(The author already has a Honkai: Star Rail novel with over a million words, and has been writing for four years. The quality is assured.)
(To suit the plot, some parts of Honkai Impact 3rd's original storyline will be adjusted in this book, such as the time the Honkai emerged and the locations where Herrschers appeared. Don't nitpick, don't nitpick, don't nitpick.)
(Don't nitpick, don't nitpick, don't nitpick.)
Somewhere underground in Changkong City, Shenzhou.
"Doctor, is it really okay for us to abandon everyone at headquarters and run to Changkong City like this?"
The blue-haired assistant carried a large case on her back and looked worriedly at her doctor as she advised,
"If we get caught and dragged back, our research funding will only be reduced further..."
"What do you know?"
The green-haired doctor replied nonchalantly,
"Those lunatics at headquarters don't understand its value at all. If I stay there, they'll only hinder my research plans."
"But, Doctor... We sneaked into Shenzhou, so no one will be funding us anymore..."
"Well... Ahem, Blanca, I've never asked you for anything in my life..."
"But, Doctor Mobius, I've already spent all my savings buying this underground laboratory for you. I don't even have money for tomorrow's meals..."
"Er... Ahem, ahem, cough cough cough. We should look on the bright side. This laboratory may have been a little expensive, but at least it's fully equipped. As for our food for the next month... Well, let's eat instant noodles for now. I brought a lot of them from headquarters."
"Doctor..."
"Good! Since you have no objections, then it's happily settled."
"..."
"In any case, Blanca, go install the experimental equipment first. Put it in the culture dish while you're at it. I'll make you some instant noodles."
Blanca, the blue-haired woman, could only resign herself to her fate.
Assembling the instruments was easy enough. What really bothered Blanca was the heavy case she had carried over.
The "it" inside the case was the experimental subject Mobius had left the Fire Moth headquarters to study on her own.
Blanca placed her hand on the case. For some reason, she felt that once she opened it, the gears of fate would begin to turn...
Blanca shook her head, casting those nonsensical thoughts from her mind, and opened the case.
Inside the wooden case was not a cell sample stored in a test tube, but a strange humanoid sculpture curled into a ball. It was about a hundred and eighty-two centimeters tall, and possessed the beauty of a Roman human form.
The reason it seemed strange was that the statue was simply too perfect. Every strand of hair and every inch of muscle perfectly matched humanity's understanding of "beauty."
If not for Doctor Mobius's solemn assurances, Blanca would never have believed that such a perfect stone sculpture could be alive...
It had been excavated from deep underground by a European mining company. They had originally intended to sell it as an antique, but by chance, Mobius had seen it and spent a fortune, along with considerable connections, to secretly purchase it without the Fire Moth finding out.
And the facts did not disappoint Mobius. The stone statue contained faint signs of life. "It" was very likely a primitive life-form that had survived in this world for tens of thousands of years.
The discovery drove Mobius, a biologist, into a frenzy. But Mobius also knew that if news of such a discovery became public, it would send countless Fire Moth scientists into a frenzy. Even if she could conceal it for now, in a place like M Continent, where surveillance was everywhere, it was only a matter of time before "it" was discovered.
So, before "it" could be found, Mobius had taken her personal assistant Blanca and fled overnight from the headquarters on M Continent to an underground laboratory for sale in Shenzhou. She had placed her entire fortune on this stone statue.
If they succeeded, she would obtain the first-hand experimental data and rise to prominence.
If they failed... they probably wouldn't even be able to afford instant noodles.
Blanca had long since grown accustomed to Doctor Mobius's reckless personality.
At times like this, all she needed to do was offer her support. The more she said, the more Mobius would find ways to fool her.
While using a mechanical arm to move the statue into the culture dish, Blanca glanced at the time.
Shenzhou time... May 10, 11:41 p.m.
Inside the stone statue.
I was puzzled. (Only the first chapter is written in the first person.)
I'd been transmigrated for so long already. Why hadn't the system come to pick me up?
That's right. I was a transmigrator, currently trapped inside a stone statue and almost ready to stop thinking.
Everything around me was pitch-black, and I couldn't move my body. I didn't even know how long I had been transmigrated. All I knew was that I seemed to be trapped inside a stone statue, unable to do anything at all.
As for the reason I had transmigrated... it was rather ridiculous.
I had transmigrated on the first day of the Hydro Archon's banner in some two-character game. Naturally, I had pulled immediately. My luck that day had been absurdly good. Without building any pity, I got Silly Fu Hua in a single pull.
The weapon banner was even more outrageous. One ten-pull had directly maxed out the weapon's refinement.
I had been so excited that I spent the entire night acting lewd and deranged over Fu Fu. But in my excitement, I lost focus for a moment and transmigrated to another world.
I hadn't even gotten to play with Fu Fu before I died. That devastating feeling still lingered in my heart even now.
Ah! (A soul-rending roar.) My Fu Fu! (A desperate shout.) I hadn't even gotten to play you yet! (A scream.) I hadn't even seen the videos A-bro had made of you! (A twisted contortion.) I hadn't even crawled onto you in a dark and twisted manner! (Moving on all fours.) Why did I transmigrate—aaah! (Frantically writhing.)
Damn heavens, how unfair!
"Doctor, it's about to wake up."
What?
I instinctively tried to ask what the heck was happening, but as a stone statue, I couldn't even move my lips.
Still, there was good news. To my delight, I discovered that I was gradually regaining control over my body. At this rate, I would soon be able to break free of the stone shell.
"Mmm... Mm? Mmm-ah? What's happening..."
Another voice came from outside. It sounded even more indistinct, as if the speaker had something in her mouth.
