Honkai Impact 3rd: Catching the Herrscher of Sentience at the Start

With those words, the Herrscher of Corruption pushed open the Ferris wheel cabin door and leaped out.

Landing on the ground, she looked up at Fu Lin's cabin, smiling silently.

Then, she turned her gaze into the distance and murmured, "Mei, I hope you like the surprise I left for you?"

[Mission complete. Please wait for the next mission.]

Fu Lin, "You fing b***! I almost died, d*** this system, d*** you, you piece of s***!"

-------------------------------

As the Herrscher of Corruption left, the ropes on his body loosened. Fu Lin rubbed his wrists, put away the crystal flower on his leg, and looked at his gradually blurring legs with speechlessness.

"So, I was just a memory construct too? If I had known earlier, why would I have even bothered fighting the Herrscher of Corruption? Not getting instantly erased was already mercy on her part, damn!"

...

"Fu Lin, you..." Mei, riding her dragon, rushed to the Ferris wheel as fast as possible. When she saw that more than half of Fu Lin's body had already dissipated, her violet eyes widened in shock.

She immediately lept into the Ferris wheel cabin, looking at Fu Lin, who remained calm and even took a sip of wine. Tears fell from her eyes one by one.

"Mei, I don't have much time left. Please listen to me..." Fu Lin took out the [Elysium Data Archive] he had drawn from his treasure pouch earlier, held Mei's hand firmly, and said with solemnity,

"The enemy lurking in the shadows is the Herrscher of Corruption. In this data-based Elysium, she is almost invincible. But that doesn't mean she's undefeatable."

"After eliminating the Herrscher of Corruption, crush this. It contains all the data of the Elysium and the Thirteen Flame-Chasers. At that moment, everything will return to how it was."

Mei held the glowing orb tightly, tears streaming down her cheeks as she choked up and looked at Fu Lin. "You will come back too, right?"

Fu Lin wiped away Mei's tears, momentarily unsure how to respond. Then, he glanced at Mei's hand and the bulging veins on it, saying,

"I... hey! Hey! Don't grip it so tightly! If you crush it now, the Thirteen Flame-Chasers of the Elysium will truly disappear. And maybe I won't be able to come back either."

"Mei, you don't want me to just disappear like that, do you?"

The sorrowful atmosphere was broken by Fu Lin. Hearing his words, Mei carefully put away the glowing orb, then wiped away her tears and smiled through them.

"...Pfft, even now, you're still cracking jokes."

"...Fu Lin, can I ask you for a gift?"

"A gift? What..."

Fu Lin scratched his head in confusion, but before he could finish speaking, he was suddenly pulled into a strong embrace.

His unfinished words were swallowed by a kiss filled with deep emotions. A cool tongue slipped into his mouth, greedily taking in his breath, exploring every corner with intensity.

At that moment, everything around them was forgotten, as if time had stopped.

His scent, her softness—the two of them, at the peak of the Ferris wheel, their lips pressed together like two blooming flowers intertwined.

After the lingering kiss, Fu Lin silently thought, 'System, use "World Mission Scroll."'

As the World Mission Scroll was used once again, Fu Lin felt a pulling force from deep within his consciousness. Then, his vision went black, and he vanished from the Elysium.

"Remember to send my regards to the Thirteen Flame-Chasers."

Mei watched as the remnants of Fu Lin's presence faded away, just like before. She couldn't help but kneel on the ground, murmuring, "I will. I'll wait here for you to return, Fu Lin."

(Mei never saw that person again until the day she grew old and passed away...

Just kidding, don't hit me.)

The Herrscher of Corruption, who had long fled, sensed the disappearance of Fu Lin's data within her and turned back toward the Ferris wheel in disbelief, muttering in a low voice,

"That guy... what did he do?! Why is his data disappearing bit by bit?! No, I won't allow you to just vanish like this!"

Unwilling to accept it, the Herrscher of Corruption used her authority to extract the last remnants of Fu Lin's data, reshaping it into a memory construct.

Looking at the hollow shell before her, void of any consciousness, the Herrscher of Corruption clenched her fists, furious, and destroyed her so-called "masterpiece" in frustration.

——After Fu Lin's departure...

Mei never told the Flame-Chasers about the Herrscher of Corruption. She continued to pretend she knew nothing—not for any other reason but because of what Elysia once said.

"Even though I always insisted that the Thirteen Flame-Chasers are a team—if you think about it, we've never actually fought together as all thirteen of us."

Back then, Mei had firmly rejected Elysia's request, but she had silently kept it in her heart. And now, wasn't the Herrscher of Corruption the perfect rebel?

(Herrscher of Corruption, You're so righteous, aren't you? So noble!)

"Su, Hua. I leave the rest to you."

"Before we reap what we've sown, this is our last chance."

"I must... stake my life into the chamber."

Mei looked at the paper in her hand, a flicker of shock in her eyes. "Kevin... is dead?!"

(Crack... Kevin shattered.)

In the chaotic flow of unstable data, Mobius' figure had nearly disappeared, as if she were reaching for something ahead.

Then, her remaining image gradually blurred and faded, like smoke dissipating into the air.

Pardofelis, "Sister Mei, what's going on... What the hell is happening..."

Mei and Pardofelis exchanged glances, seeing the same disbelief in each other's eyes—

"Mobius... is dead?!"

(Crack... Mobius shattered.)

Between her fingers, the Herrscher of Corruption held a photograph, gazing at Mei, Hua, Pardofelis, and Vill-V in the distance. A smug smile curled on her lips.

"Mmhm~"

"Who would've thought? Even though Dr. Mobius had no memories of interacting with Fu Lin, she still managed to fool everyone and secretly leave behind a picture of him. How cunning~"