Royal Guard

However, the moment Lin Yu's hand began to exert force, he found that his right hand started trembling uncontrollably.

"Cough, cough..."

Bronya, suffering from oxygen deprivation as her neck was choked, could no longer maintain her facade.

Even if her emotional circuitry was broken, her pain receptors remained unaffected.

At that exact moment, Lin Yu suddenly realized that he...

--had actually exited the Mirror Mind state.

The skill description hadn't stated how long it would last once activated, but failing to maintain it after such a short time clearly defied common sense.

Combined with the earlier trembling in his right hand...

Damn it, I can't bring myself to do it right now.

With a face full of pain, Bronya spotted the hesitation flashing across Lin Yu's expression, instantly seized the opportunity to backflip, and vaulted straight out of the room.

Leveraging the jump-boost of her powered exoskeleton, she leaped directly from the room to the outside of the apartment balcony.

"Hey!"

Witnessing the girl's actions, Lin Yu never expected her to be so resolute.

Yet a moment later, he understood why Bronya had done that.

Suspended in mid-air, Bronya finally seized the chance to steady her mind, summoning her quantum mech, Heavy Cannon, without holding anything back.

Unlike what Lin Yu had imagined, however, Bronya merely used Heavy Cannon to catch her body and launched no attack against him.

After casting a deep look at Lin Yu, the young girl hurriedly evacuated the residential complex before Heavy Cannon could cause a commotion.

Oh, you actually held back at the final crucial moment. True, while being decisive in slaughtering can solve enemies, it won't win you any girls.

Even though she's very young right now and hasn't developed yet—this doesn't prevent future her from being huge!

Holding back today is for the sake of future happiness! Therefore, your decision is undoubtedly correct!

Oh, please. If I actually listened to your bullshit and acted according to the train of thought you provided, I'd have gotten myself killed playing around before I even managed to sleep with Big Boob Duck.

Lin Yu didn't know why Bronya didn't counterattack at the end, but the enemy choosing to hold back didn't mean his own actions were without fault.

After the enemy departed, Lin Yu calmed down slightly and realized he had forgotten something.

He possessed powerful compatible skills that truly guaranteed an extremely high win rate against ordinary people.

First of all, however, enemies aren't necessarily all ordinary people. If anything, a massive horde of powerful 'monsters' existed in this world.

Secondly...

He was a transmigrator, after all.

He had no idea what kind of person the original 'Lin Yu' was, but the present Lin Yu was merely an ordinary person who had just crossed over from the real world into this one.

He might be an orphan, but the country he lived in was relatively safe.

How could a Lin Yu raised in such a country turn into someone ruthless and decisive in slaughtering just a few hours after crossing over?

To put it plainly, the Mirror Mind skill adjusted one's state of mind, amplifying perception and technique once tranquility was achieved while allowing rational judgments under a calm mental state.

Having failed to prepare himself to take another's life, Lin Yu not only hesitated just then, but his inner conflict over the idea caused his mind to waver, ultimately disrupting his physical actions.

"This is terrible."

Having let Bronya go, she would inevitably contact Cocolia.

My stronghold is unusable now, and whatever intelligence might have existed has also been leaked... Never mind, the latter isn't a huge problem since I never planned to work seriously for Otto anyway.

The biggest problem now is still finding somewhere else to live.

At the very least, I need to ensure my dwelling won't be so easily tracked down by Cocolia.

What a pain. This kind of trouble right at the start.

To begin with, I lack the resolve to shoot others, which is why I committed this mistake.

Leaving the apartment, Lin Yu cast a lingering glance at the now uninhabitable flat and chose to take the stairs down.

Mistakes had already been made, so the proper response wasn't to wallow in regret, but rather to figure out how to resolve the problem right before his eyes.

Although he was now forced to become a member of Schicksal and even pressured into dangerous missions, that didn't mean everything about it was entirely bad.

He was a Schicksal member, and Schicksal was not only the strongest anti-Honkai organization in the underworld, but also Anti-Entropy's mortal enemy.

If he sent news of his sneak attack to Rita right now, implying that it might interfere with Otto's plans, regardless of whether Otto noticed or not...

No, given his intelligence, he would definitely catch onto the little schemes running through my mind.

So what if he did? Cocolia threatening K423's safety was an indisputable fact, and Otto's plan required K423's existence.

As long as those two facts remained unchanged, Otto wouldn't sit idly by regarding Cocolia's subsequent actions once he learned about Anti-Entropy making a move.

Cocolia had dealt with Raiden Ryoma, but the usable resources at her disposal were limited.

If Otto took things even slightly seriously, he would easily bog Cocolia down, leaving her with no time to meddle in his affairs.

As for what followed...

Having finished sending the message, Lin Yu arrived downstairs and suddenly looked up at the sky.

Just moments before, the fairly clear sky had suddenly sprouted a few dark clouds.

Pulling the umbrella he had bought earlier at the commercial street out of his storage space, Lin Yu formed a rough plan for the future.

Right at that moment, he finally heard the notification chime from the Narration System.

Ding! Host detected to meet reward-claim conditions. The reward has been sent to the system mailbox.

Ah, you're finally here.

In that case, this also means I've survived the survival crisis.

