Honkai, why do you only throw me into high-level battles?

"You forgot I'm a hacker, didn't you? Without my technical assistance, are you planning to fight your way through?"

"Uh…"

Anna blushed. She had forgotten. After a moment of hesitation, she reached for the unremarkable black cane in Lin Wei's hand, politely saying,

"Excuse me."

But Lin Wei, anticipating her move, gently blocked her hand, seriously saying,

"Don't mess with it. If you break it, we're both screwed. Spare parts aren't easy to find."

Indeed, Divine Keys were one-of-a-kind. If it broke, he'd have to search parallel worlds. Even if he found a "Key of Corruption" in a parallel world, it wouldn't be his Pandora.

Anna, her intentions seen through, glared at Lin Wei, her beautiful eyes filled with grievance. Why is this guy so unwilling to accept my kindness?

Although she didn't understand how Lin Wei operated, she assumed the cane was a signal emitter, used to block and interfere with signals within a certain range.

She was certain because she had tried several times to contact her Captain, but always failed. This made her uneasy.

These "moles" were deeply hidden. They were very far from the warehouse she had initially infiltrated.

If she couldn't contact them, it meant her comrades would be searching in vain, and she would be truly alone, facing the danger.

Thinking of this, Anna couldn't help but glance at Lin Wei. Well, not completely alone. There's also this exhausted, physically weak burden…

"Stop looking at me like that."

Lin Wei shifted uncomfortably. He couldn't let Anna go alone.

On one hand, even though they were just strangers, having met by chance, and likely never to meet again…

Damn it, the déjà vu is getting stronger!

(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

Lin Wei shook his head, discarding those distracting thoughts. He also glanced at Anna.

He couldn't let her go alone.

Regardless of his earlier conjecture—that "Anna single-handedly storms the dragon's lair, infiltrates a criminal organization, and achieves a heroic victory," a Hollywood action movie plot—whether it was true or not;

The moment he appeared, the moment he met Anna, one fact was certain:

Such a meeting wouldn't have happened in the original timeline, where he didn't exist.

Whether Anna was the protagonist who should have been here, and he was the intruder, or whether Anna was caught in this strange island city because of his butterfly effect, it didn't matter.

Pretending to be captured, being taken inside, and then causing chaos from within, coordinating with external forces;

Versus blindly charging through layers of heavily guarded defenses alone;

The difference in risk was obvious.

And if Anna was here because of his butterfly effect, there would be even more variables—

Imagine, if Anna died here silently, who would become the Herrscher of Ice, or even the Herrscher of Rock (Star)?

A large chunk of the future would be missing, filled with uncertainty. And this was the optimistic scenario.

Another possibility: if Anna faced mortal danger, would she die, or like Chen Tianwu, have a selectively edited "truth" revealed to her by the Will of Honkai in her dying moments, triggering her Herrscher transformation?

If so, would she become the Herrscher of Ice as she was destined to, or would she replace Wendy, also a Valkyrie, and become the Herrscher of Wind?

It wasn't impossible! After all, the original Herrscher of Wind was just a placeholder.

And if that happened, the future would completely derail:

If the Herrscher of Wind was naturally born, the Gem of Desire held by Schicksal would vanish into thin air.

Without the Gem of Desire, would Bronya have the chance to break with Cocolia and complete her transformation?

Without the Gem of Desire being thrown into the Sea of Quanta, would anyone venture into the Quantum Sea?

That meant both Welt and Seele would fall into Kevin's hands. Whether Anti-Entropy would be controlled by him was secondary. Most importantly, whoever succeeded Welt as the Herrscher of Reason, regardless of their allegiance,

Wouldn't be Bronya!

And that would change even more, such as the final battle…

Without the Captain's deus ex machina, and without the Herrscher of Reason manually creating the Moonlight Throne to break through Kevin's ten thousand layers of shields,

Who would be the victor?

Not to mention, if a Herrscher truly awakened near him, the resulting devastation would tear apart any future scripts, instantly putting him in mortal danger.

…

He couldn't think about it, he shouldn't think about it. The more he thought, the more terrifying the future became.

The source of these possibilities was a chance encounter one night between a reckless girl and a transmigrator.

If he didn't want the butterfly effect to create a world-ending storm, Lin Wei had to be deeply involved. Even if the changes to the future were irreversible, he had to control them within a predictable, manageable range.

"A transmigrator's greatest enemy is themselves."

Lin Wei had understood this while in the Elysian Realm.

That was why he was reluctant to leave. Honestly, it was better for everyone if he stayed there.

Even after leaving, he had been cautious, staying on the fringes of events and organizations, minimizing his involvement.

Because he didn't know what unpredictable changes his actions might bring to this already turbulent world.

And any changes and unknowns would ultimately come back to bite him…

Lin Wei sighed silently. How did things become so complicated?

"Alright, it's getting late. Let's save time. Listen to me."

Putting aside his complicated thoughts, Lin Wei cleared his throat and spoke to Anna in a low voice,

"We don't know what's inside, and we don't know the dangers. It's too risky for you to go alone. I can't let you do that."

His words made Anna blush. She wasn't used to hearing such things.

Before she could speak, Lin Wei interrupted her,

"Giving you the device is out of the question. It's not that I don't trust you, but giving you an unfamiliar device in a dangerous place… what if something goes wrong? If you're discovered, it would be even more dangerous. You wouldn't even have a chance to escape."

