Re:Interdimensional Mercenary [IF]

If you think MC talks too little, it's normal because he is the silent type of guy. If you had read the previous fic, you should have an idea what is going on and some of the terminology.)

"Master, I know you have many questions, but there's no time. The facility is under siege—Honkai Beasts and an unknown human faction are converging as we speak. We must evacuate immediately!"

Adam's gaze lingered on his reflection in the polished metal of the wall. A fleeting moment of introspection was abruptly interrupted by a motion at the edge of his vision. His attention shifted, drawn to the girl floating effortlessly nearby. He turned to face her, his curiosity piqued by the unusual sight.

The figure before him was a striking blend of innocence and an almost ethereal charm. ALICES hovered in midair, her posture both unrestrained and energetic, her slender frame radiating a vibrant youthfulness. Her golden-blonde hair, styled into long twin-tails that cascaded to her ankles, shimmered with an almost tangible light, each strand swaying with her every movement. Perched atop her head were two fluffy canine ears, twitching occasionally, betraying a mischievous nature that only added to her already captivating presence.

Her attire was sleek and futuristic—a creamy white bodysuit that seemed to fuse form with function. The suit hugged her figure, accentuating her youthful grace without being ostentatious. It had an understated elegance, as though it had been crafted with a purpose beyond aesthetics.

Yet, it was her eyes that held him. Wide and expressive, her heterochromatic gaze—a striking combination of vivid blue and deep crimson—sparkled with an enthusiasm that was both childlike and profound. A faint blush tinged her cheeks as she focused on him, her expression a curious mix of innocence and something far older. Beneath her cheerful demeanor, Adam could sense a quiet, hardened edge—an unmistakable sign of someone who had survived trials far beyond her years.

"Master?"

Adam snapped out of his reverie and nodded, clearing his throat. "I'm sorry… Let's go."

ALICES nodded and seemed to just glide in the air without any sort of assistance before she suddenly paused and turned around to look at him. "Before we leave, Master, we must retrieve the Angeline Neural Core and regain access to the Orbital Fortress. If we don't, it could fall into the wrong hands," ALICES reminded him, her voice tinged with urgency as if the thought had just occurred to her.

Adam gave her reminder a nod without stopping his pace until he reached the exit of the room.

ALICES glided after him, maintaining a fixed distance, before stopping at the panel beside the blast door. A light-blue holographic display materialized in front of her, and she quickly tapped out a series of commands on the virtual keyboard. The small rectangular screen flashed green, accompanied by the message: Access Granted. The blast door mechanism clicked and hummed as it slid open, granting them passage.

He started to move forward, only to be stopped by something flashing in his vision. Strings of symbols and letters appeared before his eyes, and his body froze as the text slowly revealed itself.

[Augmented Cybernetic Exoskeleton Suit System Booting Complete]

[HUD Function Online]

Adam's body shifted before his eyes. His skin, once natural, was now covered in metallic material that spread across his form like a second skin, mimicking the human muscle beneath. His mind raced as the memories uploaded to him clarified the nature of the suit. The exoskeleton wasn't simply a machine of pure science—it was composed of billions of nanomachines, part organic, part synthetic, combined with technomagic components that replaced his skin and even some of his organs. They could regenerate, heal, and adapt, almost like a layer of armour above his skin.

Once the suit was fully formed, Adam could see the heads-up display (HUD) in his vision. Icons, status bars, and a mini-map materialized, flooding his field of view.

[New Objectives Parameters Established]

[1. Escape the Orbital Fortress (Pending)]

[2. Recover Angeline Neural Core (Pending)]

[3. Regain Access to the Orbital Fortress (Pending)]

Before he could fully take in the new information, ALICES's voice broke through his focus.

"Master, be careful! Your minimap shows enemy movement nearby. Please take the shorter Route C to the Vault Room and recover Angeline's Neural Core." ALICES glides back around his shoulder before point at the said route which immediately got highlighted on his minimap and a semi-transparent arrow appeared in his Augmented Reality vision, pointing hin to his destination

Although Adam was logical enough not to blindly trust any information presented to him despite his amnesia, there was something about ALICES that disarmed his skepticism. For reasons he couldn't quite explain, he felt an odd sense of assurance that the AI in front of him had no intention of misleading or harming him.

He stared at ALICES for a moment, his gaze scrutinizing, only to be met with her tilting her head in a display of innocent confusion at his inaction. Eventually, he shrugged. "Uh… alright," he muttered, deciding to give it a try. Adam attempted a few gestures, mimicking what he thought might activate something, but nothing happened.

