Chapter Six: Thunder That Originates From the Long Sky (3)

Kaslana, the same surname as Kiana, Mei looked at his white hair, seemingly reminded of something.

Although Xing smiled brightly on the surface, he was panicking internally. (Oh crap, I actually ran into Mei! What do I do? I just followed her on impulse. Speaking of which, that vision was actually searching for Honkai Energy? Is it a Honkai version of 'Elemental Sight'? Let's call it Honkai Sight. No, the important thing is, Mei is super unstable right now! She could Herrscher-ize at any moment, what do I do? Am I going to die before I even achieve anything?)

Just like when he took the Book of Cang Xuan from Taixu Mountain, he didn't consider the risk of being struck on the head with a precise strike by some Shenzhou inhabitant later. Now, he also didn't consider the possibility of Mei killing him casually after Herrschering.

"Are you Kiana's cousin?" Mei asked, her mind a bit chaotic.

"..." The worst is the sudden silence.

"I'm a boy," Xing said with a dark expression. "Also, I don't think I'm related to that Kiana you're talking about."

"Oh, then I don't need to be merciful to you?" Mei tilted her head and asked, her purple eyes slowly showing the cross-shaped pupils of a Herrscher.

"Huh?" Xing instinctively jumped back. In that instant, a lightning bolt struck where he had been standing.

"Not a bad reaction, little brother. Can you dodge this too?" Herrscher Mei giggled like a yandere, purple electricity coursing through her, burning several holes in her school uniform and turning her black stockings into a battle-worn version.

"Why does what I fear always happen? Did I use up all my luck drawing for Old Ai?" Xing trembled as he looked at Mei who had switched to Oni-Kiana armor, wanting to cry but having no tears.

Raven, far away, was almost scared to death. She wished she could rush over, pull the little guy back, and spank him hard. The problem was, she couldn't break free right now.

The silver-haired ** clad in heavy black and red armor, controlling a similarly colored mechanical behemoth, launched a fierce attack at the mercenary. "Hey, can you let me pass since we're the same color?" Raven asked sincerely.

"Bronya has no gray," was the reply, accompanied by a heavy punch from Heavy-Duty Rabbit 19C.

Why did these two start fighting? Let's rewind a few minutes.

When Raven discovered Xing approaching Mei, her first instinct was to go and bring him back. So what was the point of the tracker you implanted in him? Didn't you enable real-time tracking mode?

Raven: "That's Jackal's stuff, and the location shows it's with her. How was I supposed to know?"

Well, it turns out Kevin was right. Jackal is very useful, but only for research and development. Sorry, I got sidetracked.

However, the moment Raven made her move, her mercenary instincts made her sense danger. She quickly drew her bow and shot an arrow behind her, causing the just-fired shell from Heavy-Duty Rabbit to explode.

"Searching for character data... Search complete. Similarity to mercenary Raven is as high as 97.413%. Danger level S-class. Requesting authorization to use Otherworld Black Nucleus Erosion Armor. Authorization granted." The moment Raven turned around, Bronya went berserk on the spot, leaving her completely bewildered.

Looking at the overwhelming barrage of firepower, Raven felt a faint sadness. Why did things get messed up again?

Meanwhile, Cocolia's face darkened. "Why are people from World Serpent here? Don't tell me... Gray Serpent, are you going to break your deal with me?!"

(Gray Serpent: "This is Jackal's fault. I'm not taking the blame.")

Dark red raven feathers and rampant gunpowder intertwined as the two S-class combatants clashed fiercely. Raven had no intention of fighting. She flung a large number of raven feathers to try and obscure the enemy's vision to escape, but the next second, a white light enveloped the battlefield.

"Damn it, a flashbang?!"

They were interfering with each other's vision, but in reality, only Raven was affected because Bronya had a thermal sensing system; seeing or not seeing made no difference.

Despite the visual obstruction, Raven's senses remained sharp. After dodging a ground-shattering punch from Heavy-Duty Rabbit, she quickly pinpointed the enemy's location and swung her claws, creating a shower of sparks. It was clear she had hit a steel plate.

"Are all kids these days this strong? Natural Stigmata, Herrscher Cores, and Stand users?" Raven, a civilian player, felt exhausted.

Back to Xing, he dodged left and right, barely surviving in the lightning-filled hellscape. He didn't notice that the Book of Cang Xuan bracelet on his hand was slowly absorbing the surrounding high-concentration Honkai Energy.

