A Person in Honkai, But Integrated Strategies Activated

Chapter 40: Worldline Correction

"Speaking of which... Host, if Anna decided to save the citizens here, would she still meet Chen Tianwu?"

"..."

"It seems so."

Flame Willow's mouth twitched. She had been too focused on striking a pose earlier and forgot about something so important.

"What should we do, Host? Are you going to save him yourself?"

"Let's get this Chen Tianwen out of here first. I wasn't lying to her earlier; Chen Tianwen's current condition really can't be delayed any longer."

"Flame Willow, you can actually come directly to me," Xia Ling suddenly interjected.

"The Far East Branch's support has arrived. We're responsible for building the defense line in the northern part of Manila. According to the map you provided earlier, it shouldn't be far from your location."

"The Far East Branch has sent a total of 6 Valkyrie squads. I'll draw out the area I'm responsible for later. Once you arrive, I'll directly teleport you there using the system's positioning."

"Alright, I'm coming over now."

Shielding herself and Chen Tianwen with Honkai Energy, Flame Willow activated her burst and rapidly rushed towards Xia Ling's location.

"Host, I've discovered something."

"Hmm, go on."

"Anna seems to have still met Chen Tianwu."

"Uh... huh?"

Xia Ling and Flame Willow, who had just received Chen Tianwen, froze in unison.

"Didn't she already start abandoning the mission to focus on saving citizens? How could she still meet Chen Tianwu?" Xia Ling's head seemed to be filled with question marks.

"Looking at it this way, it's likely that in the original worldline, the next person Anna met after seeing Chen Tianwen happened to be Chen Tianwu."

"And because her guilt over not saving people earlier completely crushed her, she extended a helping hand to Chen Tianwu." Flame Willow analyzed.

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

"You mean worldline correction? I can't say for sure, but I hope not," Xia Ling said, shaking her head as if she had heard something unholy.

"Sigh, I hope not either. Otherwise, the obstacles we'll face in our plans later will be much greater." Flame Willow put a hand on her hip and sighed. "Remember to mark this location. Since Anna has already met Chen Tianwu, things will likely proceed according to the original plot, and there's no need for me to do anything more."

"While there's still time, I'll go rescue some people and leave before Schicksal completely controls the situation."

"I'll bring the rescued people here, and you can take care of receiving them."

"Okay, then make your own decisions. I'll keep you updated on Schicksal's news."

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

"Anna, former deputy captain of the Manila Snow Lotus Squad, an A-rank Valkyrie. She was severely injured while forcibly restraining a Honkai Emperor without sufficient stamina or equipment. She is currently being treated in the medical bay."

"Chen Tianwu was found hiding in a pile of ruins and has fainted due to severe Honkai Energy erosion."

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

It was several days later when Xia Ling saw Anna again.

"Hello, Anna," Xia Ling said, looking at the fully recovered Anna. She couldn't help but sigh, "Tsk tsk, your recovery ability is truly worthy of someone who could forcibly hold back a Honkai Emperor in that state."

"I didn't really do much... Protecting civilians is a Valkyrie's duty," Anna replied a little shyly.

"So, what is it you need from me?"

"Oh, it's like this. Someone with golden hair asked me to deliver a message for her."

"The little girl you were worried about has been sent to Schicksal's base. You can go look for her yourself then. I acted in time, so the girl should survive."

Mimicking Flame Willow's tone, Xia Ling added, "That's the message. As for the child she brought with her... her name should be Chen Tianwen, right? She's currently in the hospital here. Here are the detailed address."

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

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

"It seems you have quite a deep impression of her. Would you mind telling us about it? We're quite curious about that person."

"These past few days, she's saved quite a few people without anyone noticing. Many people want to thank her, but unfortunately, she comes and goes like a phantom, and we know very little about her."

"However, based on the remaining records in Manila, we haven't found any trace of that person. With such skills, yet remaining unknown, we reasonably suspect she might be some kind of secret weapon from Schicksal."

Yes... Reed Grass's strength is indeed terrifying... At least she could appear behind me without me noticing...

From her attitude towards Schicksal, it's clear she doesn't think much of them either...

Reason tells Anna that she should describe everything she saw in detail at this moment. Such a powerful individual, if she were to appear silently on the battlefield against Schicksal, even if she doesn't seem like someone who would kill indiscriminately, the property damage alone could be immeasurable.

But...

"No, I don't know her well. The only reason I know her is that I lent her a hand when she rescued that child."

Anna shook her head fiercely, as if trying to shake off a thought.

"I see... Forget it, I wasn't planning on digging deeper anyway." Xia Ling gave Anna a meaningful glance and said in a low voice, "After all, she didn't do anything else this time besides saving the child."

"Then... can I go see the child now?" As if afraid Xia Ling would ask more questions, Anna picked up the address on the table, preparing to leave.

"It's fine now, go ahead. By the way..." Xia Ling glanced at the pendant on Anna's neck and teased, "That little girl might have quite a connection with you."

Anna seemed to walk even faster, leaving the place at a speed close to fleeing.

"Sigh, one of Honkai Impact's few heterosexuals."

"But..." Xia Ling summarized in the channel, "It seems she's already figured out the pros and cons, yet she still didn't betray Flame Willow. It looks like we can trust her a bit more in the future."

"Speaking of which, I have one more thing to report."

Highmore suddenly interjected.

"Taking advantage of this Honkai incident in Manila, the Branch Leader of Oceania seems to have dispatched both veteran A-rank Valkyries from the branch, along with a series of personnel adjustments."

"It looks like he intends to gain complete control of the Oceania Branch."

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

"Don't worry, Otto will make it compliant. Even if he doesn't act this time, Otto will proactively transfer those Valkyries away."