Hey, are you my system?
Before my body had fully recovered, I impatiently asked the question in my mind.
[Er... They aren't. I am.]
Huh??
The young man was stunned. He had only asked casually. How could there really be one?
[Well... This is awkward... If you don't like me... I-I'll just go back...]
No! No, no, no!
The young man suppressed his excitement and hurriedly shouted,
How could I not like you? My system is the best!
[Ah... Oh. Thank you.]
From the way you're talking, are you new to this?
The young man had nothing better to do, so he casually asked the system,
Am I your first man?
[Er... Yes...]
[I-I'll work hard to be a good system... As long as you don't get angry with me.]
How could I? Everyone needs time to grow, right?
The young man didn't mind at all that his system was a novice. Instead, he was unusually excited as he said,
Anyway, introduce yourself to me first.
[Oh... All right. Please wait a moment.]
After a while, several lines of small text appeared in the young man's field of vision—
[System Name: Star Rail Cultivation System] [Host: Xu Ziling] [Status: Inactive]
Xu Ziling.
That was the young man's name.
After Xu Ziling carefully finished reading the system display, he asked in confusion:
Is that all?
[That's all...]
[Your body is too weak. I still can't fully attach myself to your body. I'll shut down temporarily. Please replenish your body with some nutrients.]
Huh? All right.
Xu Ziling understood. He was about to wake up anyway. Once he regained control of his body, how could he possibly fail to find something to eat?
[Oh, right.]
What is it?
[To send you that short exchange, I used some of the limited energy remaining in your body. I hope you won't blame me...]
[Beep~ System shutting down.]
It was only a little bodily energy. You mean the fat reserves and the like, right?
Xu Ziling said unconcernedly,
I'm not miserly. How could I blame you over something like that? I... I... Wh—what the hell?!
Before Xu Ziling could finish speaking, an overwhelmingly powerful hunger suddenly erupted in his stomach. It was as if an ordinary person had suddenly exchanged bodies with someone who had been starving in the desert for six days. The drastic contrast nearly knocked him unconscious.
But unlike the intense hunger in his stomach, Xu Ziling's control over his body and all of its physical functions were recovering at an astonishing rate.
The fierce hunger stimulated Xu Ziling's mind. With a crisp cracking sound, Xu Ziling, inside the stone statue, suddenly opened his eyes and frantically surveyed everything around him.
Food... Food! He had to eat something right now!
His mind contained only this frenzied obsession. Xu Ziling's gaze instantly locked onto the green figure outside the culture dish...
"!"
When Mobius saw Xu Ziling awaken, her eyes lit up. She hadn't even swallowed the noodles in her mouth before she exclaimed excitedly,
"He moved! He moved! This guy really is alive!"
"Doctor..."
Blanca looked at the jade-colored eye exposed through the damaged section of the stone statue. She lowered her head nervously and said,
"I don't think this is good news..."
"Forget all that! Blanca, quickly report the current time!"
"Shenzhou time, May 11, 1:12 a.m."
"Crash!"
The moment Blanca finished speaking, the humanoid stone statue inside the culture dish seemed to have triggered some sort of keyword. Its stone shell shattered explosively, and immense energy churned the already murky dark-green nutrient solution.
Once the turbid nutrient solution settled, only broken stones remained inside the culture dish.
"???"
Mobius froze and hurriedly rubbed her eyes.
But when she looked again, there was nothing left in the culture dish.
Wait, where was her Little Mouse? Where had her enormous Little Mouse gone?
"Blanca, quickly pull up the surveillance footage!"
Mobius hurriedly patted Blanca, who was still frozen in place, and said angrily,
"Damn it! It must have been those bastards in the Fire Moth who are always against me! How dare they? Did they think I hadn't installed surveillance cameras here?"
"Ah... Ah, yes!"
Blanca came to her senses and quickly began operating the computer.
But the moment the surveillance footage was pulled up, both she and Mobius felt as if their understanding of reality had been overturned.
The footage did not show some expert sneaking in and stealing the mysterious stone man through unknown means.
What the monitor showed was that after the nutrient solution had been violently churned, the stone man's bones had all dislocated in an instant. His body had twisted wildly, forming a bizarre humanoid strip, before slipping out through the culture dish's drainage pipe.
His bones had all dislocated in such a short time, his volume had been compressed to one-third of its original size, and he had even retained the autonomous awareness needed to find his way.
What the hell was that? Could a human even do such a thing?
"Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump..."
While Mobius and Blanca were still trapped in a state of shattered understanding, a series of hurried climbing sounds came from the laboratory's underground drainage system.
Mobius turned around in surprise and saw that an experimental water tank behind her was shaking violently, as if something was about to emerge...
"...*...&￥...￥T...!!"
Accompanied by uncontrollable, low and hoarse roars, a tall figure measuring a hundred and eighty-five centimeters leaped high out of the water tank's pipe, which was barely three fingers wide, and pounced on Mobius, the closest person.
For a moment, Mobius's mind went blank. She had predicted more than fourteen million possible outcomes for herself, but she had never imagined that her brilliant life would be ended by her own Little Mouse.
The monster's heavy breathing was already brushing against Mobius's cheeks. Mobius simply closed her eyes and steeled herself, ready to die.
In any case, this world... no longer needed saving.
She only felt a little sorry for Blanca. Blanca had worked for her for so many years, yet she had never properly repaid her.
Then the monster suddenly lowered its head and pressed its lips against Mobius's.
And then... the monster inhaled sharply, sucking the noodles still in Mobius's mouth—before she had swallowed them—into its stomach.
Before you continue