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ArabicHonkai Star Rail: My Chat Group is Full of Broken Timelines — Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Because You Are Liu Ying
“Oh, there’s something I don’t think I’ve mentioned to everyone.” Kazuki leaned against the rough-hewn rock wall, his fingertips idly tapping the hilt of the Stone Fire Dream Body propped beside him. The blade flickered with a faint, crackling lightning. “Our names in the group chat actually represent our identities. These identities might be something we’ve already achieved—for instance, here on the Xianzhou Luofu, I do indeed hold the title of ‘Cliffhanger King of the Exalting Sanctum’.”
He pointed to himself, a familiar, self-assured smile spreading across his lips—the kind a master storyteller wears just before the tale begins.
“Cliffhanger…” Castorice’s pointed elf ears twitched, her curiosity snagged by the word. She had long wondered about Kazuki’s peculiar group name but had always been a little too shy to ask.
“Are you an author, Mr. Kazuki? Or perhaps a novelist?” Castorice’s eyes lit up, her voice tinged with the unmistakable eagerness of a fellow enthusiast. As a writer herself, she felt an immediate sense of kinship with anyone in the literary arts.
“Sort of, but not exactly,” Kazuki replied with a warm smile. “My main profession is a storyteller, but I write all my own scripts. If you want to be technical about it, I suppose I’m in a related field. So, Miss Castorice, are you ready to introduce your own group name?”
Castorice nodded gently, her fingers instinctively twisting the hem of her soft pajamas. “My group name… well, as it suggests, I have a hobby of writing. Of course, compared to Mr. Kazuki’s profession, mine is just a simple pastime.”
As she spoke, she couldn’t help but duck her head, burying half her face against her knees. Introducing a hobby was one thing, but the thought of the shockingly bold plots that sometimes found their way into her fanfiction made her cheeks burn. If they ever found out about that, it would be a complete and utter social catastrophe.
“As for my name, ‘Pure Beauty Knight’, it’s rather self-explanatory,” Robin chimed in, taking the cue. She performed a standard knightly salute, the hem of her silver-blue skirt sweeping across the cave floor and kicking up a fine cloud of dust.
But the gesture only made Kazuki’s brow furrow. He’d had his doubts about Robin’s identity from their earliest conversations in the group chat. When they first met in person, her knightly attire was so convincing that he had temporarily pushed those suspicions aside. The more time they spent together, however, the stronger the sense of incongruity became.
“Actually… Miss Robin, you aren’t really a Knight of Beauty, are you?” Kazuki stated suddenly, his tone leaving no room for doubt.
“Eh?” Robin was visibly taken aback, a flicker of panic flashing in her eyes before she could conceal it. “Why would you say that all of a sudden?” She had thought Kazuki had dismissed his suspicions long ago.
“Probably because I have a pretty good idea of how the Knights of Beauty behave,” Kazuki explained. “Miss Robin, your manner of speaking is still far too normal. Also, your vocal projection, your breath control… as someone who also works on a stage, I’m very familiar with that kind of training. And…”
He paused, his gaze locking with hers. “We’ve been together for quite a while now, and you haven’t once praised ‘the peerless beauty of the Goddess Idrila’. That doesn’t seem very characteristic of a true Knight of Beauty.”
“Pfft—” Robin couldn’t hold it in any longer, a laugh bursting out of her. Her carefully constructed knightly poise shattered in an instant, revealing the playful mischief of a young woman beneath. “I was exposed by that?”
Deciding there was no point in hiding it any longer, she confessed frankly, “The truth is, not long before I joined the chat group, I was still singing on stage. Right now, I suppose you’d call me an entertainer. I initially disguised myself as a Knight of Beauty because I was wary of strangers, not because I wanted to deceive anyone.”
She shrugged, a wry smile on her face. “However… the desire to become a Knight of Beauty is real. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll become the kind of person who can’t go three sentences without mentioning Idrila.”
“A Knight of Beauty’s value lies in ‘Purity’more than’Beauty’,” Kazuki said, his tone shifting to one of sincerity. “I hope you can find the purity you truly wish to protect, Miss Robin.”
“Thank you.” Robin smiled, a genuine warmth flashing in her eyes. “Actually, I think I’ve already found it.” She didn’t elaborate, merely reaching up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, her movements filled with a newfound sense of relief.