Xia Ling pouted, "He wouldn't bear to let those Valkyries die with that Branch Leader. It's just a little over a year until the main story, and we might not find such a good opportunity for transfers later."

"Speaking of which, shouldn't we also start preparing for the trial of the Elysian Realm? In a few more months, it will be the storyline for the Second Divine Key," Flame Willow suggested, checking the time.

"Yes, it really should be put on the agenda... After this operation ends, we'll prepare to tackle the final difficulty of the trial of the Elysian Realm."

Chapter 41: Prelude to the Final Trial

"?~"

In the Elysian Realm, Elysia hummed a melodious tune as she wandered through the Realm.

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

Elysia had been pondering this for a long time, but she still hadn't come up with a good answer.

"Mmm~ Honestly, I've never been so troubled by something like this. It's all the system's fault. It locked me in this trial of the Elysian Realm but didn't pull me into Xia Ling's communication channel. I don't even know Xia Ling's daily life, how can I pick a gift?"

"Should I ask Mobius? Hmm... No, no. Not long ago, I called her Serpent in front of everyone, and she got so angry that she didn't talk to me for a week. I'd better not provoke her bad luck."

"Forget it, whatever. There's still some time anyway. I'll go find Vill-V first today. Yesterday, I heard from Xia Ling that their next operation is to find the Second Divine Key."

"Vill-V was deeply involved in the creation of the Second Divine Key. She must have left a backdoor in it, right?"

A while later, Elysia met Vill-V as she wished, but not the one she wanted to see.

"Oh my, my dear audience, if you're looking for me, I think I'd be happy to help." Magician Vill-V wore a troubled expression, "But if you're looking for the Expert or the Scholar... then I really can't do anything."

"Eh? Why?" Elysia tilted her head, "I remember you guys usually have your own fixed appearance times every day, right?"

"Yes, but that's usually." Magician sighed, "These days, I don't know what the Expert has come up with. Anyway, after discussing with the Conductor and the Scholar, she's monopolized most of 'our' time by herself. The small remaining portion is mostly occupied by the Scholar or the Conductor."

"And I, this poor Great Magician, can only sit on the sidelines."

"But what exactly is it that she's unwilling to tell you?" Elysia asked curiously, "If we're talking about talent..."

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

"I see... So, I won't be able to see the Expert these few days." Elysia was slightly disappointed.

"That's right. You know, when the Expert is in high spirits, the Spiral Workshop is in a state of lockdown," Magician stated her inability to help, "If it's not urgent, I suggest you come back to find her later."

"Mmm... Alright then, it's not that urgent anyway." Elysia pondered. According to the time given by Xia Ling, she wouldn't set off to find the location of the Second Divine Key until autumn, and it was called... London?

There are still three or four months, so by then, the Expert should have some free time.

Then, if we shift the perspective back a few months...

"Strange, what exactly is this?"

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

A long time ago, she had discovered a problem: it seemed that a portion of the discarded data in the Elysian Realm was often missing inexplicably.

For anyone else, this would be an issue that would never be discovered. Because by analogy, it would be like a few trash bags inexplicably missing from your community's landfill; a normal person would definitely not notice.

But Vill-V was not normal.

Due to having eight personalities within her, and the fact that they often added their own preferences to each other's "little inventions."

Therefore, Vill-V's data discard rate was much higher than other Herrschers.

And often, some Vill-V would go to the discarded data to "retrieve" her masterpieces that others had thrown away.

As a result, Vill-V discovered this small anomaly.

At first, Vill-V thought it was due to Mobius's experimental needs. After all, it was Mobius, who could have suddenly thought of using something as experimental material?

But after a period of time, Vill-V realized something was wrong.

The amount of data reduced each time was too consistent.

Every other week, a small amount of the Elysian Realm's discarded data would go missing, and the amount lost was always the same.

This was clearly abnormal, and finally, this phenomenon caught Vill-V's attention.

After the Expert spent a day creating a junk data statistical analyzer, she began the days of waiting for the prey to take the bait.

As expected, in the early morning of Friday of the second week, Vill-V caught the "thief."

But she didn't completely catch it.

She merely detected the thief's route for stealing data, but couldn't find the source of the thief, nor could she infiltrate the route.

The opponent used a method she had never heard of, and for a time, facing this "completely sealed" theft route, Vill-V was at a loss.

She could indeed block the route, but she couldn't prevent this method of theft. The opponent could replicate it at any time and open a new route.

At first, Vill-V thought of Pardo. With Pardo's abilities and luck, she might be able to find a loophole in the route and then infiltrate it in reverse.

However, this was obviously not foolproof. Moreover, for some well-known reason, Vill-V couldn't bear to let this carefree cat take another risk.

Therefore, the Expert ultimately decided to handle it herself and find a way to study how to infiltrate the route.

After all, she was Vill-V. As long as I'm willing, then I can.

After explaining the severity of the situation to the Conductor, the Expert successfully gained control over most of her time. The remaining time was handed over to the Scholar, who was responsible for theoretical breakthroughs.

Of course, the Magician was excluded from this plan. According to the Conductor's speculation, the opponent clearly had some knowledge of the Thirteen Herrschers. If any trace of the Magician were included in the work, his flamboyant style would definitely be recognized at a glance.

After months of overcoming difficulties, Vill-V finally achieved her wish and found a way to infiltrate in reverse.

It was at this point that the Great Magician, who had been confined for several months, was finally allowed out for some fresh air.

May 30th, one week after the Manila Honkai.

Xia Ling, having finished her rotation, finally returned to St. Freya. This day happened to be a Thursday, which was also the day the trial entry count reset.

Using the excuse of being exhausted from being away for a week and desperately needing to catch up on sleep, Xia Ling went back to bed early, while her consciousness entered the Elysian Realm's reception room.