Honkai: Star Rail, Marrying Acheron on Arrival Chapter 41

"You should know, the unknown and the mysterious are the most attractive. Dressing yourself up a bit helps in hooking up with cute girls."

The system's unique items and its commentary were completely disconnected.

Lin Shuang held back the urge to complain.

The item description sounded so grand, but the commentary was just about helping her hook up with cute girls?

Talk about using a sledgehammer to crack a nut!

But since the item description mentioned it was tainted with threads of fate, Lin Shuang was a little curious.

"Let me see what cards I can draw."

Lin Shuang didn't even shuffle the cards. She just picked up the top card from the deck in her hand and flipped it over.

It was the upright 'The Lovers' card…

"Uh, this."

Lin Shuang didn't quite know what to say.

The Lovers card didn't just represent romantic love; it broadly referred to interpersonal relationships.

The meaning of the upright Lovers card… Lin Shuang didn't know much about this stuff, but generally, it meant relationships were steadily improving.

It did align with her recent situation.

"It's quite accurate. I just wonder if this thing predicts the present or hints at the future."

Lin Shuang flipped through the 22 cards with great interest, admiring the exquisite card art one by one, feeling a bit reluctant to put them down.

Her collector's instinct kicked in; she couldn't help but want to play with delicate and beautiful little things when she saw them.

But why did this set only come with a small box? There were still over fifty cards! Did someone secretly eat them?

Getting an item related to divination was fitting for Fu Xuan's identity, though the style had a bit of a cultural difference.

However, with this, Lin Shuang could pretend to be an enigmatic person from now on.

When others act mysterious, I'll strike with all my might, but when I'm mysterious, I'll be overjoyed!

Continuing to play with the cards, Lin Shuang looked at the last green draw.

Draw!

Swish—

A green light lit up, and then an introduction card appeared before Lin Shuang:

Mystic Seal of True Sight: Illusions and deceptions are nowhere to hide here. You can see the present, and only the present.

"I can't see the future or fate, but surely I can see the present? Let me take a look!"

"Of course, the function of this thing is a bit spiritual. So if you use it to peek or see through things, theoretically, you could. Do you want to see? Or will you receive praise for your noble morals?"

After that, the introduction card transformed into a complex and exquisite mystic seal, integrating into Lin Shuang's eyes at a speed too fast to react.

A faint mystic seal flickered within her sky-blue irises.

Other than a cool sensation in her head and feeling much more alert, there wasn't any other noticeable effect.

Just as Lin Shuang was about to test the function of this mystic seal.

A video call from Acheron brought Lin Shuang back from the system's rewards.

Taking out her phone and seeing the call invitation from Acheron, Lin Shuang hesitated. She felt a bit embarrassed to answer the phone in the restroom.

So, she silenced her phone and quickly walked out of the stall.

Finding the card table from before, she greeted Qingque, gestured towards her ringing phone, and temporarily left the somewhat noisy card hall.

Stepping out of the card hall, the surroundings became much quieter.

She accepted the video call and saw that Acheron was in a place that looked like a starport, with the deep expanse of space and various giant ships in the background.

"Is it… afternoon for you over there?"

Acheron stared at Lin Shuang on the screen, tilted her head slightly, and greeted her.

"Good afternoon. What brings you to call me?"

Lin Shuang walked down the street, smiling as she spoke to Acheron.

"I just arrived at a starport to rest for a bit and saw the photo you sent."

Acheron only said half of what she meant, but the implication was clear.

Lin Shuang grinned unapologetically.

"I quite like the customs of the Xianzhou. I wonder if you do."

"It's not bad. I recall seeing similar things in the past."

As she spoke, Acheron began to turn, shifting the background in the camera's view from the dark deep space to a bright, dazzling, and bustling planet.

She seemed to have found a place to sit down.

"By the way, about the Abundant Doses matter, has there been any movement?"

Acheron believed she had a certain deterrent effect, so while she was around, neither the Xianzhou, the Abundant Doses, nor the hidden Emanator reacted.

But now that she had left the Luofu, leaving only Lin Shuang there.

She figured there should be some movement.

Volume 1: Chapter 58 - Acheron's Small Gift

Hearing Acheron's concern, Lin Shuang felt a little happy:

"A little bit. The Abundant Doses are tracking my movements, and I've met with people from the Divination Department these past two days. They haven't said it explicitly, but I think they have similar intentions."

She briefly explained the situation to Acheron.

Acheron, on the other end of the phone, nodded:

"Remember to keep the sword I left you with you at all times. Although the Luofu has a General of the Divine Might in charge, it's still best to be cautious. If you encounter an Emanator, use it when you need to."

"I know, but I hope I won't have to use it. It's a small sword you made, and I want to keep it as a memento. I hope that Emanator isn't ungrateful!"

Lin Shuang's words brought a rare smile to Acheron's face.

The white-haired girl's act of "borrowing the tiger's might" was not at all annoying. Instead, in Acheron's eyes, she appeared quite charming and cute.

