Honkai: Double Crossing, Taking Xi Lian to Honkai Impact 3rd

Jiang Cheng did not feel any discomfort.

"Now, I can barely understand your trust." Kiana took in the scene and nodded lightly.

"Herrscher authority?"

Jiang Cheng's gaze focused on the lightning dancing on the blade and the purple-black arcs connecting in the air.

"It's a Stigmata, dummy."

Kiana pouted in dissatisfaction.

She pointed out the error without hesitation.

Her aloof, goddess-like demeanor instantly reverted to that carefree, "bro" personality.

"My old man said that these patterns are the manifestation of a Stigmata, and it's a unique effect only possessed by those with innate Stigmata."

"Forget it."

The white-haired girl shook her head.

"With your dynamic vision, you wouldn't be able to see it anyway. Being able to distinguish that the flashes in front of you are lightning is already your limit."

"You just need to know that once an innate Stigmata manifests, even a child who has never learned to fight will instantly possess powerful combat skills as if by instinct, just like I did back then."

"Your worry that I couldn't beat a Titan Mech is complete nonsense. If those mechs were really that strong, what would we even need Valkyries for?"

Listening to Kiana's explanation, relevant cases spontaneously surfaced in Jiang Cheng's memory—

Seele.

Not that Seele without a surname.

It was: Seele Vollerei.

As an ordinary, delicate, and frail little girl, after being captured by a group of elite mercenaries, the consciousness within her Stigmata simply manifested, and she easily slaughtered them all.

"However, do you know the ranking system among Valkyries? B-rank Valkyries are actually already quite strong."

Jiang Cheng prepared to offer some corrections to this girl who was about to become a third-year B-rank Valkyrie.

"Isn't it just B, A, and S?"

Kiana tilted her head naturally, her icy blue eyes filled with a clear, innocent gaze.

"When I was dealing with Honkai Beasts in Europe before, the lowest-ranked Valkyries I saw were B-rank."

Facing that pure gaze, Jiang Cheng relented.

"...Never mind then, go ahead."

16. You filthy things, die!

"You... forget it."

Kiana's face wore an expression like a kitten that had just had its tail stepped on.

—There was no room left for conversation.

Witnessing the outer defensive line beginning to shrink in his peripheral vision, his remaining reason clearly issued a warning.

The surrounding mist was still spreading, but it was clear that this thing could never solve everything once and for all.

Forced to swallow the questions on the tip of her tongue, Kiana turned around without hesitation, venting all her resentment onto the enemies still blocking her path.

"Wait—!"

"My monthly salary is only three thousand, I surren—"

"—Bang!"

Several fully armed personnel had just prepared to raise their hands in surrender when they were knocked out one by one, as if being picked off by a baseball bat.

...They slept very peacefully.

Stepping over their bodies without hesitation, Kiana backhanded a shot that pierced another man's wrist.

The bullet, designed to deal with silicon-based Honkai Beasts, instantly blew the entire hand into a mist of blood.

There wasn't even time for pain; he simply stared blankly at where his hand used to be—now empty, without even a sensation of loss.

And the person behind him had just raised his firearm when he met the exact same fate—

"Bang—!"

Jiang Cheng pulled the trigger.

The intense recoil surged from the gun, a force that would cause serious skeletal damage if not properly absorbed, yet he braced it with his own arm.

Is five times the physical fitness really this strong?

There was no opportunity to dwell on such things now; he could only keep his eyes locked on the enemies.

He was not as merciful as Kiana, who could target non-vital body parts during high-intensity combat to neutralize the ability to fight.

He worried that the opponent might use their other hand or their feet to fight, and he didn't have enough bullets to blow off everyone's limbs.

And so—

He mercifully put a bullet through every head.

His dynamic vision, enhanced alongside his physical fitness, made those enemies appear as if they were moving in slow motion.

He could not dodge the bullets flying toward him, nor had his enhanced physique reached the point where he could outrun gunfire. But the only things he ever truly needed to dodge were the people themselves.

He gauged their movements as they raised their arms and sidestepped the trajectory of their fire.

Then—

"—Bang, bang, bang!"

"—Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!"

Though he couldn't land a headshot every time, every single shot was enough to strike their waists or abdomens.

Bones, flesh, nerves... red, white, green, and yellow all churned together, forming a disgusting, viscous sludge.

