Honkai: You're telling me this difficulty is from Honkai Impact 3?!

"Shu, are we taking this Robot Mark II to… Miss Raven?"

After parting ways with the old man, the group had wandered around for quite a while before finally locating the missing Robot Mark II under Shu's guidance.

Shu examined the small robot, which seemed to have taken a beating.

"Yeah, Sora needs this," he said, nodding.

Raven wasn't the easiest person to approach. She had a tsundere streak and was rather attached to her ideals. Bringing Robot Mark II might give them some leverage with Sora, preventing them from being turned away at the door.

They had only one goal in ARC City: to strengthen Fire Moth. There were many ways to do this, such as recruiting new survivors or finding weapons and equipment. Shu had asked Otto which was the higher priority, and Otto, with a grasping gesture, had declared—he wanted both.

Classic Otto. Always greedy.

No one on the train had ever lived in ARC City, and even Otto, Shu's usual source of information, couldn't provide a map. Shu, accustomed to being spoiled with intel, had initially grumbled about this, until he actually entered the city and realized it wasn't Otto's fault.

Otto simply couldn't remember the layout of a city that required a 3D map to navigate. Even Otto's life is precious. He doesn't have the Void Archives!

So, their search was a shot in the dark, relying on luck to find locations with weapons and mechs. Ideally, they would find a helpful local to guide them.

Well, there's Raven, Shu thought. If she doesn't work out, there's always Sora. I'm not great with kids, but we have Bronya! If she can win over an entire orphanage of girls, surely she has a knack for it.

Bronya mentally protested. She wasn't that kind of person. She was devoted… no, wait. She wasn't even dating anyone. She just got along well with everyone at the orphanage.

Bronya fell silent, realizing her own instinctive defensiveness, and ultimately blamed Shu and Kiana for not setting a better example. I'm still just a kid myself!

They found Robot Mark II around noon. After a quick meal, they set off towards the settlement, following Shu.

"Shu…"

"Hmm? What's up?"

"Are we lost?"

"Nope."

"Really?"

"Really!"

They left at noon but arrived at nightfall…

"This place… is seriously messed up…" Standing outside the entrance to the shelter, the four of them were slightly out of breath, even Kiana.

Shu had instructed them to create a self-navigating [Prayer], but even with that, they had gotten hopelessly lost! Who in their right mind would navigate a city by climbing scaffolding and using random metal plates as bridges between buildings? They were on a mission, not training for a parkour competition!

Thankfully, after being thoroughly frustrated by the useless navigation system, Shu had finally relented, pulling them along at superhuman speed across the rooftops, managing to reach their destination just before dark.

"That's one thick door!" Kiana exclaimed, staring at the silver metal gate.

Shu knocked lightly. "This must be some kind of pre-Honkai shelter…" he mused. It looked more like a bank vault than an entrance.

It's sturdy, alright, but how do we get in? There wasn't even a doorbell. The door was clearly designed to withstand a siege, and Shu could sense the shelter just beyond it. With a door this thick, they might have to resort to banging on it just to be heard.

But would that make a good first impression on Raven?

Maybe… I could try astral projection and float through to tell Raven we're here? Or just use a [Prayer] to pry it open?

…Damn these choices! Shu instinctively reached for the coin in his pocket.

Suddenly, he turned around, his gaze fixed on something behind them.

"Who…" A figure, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, addressed them. "…are you? And what are you doing here?"

"We're looking for…" Kiana, reacting at the same time as Shu, started to explain, then stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening. A woman in a dark cloak stood before them, her expression wary. Wait, who are we looking for again?

The familiar figure before her short-circuited Kiana's brain. She stood frozen, speechless.

But as Kiana turned, the Robot Mark II in her arms became visible to the cloaked woman.

"Is that… Robot Mark II?" The woman seemed surprised, her guarded demeanor softening slightly.

"Ah! We're the Fire Moth First Exploration Team, and we're here to recruit Raven!" Kiana blurted out, her brain finally rebooting. She stared intently at the woman, whose voice and silhouette matched the Raven she remembered from the story. Speak of the devil!

Shu sighed, covering his face with his hand. Kiana's cover story was… less than convincing. At least she was sticking to the script… sort of.

"There's no Raven here," the woman—Natasha—said after a moment of silence.

Kiana's eyes widened. Impossible! I can't be wrong!

"Kiana, let me handle this," Shu said, shaking his head and stepping forward.

"Perhaps you could explain what this 'Fire Moth' is?" Natasha said, taking control of the conversation before Shu could speak.

"Fire Moth is…" Shu patiently explained again. "Miss Natasha, please believe me, we come with good intentions."

Natasha's eyes narrowed beneath her cloak.

"It seems… you're quite resourceful… Fire Moth. I don't know what skills you think I possess, or… why you call me Raven."

"Because we're certain… you'll join us," Shu said, extending a hand in invitation.

"Oh? And why is that?" Natasha's voice deepened.

"So the children can return to civilization," Shu replied.