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

After being [Erosion], the imagined pain did not come. After her vision blurred, Mei heard an unexpected sound instead.

"But why you? Aponya and Sue were completely unaware of this."

"That voice is... Kevin?!"

"She is essentially a virus after all - a medium that invades the paradise of the past, and a [device] that allows the paradise to survive. If as a builder, I can only detect it after them... wouldn't that be a dereliction of duty?"

(Next... show him the dark green mark on my arm. It was supposed to be a gift, but now... it will become another kind of proof.)

"...I...can [hear] Vilvi's inner voice?"

"Soon, I will also be completely eroded and become a part of her. As everyone knows, the Herrscher of Erosion obviously has the ability to delete us directly."

"But data is the foundation of her growth after all. Deleting it means self-damage. If she has a choice, she would rather erode it like she did to me, and then use it for her own benefit. This is also our only chance. Kevin, if you want to defeat her, you must cooperate with me in a [performance]."

"Go on."

"You are our sharpest sword. You must not be held in her hand. Therefore, I need you to die immediately."

"........."

"Oh... don't get me wrong, what I mean is that I have to delete your data myself. Through that... [Kevin Destroy Button]."

“Can you do this?”

"It can always be done, but it's meaningless. Because like all my inventions, it also has a [backdoor] program - it is destroyed, but it can also be [restored]."

"...You want me to fake my own death as a [surprise weapon]?"

"It's still uncertain. Before the show begins, I will [surrender] to the Herrscher of Corrosion and take the opportunity to confirm Alicia's current situation."

(It is indeed a surrender, but the performance... has already begun.)

"Of course... there's a good chance we won't come back. You still have time to think about it, but it's not much."

"...I understand. I will give you an answer. But there is one more question...Who are you?"

A noisy electric sound was heard, and a picture appeared in front of Mei's eyes.

"Is this... Mobius' laboratory? It seems I have entered a new memory..."

In the picture, Mebius was busy in the laboratory, and suddenly his eyes looked behind him.

"Stop hiding, Vivi, I know you are there, come out."

Velvet walked forward slowly and noticed that Mebius's eyes were fixed on her arm.

"As expected of you, you spotted the marks on my body at first sight. Looks familiar, right?"

"...The Herrscher of Corrosion?...Do you think I did this?"

"Of course. Haven't you conducted similar experiments long ago? Especially after Enosia came here, you never gave up on creating a virus based on the Herrscher of Corrosion."

"Shut up first, Vivi. Listen to me, this is not..."

Mebius stopped talking halfway through.

(Yes, as someone who has done a lot of research and even developed a replica... Mobius, you certainly know that I must be under some kind of surveillance at this moment. You will start to guess the intention of every word I say and cooperate in the process. Instead of trying to explain to me - what is the difference between those experimental products and the real Herrscher of Corrosion.)

"So what... you think you can stop me?"

"Don't pretend, Mobius. At first, I thought she was your experiment, but I didn't expect... to meet... the second [real person]. I'll tell you the truth - I have surrendered to her. The reason I came here today is to make you a part of her."

"The second... Herrscher? Ling? Do you think Enosia... given her wish to spend every day with Alicia, would allow something like this to happen?"

"What you said makes sense, but it doesn't match the actual situation. As for why this happened, you have to ask Enosia herself."

(Yes, think about it. A smart person like you will certainly immediately [find out] why I had to mention the past experiment before you mentioned Enosia. You will immediately [understand] that I already have a perfect plan. And then... you will be truly deceived by me.)

"To be honest, I have already wiped out Kevin, and it was easy. Mobius...how do you compare to him?"

"It's just dealing with a small follower. The difference... you will know it if you try it."

(Mobius, I believe that after your brainstorming, you must have come to the conclusion that I have a bold and adventurous plan, with a small probability that we, the Memory, can have a chance to defeat the Herrscher of Corrosion. However... apart from making you disappear, what plan do I have? Smart Mobius, my only plan... is to make you believe that I really have a plan.)

Mobius's eyes at this moment seemed to see through Velvet:

"I can cooperate with you, but... before you disappear completely, I have one last question. Who... are you?"

The same question made Mei realize something as if she were there herself. She lowered her head and looked at her body carefully for a long time, as if it originally belonged to another person.

"I'm still here, safe and sound... I'm not [imprisoned] like she said... So, it's "You... you... have finally appeared? The original [Vilvi], her true self. A... [Trickster].

In the plain room, the Vilwei in front of her, whose clothes were different from other Vilwei, pursed her lips:

"Is it a little too ordinary... disappointing for you? You don't seem surprised at all."

"So... the so-called [Division of Thoughts]..."

"Those are all true... But before I had this ability, I could easily transform into [another person], and it's not much different from now?"

"...The [Evil One] said that all thought areas no longer exist. Is this another lie of hers, or... your [lie]?"

"Well, she did destroy all the areas including the [self]. But no one stipulates that the "self" must stay in the area called the [self], right? There was nothing there from the beginning. It's just a little habit of mine... Spiders do have eight "legs", but they still have to grow from a [torso], right? It's a pity... without legs, the torso can't move. So, I can only meet you this way."

