My days as a Simulation Herrscher since the Honkai Impact

It wasn't that D'Artagnan, as the executor of the Fools, wanted to betray his country, but rather, according to his judgment, the current situation was not a conflict between nations, but rather a disaster of mutual dependence.

His arrival at Dihua Island was certainly not accidental. Although none of the Fools who came with him this time possessed the Wind God's Eye, the Winter Kingdom had a unique technology called the Evil Eye, which could create something a level below the Elemental Eye and allow the holder to use elemental power to a certain extent.

Under normal circumstances, it certainly cannot compare to the true Eye of God most of the time, but the purpose of Barbatos's message was to notify as many people as possible, so he would not deliberately block it. Therefore, the members of the Fools who possessed the Evil Eye of the Wind also heard the message to some extent.

Upon receiving the message, Tartaglia immediately contacted Winter. The instructions he received were to stay in Liyue, closely monitor everything that was about to happen, and at the same time, investigate the true nature of those otherworldly demons as much as possible.

"They're already running away? If it was to gather intelligence, they haven't gathered any at all yet," Yelan said softly as she watched D'Artagnan retreat. In truth, if it weren't for waiting for an opportunity to investigate whether they could rescue Keqing, who had been captured inside, Yelan wouldn't want to stay here any longer. After all, no matter how you looked at it, the enemies inside this building were not someone she could handle alone.

“Look at that.” D'Artagnan pointed to a rock near Night Orchid. Following his finger, a frog was perched on the rock, croaking softly.

This frog looked no different from any other ordinary frog, but because of the angle of the sunlight, Ye Lan noticed that there were wisps of red light in the frog's eyes, as if two match heads were burning inside.

This is one of the mimicry surveillance robots deployed around the Hall of Heroes. Yelan, who had previously remained motionless and turned into liquid, was indeed not observed. However, due to Tartaglia's movement, she lost her ability to hide and was exposed to the surveillance robot's cameras.

"Beep—! You sold me out!"

Even with Ye Lan's composure, she couldn't help but utter a curse. Knowing that she had been dragged down by the executor behind her and had been completely exposed, there was no point in continuing to hide. She turned around and sprinted towards Li Yue, her whole body turning into illusory water vapor, disappearing into the air as if she were invisible during her rapid run.

As expected of Liyue's most outstanding intelligence gathering master, even Tartaglia would be ashamed of his ability to transform into a water elemental.

However, it was too late by then. As the central control AI of Valhalla, Hydra's calculation speed was measured in milliseconds. Even if it took some time to mobilize defensive measures, it was still far longer than that of an ordinary mechanical factory.

Just as Yelan broke free of the shallows, a shadow suddenly appeared in the sky. It was a spatial wormhole that had unfolded in mid-air, with a massive spatial impulse that was a full 20 meters wide. Clearly, what emerged from the wormhole this time was no longer the ordinary T3 robot that Keqing and the others had dealt with.

"Get out of the way! Water elementalization can't defend against explosive damage. Those robots' artillery can directly attack elemental creatures!" D'Artaglia shouted from the back. He clearly had more experience dealing with metal mechanical creations than Nightlan in front.

What appeared first in the wormhole were not mechs, but hundreds of homing projectiles. These projectiles did not use Honkai energy as their explosive core; in order to save money and use readily available materials, they were made with the most primitive gunpowder weapons, their power greatly reduced, and they were not even filled with much high-energy explosive.

However, these shells still blasted large craters into the ground when they landed. Without D'Artagnan's warning, Yelan, who was trying to use her water elemental etherealization to directly pass through the space wormhole below, would have been severely injured.

After receiving the warning, she rolled to the side, barely dodging the bombardment, only suffering a small cut from shrapnel on her upper arm.

Then, in a crater, a massive metal greatsword, three meters tall, was thrust into the ground. Forged from a high-strength alloy, it was half a meter wide and resembled a giant door; it could be used as a shield, let alone swung.