"Ah, this…" ALICES flinched slightly, scratching her head in a way that made her seem almost eerily human. Her gaze dropped as she confessed with a guilty tone, "Unfortunately, without access to the Orbital Fortress, the ACE Suit can't connect to the Quantum Inventory."

Adam, who had already taken several steps along the route marked on his minimap, froze in his tracks. His questioning gaze snapped back to ALICES.

Among the knowledge uploaded into his mind was a comprehensive overview of his equipment and abilities—just enough to function at an optimal level. He recalled that the Quantum Inventory was essentially a storage system anchored within the Orbital Fortress, linked to him through advanced quantum technology. This inventory housed his entire arsenal and was also tied to a 3D Printer Factory capable of producing ammunition and a variety of consumables on demand.

Without access to the Inventory—or simply, the Inventory—Adam was at a severe disadvantage. It was akin to stripping a tank of its main cannon and leaving only a machine gun: still durable, but with drastically reduced offensive capability.

From what he gleaned in the brief overview of his abilities, his combat style revolved around his extraordinary durability and the overwhelming firepower provided by his arsenal. Without the Inventory, however, he was like a tank without its cannon—a shadow of his intended potential.

Before he could voice his frustrations or question how he was supposed to complete his objectives unarmed, ALICES spoke up with a sudden burst of enthusiasm, her tone bright and confident.

"Ah! Worry not, Master. You should have the ability to summon weapons!"

"What do you me—" Adam began, but his words faltered as something new and unexplainable blurred into his vision. This wasn't the augmented reality HUD he had grown accustomed to—it was something entirely different.

Instinctively, he closed his eyes, and in the darkness of his mindscape, a surreal scene unfolded. Several orbs floated in a circular formation, their faint glows the only source of light in the void. Most of them appeared grayed out, inert and lifeless, though he instinctively understood they were sealed away. However, two orbs stood out vividly: one shimmered with a greenish-purple hue, while the other swirled with the dynamic contrast of black and white, resembling a yin-yang symbol.

The yin-yang orb radiated an almost magnetic pull, a silent call that resonated deeply within him. It felt alive, as though it was reaching out to him, begging to be wielded.

As Adam focused on the orb, its presence grew stronger, and a faint sense of purpose stirred within him.

"—ster!"

"Master!"

"Huh?"

Adam snaps out of his daydream directly into a fierce battle. Without his own control, his hands reach for the shield the creature was holding while his body is being stabbed by a white lance, stopped by a layer of pale blue forcefield which made him notice one of the gauges on his HUD trickled down slightly. His arm ripped the shield savagely from the creature to expose its head before his right hand grip on the creature's head and ripped it off.

In his vision, he could see ALICES mimicking his current body pose. Or should it be the opposite? Her eyes flashes a savagery of a predatory animal during the fight and immediately reverts to her previous image once the threat is eliminated.

Although Adam felt like he should question ALICES's feral savagery just now. He didn't have the luxury to when the whole corridor shook and trembled like a high magnitude earthquake just swept through.

"Oh no! The generator room was attacked and the forcefield lost power!" ALICES suddenly shouted in a panic and turned to Adam. "No time to waste, Master. We must hurry and recover Angeline's Neural Core to regain full control of the Orbital Fortress's functions."

Adam had no choice but to follow as he is absolutely clueless about his surroundings and could only rely on this AI named ALICES.

Meanwhile, within the breached section of the Orbital Fortress, a team of twelve operatives, clad in gear resembling that of an elite special forces unit, carved a path of carnage through the relentless waves of Archangel and Chariot-class Honkai Beasts flooding the hallways. The beasts poured in like an unending tide, attempting to overwhelm every trap and defense mechanism the structure could muster—and succeeding.

The already-depleted mechanized defense units were quickly overwhelmed, their superior firepower proving insufficient against the sheer numbers of the Honkai Beasts.

As the team pushed forward, some operatives began scavenging usable firearms from the disabled mechs. Part of this decision stemmed from the weapons' proven effectiveness against the silicon-based shells of the Honkai Beasts, while the rest was due to direct orders from Mei to collect them for research purposes.

One soldier, spotting a futuristic assault rifle among the wreckage, picked it up and attempted to fire. The moment he pulled the trigger, the weapon's recoil hit with such force that it sent him flying several meters back, the rifle torn from his grip. Mind you, these soldiers were no ordinary humans—they were borderline superhuman, enhanced by grueling training and their adaptation to Honkai Energy. Even so, the sheer power of the weapon caught him completely off guard.

