Where's the promised Third Honkai?!!

Under the night sky, Prometheus gave a slight nod.

"It's not a matter of blaming her."

Fu Li bent down, taking out snacks from his pocket to feed the bold little stray cat that had approached him.

"At the end of the day, both Kiana and I are victims in this incident. If anyone's to blame, it's the Herrscher of Domination, the root cause."

"But she's the one who dragged you into this."

"Only the weak draw their blades against those weaker than themselves, Prometheus."

Watching the well-fed mother cat lead her four kittens away, he said with satisfaction, "I've never denied the legitimacy or legality of revenge. Those who kill will be killed—that's a principle passed down from our ancestors. But our ancestors also said that grievances have their owners and debts have their debtors. Just because you've suffered a heavy blow doesn't give you the right to retaliate against everyone, does it?"

He had no desire to sit at the same table as Israel, let alone become a cyber-Jew.

"That said, I still have to vent a little."

"?"

Then the girl heard her host say in a thoroughly exasperated tone, "I never expected that someone her age would lack even that much resolve."

"...Host is dissatisfied that Miss Kiana wavered and hesitated in battle?"

"Remember what I told you? People who step into the side of the Honkai have less than a one-in-ten chance of surviving three years alone." Fu Li's voice was soft under the streetlamp. "And I was explicitly told this before I chose to step into that side."

The sages of Shenzhou once said: Those who crave safety cannot attain freedom; to seek freedom, one must face danger. These are the only two paths.

The same applies to power.

Fu Li, having stepped into the Honkai side, was ready to die at any moment.

No matter the manner of death, he could accept it.

Even if he grew stronger over time, he wouldn't cling to life like those high-ranking big shots.

He hadn't forgotten his original intent.

"Host's statement just now scored very highly with Prometheus. Prometheus's favorability toward host has decreased slightly."

"Why only a slight increa—wait, decreased?"

"Host is soul-bound to the End-of-World Assistance System. If host takes a fatal risk, the system will vanish along with you." Little AI paused, then added, "But from a personal standpoint, what host just said was truly remarkable. Therefore, Prometheus chooses to respect host's opinion."

At first, she'd said, 'Let's set aside for now the danger of forcibly claiming a Divine Key in host's current state.' In truth, her purpose in asking about Fu Li's source of information was to tactfully persuade him not to be so aggressive.

Fortune favors the bold, but it also abandons them in the midst of danger.

The chance of gain is one in ten; the chance of loss, nine in ten.

Plotting to seize a Divine Key from the start was far too dangerous. As a reincarnator, Fu Li could have steadily advanced under the End-of-World Assistance System's guidance, climbing step by step.

But if he thought about it carefully, after two years of steady progress, could Fu Li truly reach the S-rank, rule-breaking level equivalent to the Herrscher of Domination?

People said hard work could change fate, but could an ordinary person earning 3k a month, working their whole life, even manage to save a few hundred thousand—only to be mocked by a pig riding the wind for not affording a 79-dollar eyebrow pencil? Cognition, methods, opportunities, background... which of these wasn't more important than sheer hard work?

"I understand your thoughts, Prometheus."

After his lengthy speech, Fu Li had long seen through Little AI's intentions.

"People have two hearts: one greedy, one unwilling. I'm not greedy, but I am unwilling." He said seriously, "To be honest, if the Herrscher of Domination had just killed me back then, I wouldn't hate her. I lost because I was outmatched—nothing to say about dying."

Born an S-rank? So what? The Herrscher of Domination's talent was her resource. Losing to her in that regard was nothing to complain about.

"The problem is, those Babar bastards not only used me as a tool to threaten others, but they also wouldn't stop yapping in my ear the whole way!" Every time he thought about it, Fu Li felt his anger surge. "Listening to their twisted logic made me laugh. What am I? I'm a verbal prodigy with undefined quality, stronger against the strong, baseline matching the heavens, and limitless potential! I've never feared anyone in that regard since I was a kid!"

"But when I tried to curse them back, those bastards—those bastards actually took the stockings they'd secretly swiped from Theresa's room, rolled them into a ball, and stuffed them in my mouth! And they even spouted nonsense like 'Theresa's jade feet—isn't this a kind of Dove (foot)?'"

"Pfft! Hahahaha!!!" Hearing this, Prometheus couldn't hold it in anymore. Her flat, calm cyber-baby voice even developed a rare tremor.

