The Collapse Double-Cross, Taking Xilian to Honkai 3rd

Grey Snake himself did not know the truth of the previous civilization, nor did he know the importance of Elysia. Jiang Cheng could not quickly gain Grey Snake's trust, and even if he provided a massive amount of information to make the other party believe him, it would be useless. Grey Snake would certainly consult Kevin on any major matter; in the original plot, he had never made any overly arbitrary decisions. Even if Jiang Cheng called him over, he would have to endure the arduous process of Grey Snake communicating with Kevin in the Sea of Quanta, going through tedious verification steps, and then receiving orders from Kevin's own mouth.

He could indeed go to the World Serpent, but then what?

Kevin would inevitably send him and Xilian to the Elysian Realm immediately, and without enough power in his own hands, he would be unable to defy the other's orders.

Perhaps he could find a way to demonstrate his talents later, disguising the plot he saw as a player as prophecies like Aponia's, but the tedious process before that would absolutely make him miss the Third Eruption.

The first phase alone would stall him for at least several days, and it would be useless to immediately blurt out his identity as a prophet. Not to mention that for Kevin, a Divine Key was completely incomparable to sending Xilian to the Elysian Realm and letting Elysia judge and distinguish her personally. There was no need to hesitate; sending her to the Elysian Realm immediately was the only choice.

This was a process that absolutely could not be skipped.

Because Kevin was simply making a choice that was natural, correct, and reasonable.

In this era, the Key of Corruption was never a necessity; in Kevin's eyes, it might even be worthless. To be precise, the vast majority of Divine Keys were useless to him. No matter how one overcame the Honkai, there was no need for Divine Keys. Such weapons had no value to him; he could pick up a pebble from the roadside and defeat a Herrscher. By comparison, establishing his and Xilian's status earlier—even if only by a day—to reduce the probability of anything going wrong was far more important.

In the end, it was a dead end no matter how he looked at it.

If he were a prophet, he should know what was more important; if he were not a prophet, he should listen to Kevin.

He had no reason to believe the Key of Corruption was more important, and even less strength to defy Kevin and demand to stay in Nagazora.

Lying was not an option.

It was impossible to fabricate an enemy out of thin air that could only be solved by the Key of Corruption.

He did not believe the World Serpent lacked a lie detector.

If he were to insist that the Key of Corruption was more important, he would only be able to reveal himself as a visitor from an outer universe, and then...

That would be the true end.

If he said nothing, Xilian might still be treated as a miracle of this era and be well protected.

But once he revealed his identity, then someone who was incredibly rare, possessed special abilities, and was unable to protect herself would simply be a walking gold mine.

Kevin would absolutely not mind the immigration. At that point, nothing he said would matter. Compared to such tangible benefits, any lie—even the mere possibility of one—would not be tolerated.

At that point, even Xilian would not be able to protect him.

Once confirmed to be from another world, Xilian's own value would also drop significantly.

Without any ability to protect herself, she would have all her memories extracted by those efficient methods, and her value would shift from a friend of miracles to a piece of rotten meat containing precious knowledge.

Running back was death, and not running was also death.

He could not morally trust Kevin in this period.

If he called Grey Snake now, it might seem simple, but it would not only prevent him from connecting with Raiden Mei at the most suitable time, but he would also miss Yae Sakura and the Jizo Mitama.

That was a limited-time dungeon; as long as the window was missed, he would never be able to obtain the Jizo Mitama, and Yae Sakura's Stigmata would change from an ownerless item to Theresa's private property.

The Jizo Mitama had little hope of resisting the Iron Curtain, but it was already the most likely thing in this world to do so.

The only way was to win over the Herrscher-form Raiden Mei. Her strength was enough to be the strongest in this period. As long as he let her become a Herrscher quickly and made a deal, he could rely on force to ignore the mandatory requirements of Grey Snake and Kevin. While obtaining resources, he would also have enough freedom to not miss the limited-time dungeon of Yae Sakura.

Therefore.

The only remaining problem now was—

—Walking was too slow.

He scanned his surroundings. A parking lot not far from the school gate.

A small black car was slowly driving into the school.

The window was half-open, and he could see a middle-aged man in the driver's seat. He was dressed in a suit and tie, wearing a wedding ring on his ring finger. He was probably a parent of a student or a visitor here for business.

Borrow a car.

He quickly organized the wording in his mind to explain it to Xilian. This wasn't theft; it was an emergency measure, it was legal and legitimate—

"Bang."

—A dull sound, as if steel were bending, reached his ears, forcibly interrupting Jiang Cheng's train of thought.

He saw Xilian step past him.

Those fair, delicate little hands, which seemed unable to even unscrew a mineral water bottle cap, were now violently pulling at the car door.

The car owner's expression went from astonishment to horror upon seeing the wrecked door, and it took about 1.5 seconds for his mouth to open, while Xilian only used 0.3 seconds to clench her fist.

"Bang—"

—One punch sent the owner to sleep.

Well, it was clear that the quality of his sleep was quite excellent.

Jiang Cheng stood where he was—or to be precise, he was stunned on the spot, his eyes widening in an instant.

And Xilian, this girl who spoke so gently and kindly, as if she were naturally suited for telling sweet stories, and who would only object severely and urgently when he accidentally hurt himself or when he tried to find other friends for her.

At this moment, she was turning around lightly, waving at him.

A brilliant smile, still lingering.

"Come quickly, A-Cheng! I saw it just now, this is the transportation here!"

She nodded firmly and vigorously.

"Absolutely, there can be no mistake."

