“Whoa!”
“That armor is so damn cool!”
Xia Ling’s eyes sparkled.
She poked at the Defender’s massive shield from every possible angle.
“System.”
“Do units temporarily summoned through Cipher Plates possess self-awareness?”
[Of course not.]
[Units summoned from Cipher Plates only possess combat instinct and accumulated combat experience. They have no actual self-awareness.]
[They do possess basic intelligence, though.]
[At minimum, they can understand your commands.]
[If Host really wants stronger intelligence, I could temporarily control the Defender’s body and roleplay for you. That wouldn’t affect much.]
“Really?”
“Let’s test this.”
Xia Ling stopped poking the shield and looked up.
“Defender.”
“A Siracusan gang of over twenty people is ahead.”
“How threatening do you assess them to be, and how should we deploy?”
The Defender remained silent for a moment.
Then a low male voice emerged from beneath the armor.
“No concern necessary.”
“Advance and crush them.”
“Damn.”
“That confident?”
[Host, even completely ignoring game statistics, those Siracusan gangsters are ordinary criminals facing a battle-hardened Defender.]
[He can probably flatten one with every shield swing.]
[Using game statistics, at Difficulty 1 they might not even be capable of damaging him.]
“Then I guess there really isn’t much to worry about.”
Xia Ling removed the sniper rifle from her back.
“So… straight in?”
[My assessment is that if Host can figure out how to properly fire that rifle during this battle, you’ve already succeeded.]
“Hmph.”
“System, don’t underestimate me.”
“It’s not like I have zero common sense.”
Xia Ling scoffed.
“I know perfectly well how strong the recoil is.”
“Relax.”
“I’ll be careful.”
Filled with confidence, Xia Ling brought the Defender to the edge of the settlement.
Or rather—
The remains of the settlement.
Then, as though triggering an invisible switch, the moment Xia Ling crossed a certain boundary—
More than a dozen pairs of eyes snapped toward the suspicious black-haired girl sneaking behind a wall.
“Seriously?”
“It works like that?”
“I was planning an ambush!”
Being stared at by so many hostile eyes sent a chill down Xia Ling’s spine.
“Help me, Mister Defender!”
[Should I take control of him and say, ‘Get away from Xia Ling-ling’?]
The System’s commentary arrived immediately afterward.
Several sharp crossbow bolts launched by Siracusan Crossbowmen flew toward them.
The Defender remained silent.
He merely stepped half a pace to the left.
Xia Ling’s petite body vanished completely behind his enormous frame.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The bolts struck the metal shield with crisp metallic impacts before ricocheting away.
After blocking the volley, the Defender raised his shield and violently smashed the nearest Siracusan thug carrying a knife.
The poor man lost consciousness while still airborne.
He crashed through several other enemies before finally stopping.
Then his body dissolved into black ash.
“Huh?”
“No corpses?”
[Of course not.]
[For one thing, these enemies are simulated by the System and never possessed real physical bodies.]
[For another, this is for Host’s convenience.]
[When you encounter swarm stages later, I’d rather not have you vomiting from the smell of dozens of corpses.]
“That makes sense.”
“Then I have nothing to be afraid of.”
Xia Ling excitedly dropped onto one knee.
She disengaged the rifle’s safety and assumed a somewhat questionable kneeling firing posture.
“I think the video taught it like this…”
She held her breath.
Aligned the crosshair with the largest target ahead—
A massive veteran butcher carrying an enormous axe.
And—
Fired!
BANG!
The rifle exploded against her shoulder.
Xia Ling’s entire body rocked violently.
Despite preparing herself mentally, the recoil nearly sent her tumbling backward.
And the bullet?
Judging from the utterly confused look on the veteran butcher’s face…
Perhaps it successfully assassinated the invisible Ghost Team Leader standing somewhere behind him.
“Ow, ow, ow…!”
Xia Ling practically threw the rifle away and clutched her right shoulder.
Tears welled in her eyes.
“Why is the recoil this strong?! QWQ”
[Host.]
[That weapon was designed for Terrans.]
[Think about the physical condition of Rainbow Team.]
[Then think about yours.]
The System sounded helpless.
[If Host didn’t already have max-level Cognitive Shaping enhancing your physical condition, that single shot would have shattered your right arm at minimum.]
“Damn it.”
“Doesn’t that mean I’m basically combat-ineffective during this entire Trial?”
[Um… Host, have you considered the possibility that even if I gave you a melee weapon, you still probably couldn’t beat an ordinary enemy?]
The System offered a kind reminder.
[According to my physical-combat evaluation, Host’s current fighting capability is roughly equivalent to an Originium Slug.]
“…Ah.”
Xia Ling watched the Defender casually slaughtering enemies in front of her.
Her mood visibly sank.
“I want to become strong too…”
“I mean, what’s the point of transmigrating into Honkai if I can only stand there and watch all those tragedies happen?”
[Don’t worry, Host.]
[Physical enhancement can be achieved through Elite promotions and replacement bodies.]
[Combat experience, however, can only be learned through repeated life-and-death battles.]
[Fortunately, dying inside the Trial simply means restarting the run.]
[I’m sure Host will quickly become accustomed to the sensation of death.]
[Maybe eventually you can join Welt Sit-Ups and Fu Hua Push-Ups as another legendary resurrection specialist.]
“W-Wait.”
Xia Ling instantly stopped feeling depressed.
“What exactly do you mean?”
“Can’t I freely quit Integrated Strategies?”
[As long as Host hasn’t entered a node, yes.]
There was now an unmistakably mischievous note in the System’s energetic voice.
[But once you enter a node, you cannot leave.]
[That includes combat nodes and any battles triggered inside Encounters.]
[And Host wants to clear floors through shortcuts, which means you’ll be visiting lots of noncombat nodes.]
[Meaning that if a run fails, there is a very high probability it’ll be because you accidentally triggered combat during some Encounter.]
“But didn’t you say the bodies here aren’t real?”
Xia Ling desperately clung to one final shred of hope.
[The monsters aren’t real.]
[Host is.]
[You almost cried just now because your shoulder hurt from recoil, remember?]
“It’s over…”
“At this rate, my corpses are going to link together and wrap around Sami.”
Xia Ling’s face fell.
“I haven’t even become an Integrated Strategies god yet, and I’m already about to turn into Yakumo Akane.”
“Can’t somebody give me a peach or something?”
“At least make dying less painful.”
[Then Host needs to cure that gambling-addict personality.]
[Don’t say I didn’t warn you.]
[If I remember correctly, one of Duck Lord’s stages contains dozens of enraged hounds.]
[Host… you wouldn’t want to—]
Xia Ling imagined herself surrounded by several dozen rabid hounds.
She shuddered violently.
“Don’t worry.”
“Now that you’ve said that, I swear on my life I will never touch that stage!”
HonkaiStarRail Gacha Character,I’m Here to Break the Players’ Hearts [ 106 Chapter ]
I’m in Honkai, but Integrated Strategies Has Begun [ Ss2 100 Chapter ]