"Cough, cough!"
A coughing sound emerged from amidst a cloud of dust.
"What is this thing?" As the dust settled, Vill-V, who had been clinging tightly to Chen Li, let go and asked.
"The so-called Honkai is a disaster that grows alongside the development of a world's civilization. This disaster gives birth to divine apostles known as Herrschers. These apostles, in turn, give rise to monsters called Honkai Beasts. And the one before us is the companion Honkai Beast of the Second Herrscher, meaning it is the strongest Honkai Beast beneath a Herrscher—a Judgment-class Honkai Beast," Chen Li explained, not caring in the slightest whether Vill-V could understand, simply stating the facts about the creature before them.
"And the Flame-Chasers are an organization that fights against the Honkai, an agency under the jurisdiction of the United Nations. They often conceal Honkai phenomena from public awareness under the guise of natural disasters."
"So what do we do now?" Vill-V asked, looking worriedly at the thin barrier that had suddenly appeared before them.
"You have weapons, don't you? Go fight it," Chen Li said, tilting his head to gesture at the beast.
"Me? Fight this Honkai Beast? For real?" Vill-V glanced at the gun and reconnaissance drone at her feet, then at the dragon-shaped Honkai Beast that stood dozens of meters tall.
"Then why haven't you untied me?"
Whoever tied me up has to be the one to untie me!
"Oh. But how long will this barrier hold? And what's this forging table that just appeared for? Do you have any other support? Are we going to die here?" Vill-V asked curiously as she helped untie Chen Li.
"This barrier will hold until I'm finished forging. And this forging table, of course, is for forging," Chen Li replied.
When forging a Curio, Chen Li could choose whether or not to summon a protective barrier.
You could always trust the Miracle Shield. At the very least, no matter how the terrifying dragon-shaped Honkai Beast in front of them attacked, it couldn't break through the barrier's defense.
The reason Chen Li had waited until now to solve the problem wasn't to waste Crystals.
"What's your name?" Chen Li asked.
"Vill-V."
"Vill-V, a very nice name. Because of you, I wasted one Crystal summoning this barrier, so you have to pay me back," Chen Li said.
"How do I pay you back? Or rather, what do you want?" Seeing Chen Li's calm and unhurried expression, Vill-V couldn't help but feel that he wasn't the least bit surprised by the current situation.
"I want your..."
"Hm?" Vill-V took a step back.
"...pocket watch," Chen Li finished.
"This?" Vill-V paused, then took a pocket watch from her pocket and handed it to Chen Li.
"Yes, this is it." Seeing the golden glow of the watch, Chen Li grabbed it and was finally able to see the Entries it was developing.
[Mechanical], [Spiral]
The former had already finished developing, while the latter was still in progress.
After fiddling with it for a moment, he tossed the pocket watch back to Vill-V.
This was the reason Chen Li was willing to pay the price of one Crystal to summon the barrier—to collect a protection fee with a legitimate reason!
With a massive fortune of 34 Crystals, Chen Li could certainly afford to spend one.
Besides, he needed to forge a Curio anyway.
"This was the very first pocket watch I ever repaired myself, you know. Be careful with it. But why did you give it back? Change your mind?" Vill-V complained as she caught the watch.
"You hold onto it for now. When the time is right, I'll come to collect it. The priority right now is to eliminate the Honkai Beast before us," Chen Li said, looking up at the Judgment-class beast that was staring at them fiercely and attacking relentlessly.
He was the one who had lured it here.
He had used the Herrscher of the Void Material Card in his possession.
The card's description stated that if it was taken out in the Honkai world, there was a high probability it would attract the Herrscher of the Void's companion Honkai Beast.
So, Chen Li had planned to find a secluded spot, lure the beast over, and kill it.
Then, as he was rolling along in his wheelchair, singing a song, he was spotted by Vill-V.
Vill-V watched Chen Li with great interest, wanting to see how someone from the Flame-Chasers would handle such a situation.
She then saw Chen Li pull a longsword out of thin air.
"We, the Cloud Knights, are like clouds obscuring the sky, a shield to protect the Xianzhou!" After a moment of preparation, Chen Li shouted at the top of his lungs.
He hadn't chosen his good brother Argenti.
Because it had suddenly occurred to him: if this sword could summon a Knight, then a Cloud Knight was also a kind of knight!
It cost neither Crystals nor Star Stones, so why not give it a try?
As for the price? It wasn't necessarily a price; it could be a new forging commission.
Chen Li felt that besides randomly refreshing commissions, using Pale Justice to summon knights and then finding a way to complete their requests was an extremely cost-effective method.
Who would refuse a free Curio?
Coincidentally, this Jingliu was from the same world as Argenti.
It seems a trip to the Honkai: Star Rail world is inevitable.
A lunar halo, shimmering and ethereal, captivated the soul.
When all fell silent, a white-haired young woman stood before Chen Li.
"And you are?" The woman, named Jingliu, stared at Chen Li.
"My name is Chen Li, a Curio Forger. As long as you provide the materials, I am willing to forge a Curio for you. But before that, I hope you can slay the foul beast before us," Chen Li said, pointing to the Judgment-class Honkai Beast behind her.
"A Curio?"
"Mhm."
"I have no need for one," Jingliu said, shaking her head, a blood-red longsword in her hand.
