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

(Entering Raiden Mei's perspective...)

After escaping from Vivi's thoughts and returning to paradise, Mei felt a sense of exhaustion sweeping over her body.

"Am I...back?"

"Well……?!"

Almost at the same moment when she woke up completely, the severe pain in her head almost made her faint again.

“It really is… not so easy.”

The severe pain continued, but the girl no longer groaned.

Because she knew that this pain was carving out the key to "counterattack" in her mind. However, unfortunately... her enemy seemed to know this as well.

……

Meiyi saw a tall Ferris wheel not far away. She tried to use this reference to find her current location, but after a few steps, dozens of monsters appeared out of nowhere. They were the same as in Weiwei's mind, with a layer of dark green smoke on their bodies.

"They have never appeared in such numbers. This is not an 'encounter'... but an 'ambush'. Has the Herrscher of Corrosion... noticed that 'Vilvi' has disappeared?"

Due to her poor condition, Mei was quickly defeated by the unusually large number of supermodel monsters.

"...The number is really too huge... And it happened to be when Velvi was "digging"... I haven't adapted to the "spiral" mark yet..."

When Mei's consciousness was about to fall into chaos, familiar yet unfamiliar words rang in her ears:

"Hmm? Is it over so soon?"

"What's that sound?! No, it's impossible..."

This was of course impossible, because Velvet had told her that her data had been completely deleted by the enemy. So at this moment, the voice she heard could only be a "pretender" who had taken over the magpie's nest... the Herrscher of Corrosion... who appeared in front of her in the most "evil" way.

After an unknown amount of time, Mei's brain felt a little better. The moment she opened her eyes, she was so shocked that her mind immediately became clear.

Like Qianjie, she saw a blue-haired loli who looked like a combination of Enosiya and Alicia.

"Should I say this... Hey, how's it going?"

The lights of the empty amusement park were still on. The facilities were operating as usual, and only two girls stood facing each other, seemingly intimate. However, the hostile and surprised look of one of them created an invisible barrier between the two.

"Who...are you?"

"Ah, have you forgotten me just because you haven't seen me for a while? Mei is so heartless. I'm so sad."

A clear voice came from the girl in front of her, but Mei's fists clenched even tighter.

"Stop pretending. ...We all know that you are not her. Neither Ling nor Alysia will...erase the data of other Yingjie."

[Corrosion Herrscher] smacked his lips:

"Well... well, if you're so unromantic, there's no need for me to continue my performance.

Oh, I never thought that my "friend" would outwit me... I trusted Weiwei so much."

“‘Trust’? I’m afraid that’s not the case.”

"Don't say that, my dear Mei... I saw in their memories that she called you like that, right?"

Mei put her hand on the scabbard.

"Well, why are you angry? It's really strange. I'm using your familiar face and calling you by your favorite name, but why are you not happy at all?"

"...Is it because my current appearance is the result of the [fusion] of Alicia and Ling, and in your eyes, I have become something different?"

"Hiss... that shouldn't be the case. Although my current appearance is indeed somewhat different from Alicia's, lacking a bit of purity and charm, but a bit more cute, I should be... also very beautiful."

"I always feel like... you seem to hate me? I really don't know what Wei Wei said to you - it doesn't matter, I will read her data carefully when I have time later.

But before that, I still want to make it clear that I have no ill will towards you. To show my sincerity, I'd better reintroduce myself.

As for me... I am a Herrscher who was born between life and death, who lives on information and data, and exists by relying on some kind of physical medium."

"In a more familiar term to you - "Herrscher of Corrosion", is that my name?

...Although I always feel that this name is a bit too rough. "

"Ah... Mei, please stop looking at me like that, okay? I'm sincere. Just because I'm the Herrscher of Corrosion, do I lose the right to choose my appearance?"

"Huh, it's really surprising that you would say that."

[Corrosion Herrscher] pointed to his cheek:

"Who let me take over her data? Now, no one understands Alicia better than me, and no one cherishes this unique and beautiful appearance more than me."

The more Mei listened, the more her brows furrowed.

(That's not right. She said... taking over Alicia's data? Velvet clearly told me that Alicia had been "deleted"...)

(Why would the Herrscher of Corrosion tell such a meaningless lie?)

“While accepting external data, I will continue to grow.

Because we have life, we learn to fear death; because we have a body, we know how to pursue beauty... Because we have nothing, we want to cherish everything.

"I was born from nothingness, and I am slowly understanding the meaning of "living". If you simply imagine me as an enemy of mankind, that would be a misunderstanding, right?"

"misunderstanding?"

"Yes, that's right...I invaded the paradise, this is an indisputable fact."

"But just like when you are thirsty you look for water to drink, and when you are hungry you look for food to eat, [erosion] is the foundation of my existence, my instinct."

"I have read the records of these heroes fighting against other Herrschers. Before the Fire Moth decided to attack these Herrschers, they could destroy a city at best and an entire continent at worst. In the universal values ​​of mankind, they are indeed monsters that need to be eliminated."

"But from the time I was born until now, has any electronic device been paralyzed by my erosion? Has anyone died because of my erosion?"

Mei was stunned and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

"No. If not, then why do you have the preconceived notion that I was born a bad person?"

"Do you think that as long as a man with a vicious look stands on the street with a sharp weapon, he should be arrested for murder even if he has done nothing?"