Xilian's state was very wrong.

This was definitely not behavior she should be exhibiting.

But there were no Masked Fools in this world, nor was there anyone who would play such an incredibly malicious prank on him without reason.

Due to the limited time, he could only manage one extra word of concern, and after receiving the reply, "I'm fine, you know~?", he chose to believe it. He then unlocked the vehicle, pulled open the rear door, and sat in the back of the black sedan.

Xilian followed closely behind, sitting naturally on the left side of the back seat like a shadow chasing light, her slender, jade-like shoulders pressed tightly against his side.

"...?"

Raiden Mei stood where she was, staring blankly at them.

"I don't know how to drive."

Jiang Cheng's tone was like he was stating a fact on the level of "today is Tuesday, the day before Wednesday."

"I've never even tried to get a driver's license. As a young lady—even if you haven't eaten pork, you should have seen a pig run. My requirements aren't high; just don't get into a serious car accident before we leave the city."

"That's right~?"

Xilian tilted her head gently.

Her small face was full of natural ignorance, her expression as innocent as a newborn kitten.

"Besides, I've only ever ridden Earth Beasts before, and I've never used this kind of transportation at all~?"

8. Driving, then hitting Kiana (Revised)

"...O-okay."

At this point, the words "actually, I don't know how to drive either" could no longer be spoken. Raiden Mei could only watch as Xilian reached out her small hand—

"Unveil the curtain of time, stir the ripples of the past."

—Lapis-colored radiance emerged from thin air.

An incredible, surreal development appeared vividly in this world she had once thought was purely materialistic.

Before her eyes, there was only pure, aesthetic beauty.

It felt as if she had stepped into an otherworldly realm, distinct from the human world and opposite to reality.

The scattering crystals were brighter than the most dazzling gems.

The fragments spreading like raindrops were diamond dust.

As the bright daylight poured down, the moment it reflected off them, it seemed to refract a thousand different colors.

Witnessing supernatural phenomena with her own eyes, Raiden Mei, a veteran chuunibyou, widened her eyes, her mouth hanging open as if her jaw were about to dislocate.

"Alright, finished~?"

She patted her soft, delicate chest in relief.

"The mists of time surround us; now, no one can see us."

"Let's go."

Jiang Cheng gave the order calmly.

Raiden Mei gently rubbed her face, which had frozen from the sheer shock of the scene, carefully climbed over the middle-aged man who had fainted in the driver's seat, and sat in the driver's seat with trepidation.

"Fasten your seatbelts, I'm starting the car!"

With a violent roar of the engine, the vehicle sped off like a wild horse, jolting so much that Jiang Cheng almost threw up.

The only thing to be thankful for was that at least they hadn't hit—

"Bang—!"

A violent shudder, chilling to the spine, traveled through the car body.

The door, which had barely been clinging to the frame, swung open cleanly and decisively.

Jiang Cheng looked at the rearview mirror at the first possible moment. The mirror clearly reflected the road behind them, where a white-haired girl was lying peacefully.

She had her eyes closed and looked as if she had fallen into a deep sleep; her state of sleep was excellent—it was deep sleep.

Was she dead?

Jiang Cheng was already prepared to tell Raiden Mei to speed up.

Just as the words were about to leave his throat—the girl lying on the ground instantly jumped up from where she lay.

She brushed the dirt off her body in a sloppy manner, her full buttocks and palms creating a blush-inducing vibration of soft flesh, her skirt fluttering under the force of centrifugal motion, lacking any elegance whatsoever.

After doing all this, she looked ahead without hesitation, like a cat locking eyes on its prey.

"Hey—!"

"You guy—don't you look at the road when you're driving?!"

"I-I'm sorry."

In the driver's seat, Raiden Mei began to apologize again.

Jiang Cheng's gaze was completely captivated by the white-haired girl walking toward them step by step.

Her long, silver-white hair, pure and devoid of any impurities as if extracted directly from the bright moonlight under the night sky, was braided into a pair of dowdy pigtails.

Her pretty face looked like a ruffled cat, and with the uncleaned dirt smudges, she appeared even more wild.

Her chest was just right—neither too flat to invite impolite comparisons to an airport runway, nor as mature as Raiden Mei's, which clearly surpassed that of their peers.

Without the need for a tight corset, her firm, smooth waist was slender enough to be held in one hand. The curve of her waist expanded sharply just past her taut, flat stomach, perfectly outlining an incredibly ideal, child-bearing, full peach-shaped bottom, which, along with her slender yet rounded thighs, created a marvelous waist-to-hip ratio.

The lines were impossibly perfect.

Even though she wore the same style of Nagazora school uniform as Raiden Mei, she made no effort to hide her unique aura.

It was the same uniform, yet these two girls wore it with completely different styles.

But compared to her appearance and figure—elements that would capture the attention of any peer at first glance—what truly left Jiang Cheng frozen in place was the girl's identity.

Kiana Kaslana.

Or, as he knew her from his time as a player, by that more precise designation—

[K423].

She had already reached the car window. After scanning the interior to confirm there were people in both the front and back seats, she locked her gaze without hesitation onto the male in the back—Jiang Cheng, who was leaning back leisurely with his arms crossed, his expression unchanged even after hitting someone, as indifferent as a cold CEO from a romance novel—though in reality, he was so carsick he had lost all sense of orientation and was using every ounce of his willpower to battle the churning in his stomach.

"You! Don't you look where you're going when you walk? Do you have any idea how high I flew just now? Even when I was sent flying by a Honk... by a wild bull, I didn't go that high, okay?"