Being a Cosplay Big Shot in the World of Honkai Impact 3rd

Li Pu rubbed his arms, feeling that something was off with his entire body.

"Cecilia." Siegfried looked a bit sad, his heart feeling heavy. He had imagined many scenarios, thought of many things, but he had never once pictured it turning out like this.

It was truly a bit heartbreaking.

Why...

Did it turn out this way?!

"Slow down!" Li Pu leaned against a tree, bracing himself to stand. "You... just stay there! Don't get too close!"

"I know, I know about that..." Li Pu said, his legs trembling. "But don't get too close. For certain reasons, please don't treat me as the Cecilia from your memories."

"Thank you, please stay a little further away from me."

"I..." Siegfried didn't quite know how to speak, how to explain.

It was Cecilia; this feeling, this voice, all proved she was the Cecilia who had passed away fourteen years ago.

But why...

"I understand." Siegfried adjusted his clothes slightly.

He composed himself, perhaps it was time to consider some matters.

Indeed, rushing in like this was a bit impulsive.

"It's been fourteen years, and you haven't changed a bit."

"Cecilia."

Perhaps if everything needed to start anew.

Then let it begin with friendship.

Chapter 42: Is This Siegfried

Is Siegfried that detestable?

Not at all.

Actually, Siegfried isn't detestable. Although he's gone from a fresh young lad to a seasoned old man, this old man still has quite a bit of flavor.

Li Pu had to admit that Siegfried, this old man, was indeed very flavorful.

Firstly, as a mature man, judging solely by first impressions, Siegfried gave off a reliable vibe. Experienced, steady, mature, and wise.

His tall and powerful physique truly gave Siegfried that male charm of being 'thin when dressed' and 'muscular when undressed.'

He possessed strength without being ostentatious, and elegance without being effeminate.

He was basically a perfect blend of these two different auras. He had strength but didn't come across as barbaric or reckless, and he had knowledge but didn't seem overly delicate.

He appeared to be a dependable man, though he might also be undependable.

For instance, being a playboy...

Of course, Siegfried wasn't a playboy, nor would he be a scumbag. Whether in a broad or narrow sense, he was a very devoted person.

If not, with his S-rank Valkyrie status and as the patriarch of the Kaslana family, he could have easily found Kiana a stepmother in a very short time.

But he didn't.

Because of Cecilia's sacrifice, Siegfried fell into despair. And also because he learned that Cecilia was still alive.

He traveled day and night, flying directly from the small town at the foot of the snowy mountain where he lived.

So, in every sense of the word, Siegfried was a man who valued his feelings deeply.

Li Pu didn't dislike such a person.

But to say he loved him as deeply as Cecilia did...

Sorry, that's impossible!

"I'm not the same as before," Li Pu said, relaxing slightly after seeing Siegfried calm his excitement. "There's a big difference from the Cecilia in your memories."

"Ah ha ha ha~" Siegfried said, laughing with his hands on his hips. "I can already tell."

"Ha ha ha~ I'm not some naive kid."

"Ah ha ha.. ha.. ha.."

He couldn't keep laughing for long, almost unable to hide the tumultuous emotions within him. Siegfried finally couldn't maintain his smile, yet he tried his best to keep it, trying to appear as if he wasn't about to cry.

"It's good enough to know you're still alive."

Siegfried's voice was a little off-key.

A man doesn't cry easily, but it's only because he hasn't reached the depths of his sorrow.

Excitement, self-blame, love, and loss. Countless emotions intertwined, finally overwhelming Siegfried, a man who wasn't entirely made of iron.

In this world, perhaps there was nothing more heart-wrenching than longing for someone for fourteen years.

The person you loved most stood before you, yet you had to maintain a distance, bringing both immense joy and profound sadness.

Li Pu didn't try to console him.

He wasn't a heartless person. As an ordinary citizen, he wasn't selfish either. He could be considered quite an emotional person.

Whether one could accept it or not was a different matter.

He could understand how exciting it would be to see his wife, who was thought to be dead, standing before him again.

At the same time, it was also heartbreaking that his wife couldn't accept him and had even forgotten him.

"I'm sorry..." Li Pu said apologetically, "I've disappointed you."

"No, it's nothing," Siegfried said, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes. "I was just too excited and didn't think things through."

"It's good to know you're alive."

Siegfried finally showed his big white teeth and let out a relieved smile. "But what have you been doing for the past fourteen years? Why didn't you even reply to any messages?"

"Looking for work, that's all," Li Pu said, spreading his hands. "And, Mr. Siegfried."

"I don't know if you've heard, but my name is."

"Your name is Li Pu, the cleaner here," Siegfried answered for Li Pu. "I've already heard about it from Theresa."

