Honkai, I'll Transform and Punch You

"Otto, the Bishop?"

Bai Chen asked knowingly, with a hint of mischief.

"I'm more curious about how you obtained Kallen's power."

According to Otto's investigation, Bai Chen's powers relied on people around him whom he knew. But where had he borrowed Kallen's power from? Kallen had been gone for five hundred years.

Although Kallen's body had been preserved to this day, Bai Chen should not have had any way to come into contact with it.

"Kiana and I once entered a special Schicksal database. There, I..."

Without hiding anything, Bai Chen told Otto how he had obtained that power.

At first, Otto said he vaguely remembered it. He had indeed noticed Kiana and Bai Chen entering the database once.

But when he heard the rest, he became somewhat unsettled.

"Impossible. How could simulated data develop consciousness? And it's even more impossible for it to possess Kallen's memories!"

Otto directly declared it impossible! The NPCs in that data space had all been created by him. How could he not know the limits of their simulations?

Besides, even if that one-in-a-hundred-million possibility truly happened and Kallen's data broke through the singularity to develop self-awareness, she still could not possibly possess Kallen's memories.

Because those things were merely programmed settings. The real Kallen's memory should only know Yae Sakura as a concept. Even if it saw Yae Sakura, it should not have recognized her!

Serenity Gem

Although Otto questioned Bai Chen, Bai Chen said he did not know either.

What else could he do? That Kallen really did possess some of Kallen's memories, even if they were incomplete.

He had never specifically studied that sort of thing. Talking to him about such profound matters would not get them anywhere.

"Consciousness can match a new vessel, but a vessel cannot gather a dissipated soul..."

Otto muttered under his breath, a rather unsettling conjecture forming in his mind.

But it was only a conjecture. It would not shake Otto's resolve to carry out his original plan, though it did give him another avenue to explore.

After calming down, Otto looked at Bai Chen again and immediately felt much better. Then he said:

"Since you are so strong, and you have nothing better to do, I should find you some proper work."

Otto began operating the system, and before long, he found a fairly suitable assignment.

"Huh? Aren't you prohibited from employing child labor?"

The moment Bai Chen heard that Otto wanted to find him something to do, he felt listless. Mainly because he had no motivation.

"Then let's call it an internship. You'll get academic credits but no pay, so it won't count as employing child labor."

Otto narrowed his eyes with a smile, yet the words from his mouth were so vicious.

"I think those are two separate matters. I'm an adult after I transform, actually."

Seeing Otto about to dock his pay, Bai Chen immediately straightened his attitude and spoke up. Who would ever refuse money?

Otto smiled but said no more. At that moment, an urgent notification suddenly came through on his communicator. After taking two glances at it, Otto directly forwarded the assignment to Bai Chen's communicator.

"I originally intended to assign you a different task, but what a coincidence. An accident has occurred here. Bai Chen, would you like to take a look?"

An accident had just happened? Bai Chen opened the received assignment and carefully read its objective.

The more Bai Chen read, the more tightly his brow furrowed, and some memories gradually resurfaced in his heart.

Simply put, Schicksal was about to begin a new round of experiments. The goal was to study how to unleash the Serenity Gem's power.

Since the Herrscher of Death's core was filled with uncertainty, there needed to be at least one person present who could contain the situation and prevent the test subject from going berserk.

Back to their old ways? They never gave up on human experimentation!?

A surge of fury suddenly welled up within Bai Chen. What was Otto trying to do? Did he not know how strongly Bai Chen detested this sort of thing?!

"Otto!"

Bai Chen suddenly glared at Otto, the sharp light in his eyes seeming to pierce straight through Otto's heart.

That look... it was the same as when Kallen discovered the human experiments he had conducted behind her back. Kallen, perhaps you truly are alive in some form?

No! That was ridiculous.

Otto denied the feeling in his heart, then said to Bai Chen, "Please do not misunderstand, my friend. These test subjects all volunteered."

Bai Chen coldly watched Otto explain himself. They had indeed volunteered. At the very least, they had volunteered for this experiment.

Human experimentation had indeed brought benefits. Many of Schicksal's later God-Slaying Armors had been built upon this bloody data.

But so what? Human experimentation was still human experimentation. It could not change Otto's attitude of treating Valkyries as expendable objects.

That was also why Anti-Entropy mainly used machines. In that sense, Anti-Entropy truly had more humanity than Schicksal. Unfortunately, it had produced that bitch Cocolia.

That was getting off track. Bai Chen planned to accept the assignment. With him present, not only could he protect everyone's safety, he might even save someone who was otherwise destined to die.

Bai Chen stared at a useful item in his system space and made up his mind.

"I'll take it."

Bai Chen stopped fooling around, accepted the task with an icy expression, and walked out.

The assignment was scheduled for the afternoon, and the location was displayed on the communicator. He only needed to head over after lunch and wait.

After returning to his original body, Bai Chen looked sorrowfully at the floating clouds below. Was Otto really that kind of person? Bai Chen remembered that Otto had not been so utterly inhuman during the Middle Ages.

Could five hundred years truly change someone so much?

At that moment, Kallen inside Bai Chen was somewhat baffled. She did not understand why Bai Chen had become so angry after seeing an experiment, because she did not yet know what it represented.

"You seem troubled."

Seeing Bai Chen run out in displeasure, Rita followed after him with concern.

"Rita, is Schicksal really okay like this?"

Bai Chen knew that question was terribly naive, but sometimes he only wanted to know someone's stance.

"Bai Chen, sometimes we only need to do what we are supposed to do."

