The Collapse Double-Cross, Taking Xilian to Honkai 3

Open, close.

It was difficult to provide any description for such an experience.

It was just like when he was first transported to this world; there wasn't even a sense of pain—

Perhaps his nerves had been completely destroyed in an instant.

The current experience was the same.

When Jiang Cheng opened his eyes again, the things rushing into his retinas changed from the golden, undulating waves of wheat fields to a cluster of buildings so crowded that even "blocking out the sky and sun" would be an understatement.

Those structures spread wildly upward, downward, and in every direction. Under the clear, bright daylight, colorful neon lights were already faintly flickering—it was a city that never slept, a sight only seen in modern society, one that even the sun could not suppress.

"A-Cheng?"

—His fingertips still touched that softness.

Jiang Cheng lowered his head.

The girl, her eyes sparkling, was looking up at him, her pupils filled with the multicolored neon lights of the moment.

"Is this the place where we can become strong very quickly?" Xilian's voice rose slightly with excitement; she was thrilled by this world, the likes of which she had never even read about in books.

"It's so prosperous! Even the great city-states and metropolises under the Titans mentioned in books—they definitely didn't have this many people or this many buildings!"

...Not necessarily.

Ancient Greece lacked this level of productivity, but Omphalos, where gods existed, was a different story. If sky-bound city-states and rainbow bridges could exist, high-rise buildings were hardly out of the question.

"If you like it, we can take a better look when we have time later. For now, we have important business."

"Mm-hmm!"

Xilian naturally grasped his hand. The sensation was smoother than the finest silk, as if it would slip through his fingers if he didn't hold on, never to be grasped again.

But he never needed to hold her tightly.

"Xilian, activate the Oronis Prayer now. Hide the traces of our arrival."

Jiang Cheng's gaze swept over the surrounding crowd, probing the undercurrents beneath the calm. The abrupt appearance of the two of them had already triggered a certain degree of chaos.

People were either fleeing or circling them with their phones held high.

If they didn't conceal themselves immediately, their images would become a trending topic on the internet within a minute.

The moment she heard his request, Xilian shed that boneless, naive softness. She immediately raised her other hand, the one not being held, high into the air—

"Lift the veil of time, stir the ripples of the past."

"Please shroud the time here—"

"Please let time stagnate in this place."

Accompanying the soft yet firm words spilling from her lips, something entirely unscientific emerged before their eyes.

Light? Glazed glass? A sheer veil?

In an instant, one might be reminded of such things.

Yet, in essence, it was completely different—it was like a misty, translucent glass that focused all the characteristics of the three.

The next moment, the mist dispersed into the surroundings, swallowing the entire street block in an instant—

Memories known as traces were forgotten.

And so, they became rootless duckweed.

Jiang Cheng ran toward the end of the street, and Xilian kept pace, holding his hand. Her pure white skirt and purple coat bloomed in the wind, as free as flowers.

Escape the most dangerous areas, avoid the most eyes, and fully utilize their greatest advantage—concealment.

They ducked into a dead-end alley at the first opportunity, slipping into the shadows.

His mind did not stop working, calculating the powers he might be able to access in this world:

Fusion surgery, artificial stigmata, natural stigmata, mechanical augmentation, Herrscher transformation, Divine Keys.

—Not enough.

Even stacking all of these upon himself would not be enough, let alone sufficient to oppose Laigushi, let alone the Iron Curtain.

But... he could not choose not to oppose them.

His peripheral vision swept over the girl beside him, who was curiously examining the promotional slogans plastered on the inner wall.

—Xilian.

She would absolutely, absolutely never accept the choice of giving up on saving the world and fleeing Omphalos. That kind of irresponsible, cowardly, and despicable choice.

Perhaps he could choose to stay in this world, or force the door to remain closed so that Xilian would also stay.

But the result of that would definitely be a falling out, or even...

There was no "even."

He would take it one step at a time.

