"This body of mine is forged entirely from Soulium. And since Soulium has the ability to resist Honkai energy, it's only natural that I can move around in the God's Grace field for a bit, right?" The Golden Homu King spread its hands.
The above was complete nonsense from Chen Li.
Soulium did indeed have Honkai-resistant properties, but it was impossible for it to resist the God's Grace field. Otherwise, the Previous Era wouldn't have had to pay such a heavy price to subjugate the Herrscher of Binding.
Chen Li was simply taking advantage of the fact that both Theresa and Sirin were ignorant.
"An entire body forged from Soulium?" Even Theresa, who was on the opposing side, was stunned for a moment.
"That's right."
"Wait, isn't that your actual body?" Sirin asked, confused.
"Nope. It's just a suit."
"Huh? Take off that helmet and let me see," Sirin commanded.
"It's a hassle to take off, and besides, I'm not wearing anything underneath. In any case, is now really the time for this?" Chen Li gestured toward Theresa, who was kneeling nearby.
"You're right. You liar... Die!" Sirin projected a Lance of the Void, glaring at Theresa with hatred.
But just as Sirin was about to make a move, another sentence from Chen Li shattered her composure.
"Your Majesty, your chest is glowing."
"Huh?"
An immense flame erupted from Sirin's chest.
"It hurts! This flame isn't my power! What is inside my body? Get out!" Sirin struggled to expel the power from within her.
The Gem of Serenity was also doing its job, repairing her wounds.
Sirin took a closer look and realized that the source of the erupting flame was the Infinite Corridor where she had trapped Siegfried.
The Infinite Corridor shattered, and from within the flames, a figure emerged—half-man, half-beast, wielding a greatsword of fire.
"Neither human nor Honkai Beast... Hmph, just an ant in the end..." Although she was surprised by how the man had gotten out, Sirin remained unconcerned.
The next moment, a claw swiped directly at Sirin's face!
Sirin quickly summoned flames to blast the approaching Siegfried away, but he cleaved through the fire with his greatsword and charged at her once more.
"Be careful, Your Majesty. That might be the power of a MANTIS, a product of the previous civilization. A certain man, who once made an oath upon the scorched earth to eradicate the Honkai, said that every MANTIS has the ability to solo-kill a Herrscher," Chen Li shouted.
"Hm?"
Siegfried, who had been given a mental suggestion by Kevin through the connection of the Kaslana stigmata while in the Infinite Corridor, continued to chase after the "Apostle of Honkai" that was Sirin. But Kevin, who was sharing Siegfried's senses from an immense distance, glanced toward Chen Li.
However, as Sirin was forced to rapidly retreat under Siegfried's powerful assault, and Siegfried stubbornly pursued her, Kevin lost his line of sight on Chen Li.
"What in the world... just happened?" Theresa, sitting paralyzed on the ground, looked at the two figures—one chasing, one fleeing—as they sped away from the Tower of Babylon.
"That's Mr. Siegfried. It seems the Kaslana genes in his body have begun to activate," Einstein said, walking over to Theresa's side to explain, while simultaneously pulling out a gun and aiming it at Chen Li in his Soulium suit.
"So, who are you? How do you know so many secrets? And from what I know, Soulium should not be able to resist the God's Grace field," Einstein said, her face cold.
"Sigh, I didn't expect someone educated to show up. Guess I can't use the Soulium excuse like I did with the ignoramuses," Chen Li sighed.
He really preferred the ignorant types like Theresa and Sirin. They were so easy to fool.
"Recognize the situation. The two of us might not be able to beat the Second Herrscher, but you think we can't handle you?" After helping Theresa up, Einstein picked up the Oath of Judah.
"Sorry, but you really can't. Besides, isn't it a bit much to aim a weapon I helped forge at me?" Chen Li sighed.
"A weapon you forged?"
"That's right. Oath of Judah, Rated Power 114514 Liberation! Bondage Mode, activate!" Chen Li snapped his fingers.
The Oath of Judah, which Theresa had just picked up, began to glow. Countless chains flew out from it, binding both Theresa and Einstein tightly.
"I asked Vill-V to add a few backdoors to the Divine Keys, and a few extra voice-activated modes. Looks like she really came through." Chen Li nodded in satisfaction as he watched the scene unfold.
As a proper forger, how could he not leave a failsafe in his own creations? He had even used the Compulsory Transaction Gold Coin to make a deal with Vill-V, just to make sure she didn't forget to add more backdoors to the Divine Keys.
Although Chen Li had left the Previous Era early, for something like voice activation, all he had to do was leave a voice print in advance, right?
"How is that possible?" Theresa couldn't understand, but she was utterly shocked.