Kazuki’s gaze then shifted, landing on the silent, armored figure of Liu Ying. “So, if we look at it this way, Miss Castorice and I are similar; our group identities are in the ‘present perfect tense’. Miss Robin’s ‘Pure Beauty Knight’is a future possibility. That means, Miss Liu Ying, your group name’Titania II’ is also your future.”
After circling the topic with the others, he had finally brought it back to the one who mattered most.
“Impossible,” Liu Ying retorted almost instantly, the optical sensors on her SAM armor glowing with a sharp, green light. “The Glamoth Iron Cavalry has been loyal only to the Glamoth Republic and Her Majesty the Empress since its inception.”
“Being loyal to your country and your Empress doesn’t prevent you from becoming Titania II,” Kazuki countered softly.
He knew, from the fragmented history he’d pieced together, that even the Liu Ying of the main timeline could have achieved it. If the Glamoth Republic hadn’t fallen, her awakening to the powers of the Propagation would have been more than enough for her to become the new sovereign of the Iron Cavalry after the first Empress, Titania, passed away.
Unfortunately, by the time she came into her power, the republic was long dead. Liu Ying became the last of the Glamoth Iron Cavalry, a lone soldier wandering the galaxy—just as Tayzzyronth, the Swarm King, had been the last of its kind before ascending to become the Aeon of Propagation.
But the Swarm King could self-replicate, filling the void of its loneliness with an endless legion. Liu Ying could not. She couldn’t even create a single one of her own kind to stand with her.
“But I am just AR-26710, piloting the most ordinary firefly type-iv strategic assault armor.” Liu Ying’s voice lowered, the metallic tone unable to completely mask an undercurrent of loss. “I can’t even get close to the firefly type-v used by the Empress’s Guard…”
Listening to her muttering, Kazuki suddenly found the situation a little amusing. This wasn’t self-denial; she was clearly complaining, ‘It’s so frustrating that I can’t pilot a type-v!’ Wasn’t she?
“But you are Liu Ying,” Kazuki’s voice cut through her quiet monologue, suddenly gentle.
“What?” Liu Ying looked up, her beautiful, multi-hued pupils visible for a moment through the armor’s visor as she stared at him.
“Because you are Liu Ying, becoming Titania II shouldn’t be that big of a deal, right?” Kazuki met her gaze, enunciating each word with deliberate clarity.
“Undo the armor. The person we want to know is Liu Ying, not AR-26710 piloting a firefly type-iv strategic assault armor!” Kazuki’s voice remained soft, yet it carried a sincerity that was impossible to refuse.
Liu Ying’s armored form went still. Her gaze shifted from Kazuki, sweeping over to Robin and Castorice beside him.
Robin gave her a playful wink, the silver-blue patterns on her knightly uniform glowing softly in the warm firelight. Castorice offered a gentle nod, her purple hair spilling over the little chimera embroidered on her pajamas, her eyes filled with quiet expectation.
There was no scrutiny in their expressions, no judgment. There was only pure, simple curiosity. They didn’t want to see a cold steel shell; they wanted to see the girl hidden inside.
“Glamoth Military Regulation Number Two: Maintain vigilance at all times.” Liu Ying’s voice, distorted by the speaker, was mechanical yet unable to hide a tremor of uncertainty. “Military Regulation Number Four: It is strictly forbidden to leave the cockpit…”
She paused, as if wrestling with a monumental decision. The firelight danced across the metal plating of her armor, the flickering highlights seeming to encourage her.
“However… this time is an exception.”
The moment she finished speaking, the silver armor began to glow with a searing, incandescent light, followed by a burst of contained flame.
The fire wasn’t scorching; it was like a gentle halo, enveloping the entire suit.
Consumed by the light, the metal shell seemed to melt and vaporize at a speed visible to the naked eye, dissolving into countless sparks. They drifted upwards like a cloud of fireflies scattered by a sudden wind, slowly fading into nothing.
As the last of the light subsided, the figure standing in its place was no longer a cold, imposing mech, but a young woman dressed in a silver-white, form-fitting combat suit.
She had waist-length white hair that shimmered with a soft, moonlight-like luster. A few stray strands fell across her forehead, making her delicate face seem even fairer.
Her brows were slightly raised, carrying the heroic spirit of a soldier. Her eyes, the color of clear, translucent glass, were looking at the three of them with a touching hint of awkwardness.
“Hello… I am—Liu Ying.”