Susanna

He glanced at the faint red mark on his wrist, barely a centimeter long. If he hadn't looked closely, he wouldn't have noticed it at all. He rubbed his wrist with his finger, a hint of worry clouding his thoughts.

However, what troubled him more was, "Where am I going to stay tonight?"

He had absolutely nowhere to go!

Dragging his sack, Li Ming had no choice but to find a kind soul to borrow a phone. Back then, not many people in Schicksal had phones. Having a small mobile device was already impressive, and a flip phone was even more enviable. Most people had landlines. He looked around; there weren't many shops with landlines.

But there were phone booths. At that time, public phone booths were still set up in various places. It had to be said, even in a different world, the progress of civilization was roughly the same. Perhaps his previous world was also bound by the Honkai.

Composing himself, Li Ming quickly found a phone booth. He took a look first. Fortunately, it was a coin-operated one. If it had been a card-operated booth, he would have had to try and figure out how to dismantle it.

He squatted down and fumbled around for a bit. Usually, there would be coins dropped by people who hadn't put enough in. Some would give up and just put in a new coin.

He was currently looking for such a coin. But he had to complain; phone booths were indeed inconvenient. Holding his breath, his thoughts spread out like a spiderweb across the ground, and tiny arcs of electricity jumped.

Then, a coin rolled in front of him.

"Heh, works like a charm! Love you, Su."

In the Elysian Realm, Su felt a bit uncomfortable all over.

Li Ming flicked the coin in his hand and casually dropped it into the phone booth. He flipped through the phone book and found his home number. It had to be said, he left home with everything except a phone and money – pots, pans, and bowls were all there. Was his grandfather preparing him to sleep under a bridge and conquer Qinghe City?

Beep, beep, beep...

He picked up the receiver. "Hello, Grandpa, where does Uncle Su you mentioned live?"

"Good grandson, you've arrived. I put the address in your bag. Have you found it in your bag?"

"It's in the bag, right? Okay, I'll look!"

"Also, Ming, after you get to the big city, listen to your Uncle Su more. It's always right to listen to them. Don't worry, I've prayed to the immortals for you before you left, ensuring your journey will be smooth sailing."

"Okay, okay, then I'll hang up! Phone calls are so expensive."

"Ah, you need to take care of yourself. Be careful out there..."

The receiver dangled on the phone booth. Li Ming took a breath. After all, he couldn't fully accept his identity yet. Although his memories indicated that he did have such a grandfather, and he could feel the warmth from the other end when they spoke, he still found it difficult to accept.

But speaking of his parents, would they be too heartbroken to know that he had died after working outside and his phone exploded? He could only hope that the original owner had also gone to his world – a world without the Honkai, where his parents were both alive. That would be nice. Savings? What savings? Being alive was enough.

But smooth sailing? Thinking about how he had just blown up a Pseudo Black Hole, Li Ming felt that his luck today might be a bit bad.

But if he could pray to an immortal, could it be Immortal Fu? Then he seemed to understand.

He rummaged through his large sack and finally found his bag. Li Ming opened it and looked at the address inside: "Shanshui Villa, Yanshui District, Qinghe City."

He walked and stopped, constantly asking for directions, and finally arrived almost midnight. It couldn't be helped; he had forgotten to ask where the money was. Instead of searching through the snakeskin bag himself, he might as well have taken the 11th bus. But for Li Ming, this was nothing. He was a special forces university student, plus the boost from the Elysian Realm, so he wasn't flustered.

It was just that when he entered, the security guard stopped him. If the guard hadn't called and asked Uncle Su to come out, he wouldn't have known what to do.

Speaking of which, Li Ming wanted to complain again. His grandfather didn't even bother to call and notify anyone, just told him to buy a ticket and fly over.

"Big brother, my name is Susanna. What's yours?"

"My name is Li Ming."

Looking at Susanna, who was probably not even three years old, Li Ming ruffled her little buns. The servants had already taken his sack and put it in the room.

"Little Ming, you're here now, so treat it like home. Don't be afraid, don't overthink things. Your grandfather told me, and I know. You must be a bit unaccustomed to this city since you just arrived. It's okay, stay at Uncle's house for a while. If you don't understand anything, you can ask Susanna."

"Okay, thank you, Uncle!"

Uncle Su's enthusiasm made Li Ming a little uncomfortable, but he still thanked him sincerely. After all, he should accept the man's kindness.

Susanna took him upstairs to show him his room, while Uncle Su sat in the living room drinking tea.

"Brother Li Ming, is it fun outside? Daddy says I'm still little, and I can go out to play when I start kindergarten."

Looking at the short and small Susanna, Li Ming felt a pang of emotion. This little girl would grow up to be graceful and elegant in the future.

He smiled and patted Susanna's head, saying, "Haha, I just arrived too. But I'll write down the fun things outside in a diary for you, so you'll know where the fun places are?"

"Okay, okay, then let's pinky promise!"

And so, Li Ming, the wicked man, had "kidnapped" another little girl.

Insane, absolutely insane!

"Dinner's ready, Susanna, take Brother Li Ming downstairs to eat!"

"Okay!"

Li Ming followed Susanna downstairs with a duang, duang, duang.

There weren't many people at home. Li Ming didn't see Susanna's mother, but she was probably out, or perhaps abroad. After all, Uncle Su's hair was black, and Susanna's bright yellow hair was unusually striking.

Clearly, little Susanna's mother was not from Schicksal. But where she had gone, Li Ming didn't dare to ask. He had just arrived, so it was best not to inquire about such matters for now.

