at the time.
Meanwhile, in the Violet Everlasting arc, it is explicitly stated that Francis triggered the Flame-Chaser's Judgment and perished alongside a Honkai Beast back when Otto and Kallen were young.
Of course, someone will certainly argue that databases can be edited at will, and so on.
The problem is, why would Otto edit the database to show that Francis was still alive and had made the decision to let Kallen die?
The plot explicitly states that Otto regarded Francis almost like a deity, holding deep reverence for him; there was no reason for him to go and blacken his own father-in-law's name five hundred years later.
So in reality, both of these things simultaneously exist, and consequently, they conflict.
3. Did the Third Honkai Outbreak happen in 2014, 2010, or 2011?
The answer is that all of them have existed.
The official timeline states that the game begins in 2016, which was two years after the Third Honkai Outbreak, so normally speaking, it should be 2014.
However, the Japanese official art book for Honkai Impact 3rd mentions two different outbreak dates for the Third Honkai Outbreak: 2010 and 2011.
Yes, you read that correctly—this single book features two different outbreak dates for the Third Honkai Outbreak.
Therefore, all of these timelines exist.
4. When Siegfried defected from Schicksal, was Kiana two years old or older?
The main storyline mentions that Siegfried took people and fled in 2006, but the Japanese official art book also mentions that Siegfried left when his daughter was two years old.
5. In the main storyline, who is the head of the Apocalypse clan: Otto or Theresa?
Once again, it's the art book.
The art book mentions that Otto is the clan head, while the main storyline states that Theresa is the clan head.
6. Was the Oath of Judah made by Otto, or by the Previous Civilization?
The manga explicitly states that the Oath of Judah was crafted by Otto for Kallen, but later on it was retconned into a Divine Key from the Previous Civilization.
7. Did Siegfried actually touch the butts of every Valkyrie on the Hyperion?
The Moon Shadow arc's Miracle Interview mentions that Siegfried lived up to his name as the man who could touch the butts of every Valkyrie on the Hyperion and act like nothing ever happened.
Later on, this was dismissed as a rumor spread by Shigure Kira.
Both of these exist simultaneously as well.
Having said so much, I simply want to express that it is precisely because I have read through so many settings and official plot points that I can no longer tell which is which.
With miHoYo constantly eating their own words, coupled with the appearance of an art book that looks at a glance like it never went through proofreading, it would be a wonder if reading it didn't give someone a headache.
I don't think I can be blamed for this; with it being this chaotic, even if you let the official creators handle it themselves, they might not be able to sort it out either.
Thus, I can only roughly follow the plot's general direction and improvise some details with my own headcanon. If you expect me to write strictly according to the original work, you'd be better off finding a compilation video to watch.
I mean no disrespect toward video editors, as that is a mature medium in its own right.
I simply feel that changes are inevitable in fanfiction. If someone wants to read the completely unadulterated text version, compilation videos are far more suited for such readers.
Having vented so much today, I apologize to everyone once again.
As compensation, I'll drop five more chapters tonight, making it ten chapters in a twenty-four-hour span.
Sixth update, Chapter 38. Cocolia, you deserve to die!
At that moment, facing Kiana's demand, Cocolia at ME Company couldn't help but sigh. As expected of Lady Cecilia's daughter, she truly wasn't easy to deal with.
Unfortunately for her, this demand of yours was also well within my predictions.
When all was said and done, even as Lady Cecilia's daughter, you were still just a little girl.
Wandering everywhere in search of your father, upon encountering a 'acquaintance of your father,' you would naturally demand to contact him.
Therefore, I had already prepared an AI-synthesized voice.
As long as I had my people give their responses according to my instructions, managing this little girl would not be a problem.
In fact, Cocolia had even prepared a synthesized video recording just in case, aiming for absolute foolproof precision.
As long as she could lure Kiana over to her side, then even if the little girl discovered something was amiss later on, Cocolia could simply step in and suppress the brat herself.
As for why she wanted to drag Kiana back to her side.
Her desire not to let the savior's daughter die in the Third Honkai Outbreak was not a fake reason.
However, that did not mean it was Cocolia's only motivation for trying to take Kiana away.
According to the intelligence Bronya gathered through electronic warfare, Siegfried had already appeared in Changkong City.
And that guy Siegfried showing up here certainly wasn't to help Cocolia.
Hmph, at the end of the day, anyone who chose to mix with those stubborn fossils of the conservative faction could never understand her noble intentions.
By getting her hands on his daughter first, she could ensure that man wouldn't dare act rashly.
"I agree to your request; contacting Siegfried is not troublesome at all."
Signaling her subordinate on the side to activate the voice-synthesis system, Cocolia immediately issued the command.
"Hi, Kiana, it's your stinky old dad, Siegfried Kaslana."
"Long time no see. Have you missed me during all this time?"
"Eh?"
In the mercenaries' view, the young girl before them suddenly wore an expression of astonishment.
"D-dad? Is that really you?"
"Of course, no doubt about it, my dear daughter."
Heh, pull the other one.
First of all, her stinky old dad wouldn't start a formal greeting by introducing himself with his full name, nor would he call himself her 'stinky old dad.'
Secondly, her stinky old dad was usually completely unserious, and after getting drunk he'd even try to teach her how to flirt with men—how could the words he spoke upon meeting be so normal?
He'd definitely want to say something semi-harassing like, Let me see how well your development is coming along!
Cocolia... this woman really didn't harbor any good intentions.
Moreover, this trouble was a bit too big right now. If she wanted to retreat, the optimal timing hadn't arrived yet.
She still had to put on an expression as though she believed it, otherwise the mercenaries would definitely react...
How sickening.
She, this young miss, actually had to play along with a bad guy pretending to be her old man.
"Tch, abandoning me without a word, and then the moment some other woman makes a phone call, you pop right up."
Wearing a disgusted expression, Kiana looked at the mercenary leader and instantly put on an annoyed face.
"Stinky old dad! Pervert! Go die out there!"
Watching Kiana, the mercenaries genuinely failed to detect any anomalies.
Mm, spot on.
This was precisely the reaction a teenage girl should have toward a father who had abandoned her.
"Haha, don't blame your old man."
Back at ME Company, Cocolia instructed her subordinate to continue speaking.
Before you continue