159. Interrupted Simulation
『A massive amount of Honkai energy has been detected. Simulation is being interrupted.』
Yun Ling awoke from the simulation, feeling the ground tremble. Was it the third Honkai Impact?
『The simulation interruption will last for 12 hours. Please find a suitable place to continue the simulation within 12 hours; otherwise, you will enter forced simulation mode.』
The system issued a notification.
"I understand." Yun Ling nodded and jumped out of bed.
Mei was sitting in the living room, a hint of panic on her face.
"Yun Ling, I'm a little uneasy..."
Mei clutched her chest, a heavy feeling of unease swirling within her.
"It might get perilous here, Mei. Pack your things and prepare to leave," Yun Ling said earnestly.
"Huh? Oh!"
Although somewhat doubtful, Mei immediately began packing essential items.
"I'll go inform Yuna and Kiana."
Yun Ling didn't have anything to pack; his belongings were already in the 'Theater of Domination.'
He went next door and pushed the door open.
"What's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?" Kiana looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"The Honkai Impact has descended around here. Let's pack up, we should leave… Where's Yuna?" Yun Ling glanced around but couldn't find any trace of Yuna.
"Honkai?! Oh no, Yuna just went out!" Kiana immediately sensed something was wrong.
"What?" Yun Ling was stunned. Of all times, it had to be now that something went wrong.
"She said she was going to buy some things, and she went out," Kiana said anxiously.
"I'll go find her. You stay here with Mei."
Yun Ling summoned 'Ruoshui' and, not caring about being conspicuous, immediately flew into the sky on his sword.
He unleashed all his senses, carefully searching for Yuna's whereabouts.
However, there was no trace of Yuna in the supermarket recently.
Yun Ling gradually grew impatient. Perhaps beneath his seemingly indifferent demeanor, Yuna held a more important place in his heart than he imagined.
At least before this, Yun Ling had always considered Yuna a mere appendage, someone he could discard at any time.
"Yuna, oh Yuna, where have you gone to? You've made me so worried! I'll spank you when I find you!" Yun Ling muttered to himself.
He flew towards the school again, but still couldn't sense Yuna's presence.
Then only one place remained!
Coincidentally, that was also the place with the highest concentration of Honkai energy!
Yun Ling wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he first picked up Kiana and Mei, who had already been prepared, just in case something unexpected happened.
Not far away, several enormous Honkai beasts were ravaging everything around them.
"Have you found Yuna?" Mei's voice also carried a hint of worry.
"I've checked the supermarkets and schools around here, but she's not there. So I suspect Yuna might have gone home without telling us," Yun Ling stated his guess.
"Come to think of it, she did seem to receive a phone call before going out. Could it be…" Kiana recalled what had happened not long ago.
"That makes sense then," Yun Ling nodded.
Soon, the three of them arrived near Yuna's house.
Several enormous Honkai Beasts blocked their path. Yun Ling's fingers instantly conjured several water jets, piercing through the cores of all the Honkai Beasts.
"What kind of ability is this?" Mei couldn't help but feel a little surprised.
Kiana's eyes flashed with a strange light, but she didn't say anything.
"This is a new ability I developed in conjunction with Ruoshui. I need Ruoshui by my side to help me accumulate true energy before I can use it," Yun Ling lied.
Since Kiana had most likely dreamt about what happened in the first simulation, Yun Ling didn't want to create any rift between them.
Ruoshui happened to have the ability to manipulate water, so this made sense to some extent. Kiana's eyes dimmed slightly, for she had long ago noticed Yun Ling's use of water manipulation abilities, back when he didn't yet have Ruoshui.
So... Yun Ling was hiding something from her?
Finally, Yun Ling arrived at Yuna's house.
"Yuna is inside," Yun Ling said softly, sensing her presence.
However, the surrounding area was covered by countless dense thorns, making it impossible for Yun Ling and the others to enter from the front.
"Could it be that Yuna has become a Herrscher..." Yun Ling murmured.
As if sensing their arrival, the thorns parted, allowing them to enter.
This further confirmed Yun Ling's judgment. He let out a soft breath and exchanged a glance with Kiana and Mei.
The three nodded slightly, as if having made up their minds, and walked inside.
Pushing open the door, Yuna stood there quietly with her back to them.
Several corpses, pierced by thorns, lay around her, one of them bearing the same pale purple hair as Yuna.
"Yuna," Yun Ling called softly.
Yuna mechanically turned around, the bloodstains on her face and her disheveled hair making her appear somewhat terrifying.
"Yun Ling...classmate..." A flicker of emotion appeared in Yuna's dull eyes.
"I'm here." Yun Ling took a few steps forward, but was stopped by Mei and Kiana.
Clearly, the Yuna of today is not the same as before.
Yun Ling gave them a reassuring look.
"It's mine..." Yuna murmured.
"What?" Yun Ling didn't hear her words clearly.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, two thorns sprang from the ground, binding the unsuspecting Mei and Kiana.
The intense pain caused them to scream.
"Yun Ling…." Yuna stepped forward and gently hugged Yun Ling.
"Yuna, do you know what you're doing?" Yun Ling's voice was laced with suppressed anger.
Seemingly sensing Yun Ling's anger, Yuna's expression turned somewhat panicked, but the power within her body allowed her buried desires to override her reason.
"Yun Ling-kun, if you promise me you'll never see those two again, I'll let them go, how about it?"
Yuna's face wore a somewhat morbid smile as she actually made a deal with Yun Ling.
She also tightened the thorns binding the two of them slightly, forcing Yun Ling to make a choice immediately.
But before Yun Ling could even speak, 'Mei' behind him couldn't hold back any longer and erupted.
"You mere trash, where do you get the audacity to restrain me?!"
A flash of lightning severed all the surrounding thorns, and Kiana collapsed to the ground, the wounds from the thorns stained with purple.
The thorns were poisonous!
Yuna's expression changed drastically; she never expected Mei to possess such terrifying power.
Yun Ling immediately stepped forward to support Kiana, controlling her blood to force out the poison.
"Tsk." Yun Ling clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, looking at Yuna.
"Yun Ling is mine!" A hint of ferocity flashed in Yuna's eyes, and countless thorns attacked Mei.
Mei's body transformed into lightning, instantly appearing before Yuna, grabbing her head, and slamming her head hard against the ground.
"Mei, be gentle, don't kill her," Yun Ling warned.
Yuna was clearly still conscious, just a little overconfident, wanting to monopolize Yun Ling.
"Your turn soon!" Mei sneered, glancing sideways at Yun Ling.
...