"Sunday, what kind of delivery service did you use for your sister? Why is it taking so long?" Chen Li asked, lying on the sofa and messaging Sunday through The Guide to Forging Curios.
Chen Li was waiting. Waiting for Robin to receive the communication token so he could talk to her and figure out a way to get to the Honkai: Star Rail world.
Sunday: I sent someone personally to deliver it.
"No wonder it's so slow..."
Sunday: Patience... By the way, have you forged any Curios today? Have you collected any Miracle Power?
Beep... beep...
"Hm? He hung up again? It seems my urging was too hasty." Sunday, sitting in his reception room, frowned slightly.
---o---
"He's nagging me to work every single day! He should just change his name to 'Workday'!" Chen Li complained, nursing a headache.
He was, however, currently working. Chen Li was watching his synthesis platform combine various weapon materials into actual weapons.
At the same time, he was welcoming the descent of Merit.
"Approbation of Sublime Morality... hehehe, Approbation of Sublime Morality..." Watching the number of gold coins steadily increase, Chen Li was falling in love with this world.
It was proof that forging weapons for the Flame-Chasers did indeed grant Merit.
The Flame-Chasers was an anti-Honkai organization under the United Nations. While other UN organizations might engage in shady activities, the Flame-Chasers, whose sole purpose was to kill Honkai Beasts, was relatively clean.
The bad news, however, was that the organization wasn't yet receiving enough resources from the UN, which meant Chen Li didn't have that many weapons to forge.
"But with this much Approbation of Sublime Morality, I should have enough to do quite a few unscrupulous things, right? In that case... it's time to visit another world." Chen Li opened The Guide to Forging Curios.
He understood one thing clearly: saving the world and creating miracles had absolutely nothing to do with whether one was scrupulous or not.
Saving the world in an unscrupulous way was still saving the world, and it was often a much faster method.
The little Miracle elf had taught him that.
The elf had also left a note in the scalpel Curio—an answer to his question about whether Welt Yang would still be on the Star Rail Express if he changed the fate of the Previous Era.
Miracle currently couldn't determine what type of world the Honkai world was, so it couldn't give a definitive answer.
Some worlds, even if their fates were changed, would inevitably return to their predetermined tracks. Others had open-ended futures.
Miracle's advice was: don't worry about the connection between the Previous Era and the main storyline of Honkai Impact 3rd. As long as Chen Li didn't completely break the world, things could always be salvaged.
Curios can solve any problem.
You just focus on saving up Crystals. Leave the rest to Miracle.
The elf's final words were: When you have the chance to make a choice, don't choose regret.
---o---
"Save Crystals, save Crystals..."
With a wave of his hand, Chen Li scattered five Crystals to capture new Miracle Commissions.
"I hope I get a commission that lets me do a Miracle Check-in," he prayed silently, clasping his hands together.
When his Novice Quest was at a standstill, he could capture Miracle Commissions to create new opportunities for himself.
Novice Quest (Part 3)
Forge five Curios √
Forge 50 Curio embryos √
Complete five Miracle Check-ins (4/5)
Add three Friends √
Raise Fame to Lv1 √
He was just one Miracle Check-in short.
Soon, five new Miracle Commissions appeared before him.
[The Unseen Horizon]: Travel to the other side of the Unseen Horizon in a parallel world and find my father.
Issuer: Takanashi Rikka
Reward: 1～10 Crystals
Risk: Low～Unknown
The very first commission almost made Chen Li lose his composure.
Takanashi Rikka, from Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions. The female lead.
Her father's sudden death was a fact she still couldn't accept. Influenced by the chuunibyou protagonist, she believed her father was in a parallel world on the other side of the "Unseen Horizon" and developed chuunibyou herself in her search for it.
There was no "other side of the Unseen Horizon." How was he supposed to find it? He couldn't just create one, could he?
And what was with this "Unknown" risk?
Was it the unknown risk of altering a world's fundamental view of reality?
Indeed, if he actually made her delusion come true, wouldn't "reality" shatter every day?
Though, creating a Curio like that does sound interesting...
"Alright, I'll call you when I have a resurrection coin." With that decision made, Chen Li looked at the next commission.
Creating a miracle didn't necessarily mean following the client's exact instructions.
The commission was just a reference point.
Her true goal was obviously to resurrect her father, and that certainly counted as a miracle.
[Find My Head]: Create an item that can help a Dullahan find her head.
Issuer: Celty Sturluson
Reward: 1～15 Crystals
Risk: Low～Medium
"This one... what was it again? I think I've heard of it, but I haven't watched it. Maybe next time," Chen Li said, scratching his head and moving on to the next one.
"..." Chen Li suddenly slammed the Guide shut.
Then he opened it again and took another look.
[Longevity]: Obtain an item that can conveniently extend my lifespan.
