Corrections to the Worldline / Prelude to the Final Trial

Chapter 40: Corrections to the Worldline

Say... Host, if Anna decided to save the civilians here, would she still meet Chen Tianwu?

"..."

"Looks like... she would."

Flame Willow's mouth twitched. She had been too busy putting on a cool front just now and had actually forgotten something so important.

What now, Host? Are you going to save him yourself?

"Let's get Chen Tianwen out first. I wasn't lying to her earlier—given Chen Tianwen's current condition, he really can't afford any delay."

"Flame Willow, you can actually come straight to my location."

Xia Ling suddenly cut in.

"The Far East Branch's reinforcements are already in place. We're responsible for establishing the northern defense line of Manila City. According to the map you gave earlier, it should be pretty close to your position."

"The Far East Branch sent six Valkyrie squads in total. I'll mark out the area under my jurisdiction for you later. Once you arrive, I'll teleport over directly using the system's positioning."

"Got it, I'm on my way."

Using Honkai Energy to protect herself and Chen Tianwen, Flame Willow immediately unleashed her burst and sped toward Xia Ling's location.

Host, I noticed something.

"Mm, go on."

Anna still seemed to have met Chen Tianwu.

"Uh... huh?"

Xia Ling and Flame Willow, who had just received Chen Tianwen, froze at the same time.

"Hadn't she already started abandoning the idea of regrouping in favor of saving civilians? She could still run into Chen Tianwu?" Question marks practically popped up over Xia Ling's head.

"Looking at it this way, in the original worldline, the next person Anna encountered after seeing Chen Tianwen just happened to be Chen Tianwu."

"And because the guilt of not saving people earlier had completely crushed her, she reached out a hand to Chen Tianwu."

Flame Willow analyzed.

"But if we put it in a more mystical way..."

"You mean corrections to the worldline? I can't say for sure, but it'd be best if that wasn't it." Xia Ling immediately shook her head as though she had heard something filthy.

"Sigh, I hope not either. Otherwise, there'll be far more obstacles to our plans later on."

Flame Willow planted one hand on her hip and sighed. "Remember to mark this location. Since Anna has already met Chen Tianwu, things will most likely continue according to the original plot. There's no need for me to do anything more."

"While there's still time, I'll go save a few more people. Then I just need to leave before Schicksal completely takes control of the situation."

"I'll bring the people I save here. You just need to receive them."

"Alright, make your own calls. I'll keep you updated on Schicksal's situation at all times."

Twelve hours after the rescue operation began, Xia Ling heard two familiar names from her companions.

"Anna, former vice-captain of Manila's Snow Lotus Squad, an A-rank Valkyrie. She suffered serious injuries after forcibly holding back a Honkai Emperor while exhausted and unequipped. She is currently receiving treatment in a medical pod."

"Chen Tianwu was found hiding amid some ruins. He had already passed out from severe Honkai Energy corruption."

Listening to the doctor's report, Xia Ling nodded slightly. "Understood. If Anna wakes up, remember to notify me."

When Xia Ling saw Anna again, several days had already passed.

"Hello, Anna." Looking at Anna, who had fully recovered, Xia Ling could not help but marvel. "Tsk, tsk. That recovery ability of yours really is worthy of someone who managed to hold back a Honkai Emperor in that state."

"I didn't really do much... Protecting civilians is a Valkyrie's duty." Anna answered somewhat embarrassedly.

"So, what did you want to see me about?"

"Oh, it's like this. A golden-haired person asked me to pass along a message for her."

"The little girl you've been worrying about has already been sent to Schicksal's outpost. You can go find her yourself later. I got there in time, so that girl should survive."

Imitating Flame Willow's tone, Xia Ling added, "That was the message. As for the child she brought back... his name should be Chen Tianwen. He's currently in the hospital here. This is the detailed address."

As she spoke, Xia Ling wrote down an address on a piece of paper, then pushed both a pass and the address toward Anna.

"It was... it was her!" Anna's eyes immediately widened as she recalled the person who had left such a deep impression on her.

"It seems you remember her quite clearly. Would you mind telling me about her? We're rather curious about that person."

"Over the past few days, she quietly saved quite a few people. Many people want to thank her, but she comes and goes without a trace, and we know very little about her."

