Kafka had no intention of interfering with Silver Wolf's little hobby.
In fact, thanks to this minor incident involving Silver Wolf, she hadn't lingered around the space station with Kafka as long as she did in the original storyline.
As a result, Kafka, having blitzed through the "beginner's tutorial," now had plenty of time to spare for their mission.
"All set, dear?"
"Not really, but let's get on with the mission anyway."
Silver Wolf let out a sigh. "That Elio, seriously... It's not like I ever stole his cat food or anything. How could he leave something this important out of my script?"
"Oh? You're actually calling it 'important'?" Kafka sounded surprised. "As I recall, you weren't even this upset during your match against Screwllum. Is that gaming account really that precious?"
"The account isn't the point. I mean, who even loads that many games onto a mission-dedicated terminal anyway?"
Silver Wolf shook her head. "Mainly, my match with Screwllum was a friendly spar. In gaming terms, that was PVP—wins and losses are just part of the game."
"But this time, a mere virus actually gave me some trouble. That's like sweating buckets even in PVE. When that happens... it usually means I need to level up."
"Hmm..."
Kafka thought for a moment. "Is it possible that this virus is being controlled by someone?"
That caught Silver Wolf's attention, and the previously dejected girl perked up instantly.
"I hadn't considered that, but now that you mention it, that thing did seem a bit too... human. When I wiped out a portion of its data, that part actually self-destructed right into one of my game files. A regular virus wouldn't pull a stunt like that..."
"Exactly. It's very likely there's a real person on the other end... Let's finish the mission quickly and go ask Elio. Even if it's not in the script, he should at least know who that person is."
"Sure, this mission might even wrap up ahead of schedu— Huh?"
"Why'd you stop all of a sudden—"
Silver Wolf, who'd been walking behind Kafka while fiddling with her terminal, nearly bumped into her. "Someone's here?"
Silver Wolf's gaze sharpened, and the power of Ether Editing instantly manifested a blade of light beside her hand.
"Um... hi? Good morning?"
Inside the not-so-spacious Stellaron containment room, Lynelle found herself in an awkward stare-down with Kafka and Silver Wolf.
Then, she quietly hid the projected controller behind her back.
"Is she in your script?" Kafka furrowed her brow slightly, whispering.
"Nope. Yours?"
"Same. If she's not in the script, then she's irrelevant."
Kafka drew her longsword from her side. In such a confined space, firearms were too risky—easily harming allies or even threatening the nearby Stellaron.
"Don't go too hard. Anyone casually hanging around here probably has close ties to Herta. I'd rather not piss that woman off completely," Silver Wolf cautioned.
"Don't worry."
As she spoke, Kafka's figure instantly appeared right in front of Lynelle. "It'll be over in a second."
Shing—
Instinctively, Lynelle materialized a Void Spear from data, blocking Kafka's strike.
As Sirin's most commonly used weapon, Lynelle had handled these spears plenty back in Siberia. So, after obtaining the Herrscher Core, the first data projection she practiced was the Void Spear.
Of course, the strength of these data-projected spears couldn't compare to the real thing—they were even weaker than old man Welt's abilities.
Luckily, Kafka had held back from the start, using the flat of her blade. Otherwise, that single strike might have sliced Lynelle's spear clean in two.
"Huh? Wait, Kafka, it's her!"
From the sidelines, Silver Wolf's eyes lit up. Through Ether Editing, she'd automatically captured the energy dissipating from Lynelle's Spear of Void during the clash. "Her spear-projecting ability feels exactly like that virus!"
"Oh?" Kafka smiled faintly. "Should I help you detain her, then?"
"Just use your Spirit Whisper to control her. I just want to ask what that ability of hers actually does."
In the real world, Silver Wolf had a strong sense of "competitive spirit." "A loss is a loss—at least it wasn't against a bot. Besides, if I have to rely on your Spirit Whisper to win, wouldn't that be cheating?"
Meanwhile, as Silver Wolf and Kafka conversed, Lynelle was quickly weighing her options.
Given that she'd only fused with an incomplete core less than half a day ago, messing with Silver Wolf in the digital realm had already been her limit.
She hadn't developed the Herrscher of Corruption's combat abilities at all. On her own, winning was out of the question.
But Lynelle wasn't about to just lie down and give up. She was considering whether to use the character cards she'd just drawn.
Since each card could only be used three times, using one here wouldn't hurt too much. And her goal wasn't to defeat these two—the card's duration wouldn't allow that anyway.
She just wanted to use the fight as a pretext to make contact with these two "high-tier combatants" and add a couple of characters to her roster.
After all, during the early storyline, before heading to the Xianzhou, the Honkai: Star Rail plot was practically risk-free. Losing one usage wouldn't change much.
But on the Honkai Impact side? Things were different. Even if both sides' power levels had dropped due to the intensity of the Second Eruption, given how much importance Otto attached to her, having more options certainly wouldn't hurt.
So...
A card instantly appeared in Lynelle's hand.
"It seems this little one has some tricks up her sleeve too."
As a battle-hardened Stellaron Hunter, Kafka immediately noticed the card in Lynelle's hand. "Listen to me. Drop what you're holding."
The small room fell silent for a second.
"...Huh?"
"...What?"
As Kafka's Spirit Whisper took effect, both sides were stunned at once.
Kafka was surprised because her Spirit Whisper seemed to have no effect on Lynelle whatsoever, like a stone sinking into the sea.
And Lynelle was surprised because...
As a mental-type Herrscher herself, she wasn't completely defenseless against psychic abilities. But when Kafka used Spirit Whisper, Lynelle was baffled to find that the mental barriers she'd set up hadn't even been triggered?
"Immune to mental attacks?" Silver Wolf uttered in disbelief. "Is that your own ability, or is it some Curio?"
"Hehe, that's right—it's all thanks to this 'Kiana'-ed object~"
In that instant, Lynelle figured it out and didn't hesitate any longer, crushing the character card in her hand.
Abruptly, her appearance transformed into that of a petite girl with light brown hair.
That's right—she had transformed into Welt, the very same Welt she'd fought alongside during the Second Eruption.
--+--
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.