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

Suddenly, a strange pain attacked her mind like a sharp knife. Mei staggered and gritted her teeth to swallow the scream that was about to come out of her mouth.

The voice of the Herrscher of Corrosion still lingered in her ears, but it became gradually blurred due to the pain.

Before my eyes, the lips of the Herrscher of Corrosion were still opening and closing, but her voice seemed to be covered by an invisible membrane and could not be heard clearly.

(What’s going on? My head hurts… Is it because of the fight just now? I’ve been…corrupted…?)

(Impossible... If she could use her power to erode me like she did with my memory, she wouldn't have spent so much time and effort to deal with me... And, she seems to have no reaction to the current situation... Wait, this feeling is...)

In the intermittent pain, a few short words of advice were like lightning and disappeared in an instant.

(It’s Weiwei… She said it’s related to Su…)

"Mei, can you really refuse? I can tell you all the answers you want, okay?"

(It seems that I really need to delay the Herrscher of Corrosion before I meet up with Su... (Well, this is an opportunity.)

"…That doesn't seem like a request for advice. You didn't give me any other options, did you?"

"I knew that a girl like Mei, who is cold on the outside but warm on the inside, wouldn't have the heart to reject me.

So... where should I start? I'll have to think about this... oh yeah, let's start with the part that Mei wants to know the most!"

Snapped--

With a snap of fingers, the scenery of the amusement park began to distort and change...

When the dazzling lights came on again, the furnishings in front of me were no longer the same as before.

When Mei came to her senses, they were already in the cabin on top of the Ferris wheel. From here, they could see almost the entire Eternal Paradise.

“Wow… So this is what the view looks like when you look down from the Ferris wheel.

Although there are similar scenes in my memory, experiencing it in person is indeed a completely different feeling!

I seem to understand why they would deliberately set aside a space to store these seemingly meaningless contents. "

"........."

"Okay, Mei, don't look so serious.

Wouldn't it be a great pleasure to have a romantic Ferris wheel date with me?

Ah...Are you surprised that I can create a Ferris wheel out of thin air? Don't mind, this is just a little girl's idea to add a little spice to our journey?"

"Adjustment? Isn't that a deterrent? From just now, you seem to have been consciously or unconsciously emphasizing your "control" over the paradise. "

“Alas… Mei, you are always put in the position of the villain, even I would be sad.

I thought that at least you could understand my position and thoughts, and at least we could be friends. After all... we are "the same kind".

"Same kind? As far as I know, the girl who was completely deleted by you at the beginning, the owner of this eternal paradise, is also the same kind as you."

[Corrosion Herrscher] raised his eyebrows:

"Oh? How much do you know about Alicia now?"

(What does she mean by this... a demonstration...)

"Although I cannot say that I fully understand it, from the fragments of conversation between the heroes and from the information I got from the Paradise of the Past, I know that Alicia... is the Thirteenth Herrscher of the previous civilization."

"and then?"

"What do you mean?"

"Since Alicia is a Herrscher, how much damage did she cause? What did the Fire Moth name her for? What powers does she have? Who succeeded in defeating her in the end?"

"..."

Mei knew, of course, that except for the answer to the last question which was related to Kevin, she naturally knew nothing about the rest.

For the Fire-Chasing Moth, who had fought against the Herrscher twelve times, these questions should be well known. But she found nothing during her exploration. And Mei clearly felt that Kevin, Alicia and other heroes were deliberately hiding something about the information related to the Thirteenth Herrscher.

(No, why would the Herrscher of Corrosion think about this question now? Could it be that even she... No, my thoughts cannot follow her line of thought...)

"Indeed, I don't know much about Alicia herself and the truth about the Thirteen Herrschers. But for you who possess the power of erosion, this should be easy. Since you keep saying that you are not a bad person, why did you erase all of Alicia's data!"

"I once suspected that it was because of the special nature of her Herrscher status, but your claim just now was completely contrary to that - it's hard not to be suspicious. What is it about Alicia that makes you so afraid?"

(Since it is not because of the [herrscher identity], there is only one result - armed Kevin 666. Velvet once told me that this weapon can delete the entire Paradise of the Past and is the only weapon that can definitely [kill] Kevin. The activation condition is not the majority rule, but Alicia's personal will.)

(After she deleted Alicia's data, she deliberately [imitated] her appearance and behavior, probably in order to gain control over Kevin Armed 666.

(From her behavior, it can be seen that at least she does not have the ability to read my memory, otherwise she would not have to go through all the trouble of inducing me… So what I should do now, besides delaying time, is to prevent her from finding out that I have discovered her purpose…)

[Erosion Herrscher] shrugged:

"...Okay, okay, since Vivi has already told you this, there is no need for me to continue hiding it. I did delete Alicia's data. As for why it was her... Actually there is no special reason, it was just an "accident." "

"Accident?"

"Mei, I'm sure you're already very clear about how I came to the Paradise of the Past, right?

At that time, my journey as a Herrscher... or rather, as "life" had just begun.

"Just like a young child, I only have a confused and mechanical understanding of the world... "Wanting to survive" is my only emotion and my only instinct.

It was in this state... that I met her. She was the first person I met in Paradise, the first existence outside of "me", but at that time I couldn't even distinguish between the two concepts of "companion" and "enemy"..."

“… Well, let Mei see for herself what happened next. If Mei was in the same situation as me, she would understand…”

"I was so helpless at that time, and now I... regret it so much."

