"Huu."
Lu Xing pretended to take a deep breath.
He had been observing this Ranger-class for a long time. Its external shape and size were almost identical to his own, so their strength difference shouldn't be significant.
Moreover, its movement trajectory was extremely monotonous.
It patrolled along the edge of the crater-pocked central park in a continuous elliptical route.
With this intelligence.
Lu Xing could now launch an attack on the Ranger-class... as if!
Even if the Ranger-class didn't seem very bright, it didn't stop him from acting like a cautious hero for once—observing its movement trajectory and surrounding environment was merely to facilitate escape at a critical moment.
Lu Xing didn't want this unique Honkai life to end too quickly.
After sufficient mental preparation.
Lu Xing swayed back and forth in mid-air, flying towards the "prey" whose movement trajectory was stable and showed no signs of turbulence.
————
"Hey, buddy!"
Lu Xing waved a wing at his opponent.
The targeted Ranger-class completely ignored this mentally abnormal compatriot.
Lu Xing quietly breathed a sigh of relief:
At least the plan hadn't failed at the very first step.
Ranger-class beasts had no concept of territory and wouldn't attack kin who entered their patrol range.
In other words.
He was being treated as a friendly!
Following closely, following very closely...
Lu Xing very carefully edged closer, until both were almost touching, less than 20 centimeters apart—
The prey suddenly turned around!
"Gulp."
He swallowed nervously in the void.
The silence lasted for quite a while.
Just as Lu Xing thought the opponent was preparing to attack.
"Whoosh!"
Cold, damp air blew past from the side.
The biting wind—yes, it wasn't spring at all right now—whipped the sand and soil on the ground into spiral patterns.
The Ranger-class moved forward again.
It was a false alarm after all—Lu Xing had merely accidentally blocked the other's patrol route, causing the Ranger-class to halt its movement.
In reality, he was being completely ignored, treated like thin air.
"Very good."
Lu Xing's conjecture was entirely successful. Finally, he could implement his ultimate plan.
————
"Ei ei! (Popi sound)"
Waving his blade-like wing, Lu Xing... "gently" slashed at the Ranger-class before him—
"Clang clang!"
A crisp impact, like the ringing of a bicycle bell, sounded in front of him.
The Ranger-class, still patrolling, showed no reaction and continued its leisurely patrol route.
"Safe."
Lu Xing silently said to himself.
Since they were both friendlies, playing some not-too-excessive pranks on each other should be within the tolerance range of a Honkai Beast.
Next up was—
"Ei ei!! (Popi sound +2)"
This time, it wasn't gentle. Lu Xing used the same force that had previously been enough to sever rebar, delivering two "moderate" strikes to the Ranger-class's back—
"Clang clang!"
"Swish!"
Cold sweat almost dripped from Lu Xing.
His wing had just made contact.
Accompanied by a sharp screeching sound of friction, the Ranger-class actually spun around!
"Are you angry? (Popi sound +3)"
"Jiii—"
They stared at each other for a good while.
Ultimately, the Ranger-class still didn't classify Lu Xing's "tickling" as an attack—perhaps its thought process was somewhat peculiar, or perhaps the attack power was genuinely too weak.
In short.
The slashes, which hadn't even left a scratch, were ignored once again.
"Huu."
"Next up, Saikou da!"
The probing was over.
Distance appropriate, feel for it online, full power!
Lu Xing had roughly adapted to the Honkai Beast's body. After various attempts, he determined that the most robust parts of a Ranger-class were its semi-spindle-shaped head and the sharp edges of its wings.
As for the most vulnerable part.
It was the connection points between the three "sections" of its main body—as the area where Honkai energy overflow was most evident, it was arguably the Ranger-class's greatest weakness.
"Come on!"
He concentrated all the Honkai energy he could mobilize into his wingtip!
One slash to sever, As-You-Will Divine Sword!
"Swoosh!!"
"?"
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was completely unexpected—Lu Xing's attack missed entirely.
