"Hmm~"
Emerging from Herta's lab, Lynelle hummed a familiar little tune — the kind that would've made old Yang spit out his coffee — as she began wandering leisurely through the space station.
After all, the Honkai Impact 3rd situation had reached a conclusion, and a rather good one at that, allowing the tension in Lynelle's heart to finally settle.
No matter what her so-called "past life" might suggest, whether she truly shared deep bonds with Kiana and the others, or if this was really a "second playthrough"... from her own current perspective, she was still just a newbie who'd transmigrated less than a month ago.
Her first "instance" had been hell-difficulty, with death counts nearly matching her survival days. No matter how calm she appeared on the surface, inwardly, she couldn't help but feel some nerves.
'Now, where should I go... Oh right, since I've got nothing better to do, why not check out Herta's Curio Storage?'
As the saying goes, after a great battle comes the loot. Having just wrapped up a major story arc, it was the perfect time to slowly study Herta's collection of Curios. Even if she couldn't "pull" for them right now, making a gacha plan wouldn't hurt.
And also...
Lynelle gently poked the avatar of customer service rep Kiana-chan on the system screen.
"Kiana-chan, Kiana-chan, Kiana-chan?"
[Huh? Wh-what is it, Host?]
The slightly guilty Kiana-chan immediately popped up.
After all, Lynelle had just discussed system-related matters with Herta. What if she asked some tricky questions now? Would she give something away?
Kiana-chan was feeling the pressure.
"Nothing much, I just remembered that I haven't done any gacha pulls in the Honkai Star Rail system yet. Thought I might try a few pulls now."
[Oh, is that all...]
Customer service Kiana-chan let out a sigh of relief. Watching as Lynelle began the gacha process, and wanting to avoid any more strange questions later, she quickly steered the conversation herself.
[By the way, Host, next time you return to the Honkai world, if either Cecilia or Sirin wakes up, remember to let them possess you first.]
"Huh? That's fine by me... but is there a specific reason for that?"
[There actually is. After you concluded the Second Eruption this time, the system upgrade conditions popped up on my end. The requirement is to ensure either Cecilia or Sirin survives past the Second Eruption.]
[I checked the system's criteria. It seems having them possess you once is needed to meet the upgrade condition.]
"Oh right, the system upgrade. You mentioned before that you only learn the upgrade conditions after I trigger them..."
Lynelle paused for a moment, then recalled what customer service Kiana-chan had explained during their first system introduction.
"So, putting it that way... I feel like the system is actually encouraging me to steer events toward positive outcomes?"
[That's hard to say. From the various parameters I can see in the backend, it might be more than just that. Perhaps many strange promotion conditions will appear later, ensuring that even if you miss one, it won't lead to a dead end.]
[As for this system update... it probably doesn't have any special functions. I suspect it will just transform the two-dimensional system inventory into a system space that you can actually use.]
"That's not bad either. Consider it finding a house for Cecilia and you."
[Guh...]
Amid Lynelle's soft giggles, customer service Kiana-chan let out a strange, defeated sound.
"Alright, let's go. The Curio Repository is here. The isolation in this place is really tight. Even with my Herrscher of Corruption powers, I can barely sense what's outside..."
While chatting with Kiana-chan, Lynelle had already used her highest-level access card to bypass the layers of security Herta had set up, proceeding into the deepest area.
'What should I look at this time... Ah, got it. I'll go check out 'that thing' on the way later...'
'And I remember, Herta seems to have... specifically created an extra layer of protection for it?'
--+--
"System time, 23:47:15. You're very punctual, Kafka."
A voice full of a certain "brusque" quality sounded from the terminal held by the purple-haired woman in a trench coat.
"The future Elio sees is never wrong. But, what was that explosion about? Was it in the script too?"
"Yes. Approximately two system hours ago, the Antimatter Legion attacked the space station. This will provide cover for our operation."
"Go through this door and continue straight ahead. I'll be waiting for you in a monitoring room."
"Oh? Not going to accompany me for a walk?"
Kafka raised an eyebrow. "Or did you find something interesting on the space station?"
"I did come across something that piqued my interest, but it's hard to explain over the comms. You'll understand when you get here."
"Alright then~"
Kafka leisurely closed the communicator.
According to Silver Wolf, she was currently in the Seclusion Zone of the space station. Going straight ahead would lead to a monitoring room.
While she wasn't sure why finding the Stellaron's location required going to a monitoring room, she held no doubts about either Elio's script or Silver Wolf's hacking skills.
Soon, after dealing with several groups of Voidrangers along the way, Kafka reached the destination. Her companion, Silver Wolf, was already there, manifesting a virtual keyboard and typing away with a clatter.
"Still searching for the Stellaron's hidden location?"
Kafka walked over and asked softly, "It wasn't in the script?"
"No, but I've already found it."
Silver Wolf didn't even turn her head. "Curio Number 211, [Blind Spot]. A simple light-bending field that makes things within its area go unnoticed. But as soon as something else becomes conspicuous, it gives itself away."
"See that anomalous shimmer in the corner of the monitoring room? That's it. There are two energy barrier fields inside. The Stellaron is hidden behind them."
"Uh..."
Kafka had initially thought Silver Wolf was locked in a battle of wits with Herta's security measures. But now, it seemed... that wasn't the case?
"So... Silver Wolf, what are you doing now?"
"I found an email in Herta's main control system."
A hint of embarrassment flashed across Silver Wolf's face. "You know Elio's script said we wouldn't encounter Herta."
"So, since the lady herself won't be showing up, I went ahead and hacked that email to see what's inside."
"But Herta seems to have applied the highest level of encryption to the email content itself. Cracking it would probably take some time, so I switched to decompressing the attached file. For some reason, Herta encrypted the file itself but not this attachment."
"And the result..."
"The result?"
"Sigh, it turned out to be a trap deliberately left by that infuriating woman."
Silver Wolf's face fell. "That thing is an intelligent virus I've never seen before. It's not hard to delete, but it's like it has a life of its own, scurrying all over my terminal. Even Prometheus can't handle it, so I'm taking care of it personally."
"By the way, that virus definitely has its own emotional consciousness, and a highly simulated one at that. To get back at me for trying to eliminate it, it already trashed one of my gaming accounts."
"To prevent further damage, I just isolated that terminal physically. I'm booting up a new spare now... Don't worry, it won't delay the mission."
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 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.