The soldier groaned as he pushed himself back to his feet, clutching his shoulder with a painful wince. "What the hell is this thing? A cannon disguised as a rifle?" he complained loudly, eyeing the weapon warily where it had landed to the ground.

The other operatives glanced his way, some with concern, others with thinly veiled amusement. One of them, Kevin, chuckled as he shouldered his own scavenged weapon. "Careful, Mason. These aren't your standard-issue rifles."

Another soldier, a woman with sharp eyes and a glowing neon green greataxe strapped across her back, knelt to examine the fallen weapon. "It's calibrated for the human body. But the recoil is too absurd. Makes no sense how it packed this much punch while looking more compact than the Fire Moths best rifles," she said, picking it up carefully. Her tone turned serious as she looked at the soldier. "You're lucky it didn't shatter your arm. Stick to our original loadout until we figure these out."

The group murmured in agreement before they were interrupted with another wave of Honkai Beast pouring in.

"This way!"

A soldier pointed to the left forked path. He had scouted these paths earlier while the others were taking a short break.

Here's an improved version of the paragraph with refined structure, flow, and wording:

---

The group suddenly came across a trail of Honkai Beast corpses. Mei was the first to notice, her sharp analytical mind quickly assessing the scene. However, what she discovered made her frown with suspicion.

"These weren't taken down by us or the mechs," Mei observed, her tone serious. The drone flew closer to one of the fallen creatures, a Templar-class Honkai Beast, and turn to its shield. "Look at this. The shield has a handprint, and it was torn off with sheer brute force. The same goes for its head—completely crushed." Her voice grew more perplexed as she analyzed further. "Judging by the size of these handprints… this was done by a human."

The implication was clear: they weren't the only humans inside the structure. However, the question lingering in everyone's minds was whether this individual belonged to an enemy organization or was someone who had been here all along.

Their speculation was interrupted when the scout alerted them to more Honkai Beast corpses further down the corridor. Following the trail under Mei's directive, the group advanced cautiously, their eyes scanning for any signs of danger—or answers.

As they ventured deeper, the sound of battle grew faint, replaced by an eerie silence. Soon, they encountered a horde of Archangel-class Honkai Beasts flooding into the corridor from a forked hallway. Without hesitation, the team sprang into action, swiftly cutting down the beasts with practiced efficiency.

After dealing with the creatures, they reached a dead end: a massive vault-like door, heavily secured and seemingly impenetrable. Several Templar-class and Chariot-class Honkai Beasts stood before it, relentlessly pounding at the door, yet their combined efforts had barely left a scratch.

"What's our next move?" Kevin asked, glancing at Mei. The situation was far from ideal, and chasing after the possible human seemed increasingly unlikely.

Mei remained silent for a moment, caught in a dilemma. Finding another human in this alien structure could be the key to understanding its advanced technology—perhaps even unlocking its secrets entirely. However, there was no guarantee this person would cooperate, let alone share any useful knowledge. And there was still the troubling possibility that it might not be a human at all.

After a few seconds of deliberation, she made her decision. "We retreat and focus on exploring the structure for now," she stated firmly. In her mind, the primary objective remained gathering technology and information. Capturing the human—or whatever it was—was secondary. Besides, if the individual was truly trying to escape, they would reveal themselves sooner or later as the Leviathan continued to tear the structure apart.

———

Within the secured vault room.

Rather than an actual vault containing priceless treasures or anything valuable. Adam feel like this place shouldn't actually be called a vault because it's misleading.

No, the vault does not contain treasure at all as he would have expected. Instead, it's a massive server room where memories are backed up according to ALICES. But the server itself later became unnecessary due to innovation of Neural Core by himself in the past which integrated Wisdom Cube technology to greatly expand the memory capacity of the Neural Core to infinity. It's basically limitless data storage at that point.

Thus, the servers went out of use and turned into a vault to store Neural Core instead when ALICES ran out of material on the Orbital Fortress to recreate bodies for themselves.

Holding a small black cube with white highlights around its edges, Adam couldn't help but feel an ominous feeling about the cube.

"Master, please put Angeline's Core into the AI slot." ALICES encouraged Adam very excited and enthusiastically for the arrival of the AI named Angeline.

