Honkai: I'll Transform and Give You a Punch

Kiana realized she hadn't felt the sensation of hugging someone and wondered if Bai Chen had dodged. Well, well, was this his rebellious phase? He wouldn't let his big sister hug him!

As Kiana raised her head, ready to grab the "escaped" Bai Chen, her eyes met everyone's horrified gazes. Every face had gone stiff with terror.

What were they looking at? Why were their eyes so frightening?

"Seele, don't look!"

"Bai Chen!!!"

"No!!!"

The scene instantly descended into chaos, and only then did Kiana realize where the problem lay.

Looking down, she saw Bai Chen's head lying quietly in her arms. His eyes still held the joy of their impending embrace, but they were slowly turning to ash.

The reason she hadn't felt Bai Chen in her arms was that, the instant she embraced his body, it had turned to ashes and scattered away—as though she had hugged Bai Chen into ashes.

Bai Chen's unchanging expression was reflected in Kiana's eyes. Fear, anger, grief, and countless other emotions surged over her like a tide, leaving her unable to decide what expression to make.

"Little Bai?"

Elysia Had Disappeared ### "Dead?"

Kallen asked.

"Objectively speaking... dead."

Fu Hua nodded.

"Definitely dead."

Ji Lin reached the same conclusion.

"Hey! I'm not dead yet, okay?! If I die, I'll take all of you down with me!"

Unable to stand their detached remarks any longer, Bai Chen hurriedly interrupted them.

"No, heavens, I died way too fast!"

Bai Chen's soul floated beside Kiana as he watched his body nearly finish dispersing, his face wearing an expression like he was severely constipated.

He had actually guessed that his body would not be able to hold up. Otherwise, he would not have decisively linked the World Bubble and his spirit together.

Although the divine artifact Dignity had suppressed his body's pain at the time, it had not withstood damage on that level.

In other words, that nearly invincible power for those two minutes was not something he could use whenever he wanted.

Use it again, and his legs would probably break.

Unfortunately, his body had died too quickly. Otherwise, he could have left some last words—like blurting out, "Mei, I don't want to die!" That would have been amusing. Sadly, he had not been given the chance.

Now that his body had dissipated, there was no point lingering here for the time being.

Besides, seeing everyone fall apart over the ashes made him feel awful too.

With a thought, Bai Chen entered the World Bubble. The instant he entered, he discovered something unusual.

His soul had a physical form in this World Bubble? Was it because the World Bubble itself was connected to his soul?

Not only that, he could freely shift between physical and incorporeal states. It was a truly wondrous feeling.

Kallen, Fu Hua, and Ji Lin's conscious spiritual bodies could also exist independently in this world. As expected of something born from the combination of divine power and a creation—it had many convenient aspects.

After trying the switch between corporeal and incorporeal forms several times, Bai Chen looked around and found that the surroundings had indeed returned to their peaceful state. Now, they only needed to wait for the original inhabitants to repair the damaged buildings.

Then Bai Chen headed for the apartment to meet the Thirteen Flame-Chasers. He had saved everyone, after all. Surely each of them ought to praise him properly?

But when Bai Chen arrived at the apartment, he received some bad news.

"Elysia disappeared?!"

Bai Chen looked in shock at the grim-faced group. What was going on? Had the Herrscher of Erosion attacked ahead of time? No, this was not a data space, and Elysia was not a memory entity.

"No idea. She suddenly vanished a few minutes ago."

Kevin frowned as he recalled what had just happened. This was the first time he had encountered something like this.

A few minutes ago? That should have been right after he returned to the main world. What exactly was going on?

"Still, Bai Chen, thank you for saving this world."

One matter was one matter. They needed to thank the savior before them.

"Mm."

Bai Chen nodded in response. With Elysia's sudden disappearance, he had no mood for what he had originally come here to do.

But damn it—ever since he entered, Mobius had been smiling over there. Was Elysia not being around really enough to make her this happy?

"Mobius, you're smiling so happily. Do you know something?"

Bai Chen frowned and questioned Mobius. If he still had a body, he definitely would have dragged her outside to serve him tea and water.

"Bai Chen, that's not what the Doctor means."

Before Mobius could say anything, Klein, standing to the side, stepped forward to explain on her behalf.

"No, it's just that I feel you're actually quite a lot like me in certain ways, Bai Chen."

The moment Mobius saw the soul forms of Bai Chen and the others, she instantly understood many things. Bai Chen existed for the continuation of a certain concept; in truth, his bottom line was much like hers.

"?"

Bai Chen felt that this woman was spouting nonsense. How was he like her? He certainly would not conduct human experiments.

"No, I'm not."

Mobius smiled without explaining further. She was in an exceptionally good mood now, in every sense of the word. As for that woman Elysia? Who cared about her? Their relationship was not good anyway.

"Contact me if anything comes up."

Seeing that they would not be able to discuss anything useful, Mobius left first. Since the world had been restored, those instruments should be able to be repaired and used normally again.

She could use those instruments to test the items Elysia often used. Perhaps she might obtain some clues about Elysia.

Of course, it was not because she wanted to find her. She merely wanted to understand the principles behind her departure from this world. It was just scientific curiosity.