Thick darkness came from all directions, enveloping Mei. She did not feel anything unusual, but everything before her eyes changed silently.

(The Herrscher of Corrosion...she rewrote the environment of the elevator?)

Mei believes that this is obviously another silent declaration by the Herrscher - in the world of data, her abilities are unattainable.

"What do you want to do?"

"Don't worry, Mei. I just wanted to show you... what kind of "choice" was pushed in front of me at that moment shortly after the birth of the Paradise of the Past."

In the darkness, Mei felt that a huge figure with a dangerous aura was gradually approaching her. Her long-standing combat instinct made her subconsciously cut off the opponent before he attacked her.

The blurry figure split into two, a burst of clapping sounded, and Mei returned to the Ferris wheel cabin.

"Hmm... As expected, Mei made the same choice as me. You took action, right? You eliminated all the enemies. But didn't you notice? They never intended to "attack" you from the beginning to the end?"

"Are you trying to say that Alicia isn't as dangerous and terrifying as I just showed her, so the demonstration just now doesn't count? Mei, I think you should know that Alicia's strength in frontal combat ranks second among the Thirteen Heroes of the Fire Chaser, and she has a record of killing a Herrscher alone."

"Although from your perspective, she is indeed not as oppressive as Qianjie or Mobius, but... if I were in my shoes, a newborn baby who knew nothing about Alicia would be able to detect her strength. Do you think... in my eyes, would Alicia be as beautiful as she looks, or as dangerous and terrifying?"

"From my appearance alone, I am more harmless than Alicia, but the moment Mei saw me, she wanted to attack and destroy me. Isn't it because I am too [powerful] in Mei's eyes?"

"How about it? Meiyi can understand the situation I was in at that time. On one hand, there was the fear of facing a foreign object, and on the other hand, there was the desire to protect myself... For a weak and young me, the temptation of survival instinct was too sweet.

"Just as you saw just now, my actions did not cause any resistance at all...Looking back, this proves that she had no hostility towards me. Unfortunately...I finally understood this after I absorbed more data and grew up."

"…………Okay, even if you attacked Alicia just out of instinct, what happened after that? Your invasion has not ended. After gaining knowledge and the power to subvert Paradise, are you going to just brush off the tragedy you created as "instinct"? "

"After the accident, I chose to lie dormant. The nutrients contained in the Paradise of the Past were enough for me to complete my transformation and become a brand new life... That was my original plan, but I didn't expect that the disappearance of Alicia would cause such a huge wave."

"Another powerful force has emerged, Kevin, and the threat he brings is even greater than before. I have no doubt that once he finds me, only death will await me. Mei, since you have faced Kevin in reality, you should understand how much oppression that man can bring to people just by appearing around..."

"Overnight, I seem to have become the target of everyone's criticism. Mei, do you understand that feeling? Loneliness, fear, regret... and confusion."

"Hmph, confused?"

"It was at this time that Wei Weiwei... no, it should be said that the "evil man" invited me. She had the same feelings as me - the will to survive. So we became friends, she helped me create opportunities, and I helped her solve difficulties. Unfortunately... two unexpected things still happened. One of them was Qianjie. "

(Qianjie... he has also...)

He made such a big noise... so I had to run out and meet him in person. Fortunately, Qianjie is a very honest person, and we had a great conversation. In the end, I helped him relieve the depression that had been suppressed in his heart."

"Hmph, I can imagine that Qianjie must have welcomed you quite warmly."

(…In other words, Qianjie was not aware of the existence of the Herrscher of Corrosion before. So what did he do to cause the other party to show up and confront him?)

"And the other surprise... is you, Mei. Originally, I was indeed on guard against you. So when the villain implemented her plan, I did not do anything to stop her. But you performed so well that you not only resolved the crisis, but also defeated her with a method that I didn't even know about."

"Now that things have come to this, how can I not come out and say hello to you... I really want to know what kind of person can break through the psychological defenses of that evil man and make a life's will to survive collapse on its own."

Mei was secretly surprised to see that the Herrscher of Corrosion didn't want to act.

(Is it because she hasn’t had time to “digest” Velvet’s data? From the time Velvet disappeared until now, she still hasn’t discovered the existence of her “self”, and can’t restore the battle process based on Velvet’s data. It seems… in this data space of the Paradise of the Past, even the Herrscher of Corrosion has things that she [can’t] do.)

"So, this is how you defend yourself? To commit harm in order to survive... I am not going to comment on this. But you should understand... that any action has a "price."

"Don't jump to conclusions, Mei. From a human perspective, the end of life is death. But memories are different. They are the embodiment of data, a different form of existence from life. Because of this, I, at least for now, only I can make them... [revive]."

"Oh no, it should be [reborn]. Take Vivi as an example. I believe that [genius] should be immortal. Vivi's talent should not be confined to a small space - whether it is a dark and boundless cage of thought or a virtual space maintained by data."

"Wei Weiwei's stage should be the whole world. This time, she will have eternal time until all her ideas can be turned into reality..."

"How about this script? Do you like it? I will let Wei Erwei's data and my clones spread outward continuously... As long as there is a backup, it can continue to evolve. If this era cannot agree with her ideas, then it will continue to the next era. If this world cannot sustain her survival, then change the world to make it possible.

"In this way, the magical inventor can realize all her wishes and eventually become an unprecedented [Genius]. An exciting and perfect ending, isn't it?"

"No, in the real world... there is only one name for such an existence, virus."