"(Ancient Era Language) High-concentration Honkai Energy detected... Energy replenishment in progress... Minimum energy threshold met... Unknown user detected, access denied... Unknown user detected holding Feather Crossing Dust... Activating emergency mode... Initiating neural connection..."

Red feathers surged from the boy's body, forming a pair of uniquely shaped dual guns in his hand. Stimulated by the Honkai Energy, this Divine Key finally reconnected. Xing quickly pulled the trigger, and a beam of electricity shot towards Herrscher Mei, only to be disintegrated mid-flight by her.

"You're trying to use lightning against the Thunder Queen??" Herrscher Mei stood in place, looking at Xing who was blown away by the recoil, and mocked him.

...I forgot that Mortal Tribulation Difficult to Cross uses lightning. And doesn't it have buffs for ice, fire, and lightning elemental damage? Can't it have a function to convert attack attributes like the Book of Cang Xuan?

"Neural connection complete. Welcome to the Book of Cang Xuan Artificial Intelligence System. Due to insufficient energy reserves, the advanced AI system has been shut down. Basic intelligent mode is now active. This system was developed by the beautiful and intelligent Cang Xuan and Dr. Dan Zhu, and possesses various functions such as household teaching, combat guidance, and poetry collections. Danger detected in your current situation. Combat guidance module activated."

He inexplicably heard a strange voice, but the words "Book of Cang Xuan" made him understand what was happening.

"Detected changes in the form of the Key of Consciousness... Analyzing... Analysis successful... Hidden mode discovered... Activation successful... Output power of the Key of Consciousness adjusted... Insufficient energy, forced shutdown."

The voice disappeared, but Xing clearly felt that Mortal Tribulation Difficult to Cross was easier to handle, and new functions were now available to him, seemingly allowing him to adjust attributes and attack modes.

Herrscher Mei threw another energy ball, and Xing pulled the trigger again. A fireball whistled out, and even the recoil was significantly reduced.

Fire + Lightning = Overload. A brilliant firework bloomed in mid-air.

"Hmm, interesting. Let's increase the difficulty." Herrscher Mei became interested. Several energy balls formed around her. Xing adjusted Mortal Tribulation Difficult to Cross to scatter shot mode, and the two began to exchange fire. Whether it was Xing's shooting talent or the Book of Cang Xuan activating auto-aim for Mortal Tribulation Difficult to Cross before shutting down, he always hit his mark.

But as they fought, Xing noticed a problem: the hit-and-run guerrilla warfare consumed a lot of stamina, and Mortal Tribulation Difficult to Cross seemed to be running out of power. To be precise, the Honkai Energy wasn't enough. Fortunately, Herrscher Mei also gradually reduced her attack frequency to its previous level, otherwise, he would be in danger.

Wait!

If she lowered her output power, wouldn't she also be running out of energy? The Herrscher Mei in front of him hadn't caused the Honkai incident in Changkong City yet, and she was far from the Third Herrscher from the original story who was defeated by Kiana with a baseball bat. At most, she was a pseudo-Herrscher. She couldn't draw Honkai Energy from the Imaginary Space like a true Herrscher, meaning I could try to charge forward.

With this thought, Xing took a deep breath, raised his hand, and shouted, "Wait a minute!"

Unexpectedly, Herrscher Mei actually stopped. "What, want to beg for mercy, little bug? If you're willing to kneel and lick my feet, I might consider making you my vassal~"

What if I suddenly want to surrender?

However, Herrscher Mei's attitude indirectly confirmed his guess. The boy's lips curled into a smirk:

"What are you thinking, you bratty girl? How old are you and you still call yourself a queen? Even chuunibyou isn't as exaggerated as you."

"..." The electricity around Herrscher Mei slowly dissipated.

What's going on? Did I make her speechless? I didn't even use particularly harsh words?

"I will decompose you—" Herrscher Mei slowly raised her hand, and electricity gathered in mid-air to form a giant katana. "—into atoms!" Just as she was about to swing the blade, a beam of electricity accurately hit her between the eyebrows. The katana dissipated, and Herrscher Mei slowly collapsed.

"Oh no! The Herrscher of Thunder got zapped unconscious!"