The moment his wing slashed towards the prey, the Ranger-class used a high-speed movement that left only a barely perceptible afterimage, dodging the attack in less than the blink of an eye.
Its body, which had been raised forward, silently completed a turn in mid-air.
This wasn't The Voice of O-hina, after all; a judge's turn wasn't necessarily a good thing... A red crosshair flashed within the purple arcs that couldn't really be called eyes, and in the next second—
"BOOM!!"
————
"My fluids are leaking everywhere!"
This was Lu Xing's current, true-to-life portrayal.
The roles of hunter and prey always switched inadvertently.
Severely injured and on the brink of death, fleeing in disarray—Lu Xing, having taken a direct hit from the Ranger-class, was almost taken out instantly.
Fortunately, Honkai Beast skills weren't without cooldowns, coupled with his pre-planned escape route and a correct gamble on the Ranger-class's behavioral logic.
Only then did he avoid dying on the spot with regrets.
That move just now was the Ranger-class Honkai Beast's proud, signature skill: [Dash].
After a wind-up retreat lasting 0.2 to 0.8 seconds, it would use its sturdy head to ram the opponent at high speed—due to its body's resilient characteristics, a Ranger-class Honkai Beast using [Dash] could even intercept low-flying fighter jets at subsonic speeds.
It was only after being defeated by this move.
That Lu Xing finally recalled, in his mind, the combat records of Ranger-class Honkai Beasts.
However, the current priority wasn't to sigh with emotion, but to quickly absorb Honkai energy to heal his body—the impact point of the [Dash] was Lu Xing's head, the toughest part of his entire body, which was key to him not dying instantly.
Despite this.
The entire upper half of his body was covered in dense cracks, more exaggerated than a spiderweb.
The Honkai energy that had been relatively abundant inside him was now frantically gushing out along the cracks.
Honkai Beasts might not fear pain, but Lu Xing clearly couldn't—the pain from his ruptured shell shot straight to his figurative scalp, enough to make an ordinary person faint instantly.
Again, there was good news and bad news.
The good news was, he had assessed his physical condition in advance.
As long as the Honkai core wasn't damaged, his body could heal quickly with enough Honkai energy support.
Lu Xing found himself a suitable place.
Less than 5 kilometers from here, there was a Honkai energy fissure nearly 3 meters long—the Honkai energy overflowing from the fissure could rapidly repair his damage.
Because the concentration was somewhat exaggerated.
Absorbing it in a normal state would not only fail to increase his strength but also cause Lu Xing's own Honkai energy to flow erratically.
But when injured, there was absolutely no better place than this.
As for the bad news...
————
Lu Xing felt that 5 kilometers was too far.
His consciousness was very clear; his perception of the outside world and his internal body wouldn't disappear as long as he wasn't dead—precisely because of this, waves of pain, each stronger than the last, pushed Lu Xing's spirit to the brink of collapse.
For a Honkai Beast without a brain's protective mechanisms, or even a brain at all...
Collapse meant death.
It was probably like having a severe stomach flu, where after drinking water, you basically live in the toilet, with cramping and numbness assaulting every part of your body; or like running a 10-kilometer short marathon, getting a side stitch for the entire latter half, mouth parched, and no water to drink; or perhaps like a sudden, excruciating stomachache on the way home from school, desperately needing a toilet, only to find your apartment is on the 17th floor and the elevator is completely out of power.
It was that level of despair.
But!
Lu Xing felt he could still be saved.
The conviction to suppress the pain with willpower echoed in his mind:
This is the world of Honkai Impact 3rd, so many waifus exist in three-dimensional forms, and I haven't even seen a single one yet!
As long as I think this way—
"I must live!"
Conviction transformed into strength, a glint of inspiration flashed in his (metaphorical) eyes.
Although it still couldn't compare to [Dash], at this moment, Lu Xing in his Honkai Beast form indeed displayed an astonishing speed far exceeding his usual!
He sped towards the predetermined location!
"Swoosh!!"