"Long time no see, my dear friend."
Feeling the tension in Mr. Yang's body, Levi gave a faint smile and let go of him.
Mr. Yang tightened his grip on his cane, as if that gave him a fair amount of security, deliberately avoiding those dazzling eyes that belonged only to a Herrscher.
In a low voice, he said, "Mr. Dan Feng, you must be joking. We only met a few days ago. That hardly counts as 'a long time.'"
And it certainly doesn't count as 'dear friend.'
"Dan Feng?" March 7th leaned in curiously. "Aren't you called Levi?"
Levi waved his hand at her. "Just like how a thousand people see a thousand versions of the Diviner."
"It's normal for me to have different names in different people's mouths."
After answering March 7th's question, Levi looked at Mr. Yang with a smile, already certain of something.
The worlds connected by the chat group were not the same.
For example, the Mr. Yang from Kiana Kaslana's world was not the same Mr. Yang standing in front of him now.
Which was fine. No interference between each other.
Levi kept his smile.
"That's not quite right. Ever since we parted ways in Siberia, we haven't met again. I thought we'd never have the chance. Who would've expected to run into you in this world?"
"..."
"The way you killed the Herrscher of the Void is still so clear in my mind, even now."
Mr. Yang said nothing. He stood where he was, quietly looking at him.
Through his eyes, Levi saw a deep confusion.
"I… killed the Herrscher of the Void?"
Mr. Yang suspected he had misheard. As someone who personally took part in the Second Honkai Eruption, he knew very well how the Herrscher of the Void had actually perished.
Back then, Anti-Entropy cooperated with the Valkyries in Siberia and pushed the Herrscher of the Void into a corner.
Then Otto Apocalypse fired several Honkai energy fission missiles and stole the kill.
Even if it hadn't been stolen, the credit wouldn't have gone to him anyway.
The title of "the one who killed the Herrscher of the Void" could never be pinned on him.
Mr. Yang felt that title…
If Otto hadn't intervened, Cecilia Schariac might have added another achievement to her record.
But this man knew about the Herrscher of the Void. Could he also be from the original world?
Yet what he was saying sounded completely absurd.
Mr. Yang adjusted his glasses.
"Mr. Levi, you must be joking. Killing the Herrscher of the Void was the result of everyone's efforts. What ability do I have to claim I killed it myself?"
Since Levi hadn't shown any hostility, Mr. Yang lowered his guard slightly.
But he still didn't dare loosen his grip on the cane.
Hearing that, Levi smiled faintly. "Why wouldn't it be possible?"
"As long as you have power, a destination, and an ideal, that's enough!"
Mr. Yang couldn't understand what he meant by "power, destination, and ideal."
Levi looked him up and down. "But since you're standing here safe and sound, I assume Honkai has already been dealt with."
"As for Schicksal, you've probably already wiped them out too."
Levi flexed his fingers. "I got here pretty early. Before I arrived, I was infected with Honkai sickness. Almost kicked the bucket."
"But I got lucky and survived. Even gained quite a bit of power."
A flame appeared in his hand as he looked at Mr. Yang with a smile.
At this moment, Mr. Yang's nerves were taut. He was afraid Levi might suddenly go mad and attack Stelle and March 7th.
He himself wasn't afraid. It wasn't his first time facing a Herrscher.
He was mainly worried the two girls might get hurt.
Seeing Mr. Yang like this, Levi paused for a moment, then shook his head with a soft laugh.
"Heh… Welt Yang, you're treating me like a Herrscher, aren't you?"
That quiet laugh reminded Mr. Yang of a certain kind of creature he found deeply unpleasant.
He hadn't expected the other party to call it out so directly. He thought he would gloss over it.
That caught him off guard.
Mr. Yang asked in return, "Aren't you?"
"Looks like you've really forgotten a lot." Levi stared at him, his gaze deep. "You've even become a bit unlike yourself."
After looking at him for a while, Levi turned around and left behind a sentence.
"I can't explain this clearly. Anyway, I'm not one of the Herrschers you remember."
"And right now, I'm chasing down a merchant who brought inflatable dolls into the Luofu without paying taxes. I'll come find you after I catch him."
"Joachim."
As he left, he cast a subtle glance at Mr. Yang, seeing the shock on his face.
The corner of his lips lifted slightly, and the projection vanished instantly.
Mess things up and run. That's pretty thrilling.
"In this situation, what do they call it again?"
In a corner of Cloudford, the real Levi stroked his chin. "I think it's called… digging a hole and not filling it?"
———
"He just left?"
March 7th scratched her head. She hadn't understood a single word of the conversation between Levi and Yang.
She could only vaguely tell that Levi seemed to have known Yang for a very, very long time.
And that they were even from the same hometown.
Stelle looked surprised. "So Levi really does know you, Mr. Yang. I thought he'd just heard your name before!"
Looking at the two who had come up beside him, Mr. Yang raised his head and stared at the spot where Levi had disappeared.
His eyes were filled with confusion.
Know him? Yes… and no.
Levi had only appeared once in his memory.
That was when he came to the Astral Express together with Topaz from the IPC.
As for anything earlier…
He couldn't remember ever knowing someone named Levi.
But the fact that the other party knew his original name…
Clearly, he did know him.
After all, the name Joachim was something even he himself had almost forgotten.
If the other party hadn't brought it up, he might not have remembered he even had another name.
From 1955, when he took on the Herrscher core, until now, how many years had passed?
A trace of recollection appeared in his eyes.
After a while, he came back to himself, looked at the two youngsters in front of him, and adjusted his glasses.
"Let's go. We'll head to a safe area first."
He felt like something dangerous was roaming around this place.
The three of them weaved between piles of cargo. Before long, they got lost.
The scenery in front of them kept repeating. March 7th scratched her head. "He said he'd come find us later. Why don't we just wait here?"
The place was filled with cargo containers, and to make room for living space, they had been stacked even more densely.
That made the pathways extremely numerous.
For someone visiting for the first time, it was practically a nightmare.
"Who are you!"
A sharp female voice rang out from behind them. The group turned around and saw a woman in Cloud Knight armor.
Holding a greatsword, she pointed it at them, her gaze stern as she demanded, "Don't you know this is a dangerous zone? Visitors aren't allowed… wait, no, why would there be visitors at a time like this?"
"Speak! Who are you? Why are you here!"
Sushang's eyes were sharp. Just from their clothing, she could tell they weren't from the Xianzhou.
Arriving at the port at a time like this meant either they were here to steal previously stored goods.
Or they had guts and came looking for death.
But the latter was clearly unlikely.
Which meant… thieves.
Of course, they could also be stowaways. But the Jade Gate was tightly sealed right now. Normally, no stowaways could get in at this time.
Having already decided they were thieves, Sushang prepared to escort them to a Cloud Knight outpost for interrogation.
[🎉 Shoutout to Vey, Felix and Erik for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]