In any case, to oppose the Iron Curtain, the simplest and most likely method was to rely on the Jizo Mitama—at least it could provide a glimmer of hope, though the method of acquisition had a time limit, and it required Honkai energy resistance as an entry ticket.

The prerequisite for Yae Sakura to appear was a massive amount of Honkai energy, which would allow her to awaken once more from her dormancy.

He watched the purple markings rising from the tip of his little finger.

"----!"

At this rate of spread, he would likely be able to hold on for more than a day without any auxiliary tools.

Strange.

Did low-level Honkai energy not kill even someone like him, who possessed zero resistance, all that quickly?

Jiang Cheng didn't dwell on it—relying on Xilian to obtain Honkai resistance wasn't actually difficult; the key point was how to acquire powerful strength as quickly and as completely as possible, without missing out on any time-limited dungeons.

"Xilian."

"Hmm?"

"Could I trouble you to open it a few more times?"

Xilian puffed out her cheeks, her face round and chubby like a hamster that had accidentally hoarded too many nuts.

"I already said—"

She enunciated each word clearly.

"Do!"

Her fair, jade-like finger stood up before his eyes, and her little mouth pouted as if it could hang an oil pot. "We've already been living together for such a~ such a long time!"

"Deliberately acting distant with me—"

"—is absolutely, absolutely not allowed, okay~!"

"...Just open it a few more times for me."

He paused. "My most, most important friend."

"Com~!"

Xilian clapped her hands together in front of her chest, her brows and eyes curving gently like crescent moons.

Treading through the glaze-colored mist.

Jiang Cheng dashed toward that most luxurious, most elegant building, where the flow of traffic was the slowest and most sluggish.

—He passed directly into it.

—And then.

"Raiden Mei, do you want to know the truth of the world?"

4. Raiden Mei, do you want to know the truth of the world?

Finding Raiden Mei was not difficult; one only needed to follow the disgusted gazes of the crowd, and one could find her just as easily as finding a trash can—

Just like the purple hair witnessed before him.

It was so smooth that it brought to mind the texture of a forest stream—clear, cool, as if it would slip through one's fingers the moment one tried to scoop it up.

The standard sailor uniform could not hide a figure that had already surpassed her peers, nor that waist that could be encircled by a single hand.

A slender branch bearing heavy fruit.

—This was the most standard description.

And the only flaw was perhaps just her eyes.

Indifferent, world-weary, and completely numb to the point of losing their luster, like extinguished lamps.

—However, to some people, this didn't count as a flaw at all.

Raiden Mei.

Jiang Cheng recited this name in his heart, looked straight into those seemingly faded eyes, and got straight to the point.

"Hello."

"Do you want to know the truth of the world?"

—Not a classmate.

Raiden Mei determined this in her heart the very first moment.

So... were those people from outside the school no longer content with just bullying her after class, and had now started intruding into the school itself?

"Miss Raiden Mei."

The voice was steady, showing not a hint of nervousness.

"There are suspicious circumstances surrounding your father's financial fraud case. It hides a truth you are not yet aware of."

"If you feel curious about this—"

"Or, if you feel unreconciled to your current environment—"

"Then please, follow me. I will show you the shadows hidden beneath the world, the Inner World that you are already unwittingly entangled in, though you do not yet know it."

He turned and walked toward the shadows.

He did not look back, nor did he check to see if she was following; the girl with pink hair walked naturally by his side.

...Resentment?

I can't hear it.

Having lived for quite some time in this hellish environment, Raiden Mei could already instantly distinguish the emotions of those who harbored malice toward her.

Even those who had to play the role of a savior just to stir up her expectations, only to enjoy the process of crushing them, spoke with mockery.

What they couldn't hide in their eyes was pure disgust.

--I can't see it.

I cannot see such emotions in his eyes, nor in the eyes of the pink-haired girl beside him—

Filled with suspicion, Raiden Mei stepped forward.

Clack, clack, clack—!

The sound of her footsteps on the ground was not the rustle of grass, but rather like stepping on something made of glass.