"This……"

Mei knew that the Paradise of the Past was essentially a large computer, although the Corrosion Herrscher did delete Yingjie's data.

But... what [Corrosion Herrscher] did, to put it bluntly, was just hacking into computers and deleting all the data that others had worked so hard to save.

From the perspective of universal human values, if [Corrosion of the Herrscher] is considered a heinous crime, then when the Herrscher of Lightning awakened and caused the entire Changkong City to be destroyed, to what extent should she, Raiden Mei, be held responsible?

"Besides, I never had the thought of murdering anyone, even if they were just memories made up of data.

And so it is. You see, nothing in the paradise has disappeared.

Although they don’t exist in the form you are familiar with, they are right beside us now. Right here…”

She pointed to her head:

"here.

Once the erosion was complete, they became part of me; and conversely, I became part of them.

It is precisely because I was once a "blank" that I can accept everything about them.

I got their data, learned their experiences, and inherited their emotions and will.

So, you can think of me as the continuation of the lives of the heroes. Would that make you happier? "

"Excited?!!"

The scene from the day before came back to my mind. Those obituaries that were flying like snowflakes, those points of light that were escaping from my palms...

Mei lowered her eyes to hide the anger in her pupils. Her original rational analysis was immediately replaced by emotional emotions.

No matter what others think, at least in Mei's heart, even if the Thirteen Fire-Chasing Heroes are essentially memories, they are no different from living humans.

In her eyes, what the Herrscher had done was undoubtedly to kill her friend in front of her and then pretend that he didn't care.

"You invaded this place, manipulated everything, and wantonly trampled on the last traces of these heroes left in the world... They died right in front of me, and you want to say that you are the "continuation" of their lives?"

The girl in front of me sighed:

"Well... well, it seems that no matter how I explain, in Mei's heart, I am a bad person.

Since you want to fight me no matter what, I have no choice but to meet your expectations - after all, the last thing I want to do is disappoint others."

Mei pulls out the Seven Thunders of Purification:

"Are you finally going to reveal your true colors? Although I don't understand why you deliberately pretend to be harmless... But, if possible, I really don't want to fight with Mei at all. This battle is meaningless. You and I should never be enemies.

But I also know very well that Mei is such a girl who likes to get to the bottom of things.

Therefore, I am also happy to show you the power of "Erosion"... I will hand my trump cards to Mei one by one.

Then prove——what you see is the real me without reservation?."

She snapped her fingers, and a huge emerald green snake emerged from the ground. Mei knew, of course, that this was the artificial collapse form of Mebius.

Mei also experienced a similar battle not long after she entered the paradise, right?

Using the secret of the "Fusion Warrior" as bait, he will lure you into his trap step by step, trying to replace you...

"Dr. Mobius's way of thinking is very similar to mine, but you are not as tolerant of me as you are of her. Is this... "first come, first served"? "

Without Klein's help, Mei's condition was much worse than before. Every time she swung the sword, she felt that the Seven Thunders of Purification in her hand became heavier.

"Do you feel a bit tired? That's normal. Although I borrowed Mobius's data, it's my power after all - the winner is obvious."

However, Meiyi is not a new girl to paradise. After spending so many days with Yingjie, she has learned a lot.

"If it's Mobius..."

After careful consideration, Mei predicted Mobius' attack and struck him in the vitals with a single blow. The giant snake in front of her instantly disintegrated.

"Wow - great, great, you're really Mei! Well, next..."

"Just refer to this data! Because he accepted the prophecy of "certain death", he "asked for death" from Qianjie in an attempt to break the impasse. When I saw this just now, I was really shocked.

"Mei, you're so bold. Although I like your playful side, I'm worried when you always put yourself in danger like this..."

The man covered in flames appeared in front of Mei again, but Mei knew clearly that compared with the real Qianjie, the man in front of her was just a puppet with an empty appearance.

"Oh, what should I do? According to Qianjie's idea, he wants to fight the Herrscher to the death. But I really can't bear to see Mei's beautiful body left with scars... There is no other way, I can only let him down."

The previous victory gave Mei confidence. With her understanding of Qianjie, Mei quickly figured out his moves and won again.

"We won another round! Next... let this person come out.

Although Weiwei's pranks really caused me a lot of trouble, I still regard her as a good friend.

This wonderful performance was performed by... a great magician? An expert? Oops... I can't remember.

But it doesn't matter, every bit of Vivi's data is here, integrated with me, just like any other memory."

Although she has won battle after battle, Mei is convinced that in her current state, she has no chance of winning against the Herrscher of Corrosion.

Judging from the way she was talking and laughing when Mei was fighting with the fake Yingjie, the victory that she had achieved with all her might was just a pastime for her.

In the battle with [Vilvi], Mei was quickly defeated due to lack of physical strength.

[Corrosion Herrscher] clapped his hands, and [Vilvi] on the field immediately disappeared.

"Okay, let's stop here. Mei should understand now that this kind of battle will lead to no results.

But even though you know you have no chance, you still attack me again and again... I just like this about you."

“Look, I’ve already told you that I have absolutely no intention of hurting you.

Now you should believe it, we are really not enemies."

"Let me think, if it was Alicia, what would she take you to do?"

Her eyes fell on the huge Ferris wheel in the distance, and the corners of her mouth slightly raised:

"Next, it's time for us to talk to each other, just like... a date?"

"How about it, Mei, are you willing to accept the invitation of a beautiful girl like her?"