Maintaining Raiden Mei's combat state would cause the Honkai energy variance to become too large, potentially triggering the Sixth Honkai Eruption ahead of schedule and causing the plot to spiral out of control. But right now, he couldn't care less about that.
It was like a wealthy merchant stuck in the desert with you, promising to give you half his fortune once you both got out, but demanding your water right now in exchange.
Whether they could leave alive was an unknown; a beautiful future was nothing but nonsense.
If they couldn't even survive today, there was no point in talking about tomorrow.
"Everything is just right, except for the bullets." Li Wu looked at the cyborgs approaching with their prosthetic weapons drawn. He let out a dumbfounded laugh and walked slowly forward.
Three bullets. Nowhere near enough.
But...
There was still "Return by Death."
Li Wu charged straight in. Of the five cyborgs, only two moved. Arga stood by watching the show; up until now, he had never actually seen Li Wu fight.
Even a few hours ago, when his colleagues brought him along to ambush Raiden Mei, it was the Schicksal A-Rank Valkyrie who solved the problem for Li Wu. Li Wu himself hadn't come into direct conflict with the cyborgs, only firing the finishing shots at the end.
Just as Arga thought Li Wu could easily take down his familiar subordinates, something unexpected happened...
"Li Wu?"
Arga stared in disbelief at Li Wu, whose head had been smashed flat. His face was full of incredulity.
How is this possible? Doesn't he have the skills of an S-Rank Valkyrie or higher? How could he fail to dodge such an attack?
Before Arga could have any further thoughts, the world replayed like a slideshow.
...
...
After returning, this time, Li Wu dodged the "Mount Tai Meteor Drop" of the two cyborgs. Just as Arga was about to praise Li Wu for his quick reaction speed in dodging a nitrogen-boosted charge attack, Li Wu was pierced by bullets fired from a prosthetic limb.
Like a marionette with its strings cut, wherever the bullets hit, his body jerked. In the end, he collapsed to the ground, his eyes lifeless.
"Li Wu?"
Arga was dumbfounded. He looked so cool a second ago, how did he suddenly drop dead?
...
...
The third time, the fourth time, the fifth time... Each time, Li Wu survived one move longer than the last.
Until the seventh return. Li Wu had memorized the complete attack patterns of all four enemies.
Yes, he just had to treat the enemies like monsters in a Souls-like game with fixed attack patterns. Besides, compared to Souls-like monsters, these cyborgs would die from a single bullet to the forehead. High attack, low defense—they were nothing special.
Without any suspense, Li Wu successfully dodged every attack and used his three bullets to accurately kill three cyborgs.
Two left.
"Arga, make your move!"
Hearing Li Wu's sudden command, Arga froze for a moment, then without hesitation, released the authority of the Plasma Kagehide, instantly freezing his colleagues.
He had no choice. Li Wu was acting like a ghost.
The four cyborgs had speed, strength, and were well-rounded, yet their combined attacks with almost no blind spots were perfectly dodged by Li Wu every single time.
It was truly... too eerie!
Even an S-Rank Valkyrie of the same type couldn't do that.
In Arga's eyes, Li Wu was dodging at the absolute limit of his vision. The moment he dodged an attack, he raised his hand and sent one to the afterlife with a single shot.
Not a single wasted movement.
Setting aside the cyborg Arga took out himself, the other three didn't even last five seconds against Li Wu.
Even a salted fish flops around a couple of times on the chopping board, yet three enhanced cybernetic warriors only lasted five seconds?
Arga forced a strained smile onto his face, walked up to Li Wu, and laughed obsequiously. "Brother Li Wu, it seems I misjudged you before. Your strength should be somewhere between B-Rank and A-Rank..."
"Cut the crap. Give me the Plasma Kagehide."
"You got it, boss!"
Arga handed over the Plasma Kagehide without any hesitation.
He had no choice. Arga had no doubt that if he didn't hand it over, Li Wu would kill him immediately.
Li Wu's movements were too clean, too transparent. It was like he was cheating; he could even dodge bullets. That bizarre fighting style... Arga knew he was no match.
However, Arga couldn't help but ask, "Um, aren't you going to stay with Raiden Mei? The boss sent quite a few people..."
"Leave quickly. Losing your life for a mission isn't worth it," Li Wu replied.
"Aren't you leaving?"
"If I leave, everything will end, and there will be no room for redemption. Don't ask about the rest. Leave now. If you don't go, you really will die here."
Li Wu hacked the Plasma Kagehide's permissions. It wasn't much different from the manga setting.
Actually, this weapon had a limit-break setting, but Li Wu couldn't use the limit-break module because the overflowing Honkai energy would instantly swallow him.
As an ordinary person with extremely low Honkai resistance, once the Third Honkai Eruption broke out or he came into contact with high concentrations of Honkai energy, he would have zero chance of survival.
Fortunately, the low-spec module of the Plasma Kagehide only supported plasma energy, not Honkai energy.
Li Wu jumped onto the alley wall and held up his phone high. The dazzling white light instantly attracted the attention of the surrounding cyborgs.
"I don't understand what you're saying, but you're right. Losing your life for a mission really isn't worth it. I advise you though: risking your life for a Herrscher isn't a worthwhile deal either."
After saying this, Arga quickly disappeared around a corner behind him.
Watching Arga vanish from sight, Li Wu panted heavily. The cold, dense rain beat against his forehead, soaking his entire body, making his dizziness even worse.