"I'm sorry... If I were to apologize sincerely, would you accept it?"

"...Can I believe you? It was you who saved me from the evil Velvet."

"I don't think I have the right to say this, but I hope you can believe me. It's not that difficult to bring you here from the hands of the villain. After all, this is my thinking, so it's easy to disguise myself. But if I don't want her to find out, I'll have to work hard. At least, I have to make that part of Vivi completely convinced that she has won."

"Even though she won't admit it, you are indeed a strong enemy. Finally being able to defeat you in both will and strength will make her happy for several hours."

"So... a second Herrscher of Corrosion did appear in Paradise..."

"...Hmm. Mei, you don't need to look like that. I should probably take the main responsibility for how things turned out. I was the first...expert who discovered it, and because of that, I became the first victim. I...had to wake up at that time."

"You really slept for fifty thousand years?"

"I'm afraid it's more than that. I was often in this state when I was alive.

Of course, there is also a [backdoor] - when more than half of the thinking area [disappears], no matter how reluctant I am, I have to open my eyes. After all, there is only one possibility when this happens... I am afraid I will really die. Although waking up may not be able to reverse the situation, at least... I should say goodbye to the rest of you properly, right?"

"... By destroying the evil ones, we can interrupt the process of erosion... Is this also your decision?"

"No, I wasn't fully awake at that time. The person who made the decision was the Conductor. Ah, sorry, this is just a common name. In your opinion... she should be an engineer - you should be very familiar with her."

"Is it her... the most common one [Vilvi]?"

"Yes, that was the first area of ​​my mind that I separated. Frankly speaking... I was not proficient at that time and did not have a good grasp of the measure. In addition to engineering-related knowledge, there was too much subjective and emotional cognition mixed in, which made her and I too similar."

"Too similar... Is that why you gave her the authority to split her mind?"

"Yeah, there were times when I just believed in myself. That's why we call her the conductor—she never made any mistakes, except for this time."

"You didn't expect her to choose to sacrifice the [evil man]?"

"Rather, all my attempts now are based on this unexpected situation. But if this accident hadn't happened... [Vilvi] would have had to leave at that time."

Perhaps... it was under that circumstance that the conductor saw that the area would choose to [betray] - relying on its own special ability to become an ally of the Herrscher of Corrosion and destroy all other areas. "

"But in this way... I will survive and stay in the dark where no one knows. That's why she did this, right? After all, the one who knows me best is myself. But... I have lost most of my data and am under the surveillance of the Herrscher of Corrosion all the time. If I want to avoid surveillance and talk to you, I can only do it here... Fortunately, she also wants you to come in and take a look around."

"It is to completely destroy me."

"Yes……"

"What about... Kevin, Paddo, and Mebius...? Their sacrifice seems to be worthless."

"Yeah, yeah. It's worthless... so... it shouldn't happen."

"What's the meaning……?"

"The strongest person and [master] of the Paradise of the Past is of course the priority target that the Herrscher of Corrosion wants to solve... and she can help it accomplish this task without making a fuss - this is still easy to think of.

"What should she do? For Kevin, she should say this... She hopes that he will become a vital surprise weapon through her [Kevin Destroy Button]."

"She meant to deceive, but she was telling the truth. It was the work of an expert, and the backdoor does exist. So... since she wants to close that door, just stop her from closing it. The same goes for Phyllis. When she disappeared, the Herrscher of Corrosion had not yet returned."

"That Velvet is a genius after all. She must have modified the [Kevin Destroy Button] so that it can be used on all memories, right? If so... she should be in the same place as Kevin now. When we free Kevin, we can take Phyllis with her."

"And Mebius...has even seen through her lies."

Having said this, she secretly glanced at Mei's eyes.

"I can only say that it was Mebius's own choice. So... I also want to give her the power to reveal it. You will know the answer soon."

"Then...where is Alicia?"

"Although... judging from the results, Alicia's data has indeed disappeared without a trace. However... her safety is the least of our worries. In any case, Enosia must have saved her data thoroughly before the incident. She can be resurrected just like Cecilia."

"Obviously, your understanding of Enosia and Alicia... is not perfect. The relationship between them... is indeed as close as that between "sisters", so... even if the worst happens, she will definitely be safe. And in the best case, this may just be a..."

"What is it?"

Wei Wei showed a mysterious smile:

"Ah, in this situation, we obviously can't easily take the [best case scenario] as [fact], and we can't put all our hopes on "everything is under Enosia's control"."

"There are two things we need to do next. The first is to defeat that Velvet and free you from my mind... This should be a tough battle, after all, she has almost half of Velvet's thinking... that is, half of her intelligence."

"Maybe... I, and the Herrscher of Corrosion, will be killed by her in the end? You will become her bargaining chip with Enosia... That's probably what she plans to do."

"As for the second task... it's even more difficult. You have to defeat the Herrscher of Corrosion without the help of Enosia, and try to achieve a result that is... the [best] for everyone."