Xia Ling: Now Everyone Looks Like a Shooting Star to Me / Little Island Boom Raven Feels a Chill Down Her Back

Flame Willow Xia Ling, whose eyes were now brimming with lively spirit, crouched beside her original body and poked Xia Ling's cheek with a finger.

"No need... You should be able to feel what I'm thinking, just like I can feel what you're thinking..."

Xia Ling replied weakly.

"But this feels so strange." Looking at her own limp body on the floor, Flame Willow Xia Ling's playful side emerged, and she reached out to knead her original body's soft cheeks.

"So this is what it feels like to pet myself? I have to say, it really feels great..."

"It really does, especially when I'm having my cheeks kneaded while also feeling the softness in my hand... Is this shared sensation?"

Xia Ling grew interested as well. She sat up from the floor and began testing things face-to-face with "the other me."

"Hmm... We can share sight and sensations, but we can also turn them off. It really is a convenient ability."

"Our thoughts can synchronize in real time too. So far, there doesn't seem to be any delay." After tying ten consecutive rounds of rock-paper-scissors with Flame Willow Xia Ling, Xia Ling silently lowered her hand. "Otherwise, with my current enhancements, if I activated acceleration, I should have won all ten rounds."

"Too bad there isn't a third person right now. Otherwise, when we had nothing to do, we could play Landlord against ourselves."

"Don't worry, there will be soon." Flame Willow Xia Ling was brimming with confidence. "Next week, I'll show you just how valuable Flame Willow's Sami's Integrated Strategies opening is."

"I think the value of my own opening was already high enough. At least it was better than Zhou's. I didn't wipe out on the Third Floor."

"Then let's enhance everything that needs enhancing in one go. After that, we can figure out what to do next." A card appeared between Xia Ling's fingers. It was the compensation she had claimed earlier: the Advanced Senior Operator Training Invitation.

"Come on, let me feel the power of Elite 2!" Flame Willow Xia Ling took the invitation and used it immediately.

Then flames surged up and completely enveloped her.

Host, Elite 2 requires some time. Would you like to claim the collectible you obtained from clearing the Third Floor first?

"Ah, right. I almost forgot about that."

Still experiencing the feeling of Elite 2 through their shared senses, Xia Ling immediately snapped awake and opened the system interface. Sure enough, an email marked with a question mark lay quietly within the screen.

Xia Ling: Right Now, Everyone Looks Like a Meteor to Me

By the way, Host, a reminder: the collectible draw pool here doesn't only include collectibles from Sami's Integrated Strategies. It includes every normal collectible from all three Integrated Strategies modes.

"Come to think of it, what if I draw collectibles that directly increase attributes or give Originium Ingots?"

You don't need to worry about that. The attributes attached to collectibles have corresponding conversions to the Host's physical abilities in the real world.

For example, Hope and Originium Ingots will be directly added to the Host's assets. HP and HP regeneration correspond to the Host's physical condition, and so on.

"I see. Then please give me a high-tier collectible. I don't ask for much, as long as I can use it." Xia Ling closed her eyes in prayer and tapped the claim button.

Uh... Well, I can't say this thing is useless.

Xia Ling opened her eyes. Before her was a pitch-black box, but apart from a gun-shaped indentation inside, there was nothing else.

"Huh? The King's Set?"

The King's Set was a collectible that was useless most of the time, and even when it was useful, it was rarely enough to turn the tide.

Especially after Sami's Integrated Strategies added the setting where clearing a stage perfectly at low health automatically restored HP, the King's Set became even more of a joke.

King's New Gun: When the user enters a near-death state, pain is automatically blocked, and the user gains complete freedom of movement for a certain time. Attack speed +50.

"It looks like it got quite a bit stronger?"

That's right. According to the game's description, the effect could only trigger when HP was at 1. But in the real world, someone in a near-death state would basically be incapable of fighting. Therefore, the system adjusted the King's Set to make it more practical.

"You know, it really does suit someone like me who can revive. Worst case, I blow up with you." Xia Ling sighed.

"That's right. If you don't want to blow up, I can help you with that too."

Flame Willow Xia Ling had already completed Elite 2 and was stretching her body nearby.

"Finished?" Xia Ling looked over. "By the way, why did you burn for so long without your clothes being affected at all?"

"If you're asking me, I don't know either." Flame Willow Xia Ling spread her hands. "Maybe that's the value of starter clothes?"

"Damn it, System, I want that treatment too."

If the Host transfers a character card's abilities to her original body once, she will also have her own starter outfit.

"Fine." Xia Ling pursed her lips. "By the way, what did you mean by helping me blow up? Isn't Flame Willow's ability fire?"

"Hmm... You can think of me as Chen Gong now. If I want to, every one of you can become a great hero."

"?"