Following closely behind was a humanoid machine that crashed down heavily. Its entire body was covered in silver-white external armor, and there were special connecting structures at the joints, which allowed its limbs to extend freely like a human, to run normally, and even to wave its arms.

Behind it are four pairs of metal wings, which, although they look like an external propulsion device, can actually also be used as a flamethrower for attack.

This is the Heimdall, a mechanical weapon frequently used by Anti-Entropy. However, it actually originated from Destiny's technology and was a divine machine independently developed by Destiny. It was later stolen by Anti-Entropy and put into production for use as an elite weapon.

Bai Chen's Hall of Heroes replicated Heimdall's production line. These behemoths primarily attacked with rockets and energy swords, and possessed impressive force field shields, providing excellent defense against both elemental and physical attacks.

After landing, Heimdall grabbed his greatsword and, without any unnecessary movements, began a high-speed charge towards Tartaglia and Nightlan.

Ye Lan could only dodge to the side. As an intelligence broker skilled in infiltration and reconnaissance, she was not weak in combat, but it was still difficult for her to fight such a big guy.

However, two water blades appeared in Prince D'Artagnan's hands, purple lightning flashed in his hair, and he looked unusually excited, as if he had seen some interesting toy.

"Women of Liyue, assist me, and we must finish this quickly!"

Chapter Twenty-One: The Demon King's Armor, the Evil Eye, and Reserve Food

Among the dozen or so executives of the Fatui, Tartaglia, codenamed "Prince," is a special case.

Unlike other executives who have their own hidden agendas, Datalia's goals are the clearest. In the words of the other executives, he is an absolute martial arts fanatic whose purpose in becoming an executive is to fight against stronger people.

He certainly had reason to be proud. As he himself said, he was not only proficient in all martial arts, but even in archery, which he was least skilled at, he was better than those who were good at it.

Dense water vapor swirled around his body, eventually coalescing into two sharp water blades in his hands. The water element on Teyvat is different from ordinary water; it is an elemental force, a form of energy, not a conventional substance composed of molecules or atoms. Therefore, the water blades formed under the control of spiritual power are not only extremely sharp and resilient, like steel knives, but also possess shape-shifting capabilities not found in ordinary weapons.

Tartaglia was very excited. He hadn't seen such a special enemy in a long time. Heimdall's design concept was completely different from the existing relic weapons on the Teyvat continent. Although they were both humanoid mechs, the most important thing inside Heimdall was not the homing missiles, but the high-tech greatsword in its hand, and the "Heimdall Sword Technique" that Schicksal had analyzed and created based on the combat data collected by the Valkyrie forces.

After a brief identification, Heimdall determined that Tartaglia was a more critical enemy to eliminate than Nightlan, so he spewed intense flames from his wings.

Heimdall's silver-white fuselage flew diagonally upwards, then the thrusters changed direction, unleashing a powerful slash that crackled with electricity on the blade as it cleaved downwards. This was a strike from the machine's soul, propelled not by bones and muscles, but by hydraulic clutches, electric propulsion mechanisms, and bundles of metal fibers. Thermal cameras captured Tartaglia's silhouette, and electrical signals were transmitted to the built-in chip calculator, where a stream of 0s and 1s flowed beneath the hardened steel body.

Weak flesh and blood will only make the hardness and sharpness of swords pale in comparison. Only when steel resonates with steel can those swords forged in high temperatures unleash their own power!

However, faced with the unstoppable slash, D'Artagnan did not dodge. Instead, he excitedly raised the seemingly defenseless water elemental twin blades in his hand.

The water elemental blades rapidly transformed, forming in his hand a long spear surrounded by layers of thorn patterns.

"Demon from another world! I am Tartaglia, the executor of the Fools of the Winter Kingdom, codenamed Prince. Behold the might of the Winter Kingdom!"

The water elemental's spear clashed with Heimdall's blade, creating a tremendous roar that unleashed shockwaves that expanded in all directions. The water and sand on the ground were flung into the air by the shockwaves, and even though they were standing in shallow water, a circular patch of dry ground was formed on the spot.

