"March! March! Over here, smile~"
Lynelle raised her camera, perfectly capturing the moment the girl's cheeks were puffed out, stuffed full with tanghulu.
"Lynelle! You sneaked another picture of me eating!"
"What's the big deal~"
Lynelle hid March's camera behind her back: "This is called documenting life's wonderful moments! My photography skills are great, even Dan Heng said so!"
"Huh?"
March 7th's face was full of disbelief: "What exactly did Dan Heng praise you for?"
"He said, 'Your eyes are so beautiful.'"
"Was that really praising your photography skills…"
"Don't get the wrong idea, March."
Just then, Dan Heng's voice chimed in from the side.
"If I recall correctly, what I actually said was, 'Why don't you open your eyes and take a good look at what you've even photographed.'"
"You! Taking the words completely out of context!"
"Ehehe…"
Returning the camera to the girl, Lynelle took the tanghulu March had just bought and took a big bite, then couldn't help but sigh.
"Hey, hey! I didn't even delete the photo, why are you sighing now!"
March asked curiously, casually pinching Lynelle's cheek.
"It's nothing. It's just… seeing you so lively and happy like this suddenly reminded me of an old friend."
"!"
March immediately became alert. Her intuition told her this 'old friend' probably wasn't in a simple situation.
Trying to avoid a repeat of last time with Bailu, which had nearly left her unable to sleep all night, March cautiously asked, "This old friend of yours… they haven't… met with misfortune, have they?"
"Ahem, no, nothing like that. It's just that the situation they're about to face might be a bit dangerous."
Lynelle silently averted her gaze.
That's right, the old friend she was talking about was actually Kiana.
Because Lynelle had resolved the situation with Wendy in Oceania ahead of time, even making Wendy a regular visitor shuttling between St. Freya and Oceania, the original Herrscher-of-Wendy plotline in Honkai Impact 3rd, which fell between the Valkyrie exam and the Queen's descent, had been left completely blank.
After all, if Wendy were to become a Herrscher again now, it would definitely be because Lynelle had done something reckless to herself again, like self-destructing or something.
So, amidst the peaceful academy atmosphere, time quickly arrived at a key plot point—December 2016, the event node for the Queen's descent.
In fact, given the combined strength of Anti-Entropy and St. Freya now, even with Welt trapped in the Sea of Quanta and Kevin… well, doing his thing, if Lynelle maintained strict vigilance, there was absolutely no way Otto could kidnap Kiana.
But as the saying goes, it's not the thief you fear, but the thief scheming.
If she missed this known plot point, who knew when Otto would make his move next?
Rather than facing a completely unknown Otto later, Lynelle figured it was better to deal him a heavy blow within this plotline where she held significant informational advantage.
Moreover, within this plotline was an event that laid crucial groundwork for the future: that certain Otto's famous line, "I did not lie, Phoenix."
Regarding this plot point, Lynelle's mindset was actually somewhat similar to Jing Yuan's.
For Jing Yuan to have Dan Heng reclaim the High Elder's power, Blade needed to run Dan Heng through.
But with the Astral Express crew around, that was simply impossible.
So, Jing Yuan specifically had Dan Heng travel alone until he transformed into the High Elder before reuniting with the Express crew.
Similarly, for Lynelle to pave the way for little Senti's future appearance and for Fu Hua to regain her full strength, Fu Hua's body needed to be in an "uninhabited" state.
So, to be safe, she still needed to let Otto fire that shot, letting Fu Hua fall into "death"—after all, this was clearly a project she couldn't possibly replicate solo.
It wasn't like she could mimic a certain bamboo forest princess and make a habit of sparring with Fu Hua daily, could she?
So, after discussing with Sirin, Lynelle decided to put on a performance with her.
They would follow the original story's early trajectory: let Kiana be taken back to Schicksal Headquarters by Otto, then have Otto implant the Gem of Serenity into Kiana and infuse her with Honkai energy, thereby stimulating Sirin's awakening…
Of course, for the current Kiana and Sirin, this act—which originally provoked the Queen to take over—was essentially just replenishing their energy.
Sirin was just worrying about having no one to repair her core and refill it with ample Honkai energy.
Since it was Otto's resources, why not take advantage? No reason to leave free wool un-gathered.
Then, after Sirin successfully "awakened," Lynelle would lead a team directly to assault Schicksal Headquarters and take Kiana back—letting Kiana wander off to Arc City utterly broken, like in the original story, was absolutely out of the question.
If for no other reason, Cecilia was still around. If she saw Kiana in that state, she'd be heartbroken.
You must understand, Cecilia's wish wasn't for Kiana to become a hero, but for her to live a happy and peaceful life.
Since the plot had already gone this far off the rails, Lynelle saw no need to let Kiana experience that daily torment of both body and mind.
And so…
Some time later, Lynelle, having returned to the Honkai world, silently watched Kiana walking towards the central cathedral district under the cover of night.
"Wendy, what's the situation over at Schicksal?"
"Just across the ocean from us, two aircraft are ready for launch at the Schicksal base."
With Lynelle's boost, Wendy, who could essentially transform into a radar covering the entire Far East region, was reporting Schicksal's every move.
"And the personnel Schicksal sent?"
"Aside from Rita and the Immortal Blades, Otto is there personally."
Wendy focused her senses for a moment, her expression turning slightly strange: "But, why has this Otto… brought a coffin along?"
"Ah, well…"
Lynelle's mouth twitched. "That's probably not a coffin, but one of Otto's trump cards… It's fine."
"Our plan for this step is to follow Otto's lead anyway. It shouldn't come to him needing to release that Miss Li Sushang."
"But if we do have to face her later… don't worry, I'll handle her."
"It won't be dangerous, will it?"
Wendy asked nervously.
"It won't. She's a good person."
Lynelle shook her head. "Look, Kiana is in position."
"But you know, I am curious. Sirin said she has a way to make Kiana, who knows nothing about the plan, 'act' out a loss of control… How exactly is she going to manage that?"
--+--
At the same time, within the data space of the Second Honkai Eruption simulated by the system in the central cathedral district.
"Kiana… I know you've always wanted to understand the truth of what happened back then."
"To understand why I appear by your side in this form, and why you feel such a natural attachment to Lynelle."
"Before, I never told you about your past. But now… you can uncover that history for yourself."
Sirin's voice drifted softly from behind Kiana as she gently lowered the hands covering Kiana's eyes.
"See it with your own eyes. See what we truly endured back then at Babylon Tower… Then you will understand the reason for all of this."
Kiana opened her eyes. Before her, a body covered by a white sheet, still stained with copious amounts of blood, was being slowly wheeled out of the laboratory.
"The current time is December 17th, 1999."
"And this body before you…"
"Is Lynelle."
--+--
T/N: Oh nah thats crazy
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.