Chapter 17: Beyond Destiny

Although a fight nearly broke out, Makoto's presence kept things from escalating. Ei didn't dare to make a move.

The group spent the rest of the day reminiscing until evening. Yae Miko originally wanted to sleep with Makoto, but Ei promptly kicked her out. Joking aside, Ei herself hadn't even had the chance to sleep with her sister; there was no way she would let that sly fox take her place.

Liam returned to his room.

Later that night, in Tenshukaku,

Liam lay on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, reflecting on the events of the day.

He had persuaded Ei, revived Makoto, and had been kissed by Ei, Makoto, and even the Shogun. Especially the Shogun, who had given him his first kiss.

Despite her perpetually expressionless face, the Shogun's inadvertent actions were incredibly heart-stirring.

Suddenly, Liam remembered that he hadn't done his daily sign-in. He immediately called out to the system.

"System, sign in!"

[Ding~! Sign-in successful! Congratulations, Master, for obtaining: Imaginary Points: 160! Item: Honkai: Beyond Destiny]

[The item has been sent to the system backpack!]

"Beyond Destiny? What an impressive name! But why does it sound so familiar?"

Curious, Liam opened the detailed description of [Honkai: Beyond Destiny].

[Honkai: Beyond Destiny:

Type: Hand Cannon. A song of sorrowful cycles, playing the resolution of girls surpassing [destiny]!]

[Abilities: The gun is loaded with ten bullets, refreshing daily. The first bullet causes ten times the peak energy of the user in damage, completing one count. The second bullet causes twenty times the energy in damage, completing a second count, and so on. The tenth bullet causes a hundred times the energy in damage.

Firing ten bullets can consume ten counts to obtain a special bullet, which can lock onto a target for complete erasure! Firing the special bullet triggers a one-month cooldown! Target limit is no more than one hundred fifty times the user's energy level! Note: This erasure is ineffective against Stellar-class units!]

Liam was stunned by the terrifying stats. Not only was the name impressive, but the abilities were equally formidable! Recognizing the familiar design, Liam realized it was a new weapon from the game Honkai Impact. No wonder it had such impressive stats!

Liam then retrieved the uniquely designed handgun from the system backpack. It was primarily platinum with brown accents, matching the relic series from Honkai Impact. It was aesthetically pleasing!

The more he played with it, the more Liam liked it, striking various poses with the gun.

[Ding~! Master, stop those dangerous actions. With your current energy level, the first bullet could reduce Tenshukaku to ashes! You might get hurt in the process!]

"Uh…"

Hearing the system's warning, Liam sheepishly put the gun back into the system backpack, but he suddenly asked,

"By the way, System, is my energy level that low? A tenfold energy attack can blow up Tenshukaku?"

[Ding~! Master, your current development of the Herrscher of the Void core is only at 40/100. Naturally, you can only utilize a limited amount of Honkai energy. Only when the core's development reaches 100% can you be considered a true Herrscher, at which point the Honkai energy you can harness will increase exponentially!]

Alright, it seemed he was still a long way from being truly powerful!

Liam then checked his Imaginary Points. Apart from the ten thousand points he had set aside, he had 1360 left—not enough for a ten-pull. Liam never believed in the luck of single pulls, so he decided to wait until he had enough for a ten-pull.

With nothing else to do, Liam decided to sleep. But not everyone could sleep as peacefully as Liam tonight.

In Ei's room,

"Sister, is this really not a dream?"

Raiden Ei stared at Raiden Makoto lying beside her, dazed. Everything felt like a dream, and she feared waking up alone again.

Seeing Ei's expression, Makoto felt a pang of heartache. She gently brushed Ei's bangs aside and held her hand, speaking softly,

"It's not a dream. I am really back!"

"Sister... Sister... I missed you so much..."

Ei buried her head in Makoto's embrace, her voice filled with longing. Who knew how she had managed these past few centuries? After her sister left, her friends had also departed one after another.

