She shouldn’t have bragged.
After watching Raiden Mei obediently go to sleep, Ling Yi took control of her body and got up, intending to head to the kitchen—only to realize she might not even be tall enough to reach the stove…
Neither Mobius nor Kiana had ever been as small as a three-year-old child.
But…
she’d already made the promise.
She couldn’t lie to her.
At the very least, she had to produce an egg pancake.
Children were generally sensitive, let alone Raiden Mei, who had just lost her mother.
Believing there were always more solutions than problems, Ling Yi decided to check the kitchen first.
Standing on tiptoe, she struggled to pull down the door handle.
The moment she opened the door, the maid stationed outside spoke.
“Young Lady, is there anything you need?” “…Make an egg pancake and leave it outside my room.” Seeing the maid reminded Ling Yi that Raiden Mei wasn’t merely a little girl who cried a lot.
Raiden Mei was the Ojou-sama of ME Corp.
Her family was wealthy, with maids and servants available at her beck and call.
Having been poor all her life, Ling Yi hadn’t yet adjusted to living as an Ojou-sama and had actually thought of cooking for herself.
“Yes, Young Lady.” The maid outside bowed slightly and prepared to leave, but she suddenly thought of something and turned back to look at Ling Yi, hesitating briefly.
“Young Lady, I’m very glad you’ve emerged from the shadow of Madam’s death, but please don’t force yourself.” The current Raiden Mei seemed almost unnaturally calm.
Even an innocent child wouldn’t normally act so composed on the very day someone dearest to her had died.
As the maid who had cared for Raiden Mei since childhood, she was worried something might be wrong with her mentally.
Ling Yi immediately understood and shook her head.
“Please don’t worry.
I won’t force myself.
Just do what you need to do.” “Yes, Young Lady.” …..
Although Ling Yi wanted to cook for Raiden Mei herself, she simply wasn’t tall enough right now.
Besides, the household’s butler and servants probably wouldn’t allow someone as young as Raiden Mei into the kitchen.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Ling Yi decided to let the maids handle it.
She returned to Mei’s room and closed the door, then lay on the soft bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.
What should she do next?
Should she enter the consciousness space and cuddle Mei for a while?
Hmm…
that seemed like a good idea.
Bzzzt— Just as Ling Yi was considering it, an intense pain erupted from her waist, as though a large patch of skin were being scorched.
“Hiss…” The excruciating pain forced Ling Yi to lift her nightgown and inspect her waist.
Amid her delicate, fair skin, a pattern composed of geometric shapes was slowly glowing purple.
The burning pain was coming from it.
Could this be…
Stigmata?
In the original story, Raiden Mei had been born with Stigmata.
It was precisely because Raiden Mei couldn’t withstand the power of the Stigmata that her father chose to implant one of the Herrscher Gems into her body.
After taking a moment to adjust to the pain, Ling Yi began to think.
Based on her understanding of Honkai Impact 3rd’s plot, someone chosen by the Honkai would awaken as a Herrscher as long as they experienced sufficiently intense negative emotions and possessed enough Honkai Energy.
Raiden Mei was a Herrscher chosen by fate.
The Stigmata on her waist was proof.
In the original story, a “Herrscher” consciousness had indeed existed within Raiden Mei.
That consciousness didn’t originate from the Herrscher Gems, but from Raiden Mei’s Stigmata, much like Seele and her dark counterpart.
The current pain in her body was most likely that consciousness’s doing.
This was the perfect opportunity to meet this “Queen of Thunder.” Ling Yi closed her eyes as she lay on the bed, slowly returning her consciousness to the consciousness space.
After pinching the sleeping Raiden Mei’s little cheeks in the subconscious space, she headed deeper.
Crack— As though leaping from the riverbank into the water, Ling Yi entered the deeper reaches of the consciousness space.
Everything there was different from the pure white of the shallower layers.
Black was the dominant color, making the place resemble an enormous cage.
A gigantic purple sigil hung in the sky, identical to the pattern on Raiden Mei’s waist.
It seemed that, in a sense, Raiden Mei’s deeper consciousness could also be considered a kind of Stigma Space…
After assessing the situation, Ling Yi looked ahead.
A “Raiden Mei” wreathed in purple lightning stood at the center of the consciousness space, seemingly having waited for Ling Yi for a long time.
Or perhaps she could also be called…
the Herrscher of Thunder.
“Well, well.
The coward even brought herself a helper.” As the Herrscher of Thunder spoke, a bolt of electricity shot toward Ling Yi.
The lightning wasn’t particularly fast and remained within Ling Yi’s reaction speed.
It seemed the Herrscher of Thunder before her had yet to fully master her power.
“I’m Ling Yi, not Mei’s helper.
I’m simply here to stay by her side.” After dodging the attack, Ling Yi focused herself.
This Herrscher of Thunder…
had an awful attitude toward her.
“Stay by her side?
The coward doesn’t need anyone.” The Herrscher of Thunder waved her arm, and the lightning around her surged toward Ling Yi like soldiers obeying a command.
Ling Yi remained unruffled.
Using her knowledge of the consciousness space, she continuously calculated where to dodge while silently asking, ‘Can I still use my Molting talent in the simulation?’ [Answering the Host: Yes.] That was a relief.
The system’s answer put Ling Yi at ease.
She’d thought that if she were killed in the simulation, she would truly die.
Since she wouldn’t…
she could change tactics.
Thunder roared incessantly.
Drawing on her understanding of consciousness, Ling Yi twisted aside several times to evade the lightning locked onto her, then lunged forward with her body nearly skimming the ground, stopping less than a meter from the Herrscher of Thunder.
Thump— After evading the attack, Ling Yi clenched her fist and bonked the Herrscher of Thunder on her little head.
“????” The Herrscher of Thunder felt that this consciousness was humiliating her!
Countless bolts of lightning erupted around her, piercing straight through Ling Yi’s body.
Ling Yi’s consciousness body was instantly torn to shreds by the lightning.
The Herrscher of Thunder watched coldly.
“Hmph…
The coward doesn’t need so many people around her.” “So that’s why you got angry the moment you saw me.” Ling Yi stood behind the Herrscher of Thunder and nodded in sudden realization.
She’d wondered why the Herrscher of Thunder attacked her on sight.
So it was because she thought Ling Yi had stolen her place.
“Huh?” The Herrscher of Thunder had never expected Ling Yi to survive.
She had only just delivered her declaration of victory, only to be exposed so abruptly.
Her cheeks heated, and she felt like a child caught doing something naughty by her parents.
“Die, die, die!” “Hey, hey, hey!” The Herrscher of Thunder stomped her foot, and blue lightning erupted from her body, spreading outward like an explosion.
Caught off guard, Ling Yi’s consciousness body was blasted to pieces.
“Foolish Human.
This is the price of provoking me.” A faint blush still lingered on the Herrscher of Thunder’s cheeks as she stared at where Ling Yi had just stood.
Certain that no trace of the consciousness remained, she knew she had completely destroyed it.
“I only told the truth.
Am I not even allowed to do that?
You care about Raiden Mei.
That’s a fact.” Ling Yi stood behind the Herrscher of Thunder and, taking advantage of her greater height, rested her chin atop the girl’s head and nuzzled her.
“Who cares about that coward?!
Get off me!” ★ ★ ★ T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me!
★ ★ ★ Shilling time!