Issuer: Matou Zouken
Reward: 10～40 Crystals
Risk: Low～High
"Wait, you son of a bitch, you still want to live forever?"
Chen Li had heard of Matou Zouken's infamous name. He was from Fate/stay night, also known as the Type-Moon world.
Matou Zouken (originally Makiri Zolgen), the first head of the Matou family and one of the founders of the Holy Grail War. Although he began as a hot-blooded youth determined to save the world, the realization that his lifespan was insufficient led him to seek methods of life extension to better achieve his ideals.
Over time, this became an obsession. He lost his way on this path, turning it into his ultimate goal, and eventually became a monster in human skin who would use and sacrifice anyone to prolong his own life.
But regardless of his past, the man he was now was beyond redemption.
"While I can't be sure what point in time he's at, as long as he's calling himself Matou Zouken, that means he's fair game."
Makiri Zolgen had also sought long life, but only as a means to his end of saving the world. It was a process, not the final goal.
If this were truly Makiri, the commission Chen Li would have received would be [Obtain an item that will allow me to save the world].
"Matou Zouken is not important. But a world without him is very important to me."
Matou Zouken might be able to create a miracle, but the greatest miracle of all would be a world without Matou Zouken!
The problem now was that Chen Li wanted to go to his world, but he didn't want to give that old bastard what he wanted.
The Type-Moon world had many Heroic Spirits, which meant many opportunities for Chen Li to harvest Heroic Spirit Entries.
The Noble Phantasms of Heroic Spirits could be broken down into Entries.
For Heroic Spirits related to knights, he could even use Pale Justice to summon them, make a shady deal, and have them leave behind a Trial Certificate, from which he could learn their inherent skills.
Therefore, to prevent Zouken from backing out of the deal and refusing to let him into the world after receiving the item, it was crucial to use the Compulsory Transaction Gold Coin.
Which meant Chen Li had to give him something that could truly grant long life.
At least, something that could in theory.
"I've got it!" Chen Li snapped his fingers excitedly.
"Not only can I give him long life, I can give him immortality! I might even be able to save a lost soul in the process. This will be a great act of Merit!"
The name of the plan... Devolution!
This was a solution Chen Li had devised based on Mobius's MANTIS form.
As a MANTIS, Mobius possessed extreme immortality; she would be reborn each time she died. The side effect was that her physical age would decrease.
But this wasn't entirely a side effect, as a reduction in physical age was, in a sense, a form of rejuvenation.
And if this devolution effect didn't just apply to the body, but also to the soul, it might be possible to revert Matou Zouken back into Makiri Zolgen.
Chen Li planned to set this devolution effect to be triggered by death.
And triggering death wasn't a problem. Chen Li could use the Friend System to summon Zouken to his side and send him to his death.
He had a certain degree of command authority over the allies summoned through the Friend System.
Although the summoned person could choose to respond with a projection, the death of a projection also counted as "death."
He just needed to set the trigger conditions for the [Death] Entry to be a little more... "sensitive."
Like a "shake to view" ad.
"I'm a genius!"
"Now then, the biggest problem arises. Where do I get a [Devolution] Entry?" Chen Li tilted his head.
---o---
[You there?]
"Hm?" Matou Zouken paused, a sharp pain lancing through his head as if a flood of arcane information was pouring into his mind.
As he gradually understood everything, a dazed look appeared in his eyes.
"Lord Matou, is something the matter?" In a splendidly decorated and brightly lit drawing-room, a dignified middle-aged man in a red suit, with sharp, well-defined features, looked at the suddenly silent Zouken with polite concern.
"It's nothing," Zouken said, shaking his head.
"Then shall we consider the matter of my younger daughter's adoption settled?"
"Mm," Zouken nodded absently.
He no longer cared about adopting the Tohsaka family's second daughter. All he wanted was to end this conversation quickly and return home to contact this so-called "Curio Forger."
"Then when will you be coming to pick up my daughter, Lord Matou?"
"In a little while..."
Watching the figure rise and walk away, Tohsaka Tokiomi felt no sadness at the prospect of giving his second daughter away to the Matou family.
He understood that the greatest tragedy for a magus family was to have no heir with the aptitude for magecraft, causing the family line to end. A greater tragedy was to have two children with magical aptitude.
This was because a family's Magic Crest could generally only be inherited by a single successor.
And both of his daughters possessed exceptional magical talent.
Fortunately, due to their bloodline's Magic Circuits gradually fading, Matou Zouken had requested an heir with Magic Circuits from Tokiomi to continue his lineage.
To not waste Sakura's potential, and to fulfill the alliance between the Matou and Tohsaka families, the two had just been discussing the matter of Sakura's adoption into the Matou household.
Just then, as the departing Matou Zouken walked away, a second message popped up before his eyes.
[Hey, Old Geezer! Fork over a "Metamorphosis" Entry.]