Honkai Impact: Star Railway: I'm really not a Star God!

"Here you go. I just went to the clinic and I'm back now. This gun... is pretty good."

Bronya felt a sense of security as she caught the spear thrown from mid-air.

She hadn't anticipated Ling Kong's behavior. She had initially thought Ling Kong was someone who was difficult to communicate with, but now it seemed... she knew far too little about Belloberg and the outsiders.

"Why aren't you asleep yet? This isn't the upper district; there's no need for anyone to keep watch here."

"I..."

"Fine, anyway, you're not the only one who hasn't slept."

Just as he was wondering what Ling Kong meant, he heard new footsteps behind him.

"I can't sleep if I don't work eight hours a day."

Xing smiled slightly, looking at Bronya with a calm expression.

"Xing, eight hours is not enough. Four or five hours of quality sleep a day is enough. You need to work at least 16 hours to sleep soundly."

With a twitch at the corner of her mouth, Xing immediately retorted.

"Are you a devil? People could really die like that!"

Seeing the two chatting, Bronya still had many unanswered questions in her mind, so she decided to ask them now.

"Um... there aren't that many people here... may I ask you some questions?"

"Go ahead and ask, Xing is listening."

"?And you?"

"Just listen to what I say."

Forget it, this is going too far. It's practically child labor.

"That so-called star core... assuming we really find it, how confident are you that you can stop the cold wave?"

After thinking for a moment, Xing shrugged.

"You'd have to ask Dan Heng, or Ling Kong."

Seeing that the two people's gazes were on him, Ling Kong shrugged and said calmly.

"Don't look at me, I've never handled this before either. Maybe if I just blow it up, it'll be fine?"

Bronya shook her head, guessing based on her understanding of Danheng from the limited time they had spent together.

"Is he your leader? He seems very confident in whatever he does."

After all, of the three, Danheng seems the most reliable.

Judging from Lingkong's reply, he isn't particularly reliable either.

“Actually, I find it hard to believe what you’re saying. For people who have lived in Beloborg for so long, the terms you’re using are too distant... In my opinion, it would have been reasonable for Lady Cocolia to order your arrest, but Mother didn’t do it at first.”

Bronya reached out her hand in confusion, but realizing she shouldn't do that, she clenched her fist and placed it in front of her chest.

"So she must have seen something in you... something I can't quite put my finger on, and it's really bothering me... I don't know what happened, why she suddenly changed her attitude? But an order is an order, and soldiers shouldn't overanalyze orders."

A soldier's duty is to obey orders; this is a sentence she firmly remembered when she was a Silver Mane Iron Guard.

Only by working together as a team can we protect Belloberg until now.

The endless rift monsters show no signs of decreasing even after the battle has continued; on the contrary, their numbers are increasing.

"That's why I asked you, what do you think the High Guardian means?"

"What does that mean...?"

“You don’t fully understand yet; you only understand a small part. You’re still a bit short if you want to become the crown prince.”

Under the puzzled gazes of Xing and Bronya, Ling Kong conjured a chessboard out of thin air, which floated in the air, and gestured with his hand.

"Want to play a game? Let's combine it with Belloborg's strategy... This is the Grand Guardian, it's the biggest piece."

As soon as he finished speaking, a virtual image with a crown on its head appeared on the chessboard.

"This is the Star Core, a chess piece on par with the Great Guardian. These two are the largest."

A somewhat square block appeared on the other side of the chessboard, facing the Great Guardian from afar.

"Meanwhile... there are many ministers here... many Iron Guards... and on the other side, only so many Rift Monsters... they keep fighting, and Beloborg's camp is so powerful, defeating Star Core after Star Core..."

Under the aerial demonstration, the game situation was unpredictable, with pieces constantly being added and removed from the board.

Suddenly, Ling Kong revealed a wicked smile.

"Unlike traditional chess games, after a long battle, the Grand Guardian of Belobberg suddenly discovered that the opposing Star Core was cheating. It was simply cheating. Belobberg had a limited number of pieces, while the Star Core's Rift Monsters could regenerate. By the time Belobberg's side realized what was happening, the Star Core had already formed a sharp dagger, aimed directly at the Grand Guardian."

The chess game crumbled, and the sharp blade formed from the star core pierced through the phantom of the Great Guardian.

Bronya felt as if her heart had been gripped when she saw this, and she struggled to breathe.

"You mean...!? Mother... has been bewitched by the Star Core!?"

"Yes, or no, this is something the Great Guardian has to face. You have to consider more than just protection. If you only know how to protect, you can't protect anything. Sometimes, protecting means breaking things."

