The message continued to repeat on the Express's comms: no one was available to take their call. If the Xianzhou had outright rejected their request, Himeko could have understood.
But to get no answer at all... coming from a place like the Xianzhou, it was strangely unnerving.
"I-I feel like I've seen this plot before," March 7th stammered, the automated message sending a shiver down her spine. "An empty port, a team of investigators about to go in, and completely dead comms. Is this the part where a horde of terrifying monsters jumps out?"
She was instantly reminded of that awful horror game Mo Wang had forced her to play last time, and her face went pale.
"March, I think you've just been playing too much Honkai Crisis," Welt said, immediately recognizing the tropes from various games. "While that game is a classic... I doubt the Xianzhou has turned into something like that."
The Ishimura, Resident Evil, and a dozen other games all had similar openings. But those were horror games. They were in a proper turn-based adventure RPG. Something like that couldn't possibly happen.
"Er, I'd love to say you're right, but the Xianzhou's current situation is basically a horror game opening," Mo Wang couldn't help but point out.
What was happening on the Xianzhou right now?
A Stellaron had erupted, turning countless Cloud Knights and citizens into Mara-struck—monsters that had completely lost their minds. On top of that, you had crazies from the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus spreading the "blessings" of the Abundance.
If you looked at it another way, wasn't that basically a zombie outbreak scenario?
Besides, the original Honkai game had started out like Resident Evil, so... you could call this a "return to its roots," right?
"I'll bet you fifty cents that if no one answers soon, that gate is going to open all by itself and let us in."
Mo Wang had barely finished his sentence when the massive gates of the Xianzhou creaked open.
Mo Wang: ...
March 7th: ...
Dan Heng: ...
Welt: ...
Mo Wang: "Would you believe me if I said that was a complete guess?"
"So... should we go in?" March 7th's face was turning green. This was a textbook horror game opening, wasn't it? If they went in there, they'd be swarmed by monsters for sure.
"Don't panic! I came prepared."
As a veteran gamer, Mo Wang was unfazed. It was just a horror game; nothing to be afraid of.
Experience had taught him that over ninety percent of the terror in horror games came from one simple thing: insufficient firepower.
Whether it was Resident Evil or Dead Rising, Left 4 Dead or Dying Light, every single one of those problems could be solved with enough firepower.
The best way to eliminate fear is to face it? Please. Mo Wang's philosophy was: the best way to eliminate fear is to increase your firepower! As long as his arsenal was big enough, he wasn't the one who should be scared.
With that, Mo Wang began pulling out a mountain of assorted gear.
"EMP bomb, Water Sprite Type-I, Energy Leaper, Demon Blade Muramasa... who wants this plasma lance? Oh, and here, Azure Flare. This one's for you, March."
Watching Mo Wang continuously pull weapons out of thin air, Welt felt a retort stuck in his throat with nowhere to go.
Did you just empty out St. Freya's entire armory?!
Mo Wang, for his part, just thought it was a shame the current version of Honkai Impact 3rd wasn't further along, or else he would've pulled out Herrscher-exclusive weapons.
On a related note, he had also brought two tactical nuclear missiles—the Honkai version, of course. A single one was powerful enough to blast a top-tier Herrscher to smithereens.
If things went south, he'd just nuke the monsters.
"Are you absolutely sure you're here to save the Luofu?" Dan Heng couldn't watch anymore.
If they brought this stuff inside, they'd be labeled the most dangerous criminals in the universe. Dan Heng could even spot several oversized weapons of mass destruction so dangerous their names couldn't even be uttered.
Well, his low-firepower phobia was cured.
But what about this unshakable feeling that the Xianzhou was completely and utterly doomed?
And also, where in the world did he get all these dangerous weapons?!
"Ahem, in any case, we should head in. As for all this..." Welt glanced at the pile of hardware on the floor, his head throbbing.
The worst part was, he knew exactly where it all came from. Even if Mo Wang didn't bring it out now, he could just summon it later. Stopping him? Utterly impossible.
"Bye, Dan Heng! I'll call you over to hang out once we're done!" Mo Wang shouted as he dragged Welt and March out of the Express and toward the Xianzhou.
"Should I have tried to stop him?" Dan Heng asked Himeko worriedly, a feeling of wanting to follow but not daring to warring within him.
Thanks to Mo Wang's combination of unreliability and overwhelming power, their concern had shifted from "Will the protagonists be in danger on the Xianzhou?" to "Will the Xianzhou be destroyed by Mo Wang?"
All things considered, that was a positive change... probably.
Himeko had no easy answers for his worries. She could only imply that unless Dan Heng resolved his own inner conflicts and went after them himself, this particular ailment had no cure.
...
"Wait, where did they send us?"
After the trio excitedly ran onto the Xianzhou, the scene that greeted them left March completely baffled.
They were surrounded by mountains of shipping containers. This wasn't a tourist reception area; it was clearly a cargo dock.
Was this really the Xianzhou?
"The main thing is, this place is huge and creepy, and there's not a single person around. Does that mean it's really..."
Suddenly, March 7th felt a jolt. Mo Wang had snuck up beside her, pressing a bomb into her hand. He whispered in a menacing tone, "O maiden, I believe you are in need of this. Do not be afraid. The next time you see a monster, simply use this to blow it to smithereens."
