Serpent, You're Not Pure Anymore!

[Received, received!]

[Host: Xu Ziling]

[Active Skills: None yet]

[Passive Skills: Workplace etiquette and behavior, genius acting for slacking off, social survival skills, sometimes crazy, sometimes not (crossed out) sometimes goes crazy... etc.]

[Exploration Quests: Not yet updated]

[Daily Quests: Physical contact with any Valkyrie/Flame-Chaser for over three minutes (Completed)]

[Quest Rewards: Realgar Wine * 1, Stellaron Shards * 150 (Issued)]

[Note: This is the host's first time traversing the Honkai world. The host has a seven-day beginner's protection period. During this time, the host can explore the Honkai world with confidence and boldness. Please also make sure to accumulate plenty of shiny stones during this period, so you can strengthen yourself after the system store opens.]

Xu Ziling took a look. It was a very ordinary development system, but it suited him just fine.

After looking around, Xu Ziling's doubts only increased. The panel displaying his personal data didn't contain any information about his current body. So, Xu Ziling asked the system in his mind:

System, I asked you to bring up the panel to alleviate my doubts, not to add to them!

[Huh? B-but what were you asking about? You didn't... you didn't actually say anything? ]

Huh? I didn't say anything?

[...You really didn't say anything? ]

"..."

Ahem, I just wanted to ask if you know the specific condition of my current body? Why does it have the face of a Bishop? If the extreme hunger I felt when I first woke up in this body was because you consumed my body's fat... then why was it sealed in a statue? And buried underground?

[That's because... uh, sorry, Host, the question you're asking involves your future exploration quests, and I can't say... Please forgive me.]

Oh, this...

Xu Ziling was immediately choked up, then sighed helplessly. It seemed that this Star Rail development system of his couldn't even function as a basic encyclopedia. It was also a bit silly, and it seemed destined to be a system with a low presence.

He could only wait and see what happened after the system store it mentioned opened.

At this moment, Xu Ziling remembered something. He glanced at his reflection in the bathroom mirror and casually said to the system:

Alright, System, since it's your first time on the road, I won't blame you for not being able to be an encyclopedia. Can you check when you're going to give me my beginner's gift package?

[Beginner's gift package... uh, you still need to give this?]

Sensing the hesitation in the system's voice, Xu Ziling said directly:

Of course, you have to give it!

[This... Okay, please wait a moment, I need some time to prepare it for you.]

Mmm~...

Xu Ziling nodded with satisfaction. Although his system wasn't very smart, he didn't actually like rigid systems where every word and action was strictly defined. This somewhat silly beginner system was actually to his liking.

While the system was preparing the gift package, Xu Ziling looked at the door of the bathroom. If he went out and turned a corner, he would be able to see Mobius directly.

But since he had some rare free time now, there were some things Xu Ziling needed to figure out.

For example... why was Serpent being so kind to him?

Xu Ziling, who had transmigrated, knew the game's plot and naturally had a maxed-out affinity for Serpent.

But the original Serpent had no reason to have maxed-out affinity for him, a "stranger." Even when Xu Ziling unconsciously kissed her forcefully, she seemed indifferent.

Perhaps it was partly due to the nature of some snakes to be indifferent to human emotions, but this clearly couldn't be glossed over.

The only explanation was...

She was interested in his body and wanted to use it for experiments.

That made sense. After all, for a biology expert like her, seeing a living person jump out of an "ancient statue" and "vortex-inhale" hundreds of bowls of instant noodles would inevitably make her want to study it.

So, he set a small goal for his post-transmigration self: first, build a good relationship with Mobius. At the very least, don't let her keep looking at him like a lab rat.

This wouldn't be too difficult. Compared to the young Serpent, the older Serpent was much easier to talk to, especially if she was already interested in him.

Meanwhile, the system didn't keep Xu Ziling waiting too long. About two minutes later, Xu Ziling felt three purple light screens appear in his mind—

[Choose one of three beginner's miraculous items. Please choose one of the following three miraculous items as your initial miraculous item.]

[Miraculous Item.1: Exotic Wood Fruit: After consuming this miraculous item, it can grant the eater immunity to one fatal injury and immediately restore their body to its peak condition. The miraculous item is destroyed after its effect is triggered once.]

[Miraculous Item.2: Galactic Lottery: After the user tears open this lottery ticket, if the ticket returns to its original state within three seconds, they will randomly obtain a positive miraculous item; if nothing happens, then nothing happens; if the ticket explodes upon being torn open, the lottery's backlash mechanism will be triggered, forcing the user into a near-death state.]