"The whole way! An entire way! I endured their barrage of twisted logic, but because my mouth was sealed, I couldn't fire back!" Fu Li kept muttering. "Anyway, this urgent desire to get my hands on Kikyo is also based on that. If I don't get this revenge, I'll change my surname from Fu!"

Battles come in two types: one protects life, the other protects dignity.

Fu Li could give up his life, but he couldn't give up his face! Even now, every time he recalled that humiliating past, his blood pressure shot up!

Case solved: the fundamental reason for plotting the 12th Divine Key was simply that Fu Li held a grudge.

Of course, that was only one reason. For some reason (laughs), ever since the Far East branch rebelled against Schicksal in 2016, Herrschers had been popping up like dumplings. World Serpent, a super-sized organization rivaling Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, had surfaced, stirring up the storm alongside countless inhuman monsters.

His pre-rebirth experience had already taught Fu Li that disaster could fall from the sky even while sitting at home.

He wasn't some Touhou player who could dodge raindrops. Even if only to avoid dying so disgracefully in the coming great upheaval, he absolutely couldn't sit around waiting for death!

Besides, this time, his initial ten-pull had been lucky enough to net him a backup.

[Name: Flying Thunder God Kunai]

[Grade: B]

[Classification: Item/Consumable]

[Effect: A one-time consumable; a pair of oddly shaped throwing weapons.

By placing one at a location, the holder of the other (single user only) can teleport to the first kunai's location. Teleportation range: radius of fifty kilometers. This item's teleportation effect ignores interference from A-rank and below skills and items.]

[Note: Smooth sailing is the lullaby of the weak; cutting through thorns is the anthem of the strong.]

With a precious one-time spatial item like the Flying Thunder God Kunai in hand, even if he lost, Fu Li could still save his life.

If he didn't go all in now, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself!

Compared to the convenience of leaving Changkong City, returning took Fu Li the better part of the night.

This was mainly because he took a detour to the underground black market in a nearby urban district to purchase a handle, fittings, scabbard, and various other accessories to equip the Mikazuki Munechika, nicknamed Little March.

Future Fund had taken the blade directly from the Tokyo Museum; in its exhibition state, the Mikazuki had no scabbard or mountings—just a bare blade.

A sword isn't a woman; using it naked definitely doesn't feel right. Even with women, many times it's more comfortable to use them after adding a little playful accessory like stockings.

What Fu Li chose was a set modeled after the design of a demon blade from a popular action game from a few years back.

White handle wrap over black ray skin, with crossed wrapping.

Genuine ray skin appliqué, fine-grained, antique gilt copper fittings aged, black scabbard with gold flecks, paired with a dark green thick cord.

There was also currency exchange between the Honkai side and the real world; ability users weren't non-living things—they still needed to eat, drink, and relieve themselves.

It was just that the exchange rate between Crystals, the universal currency on the Honkai side issued by Schicksal, and real-world currency was quite pitiful. Just buying this set of mountings cost Fu Li nearly two-thirds of his savings.

Of course, expensive had its benefits. For example, the scabbard he held was forged from a Honkai-derived variant of iron birch wood, treated with the craftsman's unique Tiangong-XII Type nano-coating. In terms of hardness alone, it could even rival a D-rank blade.

With Fu Li's ambidextrous skill, he could easily use this to perform techniques similar to the Erren Duo.

Erren Duo: the scabbard resembles a walking stick, with the blade stored within. When someone tries to snatch it, the scabbard comes off and the blade emerges, allowing self-defense—hence the name.

What is now called a cane sword or stick sword.

After leaving the black market, Fu Li found a secluded park, deactivated Breath Concealment, took off the fox mask he used to cover his face, and stripped off his old clothes, destroying them all.

Then he retrieved the backpack he had hidden here earlier, took out a towel, cleaned up using the park's water supply, and changed into clean, stylish new clothes.

After changing in a flash, Fu Li looked at the little girl who had watched the whole process: "So? On your scale, what score would you give?"

He showed no shame at all about being naked in front of her.

Prometheus said venomously, "I don't know about that, but I do know that Little Great-Aunt will definitely cry when she learns the truth."

Case closed—the blade accessories, these new clothes, all of it was bought with the money Fu Li had embezzled from the plane ticket and concert ticket funds.

As for the score...