"Haha, I only sensed this after reaching Elite 2." Flame Willow Xia Ling flicked the tail behind her, its tip blazing with fire, and handed Xia Ling the file from the Operator Recruitment Pack. "We used Flame Willow for so long, yet we never even read her file. Her file actually explains the true nature of Flame Willow's abilities."

"Strictly speaking, Flame Willow's fire is merely the form her abilities take. It has nothing to do with fire itself."

As she spoke, Flame Willow Xia Ling pressed a finger to Xia Ling's chest. "You'll understand once you experience it yourself. You don't mind, do you?"

Xia Ling rolled her eyes. "If I minded, you wouldn't even have had that thought."

"You're right. Then, let's start with this."

A strange wave of Honkai Energy spread from Xia Ling's chest. Then she felt the energy throughout her body churning as though it were boiling.

"My Honkai Energy activity increased several times over?" Xia Ling was startled by the heat and restless energy surging through her body. "No, not just Honkai Energy. Every cell in my body is being activated?"

"That's right. I deliberately slowed it down. In reality, the process can be dozens of times faster. So, how does it feel now?"

In an instant, Xia Ling felt an explosive sensation in her left arm. In fact, her left arm truly did begin to combust on its own.

"This activation accelerates the metabolism of living tissue. That process releases energy you can't control at all. The reactions caused by that process are combustion and explosions, just like this."

"Of course, if I can accelerate that metabolic process until it causes explosions, I can also weaken it and use it for normal healing."

As Flame Willow Xia Ling finished speaking, the spontaneous combustion in Xia Ling's left arm quickly stopped. In its place came waves of tingling numbness. Fresh flesh continuously grew over the charred wounds on her arm, and before long, aside from looking slightly more youthful in color, Xia Ling's left arm had completely returned to normal.

"This really is amazing..." Xia Ling curiously moved her left arm around, clicking her tongue in wonder.

"Likewise, I can activate your body into that state from before. It counts as a kind of enhancement, though the degree of activation depends on what each person can endure." Flame Willow Xia Ling played with the flame on her tail. "The same applies to me, except my endurance is much stronger."

"Then aren't you a perfect match for this thing?" Xia Ling raised the King's New Gun she had just drawn. "You can directly activate yourself into a low-health state, then use this to keep fighting without being affected."

"True, but it can only be used as a trump card." Flame Willow Xia Ling looked over the King's Set's description and shook her head. "This requires a near-death state to activate. If I activate myself to that extent, even I won't be able to reverse it."

"All right. Then how strong do you think you are now?"

"Very strong. You could say I'm overflowing with power." Flame Willow Xia Ling looked at the blazing crimson flames formed from activated, released Honkai Energy in her hand and smiled.

"I feel that even now, before I've fully mastered my abilities, I could easily deal with an opponent on Yunna's level. And because my ability is so deceptive, enemies encountering it for the first time might suffer badly."

"Then can we..." Xia Ling narrowed her eyes.

"Of course we can. I think I'm already strong enough to go stir things up in Changkong City. At the very least, Raven shouldn't have much of a way to deal with me unless she brings Seven Thunders of Retribution."

At that point, I need to remind the Host of something.

The system spoke up at just the right moment. Only after both Xia Lings turned to look at it did it continue.

The Host should have noticed that while all three Integrated Strategies themes are now accessible, there is still a black, locked theme at the bottom of the system screen.

That black box is actually the Elysian Realm trial theme.

"Hmm?" Xia Ling's eyes lit up. "The Elysian Realm theme you're talking about... Is it the current Elysian Realm of World Serpent?"

Of course not. The system will copy a portion of Elysian Realm's source data and create an imitation trial Elysian Realm for the Host.

However, after the Host clears the trial Elysian Realm, she can use it to enter the true Elysian Realm.

The two Xia Lings looked at each other, both seeing excitement and longing in the other's eyes.

"So that means I can use this to meet Elysia?"

That's right. But before that, the Host must first find a way to activate the Elysian Realm Integrated Strategies theme.

"Then what's the solution? You wouldn't remind us at this point just to casually mention it, would you?" Flame Willow Xia Ling revealed a thoughtful expression.

Of course not. I'm reminding you because you're about to come into contact with the condition needed.

Island Boom-Boom Raven Felt a Chill Down Her Back

The condition for activating the Elysian Realm trial is completing one battle with someone who has entered Elysian Realm.

The intensity of the battle is unrestricted. It can be a spar, a fight to the death, or even killing the other person or being killed by them.

"No wonder you reminded me now, System. So it was because you wanted us to go make trouble for Island Boom-Boom Raven..."

Xia Ling fell into thought, her expression contemplative.

"That's right. Your reminder was quite timely, System. It seems our original plans for Changkong City need some adjustments too."

