Thanks for the invitation! I am in Honkai, still connected

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Forerunner Su."

Such a voice soon echoed within the artificially created world bubble.

Su turned his head and saw a young man holding a dark red longsword, a leisurely smile playing on his lips.

He was a peculiar-looking person, his body adorned with profound red markings, like strange totems, or perhaps like the mottled traces left after rusted iron had been scraped.

He took a step forward, and the space before him rippled.

In a mere instant, this seemingly not-so-powerful young man appeared before the river symbolizing the world bubble where Kevin was located, observing Su.

"I am also pleased to meet you, stranger."

The Forerunner, who had observed countless world bubbles but had never seen the young man before him, wore a stern and dignified expression.

He had always believed that his state of mind would no longer be perturbed by anything other than "unwithering leaves" and Kevin.

However, his composure had now been shaken by the young man before him.

He had never seen this person. Among the Ganges-sands-numbered "leaves," this individual had never appeared.

And everything born from the Imaginary Tree should, by rights, be within his scope of observation.

So, why had he never seen this person?

Su fully opened his eyes, his purplish-red pupils intensely scrutinizing the young man before him.

As a Fusion Soldier, his sensitivity to Honkai energy was comparable to radar; changes in Honkai energy absolutely could not escape his perception.

However, when this unknown guest arrived, he had not sensed any fluctuations in Honkai energy.

Moving through space out of thin air, defying the law of conservation of energy?

That was impossible. Even the Herrscher of the Void, who could be called an Apostle of God, couldn't achieve that without consuming Honkai energy.

So, had he used some other power to pay the "price"?

A power different from Honkai energy.

A person unobservable by the Second Divine Key.

Such a combination truly made one involuntarily want to delve deeper.

The Forerunner, burdened with the mission of guiding the new generation of civilization to overcome the Honkai, narrowed his eyes.

He seemed to have encountered someone even more special than the girl named Durandal the Silly Goose he had observed previously.

Dr. MEI had once specifically dispatched a Forerunner to drift through the boundless universe with humanity's gene pool, searching for a pure land that could avoid the Honkai, to rebuild a second home.

So, was the region where this fellow before him resided a pure land uncorroded by the Honkai?

"You seem to have some questions for me."

The young man, who had once been discovered by Zelretch precisely because of his uniqueness, looked at the man who, in a sense, should be of the same ilk as Zelretch, and spoke.

"Welcome to the world I created, guest from beyond the Sea of Quanta."

The man, who could be considered an enlightened one of the human world, smiled calmly.

He could be certain that this visitor was no pushover.

At the young man's feet, the Armed Puppet with red eyes was gripping its sword, pointing it at him.

That was a puppet Kevin had deployed in advance, possessing nearly a tenth of his peak strength; even many Fusion Soldiers would not be its match.

And Su's combat prowess was among the lowest of the Fusion Soldiers. If he were to fight the puppet, which was somehow controlled by that stranger, he would absolutely meet a nasty end.

Besides, the Second Divine Key was also gradually slipping from his control.

After the young man before him appeared, Su discovered that his control over the Second Divine Key was diminishing.

However, this wasn't entirely incomprehensible.

Divine Keys were the collective term for thirteen types of weapons created by the anti-Honkai civilization of the Previous Era using Herrscher Cores and Soulium.

Armed Puppets were automated combat robots generated by combining programmed Soulium mimicry cores with weapons.

Since the fellow opposite him could control an Armed Puppet, there was naturally no reason he couldn't interfere with a Divine Key, which was made of very similar materials to an Armed Puppet, just with an added Herrscher Core.

"It seems the Twelfth Divine Key is already complete."

Su, vaguely guessing something, glanced at the dark red tachi, his expression calm.

The battle had not yet begun, but he was already in checkmate.

Opposite him was a visitor with unknown abilities, an Armed Puppet possessing Kevin's combat experience, and the Twelfth Divine Key capable of eroding everything.

And all he had here was the Second Divine Key, over which he had lost most control, and himself, a gene-modded soldier not skilled in combat.

"Mm, a week after I arrived in this world, I persuaded Ling to hand her power over to me."

The young man, whose understanding of "persuasion" perhaps deviated somewhat from a normal person's, said.

His method of obtaining Jizo Mitama involved bringing Welt, the First Herrscher, to beat up Higokumaru, then tying her up into a bundle with the Judah he had tricked someone out of, forcing her to choose between "giving up her power" and "giving up her life and power."

"Sakura's younger sister has let go of her hatred? That's truly wonderful."

Su, who was a colleague of Higokumaru's elder sister, smiled calmly.

His guess was correct; this fellow who had actively sought him out was not an inhabitant of this world.