Rita did not directly answer Bai Chen's question. Nor could she make any move that betrayed Otto.

"Do what I'm supposed to do? I understand. I'll do it."

A gleam flashed through Bai Chen's eyes. Otto, you old bastard, hurry up and step down already!

That afternoon, Bai Chen followed the signs to the experimental site.

Although he thought he had arrived early enough, a group of people had already gathered in the laboratory. Their enthusiasm seemed quite high... Bai Chen truly could not get along with people like them.

"Lin, are you really going to participate in this experiment? This experiment is dangerous."

An elderly man who clearly held considerable status among the researchers held a young girl's hands, his words filled with worry.

"As long as you refuse now, I'll immediately apply to the Bishop. You won't have to undergo this experiment."

The young girl called Lin, however, rejected the old man's kindness. A calm, sunny smile rested on her face.

"Don't worry, Grandpa. If the Bishop succeeds this time, we'll be able to fight Honkai better. I'll definitely become a Valkyrie who can protect everyone!"

Lin, you have lofty ideals, but your body cannot bear them.

Bai Chen calmly watched the two before him and could not help sighing inwardly. Since Lin was the one undergoing the experiment, did that mean the people before her had already been sacrificed?

This old man was better known as Dr. Maki. Although he was an exceptionally rare genius, he was also an old bastard who never understood pain until the stone hit him personally.

During the previous experiments, he complained that there were not enough test subjects. But when his granddaughter stepped up, he panicked and suddenly realized it was too cruel to continue.

Then the bastard turned around and stole the Serenity Gem for Cocolia!

Damn it, that was Cocolia! The notorious whore of the Honkai world! At least Otto could clean up after the bad things he did!

Cocolia did not do a single human thing! She was behind Changkong City, and if Kiana had not stopped her in time in the manga, Singapore would have been destroyed too.

Two cities, populations in the millions, sacrificed just like that!

Was there really someone that monstrous? They clearly had the ability to study the gem, yet she chose to sacrifice everyone to get results quickly.

How could anyone trust someone like that... Should he go beat up this old man to vent his anger now?

No, with his current strength, one punch would probably cost him hundreds of thousands in compensation.

Wait, there seemed to be a way to beat him up legally.

Dead, Huh

Soon, the experiment began in an orderly fashion. As the Bishop, Otto had also arrived early to observe the proceedings.

"Bai Chen... could this be..."

Kallen inside Bai Chen also realized something was wrong. Even at a glance, this atmosphere did not resemble a normal experiment!

Trembling and fury gradually seeped into her voice.

"Yes, it's that kind of thing."

Bai Chen calmly watched the experiment proceed. In the Honkai Impact 3rd world, every major power had some darkness hidden within it...

That was normal. The bigger the forest, the more strange birds it had. As long as he did not see it, Bai Chen could not be bothered to investigate such things on his own. He was not really that noble.

"..."

Though Kallen fell silent, Bai Chen, as her vessel, could still clearly feel the volcanic fury within her.

"Don't worry. I'll act."

After slightly soothing Kallen, Bai Chen made his plans inwardly and continued watching the experiment in the laboratory.

Seeing Dr. Maki clearly knowing that this experiment would definitely kill someone, yet still praying that his granddaughter would be safe, Bai Chen found it amusing.

Bai Chen found it amusing now. In a little while, he would let the old man have a laugh too.

"Dr. Maki, you do not seem as excited as usual today. When five Valkyries died because of the experiments a month ago, you did not even break a sweat, did you? You kept saying there were not enough test subjects. Why are you so nervous now? Oh, perhaps it is because this test subject is your granddaughter?"

Otto was standing to the side, seemingly casually mocking Dr. Maki. Who knew whether he was doing it deliberately, or whether he simply loved poking at other people's wounds by nature.

"..."

Dr. Maki, drenched in cold sweat, stared anxiously at Lin in the laboratory. In his mind appeared the image of Lin's joy when she had just become an A-rank Valkyrie.

Naive Lin had always believed that Valkyries were a group dedicated to protecting world peace. She had celebrated for days after becoming an A-rank Valkyrie.

"What a kind child. Just one sentence that unleashing the gem's power could protect humanity, and she obediently volunteered for the experiment..."

"Enough!"

Unable to bear Otto's words any longer, Dr. Maki slammed his fist against the isolation wall before him. Only now did he truly understand what unforgivable sins the previous experiments had committed.

Bai Chen did not care about his repentance and even found it faintly ridiculous. He merely focused on observing the experiment's progress.

Soon, the experiment reached the moment when the Serenity Gem was placed into Lin's body.

As the gem fused with her, a stigma mark identical to Seele's appeared on Lin's chest.

Bai Chen looked at that mark with some confusion. If he brought Seele here to fuse with it now, would that cause the Herrscher of Death to appear ahead of time?

No, it would probably be different. After all, artificial creation and natural awakening were fundamentally different.

A classic example was Mei's two Herrscher of Thunder forms.

When the Serenity Gem's fusion rate reached 7.2 percent, obvious pain appeared on Lin's face.

Soon, alarms blared from the laboratory equipment. The flashing red lights completely shattered Dr. Maki's last trace of hope!

"Warning! Warning! An error has occurred during fusion! The test subject's body cannot withstand the Honkai energy..."

Bang!!!

The container holding Lin exploded in an instant, and all the nutrient fluid inside spilled out.

"!"

The staff in the same room as Lin saw her emerge from the container and all turned pale with fright, curling up in the corners of the room!

Black gas visibly continued to seep from Lin's body! The staff did their utmost to avoid it.