First Meeting with Youhui

In the endless darkness, Xing's consciousness gradually began to function again:

"What happened? I remember defeating King OOO with Mr. Eiji, and then... then what happened? Damn it, my memory cuts off here." He tried to open his eyes, only to see a golden-haired, golden-eyed girl before him.

The girl said with a straight face, "You're awake? The surgery was a success. You're a girl now."

Xing's mind immediately went BOOM. He hurriedly sat up from the bed and reached for his lower body. Only after confirming everything was still there did he breathe a sigh of relief, then turned to glare murderously at the girl, who was laughing nonstop.

"Hm? Are you Ying?" Her appearance and clothing both reminded him of that Traveler.

The girl quickly waved her hands. "No, I just used her as my persona after transmigrating. She has absolutely nothing to do with me."

Xing blinked. Had he just heard some incredible word?

The girl snapped her fingers. "No need to doubt it. You heard right—transmigration. Let me introduce myself. I'm your senior, ####... Tch, you still dare censor me here?!" Looking displeased, she pressed her hands together. When she opened them again, two ancient clocks were affixed to her palms.

"Miracle Appearance!"

It seemed as though something had been shattered.

The girl straightened her appearance and introduced herself again. "Let's try that again. Hello, I'm your senior, an Order Emissary, Nangong Youhui."

Xing blinked again. "Order... Emissary? What the hell is that?"

Youhui viciously hammered him on the head. "Could you show a little respect for your profession?"

Xing sucked in a breath, rubbing the rapidly swelling bump on his head with a deeply aggrieved expression. "My profession? What do you mean? Could you explain it more clearly, Miss Youhui?"

The moment Xing said those last four words, he clearly felt the surrounding air turn cold. Youhui looked at him with a smile on her face. "What did you just call me?" At some point, a radiant golden holy sword had appeared in her hand.

Cold sweat streamed down Xing's back. Youhui suddenly withdrew her killing intent. "Forget it. The ignorant are innocent, so I'll forgive you this time. Remember this: call me Senior You Hui, Boss Youhui, or just Youhui. If you dare use female terms to address me, I guarantee you'll get the same death as Diabolo."

Too frightened to speak, Xing nodded frantically.

Youhui nodded in satisfaction and poured herself two cups of tea. Then she called toward the door, "Shirou, the guest is awake. Is the food ready?"

Emiya Shirou entered the room carrying a huge platter of steaming food and placed it on the table. "Coming, coming. Hui, eat slowly. I'll be leaving first."

Youhui enthusiastically served Xing a bowl of rice. "Don't just sit there. Hurry and eat. Shirou's cooking is delicious. If you don't eat quickly, it won't be as good once it gets cold."

Xing felt like there was a lot to process, but he should eat first. He happened to be hungry.

The huge platter of delicacies was quickly swept clean by the two of them. Still wanting more, Youhui looked at Xing, who was also not yet full. "Boy, are you feeling completely confused?"

Xing nodded.

"That's right. Since you don't have a Guidance Module, you don't know the relevant information. Let your senior explain it to you."

Take the Imaginary Tree of the Honkai World as an example. You can imagine a great Imaginary Tree. The real world we live in forms its trunk, while worlds that exist only in fantasy, such as Honkai, form its branches.

We call the real world the Main Branch World, while those that make up the branches are called Branch Worlds. There are countless of them, constantly growing and dying at every moment. The flourishing and decline of worlds are natural matters, so there is no need to care about them.

However, a tree's growth is not always smooth. There is a mysterious force that forcibly connects two different Branch Worlds together. If it is not stopped, those two worlds will eventually be destroyed due to their incompatibility. But that is not the only terrifying part—the chain reaction that follows will ultimately spread to the respective "branches" upon which those two worlds reside.

Therefore, in order to stabilize the growth of the great Imaginary Tree, the God of Order selects people with special aptitudes from the Main Branch World, grants them the rank of emissaries, and allows them to travel through myriad worlds to restore stability to them.

Youhui took a sip of tea. "Do you understand now?"

"So," Xing said seriously, "does this mean I can go to the world of Genshin Impact in the future and watch the Herrscher fight the Heavenly Principles?"

Youhui glanced at him. "You mean to ask whether you can go to other worlds in the future, right?"

"Yeah."

"No. You can go to worlds within the Mihoyo Universe, such as Genshin Impact and Tears of Themis, but under normal circumstances, you can't travel to other worlds."

Xing was puzzled. "Why?"

Youhui looked at him with both envy and pity. "There are two kinds of Order Emissaries. One kind is like me, the type that gets sent wherever help is needed. The other kind is like you—those who take root in a fixed world and protect the safety of that place."

Xing was deeply disappointed, but then suddenly remembered something. "Was it because I'm some kind of Order Emissary that I was unharmed after slapping the Will of Honkai?"

Youhui nodded. "That's right. Our rank is on the same level as the Tree and the Sea, perhaps even higher. But don't go thinking about chopping down the Tree. All our authority is invested in restoration and stabilization. The God of Order didn't grant us the authority to directly alter worlds."

"Why not?"

Youhui looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Do you feel like your will is being controlled?"

"No."

"Then there you have it. Why give so much authority to an unrestricted emissary? That would be very dangerous." Youhui took another sip of tea and said leisurely, "If something like what you encountered happens again in the future, don't worry about the destruction caused during the mission. Didn't Sougo tell you? Once the problem is resolved, everything will return to normal. Ah, though those who have close contact with an emissary might retain some changes."

Xing felt his head hurt. "What does that mean?"

Youhui flicked his forehead. "You'll know when you go back. See you next time. Bye-bye~"

Xing's consciousness sank into darkness once more.

Honkai Branch World, No. ?—

Durandal jolted awake from her dream, clutching her chest in lingering fear. "I... think I had a dream?"

Otto frowned. For some reason, he suddenly felt murderous intent toward a black-haired, red-eyed woman.

Rita looked at Theresa's photo. For some reason, it suddenly no longer seemed appealing.

At St. Freya Academy, Kiana, Mei, and Bronya were discussing where to choose a mission. "How about New Zealand? We can visit Xing along the way and ask whether he had the same dream as us."

On a certain street, Raven suddenly sneezed.

Xing followed the Valkyrie escorting him off the transport ship and saw the girl in the wheelchair again.

"Hello, Brother Xing."

Kamen Rider Branch World, ?—

Eiji handed an ice pop to Ankh, who had immediately taken over Shingo Izumi's body upon returning. "Here, Ankh. Today's ice pop."

"This is pissing me off! I'd already fully revived, so why are three Core Medals missing again?"

(Volume Two: Medals, Ice Pops, and the Hand We Must Grasp has concluded. Volume Three: Fire Moth, Sortie! is about to begin.)

Author's Note—

Time for some sweetness! This time, there are no knives hidden in the sugar!