Gifted from a young age, despite his humble origins, Tartaglia endured countless hardships in the harsh winter of the Winter Kingdom, constantly challenging numerous powerful enemies. Ultimately, he ascended to the position of Executor through sheer force. With his mastery of water elements and the physique honed through countless battles, Tartaglia actually withstood Heimdall's greatsword.

Even Ye Lan behind her was taken aback. She had originally thought that her martial arts skills were on par with this executive officer, but now it seemed that if the two of them really clashed head-on, she probably wouldn't have much of a chance of winning.

However, Heimdall did not hesitate. For this machine warrior, eliminating the enemy was the only command it needed to execute. Using the momentum from the blocked greatsword, it raised the greatsword again with incredible speed, followed by the exact same powerful slash!

Heimdall's swordsmanship, the Tree-Chopping Sword Technique. The human body dictates that after blades meet, there will be a brief moment of stiffness to absorb the impact. But this has no effect on the Machine Soul Warrior. Heimdall only needs to aim at the same spot on the enemy's weapon and strike repeatedly with incredible speed and force to sever the weapon in the enemy's hand. First the weapon, then the body; no matter what obstacles lie ahead, Heimdall will not hesitate.

"Clang clang clang!"

The continuous clanging of metal echoed over Dihua Island. Heimdall's greatsword was like a light bamboo staff, which he raised and swung down repeatedly, as if he wanted to smash Tartaglia into the ground like a nail.

However, D'Artagnan laughed gleefully, as if playing a game, calmly accepting each blow. While he appeared to be at a disadvantage, this somewhat crazed warrior was actually enjoying himself.

Ye Lan didn't just stand by and watch. A magnificent bow and arrow appeared in her hand, and a rich water element condensed on the bowstring, eventually forming a special water arrow.

The water arrow had a very thick tip, with a dozen thin threads attached to the back. She drew the bowstring and shot it fiercely towards Heimdall's head.

Just as the arrow was about to strike Heimdall's head, it suddenly tilted its head, dodging the incredibly swift arrow.

But Yelan's goal had already been achieved. One after another, thin water threads were attached to the ends of the arrows on her ten fingers. As the arrow passed Heimdall, the water threads were wrapped and tightened around the robot's body, wrapping and filling the most vulnerable joints on the outside of the robot's body.

The water lines had an immediate effect. Although it was only for a short while, it did slow Heimdall down. It took him a second or two to break free from the tough water lines.

Ultimately, this was due to insufficient information gathering on the Teyvat continent. In Heimdall's assessment, neither of the two individuals before him exhibited any Honkai energy reaction; they were simply ordinary civilians. Furthermore, the Machine Soul believed that even if ordinary civilians were armed with guns, they couldn't possibly cause significant harm to Heimdall's body.

In fact, if D'Artagnan hadn't been armed, which made him appear slightly more threatening than Nightlan, he wouldn't have even been able to attract Heimdall's attention.

During the brief moment when Heimdall was under control, a spear made of water elemental pierced its arm. Unfortunately, because D'Artagnan did not understand Heimdall's internal structure, the spear only pierced the outer armor of its arm and did not actually damage its joint structure.

But D'Artagnan wielded his spear like a torrent of rain, thrusting it again and again toward Heimdall's chest. Based on his experience fighting the Relic Machines, he knew that these mechanical creations all had corresponding energy cores inside their bodies, which were their weaknesses. Once those energy cores were damaged, no matter how powerful the mechanical creation was, it would immediately lose power and collapse.

Furthermore, such paralyzed mechanical creations can be preserved in relatively complete form. D'Artagnan intends to take Heimdall away and hand him over to the research institutions of the Winter Kingdom to see if they can crack some of the advanced technologies of these otherworldly demons.

When all the waterlines on Heimdall's body were broken, the outer deck on its chest had been pierced by Tartaglia with more than a dozen large holes.

