"Interference resistance index it is, then. Better than nothing." Looking at the map on the detector, whose displayed range had expanded by another ring, Xia Ling consoled herself.
Still, if this node had been this easy, the next one would not be so fortunate.
When Xia Ling saw the disorderly crowd of civilians in yellow-green clothing before her, she felt like her head was about to explode. Not to mention the group of Sarkaz soldiers eyeing them menacingly in the distance.
"Sister Xia Ling, you mean there are spies hiding among these civilians?" Bronya asked, touching a finger to her lips.
"That's right. These spies may have tiny discrepancies in their habits. You might not believe it, but these civilians in yellow-green clothes are practically identical, right down to their stride length and movements."
"Are they even human anymore..." Bronya quipped. Then Heavy Armor Rabbit manifested behind her. "If it's a simple spot-the-difference game like this, leave it to Little Rabbit. She's a mechanical life-form, so this sort of thing is easy for her."
"Really?" Xia Ling's eyes lit up. "Then I'll leave it to you, Bronya. I'll go deal with that group of Sarkaz soldiers up ahead. You only need to identify the spies among these civilians."
Bronya's offer was exactly what Xia Ling wanted, because the enemies in the distance included not only Sarkaz, but also the legendary Sami runners—the Corrupted Shells.
Against Collapse that could even corrupt machinery, Xia Ling still preferred to face them herself. The game had never said whether Collapsed Bodies were contagious, but... what if they were?
Since obtaining the system, Xia Ling had placed her own survival rather low on her list of priorities. It wasn't that she wanted to live some life full of lifelong regrets; she simply cared deeply for these characters. Like now—even though Duck Duck here was merely a support teammate conjured through a dream, Xia Ling still wanted to keep her from coming to any harm if possible.
"Collapsed Bodies accelerate directly after being attacked... I need to kill them in a single blow if I can."
As Xia Ling thought, she unfolded Crescent Rose's scythe blade and coated it in crimson Honkai Energy.
"Heart's Delight consumes far too much. I can only use it twice in total, but after clearing the Second Floor, the increased health's energy recovery rate should be enough for me to barely use it three times in one battle. I just hope these guys stand a little closer together."
As she spoke, Xia Ling moved into the direction they were advancing from and planted three interference mines.
"I almost forgot about these things. Three per node—might as well use them."
After waiting in the distance for a while, Xia Ling quietly approached the rear of the group.
This squad's composition was rather strange. A Sarkaz wielding a greatsword stood in the middle, while roughly seven or eight Collapsed Bodies were stationed both in front and behind him. Xia Ling's target now was the Corrupted Shells at the rear.
Acceleration Talent activated. Xia Ling instantly appeared in the midst of the Collapsed Bodies. An abnormal, ominous aura made her whole body feel uncomfortable, but she endured the discomfort around them and swiftly drove her scythe blade into one Collapsed Body's chest.
During the trial, Swift Hand's enhancement was not merely a vague increase in attack speed. It was an all-around improvement to Honkai Energy circulation and burst speed. Compared to the slow eruption at the First Floor node, this time, before the Collapsed Body could react, spikes of blood-red Honkai Energy Crystal had already burst through its body, turning it into a bomb.
Just as Xia Ling had expected, the detonated Honkai Energy spikes were not enough to finish all the Collapsed Bodies. The three or four that stood a little farther from the blast center instantly shot forward over ten meters as if they had been pumped full of stimulants, then slowly came to a stop among the Collapsed Bodies at the front of the formation.
"That speed feels almost as fast as my talent acceleration..."
Xia Ling stared wide-eyed as the Collapsed Bodies instantly left her behind, but this was within her expectations too. Next, she only needed to quickly deal with the greatsword-wielding Sarkaz, then go ahead and trigger two more waves of explosions.
As for how to deal with the Sarkaz in front of her...
Xia Ling retracted the scythe blade and aimed the gun barrel at the Sarkaz.
"Swift Hand doesn't only boost melee attack speed. Sir, times have changed!"
As she spoke, Crescent Rose's barrel erupted in a string of thunderous blasts before the Sarkaz's disbelieving eyes. Judging by the frequency of the gunfire alone, anyone unaware of the truth might have thought Xia Ling was holding a submachine gun.
Convergence Consumption
"Hey, Bronya, why are you standing so high up?"
The moment Xia Ling returned after dealing with the enemies, she saw Bronya sitting on Heavy Armor Rabbit's arm, looking out toward the direction where Xia Ling had just fought.
"Because Sister Xia Ling made quite a commotion. I was worried and considering whether I should go support you."
Duck Duck's voice was as steady as ever, but Xia Ling could hear the deep concern in it.
"It's fine. If I really couldn't handle it, I wouldn't hesitate to ask you for help." Taking the opportunity to rub Duck Duck's little head, Xia Ling felt her mood brighten considerably.
Although this node had been rather troublesome, its rewards were actually fewer than the previous node's. Aside from two Originium Ingots, there was only a Guard Recruitment Voucher.