"Why wouldn't it be? Want me to untie you?" Chen Li stood smugly before Einstein and Theresa.
"What do you want?" Theresa gritted her teeth.
"If you both shout 'Long live the Queen' once, I'll let you go."
"Never!"
"Long live the Queen."
Just as Theresa was choosing death before dishonor, Einstein spoke with a completely flat expression.
After she finished shouting, the Oath of Judah actually released her.
"...Long live the Queen?" Theresa called out tentatively.
And then, the Oath of Judah really did release her, too.
"Long live the Queen! The cheers are endless!" Chen Li shouted.
"Alright, you can go now. If you don't leave soon, you might die under Otto's Honkai Fission Bomb," Chen Li said casually.
"Are you saying Siegfried can't defeat your 'Queen,' so Grandpa is going to use a Honkai Fission Bomb to eliminate Sirin?" Theresa mused.
"No, your grandpa is launching the bomb because he wants to get Siegfried killed along with her."
"I don't believe you!"
"Believe it or not!"
"You!"
"Wanna make a bet? The Honkai Fission Bomb will absolutely land on this very spot. If I win..."
"No bet."
"Tch, pretty smart. Alright, you can go. Oh, right, Ms. Einstein, can you give me my weapon back?" Chen Li pointed at the gun Einstein had just been aiming at him.
"Yours?"
"He's just after your weapon," Theresa said.
"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want. This really is my weapon. If you don't believe me, look at the bottom of the gun. Isn't there a Homu emblem just like the one on my suit?" Chen Li retorted.
"Here." Einstein tossed the gun in her hand directly to Chen Li, then pulled Theresa and left.
"Why didn't you even look?" Theresa asked, confused.
"Because there really is a Homu emblem. And not just on this one. Many weapons excavated from archaeological sites have the same emblem on the bottom," Einstein explained calmly.
"...So who is that person?"
"I don't know. But he's no simple character. That Herrscher of the Void might have been deceived as well."
"How can you call what a Masked Fool does 'deception'? You guys are so mean!" Chen Li's dissatisfied protest carried on the wind as he overheard them.
"Masked Fool... We'll remember this!"
"It's Masked Fool Sparkle! Don't get it wrong," Chen Li continued to shout.
They were going to forget him later anyway, so slandering Sparkle's name a little was fine. In fact, Chen Li was having a great time.
As for why he was slandering Sparkle? Because she hadn't said a cheery "good morning" to him in two whole days!
"Jingle bells, jingle bells... time to forge a Curio again. But I only have 23 Crystals left. Sigh, what a bummer."
"Oh, right, I never claimed the two Crystals I got for completing each of my starter missions." Chen Li had always made it a habit to claim all his rewards in one go after finishing a series of starter quests. It seemed he'd have to make an exception this time.
[Ding! Congratulations on obtaining a new Professional Trait—Advance Consumption.]
"Wait, how am I 'consuming in advance'? I just made an exception and claimed a few crystals early! Dev, get out here!"
[First of all, my name isn't 'Dev,' it's 'Miracle'.]
[Secondly, I have no control over Professional Traits. I don't even have full control over the Guide to Forging Curios. All I can do is help you access it and peek at its underlying code to see how it operates.]
"Oh... let's see what kind of garbage trait I got."
Unable to pass the buck, Chen Li grumbled. But after looking at the new Professional Trait's description, he felt it might not be so bad after all.
[Advance Consumption]: You can mortgage a Miracle Card to obtain an equivalent amount of Crystals. The Miracle Card will be temporarily disabled during the mortgage period until the loan is repaid.
Chen Li knew that Miracle Cards could be converted into Crystals, but that process was irreversible and yielded very little. Now, with this new trait, he felt that one of his less useful Miracle Cards finally had a purpose—
[Broken Soul]!
The first effect of this Miracle Card was only most potent within 24 hours of him destroying the Jewel of Four Souls. Without Effect 1, he had no current use for Effect 2, which was [Against treasures that carry the fate of a world, lethality +1].
"Alright, you're up first, Broken Soul! Sorry about this." Chen Li "sold" the card without a moment's hesitation.
The [Broken Soul] Miracle Card instantly appeared and turned grey, and 30 Crystals were added to his account.
"57 Crystals... that should be enough."
Seeing this amount, Chen Li nodded in satisfaction. He then tossed the large handful of Crystals and a single feather from Fenghuang Down into the Miracle Fire.
[Memory], [Consciousness], [Illusion]...
Brilliant Entries appeared one by one, but Chen Li still felt it wasn't enough. He registered the Entry he had just obtained—
[Fictional Historian]
"Alright! Time to go big!" Chen Li cheered.