Survival crisis? You scoffed in your heart at this so-called crisis.

In that exceptionally brilliant battle just now, you already demonstrated sufficient strength, even showing magnanimity by sparing your opponent mid-combat.

Splendid! The current you already possesses the aura of a powerhouse!

Oh, please. An aura of a powerhouse, my foot. You system always pick the worst timing to spout nonsense.

Chapter 10. Royal Guard

Although Lin Yu harbored minor grievances toward the narration provided by the system, aside from its rather eccentric train of thought, the system had no other real issues.

It provided intelligence from various angles, and the enhancement items and skills it handed out were genuine. Those two points alone were enough to make Lin Yu feel immensely comforted.

In novels Lin Yu had read in the past, items like systems popped up daily, yet not every system proved useful.

Thinking about it this way, he somehow felt even more reassured.

Opening his mailbox, Lin Yu received specific prompts once again.

Ding! The reward claimed by the Host this time is (Special Item - Advanced Skill Book Lottery Ticket).

(Special Item - Advanced Skill Book Lottery Ticket) -- A special item. Holders can consume this item to draw a lottery once, randomly pulling a skill book from the system's item library with a high probability of matching the user.

Well, with this thing around, at least I won't have to worry about pulling some weird stuff.

Pressing the use button, Lin Yu watched a light screen materialize before his eyes.

Unlike previous instances where ten items were simply spat out directly, this draw possessed a strong sense of ceremony in a certain way.

Inside the light screen before Lin Yu, a massive array of skill books marked with various names appeared.

A mere glance allowed Lin Yu to spot plenty of high-end skills he recognized within the display.

Things like Newtype, Magnetic Field Rotation, Great Cosmic Power, Haki, Aurora Curtain...

Somehow, it felt like pulling certain powers in there would spell immediate disaster.

Yet none of those skill books his gaze swept over were ultimately chosen by the system.

At last, the system extracted a deep crimson skill book from among the options on the light screen.

Skill Book - Combat Style: Royal Guard (Ghost Cry)

Upon using this skill, the user can enter a combat stance named 'Royal Guard'.

Under this combat style, as long as the skill holder perfectly parries enemy attacks, they can nullify the damage entirely, disregarding the gap between both parties.

Remarks: Perfect parries require precise timing. If the parry is imperfect, the user will still take the full brunt of the damage.

Remarks 2: Each perfect parry stores the force of the incoming attack within the skill holder. For a short duration, the user can condense this stored power into a single strike to attack enemies.

Gazing at this skill, Lin Yu fell into deep contemplation.

Calling this skill weak would be hard to justify.

The problem, however, was...

Mirror Mind was a state skill.

This so-called stance skill, Royal Guard, was practically identical to a state skill as well.

Current Lin Yu lacked offensive methods, yet the system deliberately rolled two defense skills for him.

It felt subtle, yet complaining felt inappropriate.

Upon learning this new skill, you know you have taken one step closer to the summit of the firmament!

Whether I've touched the summit of the firmament or not, I'm starting to suspect whoever manufactured you had a screw loose.

Creating a system to help people, only for the system to constantly babble inside the host's head, instigating delusions of grandeur and provoking fatal charges?

Fatal charges? No, no, you immediately rejected your own foolish thought.

So foolish...

The current you undoubtedly possesses the power to defeat a Herrscher.

You certainly think highly of me. Forget a Herrscher, if Bronya comes back to kill me, I'll have to debate whether I should use Tiger's Maw Landing.

Defeat a Herrscher, display undeniable value before Otto, and then tell him that old fogey should obediently step down and yield his post--the new era belongs to Grand Bishop Lin Yu!

Forget it, I'd better ignore your unbridled nonsense.

If I actually bothered to retort to every single word you uttered, I'd probably die of exhaustion before the Honkai ever killed me.

Changkong City. Schicksal Branch Base

Rita, responsible for coordinating intelligence at the Schicksal Branch Base, had naturally transmitted the intelligence submitted by Lin Yu word-for-word to Otto upon receiving it.

Having received those reports, Otto naturally initiated communication with Rita once again.

"Lord Bishop, our colleagues in the intelligence department have already verified the information transmitted by Lin Yu."

"Near the residential area where Lin Yu is located, a young Lucia girl did indeed appear."

"According to official archives we investigated, this young girl formerly known as Bronya Zaychik used to be a child soldier trained by the Lucia military."

"Until several years ago, when she was assigned an assassination mission and suddenly vanished."

"Mm, I've already read that section of the report."

Recalling the intelligence mentioned in the report, Otto said with a light smile.

"Her assassination target was Cocolia... Heh, was she taken in and reorganized by Anti-Entropy's vixen?"

"Also, Lord Bishop, Lin Yu's messages..."

"Ah, you needn't pay too much mind to these actions of his, Rita."

As intelligent individuals, Rita and Otto naturally saw through it. Aside from fulfilling his duties, Lin Yu sending these intelligence reports to Schicksal headquarters was also a frantic attempt to hint something to his adoptive sister and immediate superior.

I need help...

Well, that was putting it politely. Rita figured that even she could tell Lin Yu was inciting Schicksal to dispatch troops to stall Cocolia.

If she could figure that out, Otto certainly could too.