The three of them moved warily through the ME Corp building, guarding against enemies that could appear at any moment. Yet after wandering around the maze-like interior for ages, they had not seen a single Zombie Girl or robot. It was almost as if—
"It feels like they were prepared for the Honkai. All the employees must've evacuated in advance!" Yu Luo said casually, never expecting the truth to be exactly as he had guessed.
"But what exactly is the relationship between the organization those robots belong to and ME Corp? They don't seem like partners, but there isn't any of that annoying scrap metal in the building either." Kiana irritably scratched her twin braids. Mei Raiden stroked her head beside her and said,
"We should know once we find that little girl. All right, we're here. This is the laboratory."
As she spoke, the three of them had unknowingly arrived before a highly futuristic door. The words [ME-I] were written on its frame. Mei Raiden skillfully felt around the side of the door for a moment, and a control panel suddenly popped out from the smooth metal wall. An electronic prompt sounded. "Please enter access password."
Mei Raiden's slender fingers rapidly entered a long string of numbers and letters. Who knew how she had memorized them all? Yu Luo could only stare in amazement from the side.
"Ding. Highest clearance confirmed. Scanning iris!"
"Ding. Iris match confirmed. Welcome back, Master!"
With the electronic prompts, the tightly sealed doors rumbled open. Seeing the interior of the laboratory before them, Yu Luo and Kiana both opened their mouths in astonishment.
"Wow, so many weapons!"
"Wow, they're all rare models!"
The moment they finished marveling, they looked at each other, and disgust immediately appeared on their faces.
"Tch, country bumpkin. Never seen this stuff before, have you?"
"Pfft, White-Haired Idiots really do make a fuss over everything. What's so special about this?"
"Hmph!"
"Hmph!"
The two snorted at each other, turned away, and ignored one another. Mei Raiden helplessly tried to smooth things over. "All right, I've unlocked the permissions here. You can take any weapon you want. Go find something that suits you."
"I'm going this way. You're not allowed to come over!" Kiana pointed at a wall filled with firearms and ammunition, arrogantly declaring it to Yu Luo. Yu Luo refused to be outdone. Pointing at another wall full of melee weapons, he shot back in the same tone, "I'm going this way. You're not allowed to come over either!"
"You two are hopeless!" Mei Raiden had completely given up on them. She went off on her own to search the laboratory for the gift her diary said had been prepared for her.
To be fair, ME Corp truly deserved its reputation as a major arms manufacturer. Every Katana on the wall had a unique design, with no two alike. Yet they all shared one trait: every single one radiated a chilling edge, leaving no doubt about their lethality.
Among those Katanas, one deeply caught Yu Luo's attention. The instant his gaze landed on it, he could no longer look away.
Its gray-blue alloy hilt and spine had sleek, flowing lines that were full of technological beauty. Yet that was not what attracted Yu Luo the most. It was the blade. This Katana's blade was not made of alloy, but of deep-blue electricity. Like the finishing touch on a painting, it transformed the Katana from a mere weapon of slaughter into a work of art.
Yu Luo fell for the Katana at first sight. It could not be helped—it was simply too cool and perfectly suited to his tastes. "Sure enough, no man can resist the allure of lightsabers, Gundams, and planet-busting cannons." As he spoke, Yu Luo reached out and gripped the Katana, which brimmed with futuristic technological beauty.
Beneath the Katana was its description: "Raikiri. The powerful electromagnetic field generated by the hilt can protect its user. One of this laboratory's finest creations."
Yu Luo happily held Raikiri and swung it twice. Its deep-blue electric blade left dazzling trails of light in the air. Like a child who had just received a new toy, he wanted to slash at everything he saw with it. In the end, he aimed it at the laboratory's seemingly sturdy metal wall and directly stabbed it in.
"Shhk!" Like a knife cutting through tofu, Yu Luo felt only the slightest resistance as he effortlessly drove the entire blade into the thick metal wall, leaving only the gray-blue alloy hilt exposed.