Ordinary weapons simply couldn't penetrate Heimdall's outer defenses so easily, especially considering Heimdall's force field shield. It's safe to say that Tartaglia truly lives up to his reputation as the most powerful enforcer among the Winterlands' executors; the destructive power of his water elemental spear is astonishing.

"Fall down!"

Another elemental power appeared in Tartaglia's hands, a technology unique to the Kingdom of Winter: the Evil Eye. While an ordinary person wielding the Evil Eye could also manipulate elemental power, it might cause side effects. However, it's different for those who possess the Eye of God to use the Evil Eye; they can possess another elemental power besides their own Eye of God, allowing them to perform elemental reactions on their own.

Purple lightning shot into Heimdall's chest from Tartaglia's water gun, creating a strange elemental reaction between Electro and Hydro. The elements combined to create a state called Electro-Charged. Under this state, Electro damage skyrockets, becoming far stronger than regular lightning.

Using this technique, Tartaglia defeated countless relic mechanical creations, but the Heimdall before him was not a special divine machine that the former Kanria civilization could create.

When the flower formed from the combined elements of lightning and water bloomed within Heimdall's body, it triggered Heimdall's built-in defense mechanism. Scorching steam erupted from his groin, the sudden burst of high-temperature steam forcing Tartaglia to retreat hastily to prevent inhaling excessive amounts of steam and burning his respiratory tract and lungs.

When the white steam surrounding him dissipated, Heimdall, whose entire body had turned red, was revealed.

This wasn't just a casual repaint; it was because its internal combustion engine had been operating under overload for a short period. The special design allowed the immense heat generated by this overload to be transferred to Heimdall's entire body. The intense heat turned the silver metal a scorching red. At the same time, parts of Heimdall's mechanical armor fell off. Although it no longer had the same robust defense as before, the unsettling mechanical roars indicated that Heimdall was now far more terrifying than ever.

This is Heimdall's second phase, Overload. When Heimdall receives more damage than a certain limit, it will automatically enter Overload mode. In this form, Heimdall can only fight for a very short period of time, but during this time, its attack power will be fully unleashed, and it will explode together with the enemy at the end of the battle.

"Robots can even transform twice? That's a really surprising discovery." Datalia whistled, looking very relaxed.

He pulled a mask from his waist and quickly put it on. As the mask covered him, a dark energy emanated from it and spread throughout his body. When the black energy disappeared, he was now wearing a complete set of dark combat gear that was integrated with the mask.

At the same time, the lightning element around him became unusually active. He held a water elemental spear in his left hand and a hook blade made of lightning element in his other hand. Dartalia, wielding two spears, transformed into a streak of lightning and charged straight at Heimdall in his overload state.

This is a unique ability belonging solely to D'Artagnan: Demon King Armament. Although it is a technology from the Winter Kingdom, as an experimental product that is not yet perfected, only D'Artagnan's body can withstand the excessive load brought about by the Demon King Armament so far.

The Heimdallian greatsword, glowing red-hot, unleashed ion blades over half a meter long, each swing sending out a bullet-like wave of sword energy. Tartaglia, however, neither dodged nor evaded, wielding his twin pistols to shatter the waves of sword energy one by one.

Soon, Tartaglia, wielding dual pistols, engaged Heimdall in fierce combat. Tartaglia prevailed due to his mastery of martial arts and the immense power brought by the Demon Lord's Armor, while Heimdall was more agile. In Overload mode, steam could be emitted from his entire body, and the occasional arc attacks released could also force Tartaglia back from close combat.

Yelan, who was observing from the sidelines, noticed that her unreliable ally was showing signs of losing her temper. So she decisively retreated towards Liyue. After all, she was just an intelligence agent who came to gather information and had no connection with Tartaglia. Rather than wasting time here, she would rather quickly bring the information back to Ningguang, who was waiting for her.

However, Hydra could not simply let Yelan leave. After discovering that Bai Chen had not issued any new orders, Hydra made a new judgment based on his analysis of the situation.

The wormhole in the sky opened again, and this time it wasn't just Heimdall; five enormous figures descended from the wormhole, each with their eyes fixed on Yelan as she fled.