Flame Willow Xia Ling nodded in agreement beside her.

...You two, I didn't let you create a clone so you could join forces and talk in riddles at me!

"Ahahaha..." The two Xia Lings looked at each other and laughed awkwardly.

"Regarding that, I haven't fully thought it through either... Flame Willow, what's your idea?"

"First, the original body definitely can't make a move. At the same time, we should avoid any abnormalities as much as possible."

Flame Willow Xia Ling had the system produce a sheet of white paper and two pens, then began writing and drawing on it.

The first thing she drew was the island where St. Freya stood, along with a chibi version of Xia Ling's original body.

"Before the main story begins, especially during the year before it begins, you should avoid doing anything as much as possible. Aside from the Anti-Entropy invasion and Welt entering the Sea of Quantum, try not to get involved in those plotlines either."

"I understand. It's to avoid changing the main story's trajectory as much as possible." Xia Ling nodded. "As transmigrators, our greatest weapon is our knowledge of the plot."

"That's right. Our ultimate goal is to turn this imperfect story into what we want it to be. So before the main story begins, we need to make enough preparations while changing the subsequent plot as little as possible."

"First, before the main story begins, our primary target must be Elysian Realm." Flame Willow Xia Ling drew a line from Raven and the system toward World Serpent.

"Against the current civilization, the power of Elysian Realm is simply a dimensionality-reduction strike. Just the backdoors Vill-V mentioned for every Divine Key would be an enormous bargaining chip."

"So we can't be careless about this." Xia Ling looked at her other self. "For now, we'll have to rely on you, our strongest combatant."

"Unfortunately, it's still not enough." Flame Willow Xia Ling sighed. "The strength of an ordinary S-rank Valkyrie is only enough to fight in the early stages of the plot. In a late-game dungeon like Elysian Realm, it's truly hell difficulty."

"There's nothing we can do about that. Whether it's you or me, growing stronger takes time, and time is exactly what we lack right now. Two years isn't all that long."

"I'll do my best." Flame Willow Xia Ling said solemnly. "On the academy's side, we can make appropriate contact with Welt. Our persona is that of drifters from the Sea of Quantum, so we can give Welt some information about Kevin. On one hand, it will make our identity seem more credible. On the other, it will make Anti-Entropy owe us a favor."

"As for our characters, I lean toward redeeming the remaining two four-star and half-price five-star characters, then adding at most one to three six-star character cards."

"I think the same." Xia Ling agreed. "What matters is quality, not quantity. Blindly increasing our numbers will only slow us down. Even a hundred Elite 0 characters would have a hard time defeating any fully developed Elite 2 character."

"We can use our extra assets to stockpile some Cipher Plates or Collapse Paradigms."

"As for the characters we've already decided to buy... We'll have to see how lucky we are then..." Flame Willow Xia Ling scratched her head with some frustration.

"The gap between different abilities is pretty large. But I lean toward prioritizing preparations in two areas. One is making arrangements in advance regarding Wendy, and the other is finding a way to infiltrate Schicksal from within."

"And guarding against Kevin." Xia Ling added. "Don't forget, we're not truly transmigrators from the Sea of Quantum. That identity won't hold up before Kevin."

"Maybe Kevin can't be bothered to explain that to anyone else, but it isn't impossible for us to come into conflict with him. In fact, the chances are quite high."

"Although the system can revive us, as our strength increases, the assets needed for revival and the fact that we can only revive on the spot mean we can't act completely without restraint."

"Seriously..." Flame Willow Xia Ling slumped onto the table. "I thought sneaking into the academy would let us relax for a while. Now it seems there are so many things to consider."

Early the next morning, Xia Ling emerged from her room looking bleary-eyed.

She had stayed up late the night before making a series of plans with her other self. Although her body had rested while she slept, Xia Ling was indeed mentally exhausted.

After washing up and greeting Mei, who was already in the kitchen, Xia Ling began helping Mei prepare breakfast.

Ever since Xia Ling moved in, she had taken over part of Mei's housewife duties. It gave Xia Ling something to do while also easing Mei's burden.

After all, Kiana alone ate as much as several people. Mei spent hours every day just preparing dinner.

At first, Mei had felt a little embarrassed about it, but after Xia Ling used the excuse that an assistant teacher should help lessen her students' burden, Mei accepted her help.

"Hmm? Bronya, is something wrong?"

As usual, Xia Ling had intended to catch a little greedy cat lurking outside the kitchen door. But instead of catching Kiana Cat today, she caught a Duck Duck.

Bronya: (? ? ?)

Under Xia Ling's rather oppressive gaze, Duck Duck reluctantly gave her answer. "Because Bronya seemed to have had a nightmare last night, so Bronya came over to take a look."

"Could this be an aftereffect of providing support?" Xia Ling asked inwardly.