Regarding the question of whether one thousand lives are enough to beat Honkai Impact 3rd.

"A curse?" Su Qing'an asked.

He naturally didn't believe in so-called curses or immortal dolls; in such a world, all supernatural events could be attributed to the Collapse to get the correct answer.

However, he was very curious about what kind of collapse event had affected the Kanbara family, to the point that he called it a curse.

Why can a living doll be immortal?

"Yes, a curse. The Kambara clan has no collateral branches. Even the main lineage has been passed down to my generation, and only my daughter and I remain."

“This is abnormal,” Shuichi Kanbara concluded calmly. “You should have noticed that my age does not match my appearance. That’s not a coincidence. Few members of the Kanbara family live past fifty.”

"It's like your life force has been devoured by something."

Honkai energy.

Almost instantly, the two understood the true nature of that so-called "something".

"The reason lies in the way the Kanbara family maintains the immortality of the living dolls. In addition to the methods passed down from generation to generation, the most important thing is that the Kanbara family performs rituals on the dolls."

Another ritual? Neither the rituals of the Shinbara family nor those of their village are simple matters.

Shuichi Kanbara's statement that the connection between the ritual and the true identity of the murderer was not without reason.

Su Qing'an and Sato Yuno understood this matter.

“Every ten years, the Kambara family will send a son to stay in the shrine with the living doll for three days. During these three days, the living doll must be watered with his own blood every day. After three days, the doll will continue to maintain the same spirituality as a living person and will be as new as ever.”

"The person in charge of the sacrifice would fall seriously ill after the ceremony and would often die soon afterward. Because they almost always died in strange ways, cremation was usually chosen to avoid unnecessary trouble."

"These are photos of the remains of those who died during a ritual." A hint of pity appeared on the man's steely expression.

The photo shows a corpse covered in purple patterns.

"This is my father's remains. He passed away three months after the memorial service." Shuichi Kanbara suppressed all his emotions, his eyes burning with an inextinguishable rage, as if a lion was about to leap out.

That kind of anger was like lava erupting from a volcano in the sea, cold yet fiery, calm yet ruthless.

Finally, the man said, word by word:

"What you are dealing with is the heirloom that the Kambara family has guarded for five hundred years, the living doll that has been worshipped by Kambara Village for five hundred years. It is a tragedy that has survived due to ignorant and outdated customs, and it is also a product of the true nature of collapse, which only Destiny has the ability to eliminate."

Shuichi Kambara's resolute words were filled with murderous intent, and his face became ferocious and terrifying, an emotion that even an iron will could not suppress.

No one can understand how many things and stories are hidden in this man's demonic expression.

All I can understand is that profound, abyss-like sorrow.

But sadness itself is the greatest demon; how can you possibly defeat it?

You can't escape it or avoid it. The only way is to transform into a bigger demon to devour all the sorrow and forge ahead.

Shuichi Kanbara wasn't unaware of what he would face after killing the living doll.

Rather than being a bastard who sacrificed his daughter to some so-called god, he would rather be a warrior, drawing his sword and facing death with righteous indignation.

Every man has something he can't back down from, right?

It could be a glass of wine, a cigarette, a photograph, or even just a sentence.

For Shuichi Kanbara, that thing was his daughter.

Any entity that seeks to harm his daughter, whether it be a treasure guarded by his ancestors or a so-called god, must first step over the corpse of Shuichi Kanbara.

17. There are always some things that you would rather die than lose, right?

“But if the real culprit is a living doll, Mr. Kanbara, the information you reported is undoubtedly far from what you are saying now.”

Su Qing'an could sense that Kanbaru Shuichi was trying his best to suppress some kind of emotion, but he and Sato Yuno should have accepted the lowest difficulty B-rank mission. However, assuming that Kanbaru Shuichi was telling the truth, then they would be facing a living doll with unknown dangers.

The upper limit of the mission's difficulty has undoubtedly become unknown. As the party accepting the mission, according to the rules of destiny, if there is indeed a serious error in the information, they will have the right to refuse the mission and wait for the next mission assignment.

“I know. In fact, it was only recently that we were able to confirm that this was the work of a living doll. My subordinates found dried bloodstains near the Kambara Shrine, and after comparative analysis, they confirmed that it was the victim's blood, which provided some evidence.”

Shuichi Kanbara handed the blood test report to the two men and said:

"Although I had always known that it was the living doll that did it, it would be meaningless to tell Destiny directly that the living doll was the murderer without any evidence. That's my judgment."

"So I handed over the remnants of the doll to Destiny, and let you judge the level of the mission yourselves. I believe that whoever comes can help me kill it and end all of this."

Su Qing'an nodded. There was nothing wrong with what Kanbaru Shuichi said. He did indeed hand over the killer's remains to the Far East Branch. The Science Department judged that it was a level of Honkai energy that was not much higher than that of the suicide soldiers.

However, given how bizarre and unprecedented the Honkai event was, the difficulty of the mission could no longer be judged solely by the level of Honkai energy.

The safest approach is to turn around and leave, ignoring the situation to minimize the risk.

Given Principal Theresa's personality, if they choose to refuse, she would probably agree quite readily, provided the reasons are sufficient and in accordance with fate and rules.