But wasn't Susanna from the Middle East squad?

Hmm… just because the family owned a mine didn't mean the mine owner had to be in the country, or perhaps her mother owned the mine. Thinking about it this way, it made sense.

After dinner, Susanna was watching TV. But it wasn't really a TV show; it was more like a tokusatsu. Hmm, Destiny Valkyries fighting the Honkai. This episode was probably about Cecilia fighting Sirin three times.

What? You ask how I knew? Could I mistake Mother-in-law for Pardo?

I can only say, Lord Bishop really knows how to have fun!

I wouldn't dare say, and I wouldn't dare ask. I'll just watch. After all, it's made for kids, so it's already merciful that they didn't let Miss Kira sing.

"Xiao Ming, do you have any plans? Although your grandfather wants me to arrange a job for you, I know you're already a university student with good grades and the potential for further study. I'd recommend you continue your education, but Uncle still wants to hear your thoughts."

Su Qizhe looked at him, quite impressed with the young man. He was willing to learn and could absorb knowledge. If properly nurtured, he would definitely not be bad. He would be a good choice to either assist Su Qizhe or be part of his core team.

Li Ming thought about it. He was penniless right now, but further study was a good option. The scientific progress in Honkai Impact 3rd was already outrageous, like Mama Cocolia's Great Father and Dr. Tesla's Peacekeeper, among others.

His mind was filled with mechs. Come on, mechs are super cool!

After some thought, Li Ming decided further study would be better. "Uncle Su, I believe I still have a lot of room for improvement in my studies, but my family situation isn't good right now, so I can only solve my living expenses."

"It's good that you have such thoughts. As for the rest, Uncle Su has already made all the arrangements."

Seeing that Li Ming was motivated and had considered everything comprehensively, Su Qizhe couldn't help but nod. This young man had a lot of potential.

Li Ming saw Su Qizhe about to wave his hand and solve all his problems, so he quickly stopped him. "Uncle Su, I already have a way to solve my financial issues. It's okay, I've already contacted a friend."

"You don't know anyone here. Don't worry about it. Uncle isn't an outsider, and it's no big deal to help you arrange things," Su Qizhe said, thinking Li Ming was just being shy.

Li Ming had no choice but to take out the business card given by Raiden Ryoma and hand it to Su Qizhe. "Uncle Su, the person on this business card said he'd let me work for him, with a monthly salary of 150,000!"

It was appropriate to show a little naivety so as not to arouse suspicion. After all, he was just telling the truth.

Su Qizhe's eyes narrowed as he took the business card and looked it over repeatedly, his gaze finally settling on the gilded ME Company logo.

"ME Company's president, Raiden Ryoma? Xiao Ming, you truly are fortunate. Gold will always shine! Then Uncle Su won't interfere further, but Uncle Su will also help arrange your path for further study. Prepare to resign in advance, and Uncle Su will have a chat with President Ryoma."

With that, Su Qizhe took his phone and went into a room alone. Li Ming didn't know what they talked about, but he knew he probably couldn't escape his security guard job.

However, Li Ming wasn't worried. He was more concerned about the items he had just obtained. After all, Moon God's Protection didn't need strengthening, but he, without any Stigmata or battlesuits, would have to re-strengthen them if he got them. The items he had just obtained could be saved.

Yeah, I'm such a hoarder.

Another day, short on materials.

That evening, lying in bed, Li Ming closed his eyes. He felt his brain whirring at high speed, and a blue interface appeared in his mind, accompanied by the music from the Bridge.

He glanced at his stamina, which had become 24. He estimated it was one bottle of stamina per hour. Perhaps he would have more time after leveling up, but he was only level 15 now and couldn't farm story missions, so leveling up was really slow.

There was no choice but to accept commissions in Elysian Realm.

Actually, in Elysian Realm, he only got three bottles a day, but he couldn't resist taking commissions. Once he accepted a mission, his 15 bottles of stamina would be instantly depleted. The remaining stamina would last him about four more days in Elysian Realm, but Li Ming also needed to find Su to solve the Honkai erosion problem, so time was likely insufficient.

However, Li Ming couldn't be bothered to manage it anymore. He'd check the commissions first.

[Find Canned Food] +10 Affinity with Pardofelis, obtain Imprint [Valuable, Shiny]. Killing monsters will grant extra shiny silver coins. Lower-tier monsters grant five, higher-tier monsters grant 100.

Looking at this mission, Li Ming didn't set off immediately. He didn't have any guides, and since entering Elysian Realm, he had rarely encountered Pardo. He didn't know what she was busy with. Even when he met Pardo, Li Ming had never seen any canned food.

However, he clearly remembered that in the item description for [Hundred Flavors Empty Joy] in Elysian Realm, it was mentioned that Pardo loved cats very much, but after undergoing the "Super-Transformation" surgery, she could no longer be welcomed by any cat. Canned food was just a small comfort Pardo sought in her heart.

In the original Elysian Realm plot, Canned Food was also a cat that appeared after she injected her memory fragments into Elysian Realm. It was uncertain whether the Elysian Realm in Li Ming's mind was synchronized.

After much thought, Li Ming decided not to rush and use his stamina right away. He needed to understand more. Lying on the bed, the patterns on his wrist emitted a faint red glow. Li Ming didn't pay much attention to it, as his condition wouldn't worsen without long-term exposure to Honkai Energy.

If all else failed, Li Ming would just agree to Raiden Ryoma's offer. It wasn't a big deal, and thankfully, it wasn't the Honkai disease.