"Tch, releasing a skill with such a long wind-up without any protection? You're just as pathetic as that guy who got thrashed by a Titan." Xing blew on Feather Crossing Dust, which was still sparking, with disdain. "Speaking of which, what's happening over there? All those flames, is Natasha okay?" The boy looked at the raging fire in the distance, feeling a bit sorry for the park.

"Let's carry her away first." The boy walked to her side, his gaze involuntarily falling on her stockings, which were full of holes. No one was here, it wouldn't hurt to lick them, right?

Xing shook his head, intending to pick up Mei, who was a size bigger than him. However, the moment he touched her, a flood of memories surged into his brain.

"Did you hear? Her dad got arrested for embezzling public funds! The president of ME Company!"

"Really? Then is she still the eldest daughter of ME Company?"

"Eldest daughter? People can't wait to avoid her. Hey, what do you say we go doodle on her desk later?"

"These are Mei's memories, why? Is it because of Mortal Tribulation Difficult to Cross? But how did I use it?" Xing felt dizzy from the impact of these dark memories. Once he finally recovered, he saw a familiar figure.

Bronya, clad in the Otherworld Black Nucleus Erosion Armor, was pale-faced. The Heavy-Duty Rabbit 19C behind her was also severely damaged, with several bleeding, long wounds on its abdomen that looked like they were cut by something sharp. But the most striking thing was the horde of mechs with glowing blue eyes following behind her.

"An anomaly has occurred. Plan changed, recover Raiden Mei ahead of schedule."

Xing thought, I just beat you twice, do you really need to bring a bunch of Titans? And what kind of luck am I having today? Just finished fighting a low-spec Oni-Kiana, and now I get a battle-damaged Black Lily with a Titan legion bonus package?

As Xing panicked, Mei in his arms slowly opened her eyes.

"I'll pay extra!"

"Even with extra payment, it's no good. Don't you see how bad it is over there? I don't want the fare, let's just go home, young lady."

"Damn it." Kiana was forced out of the car, then bolted, rushing towards the park. Her intuition told her Mei was there!

"Hey, young lady! Sigh, why are young people so into thrills these days?"

Another memory flooded into his brain, but it was different from the previous one.

This was a girl's story. Although she lost her mother at a young age, her father took good care of her (by implanting the Gem of Conquest to suppress her Stigmata's berserk state). Later, she met a "Humo Swordsaint" who taught her Hokushin Itto-ryu, and her classmates were also very close to her. She was living a happy life until—

Her father, Raiden Ryoma, was imprisoned for embezzling public funds, and her so-called "friends" left her one by one, even ostracizing her. Even the Humo Swordsaint disappeared, plunging the girl's world into darkness. Fortunately, that angelic girl appeared by her side, bringing her back to the light.

One day, she discovered another "her" within her body. "She" possessed a terrifying power capable of controlling lightning and craved destruction. She desperately suppressed the second personality's destructive urges and stayed away from people before losing control, accidentally encountering a boy with the same bloodline as Kiana.

In a moment of distraction, "she" took control of the body. Fortunately, the boy defeated "her." It was truly remarkable...

"You're making me blush, it's nothing special. But I might need your help now, can you lend me your power, Mei?"

Dark clouds gathered over Changkong City, and the distant rumble of thunder could be heard.

"I activate the effect of [Thunder Queen's Oni-Kiana] from my graveyard, banish myself, and Special Summon two 2-star Oni-Kiana Tokens on the field! And treat them as Tuner monsters!"

Purple electricity flowed between the two, forming two halos.

"I use the two 2-star Oni-Kiana Tokens and the 4-star Raiden Mei for a Synchro Summon with my 4-star self!"

2★ + 4★ + 4★ = 10★

The girl's body dissolved into countless light particles, then condensed into a purple katana, with four halos now encircling the boy.

"Thunder originates from Changkong, judging all here! Be awed by the might of the Thunder Queen! Synchro Summon! Appear here, Level 10, Kiana's Vassal!"

Six halos enveloped Xing's body. His small frame instantly grew taller, his white shoulder-length hair turned purple and cascaded down to his waist. He was clad in samurai armor, his purple-red heterochromatic eyes opened, and he grasped the katana.

"I can do anything now," he calmly looked at the enemy before him, as if at a rabbit and a pile of toys.

Meanwhile, at the Schicksal Far East Branch—

"Reporting, Miss Theresa, the Herrscher-level Honkai Energy reaction has reappeared in Changkong City!"

"Understood, Himeko. Let's sortie with the Hyperion!"