Believe Me!

In the video—

"This is..." Himeko looked up at the dragon's roar, and her pupils suddenly contracted.

Cocolia's massive body tore through the clouds, its wings spread a full hundred meters wide.

Its scales shimmered with an eerie blue light beneath the moon, each one like a meticulously carved crystal.

But most terrifying of all were the glistening tears hanging from the dragon's eyes, refracting a tragic, beautiful glow in the light.

As Cocolia swooped down, lightning began to rain from the sky.

"Watch out!" Ye Li shoved Himeko aside, only to be hurled several meters away by the hurricane whipped up by the dragon's wings.

Cocolia let out a mournful cry, its dragon breath sweeping across the deck in an icy-blue beam.

The battleship's turrets instantly froze beneath the absolute-zero breath, then crumbled into dust.

"Damn it!" Himeko barely managed to steady herself, a layer of frost already covering her armor.

She raised her greatsword, only to find that her arm had stiffened from the cold.

Cocolia's tail suddenly swept toward her. She only had time to block with her greatsword before being sent flying.

"Himeko!" Ye Li's voice rang out.

Himeko felt someone catch her, but the impact still left a metallic sweetness in her mouth.

"I'm fine..." She struggled to stand, only to realize that she had lost all feeling in her right leg.

Cocolia's attacks carried some kind of special Honkai Energy that was eroding her body.

Ye Li placed her behind relatively safe cover and quickly checked her injuries.

"In your condition, you need treatment immediately." His voice remained calm, but Himeko noticed that his clenched fist was trembling slightly.

"This isn't the time for that..." Himeko grabbed his wrist. "The Helios won't withstand a second attack..."

Cocolia circled in the air, the storm stirred up by its wings making the entire battleship shake.

"You're right. That's why I'll draw it away."

Ye Li stood and looked toward the giant dragon in the heavens, his gaze firm.

"Are you insane?" Himeko tightly clutched the corner of his clothes. "That's a Judgment-class Honkai Beast!"

"Precisely because it is, someone has to do it." Ye Li gently pried open her fingers. "Believe me. I have a way."

"Ye Li!" Himeko tried to rise, but her injuries made her collapse back to the ground.

She could only watch helplessly as Ye Li leaped onto the edge of the deck and raised the Rebel Sword toward the sky.

"Hey! Little one, remember me?" Ye Li's voice remained clear even amid the storm.

Cocolia's eyes locked onto Ye Li, and it unleashed an earthshaking roar.

Ye Li looked back at Himeko one last time, a familiar smile curling onto his lips. "Remember to buy me a drink afterward. Don't try to skip out on the bill."

The next second, his figure turned into a streak of purple light and sped away from the battleship.

Cocolia pursued without hesitation. Its massive wings kicked up one final gale, blowing the ice crystals from the deck away.

Himeko rose while supporting herself against the wall. Watching the purple point of light gradually vanish into the clouds, she clenched her fist. "You... bastard..."

Ye Li's figure flickered in and out of sight among the clouds, while Cocolia's roars gradually faded into the distance.

Himeko leaned against the cover and took a deep breath, trying to calm the turmoil in her heart.

"Ye Li, don't you dare die..."

She murmured softly, images of them fighting side by side surfacing in her mind.

That guy always wore a carefree smile, yet when it mattered most, he was more dependable than anyone.

Just then, a deafening boom came from afar, followed by Cocolia's furious roar.

Himeko abruptly looked up. A blinding purple flash streaked through the clouds, followed by a violent explosion.

"Ye Li!" Her heart tightened. Ignoring her injuries, she quickened her pace.

However, before she had taken more than a few steps, static suddenly crackled through her communicator. Then a familiar voice said, "Himeko, you still alive?"

It was Ye Li!

"Are... are you okay?" Himeko practically shouted.

"Of course. You promised to buy me a drink, remember?"

Ye Li's voice carried a trace of exhaustion, yet still sounded relaxed. "I led Cocolia away. Get out of there, now."

"What about you?" Himeko asked anxiously.

"I still have something to take care of. Don't worry."

Ye Li paused, then laughed. "Remember to prepare the drinks. I don't want any cheap stuff."

The communication cut off. Himeko stood there in a daze before finally letting out a bitter laugh. "This guy... he really makes me furious and worried at the same time."

She looked up at the sky. The clouds gradually dispersed, and moonlight spilled across the deck, as though everything had returned to calm.

But Himeko knew that this battle was far from over.

"Ye Li, don't go back on your word..." she whispered, tightening her grip on her greatsword.

The real world—

When the viewers in the real world saw Ye Li use himself as bait to lure Cocolia away alone, they were all moved to tears.

Waaah, Ye Li is a real man.

Prison Ye, don't die!

Man!

My husband is just too great.

Drinking? Don't raise a death flag at a time like this!

Prison Ye looked like an old general on an opera stage, covered head to toe in flags.

The writer isn't going to kill off my Ye Li here, right?

Really? No, don't! Not that, anything but that!

Elsewhere.

Unlike his classmates, who had launched into full-blown sobbing and wailing mode, Ye Li himself felt nothing but embarrassment when he saw this.

Honestly, this kind of public execution made him extremely uncomfortable.

Of course, compared to that—

What made him even more uncomfortable was watching his classmates thirst over the version of himself in the video, with some of them being rather "exaggerated" about it.

Although he had possessed less than a tenth of his peak strength at the time, dealing with the Mimic Herrscher Bebe Long had been more than easy enough.

He had drawn Benares away mainly to ensure that the next part of his plan proceeded smoothly, while also misleading a certain presence lurking in the darkness.

At that thought, Ye Li looked up and met Fu Hua's thoughtful gaze.

Fu Hua: ￣-￣ (staring)

Ye Li: ...