"You jerk! Don't scare me like that!" March 7th snapped, glaring at him. She did, however, obediently take the bomb. "Does this thing actually work?"
"Relax, it's a genuine magic bomb. The kind that could blow up Chaldea. Give me a few dozen of these, and I could probably take out the entire Xianzhou," Mo Wang said with a thumbs-up.
This was the kind of bomb that even Leff would give a five-star review!
And you know what? As soon as March 7th held the bomb, she really did feel less afraid.
Could it be? Do I really just have a case of low-firepower phobia?
As March 7th was lost in self-doubt, she suddenly felt her foot step on something soft.
"Aah!"
A pained cry rang out, making March jump in fright.
"Wh-what was that?!"
She looked down and saw a Cloud Knight, covered in wounds and practically half-dead, lying right at her feet. As luck would have it, she had stomped squarely on the poor man's hand.
"A g-ghost!"
Seeing such a bloodied figure appear right in front of her, March 7th let out a terrified shriek and chucked the grenade in her hand.
However, being her first time using such a device, she'd forgotten to pull the pin. The grenade sailed through the air like a rock and beaned the Cloud Knight squarely on the head.
THUNK!
The Cloud Knight, already teetering on the brink of death, suddenly felt the universe spin around him.
"Nice arm, milady," Mo Wang quipped. If it weren't for the high-quality helmet that Cloud Knight was wearing, that blow would have probably caved his skull in.
"Calm down, March! That's not a ghost, it's a living person!" Welt shouted, rushing to stop March before she could draw her weapon. Good grief, if a Cloud Knight died at her hands, they'd never be able to clear their names.
"A-a living person? Then why isn't he breathing much?" March 7th asked, calming down slightly. But seeing the Cloud Knight lying there completely still, she still felt something was wrong.
"Yeah, I wonder why?" Mo Wang said dryly, thinking about that critical headshot. He figured even an uninjured Cloud Knight would have been knocked half-dead by a hit like that.
"In any case, you need to stop his bleeding, quickly," Welt urged her.
"Ah? Oh! How do I do that?" March was panicking now.
She couldn't have actually killed someone by accident, could she?
No, please, not this! I'm still young! I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a Xianzhou prison! I don't want to become a wanted criminal across the galaxy!
"You could try freezing his wounds shut with your ice," Mo Wang suggested, offering a terrible piece of advice. Flustered, March 7th did as he said without a second thought.
"AARGH!!!!"
The Cloud Knight, who had been knocked unconscious, was violently jolted awake by a sudden, piercing cold. His entire body felt like it had been thrown into a freezer.
"He's alive! He's alive! That's great!" March cheered. "Should I give him some more?"
Seeing March about to continue her "treatment," the Cloud Knight's face went green with terror.
"Milady, I'm begging you, please spare me! I'm really not going to make it!" he cried out. A few more rounds of this "help," and he'd be dead for sure. "A-actually, an injury of this level... I think I can still hold on. Please, don't do anything. We can talk this out."
"Huh? Oh, okay. Are you sure you don't need a little more?" March asked, stopping but still looking worried, as if she was afraid he might drop dead at any moment.
"No... no, thank you."
The Cloud Knight forced himself to his feet, terrified that this she-devil would give him another dose of her "first aid."
"Sir, can you tell us what happened here?" Welt asked, seizing the opportunity. "You don't seem to be doing too well."
The Cloud Knight sized them up. "You're not from the Luofu. Tourists? Damn it, you need to get out of here, now! It's too dangerous!"
"What is it?" March asked, her expression puzzled. Judging by his face, there really was some terrifying monster here. It couldn't actually be haunted, could it?
"There's... Mara-struck here! Hurry, leave!" the Cloud Knight managed to say, his face still etched with deep fear at the mention of the name.
"ROAR!"
Before March 7th could process what was happening, a strange roar echoed from behind them. A group of bizarre figures in armor, their bodies covered in what looked like sycamore leaves, appeared and charged straight for them.
"Damn it! They broke through after all?" the Cloud Knight exclaimed. He immediately moved to shield the trio. Say what you will, but his sense of duty as a Cloud Knight was commendable.
"Dude, you're half-dead already and you're still trying to be a hero?" Mo Wang said. "If you die now, won't we get blamed for it?"
Before the Cloud Knight could finish speaking, Mo Wang grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and tossed him to the back.
"Just stay there and watch. We don't need an injured man like you to handle small-fry like this."
It had been a while since Mo Wang had gotten a good fight. Seeing the Mara-struck charge, he began to crack his knuckles.
At the same time, March 7th and Welt stepped forward, ready for battle.
"Is that all? I thought this place was actually haunted," March 7th said, her face a mask of disappointment. "Turns out it's just these things?"
It was simple, really: as long as the enemy wasn't an invisible, intangible ghost—as long as she could hit it—March 7th wasn't afraid. These things didn't even look as scary as the zombies from her games.
"Remember, make it quick. There are probably many more of them here," Welt advised.
With that, the three of them charged toward the oncoming Mara-struck.
"Wait, who are these people?"
Watching the Astral Express crew face the Mara-struck without a shred of fear, the lone Cloud Knight rubbed his eyes. He had to be dreaming.
Or maybe this was just a hallucination before he died?
Seriously, where in the world did these people come from?