I've already said this isn't a life simulator!

[Look, two-legged creature, be friendly! Skadi, help!]

[Two-legged creatures, land, collapse, confrontation, awesome! Great!]

[The ocean is collapsing, and there's so much bad!]

[Collapse, ugh! Hunt! Eat!]

"……what did you just say?"

Xi Wang's face looked somewhat strange.

"You know about Honkai?"

Chapter Forty-Four: An Increasingly Deviant Existence

Strange, how could I hear the word "Honkai" coming from a Honkai Beast? And this Honkai Beast is hostile to Honkai, trying to "hunt" down other Honkai Beasts... Am I dreaming?

If Xiwang hadn't been certain that his time at sea was real, he would have seriously doubted whether he was still living in the dream of the Eighth Herrscher.

"Where did you learn the word 'Honkai'?"

[Collapse? Two-legged creatures, tell me, water, memories, fragments! Land! Ocean! Skadi, you know!]

Skadi tried her best to explain to Xiwang how she knew the word, but her explanation was too fragmented, forcing Xiwang to think carefully about its meaning.

[Look! Water! Debris! Land! Know!]

"Don't rush, let's take it one step at a time... You learned this word from us humans, right?"

[Look! Clever! Skadi, vocabulary, knowledge! Two-legged creature! Know!]

"So you learned how to express these words from us humans..."

This answer was somewhat unexpected, but Xi Wang was not surprised. After all, the meanings of the words Skadi used matched the meanings he understood, so they must be human words.

"And then, you learned this knowledge because of water, right?"

[Looking forward, intelligent! I like it! Water, memories, fragments, land, sea!]

"Water records some things, and when it flows from the land into the ocean, it takes those records with it, right?"

[Fragments! Fragments! Piece them together, I know!]

"The memory is fragmented? So it needs to be pieced together to know?"

[Look! Clever! Friend, I like it!]

Skadi swam happily, incidentally devouring the last bits of remains of the giant octopus Honkai Beast.

"........."

Xi Wang finally understood Skadi's situation.

According to it, water contains some "other things," which we can consider as "water's memory," since it is something "recorded" by water. When water passes over land, it records some things, and then flows with streams and rivers into the sea, carrying the recorded information with it.

Although a single drop of water can only record a small amount of information, and a puddle can only record fragments of an event at most, the sheer volume of water allows one to piece together these fragmented "memories" and obtain what one desires, provided one is willing to analyze them.

Skadi learned human vocabulary and information about humans and the Honkai on land from this.

Xi Wang felt a sense of déjà vu... Isn't this exactly what you've been "dreaming" about these past few days?!

Now it seems that it wasn't a dream at all, but rather that you received fragmented "memories" from the ocean.

This is good news, meaning you can learn about the situation on land using this method... although it's difficult. After all, there's so much water in the ocean, and finding the "memories" you need is extremely difficult. Moreover, you have to piece together the fragmented "memories" to understand the whole story, which is truly like "finding a needle in a haystack."

However, this at least offers some hope, and is better than having no idea about the situation on land at all.

But at the same time, this is also bad news... According to this speculation, Xiwang's ability to receive "the memory of water" can be said to be a further acceptance by the "ocean," in other words, he is getting closer to the existence of a Honkai Beast like Skadi.

But it doesn't matter, he will persevere until he returns to their side.

And now there is one last question...

"Skadi...you know you're a Honkai Beast...right?"

Xi Wang asked the question softly.

[I know! Skadi, a Honkai Beast! Bad! Nozomi, Skadi, a friend! Nozomi, good! I like it! I'm close to you!]

It seems to have a very clear self-awareness...

"Then why do you hunt other Honkai Beasts?"

[Collapse! Bad! Ugh! Skadi, blood relative! Eat her! Gone! Collapse! Ugh!]

"……Feel sorry."

Xi Wang thought of the orca in his previous "dream"... He seemed to have inadvertently come into contact with Skadi's past, but did it already possess intelligence back then? Xi Wang still remembered those vivid emotions.

However, since her wounds had been unintentionally reopened, Xi Wang sincerely apologized.

[Look, my friend! Good!]

Skadi stuck out her tongue and licked Xiwang, as if to indicate that she had forgiven him.

[Land, two-legged creatures, good! Collapse, bad! Two-legged creatures, I love it! Two-legged creatures, Skadi, together! Hope, Skadi, my friend!]

It seems that Skadi learned about the fight against the Honkai on land through the "memory of water," and therefore regarded humans as allies... That's why she saved herself back then; besides her own fondness for humans, there was also the element of "saving an ally" involved.

This will help us understand why Skadi acted in all her previous ways.

Look, touch! Friend, touch!

Skadi opened her mouth towards you, sticking out her tongue as if to signal you.

"Okay...why does this feel like having a pet?"

【pet?】

"They are partners of humanity."