Whether it was armor or bone, nothing they wore could possibly withstand the oversized bullets in his hands.

With another shot, he blew an enemy apart, turning them into a mist of blood.

—Any normal person who had lived in the modern world would feel nauseated at this sight.

It wasn't cowardice.

The urge to vomit came purely from disgust.

It was essentially the same as having a pile of thick, damp, foul-smelling matter mixed together and shoved right in front of your face.

But perhaps it was because he had been oppressed for too long while at the Aili Secret Pavilion; as a player of Star Rail, he knew at every moment that Laigushi was monitoring the entire world, yet he could change nothing, and instead lived with the constant possibility of being discovered.

Jiang Cheng would even unconsciously speculate in his heart that he might have already been discovered, and that Laigushi simply didn't care.

—Life continued in such a precarious, egg-shell-thin environment.

He was pushed to the extreme of "anger/fear," yet had no way to vent it.

He made cold, calculated judgments, only to realize in the end that, aside from giving up, he couldn't possibly resist in the slightest.

Jiang Cheng looked at this horrifying scene, feeling the reality that he was killing his enemies with his own hands and changing his own fate. There was no nausea or revulsion in his heart; instead, perhaps without even realizing it himself, the corners of his lips curled upward.

Ha...

Hahahahahahahaha!

Damned things, base things! Things that act as accomplices to the tiger! Just die under this gun, every last one of you!!!

"Bang, bang, bang—!"

Headshot! Headshot! Headshot!!!

He didn't even have this kind of accuracy when playing games.

The firearm in his hand felt like an extension of his own will at this moment, with the margin of error practically negligible.

Wherever he pointed, he hit.

Shot after shot, it was as if he had an aim-lock, not even needing to go through the act of aiming.

He struck their arms, and the arms snapped clean off; thick thighs were severed at the root. As for those hiding behind obstacles... even the obstacles were punched straight through!

Jiang Cheng even rarely used his own legs—after breaking their arms, he would immediately sprint right up to them, rip away their masks and protective suits, and fire two more shots to shatter their hands.

—Kill!

Jiang Cheng wanted to beat them to death with his bare fists right now.

But after throwing less than a dozen punches, before he could actually beat them to death—

The mere act of tearing away their protective suits caused them to wail in agony as purple veins instantly spread, covering every inch of their exposed skin.

In less than a few minutes, the living people were reduced to a pile of dust.

Huh? Is the erosion of Honkai Energy this fast?

As the Titan in front of her collapsed with a "boom—," Raiden Mei didn't let her gaze linger for even a second, continuing to scan the surroundings with vigilance.

If there had been a pilot inside, they would certainly have been left in pieces after that strike.

—It didn't matter.

"Since when did you become like this?"

At the edge of her peripheral vision, Kiana walked over, carrying a baseball bat. Despite her slouched, devil-may-care posture, her eyes were locked onto her as if she were a target.

"Probably about three minutes ago, when you pointed out that I am the source of the erosion on Jiang Cheng."

"Unable to escape myself, unable to hide myself, every layer of cloth I tried to cover myself with was torn away cleanly and ruthlessly, to the point where I even feel a bit of resentment—"

Her voice lacked any trace of emotion at this moment, appearing even more frigid than it had during her days as the Thunder Queen.

"The one who appeared so self-righteously, the one who made it impossible for me to keep pretending that I am still that Mei—it is you."

"...Do you want to fight me?"

Kiana slung her baseball bat over her shoulder, her lower lip curled in a hint of wildness, her aura showing no sign of weakness.

"I have no such intention."

Raiden Mei did not even bother to look back at her, continuing to step forward as she swung her blade with cold indifference.

It was as if she had torn away a false disguise once more; the truth revealed this time was so icy that she did not even care to adjust the trajectory of her draw.

The mecha was sliced to pieces just as before.

As for the humans? It was as if a trial-by-blade from the days of ancient warriors had made a limited-time return, and they were cleaved directly in two.

It did not matter how disgusting the strike was, nor did it matter that blood splattered across her face.

As long as she killed them, it was enough.

As long as she confirmed—

That killing them would allow A... allow Jiang Cheng to escape more smoothly.

In any case, someone like her had never been able to shoulder the weight of a person's complete trust.

"So, do you intend to just give up on yourself like this, waiting until Jiang Cheng gives up on you and chooses to leave on his own?"

Kiana questioned her coldly.