Honkai Double Transmigration, Taking Xilian to Honkai Impact 3rd

Having heard the entire story, this was the only evaluation this father could muster.

There was no denying it was a romantic tale, but Raiden Ryoma couldn't immerse himself in it at all; from start to finish, it was nothing but a series of heart-stopping shocks.

His gaze toward Kiana grew increasingly unkind.

The girl, completely oblivious to this, proudly recounted the process of how she had helped along the way.

The root of all evil is actually you!

Siegfried, my brother, I take back my apology.

Your daughter had better fall into this trap as quickly as possible, and the harder, the better.

Then, let Mei see the true face of that guy Jiang Cheng, pull herself out early, and never get married for the rest of her life.

In any case, Cocolia was finished, and reclaiming ME Corp now would be quite simple. Relying on the family business and the rights she was destined to inherit, Raiden Mei's future was limitless.

Under such circumstances, to throw herself into the harem of a man who keeps a harem, and to engage in palace-style infighting with a bunch of beautiful girls—

It was simply too much of a waste!

--It would be better to learn to do scientific research with me. After all, I was a master of swordsmanship who switched to being a scientist halfway through anyway.

"Anyway, that's how it is. If there's something that can be talked out, you must talk it out. You can't just suddenly disappear and then regret it later."

Kiana's mood suddenly dipped.

Raiden Ryoma watched this scene and was just about to say something, but recalling the instructions Siegfried had once given him, he could only force the words back down his throat.

He was just preparing to step forward in his capacity as an elder to offer a few words of comfort, when he saw Kiana suddenly lift her head sharply.

"--Forget it!"

"I'll go talk to Jiang Cheng. That big idiot is the best at making people happy! He even promised me he'd carry me on his back."

She patted her cheeks, forcibly dispelling her sorrow. She turned and ran toward the three people who were looking anything but happy.

"You once held me, so let me carry you on my back."

He could almost imagine the posture of the boy named Jiang Cheng as he reached out to Kiana under the sunlight.

Surely, in that moment, in Kiana's eyes, Jiang Cheng's eyes must have been ten thousand times brighter than the sun. The wind stirred the drifting clouds, scattering a rosy glow across the sky. Even that incredibly romantic twilight could only serve as a filter for him.

...Did they even make a promise like that?

How does it feel like the probability of Mei winning is a bit low?

Because a bystander sees clearly, Raiden Ryoma could plainly see Raiden Mei's body stiffen.

Having other women around the person one likes naturally stirs up jealousy, but the problem was that she was the only one here showing such an expression.

Kiana maintained a carefree, buddy-like posture, rushing up to pat Jiang Cheng on the shoulder, leaning in naturally, completely unbothered.

Xilian had also been calm and indifferent from the start, her eyes filled only with Jiang Cheng; even if she couldn't see, one could imagine the world reflected in those eyes—as if other people didn't exist, as if they were mere grass, worthless air.

The other two girls were superior in their composure to Raiden Mei, whose emotions were leaking directly out.

The only one dwelling on it was her.

Moreover, surrounding Jiang Cheng were—a gentle and sweet loli-mom, a tsundere Northern European girl, and a Far East long-black-haired honor student, master of swordsmanship, Herrscher, beautiful, noble, elegant, considerate, well-behaved, gentle, talented, super-beautiful girl, highest corporate heir, next-in-line shadow emperor young lady.

How on earth did you manage to eat so well, you guy?

Even as an Anti-Entropy executive, Raiden Ryoma felt like a raw recruit at this moment.

"Mei, there is something I need to declare."

He walked over without hesitation, bringing out his fatherly authority, and called her name with a stern face.

"Regarding you and Jiang—"

"Hmm? Fa, what were you going to say?"

PS: Please vote.

47. Losing Fatherly Authority

The jealous young lady glanced sideways at her dignified father, spitting out a gentle (terrifying) inquiry word by word.

"...Ah, it's nothing."

In the end, he was forced to tolerate it all.

After all, the bond between them was indeed profound. The story of a hero saving a beauty has been a classic since ancient times—

--It was absolutely not because he had encountered a sudden, scarlet-eyed warning glare from Mei when he had taken a few steps forward, intending to say a few words.

Such a thing absolutely did not happen!

He—Raiden Ryoma—was still that dignified father.

After a long time, Raiden Ryoma, who had finally walked out of the basement to face the sunlight, thought to himself.

Bathed in the radiance once more. Even if it was only twilight, it was enough to make one feel pleasant, as if his whole being had come back to life.

--Assuming you don't look at the group of four behind you.

"In any case, since you were able to make it here, you must have already repelled Cocolia."

"She is already a turtle in a jar."

Jiang Cheng calmly refuted his statement. With a wave of his hand, he shared the screen he had been carrying with him.

Raiden Ryoma was able to witness with his own eyes the miserable state of the Cocolia who had crushed him.

"You have already dealt with all of them?"

He cast his gaze toward the harem protagonist with complicated emotions.

"They were nothing more than insignificant bugs," Jiang Cheng said dismissively.

"The Titan Mechs aren't even enough to scratch an itch for me. Even with a hundred times the gravity, the First Herrscher's clone—whose limit can reach over three hundred times—couldn't even break my skin."

"Even I don't know how strong I am now. My last full-power attack spanned three hundred kilometers, pierced through every defense she had prepared, and pinned Cocolia to the wall of her safe room."

