Honkai: It’s broken, I have become the Herrscher of Corrosion?

Early morning of June 2017, 6, Anti-Entropy, Salt Lake City Base.

Hei Xi looked at Bai Xi who was still sleeping soundly, feeling mixed emotions.

Yesterday, in order to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Anti-Entropy, we needed to go out for procurement. This project was originally in charge of Tesla, but she is still in Washington, so the task finally fell on Seele and Kiana who happened to be free.

"Although I'm still a little timid, I know that her... relationship with Kiana has changed from strangers to ordinary people who are somewhat familiar with each other. With Bronya as the intermediary, I'm afraid they will soon become good friends."

"Although it won't become the same relationship as with Bronya, but... it still means that her relationship with others is gradually getting closer. Getting closer with others means..."

Hei Xi didn't dare to think about it anymore.

She knew that Bronya had appeared beside Seele no later than she did, and that she had helped her out of the shadows at the most critical moment. So whether Seele and Bronya kissed or did something more, Hei Xi, who could watch the whole process, had no objection.

On the contrary, because Bronya saw everything that Seele did, in her heart, Bronya has always been second only to Seele. Seele also knew this very well, but she was unwilling to admit it in front of Bronya.

But now, Seele is gradually improving her relationship with people other than Bronya, which makes Hei Xi feel uneasy from the bottom of her heart.

There is no doubt that everyone has 24 hours in a day. Unless one has the ability to manage time, no one has more or less.

Xier's close relationship with more and more people means that she will spend more and more time communicating and accompanying them. More time to accompany and communicate with them means less time to focus on herself, and once the communication decreases, maybe there will be...

Of course, Hei Xi also understood that he was an extremely special existence to Xier on the physical level, a special existence.

But... she was afraid, what if...

"Really? What on earth was I thinking? I must have been infected by this idiot. It's time to wake her up."

"Hey, wake up, those little ghosts are still waiting to listen to your story."

Xier heard the call and opened her eyes in a daze, and then... a wriggling caterpillar appeared in her sight.

"Ahhhhh!!!"

15 minutes later, in the corridor of the Salt Lake City base.

[Haha, this is the fourth person, asking you what the terrible scream you just made was about.]

"Wow... it's because when I opened my eyes, I saw a caterpillar next to my pillow. You know I'm most afraid of that."

[Huh? Blame me. Who was it that vowed before going to bed last night that he would get up early today and tell stories to those little kids? I think if you hadn't spent too much energy going out with Kiana yesterday, you wouldn't feel that you didn't get enough sleep...]

"I'm very grateful that you woke me up...but...can you try another way next time..."

[Huh? I don't even have a physical body, and I can't just lift your blanket... Of course, it's not impossible for me to play with those little ghosts on your behalf.]

"Well...if you want to someday, remember to let me know and I'll sleep well."

[Huh? I was just saying it casually, why did you take it seriously? Aren’t you afraid...]

"This body originally belonged to both of us, but now, I am the only one controlling it most of the time, which is not fair to you. Besides...if you go out more often, maybe you can make many new friends like me..."

"By the way, several months have passed. Have you thought of your favorite name yet?"

Hei Xi knew that since she had taken the initiative to bring up this matter, it meant that she had taken it to heart. If he didn't give her an answer now, she would definitely keep thinking about it.

【…………Xier. 】

"I'm here."

[I said, this is the name I like... Don't think too much, I just thought that since we already share a body, we might as well share a name. You can tell Bronya later... Someone is coming.]

"It's Xi'er, why are you...just standing here in a daze? I see, you must have not slept well last night and are too sleepy. Dr. Einstein said that he hopes you can come over if you have time."

"……OK."

Xier responded to the base staff's words and came to where several children lived. Like herself, they became orphans directly or indirectly because of the Honkai.

After telling the story to the children, Xier came to Einstein's office.

"Sorry Xi'er, please wait until Dr. Tesla finishes his rant."

Then, Xier heard a roar coming from the other end of the phone:

"It's impossible to communicate with those old stubborn people. They just keep repeating the same things over and over again and pass the buck to each other. It makes me so angry!"

"What did the mecha say? It was cowardly, greedy, and bullying. I think every word is true."

"...Dr. Tesla, I wish you hadn't said this in front of the federal senators. Regardless of what the mecha actually said, even if it is equipped with a language module, it is illogical that a security mecha has the ability to physically attack others."

"Humph, I checked all the mechas from head to toe before providing them to Congress. There's no way such a problem could have occurred. If you ask me, there's an 80% chance that it was a problem with their own operation, and a 20% chance that they were just using this incident to frame me."

"Frame-up? What else did they say?"

"Alas, it's the same old story. They say that the means of anti-entropy containment of the Herrscher are too lenient, and that allowing Kiana to act freely is irresponsible to the people of the Federation."

"I told them over and over again that Kiana is now in a stable condition and can control her own strength, but they just don't believe me. They even think that this mecha accident was a conspiracy by the Herrscher."

Tesla was already laughing when he said this:

"Please, do they know what a Herrscher is? If a Herrscher wants to attack the Capitol, why would they go through so much trouble? How can a Herrscher be so weak as to increase distrust among humans through conspiracy and intrigue in order to increase social unrest and destroy human society? If Ganesha or Pavanti crashed into the Capitol, the panic they caused would be much greater than this incident."

"A bunch of masters who only know how to hide behind the scenes and do nothing. When the Herrscher was wreaking havoc everywhere before, so many people died. They just made a few symbolic noises, but once it came into their own interests, they jumped out immediately."

