The moment he stepped into the classroom, Li Wu's gaze couldn't help but drift toward the "Throne of Kings" in the second-to-last row by the window.
After the rain last night, a thick morning mist lingered outside, obscuring the distant buildings.
Pale cyan light slipped in through the transparent window, spilling over Kiana's long, pure white hair. Like the first snow, it glistened brightly. As the wind ruffled the curtains, light and shadow tumbled, and her long hair flashed with white light.
A quiet, literary girl.
The term suddenly sprang to Li Wu's mind.
Kiana was the same as before—ignoring everyone else, immersed in her own world, patiently and focusedly reading the book in her hands.
With his enhanced vision, Li Wu easily made out the title of the book: The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
For some reason, just glancing at her made Li Wu feel like the whole world had gone quiet.
Even though the noble students beside him were constantly chatting up Mei, he didn't find it noisy. His gaze felt as if it had been reined in, fixed tightly on Kiana.
Things had come to this point.
The relationship couldn't be restored anymore.
Should he run over and say: Ah, actually, I didn't think it through last time. I've decided to continue fulfilling my promise!
Heh, if he did that, Li Wu would despise himself.
If he did that, his promise would be like wild grass by the roadside—unbelievably cheap, easily plucked, then put back only to be trampled on again. That would be too pathetic.
He could only take it one step at a time. Action was more persuasive than words.
Li Wu looked away, walked into the classroom, and saw Mei's name on the list of students on cleaning duty.
The morning passed just like any other day.
Strangely, Anna wasn't at school. This puzzled Li Wu. Her mission to monitor him shouldn't have ended so quickly. After all, ever since that night when Anna helped him, the two hadn't crossed paths again.
Black market, Holy Blood.
Li Wu remembered Anna's reminder before she left.
Anna had said "three days later." Starting today, he had to keep an eye out for news regarding the black market merchant and the Holy Blood. Judging by Arga's attitude, the Holy Blood was extremely precious—not only could it heal injuries, but it could also activate potential.
Since Anna risked leaking this secret, he had to get his hands on it as soon as possible.
Li Wu took out his phone and contacted Ruslan.
According to their agreement, Ruslan had to obey his orders for one month. The time wasn't up yet, so it was the perfect opportunity to have him gather some intelligence.
Li Wu didn't have high expectations for Ruslan; narrowing down the search area would be enough.
After giving his instructions, Li Wu refocused his energy on the present.
To clarify his thoughts, he needed to write down future plot points and plans in the locked notebook he had bought specifically for this purpose.
Act Two, Act Three...
As well as plot points that differed from the manga settings—he wrote them all down.
First: All characters seem to have inverted personalities/traits.
The lively, cheerful Kiana with a strong sense of justice had become a literary girl who loved reading—taciturn, knowledgeable, perfectly disciplined... but a bit too honest, sticking to conventions, and cold in personality.
The gentle and resilient "good girl" Raiden Mei had become extremely complex, possessing severe self-destructive tendencies and heavy dependency issues.
Anna, who single-mindedly aspired to be an S-rank Valkyrie, actually wanted to protect those around her more than anything. Her so-called dreams were fabricated just to cover her tracks.
Second: Changes in Schicksal's power structure and leadership policy.
Schicksal's power was unprecedentedly strong, and its internal management was extremely harsh.
Conservatively estimating, there were at least twenty S-rank Valkyries, much stronger than in the game or manga. A rough estimate of A-rank Valkyrie Anna Schariac's performance put her on par with the game's S-rank Valkyrie Durandal (Bianka).
The Holy Blood of the Kaslana and Schariac families possessed "extraordinary" properties, cause unknown.
All Herrschers had a predetermined ending of betraying the organization's arrangements. They could not resist; any resistance would be forcibly suppressed and implicate those around them.
Ordinary people could learn about the Honkai and Herrschers clearly from textbooks or related videos, but most of it had been tampered with, showing only what Schicksal wanted everyone to see.
Third: The Previous Era and World Serpent.
A large number of Flame-Chasers and key members from the Previous Era seemed to have survived. Known survivors included Elysia, Kosma, Mobius...
The "Last Banquet" from the game's plot did not happen.
He seemed to have established a connection with the Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era, likely because the manga once depicted the protagonist traveling back to the Previous Era. However, traversing time and space seemed almost impossible in the present, so he absolutely could not expose his true identity.
Fourth: The Fire Moth Feather.
When Li Wu wrote this, he paused involuntarily and took the Fire Moth Feather out of his pocket.
No matter how many times he looked at it, it felt incredibly eerie.
Like a living neural structure attached to a "Fenghuang Down" feather, constructing a consciousness world by consuming a massive amount of mental and physical energy. It completely exceeded the physical laws within Li Wu's cognition and seemed more like some mysterious, unknown power system.
Who exactly created this thing, and which power system does it belong to?