Having been with her host this long, Prometheus had noticed a strange phenomenon. Setting aside the impression from his demeanor, Fu Li's facial features were only at the level of being clean-cut. After tidying up, he could be rated as handsome, but that was where it stopped.

However, as time passed, this face, which should have grown tiresome, instead gradually filled with a kind of harmonious beauty that even an AI like her could perceive.

This definitely had nothing to do with affection or anything like that—it was simply that some people were born with such a trait.

At first glance, he blended into the crowd, and standing next to any pretty boy or handsome idol, he'd be utterly outshone in seconds.

But the longer you looked, the harder it was to look away. To sum it up simply: he was super easy on the eyes.

Thinking this, Prometheus glanced at the glib Fu Li.

"Little Great-Aunt will cry? No way. Her account—what was it, Pink Forehead—Pink-Haired Monster? Miss Fairy? Something—has millions of fans on β station alone. This kind of money is nothing to her."

"A bad host who embezzles funds and still acts righteous is trash!"

As for the easy-on-the-eyes thing, she would never tell this jerk!

"Besides, even though I embezzled the funds, I saved her life! A few million yen versus the happiness of the rest of her life—no matter how you look at it, the latter is a better deal, right?"

Standing with his back to the sunlight, Fu Li spread his arms. At that moment, it was as if the silhouette of some nameless grand bishop overlapped with his own.

This time, Prometheus didn't pick up the thread.

Mainly because, to be fair, she had to admit it was true.

Seeing Little AI's adorable head-shaking, Fu Li wanted to reach out and pat her.

After grabbing at air, he withdrew the Mikazuki Munechika from the Galaxy Bat under the girl's wary gaze and began installing the mountings he had bought onto it.

Thus, the famed Mikazuki Munechika was formally upgraded to Mikazuki Enma Blade.

Too bad it couldn't cut through space or separate two worlds, letting Fu Li soar to the top and one-shot the current strongest with a spatial slash.

You still need to work harder, Little March. First, go do ten kilometers of cardio!

After handling the equipment, he placed the Mikazuki back into the bat.

The Galaxy Bat's mechanism was quite user-friendly. Even if he took out the stored blade, as long as he didn't unleash that long-charged strike, it would at most pause its charge.

Not only would the previous time not be wasted, but putting it back would let it continue charging.

The ruins of Yae Village, where the Key of Corruption was located, were in the second-phase site of the Super Electric Technology Park on the southern outskirts of Changkong City. Raiden Ryoma, the head of Massive Electric, the company that initiated the project, was embroiled in a corruption scandal. He happily went off to "enlighten himself in the wilderness," and the company itself ground to a halt. The half-built tech park at the foot of the mountain became abandoned.

This was undoubtedly favorable for Fu Li's next move, but to be safe, he still planned to rest until evening before heading over.

On one hand, he hadn't slept all night and needed to recharge. On the other, he wanted to avoid any possible construction workers or protestors.

The Third Honkai hadn't happened yet. Did he really think the locals were blind, fighting in broad daylight until the sky went dark?

Chapter 19: "Kiana Cat's eyes sharpened!"

"I'm here, Host."

"What does our End-of-World Assistance System require for lottery sacrifice items?"

"Determined by the system itself."

"Can't you give me some details? That way I can collect them more easily."

"Determined by the system itself."

"You're being a rogue!"

"If the system weren't a rogue, Host could be doing a handstand and grabbing the Earth next second."

The little girl indicated that Host, your abacus beads are practically bouncing off my face—rein it in.

"Tch, so wordy!"

"Yes, yes, I'm wordy." Prometheus shrugged. "So for the next while, Host won't be seeing me for a bit."

Fu Li stopped in his tracks. "What do you mean?"

"System upgrade, temporary hibernation."

The End-of-World Assistance System was a growth-type armament that evolved alongside its host. After obtaining the Human Immortal Path, Fu Li's strength had already neared C-rank. With the boost from the Demonic Blade · Unknown Fire, his power could briefly reach B-rank breakthrough level.

Correspondingly, the system naturally had to evolve as well.

"I see."

Fu Li relaxed.

"Host's expression just now was quite amusing."

The little AI floating in midair raised an eyebrow, her uniquely cybernetic baby voice teasing: "Could it be... that you're reluctant to see Prometheus leave?"

Prometheus, how wicked.