Mei: Corruption probably won't go off the deep end so quickly... right? / Corruption is turning evil, but little Corruption... is getting cuddly.

Not long ago, Mei lent her power to Kiana through Kolosten.

It was a blank space, where the so-called Honkai Will resided.

However, when Mei was chatting with Kiana, she casually kicked this Honkai Will out of the group chat.

But after Kiana left, Mei even tried to talk to this Honkai Will, but of course, she didn't get any memories.

The scene at this point is precisely the one where she talks to the Honkai Will.

"No, wait, that's not right."

After observing carefully for a moment, a rare look of surprise and trepidation appeared on Mei's face.

"Wait, is it something wrong with the conversation between you, Mei, and the Honkai Will?"

"No..." Mei stared intently at her other self in the scene, "It's just that our perspective is wrong..."

"This perspective is not the third-person perspective we usually use."

"But instead..."

Just then, a familiar node information box appeared in front of the two of them.

Chapter 79 Mei: The erosion shouldn't go to extremes so quickly... right?

In the midst of nothingness, it gradually awakened its own consciousness.

First, there is emptiness; this is where it was born. Nothing can be seen, nothing can be heard... this is the world it faces.

"This is..."

Mei and Kiana exchanged a glance, and a sense of foreboding suddenly rose in Mei's heart.

Then comes information, which is the second thing it encounters.

[Also, the second part of the text is incomplete and lacks context. It appears to be a fragment of a larger document.]

These choices ultimately manifest themselves in specific individuals.

[Corruption Honkai Will]

[Eroding the Herrscher of Thunder]

"Mei, this is..."

Kiana's pupils suddenly contracted. In recent days, they had heard plenty about the tragedies caused by the corruption of the Previous Civilization.

Mei's face also turned extremely ugly. She didn't know if the events at this point in time were happening in reality, but she was certain that, regardless of whether they happened or not, her negligence was an unavoidable mistake.

"Choose one, Mei."

Before Mei could react, Kiana pressed down on her.

"Don't worry, since we can see this node, it most likely proves that the current situation is still under Sister Xia Ling's monitoring. This node might just be an ordinary Alternate History node."

Kiana tried her best to comfort Mei.

"I..."

Before I could say anything, the content in the node began to change.

[For it, this act of erosion is like an instinct, as natural as it is; it extends its capabilities onto the Honkai Consciousness.]

But nothing happened.

[At this point, it has no concept of failure, so after receiving no feedback, it naturally chose another target.]

Even if we cannot erode it... we must coexist with it.

The node's content ended there, and amidst Kiana and Mei's sudden pause in breathing, the node dropped a collectible.

This also means that Kiana's so-called Alternate History theories are completely refuted.

They finally found the fourth or Ending 5, but of course, this ending was anything but happy.

[Empty: Reduces the number of units that can be deployed simultaneously by one, leading to different outcomes in the exploration.]

There is no color here now.

"To be honest, I'm thinking of finding a balance Loss and Gain and just throwing this collection away."

Kiana looked at the only item in her backpack and said quietly.

"I'll take it with me... What happened before was indeed something I didn't think through. I'll apologize to everyone when I get back."

Mei's fingers clenched tightly, turning slightly white.

"But... let me see what the consequences of this oversight will be."

After leaving this point, the scene before them took them by surprise.

"What... is going on?"

"The Trial Elysian Realm has never reacted like this before..."

What appeared before them was a one-way street.

They were left with only one node path in front of them, and... the content of this node was also very different from before.

Because, in the First Floor, there were actually four [Loss and Gain] nodes in front of them.

The shop that used to refresh at the last node on the first floor has now become [Crossroads of Fate].

"Is everything really alright outside...?"

Faced with such a bizarre scene, the two of them couldn't help but have the same thought at the same time.

"You can't quit the trial..." Kiana paused for a moment, "Now that things have come to this, we can only move forward."

"Let's go. Loss and Gain... Besides that emptiness, we have nothing else to exchange, do we?"

With this in mind, the two entered into a journey of Loss and Gain.