"It's just a craft item bought by the roadside. If you like it, I'll make you a better one in the future."

"That's different."

Shaking her head, Lin Shuang did not agree with Acheron's statement and changed the subject with a smile:

"Oh, right. If nothing unexpected happens, I plan to visit Azur Star in about a month. I want to see the Herta Space Station."

"Why the sudden urge to go there?"

Acheron was a bit curious. Azur Star was indeed a place Lin Shuang wanted to visit, but she hadn't been in such a hurry before.

In a month's time, the Xianzhou would likely still be busy.

"I met a friend on the interstellar network, didn't I? She invited me to visit, and I thought it would be good to go and see."

"Is it that little girl who's really good at games?"

Acheron immediately recalled. Given that Lin Shuang had met her online and their relationship was good enough for her to want to meet in person, it was likely only that one person.

"It's her."

Seeing Lin Shuang nod, Acheron also nodded in response.

Just as Lin Shuang was about to say something else.

She saw Acheron suddenly reach out from beside the camera, holding a ball of blue flame into view.

"I'm calling you because there's something I want to show you. I encountered a rather interesting little thing on the road. I figured you use fire too, so I was wondering if I should give it to you to play with."

Lin Shuang looked at it and tilted her head in confusion. What was this? Was it a Heavenly Flame unique to this world?

Where did Acheron find such a little trinket?

As she was thinking, she saw Acheron holding the small ball of blue-green flame with one hand, as if holding a solid sphere, and raising it to the camera.

The flame passed through Acheron's fingers but did not harm her in the slightest.

"I see this little guy has plenty of energy and isn't very aggressive. I thought you might like something like this, so I caught it. It doesn't seem to need feeding, which is convenient."

"Um... is this thing alive?"

Lin Shuang looked at the flickering flame and then at the expressionless Acheron. The contrast made it seem as if Acheron were some great demon king, which was a bit comical.

However, as Acheron mentioned it, Lin Shuang thought of something.

A ball of fire, alive, with a strong energy reaction. These keywords put together pointed to something that fit the description.

Suiyang, or rather, a Flame Spirit.

But wasn't this thing quite dangerous? It wasn't a relatively harmless species like a Whimsy. How did Acheron catch it with her bare hands?

Thinking of this, Lin Shuang couldn't help but say:

"You should be careful. This might be a Suiyang. It can possess humans and gradually replace the host. It's quite dangerous. Where did you find it? And can you really grab it with your bare hands?"

Hearing Lin Shuang's words, Acheron directly released her hand, but the ball of flame was still bound within Acheron's palm, unable to escape.

Or rather, it seemed to have no intention of escaping at all. The flame flickered very calmly.

"This little thing is called Suiyang? It does have a Xianzhou-like naming style. I passed by a planet earlier, and this little guy ran headfirst into my body. I didn't feel anything, but then it ran out on its own and immediately quieted down. I didn't feel any intention to replace me."

"Pfft... that's because you're powerful, right? It was probably scared by your strength."

Lin Shuang laughed. What an unlucky fellow.

Although Suiyang liked human emotions, Acheron's emotions weren't abundant. In fact, they could be described as shallow...

I think you're really desperate, kid.

Why pick anyone but Acheron to provoke and try to possess.

But after possessing her, it became this quiet state... Did this thing get contaminated by the Nihility within Acheron?

Lin Shuang couldn't help but become curious about the Suiyang's condition.

Can such lifeforms also be tainted by the power of the path of The Nihility?

"You're still the impressive one, Acheron."

Facing something as dangerous as a Suiyang, even Acheron made it look like child's play.

This once again allowed Lin Shuang to directly realize how powerful Acheron was.

Many things that others would consider extremely dangerous were met with nothing more than a simple "quite cute" when facing Acheron.

It gave off a very absurd feeling.

It was as if the two of them weren't in the same artistic style.

Moreover, up until now, Lin Shuang had never actually seen Acheron draw her sword and unleash its full power.

She could push through Void monsters just by using her scabbard.

Lin Shuang hadn't yet personally witnessed just how strong Acheron truly was.

Acheron readily accepted Lin Shuang's laughter and praise, then said:

"This Suiyang has a high energy reaction, and its energy is more stable. It's also fire, so I thought it might be a better fit for your power."

There were some things that were inconvenient to say over the phone, but both of them knew what they were talking about.

Lin Shuang's power came from the energy output of a Stellaron, not from a Path.

However, the power of a Stellaron was inherently violent. Even with that strange greatsword and the storage card acting as intermediaries, it was impossible to completely change the nature of such violent energy.

It seemed fine in the short term, but who knew if there would be any side effects later on.

Besides, Lin Shuang carrying a Stellaron around every day was something that always worried Acheron.

Therefore, after encountering this Suiyang that practically threw itself into their net.

Acheron immediately felt that the Suiyang's power seemed more suitable for Lin Shuang to use than the Stellaron's, and promptly apprehended it.