In Honkai, but Integrated Strategies Activated

Xia Ling said with certainty, "I just don't know what went wrong, but I have a feeling this might really be Fu Hua."

"If that's the case... I can only hope Flame Willow is alright," Highmore said with a solemn expression. "While it's easy to weave a lie, this question hides a fatal trap."

"Fu Hua carries Feather Dust with her. Although Fu Hua wouldn't actively use it on others, Feather Dust itself has the ability to automatically read a person's shallow consciousness."

"Just like Little Shi, Fu Hua with Feather Dust is like a weakened, humanoid lie detector, easily able to discern if the other person is telling the truth."

However, what Xia Ling and Highmore could think of, Flame Willow could naturally also think of.

The moment she saw this node, she had already thought of a solution.

Seeing Fu Hua sitting cross-legged in the courtyard, Flame Willow confidently waved.

"Hi, long time no see, Fu Hua. Why are you spacing out here again?"

"Ah, I'm not spacing out, I'm meditating," Fu Hua opened her eyes and explained.

Then she asked with some confusion, "Uh, who are you?"

"Ah, did you clean your memories again? Then let me reintroduce myself."

Flame Willow understood, as if she were already familiar with the situation.

"My codename is Reed Grass, a member of World Serpent. I'm currently undergoing trials in the Elysian Realm. If you've seen Raven recently, you should know me. We're quite familiar."

"Oh, is that so? I'm sorry, I forgot," Fu Hua lowered her head slightly, feeling a little embarrassed.

But then, Fu Hua quickly became confused again. "However, I remember I only cleaned my memories about ten days ago..."

Chapter 46: Heading... Heading Towards the Depths?

"Sigh, you wouldn't know, but a major Honkai outbreak just happened outside. I was saving people."

Flame Willow didn't even hesitate for a moment, answering almost immediately, "Alas, this Honkai outbreak resulted in over five million casualties. I was out dealing with it for a whole month..."

"Is that so... You must have worked hard."

Fu Hua seemed to feel it was inappropriate to continue such a heavy topic, so she asked, "So, what brings you here today... Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Oh, I'm undergoing trials in the Elysian Realm. Maybe the teleporter malfunctioned and sent me here," Flame Willow answered smoothly. "It's fine, you don't need to mind me, I'll just go back through the teleporter later."

"Ah, I see." Fu Hua didn't doubt her at all. "Then I won't bother you. Please be careful on your way."

"Alright, bye-bye!"

Flame Willow waved and walked directly towards the teleporter outside the courtyard.

In the preparation room, Xia Ling and Highmore breathed a sigh of relief.

"Haha, I told you, our specialty is this kind of lie made entirely of truths."

"It's good that Fu Hua is an honest person and wouldn't overthink things," Highmore said thankfully. "Otherwise, with the support cooldown, facing a Herrscher would have been unthinkable."

"Yeah, now we can only pray the system gives us some luck. This is only the ninth floor. If every subsequent floor has nodes related to Herrschers like this, then there's really no hope of clearing it."

However...

"Huh? What's this now?" ×3

Looking at the teleporter in front of them, the three of them were stunned.

Because this teleporter not only had no node name, but not even an Insignia, it was completely black.

"This, this..." Flame Willow was a little flustered. "Can you even come out after going in?"

But unfortunately, Flame Willow didn't seem to have any other choice right now.

Before Fu Hua could become suspicious of her lingering here, she had to make a decision quickly.

Although self-destruction to leave was an option, Flame Willow would definitely come to the Elysian Realm in the future, and she didn't want to leave a strange impression on Fu Hua.

After hesitating for a moment, Flame Willow gritted her teeth and decided to go in and see.

"Since I'm already here, am I going to back out halfway now?"

With this resolve, Flame Willow stepped into the empty, black teleporter.

Instantly, darkness enveloped Flame Willow's vision. At the same time, in the preparation room, the scene on the light screen turned black along with Flame Willow's view.

Flame Willow's pupils dilated slightly as she tried to adjust to the darkness. At the same time, she ignited a ball of flame at her fingertips, attempting to provide some illumination.

Unfortunately, neither type of flame seemed able to dispel the darkness. It could only illuminate a very small area, or rather, there was nothing ahead but darkness.

