Several days had passed since Yae Sakura's departure. Li Xuan continued his busy life, constantly on the move to gather food and Honkai Energy Crystals. The city's food supplies were dwindling, and he wondered if other survivors were also scavenging. Several times, he found distant shops completely stripped bare, and even vacuum-sealed food was starting to mold.
Boom! A five-meter-tall dog-like Honkai Beast crashed to the ground, leaving a crater in the concrete.
Whew... Li Xuan stood proudly atop the slain Honkai Beast, letting out a sigh of relief. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, his right hand still gripping the silver Rifled Flintlock.
The Rifled Flintlock now looked different from when it first appeared through the Gate of Wishes. Its bright silver casing was adorned with intricate blue-purple patterns, and faint silver light shimmered across its surface, giving it an air of extraordinary quality. This transformation was due to Li Xuan's constant use of Honkai Energy Crystals to enhance the weapon over the past few days.
Li Xuan enhanced his Rifled Flintlock. After the gun consumed the Honkai Energy Crystal, it seemed to assimilate the energy into a gentler yet more potent force, which the gun then absorbed.
He maxed out the Rifled Flintlock's level, significantly boosting its power and ammunition capacity. Combined with the Divine Gear -Xuanyuan Ceremonial Suit, he could now barely hold his own against a small Honkai Beast in a one-on-one fight.
I still need to work harder, Li Xuan thought. After extracting the Honkai Energy from the Honkai Beast's corpse, turning it into a crystal, he leaped off the body and vanished into the alleyway.
"Let's do this," Li Xuan said. After breakfast that day, he skipped his usual "bonding" session with the Dead Soldiers (read: mutual self-harm). Instead, he sat in the base, his face flushed with excitement and anticipation as he gazed at the objects before him: the Gate of Wishes and a small mountain of Honkai Energy Crystals.
"May the gods bless me," Li Xuan clasped his hands together and bowed towards the heavens, fervently praying that some deity would grant him better luck and spare him another streak of bad fortune. After all, each wish required 280 Crystals. If he drew nothing but useless women's underwear, he'd lose his own underwear in the process. And even if he drew Clothes, he hoped it would be for men; he couldn't bring himself to use women's Clothes.
"It's starting," Li Xuan said, extending his hands, which he had washed over a dozen times. He quickly placed the Crystal onto the Gate of Wishes. For this wish, he had prepared enough Honkai Energy Crystals for ten draws, most of which Yae Sakura had helped him obtain.
As the Gate of Wishes continuously devoured the Crystals, it began to emit a faint glow once more. Just like before, a blue light suddenly erupted, forcing him to close his eyes. When the light faded, a sword appeared. Li Xuan picked it up, and information flooded his mind: 'Yamamoto Nightshadow Samurai Sword.' After examining its abilities, he immediately tossed it into his Ring as a backup weapon.
Li Xuan continued to insert Crystals, but the Gate of Wishes kept emitting only blue light, and the weapons it produced were underwhelming. Soon, he reached his ninth draw. He had discarded everything from the previous nine draws directly into his Ring. There was nothing worth keeping—all were trash. For example, the Samurai Sword, the FN2000R, the Mk2A1 Hand Grenade, the C90 Submachine Gun, the Colt Python, the Warrior MS-F1 Military Axe, and, unfortunately, even a lace bra and a satin ribbon. Of course, these small garments were useless to Li Xuan. After a thorough 'examination,' he tossed them into his Ring as well.
Li Xuan took a deep breath and began his ninth wish. The Gate of Wishes swiftly devoured the Crystal, and then a strange transformation occurred. A purple light, unlike the towering Golden Light he had seen before, emanated from the gate. Though it didn't form a pillar reaching to the heavens, it illuminated the entire house.
Meanwhile, a thousand meters away, three young women stood on a street littered with the bodies of Dead Soldiers they had just defeated.
"Huh? That's strange..." Kiana Kaslana, the silver-haired girl, looked at her phone in surprise. It suddenly displayed an unusual Honkai Energy fluctuation.
"What's wrong, Kiana?" Raiden Mei, the black-haired girl, asked, panting.
"There's another strange Honkai Energy fluctuation where the Golden Light pillar appeared before," Kiana said, staring at her phone as the fluctuation abruptly appeared and then quickly vanished.
"Sister Mei~ Let's go check it out!" Kiana rolled her eyes and threw her arms around Raiden Mei, starting to whine.
"Bronya can use satellite positioning to find the location," Bronya, who usually contradicted Kiana, surprisingly agreed with her this time out of curiosity.
"Alright, alright! Kiana, stop shaking me. I'm so dizzy," Raiden Mei quickly stopped Kiana, covering her forehead and reluctantly agreeing.
"Oh! Oh! Let's go!" Kiana instantly regained her energy, waving her arms and shouting excitedly.
Unfortunately, they were surrounded by Dead Soldiers who had been drawn by the noise.
"Kiana! You idiot!" Mei's angry voice rang out from the crowd of Dead Soldiers.
"Sorry," Kiana mumbled guiltily.
Meanwhile, Li Xuan picked up the item from the Gate of Wishes—an exquisite badge. As his hand touched it, a message appeared: "A Knight Does Not Die with Empty Hands—Five-Star Badge. When worn, this badge increases unarmed attack power by 12,000% and V-series weapon attack power by 20%."