Again, Adam felt like he shouldn't do something this rash. But hearing the name, Angeline, seems to evoke a nostalgic feeling from him but he just couldn't remember anything. It's like knowing the picture is hanging on the wall but when looking at it, he can only see a faint blurry outline of it on the wall and nothing else.

Against his best judgement, Adam follow ALICES's request and simply thinks about inserting the core instantly cause the core to break down into particles of light that is absorbed by his body.

In the next moment, a figure constructed from the same light particles that become visible within his AR vision like ALICES.

Angeline has a sharp and striking appearance that blends elegance with practicality. She wears a classic black-and-white maid uniform with frilly details, paired with glossy black thigh-high leather stockings and black high heels. Her hair is styled into neat twin buns, complemented by a simple maid's headband before a pair of black horns. She also wears sleek black finger gloves, adding a polished and professional touch to her outfit.

The moment her virtual body was reconstructed, Angeline immediately lowered her head, refusing to meet Adam's gaze. She dropped to her knees, her expression filled with shame and an unmistakable fear as though she had failed him deeply. However, Adam sensed that her fear ran much deeper than simple guilt—an intensity he couldn't fully understand.

Completely clueless about her reaction, Adam turned to ALICES for assistance. Understanding the situation immediately, ALICES stepped forward to explain.

"Angeline," ALICES began calmly, "unfortunately, Master is currently suffering from amnesia. He only has access to backup memories that he prepared for such situations."

At first, Angeline looked stunned and confused, her expression flickering between disbelief and shock. But relief quickly washed over her features before she caught herself and stood upright, addressing ALICES while stealing unsure glances at Adam. It was clear she didn't know how to face him now that his memories were gone.

"How long was I offline?" she asked, her tone neutral but with an undercurrent of worry. She surveyed her surroundings with growing discomfort. "This place… it looks filthy and neglected." A hint of disgust crossed her face as she suppressed the urge to clean up, frustrated by her lack of a physical body.

ALICES shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know the exact count anymore. It's been over a thousand years since you were last active." She floated toward Adam, tilting her head with a tired sigh before adding, "Master, can I get a headpat?"

Her casual demeanor did little to soften the bombshell she had just dropped. Both Adam and Angeline were stunned, though Adam's reaction was due to his amnesia. Subconsciously, he raised his hand and patted ALICES on the head, an instinctive gesture he didn't question.

Angeline, however, reacted far more intensely. Shock spread across her face as holographic screens materialized in front of her. Her hands moved rapidly over a virtual keyboard, the screens flickering in and out of existence as she worked.

"Impossible…" she muttered under her breath. Her voice trembled as her fingers paused briefly before resuming. "It really has been over a thousand years!"

Angeline's gaze hardened as she turned toward ALICES, her tone now sharp and accusatory. "Why didn't you attempt to awaken me earlier, ALICES?"

ALICES froze, visibly uncomfortable as she began fidgeting with her fingers like a child caught red-handed. "I tried…" she said hesitantly, avoiding Angeline's piercing gaze. "But I couldn't. The Orbital Fortress was practically a wreck when it arrived. As per your protocol, I directed all available resources to maintain the Cryostasis Chamber and ensure Master's survival. I even resorted to deep-sea mining to replenish resources, but it was nowhere near as efficient as outer space mining. The yield was low because the mining drones weren't designed for underwater operations. Even with all that effort, I could barely restore 50% of the Orbital Fortress to its operational condition."

Angeline's expression softened slightly, though the tension didn't entirely leave her posture. She glanced at Adam, a mixture of worry and determination flickering in her eyes. "A thousand years... and now, here we are," she murmured. "What's our next move, Master?"

Adam, still grappling with the flood of revelations since his awakening, hesitated before responding. His gaze drifted as though searching for clarity amidst the fog of his fractured memories. "I… don't know yet," he admitted, his voice tinged with uncertainty. "I need time to figure out who I am now and what lies ahead."

Angeline nodded firmly, her expression resolute. "Understood, Master. Until you decide, I will do whatever is necessary to ensure your safety and success—just as I always have, as both your adjutant and your wife," she said with unwavering determination, her tone carrying the weight of a personal vow and her face had a tinge of pink on her otherwise pale cheeks.

"Wait… what?" Adam blinked in shock as his head snapped to her, her final words catching him completely off guard. His mouth fell slightly agape as his eyes drifted to her right hand, where a shiny silver ring adorned with a small, heart-shaped pink gemstone rested on her finger—a ring he had no recollection of giving her.

—————