Using the flame to vaguely confirm the ground ahead was flat, Flame Willow took a deep breath and slowly walked forward.

After a while...

"Oh no, I think I know where this is. This is a place where one's mind is completely exposed, a place where one's true self is revealed, a place that can be called the ultimate prison."

"Hiss—" Highmore gasped. "What do we do? None of us should have the ability to fight a mental-perception-type fusion warrior, let alone Aponia."

"And if we ended up here, doesn't that mean we've basically been completely discovered?"

"Not necessarily..." Xia Ling said with a troubled expression. "If she really wanted to deal with us, she wouldn't have led us here. There are many people among the Thirteen Herrschers who are far more suitable than Aponia. Besides..."

"Besides, I haven't done anything wrong. Even if Aponia can check my memories, she shouldn't do anything to me... right?"

Flame Willow thought this as she cautiously moved forward.

She had also noticed something was off. Because she couldn't pinpoint her exact location in the darkness, her path had deviated slightly.

Once she had strayed far enough in the new direction, she discovered a fence rising like a prison beside the road.

Darkness, a prison... these elements made Flame Willow quickly grasp the true nature of this place.

"Forget it... don't think about anything... stay calm and adapt as needed..."

As everyone knows, when you want someone to not think of something, you just need to tell them not to imagine it, and it will immediately pop into their minds.

Flame Willow was experiencing the same thing now. Her mind, due to her own recent suggestion, seemed to be drifting in a strange direction.

For example, bizarre memes from her past life, or descriptions like "Mother Aponia," and...

"Hello, traveler. Although this is our first meeting, you seem to have some... strange misunderstandings about me..."

"So, may I 'please' tell me your name?"

Only then did Flame Willow suddenly realize she had reached the end of the road. Before her stood a massive prison, and behind it sat a woman whose face she couldn't discern.

"Xia Ling."

Flame Willow answered subconsciously. However, the moment she spoke the answer, her eyes immediately became wary.

How could this be? I clearly wanted to say... is this what a mental perception-type fused warrior is like?

"Xia Ling... a very warm name. It's nice to meet you, Xia Ling."

"It seems you're quite wary of me. Are you afraid of my commandments?"

Seeing Flame Willow remain silent, Aponia seemed to understand her subtle thoughts.

"Perhaps you don't believe me, but I bear you no ill will. My appearance before you now is simply to help you."

"Help me?" Flame Willow finally spoke, but mindful of saying too much, her words remained brief: "Why?"

"There are many reasons. The most important one is that you carry Elysia's aura... As for others, perhaps it's because I can see a part of your imminent future, or perhaps because I can sense the goodwill you exude."

Speaking to this point, seeing Flame Willow's wary expression, like a young beast bristling at the sight of a natural predator, Aponia couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.

"You still seem to be wary of me. Unfortunately, your time is precious and cannot be wasted here."

"Then, perhaps our conversation can wait until our next meeting."

"But before that, as a small token of my help, please remember my advice..."

As Flame Willow's eyes widened, upon hearing Aponia use the word "please" again, she became completely on guard.

"Meeting you here has actually helped you avoid a danger... but this calamity is a future you cannot avoid. So, when danger strikes again, please remember the following words."

"Do not try to escape. Simply 'please' show your 'true self'."

As the words fell, Flame Willow felt an almost irresistible wave of sleepiness wash over her.

"Wait, I can't fall asleep now... Ah..."

Chapter 47: Three People Can't Even Muster Half a Point of Mental Resistance

When she slowly woke up again, Flame Willow found herself seemingly transported to the next stage.

No, that might be an understatement. To be precise, she was currently impaled on the spear of some Knight-class Honkai Beast.

Flame Willow's current posture was similar to a Schicksal Bishop being pinned to the wall by Durandal, but with a crucial difference: the Knight-class Honkai Beast taking advantage of her predicament didn't seem to have broken through her defenses.

Even so, the increasing pressure on her chest woke Flame Willow from her slumber.

"Am I... at the next stage already?"

Although a trace of confusion lingered in her eyes, Flame Willow immediately grabbed the spear in her chest. Crimson flames spread along the spear, forcing the Knight-class Honkai Beast back.