Lin Wei tried to scare Anna with the worst-case scenario.

From the moment Anna appeared, the nature of his mission had changed—if he had to save someone, it was no longer the girl whose father was waiting anxiously, but the girl before him.

To Anna, his words sounded like genuine concern. Having had little interaction with males, she had zero resistance to this. Her face reddened. She asked softly,

"Then… what do you suggest?"

"Two options. One, we wait here. You contact your backup—they should be arriving soon, right?—then we go in together."

Lin Wei didn't notice the girl's subtle change in demeanor. He was just stating facts. A scheming manipulator wouldn't understand such things. He felt relieved that he had finally managed to dissuade the impulsive girl. Yae Sakura, who could see through his intentions, didn't bother commenting.

"…What's the other option?"

Anna was hesitant. She thought of the brave man she had seen in the recording.

"If we do that, the victims inside might become hostages. That would restrict the Valkyries' movements, and they would suffer even more… No, we can't do that!"

Putting her sense of responsibility above her girlish feelings, Anna calmed down and thought seriously. She looked at Lin Wei, pleading,

"There must be a better way, right?"

Lin Wei looked at her earnest pink eyes and, for some reason, felt a pang of guilt. He looked away.

He didn't want to deal with too many Valkyries, which would increase his risk of exposure. Therefore, he had intended to guide Anna towards other options, but now he felt a surge of guilt.

Interacting with someone pure and simple always made someone with too many thoughts feel ashamed.

Collecting his thoughts, Lin Wei cleared his throat and pointed to the dark cavern that looked like a gaping maw, ready to devour everything.

"Simple. We infiltrate together, scout the place, and go all the way to the deepest part. Then, I'll briefly disable the device, giving you time to contact your comrades. I must warn you, for our safety, it won't be long. Don't waste time with pleasantries, just get to the point."

"I understand, don't worry."

Anna nodded seriously. In a dangerous place, every second counted. She understood Lin Wei's concerns and even felt a surge of gratitude for his willingness to risk himself for her.

But…

"But that means you'll have to come with me. And if I'm actually working with them, you'll be walking into a trap, and you might even lose contact with your comrades. This place is very far from where we first met."

Lin Wei smiled, voicing Anna's concerns.

Anna blushed, embarrassed that her thoughts had been seen through. But Lin Wei's honesty lowered her guard.

If he was a bad guy, he wouldn't say such things, would he?

"Silly girl, don't trust people so easily~"

Lin Wei looked at Anna's blushing face and couldn't help but ruffle her hair.

"There's a tactic called 'luring the enemy in.' How do you know I'm not doing that?"

Anna swatted his hand away, smoothing her hair. She grumbled,

"You just said it yourself, how can you fool anyone?"

"Because I'm not a good person."

Lin Wei smiled, explaining. Then, as Anna muttered "nonsense," he added,

"There's actually a third option. You stay here, and I go in. As long as I'm far enough away, you can contact your comrades. I won't risk exposure by disabling the device, and I can still coordinate with you from the inside. A perfect plan."

He could even fake his death and escape. Truly a perfect plan, Lin Wei thought to himself.

"No way!"

Anna immediately refused, grabbing his arm, afraid he would abandon her.

"I'm going with you!"

"Ignoring the two safest options and choosing the most uncertain one… Gambling on a stranger's character is foolish, you know?"

Lin Wei sighed. He was exasperated.

"But I can't let you go alone!"

Anna was determined. She looked at Lin Wei, stubbornly saying,

"You wouldn't hurt me, would you? We've come this far. You could have called those constructs to attack me! Even just now, while we were talking, if you were a bad guy, you would have had plenty of chances to ambush me. But you didn't! So I trust you!"

Indeed, when someone has a favorable impression of another, even ordinary actions are interpreted differently, deepening that impression.

"Fine, then be careful when we're inside. Don't wander off, don't be impulsive, and don't cause unnecessary trouble."

Lin Wei couldn't refuse. He didn't want things to become so complicated. But knowing Anna's stubbornness, even if he left her here, after contacting her comrades, she might still rush in.

Then, all his efforts would have been in vain…

Anna nodded repeatedly as Lin Wei gave his motherly reminders.

"…Let's go."

Having said all that needed to be said, Lin Wei gripped his cane and gestured for Anna to follow.

"Wait!"

He had just turned when Anna called out.

What now?

Lin Wei turned back, slightly annoyed, and saw Anna quickly remove half of a heart-shaped pendant from her neck. She stood on tiptoe, about to put it on him, but suddenly blushed and stopped.

She then put the pendant in Lin Wei's pocket, pushing it deep inside. She smoothed the fabric, making sure it wouldn't fall out, and said,

"This pendant… is very important to me. Keep it safe. If we encounter danger, I'll distract them, and you find a safe place to hide. When backup arrives, show them this. They'll help you."

Seeing Lin Wei's bewildered expression, realizing her words sounded ominous, she quickly added,

"Just in case. Don't worry, I'll be fine. Just keep it safe… Give it back when this is over."

"???"

The sudden turn of events left Lin Wei speechless. He had just recovered.

He touched his pocket. It wasn't a dream…

Wait a minute!