[Miraculous Item.3: Star-Shattering Lure: After carrying this miraculous item, the "Speed" attribute increases by 30% (including but not limited to: movement speed, attack speed, reaction speed).]

After glancing at these three miraculous items from the Honkai: Star Rail universe, Xu Ziling chose the second one without hesitation: the Ga↓lactic↑ Lot~tery.

Of course, it wasn't that he couldn't afford the rebirth from the Exotic Wood Fruit, nor was the speed boost from the Star-Shattering Lure more cost-effective... It was just that the famous five-star American general MacArthur once said, there are only two types of people in the world: those who are addicted to playing the lottery, and those who haven't played the lottery yet.

Unfortunately, Xu Ziling belonged to the former.

The instant Xu Ziling made his choice, the purple light screen in his vision disappeared, leaving him with a pinkish-blue lottery ticket in his hand.

Unlike the lottery tickets in the game, the condition for using the ticket was changed from destroying a destructible object to directly tearing it open.

It made sense. After all, without the game's framework, "destructible object" was too broad a category, making it difficult to judge. Mishandling it could be a disaster.

Compared to that, simply tearing it open is much more straightforward.

However…

Xu Ziling fell into thought as he looked at the words on the back of the lottery ticket: "After the user tears open this lottery ticket."

Meaning… the person who tears open this lottery ticket doesn't necessarily have to be him?

[Correct. Host's answer is correct.]

The system promptly appeared, explaining to Xu Ziling, [Regardless of who uses it, once the lottery's rule backlash is triggered, the user will be backlashed to the brink of death by the lottery.]

[However, similarly, if the lottery is torn open by someone else, the miraculous item ultimately obtained cannot be deemed the host's property while the user is alive. Therefore, the system advises the host that nine out of ten bets are losses, nine out of ten bets are scams, and not gambling is winning.]

Is that so…

Xu Ziling mused upon hearing this.

While he didn't consider himself a gentleman, he wasn't so wicked as to be the scum of the earth, to the point of paving his own path with others' lives.

But…

If… just hypothetically.

In the distant future, if Xu Ziling were to face an attack from a Herrscher and be cornered, could he throw this lottery ticket out, let the Herrscher's attack graze it, and gamble on the possibility of triggering the lottery's kill line?

The moment this idea appeared, it felt like a seed, deeply planted in Xu Ziling's heart.

And the more Xu Ziling thought about it, the more feasible he found this method to be!

After all, once the lottery triggers and obtains a miraculous item, the lottery ticket itself wouldn't be destroyed! And in the previous civilization, Herrscher attacks were usually area-of-effect, with sustained power and destructive force. If he were to casually toss the lottery ticket into the range of the Herrscher's attack then…

Even if the Herrscher had heaven-defying luck and could open the lottery nine times in a row, gaining a pile of miraculous item buffs, under the condition that the lottery ticket itself wouldn't be damaged before triggering the kill line, no matter how incredible the Herrscher's luck, it would eventually trigger the lottery's kill line and perish under the lottery's might!

"Nine out of ten bets are losses, nine out of ten bets are scams." This saying wasn't just a baseless phrase!

In reality, there's no such thing as Domain Expansion; the final outcome of constantly using the lottery is simply "boom"!

…But if the lottery exploding didn't affect him, wouldn't that be truly interesting?!!

At this thought, Xu Ziling's mouth curved into a wild grin. He had been worried about how he would develop after transmigration to lead the previous civilization against Finality, but now, with this lottery ticket in hand, when the final battle arrived, he could just slap it onto Honkai's face and deduct 99% of her Honkai energy first!

"Knock, knock, knock."

As Xu Ziling was envisioning a beautiful future for everyone, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Little white mouse… are you not done yet?"

Outside the bathroom door, Mobius knocked and said, "If you plan to stay in the restroom for a long time, I've prepared a few things that might help you. I've left them outside the door, so come out and get them yourself."

With that, Mobius left directly, returning to the instruments in the research institute to observe a drop of someone's saliva.

A gift from Serpent?

Xu Ziling pondered for a moment, put the Galactic Grand Lottery back into his pocket, and decided to first see what surprise Serpent had prepared for him.

Xu Ziling opened the bathroom door and saw three items placed outside.

A graduated cylinder, a mobile phone, and… a website address!

"…?"

Xu Ziling slowly typed out a question mark, and on a whim, picked up his phone and entered the website address.

"Holy shit! Serpent, you're not pure at all!"