As the distance closed—
Xia Ling activated Acceleration before the Butcher could raise his axe.
Compared to Honkai materialization—
Acceleration did not consume particularly large amounts of Honkai energy.
But it placed extreme stress on the body.
Xia Ling could not maintain it continuously.
Thus, her common usage became—
Short explosive shifts in speed to seize initiative.
But Acceleration was not her true attack.
Crescent Rose already glowed faintly red.
Honkai energy coated the weapon.
A standard energy reinforcement technique.
With a flash of red—
Xia Ling reached the Butcher before his axe came up.
The scythe hooked upward.
Its blade buried deeply into his body.
That alone—
Would not kill him instantly.
But then—
The Honkai energy coating the blade began converting from energy into physical matter.
It rapidly spread through the surrounding soft tissues.
Xia Ling withdrew Crescent Rose.
The energy coating had completely disappeared.
She flicked away the blood.
Folded the weapon.
Then—
Following the ancient principle that cool people never look back at explosions—
Activated Acceleration and vanished.
Behind her—
At the Butcher’s chest wound—
A flower made of razor-sharp materialized Honkai spikes erupted outward.
The blood-red “flower” blew apart his torso.
Crystalline Honkai fragments scattered in every direction.
Then—
Exploded automatically.
The surrounding thugs were blasted off their feet.
[Host.]
[When did you learn that move?]
[I have absolutely no memory of this.]
“It’s kind of dark if I explain it.”
Xia Ling rubbed her nose.
“The inspiration came from seeing Originium crystals growing out of the crossbowman just now.”
“Then I remembered how Originium spreads outward and explodes from infected bodies near death.”
“Since the visual effect feels oddly familiar…”
“I’m calling it Blooming Heart.”
[A certain former prime minister of the Far East: No objections.]
With Xia Ling clearing a large cluster of enemies in one strike—
Bronya’s pressure vanished.
After resting briefly and recovering some energy—
Xia Ling repeated the technique.
A second Butcher experienced Blooming Heart.
At that point—
All real danger disappeared.
In less than five minutes, Xia Ling and Bronya finished off the remaining battlefield.
“Haa…”
“Finally over.”
Xia Ling sat on a broken wall.
She rubbed her sore arm while swinging her dangling legs.
“Big Sister Xia Ling worked hard.”
Bronya floated nearby.
“Bronya did not expect Big Sister Xia Ling to be this strong.”
“Bronya is impressed.”
“It’s only because Trial buffs let me spam Acceleration this aggressively…”
Xia Ling muttered.
“The me inside Trials…”
“No matter how strong I look, it isn’t really my normal strength.”
“Anyway.”
“Let’s see what the Emergency Operation gave us.”
She accepted the spoils and opened the System screen.
“Guard Recruitment Permit.”
“Useless.”
“Next.”
“Collectible: Termination Agreement.”
“+4 Hope, restores 2 HP.”
“Good item.”
“Still mostly useless to me.”
“Cipher Plate choice…”
“Hm?”
Both choices displayed before her were excellent.
[Silence: During combat here, allied maximum HP +50%.]
[Surprise: Transform into Strange Merchant.]
If Xia Ling had not already obtained Shaman, she might have hesitated.
But with Shaman—
Combining it with Silence would generate Defenders at three combat nodes on Floor Three.
Given Xia Ling’s current shortage of manpower—
A Defender was impossible to reject.
She immediately chose Silence.
Her disappointment over the useless Collectible vanished.
She jumped down from the wall and checked the detector again.
Bronya, incapable of understanding why Xia Ling’s mood shifted so quickly, seemed to have question marks floating over her head.
She accelerated her exoskeleton and followed.
The next journey was relatively long.
Whether they went upward or downward—
The next node was an Encounter.
And with Encounters—
The event could trigger immediately upon entering the area.
Or moments before leaving.
Both were equally possible.
Fortunately—
This time, Xia Ling did not remain nervous for long.
Unfortunately—
She almost wished she had.
While walking—
She suddenly heard crying.
A strange, continuous sobbing sound echoed near her ears.
Xia Ling shuddered.
Even the expressionless Bronya moved subtly closer.
“Big Sister Xia Ling…”
“What is that sound…?”
“How the hell should I know where that cursed noise is coming from?”
Xia Ling snapped.
“If I find whoever’s doing it, I’m giving them a taste of my fist!”
If one ignored the slight tremor in her voice—
It would have sounded very convincing.
They continued forward.
The sobbing grew louder.
Finally—
They saw the source.
A constantly crying Perro.
It’s the Crying Kid.
Xia Ling could feel her blood pressure rising.
She desperately wanted to walk over and punch this guy twice.
Unfortunately—
She did not dare.
Their squad was too small.
They could not win.
This was not the game, where getting stunned merely meant leaking a few enemies and losing a Collectible.
If they started fighting—
The Crying Kid would punch Xia Ling and Bronya one by one.
Then begin an infinite stun-lock.
At that point—
Xia Ling would be the one unable to cry.
Damn it.
Messing with me, Xia Ling, means you really kicked a pile of cotton.
Not only can I not beat you—
I have to come comfort you.
Taking a deep breath and suppressing the urge to punch him—
Xia Ling smiled politely.
“Excuse me.”
“Are you lost?”
Naturally—
She knew there would be no answer.
This guy did nothing except cry.
Fortunately, if the event did not turn into combat—
Speaking once was enough to clear it.
So Xia Ling immediately led Bronya around the annoying bastard.
With that node safely cleared—
Xia Ling cheerfully hurried toward the final node of Floor One.
The Strange Merchant.
“Forty-five Originium Ingots…”
“That’s a fortune.”
“Please give me something actually useful.”
Entering Cannot Goodenough’s familiar shop, Xia Ling barely bothered greeting him.
She immediately looked at the merchandise.
[Support Mine Group]
[Medic Recruitment Permit]
[Hand of Speed]
[Hand of Snatching]
[Broken Bow — Training]
[Spectral Analyzer]
[Cold Seaweed Salad]
[Game Room Administrator Access Card]
“Hmm?”
“Hand of Speed?”
Xia Ling’s eyes lit up.
According to previous System testing—
Xia Ling counted as Guard, Sniper, or Specialist depending on how she fought.
Naturally—
She could benefit from Hand of Speed’s attack-speed increase.
And because she and Bronya already tended to fight separately—
The restriction preventing Hand of Speed from activating near allies barely mattered.
“Cannot.”
“These two.”
“I’m buying them.”
Xia Ling grabbed Hand of Speed and Support Mine Group with the confidence of a rich woman.
“Refresh the shop!”
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