The biting wind and rain blew through the late night. The blinding white light pierced through layer after layer of rain. Countless dark shadows surged from all directions, surrounding Li Wu layer by layer.
"To a person trapped in the desert, water is more important than money; to a person riddled with illness, health is more important than money; to a person full of ideals, spirit is more important than life..."
"Whether it's worth it or not, you don't get to decide. I do."
Li Wu forcibly ignited his simulated consciousness and unlocked the Plasma Kagehide's low-spec defense module function.
Just as the cyborgs locked onto him in the intense rainstorm and were about to fire.
A bolt of lightning suddenly descended from the thick, black clouds, thunder rolling endlessly.
Li Wu stood his ground, activating the Plasma Kagehide to form a plasma energy defense barrier around himself.
Immediately after, the lightning, guided by the Honkai energy, condensed into solid forms. It shuttled through the rain like opportune vipers, entangling everyone in the small alley.
Zzzt—
Zzzt—
Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the plasma barrier, growing larger and larger, almost unable to withstand Raiden Mei's energy discharge.
Just as the barrier shattered, the lightning storm finally dissipated, perfectly timed.
Due to the intertwining of plasma energy and Honkai energy, his internal organs suffered significant damage. However, the dust explosion theory mentioned that Holy Blood could be bought in the city market. Buying some later to heal shouldn't be a big problem.
When Li Wu looked up, all the cyborgs participating in the hunting plan were dead.
"I don't believe you can watch this scene and remain unmoved."
Li Wu spoke to a surveillance camera not far away, jumped down from the wall, and quickly rushed to where Raiden Mei was.
When he arrived.
Raiden Mei was kneeling on the ground, her head buried, curled up into a ball, hugging herself tightly and unmoving.
Like a statue that had already crumbled—stiff and rigid.
[Act I: "The Hidden Side of the Girls"]
[Objective 1: Help Raiden Mei's human persona overcome the Herrscher persona, and survive the Third Honkai Eruption.]
[Completion Rate: 50%]
[Raiden Mei has completed the "(Semi) Emergence" of the Herrscher of Thunder.]
(Semi) Emergence?
Isn't Emergence usually complete?
Only when the Herrscher persona and the host persona perfectly merged could the Herrscher undergo Emergence, resulting in a qualitative leap in power.
But that wasn't important.
What was important was that Raiden Mei hadn't let the Herrscher persona dominate her body during that discharge of energy.
Relying on this point was enough to make World Serpent open its doors.
"You did very well. Leave the rest to me."
Li Wu had already considered all possibilities.
In the most ideal scenario, Gray Serpent would contact Kevin, who was still in the Sea of Quanta, and forcibly side with Raiden Mei.
Kallen's strength in this world was unknown, but Kevin's strength in the manga's early plot setting was the ceiling. In the original work, he completely crushed the Schicksal Overseer. Ensuring Raiden Mei's survival wouldn't be hard.
Of course, that was the most ideal scenario.
More likely, World Serpent would only provide long-term asylum. They would use Raiden Mei to let Elysia witness a Herrscher of the current era possessing humanity, and then wash their hands of it.
After all, Kevin couldn't escape the Sea of Quanta yet, and World Serpent had no way to confront Schicksal head-on.
"It doesn't matter. I can make corresponding decisions for different situations. At least, we still have a road to walk..."
Li Wu picked Raiden Mei up, his gaze casting far into the distance, pressing straight toward the prison where Raiden Ryoma was held.
Though called a prison, aside from not being able to leave or easily contact the outside world, Raiden Ryoma could do a lot inside.
He was an Anti-Entropy Enforcer, after all. The resources he had accumulated over so many years weren't for nothing.
"Raiden Ryoma, World Serpent, Schicksal..."
"A constant stream of small crisis events, life-saving straws, formidable enemies that cannot be faced directly..."
As an ordinary person, Li Wu wasn't 100% sure he could solve any of the problems he mentioned.
But if he didn't even try, he would definitely regret it in the future.
After all, he could give up at any time. He had to try. What if he could do it?
Li Wu thought to himself.
The violent rainstorm gradually subsided into a drizzle. The fine rain blurred the entire Nagazora City and washed away the blood on the ground.
No one disturbed them anymore.
Li Wu held the unconscious Raiden Mei and walked step by step, slightly unsteadily, toward that prison. The streetlamps cast a dim light, making his gaze obscure and unclear.
Arriving at the prison.
The guards didn't stop him. Instead, they stood to the sides, holding firearms that weren't loaded.
Li Wu quickly scanned the surroundings. Twenty-four guards, not cyborgs, holding automatic rifles, with no intention to attack.
Very normal. The entire Nagazora City was currently under Raiden Ryoma's surveillance. His arrival definitely couldn't be hidden.
Li Wu didn't intend to hide it either. He was here to talk face-to-face with Raiden Ryoma. If the negotiation results weren't satisfactory...
He didn't mind regressing repeatedly.
Until the result was satisfactory.
And Li Wu had never let her down. Not once.
(Comment Section Content)
Book Guest 31917151770 Member Xiao Bai
Can even play BDSM with me and unlock special CGs? Isn't this just a galgame?
1 hour ago · Henan · 2nd Floor
Book Guest 31917151770 Member Xiao Bai
Mei: Sisters, I suddenly realized I seem to have become the heroine of a galgame. A gentle and kind protagonist fell from the sky and redeems me again and again without asking for anything in return.
1 hour ago · Henan · 1st Floor
(Attached images feature stylized anime-style characters with "baby" text overlays and dialogue captions like "It's all you now".)