Quantum, Imaginary, Herrschers, MANTISes, Cybernetic Ascension, Natural Stigmata...
Li Wu quickly filtered through all the power systems in the Honkai world in his mind. Apart from the Stigmata Space being somewhat similar, he couldn't find any power system that could explain this bizarre force.
Does this eerie power really originate from the native Honkai world?
If it wasn't man-made, then the "final tier" represented by this power posed a threat level absolutely no less than the Finality.
As an author with upper-level narrative authority, Li Wu was certain he hadn't added such a setting.
After a moment of silence, Li Wu finally decided to write seven large characters on the second page of the notebook: "Anomalous Object: Fire Moth Feather."
regarding information about this world, Li Wu wrote down everything he knew.
After finishing, he reviewed it as a whole and discovered something amiss—
"Schicksal possesses absolute dominance over Herrschers; Herrschers are no longer a threat. The survival of the Previous Era's Flame-Chasers implies that even when facing the Cocoon of Finality, the worst outcome is merely the strong falling into slumber, awaiting the revival of the next civilization."
"Since they've broken free from lifespan limitations, a time will eventually come to end the Honkai. So why... is the Overseer of Schicksal in this world, Kallen, so crazy about experiments? Even to the point of using authoritarian suppression to force everyone to develop according to her will?"
Li Wu pondered this question internally. Suddenly, his gaze inadvertently fell on the Fire Moth Feather.
"It can't be that your power is the real big boss, can it?"
Learn from the barbarians to control the barbarians.
In the original work, they used Honkai to defeat Honkai. If the Previous Era used an unknown power to create the Fire Moth Feather, there must be an invincible source of power behind it.
"Cannot be proven. I'll reserve this viewpoint for now."
"The main character of Act Two is Fu Hua. Because in the manga, the Third Great Eruption definitely happened, and the protagonist survived alongside the main trio, heading to St. Freya Academy together. Theoretically, the background of Act Two is St. Freya Academy. However, the plot has changed quite a bit currently, so I can't confirm it. I'll have to make two different targeted guides."
Li Wu thought quickly and wrote on the fourth page of the notebook.
In the manga setting, Fu Hua was the aloof class monitor who had lost her memories but was very responsible.
The crises she faced came more from Schicksal's persecution, and the persecution from those "old friends" in her memories who hadn't died...
Tsk.
The enemies had leveled up.
From ordinary nobles to armed, enhanced cyborgs, and now to bona fide Honkai powerhouses.
If facing cyborgs meant he could still use death loops to stack attempts and figure out attack patterns, facing true powerhouses meant he couldn't win even if he could predict the entire future.
Because he simply couldn't break their defense!
If the Fire Moth Feather could get Kosma to help once... it was too little, pitifully little...
Wait, since Hua is a Flame-Chaser, there's absolutely no need for me to act personally, right? With the Previous Era Flame-Chasers alive and watching, I just need to be the messenger, right?
Thinking of this, Li Wu instantly gained confidence.
As long as nothing went wrong later, Act Two could be solved very easily.
The entire morning.
Li Wu didn't listen to songs anymore.
Whether it was the homeroom teacher or the subject teachers, because he was close to Raiden Mei, they all chose to turn a blind eye and didn't disturb Li Wu.
After the previous incident with Anna, Li Wu had already become a potential "great noble" in everyone's hearts.
Therefore, even during class, other students would cast glances at him from time to time. The only thing missing was that one cool, detached gaze.
"..."
"..."
By the last period of the morning, Anna still hadn't returned to the classroom.
When school let out, Li Wu decided to take this opportunity, leveraging his current "false status" in everyone's minds, to proactively find that girl from the morning and clear things up.
Mei had wanted to go with him, but Li Wu tactfully refused.
Are you kidding? If Mei actually went, that would be a disaster.
Excluding Kiana and Anna, Mei could be counted as a top-tier young miss in the entire Far East.
seeing Mei dirty, covered in bruises, and with leftovers on her clothes before, he hadn't felt it too strongly.
It wasn't until entering the school this morning that he realized the truth. Once she returned to that distinguished identity of the ME Corp Young Miss, it was like she became a different person—confident and arrogant.
Most students at Chiba Academy were children of nobility. Even so, so many people fawning over Mei showed that the influence brought by her status was absolutely not as simple as that of a young miss from an ordinary family.
Taking Mei to explain, no matter what was said, would only bring immense pressure to the person involved.
And...
If a similar incident happened again...
The images of those nobles insulting Sato Haruko suddenly flashed through Li Wu's mind. At that time, he had specifically glanced at Mei and found nothing unusual on her face. As for what she was thinking deep down, Li Wu didn't know. He wasn't a roundworm in Mei's belly; he couldn't know everything.
It was fortunate that the person involved, Sato Haruko, hadn't heard how those nobles sneered at her behind her back. Otherwise, her mood would have been terrible.