"However, I can help you slay this beast. The price... if you have the strength in the future, you will help me kill ten Abominations of Abundance," Jingliu said. Upon being summoned, she already knew that Chen Li had to fulfill one reasonable request of hers as a trial.
Although being suddenly summoned was indeed abrupt, challenging powerful enemies was one of her greatest interests.
"The sword Branching Deconstruction?" Chen Li stared at the blood-red sword in Jingliu's hand, taken aback.
If he remembered correctly, this sword was forged for Jingliu by Yingxing, also known as the Stellaron Hunter, Blade.
And according to the lore, after the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae, Jingliu would use this sword to kill Blade over a thousand times before returning it to him.
"You know of it?" Jingliu seemed surprised that Chen Li recognized the name of her sword.
"Has the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae not happened yet?" Chen Li asked directly, feeling a bit confused.
"It seems you have indeed heard my story. However, the truth deviates slightly from what you imagine. I am aware of the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae. Yet, the me you see now is but one phase of my life. A phase... that resonates with the summoning phrase you just spoke," Jingliu said after glancing at Chen Li.
"Oh, I understand."
Argenti would acknowledge the unparalleled beauty of the Aeon Idrila at any stage of his life.
However, the phrase "a shield to protect the Xianzhou" only applied to the Jingliu who had not yet experienced the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae, which resulted in this unique phenomenon.
"Then I have one more question. What is the time period of the real you? Has the Ambrosial Arbor been reborn?"
"The Ambrosial Arbor reborn? No. And you ask too many questions," Jingliu said coldly.
"The Curios you know are different from the ones I speak of. The Curios I make are items that can even alter the rules. Theoretically, I could even create a resurrection item. I can help you, really," Chen Li tried to persuade her.
Honkai: Star Rail also had the concept of curios, but almost anything with a special property could be called one.
"...Do you really think I would still believe in something like resurrection?" Jingliu sneered.
"Then have you ever considered this question? If I can use this sword to summon you, does that mean I can use it to summon Baiheng? The Cloud Knights are 'knights,' so isn't a Foxian Helmsman still a type of 'warrior'?"
"???" Jingliu was stunned for a moment.
He has a point.
"And even if, taking ten thousand steps back, I can't summon Baiheng, couldn't I just forge a longsword specifically designed to summon Foxian Helmsmen?" Chen Li asked again.
"...What must I provide?" Genuinely feeling the power of the sword [Pale Justice], Jingliu was persuaded by Chen Li.
"If possible, you should find some materials related to Heroic Spirits. If I can extract a Heroic Spirit Entry, there might be a high chance of summoning Baiheng. Once I arrive in your world, I will naturally forge the Curio for you. The timing is uncertain, but you can afford to wait, can't you?" Chen Li said.
"Fine, I'll trust you this once. I will deal with this beast for you first," Jingliu said, raising her sword and flying toward the Judgment-class Honkai Beast.
A bright, clear moon descended from the sky. When its light shone upon the Honkai Beast, the pure moonlight instantly turned into an endless sea of blood.
Chen Li glanced at the Honkai Beast, which was immediately put on the back foot, and paid it no more attention.
As the Sword Champion of the Xianzhou Luofu and the creator of the Cloud Knights' undefeated fame, the renowned Transcendent Flash, slaying the companion beast of the Herrscher of the Void wasn't too much trouble.
Although it was a Judgment-class beast, there were still vast differences in power even within that class.
Moreover, in the early stages of this civilization, the strength of Honkai Beasts was not as absurd as it would become later.
After securing another commission, Chen Li tossed two Crystals into the forging table and began to craft a new Curio.
He did, in fact, have a [Heroic Spirit] Entry, and a very bright one at that.
But he had other plans for it.
He had a bold idea.
He wanted to build a Hall of Heroes in the Previous Era!
To that end, he was currently collecting the Entries of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers.
Nearby, Vill-V, who had no idea what was happening but was curious about everything, looked around at all the interesting things, her gaze finally landing on the forging furnace burning with the Flames of Miracle.
What a beautiful flame...
No engineer could resist such a wondrous flame!
Within that flame, Vill-V felt as if she were witnessing a miracle.
Snap! Chen Li snapped his fingers.
Star Stones -10
"Meow." A small cat carrying a bag of cat food in its mouth darted out from Chen Li's shadow.
"Alright, Huahua. Give me your favorite cat food," Chen Li said to the little cat with a smile.
Then he glanced at his newly added commission.
[Infinite Cat Food]: For this cat, who could even become the new master of the world, create a food bowl that can produce infinite cat food.
Posted by: Huahua (A cat that simultaneously possesses a "Death Note" and the ability to "Make University Students Check In")
Reward: 1~10 Crystals
Risk: Low
Because he had gotten extremely bored while riding his wheelchair back to the Flame-Chasers' base, Chen Li had refreshed for an unknown miracle commission.
When he saw this commission, he was dumbfounded.
Later, after repeated confirmations using the video call function of the miracle commission system, he found that this was indeed an "ordinary" magical cat.
Its only special feature was that it possessed a Death Note.
And it also had its own superpower—"Make University Students Check In."
Who knew what kind of demonic combination that was?
What did university students ever do to deserve this?
The final negotiated outcome was that Chen Li would make it an infinite cat food bowl, and it would give Chen Li the Death Note.
A decision that made everyone happy.
And the cat's biggest demand was... lots of freeze-dried bits in the cat food!
Tricking a cat out of its savings is surprisingly easy.