The Vixen's Gambit: Tonight We Hunt

As a good child hailing from Ciweimao, the System's conscience told it to remind Li Bei that, in the Honkai universe, the Immortal Phoenix was nowhere near the top of the power ladder.

But the System's knowledge as an exchange student from the Qidian Academy also told it that a host as puffed up as a pufferfish needed to be thoroughly deflated before learning its lesson!

Should it tell him, or not…?

As the System pondered, a familiar ringtone broke the silence.

"Brat, what do you want from your father again?"

It was his good friend, Gao Ming, his voice practically buzzing with excitement. "Old Bei, Comiket, are you in?!"

"Comiket?"

Ah, that massive anime convention in Japan, also a hub for doujinshi.

"Yeah, remember that time at the convention when we saw Lihua transported to another world? A'Yue and I were thinking, maybe if we go to Comiket, we might see my waifu transported too!"

Li Bei was baffled by Gao Ming's audacity. Had this guy forgotten that besides Lihua, that convention had also featured a murderous Tomato Devil?

Anyone else would have developed a lifelong phobia of anime conventions after that. Yet this guy was eager for more…

It was a scorching summer day, and the thought of navigating a crowded international convention was unappealing. But what if Gao Ming really did get himself killed chasing his waifu?

Fine, he'd talk Gao Ming out of it.

"I—"

As Li Bei prepared his carefully crafted persuasion and advice, a sudden wave of dizziness washed over him. His expression changed abruptly, and he blurted out, "Actually, that sounds fun. I've changed my mind. A little trip wouldn't hurt. Count me in."

"Yes! I knew you had the courage to risk your life for your waifu! You're a true otaku!"

"You're the otaku—"

Crap, his incarnation was an otaku. He'd become the very thing he mocked!

After hanging up, Li Bei's gaze sharpened.

He was just joking! How could the world take him seriously?!

Just now, his trouble-avoidance superpower, Future Foresight, had activated again.

He'd assumed this skill, when activated in reality, would function like a Kaiju warning system. But it turned out to be far more specific… personal, even.

Simply put, Li Bei had seen himself being pursued by the Immortal Phoenix.

"I was just kidding…"

Li Bei clutched his head in agony. "Why such immediate retribution?!"

"Host, didn't you say you could easily defeat the Immortal Phoenix?" The System chuckled. "This sudden change of heart... are you planning to run to Japan to avoid Fu Hua?"

"Defeat is defeat, but as the saying goes, a wise man doesn't stand under a collapsing wall." Li Bei said shamelessly. "A peaceful life doesn't involve jumping into a pit knowing it's there. Since I know staying here will lead to trouble, why not run?"

"Weren't you so confident?"

"Confidence and avoiding conflict aren't mutually exclusive."

Li Bei carefully replayed the vision. Fu Hua had pursued him in Kongchang City, during the summer, which meant it would happen soon.

But why was Fu Hua after him? Had she sensed the Herrscher of Flames' Honkai energy and decided to eliminate him for the good of the planet?

Or was it because of Lihua?

Li Bei looked in the mirror. He didn't think he looked that much like her. Even his hair, which had faded due to Lihua, had darkened thanks to Shoko.

Whatever the reason, he needed to lay low for a while.

Lihua stood outside the special dormitory of the Kongchang City Anomaly Handling Squad, rubbing her temples.

The main body was running away, because the Immortal Phoenix was apparently coming.

Lihua agreed with the decision. There was no need to interact with Fu Hua. Even with his newfound power, drawing attention to himself was a bad idea.

But the problem was – the main body was running away without her!

What if that lunatic Fu Hua saw her and went berserk again? She couldn't pull an Otto out of thin air to stop her this time...

Dealing with Honkai Beasts was one thing, but now she had to worry about relics from the Previous Era…

Lihua didn't want to see Fu Hua. But if Fu Hua appeared in China and was discovered, she'd undoubtedly be brought to meet her "fellow countryman."

Her stomach churned at the thought.

"Miss Lihua, the car is ready."

As Lihua stewed in her anxiety, a staff member approached and escorted her to a black luxury sedan.

There were no anomalies in Kongchang City today. Lihua's request for a routine patrol was simply a precaution. However, there was some news related to her, from a rather unexpected source.

"That Honkai game is getting a major update?"

"Yes, if everything goes according to schedule, it should be ready in a month." Inside the car, Deputy Shen consulted his files.

Since their initial encounter with Lihua had gone smoothly, Deputy Shen had become her designated liaison, practically her personal secretary.

"Didn't we find nothing last time?" Lihua asked, puzzled. "Their computers had nothing but old data and empty folders…"

Long ago, they'd taken Lihua to miHoYo. While, according to her persona, she shouldn't understand computers, after some explanations, she'd grasped the basics.

"Well, things have changed." Deputy Shen said wryly. "When we inquired before, they confirmed they had no development data, claiming they received sudden bursts of inspiration right before each update, allowing them to complete everything in a day or two. As an experiment, we requested they halt development and evacuated the company."

"But yesterday, their computers, unplugged, started operating on their own, generating content for the new version."

"While most of the data is inaccessible, we can still browse some of the summaries. It seems the new version will introduce a roguelike game mode, and players can obtain information about your world's Previous Era through this mode."

"The Previous Era? Otto would be better suited for this…"

Lihua sighed. Her intuition told her this update was connected to the main body's vision.

So troublesome. Even after escaping the Honkai universe, she was still stuck doing paperwork.

She wanted to slack off and play games like the main body…

"What's the name of this new mode?"

"It's called [Elysian Realm]."