"Does your protection truly have any meaning? The meaning of protection... shouldn't be mixed with foolish adherence to rules. If there were a button in front of you, pressing it would mean only 10% of your people would survive, while not pressing it would likely mean all of them would die. What would you choose?"

The question left Bronya speechless, her expression one of deep conflict.

"So, sometimes it's that difficult to protect... That's the nature of a great guardian. If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. But... I prefer to use another method."

A glint of light flashed in Bronya's bewildered eyes, and she hurriedly asked.

"any solution?!"

"I...like breaking the rules, finding the person who pressed the button, and forcing them to rewrite the ending of everything."

Chapter 63 What He Said Was Terrifying Is No Longer Terrifying

"You must believe that destiny is in your own hands. So-called uncontrollable destiny is simply due to the lack of ability of the person involved. Do you understand, Bronya?"

His tone softened, and Ling Kong pulled out a long bench from somewhere, sat down, and patted the rest of the bench.

"Come on? Shall we sit down and talk?"

"No thanks."

Unlike Bronya, Xing followed Ling Kong and sat down.

"Don't worry, we'll help you."

Bronya smiled slightly at Xing and continued.

“In the past, soldiers in the upper zone kept losing their lives on the front lines, but the pace of the expansion of the rift did not slow down at all.”

"So she transferred all the Silvermane Iron Guards to the front lines, sealing off communication between the upper and lower levels, leaving only supply and earth marrow exchange channels open. I once agreed with this decision..."

Bronya used to believe everything her mother said.

Sending the Silvermane Iron Guards from the lower zone to defend the upper zone is indeed an understandable approach, since survival supplies can only be provided in the upper zone, while the lower zone is mainly for collecting earth marrow to resist the cold wave.

But sealing off the lower levels... could it be that this has such consequences...?

"But the lower districts, lacking the Silvermane Iron Guards, have fallen into such a state of ruin... Perhaps Mother made the wrong decision..."

"But I can't change her mind. I've tried, but she won't listen. I can't find a way..."

He rested his chin on his hand, looked up at the anxious Bronya, and offered his suggestion.

"A solution...it's not that hard to find. You can be the Great Guardian, and I'll support you!"

He spoke words that terrified Bronya with a calm expression, and Bronya kept shaking her head.

How...how could someone say such a thing?!

That's incredibly outrageous!!!

"No, this thought is too terrible! Absolutely not, it's impossible!"

The scariest thing isn't nonsense, but a pile of truths laid out before you, and the terrifying way to break the deadlock that can actually be done.

"The more I think about it, the more confused I get; the more confused I get, the more I think about it, and I can't find any direction at all... I just hope that the people of Belleburg can live a better life..."

"Sigh... Bronya, when will you understand the weight of the High Warden? This world is far more complex than you imagine. You think you don't understand the Lower Zones, but surely you understand the Upper Zones?"

Bronya was slightly taken aback when Ling Kong mentioned the upper district.

"What kind of understanding are you trying to say? Understanding the upper district? Even an ordinary resident of the upper district would know that."

"But you might not be aware of such things."

A finger stopped Xing from speaking, and Ling Kong gestured with his eyes.

With a sigh, Xing could only look at Bronya with pity.

Oh no, is another girl going to get brainwashed?

Is the aerial maneuver about to begin?

First Sambo, then Schwarzkopf, and now Bronya is being brainwashed online.

Ling Kong really doesn't know how to be gentler with girls.

"You said."

Bronya's gaze sharpened, and a surge of anger rose within her. This was the first time someone had tried to test her using the situation in the Upper District.

Do you think the upper level is safe?

"The Iron Guards of the Upper District have been working tirelessly to protect Belloborg, and the soldiers on the front lines are fearless in the face of death! Why wouldn't we be safe?"

"What if I said you have internal problems? Bronya, you still need to be more politically aware. That long cold snap has not only changed the outside world, but your hearts... have also been affected. Now... where are so many people who want to see the outside world? They just live one day at a time. Perhaps your Iron Guard's beliefs are incredibly firm, but... compared to the rotten parts, you are still a bit weak."

He took out a piece of paper and handed it to Bronya in mid-air.

This information was obtained from Wallace. Fortunately, although Wallace's patriarch had no intention of rebelling, he still needed to learn some things to squeeze into the upper echelons of society.

It just so happens that he got a list of these parasites from Belloberg.

Unfold the slip of paper and look at the several familiar names inside. These are ministers, whom I often see at Cripple Castle.

"What do you mean?"

"It's very simple. These are just a few corrupt officials, but the problems in your upper echelons don't end there. Would you like to hear more?"