"Then I'll be leaving first, Bai Chen. Thanks."

With a comical smile, Vill-V gave Bai Chen a rather exaggerated bow, then spun around several times on the spot and flashed back upstairs. She also had several pieces of equipment she could take out and use again. Hopefully, she could find some clues.

"Hey, Kevin, where are you going?"

Chijie suddenly noticed Kevin carrying a basket and preparing to head out. Curious, he asked where he was going.

"Doesn't Elysia often describe herself as being as splendid as flying blossoms? So I'm planning to look for her in the garden."

Kevin raised the basket in his hand and answered calmly.

"..."

"Uh..."

"6."

Seeing everyone present wearing expressions of extreme speechlessness, Kevin spoke again.

"Sorry, that was a joke. Everyone seemed to be in a bad mood, so I was trying to liven things up. Actually, I'm going to find Mei and see whether she has any ideas."

"Kevin, everyone has their own strengths. You don't need to force yourself to do things you aren't suited for."

Aponia closed her eyes and offered a tactful reminder.

Then Aponia looked toward Bai Chen again. After Bai Chen's alterations, their world was almost unrelated to the one before it. Did that not also fulfill her former prophecy of the world's destruction?

"Has Kevin always been like this?"

While Fu Hua and Hua were staring wide-eyed at each other off to the side, Fu Hua suddenly asked this.

"Although I don't know which Kevin you know, our Kevin really has always been like this."

Hua said that after spending so long with him, she had nearly gotten used to it—used to ignoring what he said.

While everyone was discussing matters, in the Elysian Realm of the main world, the memory-form Elysia suddenly opened her eyes.

A trace of surprise flashed through her gaze as a mysterious sensation filled her entire body.

"A great many memories that shouldn't exist have suddenly appeared in my mind? No, that's not right—they're my memories. So that's how it is. A world like this actually exists."

Within a few breaths, Elysia adapted to her new state. She now had a feeling that she was no longer merely a memory-form.

Unaware of what was happening on Elysia's side, Bai Chen fell into thought after speaking with everyone.

As the First Herrscher, Elysia was indeed rather special. It was not surprising for something Bai Chen could not understand to happen to her.

The most likely possibility at present was that Elysia was in this world. After all, she had vanished from this world in an instant; as long as she was still in this world, they should be able to find some clues.

Then the question was, what about the outside world?

She did not have a body now. Had her body returned to heaven and earth?

Should he try drawing from the lottery?

Bai Chen looked at the more than thirty draws in the system inventory and fell silent for a moment.

System transfer in progress...

Congratulations! You have obtained Nutrient Solution *20!

Congratulations! You have obtained [Bottomless Instant Noodles]!

Congratulations! You have obtained [World Operation Manual]!

Congratulations! You have obtained Nutrient Solution *8!

Come invite your friends to draw too!

Not bad. It seemed he had drawn something useful.

Bai Chen opened the instant noodles and began checking their information, hoping it would be something as practical as Dignity.

Bottomless Instant Noodles: While eating instant noodles, a transmigrator suddenly had an idea. Every time he was almost done eating, it was never enough; but if he bought more, he would get too full and be unable to eat them. It simply could not satisfy his desire to keep eating noodles forever!

Thus, he developed instant noodles that could endlessly replenish themselves by consuming energy. They were easy to use.

What the hell?

Bai Chen stared at the thing with the expression of an old man looking at a phone on the subway. It was that ridiculous book from last time, the one that only revealed its text when exposed to fire!

He had once tried burning it with low-temperature fire, but it had been useless. It could only be burned with ordinary flames!

Not bothering with something that might make Kevin ecstatic, Bai Chen opened the next item.

World Operation Manual: This item becomes a guaranteed drop upon detecting that the host possesses a small world.

Worried that you cannot fully utilize your small world? This essential beginner's guide will teach you some basic applications. Would you like to learn?

/No

A guaranteed item? It seemed the system's creator had at least some conscience. Though, if learning this time didn't send him into that space, would that space automatically reconstruct his body?

Feeling that the possibility was high, Bai Chen decisively clicked it. With a flash of white light, he was dragged into the training space.

Unlike before, because Kallen and the others were inside the World Bubble this time, they were not all teleported in together.

The instant he entered the mysterious space, Bai Chen ignited that special flame of his. Before long, he had reconstructed his body.

After recovering his body, Bai Chen jumped around on the spot a few times. Nothing seemed wrong. It looked like the system's repairs were reliable?

Then Bai Chen looked at the sky, where dense lines of text filled the air. They all seemed to be something like beginner tutorials?

Basic applications of space: simply partitioning off portions of space, simply concealing portions of space, simply folding portions of space, simply projecting portions of space outward...

Too much! Did he have to learn all of this?!

Bai Chen went numb. When was he supposed to learn this stuff?!

In the main world, after watching Bai Chen vanish, Otto immediately rushed toward St. Freya with Rita. If Durandal had not been out on a mission, he definitely would have brought her along as well.

That guy Bai Chen was far too good at causing trouble! He had finally seen Bai Chen display results that satisfied him, only for him to disappear the very next second!