Raiden Ryoma fell silent.

The existence that had ruined his family and nearly cost him his life had been crushed like a bug just like that.

He took a deep breath, turned his gaze toward Raiden Mei, who was clinging to her lover, and said heavily.

"Mei, she has already become a Herrscher, hasn't she?"

"It's a very simple matter." Jiang Cheng's tone remained calm, as if he were discussing something as trivial as the weather. "I sent her out of the city, and then the Honkai erupted. The blockade the Honkai imposed on civilization was long ago lifted by someone at the cost of their own sacrifice. Just like how there are three Herrschers now, yet only one has chosen to be an enemy of humanity—or more precisely, Schicksal—out of hatred. You don't actually need to view Herrschers as enemies; just think of them as terrorists who have been pushed to their limits by society to the point of retaliating against it."

"..."

Raiden Ryoma felt his mood grow even more complicated.

The Herrscher problem that had pushed him to the brink of collapse, even leading him to develop the Plasma Kagehide and resolve in his heart to handle it himself if the worst were to happen...

It had all passed by so casually.

Mei didn't even look any different now.

The glance she had given him earlier was completely irrelevant—it didn't even amount to a hair compared to the destruction caused by a Herrscher.

But then, Raiden Ryoma had a second thought.

According to what Jiang Cheng said, the miserable ruins he had just seen on the screen were entirely caused by him.

He had even attacked Cocolia on the other side of Nagazora from across the entire city, a range rivaling an intercontinental missile...

Compared to some random person popping up to solve the problem, it was indeed more reasonable for a powerhouse who surpassed S-rank Valkyries to appear and resolve things.

At the end of the day, he couldn't even compare to an S-rank. During the Second Honkai Eruption, he hadn't even been qualified to be a bystander.

As for the person who sacrificed themselves or the Honkai blockade... he didn't even have the heart to ask.

"Fine."

Raiden Ryoma let out a long sigh.

"After Cocolia took over ME Corp, she likely used my funds to manufacture a large number of Titan Mechs. They..."

"They were all completely wiped out, you know~?"

Xilian's voice was light and cheerful. She clasped her hands together in front of her chest, her eyes curving into crescent moons.

Her pride was evident.

"I heard from A-Cheng that he crushed Welt in less than ten minutes and wiped out thousands of Titan Mechs. He even pinned that annoying Cocolia to the wall with a single shot."

"Jiang Cheng has indeed become very strong," Kiana said, patting her chest with a carefree air.

"Cheng-kun is truly amazing," Raiden Mei repeated, her expression just as earnest as the other girls.

Ah...

Mei.

I don't want to look anymore; take it away.

Raiden Ryoma closed his eyes in agony and rubbed the corners of his eyes slightly. He opened them again to look at Jiang Cheng himself.

"Is there anything you need to do next? Is there anything I can help with? Which organization do you belong to?—If you need it, I will exhaust every resource I have."

"I don't belong to any organization. Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and even the World Serpent hiding in the shadows have nothing to do with me..."

Jiang Cheng continued to shake his head.

As for what came next... he pondered in place for a moment before extending his index finger.

"Hide the information about me and Mei. Do not let Schicksal have any possibility of discovering our existence. Disguise what happened earlier as a contingency plan you left behind. I specifically used my ability to keep Cocolia barely alive; if you can't manage that, notify me immediately, and I will prepare another plan. Then, prepare a testing chamber for me. I want to test the current strength of both myself and Mei—in every aspect. Mr. Ryoma, you should be able to handle that, right?"

"No need to be so distant; just call me Ryoma... Uncle Ryoma will do." Raiden Ryoma forced a smile that was far too stiff. "The Far East is my territory. As long as there is no internal strife, no one can easily invade. I was defeated by Cocolia because my mind wasn't on it at the time, and I lacked support from the conservative faction."

"Besides that, I suggest you look into the treatment Raiden Mei has been subjected to during this period."

Jiang Cheng said coldly.

This was the first time he had displayed such a frigid demeanor, like someone who had spent ten years killing fish in a market.

"...What do you mean?"

Raiden Ryoma froze, his voice tinged with hesitation, as if he could not even bring himself to believe it...

Or rather, as if he dared not even think it.

"A hundred thousand times worse than you imagine."

Jiang Cheng punctured that bubble without a moment's hesitation.

"If I didn't have to hide information to avoid being targeted by Otto, I would have sliced them all into skewers right now. Don't think I'm being cruel; once you've looked into the data, you'll become even more ruthless than I am."

"What did they do?"

The air of a comedic, self-deprecating uncle vanished in an instant.

The decadent middle-aged man was gone.

Raiden Ryoma's gaze sharpened, his brows furrowed tightly.

The executor of Anti-Entropy, the man who unified the greatest conglomerate in the Far East, was now online, his eyes locked firmly onto Jiang Cheng.

"I'm not the right person to say these things, and what I say won't be the whole story. It's best if you investigate it yourself, and frankly, you have no choice but to investigate it yourself—"

PS:

No matter what the future holds, staying hidden is absolutely the right move.

Otto's control over the world isn't actually as absolute as it seems. In the original story, Dr. Magi managed to defect with his own experimental data. Nations exist in this world, along with neutral states and the like, and these countries still possess significant power.