"However, according to the remaining records in Manila City, we found no information on her. With skills like that, yet remaining unknown, we reasonably suspect that she might be some secret weapon of Anti-Entropy."

That's right... Flame Willow's strength was indeed terrifying... At the very least, she could appear behind me without me noticing at all...

Judging from her attitude toward Schicksal, she clearly didn't think much of Schicksal either...

Reason told Anna that she should describe everything she had seen in detail. Someone with such strength appearing silently on a battlefield against Schicksal—while Flame Willow did not seem like someone who enjoyed slaughtering innocents—even the property damage she could cause would be immeasurable.

But...

"No, I don't know her very well. I only met her because I gave her a hand when she rescued that child."

Anna shook her head hard, as though trying to throw off some thought.

"I see... Forget it, I didn't intend to investigate too deeply anyway." Xia Ling gave Anna a meaningful glance and said softly, "After all, aside from saving people this time, she didn't do anything else."

"Then... can I go see that child now?" Seemingly afraid that Xia Ling would ask anything else, Anna picked up the address on the table and prepared to leave.

"There's nothing else. Go ahead, and by the way..." Xia Ling glanced at the pendant around Anna's neck and teased, "That little girl might have quite a bit of fate with you."

Anna seemed to walk even faster, leaving at a pace that was nearly a retreat.

"Sigh, one of the few heterosexual couples in Honkai Impact 3rd."

"Still..." Xia Ling summarized in the channel, "it looks like she already understands the stakes, yet she still didn't expose Flame Willow. It seems we may be able to trust her a little more in the future."

"Speaking of which, I have something else to report."

Highmore suddenly interjected.

"Taking advantage of this Manila Honkai eruption, the Branch Leader of Oceania seems to have sent out both veteran A-rank Valkyries from the branch, along with a series of personnel transfers."

"It looks like he intends to completely take control of the Oceania Branch."

"But wouldn't that be against the rules?" Flame Willow asked hesitantly.

"Don't worry. Otto will make it compliant. Even if he didn't make a move this time, Otto would have proactively transferred those Valkyries away."

Xia Ling curled her lip. "He wouldn't bear to let those Valkyries die alongside that Branch Leader. There's only a little over a year until the main storyline. There may not be another chance for transfers like this afterward."

"Speaking of that, shouldn't we start preparing to clear the Elysian Realm trials? In a few months, it'll be time for the Second Divine Key's storyline." Flame Willow checked the time and suggested.

"Right, it really should be put on the schedule... Once this operation is over, we'll prepare to tackle the Elysian Realm's final difficulty."

Chapter 41: Prelude to the Final Trial

"?~"

Within the Elysian Realm, Elysia hummed a melodious little tune as she wandered through the realm.

"Oh my, Little Xia Ling will finally be coming to the Elysian Realm soon~ Let me think, what gift should I prepare for her?"

Elysia had been agonizing over this question for a long time, but she still could not think of a good answer.

"Mm~ Honestly, I've never worried over something for this long before. It's all that system's fault. It locked me in this trial Elysian Realm, yet it won't pull me into Xia Ling's communication channel. I don't even know about Xia Ling's daily life, so how am I supposed to choose a gift?"

"Should I ask Mobius? Mm... no, no. I called her Serpent in front of everyone some time ago and made her furious. She ignored me for a whole week. I'd better not provoke her."

"Forget it, I won't think about it anymore. There's still time. Today, I should go find Vill-V first. Xia Ling said yesterday that their next operation is to search for the Second Divine Key."

"Vill-V was deeply involved in making the Second Divine Key, so she should have left a backdoor inside it, right?"

After a while, Elysia got her wish and met Vill-V, but not the one she wanted to see.

"Oh my, my dear audience, if you came looking for me, then I would be delighted to be of service." Magician Vill-V wore a troubled expression. "But if you are looking for the Expert or the Scholar... then there is truly nothing I can do."

"Huh? Why?" Elysia tilted her head. "I remember that you usually each have fixed times when you appear every day, don't you?"

