Honkai: Star Rail: I Can Fix This Gender-Bent World — Chapter 82

Chapter 82: This Works Too?

Meanwhile, in that strange, amber-lit dimension, Chen was clutching the Geo-Map and muttering to himself. “Seriously? A pocket dimension of this scale and not a single exit sign? What kind of shoddy construction is this?”

He was simultaneously trying to apply Herta’s logic, attempting to analyze the energy structure of the space to see if he could brute-force a doorway into existence.

Suddenly, the entire dimension shook violently!

“Hmm?”

Chen froze, his head snapping up in alarm.

His eyes fell upon the colossal lance that had been standing silently in the distance, a symbol of the eternal conviction of the Path of Preservation. Just now, the colossal weapon began to tremble. A low, resonant hum vibrated through the very air, thick with ancient power.

The light flowing across its surface became unusually active, almost… joyful?

Before Chen could even begin to process what was happening…

Vwooom!!!

The lance abruptly broke free from its stable connection to the dimension, transforming into a radiant, amber-colored rainbow. It shot off into an unknowable vector of the void, a radiant comet that didn’t so much as hesitate.

It moved so fast that all it left behind was a dissipating cloud of warm, golden motes of light.

Chen: “…???”

He just stood there, clutching the Geo-Map, staring blankly in the direction the lance had vanished. His face was a perfect portrait of bewilderment. ‘Who am I? Where am I? What in the name of the Aeons just happened?’

“Wait… hey!” he snapped back to his senses, his voice echoing uselessly in the void. “Was that really necessary?! I said you didn’t have to be polite, not that you should just run away! Your service is atrocious! One-star review!”

Just then, the phantom of the little girl materialized once more. She gazed wistfully in the direction the lance had disappeared. A faint trace of… relief seemed to soften the features of her small face.

She turned her head and nodded at Chen. Her voice held less of its previous confusion, replaced by a dawning understanding.

“It seems… you were right. She… is indeed the more suitable one. That pure intent to protect, blazing like fire and steadfast as rock, is precisely the echo this object… has long awaited.”

She looked at Chen, her gaze sweeping over the Geo-Map in his arms before settling back on his face.

“It is time for you to go back.”

As she spoke, before Chen could even ask how they were supposed to do that, the ground beneath his feet suddenly turned transparent.

An intense sensation of weightlessness seized him, far more violent than their entry. It felt as if the entire dimension was actively rejecting them, eager to eject the two unexpected guests who had so thoroughly derailed its script.

“Hey, wait! I haven’t—!”

Chen only had time to tighten his grip on the Geo-Map before his vision was completely submerged in a dazzling yet gentle amber light.

Back in the real world, on the frigid ridge of Everwinter Hill.

The amber glow enveloping Qiong intensified, burning like a miniature sun. She was still holding Chen tightly, but the fog of confusion in her eyes had burned away, leaving behind the hard, clear glint of purpose.

She felt it.

She felt a call, a resonance that echoed from the depths of her soul, rose from the very ground beneath her feet, sang from the distant stars… and whispered from the last, flickering ember of life in the cooling body she held.

Protect.

It wasn’t a hollow slogan or a twisted obsession. It was an instinct, primal and absolute: she must keep the warmth in her arms from being extinguished completely.

Just then…

Vwooom!!!

The space directly in front of Qiong seemed to be torn open by an invisible hand. A warm and heavy amber light, which seemed to have condensed billions of years and countless oaths of protection, poured out of the rift like a flood.

At the center of that light, a lance composed entirely of solid amber energy slowly emerged, hovering just within Qiong’s reach.

It was the physical manifestation of her conviction, her Proof of Preservation, called into existence by the sheer force of her will and her deep resonance with the Path itself.

Without the slightest hesitation, Qiong freed one hand and grasped the Amber Lance.

The moment her fingers closed around its shaft, a vast and warm power surged into her body like a river breaking its dam, merging perfectly with the Path energy she had just awakened.

‘With this lance, I will shield those who stand behind me. With this heart, I will walk the Path of Preservation.’

She looked up, her gaze piercing through the swirling snow to lock onto the Father of Falsehood in the sky—the source of all this harm.

Qiong tightened her grip on the Amber Lance and aimed its tip at the inhuman monster.

Then, she moved.

Her feet pushed off lightly against the snow-covered, icy rocks. An explosion of amber light erupted from the ground where she stood, launching her skyward like a brilliant meteor hell-bent on defying gravity itself.

It was an unstoppable charge.

Target: The Father of Falsehood!

“Qiong!” Dan Heng cried out, instinctively moving to stop her.

But he found himself gently pushed away by a wall of pure amber light, unable to get close.

Lord Bronya and March 7th could only watch in stunned silence as the petite figure, trailing a long tail of golden light, charged resolutely toward that seemingly invincible and terrifying existence.

Boom!!!!

At that same instant, a great, silent roar echoed not through space, but through existence itself—the sound of a cosmic hammer striking the anvil of fate, declaring the end of one long, patient era.

And a new chapter… was about to be forged.

In that moment, on a cosmic scale, the light of the amber star seemed to grow a little brighter.

A new Amber Era… had arrived.

And at the very beginning of this grand narrative, on the ridge of Everwinter Hill on Jarilo-VI, Chen’s consciousness was crudely thrown back into the confines of his body. He happened to struggle to open his eyes at this very moment.

In his blurred vision, he saw Qiong’s tightly pressed lips and her fiercely determined profile.

And… that Amber Lance, pointed straight at the heavens, radiating a magnificent, world-changing light.

Chen’s lips twitched weakly. His breath was a thin, ragged thread, yet he couldn’t stop the complaint from forming in his mind.

‘My dear Qiong… isn’t your starter weapon… a little too flashy…? Also… could someone turn down the cosmic background music…? My head is killing me…’