"It's too terrifying. We can't win at all…"
Stelle muttered while continuing to inch forward: "The Clockie old man already gave me the time-slow that I can't use. Even if I use the Flame Lance, I can only get passively beaten. The only thing left is the tactic I'm best at… which is running away!"
"Back when I was being chased by the Silvermane Guards in Belobog, I also did parkour. Although running away is a bit shameful, there's no other choice!"
[Mysterious Narrator of the Honkai: Star Rail World: Look, our protagonist's unsightly posture. Stelle is hiding inside the plush doll, wriggling forward. She even abandons the Clockie old man and Hoolay just to escape alone!]
[However, even so, Stelle has not lost her qualification as the protagonist of this story, because…]
Creak—
After a short yet long period of effort, Stelle finally wriggled to the room's doorway. She stopped hiding, lifted her leg, and rushed straight out the door!
"Give me the road oil~!"
The wind whistled in her ears. Stelle wished she could use all four limbs!
"Come back! Clockie old man, Hoolay!"
While running, Stelle summoned the two. Grandma Jingliu only saw the wolf and the clock in front of her turn into two streams of light, flying out after the doll outside the door.
There's actually someone else!
A fierce glint flashed in Grandma Jingliu's eyes. She instantly switched to her battle face and chased after them with the wooden stick in hand!
The Clockie old man and Hoolay returned to Stelle's side and immediately had a sudden realization: "So you didn't abandon us to escape alone. You needed us to draw aggro so all three of us could withdraw safely!"
Stelle rolled her eyes: "Don't forget who is the Mem and who is the master. If you two had hidden inside my body just now, no one would draw fire for me. If I died, you two would also be finished!"
"Using this method will make you suffer a little physical pain, but it's better than losing your lives!"
The Clockie old man / Hoolay let out a long "Oh" and said: "Friend / Master, was this also within your calculations?"
—"You have nowhere to run!"
Grandma Jingliu's speed was definitely faster than Stelle's. In the short time Stelle was talking, she had already caught up behind her. The wooden stick in her hand aimed straight at the back of Stelle's head and smashed down hard—
"Eh?!"
By a stroke of luck, at the exact same moment, Stelle's calf suddenly cramped for no reason. Her whole body lost balance and staggered, causing Grandma Jingliu's strike to miss completely.
"Friend! Your legs are shaking again!" the Clockie old man reminded her.
"Shut up! I don't know what's going on either. Probably because I haven't eaten!"
"But this is a mindscape?"
Stelle didn't dwell on the topic. Even without looking back, she could hear Grandma Jingliu constantly getting closer. She reached out, summoned the long-sealed baseball bat, and threw it backward with force: "Die!"
Grandma Jingliu caught it in one grab. Her equipment upgraded from "ordinary wooden stick" to "indestructible baseball bat."
Stelle was shocked. She pulled a ball connected to a thin wire from her pocket and threw it behind her without thinking.
The Clockie old man was also shocked: "Friend, what did you just throw?"
Stelle answered without thinking: "Power bank and miniature bomb! Arlan gave it to me for Asta back in chapter 120… oh right, you hadn't appeared yet at that time."
Boom!
As soon as her words fell, an explosion sounded from behind. However, this level of attack seemed to deal negligible damage to Grandma Jingliu. It couldn't even slow her steps and instead made her even more frenzied.
"This won't work. She's catching up! Master, quickly use your invincible wisdom to think of a way!" Hoolay shouted loudly. "Take out some more items!"
"Stop yelling! You think I'm a blue robotic cat? Pull something out of my pocket and get whatever I want? Or do you think I can just jump twice and fly away?"
"The one with creative mode right now is the person behind us!"
Two figures sprinted madly down the corridor, one in front and one behind. Stelle's breathing became more and more rapid. Just a few seconds before she felt like she would suffocate, she finally saw the steel door from when they entered. Without any hesitation, she threw herself at the door and pounded on it hard: "Help me! Miss Ruan Mei!"
"Grandma Jingliu is chasing me from behind!"
"Hurry and open the door!!"
—"Don't even think about escaping!"
Grandma Jingliu followed closely behind. Before Ruan Mei could open the door to help, she pounced toward Stelle. The baseball bat in her hand was raised high and then smashed down forcefully—
Whoosh—
In the nick of time, the steel door was suddenly pushed open. Immediately after, a bottle of splash potion was thrown out and accurately smashed onto Grandma Jingliu.
Bang!
Stelle clutched her head tightly. She had already prepared to be knocked unconscious by one hit, but she never expected that when the baseball bat struck her head, it didn't hurt at all.
It felt like being hit by a child—there was almost no sensation.
Clatter!
Grandma Jingliu's hand trembled, and the baseball bat dropped to the ground.
Ruan Mei unhurriedly took out a bottle of red potion and drank it. Soon, red bubble effects symbolizing strength rose from her body.
Ruan Mei walked in front of Grandma Jingliu and casually pushed her—
Bang!
Grandma Jingliu's body flew backward like a cannonball and disappeared at the end of the corridor.
Stelle looked at Ruan Mei: ???
Weren't you supposed to be just a scientist?
Noticing Stelle's gaze, Ruan Mei shrugged. "Don't look at me like that. I just used a strength potion and sprayed her with a weakness potion."
"Although I don't have as much raw power as you, my potions do."
Stelle's eyes were full of resentment: "Then you could have gone to get the memories yourself!"
"You just needed to use the red potion from the start. You played me!"
Ruan Mei's eyes lit up: "Is that possible?"
Stelle: ???
Ruan Mei looked Stelle up and down with great interest: "Actually, I'm quite curious about your body. I've researched many creatures in the galaxy, but I've never come into contact with a Stellaron essence…"
Stelle swallowed hard and hugged her chest with both arms: "Eh eh eh! I don't sell my body!"
Let Ruan Mei research her body? No way!
As everyone knows, Ruan Mei is undoubtedly a mad scientist whether in the original game or in fan creations.
Originally, Ruan Mei's most famous test subjects were the bugs of [Propagation]. In fan creations, it was tentacles… cough cough. In short, Stelle couldn't even handle March 7th right now, let alone Ruan Mei.
"Fine, fine. Anyway, I'm just a slice of my main body. Even if I wanted to research you, I wouldn't have the chance."
Although rejected by Stelle, Ruan Mei didn't mind: "Anyway… having Miss Jingliu for research is enough."
"Oh right, did you get the happy memory?"
Hearing this, Stelle took out a disc from her pocket. "I only got one."
"Hmm… this should be enough to alleviate some of the symptoms."
Ruan Mei sat down at the workbench, picked up a hammer, electric drill, chainsaw… and amid a series of "clink clank" sounds, she crafted a bottle of golden potion.
"Sweet Dream Potion!"
Stelle touched her chin and complained: "This looks like that blue round-headed guy…"