Just then, Ei felt something inside her robe. She reached in and found a photograph.

The photo depicted Raiden Shogun forcefully kissing someone under a cherry blossom tree.

"This… this…! What is this?!"

Ei looked at the photo, blushing furiously.

Makoto also glanced at the photo and was slightly surprised. She instinctively thought it was Ei but then remembered Ei's earlier reaction. Since it wasn't Ei, it must have been the Shogun!

"Sister! This wasn't me!"

Ei quickly explained when she saw her sister looking at the photo.

"Alright, I know it wasn't you. Why are you so flustered? It's not like you haven't kissed before. This must be something that happened between the Shogun and Liam this afternoon!"

Makoto teased, enjoying her sister's cute reaction.

"But… but… this is my body!"

Ei said anxiously.

"But it's also the Shogun's body, right? Who told you to make your own body into a puppet?"

Makoto had complex feelings about the Shogun. She knew the Shogun was born from Ei's will but wasn't sure whether to consider her Ei's sister or daughter. Nonetheless, Makoto had a favorable impression of the innocent Shogun.

"I…"

Ei was at a loss for words and turned to the Shogun for an explanation.

"Shogun, what's going on?"

The Raiden Shogun, sharing their vision, saw the photo in Ei's hand but remained completely unflustered, replying calmly,

"As you see, I did the same thing as you. Also, don't damage that photo; I plan to frame it."

Hearing the Shogun's matter-of-fact tone, Ei felt helpless, especially since the Shogun claimed to be imitating her. She didn't know how to respond but stubbornly said,

"It's different! I kissed him face because I was too excited to see my sister back!"

"What's the difference between the face and the lips? Besides, since both you and Sister did it, I wanted to do the same. Is there a problem with that?"

The Raiden Shogun's voice remained emotionless.

Makoto, watching Ei's shifting expressions, shook her head. Ei was still as naive as ever, unable to outsmart her own creation.

"Alright, Ei. You did the same thing, so how can you blame the Shogun?"

...

The night passed uneventfully, and the next day arrived.

"System, sign in!"

As soon as Liam opened his eyes, he immediately called out. He didn't want to forget to sign in later because of some unexpected events.

[Ding~! Sign-in successful! Congratulations, Master, for obtaining: Imaginary Points: 240! Item: Three Packs of Beautiful girl and instant noodle.]

Liam: "???"

What the heck? What did I just receive?

Liam looked at the three packs of instant noodles that had appeared in his system backpack, a black line appearing on his forehead.

Though he felt this was a bit of a joke, he decided to check the detailed description.

[Beautiful girl and instant noodle: Food]

[Effect: Eating this instant noodle will give you the wonderful feeling of being surrounded by beautiful girls and grant you the buff: Mental Excitement!]

[Mental Excitement: I once stayed highly excited for an entire night! (Wipes out fatigue, be yourself again!)]

Liam: "..."

Alright, so it's basically an instant noodle version of a stimulant, but that's not necessarily bad. To be honest, he had always been curious about the much-talked-about "Beautiful girl and instant noodle". He never thought he would actually get a chance to try it.

With a swift motion, he jumped out of bed. After a simple wash-up, Liam leisurely walked out of Tenshukaku.

Today, he wanted to check if the Tenryou Commission had implemented his orders properly.

It didn't take long for Liam to reach the Commission's office. A plaque had already been erected at the entrance, and Liam saw that it was indeed written as he had instructed.

Strangely enough, ever since arriving in Teyvat, he hadn't faced any language barriers. He could understand both the spoken language and the written text perfectly.

[That's because the system has imparted you with the complete language knowledge, Master!]

The system's voice suddenly sounded in Liam's mind.

Liam: "..."

Alright, so it was the system. I was wondering how I managed to understand everything!

Liam then noticed a table set up in the Commission's courtyard, with a notebook and pen on it. A Tenryou Commission soldier was sitting there.