However, the content of the Loss and Gain was not the previous trade of items with Vill-V, but the scene of Mei and Elysia talking.

The option of trading collectibles has become the only one.

[Losing the item [emptiness], gaining the item [joy].]

[Joy: Reduces the number of units that can be deployed simultaneously by two, leading to different outcomes in the exploration.]

Soon, it understood joy. Let this joy be recorded here, right here in this purple hue.

"This..."

Looking at the collection, which was otherwise identical to the previous one except for a touch of purple, Mei and Kiana were speechless for a moment.

"She is... in the group, also in the ball, privately, five years ago, she stopped studying?"

"It seems so."

Kiana nodded with a wry smile, "But... so far, it doesn't seem so bad?"

"After all, its first learning target is Sister Elysia... If it stays by Mei's side, she probably won't come into contact with those strange things, right?"

"I hope so..."

Looking at the remaining three Loss and Gain before her, Mei felt as if a stone was hanging in her heart.

In the ensuing Loss and Gain, Erosion successfully learned the value of "expectation" from the Serpent.

Following the expectation was the curiosity she received from Griseo.

So far, at least, everything is normal.

But... reality is often disappointing.

In the final Loss and Gain, Mei witnessed a scene that made her heart skip a beat.

"Your arrival will bring destruction to this Elysian Realm, and none of us want to see it reduced to rubble because of you. Therefore, in ten days, I will have to..."

"End your life with your own hands."

Mei was already very familiar with this plot; in the Third Ending where they completed the game normally, they had witnessed this conversation between Aponia at least ten times.

That's why Mei knew exactly what emotions the Erosion would absorb next.

Death is a concept its understanding has not yet grasped.

No one can escape death, and no one can explain what death is—the message of the Elysian Realm failed to provide an answer, and therefore, even knowing death, it still doesn't know where this fear comes from.

[Until--]

"It's over."

Mei and Kiana covered their faces in unison.

At the node, Chijie's familiar figure appeared before the two.

"It seems the plot might not unfold as we expected."

Kiana sighed.

"I learned fear from Aponia, and then truly experienced death through Chijie Calamities... Is it really such a coincidence?"

"I don't know, but there should still be a chance for things to turn around."

Mei wanted to make one last desperate attempt.

"In the storyline, besides following me, the erosion also left a backup in the real world..."

"Although it's not a good idea to think this way, I really want it to survive as long as possible in the external backups."

"In this way, at least it won't go to extremes in the short term."

Chapter Eighty: Erosion is turning dark, but Little E... is still sticking together.

Although her ideals were lofty, the Crossroads of Fate that followed Mei feeling utterly lost.

As expected, the situation took an unexpected turn.

At the first turning point in her Crossroads of Fate, the story shows her how the outside world perfectly annihilated all the sub-subjects of the Herrscher of Corruption.

In the second node, they witnessed how erosion transforms.

Unexpected Encounter – Transformation

The loss of the backup plunged the Herrscher of Corruption into an unprecedented survival crisis, and under such immense pressure, its colors began to change.

[Acquiring the collectible: A Step Difference]

[A Step Difference can reduce the number of units that can be deployed simultaneously by six, leading to different outcomes in the exploration.]

[And so, thoughts began to sprout. And so, expectation transformed into a desire for life. And so, curiosity transformed into longing. And so, countless joys converged from all directions.]

I must not die... I must not return to that emptiness again...

In the suffocating silence where you could hear a pin drop, the two silently gazed at the artifact, which embodied intense emotions.

And their next stage is a battle of [Battle Group? O Teasing 7 Easy Lingyi Qi Die Five (Nine) Four Conquer].

"Have we... hit a bad end?"

Kiana's voice even carried a hint of relief.

"After all, we currently have zero units that can be deployed simultaneously... which means that this battle is almost certainly going to be lost."

"No wonder this branch is so dark; it's a bad ending..."

"I think... it might not be that simple."

Mei slowly shook her head.

"Let's go... at least let me see what this battle is all about."

With that, Mei led the way toward the node.