Satisfied, Yu Luo pulled Raikiri from the wall and slid it into the sheath specially made for it, concealing its gorgeous deep-blue blade. He turned to look at Kiana and discovered that she had also chosen her weapon.
Their eyes met, and they gave identical snorts. Then they both looked at the other's new weapon. At Kiana's waist was a pair of pistols—or rather, hand cannons. Like Raikiri, their bodies were made of gray-blue alloy.
"Electromagnetic Hand Cannon—that's the name of my new weapon. Cool, right?" Kiana smugly waved the dual guns in front of Yu Luo and showed off. "These guns use powerful electromagnetic fields to accelerate bullets before firing them. Their power is basically the same as cannon shells!"
After hearing that, Yu Luo stared Kiana up and down. Kiana could not stand his gaze any longer. Blushing, she pointed the Electromagnetic Hand Cannon at him and snapped viciously, "What are you looking at?"
"Nothing. I just think your flat chest and tsundere personality suit an electromagnetic cannon pretty well." Yu Luo wore an infuriatingly smug grin.
"It's an Electromagnetic Hand Cannon!" Kiana corrected him. Though she did not know whether Yu Luo had misspoken, he was definitely saying something awful.
"Where's Mei?" Seeing that Kiana had not gotten angry right away, Yu Luo hurriedly changed the subject. After all, White-Haired Idiots were like goldfish—they only had seven seconds of memory.
"No idea. She should be in there." Sure enough, Kiana had forgotten what had just been said. She looked with slight concern toward the smaller room farther inside.
"Ding!" The door to the small room opened at that moment. Mei Raiden walked out with a relaxed expression, but Yu Luo clearly saw that the corners of her eyes were a little red. It seemed she had cried and only come out after composing herself.
"Mei, Mei, what was the gift your father left for you?" Kiana was simple-minded and had not noticed those details at all. She asked Mei Raiden curiously.
Mei Raiden smiled and handed the Katana she held in her right hand to Kiana. Kiana excitedly gripped its blue-purple hilt and forcefully drew the entire Katana from its sheath.
"Wow!" Kiana exclaimed. Yu Luo was also thoroughly stunned by the Katana. The entire weapon was composed of an icy-blue light blade and a blue-purple alloy hilt. White frost swirled around the light blade, and the temperature rapidly dropped. Yu Luo could even feel a trace of chill.
"Plasma Shadow Show, the masterpiece my father poured his heart and soul into." Mei Raiden spoke with heartfelt pride. "At full power, it can even freeze the Third Herrscher!"
"Tch, how could the weapon of mere ants possibly freeze me?!" The will of the Third Herrscher inside Mei Raiden spoke disdainfully.
"Ah, that's amazing! Mei, your father was incredible. He's nothing like my father!" Kiana returned Plasma Shadow Show to Mei Raiden, her face full of envy.
Yu Luo rubbed his chin. "Since he knew about the Third Herrscher, then Mei's father must have known something about this Honkai."
"Combining that with what was written in the diary, I have a bold idea!" Yu Luo pushed up nonexistent glasses. His face practically had the words [Ask me] written all over it. Unfortunately, Mei Raiden was not the only one present. There was also Kiana.
"Please keep your ideas to yourself. Our top priority is finding that annoying brat, not playing detective games with you here!" Kiana made it clear that she was not buying it, crushing Yu Luo's momentum with a single sentence. Yu Luo awkwardly dropped the pose, though he still protested stubbornly,
"Heh, mortal wisdom. This building is so huge—do you know how to find that brat?"
"Wouldn't we find her if we searched floor by floor?" Kiana proposed a method that only an idiot could think of. Yu Luo speechlessly flicked Kiana's smooth forehead and asked in return,
"The floors are so big. How can you be sure she won't play hide-and-seek with us?"
"Are you just here to argue? Then tell me a feasible plan!"
"I don't know either."
"Then why did you say so much?"
"Just because I say a refrigerator is bad doesn't mean I have to know how to make one, does it?"
Before you continue