Liam approached the soldier. The soldier, who had been somewhat idle, immediately stood up in a flurry when he saw Liam.

"Lord Liam, you've arrived!"

Liam waved his hand, signaling the soldier to sit down, and then asked,

"Is it Kujou Sara who assigned you to register voluntary handovers of Visions here?"

Liam spoke calmly, without any air of superiority.

"Yes, Lord Kujou indeed arranged for me to be here."

Seeing Liam's friendly demeanor, the soldier relaxed considerably and explained Kujou Sara's arrangements briefly.

Liam nodded, thinking to himself that Sara's efficiency was indeed impressive. He then said to the soldier,

"I expect that not many people will come to hand over their Visions in the next few days. People need time to process this."

The soldier nodded in understanding and then asked Liam,

"Why don't you enforce the confiscation of Visions, my lord?"

Liam squinted his eyes and replied calmly,

"Confiscating Visions is necessary for the Shogun's grand plan, but those people are still Inazuma's citizens. I'm giving them a chance to comply voluntarily. If they choose to do it with dignity, that's best. If not, after fifteen days, I will help them comply with dignity."

"I see! You are most kind, my lord!"

The soldier looked enlightened and praised Liam repeatedly.

"Alright, it's just for Inazuma's sake. By the way, where is Sara now?"

Liam shook his head lightly, indifferent to the soldier's flattery.

"Lord Kujou? She went on patrol and to post the announcements."

The soldier recalled.

"Got it!"

With that, Liam left the Commission's office.

After Liam left, the Tenryou Commission soldier showed a different expression in his eyes. He quickly left the office and hurried to the Tenryou Commission's headquarters.

...

"This is what happened, Lord Kujou."

The soldier was now kneeling beside an elderly man, recounting his conversation with Liam. The elderly man was Kujou Takayuki, the head of the Kujou Clan.

Gone was the subservient and nervous demeanor he showed in front of Raiden Shogun. Now, his face was stern, and his eyes were filled with cold anger.

"Why does that little bastard receive such favor from the Shogun? Our Kujou Clan is the true pillar of Inazuma! I, Kujou Takayuki, am the most loyal to the Shogun! And yet, this nobody from who knows where becomes the second in command!"

Takayuki's heart was filled with anger and jealousy as he thought about Liam's sudden rise and the Shogun's favoritism towards him.

"You may go."

Takayuki told the soldier who had reported.

"Yes, my lord!"

The soldier stood up and left quickly.

After the soldier left, Takayuki's anger grew. He turned to his confidant and ordered,

"Contact the Fatui. Tell them we have an obstacle in our collaboration!"

"Yes, sir!"

The confidant left the Tenryou Commission headquarters immediately after receiving the order.

Once his confidant had left, Kujou Takayuki was alone in the great hall.

"Damn brat! Just you wait; no one climbs above me!"

Takayuki's words were filled with hatred.

Meanwhile, as Liam walked through the streets, a smile appeared on his face.

"Heh, I wonder what tricks that old dog Takayuki will pull. I bet he'll go running to his Fatui allies! Hopefully, he calls in Scaramouche!"

The Tenryou Commission soldier's act had been too obvious. Did they really take him for a fool? Right now, the only Kujou family member he trusted was Kujou Sara.

But he soon stopped thinking about it, as there was no point in dwelling on it. Given his current relationship with the Shogun, he could call upon her support anytime within Inazuma.

"Ah—! Make way! Make way!"

As Liam was lost in thought, a spirited voice pulled him back to reality. He looked up to see a large pile of items about to fall on him.

His eyes widened, and instinctively using his spatial abilities, the pile of items instantly vanished. Liam then saw the person behind the pile.

She was dressed in an orange kimono with fireworks patterns, bandaged, with tangerine hair and golden eyes filled with lingering surprise.

"Bang!"

Due to the momentum, the girl crashed into Liam, knocking both of them to the ground.