Honkai Impact 3: Deadwood

"Well, sorry to have kept you waiting, I'm fine now."

The captain turned his head and Ji Zi noticed that one of the boy's red eyes had returned to the dark night sky that she was familiar with, while the other was still bright red.

"Really? Can you two stop taking turns scaring me like this in the future? My heart can't take it."

"Hehe, you look so reliable standing next to me in this armor?"

"Come on, do you think we can just put this thing on? If it wasn't for Yulandel's friend who was so helpful and fixed the adjustment in a few steps, I might not have been able to come here so quickly."

"Ok?"

Hearing this, the captain made a slight sound of doubt. He took out the terminal from his pocket and took a look at the current time. He then recalled the situation when Ji Zi came to support him at this time before, and suddenly another question came to his mind.

This time, Ji Zi came to support him and Fu Hua more than ten minutes earlier than last time...

How is this going?

Even if he interfered with the flow of time and returned to this point in time to change the original fate of Mei and Mia, such a change should not have happened...

"I was actually quite puzzled. From what Youlandel said, even her friend would need quite some time to debug this armor. But it seemed like she had anticipated this. She kept muttering something like 'Oh, it's happening again', and then she sent me a set of data that was completely compatible with my body, and she finished the debugging process in just a few minutes."

"Elizabeth…?"

The captain's sharp thinking allowed him to immediately grasp the key to the conversation. Elizabeth McSmith...

Although it is not a big variable, the person who caused this slight change is most likely her.

And... although he fell into a coma in the middle, this time, Otto did not seem to interfere with his actions, nor did he throw the spear at him that should have pierced his abdomen.

Was it because he fell down early and didn't need him to attack anymore? Or was it...

"Captain, now that you are back, please quickly take Fu Hua's body and retreat. I will hold the fort here. I am afraid that if it takes too long, everyone on Hyperion..."

"Do not."

The captain shook his head and took a step forward. "Leave the Herrscher of the Void to me. Jizi, I'll leave Hyperion to you."

"Ah? But, Captain, you..."

"Jizi, believe me, I promise you that this time, I will bring Kiana back to Saint Freya safely."

"..."

Looking at the determined eyes of the young man beside her and his body which anyone could see had suffered too much pain, even Ji Zi, who always liked to be decisive, felt a little reluctant.

However, as the captain said, as one of the Valkyries of St. Freya Academy, she, like everyone else, firmly believed in the weight of this person's words.

Since he was seeking her trust, she had to give a response that was consistent and substantial enough.

"I understand. You can leave Hyperion to me, but Captain..."

"Ok?"

"Not only Kiana, but also you and Fu Hua, all of you must come back!"

"Well, I promise you, Himeko."

The captain calmly made a promise with the Valkyrie beside him, and then, the captain's right eye, which was still red, began to shine: "Don't worry, Major Himeko, he and I... the captain and I will definitely rescue Kiana successfully."

Although the voice came from the same throat, Ji Zi could still easily tell who was speaking in the captain's tone.

"Fu Hua...haha, then it's settled!"

After saying that, Ji Zi no longer hesitated, turned around and strode towards the edge of the airport without looking back. Driven by the anti-gravity Houkai energy engine, the red figure leaped up and in an instant pierced into the rainy night sky like an arrow.

"The major... must have gone through a lot of psychological struggles."

Standing in the middle of the lake in the spiritual space, the girl held the five fingers of the boy beside her tightly, stood shoulder to shoulder with him, and looked in the direction where Ji Zi left.

"Yes, but her body can't support her using the "Blank Key" for a long time. Forcing herself to fight the "Herrser" is tantamount to burning her own life. But if it's just Benares, she can at least handle it, so I have to let her go first."

"Burning life... Xiaozhi, aren't you also burning your life right now?"

"..."

During the brief silence, Fu Hua suddenly felt the force on her hand was slightly stronger.

“…I’m sorry, Chi Yuan, for making you take this risk with me.”

"But you already have a plan to rescue Kiana, don't you?"

"Well, but what I want to do now is not only to rescue Kiana, I also want to "try" again. For this, I need your strength, Chi Yuan, are you willing to... accompany me to the end?"

"Hehehe..."

The girl did not give an answer, but she showed a sweet smile that was not usually there at a somewhat inappropriate time. She clasped the five fingers of the boy beside her tightly as her silent reply.

"If you were the one who said this to me, I would only do one thing..."

"I will use everything I have to help you achieve whatever you want..."

"It will be like this no matter what time it is."

Finally, at this moment, in this still frail body, the two people, who had completely merged each other's existence and their own souls, achieved an unprecedented reconciliation.

Simply relying on their respective feelings and trust in each other, two similar but completely different consciousnesses are tightly connected to each other.

On the other side not far from the young man, Xilin did not seem surprised to see that the red Valkyrie chose to escape in the end. Yes, she had a premonition that it would be that woman who left.

"Hehehe~☆Since you are the one who stays, let's continue. I want to see how long you can stay in that body~"

After she finished speaking, hundreds of golden holes emitting cold light appeared out of thin air in the sky behind Xilin. However, the next second she received a response from someone she didn't expect.

"The person who should say that is me, Xilin."

"!?"

The black-haired boy walked forward slowly, and stood facing the white-haired Herrscher in the heavy rain. Observing the other party's eyes, which were once vermilion but now were one red and one black, Xilin immediately understood the other party's current mental state.

"Stupid human... Humph, you want two consciousnesses to control one body at the same time? How ridiculous!"

"Xilin, that's enough, return Kiana's body to you."

"Ridiculous! This body was originally prepared for me to come back, so how can I go back? But you, now that you're awake, why don't you kneel down and beg me to let you go? That way I can consider making your death more comfortable~☆" After rejecting the boy's request, Xilin changed the subject and said jokingly.

"Haha, really? But you didn't actually plan to kill me, did you?"

“…Heh, human, did I break your brain? Why don’t you let the woman hiding in your body speak out instead? At least I won’t feel like I’m talking to a lunatic~☆”

"But during the time when I lost consciousness, I heard your voice."

"W-what?"

"Because you didn't want me to die, you were so eager to use the power of the Herrscher of Death on me. In order to save me, you must have spent a lot of precious power that you had just lost and regained."

"Nonsense, don't be so self-righteous. I just wanted you to see me slowly destroying the world, so that I could see the expression on your face at that time!"

"But you did intend to save me, and you did."

"…you!!"

Looking at the expression on the girl's face, which was as silent as a fire that she had lost, the captain became more certain that the voice he heard when he was unconscious was not an illusion.