"Ah..." Li Pu scratched his head. As expected, Theresa was the one who had blabbed about this. Of course, there probably wasn't anyone else here besides her.

Li Pu certainly didn't think Otto would have passed this information to Siegfried.

"Don't be so wary of me," Siegfried said, spreading his hands. "Otherwise, I'll always feel like I'm not a good person."

"If this keeps up, the girls here will call the police. I don't want to go to jail."

"Oh~ Hahaha~" Li Pu cautiously walked out from behind the tree. After all, the tree was in the green belt, and stepping on it wasn't a good look.

Stepping out of the green belt and standing in front of Siegfried, he still felt something was very wrong.

"Um, Mr. Siegfried..." Li Pu tried to explain, "I... well... although I know this is hard to explain clearly."

"But I'm not Cecilia, or rather, I'm just..."

"It's Li Pu, the academy's cleaner," a voice suddenly interrupted, explaining for Li Pu. "She is Cecilia, and not Cecilia. At least, you can't completely treat her as Cecilia yet."

"Otto!!!"

Almost gritting his teeth, Siegfried spoke first. His eyes seemed to be spitting fire, and his hands were clenched into fists. "You still have the nerve to show up here, in front of Cecilia!"

"You scoundrel!"

Yes, besides Otto, there was no one else it could be.

Facing Siegfried's rage, Otto wasn't anxious at all, not even trying to make excuses for himself.

However, he did make excuses for himself.

"I apologize for that order," Otto said insincerely. "After all, I couldn't gamble with the future of all humanity. So I had no choice."

"It's like the classic trolley problem, the lever is in my hand."

"Do I choose to let the trolley kill one person, or do I choose to destroy the entire trolley?"

"I don't have a better choice, I can't make the train do a 360-degree spin."

Otto's eloquent words left Siegfried with no room to refute. He also knew that as a frontline combatant and as a commander, their perspectives and the choices they had to make were different.

Perhaps Otto's actions at the time were the optimal solution.

But for him, it was unforgivable!

"Don't be so angry~" Otto walked over intimately, putting his arm around Siegfried's shoulder like a close friend.

"I have something I want to tell you, something about Cecilia."

"I believe you must be eager to know."

Chapter 43: True or False, False is True

Was Otto's word trustworthy?

The answer was 'Of course.'

Siegfried fell silent. Siegfried knew Otto quite well. This man was a master of deception. He didn't mix a few true words with a few false ones to achieve the effect of hiding truth in lies or lies in truth.

Otto's words could be true, false, or half-true, half-false.

To know how much of Otto's words were true, one had to know what Otto wanted.

"What do you want?" Siegfried, though still disgusted, managed to suppress his temper. At least he couldn't act recklessly in front of Cecilia.

Even if he had a grudge against Otto.

"Remedy, or atonement," Otto said, seemingly very sincere. "I merely want to make amends for the mistakes I made in the past."

"Hahaha~" Siegfried scoffed. "Do you think I'm an idiot? A grasshopper or an amoeba?"

"Atonement? If you, Otto, had any thought of atonement."

"Ganesha could stand on one leg on a tree."

"This is only one aspect," Otto said without a hint of embarrassment. "The other aspect is the Valkyrie."

"Anti-Entropy, while we aren't openly declared enemies, there's a rather clear competitive relationship between us."

The kind that's obvious. For example, Valkyries and Anti-Entropy mechs might fight each other, or they might occasionally steal each other's bases or pilfer each other's access.

"In short, all of this is perfectly normal business competition," Otto said with great sincerity. "But there is one advantage Anti-Entropy has that we simply cannot match."

"Mass production!"

The Valkyries aren't mechs, nor are they simple AI that can only follow basic commands.

Valkyries are one in ten thousand, carefully cultivated and trained.

"While the vast majority of Anti-Entropy's mechs aren't worth mentioning," Otto said, spreading his hands, "we still can't mass-produce them with the press of a button like they can."

"And you should also know that producing mechs can actually stimulate the economy."

"Improve manufacturing and technological levels."

"I don't know about that," Siegfried replied earnestly. "What does that have to do with Cecilia?"

"After going around in circles like this, what exactly are you trying to say?"

"It's very simple," Otto said. "If we're being honest, most people in the World Government tend to favor Anti-Entropy. The Collapse is one aspect, but life is also important."

"Although Anti-Entropy doesn't train powerful Valkyries, and their mechs currently can't contend with our Valkyries."

"For many countries, however, mech production requires factories, and factories need workers."

"You need raw materials for products, and raw materials require related mining equipment."

"And of course, manufacturing technology is also needed."

"For them, a mech production factory can kickstart a vast upstream and downstream production chain, solving employment issues for many people," Otto said very pragmatically. "Promoting economic development, while also upgrading the industrial chain and mastering more advanced technologies."