Kaslana's Path to Survival in Honkai

Squatting in front of the robot and placing his hand on its body, Kaino frowned as a burst of blue light flashed.

"Trying to understand the Honkai energy required to analyze it is even higher than Soul Steel. What exactly is this thing?"

Suddenly, bursts of golden light spots emerged from the robot's body and slowly rose.

Kaino's pupils constricted, and he retreated decisively.

The golden light spots gathered and tumbled in the air, eventually forming a huge golden clock face. The clock face lay horizontally above the already fallen robot, enveloping it in golden light.

Kaino tentatively fired a few shots with the Judgement of Shamash, but the fireballs vanished the moment they entered the golden light.

Tick, tock...

The familiar sound of clock hands turning echoed as the robot, enveloped by the light, began to twitch again. Severed limbs reconnected, wounds gradually healed, and time seemed to flow backward on its body.

At the same time, the clouds in the sky instantly filled with lightning, and thunder roared as if some monster was about to return to the world.

Unfortunately, the world didn't rewind it to the point before it collapsed and awakened, otherwise Kaino would have saved himself a lot of trouble.

"It can revive? What kind of monster setting is this from some game?"

Looking at the robot, which had returned to its original state and possibly even its peak condition, Kaino couldn't help but take a breath.

Unlike when it had just awakened, its current total Honkai energy was almost on par with a Judgement-class Honkai Beast, and perhaps even surpassed it.

Accompanied by the flashing of lightning, the robot stood tall again in the amusement park.

Sidestepping to avoid the robot's pouncing slash, Kaino quickly raised one hand, pale purple lightning flashing on it, echoing the dense lightning in the dark clouds.

The next moment, a purple-black pillar of lightning connecting heaven and earth struck down heavily on the robot from the dark clouds, its radiance clearly visible even to Seele and the others far away.

The residual power of the lightning caused all the electronic facilities in the amusement park to stop, and the originally bright space instantly darkened. The area around the robot was also scorched black, as if it had been painted with coal.

The robot at the center of the lightning pillar was naturally in no better condition. The crystal on its head dimmed again, and its entire body was split into multiple pieces, far more miserable than after Kaino had dismembered it.

But in a short while, the golden light rose again, and the huge clock face restored the robot to its original state.

Is this cheating?

Kaino grinned, feeling a burst of frustration in his heart.

Perhaps the robot's revival had a limit, or perhaps enough power could completely destroy it. But Kaino didn't know what would happen next, and neither continuing to exhaust himself against it nor using too much Honkai energy was a good choice.

Although he could recover quickly, what if someone ambushed him from the side after he had just finished fighting this thing?

"Forget it, go play in the Quantum Sea yourself!"

Watching the robot charge over again, Kaino decisively opened an Imaginary Space portal and banished it to the Quantum Sea.

But...

Watching the robot's figure fall into the Quantum Sea, Kaino's pupils constricted.

Almost the instant it fell into the sea, its huge body suddenly shattered like a popped bubble, then vanished from the world.

...Like a shattered illusion.

This time, the golden clock face didn't reappear.

Chapter 76: Between Illusion and Reality

"Don't worry, I just encountered a monster, I'm fine. That lightning pillar? I released it, and that monster is gone now."

Kaino spoke to Seele while holding the Feather of the Underworld.

"And where are you now?"

"We've already reached the place where you were before, but Rosalia and that cyber-scooter are unconscious. Did you use that feather on them?"

Red Seele's voice sounded a little absent-minded.

"You didn't do anything strange, did you?"

"What strange things could I do? We Kaslanas are all gentlemen, never taking advantage of others."

Kaino said righteously.

"Of course, the above only represents my personal opinion."

"By the way, is Xiao Shi there?"

"I'm here!"

Xiao Shi's excited voice came through.

"Well done, Kaino, well done! That scooter was rude to me before, and now it's finally in my hands."

"Hehe, now I have to show her what the Herrscher of Sentience is all about! Watch me tie her up in the illusion, and then I'll eat hot pot and enjoy the air conditioning next to her... haha!"

Kaino sighed upon hearing this.

Xiao Shi, that's all the ambition you have.

"...Be careful, don't spoil her rotten."

"Also, Rosalia and Yae Kasumi both seem to be quite strong, so it's best not to wake them up for the time being. And protect Liliya and don't let her run around, the situation here is a bit special."

"By the way, Xiao Shi, let me ask you, I'm at the amusement park in the center of the island, where is the final venue located?"

"Okay, no problem, leave all this to Xiao Shi!"

Kaino could practically picture her patting her chest as she said that.

"As for the final venue... the biggest building is it! Anyway, you'll definitely find it if you look."

"Alright, let's leave it at that then. By the way, you guys stay put where you are, and I'll come back to you after I've scouted around."

"Okay, okok!"

"Just don't go blundering off to some weird place... if you cause another lightning strike, it might affect us."

"Got it."