[Partner! Nozomi, a two-legged creature! Skadi, a pet!]

"...You should just forget about it."

Xi Wang silently touched its tongue coating, then expressed her helplessness at its overly straightforward thinking.

【Hmm? Skadi, wait a minute?】

Skadi looked a little aggrieved, like a little girl who had done something wrong... No, no, she should be a child! What am I thinking?!

"I didn't express myself quite right just now, you can just forget about it."

Xi Wang rubbed his head, looking a bit troubled, and said... He felt that there was something wrong with his perception.

[Hmm! Wang, you two-legged creature, have a lot of knowledge! Skadi, have little knowledge! Skadi, be obedient!]

"........."

Why does it feel like we're lying to a child?

Night, rest! Day, quick! Morning, hunt!

It seems it wants to rest. Indeed, its internal biological clock is telling Xiwang that it should rest.

Concealing their presence, they hid on the seabed, deceiving the Honkai Beasts that only stayed in the shallow waters, making them believe that there were no high-threat individuals here. Then they wandered around this area, so that Xiwang and Skadi could catch these Honkai Beasts upstream the next morning and enjoy a breakfast.

However, whether it's because they can communicate directly, or simply because she's experienced too many happy things, Skadi has become a bit restless tonight.

[Look, rest, together! Water! Memory, fragments! Knowledge!]

Okay, so it seems that Skadi used to keep quiet during this time to receive and process the "memory of water," rather than to rest... Hmm? Isn't that similar to the current Dawn?

Together! Friends! Hope! Good! Close! Like!

You can tell it's really happy.

Xi Wang couldn't persuade it otherwise. Considering how friendly it had been, how it had cleared up a lot of its doubts today, and how happy it really was... she decided to let it be.

"Yes, I didn't make up any excuses, absolutely not" Xi Wang comforted herself in her heart as Skadi kept rubbing her head against her.

To be honest, it's a bit scary to see such a huge creature, nearly 30 meters long, rubbing against me like that. After all, it's just too big.

Thankfully, Xiwang is a fusion warrior, otherwise he really wouldn't have been able to withstand its closeness.

But I was really happy today, wasn't I?

Xi Wang slowly closed her eyes, preparing to begin today's "dream"... or rather, to accept a new "memory of water".

[Look, touch!]

"Skadi, why don't you take a rest... we have a hunt tomorrow."

[Hunting! Good! Collapse! Hunting! Eat!]

Skadi accepted this reason and became quiet around Xiwang.

...Yes, Skadi is indeed a very easy-to-fool, silly, and adorable girl.

----------

Because you can communicate directly with it, you become "friends" with the orca Honkai Beast that you named "Skadi," and through it, you learn some secrets about the "ocean."

The ocean is all-encompassing; it accepts even memories, sinking them to the unfathomable depths of the sea. Those who receive the ocean's blessing can obtain what they need from it, whether it be memories or power.

The ocean always loves its children dearly and is willing to give them everything. However, in return, the ocean is also an overprotective mother who doesn't want her children to set foot on land again, to endure the bitterness of dryness, the torment of flames, or be killed by...humans.

[You suddenly understand why you can't return to land. It's because the "ocean" won't allow it. It has long regarded you as its child, and a "poor child" who has suffered the hardships of dryness and the torment of fire, and has survived alone in the ocean for many years. Therefore, it values ​​you highly and no longer wants you to return to land.]

[Having vaguely guessed this, you are somewhat troubled. This means you need to fight against this "living ocean" to return to land and to their side. Moreover, your abilities originate from this "ocean," and using its power to fight against it is truly unwise.]

However, this is not a reason for you to give up; you must return to their side.

After yet another failed attempt to return to land, you silently returned to Skadi's side, manipulating the seawater to create "ocean currents" and continued your journey to the next hunting ground.

Hunt on, keep hunting, hunt down all the Honkai Beasts in the "ocean," and grow stronger and stronger until you can escape the ocean.

[You started hunting in warm waters and continued until you reached the frigid seas... Is this the North or South Pole? That doesn't matter. All you and Skadi know is that there are Honkai Beasts here, and you have to "hunt" them and then eat them. That's enough.]

[Today's breakfast was still transparent jellyfish, delicious, you liked it; lunch was manta ray, not very tasty, but Skadi liked it; for dinner you caught a few seals, delicious; no midnight snack, what a pity...]

【………】

[Breakfast was still transparent jellyfish, but this is the last time we'll have it. It seems you've all eaten them all; we can't find them anymore. Enjoy them while you can! Lunch was a large "fish," a special Honkai Beast formed from a gathering of many small fish. It's delicious, but troublesome to eat. Dinner was a shark we caught, not tasty. Late at night, we caught a giant anglerfish—ugly and not tasty!]

[Another attempt to return to land failed. It seems we haven't hunted enough Honkai Beasts. Let's continue.]