"As the only guest to arrive here in these fifteen hundred years, is there anything you need my help with?"

Su's face showed no panic at being cornered by an overly assertive, unknown visitor; instead, he continued to ask.

He believed this guest from another world had a reason for coming here.

After all, if he were merely after the Second Divine Key and the Armed Puppet, there would be no need for him to appear before Su.

"A girl I'm quite fond of fell to the seabed of the Sea of Quanta—into the Rifts between worlds. I need someone to determine her specific coordinates."

The young man, who was actually more interested in Seele than Bronya, spoke.

As someone with a good grasp of his own capabilities, Li Zihan didn't think he could find Seele just by obtaining the Second Divine Key.

The Sea of Quanta was so darn big; even if a Honkai-ology illiterate like him controlled the Second Divine Key, he still wouldn't be able to find Seele.

Therefore, matters like finding people were best left to more professional individuals.

Su, who had been observing world bubbles for fifteen hundred years, was the perfect candidate.

"That is indeed a rather troublesome matter. After all, the seabed of the Sea of Quanta—the Rifts between worlds—is very large. Finding someone there isn't easy."

Su smiled, and it was hard to tell how much truth lay in his words.

"Focus your observations outward, with the world bubble Kevin is in as the center."

The young man spoke, remembering that on a certain day in the future, a sealed space would suddenly open, and Seele would take the opportunity to escape the Rifts between worlds, fall into a world bubble, and then be taken in as a subordinate by a passing Kevin.

"I imagine, with this prerequisite, finding one person shouldn't be difficult for you."

"Indeed, not difficult."

Su, who had even observed worlds on other branches of the Imaginary Tree, gave an affirmative answer, then promptly changed the subject.

He had many things he wanted to ask the other party.

To ask certain things, he needed to have some bargaining chips in hand.

"However, esteemed guest, why do you think I should help you?"

"Are you threatening me?"

The young man, whose eyes had turned crimson, smiled. His smile was gentle and bright, without a trace of killing intent.

"Is it really wise to casually threaten someone who is fully capable of killing you?"

"If you were to kill me, I imagine you would also find yourself in a difficult position afterward."

Su, knowing full well that if a real fight broke out, his chances of winning were nonexistent, spoke calmly.

The Forerunners, existing solely for the continuation of civilization, none of them cared about their own life or death.

If his death could lead to the answer to defeating the Honkai, Su wouldn't mind slitting his own throat directly.

The Second Divine Key's abilities were merely spatial manipulation and observation. Whether one could find someone relying on these functions still depended on the user's capabilities.

If the fellow opposite him truly possessed the ability to find someone in the Rifts between worlds, he could have just snatched the Second Divine Key and started observing the Sea of Quanta directly.

"Indeed, that's true."

Li Zihan, who figured he probably wouldn't find the person even if he searched for over a decade with the Second Divine Key in hand, admitted this quite directly.

Even if he obtained Thousand Worlds, One Chariot, he wouldn't know how to operate that thing properly.

"So, you want to make a deal with me?"

The young man, who indeed had some information that would likely interest the Forerunner, looked with amusement at the man sitting under the Bodhi tree and spoke.

"Whether the deal is struck depends on you."

The man, who was probably the only one in this world capable of finding Seele's exact coordinates, fully opened his strange eyes, red intermingled with cyan.

"Alright."

The young man, not minding leaking some information, gave a clear answer.

"Information in exchange for help, I quite like this kind of arrangement."

"You are truly generous."

Su, who had initially thought he would only be able to elicit a small amount of information, was taken aback for a moment, then offered a polite compliment.

"In the world you reside in, is there a threat known as Honkai?"

Su posed his first question.

"Honkai is a trial used by the Imaginary Tree to filter civilizations. Worlds not situated on the Imaginary Tree are not affected by 'Honkai'."

The young man, who had never belonged to a Honkai world, sat down casually by the river corresponding to Kevin's world bubble, revealing, whether intentionally or unintentionally, a bit more information than necessary.

Su's expression stirred slightly. The amount of information revealed in Li Zihan's words was indeed quite substantial.

"It sounds like you understand Honkai very well."

Su spoke, asking.

"Those involved are muddled, while bystanders see clearly. As someone who has never lived on the Imaginary Tree, what I see is naturally clearer than what you all, who have been pushed to the brink by trials from the Imaginary Tree, can perceive."

The young man spoke.

Trials from the Imaginary Tree, is it?

Su, vaguely sensing he could obtain more information from the person opposite him, pondered for a moment, then opened his mouth, wanting to continue asking.

Then, he met the young man's faint, unreadable smile.

"I've already given the advance payment. Shouldn't you be helping to probe the Rifts between worlds now? An empty-handed ploy is quite unscrupulous, you know."