"They are unwilling to learn more about what a Herrscher is. When they hear the word, they start to imagine conspiracy theories. They are unwilling to leave professional matters to professionals. They are arrogant and instruct professionals with their expertise. They should be handed over to Otto to deal with these guys. After they have tasted his thunderous methods, they will behave themselves."

"…That group of old guys are here to cause trouble again, Chicken Coop Head, let's talk later."

Tesla hung up the phone, and Einstein shook his head and sighed.

"Sorry, Xi'er, I kept you waiting for so long."

"...Dr. Tesla, it sounds like you're having a hard time."

"You don't have to worry about this. This is not the first time she has been invited to speak to Congress. She has a straightforward personality and a bad temper, but she has never suffered any serious losses."

"Hmm...I feel more worried..."

"Doctor, do you have any mission for me?"

"Look at this."

Einstein tapped the screen a few times in front of the computer, and a photo appeared in front of Xier.

"Tank-class Honkai beast?!"

"Yesterday, when Mr. Walter and Bronya were out, they discovered that a large number of Honkai beast statues appeared at an exhibition held next to a certain building. Just as they were about to investigate further, some of the statues came alive and began to indiscriminately attack the crowd."

"What! Then..."

"Those Honkai beasts were no match for Bronya and Mr. Walter, so no one was injured and this incident was suppressed by other things."

"Those Honkai beasts are nothing compared to the Herrscher, but they are definitely not something that ordinary people can deal with. If Bronya and Mr. Walter hadn't arrived there, the consequences would have been disastrous."

"After the incident, Anti-Entropy immediately traced the supply chain of the sculptures. So far, we have found that there are two workshops producing these sculptures. We expect to find their specific locations within today."

"Although we don't know who the other party is, considering that they may have the ability to artificially breed Honkai beasts, the workshop is likely just a cover. They may have their own base like Anti-Entropy."

"Although we cannot rule out the possibility that this is the base of Destiny or World Serpent, there is no direct evidence so far. And based on Anti-Entropy's experience, this action does not fit Otto's style."

"After discussing with the leader, we both agreed that we should not alert the enemy before they reveal their true intentions. We should follow the currently known clues and conduct a secret investigation."

"And considering that Kiana is in poor condition recently, Ms. Fu Hua is still looking for the Herrscher of Knowledge, and Ms. Theresa and the leader also have relatively important work to do, you and Bronya are the most suitable candidates at the moment, of course..."

"I do. So, Doctor, do you mean that Sister Bronya and I should investigate two workshops separately?"

"Well, the time is tonight, so take a good rest during the day."

[Okay, if you want to fight, leave it to me. You can do the rest of the thinking. Now just listen to other people's opinions and have a good rest.]

"Ugh?!"

[What? You think I don't know that you plan to take advantage of this time to go to the training room for extra training, because "I don't want the mission to fail because of me, and I don't want to hurt Sister Bronya because of my lack of strength", right? ]

"Sure enough, nothing can be hidden from you."

[I've already said it, leave the battle to me, you don't need to worry about it.]

"But……"

[But what? You mean you hope that one day you can defeat your opponent with your own ability, and then you won't need me anymore, right? ]

"That's not what I meant. My other self, no, I should call you Xi'er now. You and I are equal individuals. It would be unfair to you if I always ask you for help whenever I encounter difficulties. I believe that the purpose of your protection of me is to allow me to grow up healthily like other people, instead of turning back into the coward who can only hide in the box and cry when encountering difficulties."

"Only when I try to face powerful enemies and solve seemingly insurmountable problems by myself can I grow. When I become stronger, won't we be able to defeat even bigger and more powerful enemies together?"

"We are so closely connected, maybe... I have been holding you back in battle. You said you can control all the power of this body. If I become stronger, I might be able to raise the upper limit of this body, and then you will become even more powerful than before."

[…Well, okay, it seems that if I want to convince you, I have to think of another reason… What difficulty level do you plan to challenge alone? ]

"Increase the difficulty of the previous few days by 10 levels."

[What! Isn't that the highest difficulty? If you get injured during training, won't it affect the mission tonight? ]

Xier immediately showed an expression of belated realization.

"I'm sorry, Xi'er. I was so eager to improve myself that I automatically ignored the risks involved... I will listen to you and have a good rest."

[Alas, you are the one who has been using your brain all along, but why do you act like an idiot sometimes? You need me to remind you to notice it.]

"This shows that Xi'er is better than me in terms of thinking."

Xier returned to the room with a smile on her face, and while resting she thought about what to do in the evening.

On the night of June 6, Xier arrived at the workshop to be investigated. Although it was not far from the city, the surrounding environment was as eerie and strange as a haunted house.

"Xi'er, I won't be afraid anymore!"

She mustered up her courage and rushed towards the door.

【Hmm, what's going on? 】

The scene in front of Hei Xi changed. When she regained consciousness, she found herself in an unfamiliar space.

"Being teleported to another dimension? This is troublesome. Xier, it's not good here. I'll do it..."

Hei Xi's eyes widened and he froze in place.

Because she didn't hear any answer.

In this strange and alien space, she, who clearly has no physical body, can move freely on her feet, just like she did in the quantum sea.

But Bai Xi, who had always been inseparable from her, was not by her side at this time.

"Damn it!"

Just when Hei Xi was extremely anxious, a voice came from a distance and fell into her ears:

"Welcome to the Domination Theater!"