"There are so many of these things?! How did those demons manage to do that?!" Yelan couldn't help but groan. She had just heard about the demons from another world from Dadalia and immediately understood that everything that was happening now must be being controlled by other intelligent life forms.

She had to bring this information back to Liyue Harbor. Mechanical weapons controlled by demons from the outside world were a completely different concept from the Kanria Relics. The former was war, while the latter was merely a chance occurrence.

But judging from the current situation, let alone bringing back a message, she herself will probably perish here.

Several Heimdalls were closing in on the center, and it seemed that Yelan was about to follow in Keqing's footsteps and once again become a guest in the prison of the Hall of Heroes. But at this moment, a huge rock suddenly fell from the sky and smashed down on one of the Heimdalls, causing it to stumble.

"Go, Desolate Star! Smash all this junk! That way, no one will bother us when we go to Wangshu Inn for dinner!"

A white-haired Paimon, a reserve of provisions, flew out from the grove, waving its little fists and shouting at Heimdall.

Far underground in the Hall of Heroes, Bai Chen propped his chin up and couldn't help but sit up straight.

"I never expected to find travelers here. Now I can finally study what Paimon is!"

Chapter Twenty-Two: Between Man and Man, Between God and God

Three and a half figures emerged from the woods. The first to appear was Paimon, a peculiar creature that was hard to tell whether it was human or a sprite. Following closely behind were the traveler Luminous, Xiao, and the rock god Zhongli.

The object that just struck Heimdall was the Geo elemental construct, the Desolate Star, summoned by the Traveler Luminosity. Unlike most Vision holders on the continent of Teyvat, Luminosity, though lacking a Vision, can gain and freely wield the elemental power associated with a corresponding statue upon contact with it.

Up to now, she has gained the recognition of both the rock and wind elements, and possessing the power of both elements makes Luminous far stronger than ordinary Eye of God holders.

Moreover, her body is full of secrets. She is a traveler from another world, with a long life spanning countless years, having traversed countless time periods, and finally settled here.

Before arriving in the Teyvat world, Bai Chen felt that she might be the most valuable item on this continent. Her soul, her memories, her origins, her history, and her genes were all precious treasures.

On this continent of Teyvat, Bai Chen intends to see everything of value and send it all to his laboratory as knowledge to nourish himself.

"Hydra, bring me that woman's blood." Bai Chen sat on the throne in the central hub of Valhalla, pointing to the Traveler Ying projected in front of him, and gave the order to his loyal artificial intelligence.

Outside, Ying, unaware that she was being targeted, approached Ye Lan with her one-handed sword. Although she didn't recognize Ye Lan, that didn't stop her from saving this woman who was clearly on her side.

"The Honored Knight of Mondstadt, the Great Sage Xiao, and this... unknown immortal, what brings you here?" Yelan didn't recognize Zhongli, but she recognized the other two. However, based on Xiao's identity and Zhongli's otherworldly aura, it wasn't hard to guess that his identity was not simple either.

"Of course, it's to deal with those demons from another world! Don't worry, the Traveler and Paimon will take down all those bad guys!" The silver-haired unidentified creature Paimon flew around Night Orchid and shouted.

"Did Ningguang send you?" Yelan quickly thought of the wealthy merchant. If anyone in Liyue Harbor had better information than her, it could only be Ningguang.

The conversation was quick, lasting only a few sentences. However, this brief moment passed quickly. Heimdall and his companions, who had just lost their judgment due to the sudden appearance of the enemy and needed to wait for Hydra's instructions again, received Bai Chen's order and immediately took action again.

Thick steam emanated from the five Heimdalls, and then the entire machine turned from silver-white to blood-red, directly entering an overload state under Hydra's remote control.

A dozen or so burning sword lights streaked through the air, seemingly intent on cleaving Yelan in two. However, all the sword lights were blocked in mid-air by a suddenly appearing rock elemental shield after flying only a few meters.