"The timer just passed half a minute... I must have been sent to the next stage by Aponia. Damn it, my head is spinning. I'll just wait for the next stage and have Xia Ling and Highmore explain it to me."

Flame Willow concentrated her spirit and began to unleash her flames wantonly in the long-lost mob layer.

A moment later, after dealing with a wave of dead soldiers and a wave of Imaginary Skeletons, Flame Willow stood before the teleportation gate to the twelfth floor.

After her Honkai Energy recovered a bit, Flame Willow directly entered the twelfth floor and impatiently activated the assist function.

"Xia Ling, just now..."

Before she could finish, Xia Ling directly interrupted her.

"Go all out, let's finish this quickly. We need some time to sort things out."

Seeing Xia Ling's solemn expression, Flame Willow nodded and fell silent.

The boss of the twelfth floor was still our familiar old friend, the Schicksal Divine Machine - Heimdall. However, this time, as soon as Heimdall appeared, it felt as though it was enveloped in shadow.

Before it stood a colossal jellyfish-like monster that blotted out the sky. Its shell and tentacles, composed of pure white and deep blue, floated eerily in the void. The upper half of the jellyfish, beneath a white, cage-like chitinous shell, had a golden core that pulsed slightly, as if observing its surroundings.

Yes, this was Highmore's Sea Creature form in its fully released state: Paranoid Bubble.

Accompanied by a distorted, indiscernible sonic wave, grayish-blue mist shot out from the jellyfish's mouth. The highly corrosive liquid directly shattered Heimdall's Honkai Energy shield and began to corrode deeper.

Next, a ring of blue water enveloped Heimdall, exacerbating its already long attack startup animation.

At the same time, Xia Ling and Flame Willow attacked together, unleashing their full power. Various attacks rained down on Heimdall.

In just two minutes, the three of them quickly depleted Heimdall's health bar. Although it was in an overloaded state throughout, Paranoid Bubble's inherent attack speed reduction and corrosive attacks meant it barely managed to land any hits, even with the buffs from the modifiers.

As Heimdall gradually dissolved into light, Highmore returned to her human form, breathing lightly.

Although Highmore didn't lose her rationality after transforming, the Paranoid Bubble form still placed a significant burden on her, especially during high-intensity combat. It could generally only be maintained for about ten minutes.

"Alright, let's analyze the situation now."

Xia Ling clapped her hands, drawing both their gazes to herself.

"First, to get straight to the point, I originally thought this trial might have been a small system glitch. Now it seems we were too confident in Cat Guest's system."

"I'm now highly suspicious that this guy might have been discovered by one of the Herrschers!"

"We currently have two main suspects: it's either Vill-V or Serpent," Highmore continued Xia Ling's thought. "But there's good news."

"At least not all the Herrschers are hostile towards us right now, and the system hasn't completely fallen."

"Based on the current situation, this Herrscher should have only seized control of some nodes and then lured you towards an area with the Herrscher's core to disrupt you."

"I think having me face a Herrscher directly is beyond mere disruption..." Flame Willow said weakly. "But at least it seems the opponent can't completely control which Herrscher I face. Otherwise, the first one I would have encountered wouldn't have been Fu Hua, but someone like Chijie, Sakura, or Kevin."

"Ah, speaking of that, Flame Willow, take a look at your chest." Xia Ling suddenly remembered something and looked below Flame Willow's collar.

"Huh?" Flame Willow touched her chest with a confused expression, feeling nothing but soft flesh. "W-what's wrong?"

"Actually, after you fell asleep, Aponia carried you to the teleportation gate and threw you through it."

Xia Ling said with a strange expression, "Before sending you through, she touched your chest."

"Considering it was Aponia, and she's used this method to convey information before, we suspect she left something on you."

"I think..." Flame Willow's mouth twitched. "With the three of us combined, our mental abilities can't even amount to anything. Even if Aponia really left something, we probably won't have any way to counter it."

"Sigh..." ×3

"Oh, right, one more thing." Seeing that less than a minute remained, Xia Ling quickly asked, "Flame Willow, Aponia said you have Elysia's aura on you. Do you have any ideas about that?"