Ending the call with Xiao Shi and Seele, Kaino put away Feather of the Underworld and sighed with mixed feelings.

Before him stood an Imaginary Space gate connected to the Quantum Sea, and on the other side of the gate were two things.

A Honkai Ball and a Knight-class Honkai Beast, Little Chuang, that he had knocked unconscious with Feather of the Underworld.

Needless to say, Kaino had thrown them all in. The sorry state of that clockwork man from before couldn't help but catch his attention, so Kaino conducted a simple experiment.

Simply put, Kaino threw in three things. Besides the two just now, there were also the sunglasses he had been wearing on his head.

Yeah, they're gone now, just like the clockwork man before, not even ashes left.

"So what exactly is going on here..."

Kaino stared at his Imaginary Space gate with a troubled expression.

It wasn't related to whether it was a technological creation, whether it was a living thing, or the region it was in. The only known commonality left was...

Kaino stroked his chin and plucked two blades of grass from the roadside. He threw one directly in, and after the other had spent some time in his Imaginary Space, he threw it in as well.

The blade of grass that was thrown directly in vanished instantly like a bubble, while the other remained there intact.

"So, as long as it stays in my Imaginary Space, it'll be fine? What's the logic behind that?"

Kaino couldn't wrap his head around it.

"Never mind, I'll go take a look at the final venue first."

After putting Little Chuang into the Honkai Ball and retrieving it, Kaino looked around and headed towards the largest building.

Kaino began to suspect that there might be something wrong with his understanding of the final venue.

The interior of the building was less like a final venue and more like his idea of a subway platform.

Due to the sudden dense clouds outside, the glass dome built into the building failed to provide lighting. The constant rain washing the windows only made the interior more desolate.

Two train tracks stretched out from the distant darkness, extending into the lead-gray sea, as if leading to an abyss of no return.

In this gloomy environment, the few lighting lamps inside did not make people feel at ease. On the contrary, the silent and empty platform was even more eerie under the light.

Ah, it wasn't empty.

Looking at the woman emerging from the distance and walking towards him, Kaino narrowed his eyes slightly.

It was her again, Rita.

"How come you're everywhere? And if I remember correctly, it hasn't been long since we separated at the Houmu restaurant, are you rushing around like crazy to get to the set?"

Kaino crossed his arms, waiting for the other party to give him an explanation.

His intuition told him that she would.

"You are indeed very fast, and the situation of detaining those two was also unexpected. In this case, Rita did use some means to get here."

"However, Rita will keep the specifics a secret for the time being, after all, every girl has some secrets of her own."

Rita held one finger to her lips and chuckled.

Heh, girl?

Kaino rolled his eyes.

Without exaggeration, she was the oldest person he had ever seen in this bubble world—in terms of appearance.

"I have a feeling you're thinking something rude."

Rita shook her head.

"Time is limited before they arrive. Since you don't ask, Rita will take the initiative to answer."

"This bubble world... or rather, this seaside city, is all a dream."

"Impossible!"

Kaino didn't believe it at all.

Not to mention that he and Seele came in directly through the Imaginary Space gate, he had just put Little Chuang into the Quantum Sea.

In this case, you're telling me I'm dreaming? Completely—

Is it not possible?

"Indeed. It's not appropriate to describe it as a dream. Then let's use another more appropriate term to describe it."

"The intersection of illusion and reality, this is a more accurate way to describe this city. And this subway station where we are located is the key point for the transition from illusion to reality."

Kaino's expression turned serious.

"Could you put it simpler? I don't understand."

"Hehe."

Rita smiled, it was hard to tell if it was mockery or friendliness, and continued.

"In simple terms, this is a place where pure consciousness and physical bodies can coexist."

"Whether it's a false illusion or a simple fantasy, as long as it falls into this dream and has a certain uniqueness, it can affect it and make it emerge from here."

"That Liliya is like that, and so was the Houmu restaurant I was in before."

"Of course, the one who has the greatest influence on this place is Seele, who holds the anchor point and created this world of interwoven reality and illusion. She has made the Honkai Beasts here gentle and tame, created a tamer competition in this city, and constantly attracts people around to fall into this dream."

"Yo qi si wu chu (four) jiu xia. This is the truth of this world that you have always wanted to know."

Chapter 77: Doing Bad Things

"Anchor point..."

Kaino accurately grasped the key word and frowned.

"According to you, as long as you hold the anchor point, you are almost the master of a world bubble, able to change the Honkai Beasts' view of humans, and even create a world easily?"

Although it seems that the so-called world is just a small seaside city, just a world between reality and illusion, it is still very remarkable.

"That's right, and having an anchor point can do more than just that."

Rita smiled and continued to explain.

"The anchor point is the collection of all the rules of a world, and holding it is like being a god of a world. Not to mention creating this kind of world between reality and illusion, if there is enough energy, even reversing human life and death, or even creating a real world, is not difficult."

Like that?

No wonder Book of Xuanxuan and the others didn't tell him.