With a sigh of making the best of a bad situation, Xia Ling put away the Originium Ingots and continued toward the next node—Unexpected Encounter.
Perhaps because they had just gone through a difficult battle, this Unexpected Encounter node quickly triggered an event. One or two miniature mobile work platforms stopped in front of them.
Seeing the various slogans and photos on the platforms, Xia Ling immediately recognized the event: Trimont Travel Agency Special Mission Group.
This was also a node that required no combat. Depending on the interference resistance index, players could obtain a collectible from this node.
With the detector's help, Xia Ling quickly identified the collectibles: a Universal Key that granted six Hope, and a Wrought Iron Small Round Shield that increased allied defense by 15%.
"Great, there's not even anything to choose." Although the Universal Key was clearly more valuable, Hope was utterly useless to Xia Ling, who did not have a single operator capable of being promoted.
She removed the small round shield. The miniature mobile work platform swayed back and forth, emitted a dazzling flash, and then instantly vanished.
Bronya's eyes widened at once as she looked at Xia Ling in bewilderment. Xia Ling gave a bitter smile. "Can't be helped. That's just how Sami is. You'll get used to it."
Leading the still-dazed Duck Duck along, Xia Ling arrived at the final node of the Second Floor: Wish Fulfilled.
After chatting familiarly with the shopkeeper for a few moments, Xia Ling looked over the reward collectibles for this node.
Grasping Hand. Uh, useless. Duck Duck's class was Fortress, so she could not trigger Grasping Hand's condition at all.
Old Coins. Good stuff—simple and straightforward money. The downside was that they might not encounter the Uncanny Merchant again on the Third Floor.
Heavy Music Collection. This was good stuff too. It reduced Collapse by two points and added two Hope. Although two Hope meant nothing to Xia Ling, reducing Collapse by two was an extremely effective attribute.
Xia Ling had already experienced the terrifying nature of Collapse Paradigms in a previous roguelike run. The Collapse Paradigm she triggered on the Third Floor back then had been Triggered Injury.
This Collapse Paradigm had not been especially troublesome in the game, but in a trial where health was tied to Xia Ling's physical condition, it was arguably the most disgusting kind.
Because she would be injured by that Collapse Paradigm every time she entered a combat node, and every injury would increase her Collapse, that trial had been torture straight out of hell.
After only two nodes, Xia Ling saw that her Collapse was about to enter the next stage and decisively chose to withdraw from the trial.
But... even if she skipped these two points of Collapse Paradigm here, her Collapse Paradigm would still reach four points upon entering the next floor. Xia Ling was not aiming for the fifth floor this time, so it would be better to gamble on finding a shop on the next floor.
With that in mind, Xia Ling decisively chose the Old Coins. Her Originium Ingot count had now reached 31.
Watching the scene before her begin to change once again, Xia Ling held her breath and silently prayed that she would not get any especially vile Collapse Paradigms.
At last, the scenery stopped changing, and the view before Xia Ling became a barren snowfield. This was the Third Floor—Darkness Frozen Land.
At the same time, red warnings began appearing on the detector. The cumulative Collapse value on its screen had reached six points.
The detector gave two prompts.
After clearing this floor, you will obtain Cipher Plate: Recitation. Collapse Paradigm triggered: Convergence Consumption.
Only when she saw this warning did Xia Ling finally let out a breath of relief.
Convergence Consumption: as long as equipment sustained damage, its owner would suffer the same injury.
Considering that Xia Ling could barely avoid combat as it was, much less spend interference resistance index to take detours, this Collapse Paradigm's impact on her was basically negligible.
As for Duck Duck... if a situation truly arose where Heavy Armor Rabbit had to self-destruct to block bullets for her, Xia Ling figured they would not be far from failure anyway.
Still, this time she needed to plan out a decent route...
With that thought, Xia Ling took out the two Cipher Plates she had prepared long ago: Shaman and Silence.
Begin Declaration
Kowald's Tribal Concord triggered.
Open wise eyes to read the secret words; alas, drive away ghosts and fiends. Point to wood and ask the way, but no answer returns; the mountain rocks stand on their own.
As Xia Ling selected the final boss node on the Third Floor as the destination, three Cipher Plate Declaration markers slowly appeared on the detector's map.
After studying the map for a while, Xia Ling chose a route that passed through two combat nodes, one Uncanny Merchant, and one Unexpected Encounter.
Among them, the first combat node, Thirsting Altar, could also provide the assistance of a Shield Guard.
Having settled on the route, Xia Ling gave Duck Duck a reminder. "Bronya, in the battles ahead, be careful not to let Heavy Armor Rabbit take too much damage."
"?"
Duck Duck had lost count of how many times she had accepted Xia Ling's strange requests with a bewildered expression. Still, considering that she truly knew little about this place and that bizarre phenomena were rather frequent on the Sami Snowfield, Bronya nodded solemnly. "Don't worry, Sister Xia Ling. Bronya takes very good care of Heavy Armor Rabbit."
"You don't need to be so serious about it."