However, Shuichi Kanbara's actions silenced Su Qing'an.

The man, who was a generation older than the two men and held a high position, knelt down while placing his hands in a V-shape forward on the ground. He leaned forward and touched the ground with his forehead.

Earth seat.

Su Qing'an used to think this pose was hilarious when he watched anime, comical like a clown. He thought, what's the point of begging like this? You're burning your dignity and face to ashes, and all you'll get in return is a dismissive refusal.

But when this man did this, a deep and heavy sorrow and determination came over her. It was such a ridiculous and laughable scene, but Su Qing'an couldn't laugh.

"I know it's selfish of you two to say this, but my daughter is already a sacrifice reserved for the living dolls. She can't leave the ancestral home of the Shinbara family. Before the next large-scale Kagura dance festival, the living dolls will choose her as the sacrifice themselves. That's how my father was forcibly sacrificed to death."

"There's no time left for Destiny to reassign candidates. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure it's right."

"Please, please, save her."

If the butler could see the look on Kanbaru Shuichi's face, he would understand just how deep this man's plea truly was.

Shuichi Kambara was usually such a man who never showed his emotions. He was like a lion, calmly and collectedly leading the group's power step by step, devouring the flesh and blood of others to grow stronger.

He is proud and outstanding, self-disciplined and resilient.

Those who know him all believe that Shuichi Kanbara is the kind of powerful man who remains unmoved even if Mount Tai collapses in front of him, and is not alarmed even if a tiger roars behind him.

Yet this man knelt down, using the most humble dogeza (a form of prostration) to beg two people, some even underage, to save his daughter.

Shuichi Kanbara's life was legendary. He single-handedly elevated the Kanbara family to its current status as the undisputed leader in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Just when he thought he was powerful enough to break the village's bad habits and end the tragic fate of the Kambara family, his father was forcibly sacrificed with his blood drawn from his chest by a living doll.

During the three months that his father lingered on his deathbed, every difficult breath he took seemed to tell Shuichi Kanbara that all his efforts were a joke.

It's like playing a match-3 game, and in the end, there's only one black block that you can't erase no matter what you do.

The rules of the game are never what you imagine, so you can't win from start to finish.

And that black cube is the living doll.

It shattered his pride, slowly crushing what little remained of Shuichi Kanbara.

His parents and relatives, and now it's his most cherished daughter's turn.

Kambara Yu.

This is the last thing he can hold onto, and even if it means selling his soul to the devil, Shuichi Kanbara would never choose to let go of it.

Dignity and face are utterly insignificant compared to Kanbara Yu's life.

This man had already prepared to die for his daughter.

“I agree, please get up,” said Yuno Sato.

Sato Yuno is no longer the girl who is easily moved as before, but for some reason, seeing Kanbara Shuichi in this state reminded her of her father.

Natsuki Sato.

That ordinary, seemingly simple-minded father who liked to speak with a serious expression but was actually incredibly gentle.

His flustered figure, occasionally seen frantically cooking in a pink apron, his patient smile as he coaxed the still-childish Yuno Sato, and his mischievous grin as he teased the girl with konpeito—all these images remain exceptionally clear in my memory.

in case.

If Natsumi Sato faced the same situation as Shuichi Kanbara.

That man will have the same awareness.

Whether it's a shameful dogeza (a deep bowing in apology) or drawing one's sword to die, it doesn't matter.

In Sato Yuno's heart, Sato Natsuyuki's love for her was enough.

What made her agree to Shuichi Kanbara wasn't anything else.

It was a love that was no less than any father's love for his daughter.

So, Sato Yuno, who was now able to be a little willful, chose to accept it.

"I will apply to Principal Theresa for permission to use the authority, so don't worry."

Turning to Su Qing'an with a smile, Sato Yuno was clearly prepared to use her full power as a pseudo-Herrscher to face the living puppet of unknown danger.

Although I don't think a live doll has the ability to cause the two of them to fail, it's always better to go all out when hunting a rabbit.

This pseudo-Herrscher is clearly incredibly powerful, yet excessively cautious.

"Hmm. I'll ask Principal Theresa later if she has any similar cases we can refer to."

Su Qing'an nodded and said that he had no intention of refusing, and this was even more true after Shen Yuanshui showed his will.

When Sato Yuno expressed her opinion, he naturally agreed readily.

Seeing the two people who agreed, Shuichi Kanbara sat up straight and thanked them earnestly:

"Ms. Sato, Mr. Su, thank you for being willing to take the risk to continue this mission."

"Now let's discuss the plan to kill the living puppet."

The words that came out of the man's mouth were like the wind and snow of a harsh winter, cold and biting.

18. Simply put, come and be a rich young lady.

After Sato Yuno and Theresa made communication and unlocked the restrictions on the use of their powers, the discussion among the three came to an end.

In short, the conclusion is that Sato Yuno played the role of Kanbara Yuu, who pretended to worship the living doll.

The moment when Sato Yuno was closest to the living doll was the moment she made her move.

This was a rough and flawed plan at first glance, but Shuichi Kanbara's explanation convinced the two of them to accept his opinion.