"Yes, but that's usually." The Magician sighed. "Recently, I don't know what the Expert has come up with. In any case, after discussing it with the Conductor and the Scholar, she monopolized most of 'our' time alone. Of the small portion left, it is usually the Scholar or the Conductor who appears."

"And I, this poor great magician, can only obediently warm the bench."

"But what exactly could it be that she doesn't want to tell you about?" Elysia pressed curiously. "If we're talking talent..."

"Sigh, I don't know either. Maybe... my style is too obvious?" the Magician said uncertainly. "At least, that's what the Conductor told me."

"I see... So I won't be seeing the Expert these next few days." Elysia was slightly disappointed.

"That's right. You know that when the Expert gets excited, the Spiral Workshop is sealed off." The Magician indicated that she was powerless to help. "If it is not urgent, I suggest you come back to find her after some time."

"Mm... alright, then. It isn't that urgent anyway." After thinking it over, Elysia recalled that according to the timing Xia Ling had provided, Xia Ling would not set off for the location of the Second Divine Key until autumn. It seemed to be called... London?

There were still three or four months left anyway. By then, the Expert should probably have some free time.

Now, if the perspective returned to several months earlier...

"Strange, what exactly is this?"

Inside the Spiral Workshop, filled with retro and steampunk style, Expert Vill-V stared at a pile of rapidly changing data, her brow tightly furrowed.

Long ago, she had discovered a problem. It seemed that a portion of the Elysian Realm's discarded data would often disappear for no apparent reason.

For anyone else, this would have been a problem that would never be noticed. By comparison, it was like several garbage bags mysteriously disappearing from the dumpster in your residential complex. No normal person would notice.

But Vill-V was not normal.

Because eight personalities existed within her, and they often added their own preferences to one another's "little inventions."

As a result, Vill-V's data disposal rate was far higher than that of the other Flame-Chasers.

Moreover, some Vill-V would often go into the discarded data to "pick up" creations that the others had thrown away.

Over time, Vill-V discovered this small anomaly.

At first, Vill-V thought it was for Mobius's experiments. After all, it was Mobius—who knew what she might suddenly decide to use as experimental material?

But after some time, Vill-V realized something was wrong.

The amount of data disappearing each time was too consistent.

Every week, a little of the Elysian Realm's discarded data would vanish, and the amount lost was always fixed.

That was obviously abnormal. At that point, the phenomenon finally caught Vill-V's attention.

After the Expert spent a day creating a discarded-data tracker, she began waiting for her prey to take the bait.

Sure enough, in the early hours of Friday during the second week, Vill-V caught this "thief."

But not completely.

She had merely noticed the route the thief used to steal data. She had not found the source of the thief, much less any way to invade the route.

The other party used a method she had never heard of. Faced with this "completely sealed" theft route, Vill-V found herself without any solution for the moment.

She could indeed block off this route, but she could not prevent this method of theft. The other party could copy the same method at any time and open a new route.

At first, Vill-V thought of Pardo. With Pardo's abilities and luck, perhaps she could successfully find a flaw in the route and then infiltrate it in reverse.

But that was clearly not safe. More importantly, for certain well-known reasons, Vill-V could not bear to let that carefree little cat take another risk.

Therefore, in the end, the Expert decided to take the field herself and find a way to study how to infiltrate the route.

After all, she was Vill-V. As long as I want to, then I can do it—that was Vill-V.

After explaining the stakes to the Conductor, the Expert successfully obtained control over most of their time. The remaining portion was handed over to the Scholar, who was responsible for theoretical breakthroughs.

Naturally, the Magician was excluded from the plan. According to the Conductor's prediction, the other party clearly had a certain understanding of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers. If traces of the Magician were added to the work, her flamboyant style would definitely be recognized at a glance.

After several months of overcoming difficulties, Vill-V finally got her wish and found a method for reverse infiltration.

It was also at this point that the great magician, who had been confined for several months, was finally released to get some fresh air.

May 30th, one week after the Great Honkai Eruption in Manila.

Having finished her rotation, Xia Ling finally returned to St. Freya. That day happened to be Thursday, the time when trial entry attempts refreshed.

Using the excuse that she had been exhausted after spending a week away and desperately needed sleep, Xia Ling returned to bed early, while her consciousness entered the Elysian Realm reception room.