Xia Ling patted the Shield Guard who had appeared here due to the Concord of Silence.
"If there's a problem, just hide behind his back."
"This is?"
"This is a Shield Guard. Don't worry, given the current level of difficulty, no one should be able to get past his defenses."
Duck Duck's gaze was somewhat doubtful. The Shield Guard's equipment looked quite cool as well, but compared with her Heavy Armor Rabbit, it seemed to be several generations behind.
However, Duck Duck's doubts soon vanished.
Watching the Shield Guard's massive shield block the Collapsed Bodies' arts, Purple Claw's claws, and the Sarkaz's greatsword alike, all while leaving him enough strength to counterattack, a faintly surprised expression appeared on Duck Duck's usually impassive little face.
"See? I told you. You can always trust the Shield Guard." Xia Ling, who had likewise entered in sniper form to trigger Swift Hand's effect, said this from some distance behind the two of them.
Almost at Snowpriest's Doorstep
With the Shield Guard's help, Xia Ling and Duck Duck cleared this node in a swift, crushing advance and arrived at the Uncanny Merchant.
This Karnot was incredibly generous. He directly refreshed two collectibles that nearly made Xia Ling's eyes pop out.
Offering: When a ranged operator attacks or heals, deal damage once to a random enemy within their attack range.
Leafy Greens Can: One second after all operator skills are triggered, attack increases by 60%.
These two collectibles suited them perfectly. Offering's ranged follow-up could apply to both Xia Ling's and Bronya's attacks, while Leafy Greens Can was an enormous boost for Xia Ling, who used skills frequently.
"Oh no. If I still can't clear the Third Floor now, that'd be pretty embarrassing." After buying both collectibles outright, Xia Ling felt terrifyingly powerful.
However, she soon discovered that she truly was terrifyingly powerful.
After leaving the Uncanny Merchant, the next node was another combat node—Cunning Beast Nine Dens.
Of course, this node had nothing to do with beasts. It was the stage for a group of paratroopers and Redblade. They would first airdrop onto random spots on a nine-grid board, then after some time be teleported into one of three random lanes closer to Xia Ling.
But none of that was a problem for Xia Ling now.
Because she was spawn-camping them.
After placing three interference mines in front of the exits of the three lanes, Xia Ling went straight to the paratroopers' landing point. Then, with a swing of her blade, she cut them down one by one.
With Leafy Greens Can's enhancement, every time Xia Ling activated acceleration, it counted as using a skill. She only needed to briefly accelerate her arm movements each time she swung Crescent Rose's scythe blade to receive the bonus.
And this method of activation did not even put any burden on her.
Watching Xia Ling dance through the crowd, continuously sending sprays of blood flying, Bronya silently lowered the heavy cannon she had raised.
In the current situation, it seemed she did not need to provide support at all.
Very soon, Xia Ling, who had already soloed the entire node, returned to Bronya's side and stretched lazily in satisfaction.
"Let's go. The next node is a place specifically for resting. We'll recover there, then it'll be time to face the Third Floor's mini-boss."
"Sister Xia Ling, is this boss you mentioned powerful?"
"It's not a question of whether she's powerful. She's really the kind that's... incredibly annoying."
Xia Ling recalled the information about the Third Floor's final node.
"This boss will most likely be in extremely favorable terrain and bombard us like crazy, while we won't have much of a way to deal with her."
"So we'll probably have to take a beating for a while."
"Is it something like an invincibility phase?" Bronya immediately thought of that kind of infuriating mechanic.
"Not entirely. Ranged attacks still have a chance, but it'll probably be difficult."
A trial was not a game, and their ranged attacks were not homing skills. Thinking of Snowpriest's absurd movement speed, Xia Ling was pessimistic about her marksmanship after less than two months of practice.
"But don't worry. When the time comes, just hide behind the Shield Guard and assist with the attack." Xia Ling took the opportunity to rub Bronya's little head. "Your Sister Xia Ling has a shield, so I can go out and draw fire directly. You probably won't be Snowpriest's main target."
"But..."
"There's no need for buts. Once we clear this node, this exploration will be over. Even if I suffer some serious injuries then, it won't matter—we can return immediately for treatment once we leave the node." Xia Ling waved a hand, ending the discussion. "So just relax."
Not long after, Xia Ling and Bronya arrived at this node specifically meant for resting: an unused Research Station. The station's facilities were complete and its environment comfortable, allowing the two of them to temporarily escape Sami's cold winds.
However, the Research Station's rewards had nothing to do with Xia Ling. Whether it was Equipment Maintenance (interference resistance index +1), Gaining Insight (obtain Cipher Plate: Crown), or Intensive Training (promote any one operator), none of them would affect the upcoming boss battle.
After resting briefly and waiting until the Honkai Energy within her had fully recovered, Xia Ling stood up and led Bronya away.
By then, the two Shield Guards summoned by the Cipher Plate Concord had long been waiting outside the node.
"All right, let's move!"
Accompanied by the system screen's red prompt, Xia Ling took the lead and stepped into the node's range.
Before you continue