Honkai Impact: Dreams and the Holy Grail, but the Servant is Rei.

"Potio has a blood feud with the Interstellar Peace Corporation." In the conference room-like screening room, Meng Weiyu, dressed in white, looked at the Archer Potio on the screen, who was showing a mixture of surprise and anger, and said calmly.

"He was born on a planet called Algon-Apashe, originally an abandoned baby in the snow, found by a couple who raised him." [Meng Weiyu] recounted the life story of this archer to the two Pinocone elders who were unaware of his past:

"He later became an excellent cowboy, fighting bandits, trading with caravans, and eliminating dangerous wild animals to expand their living space."

"But the company changed everything: led by Oswaldo Schneider, head of market development, they came to this wild and backward planet and began to mine its mineral resources."

“This guy is really infamous…” Mikhail sighed as he thought of this fanatical believer who was also a former unknown passenger on the Star Train.

But the nameless passengers of the Star Train are the same: most of them travel on and off, with people getting on and off along the way as the train expands across the universe, and others getting off like him, Tiernan, and Lazarina.

"If a planet has the resources a company wants, then the people there had better pray they aren't detected by the market development department. If they are unfortunately discovered, then their planet had better have the ability to fight to the death." [Gopher Wood] recalled the brutal war of independence that Pinocchio fought with the company when it was founded.

"Like in some countries in my home country, the market development department usually maintains a so-called respectable appearance, at least to make the planet being 'developed' look promising."

"Unfortunately, the planet where Potio is located is an exception among exceptions—it possesses a rare black metal that can be used to manufacture advanced weapons." As she said this, [Meng Weiyu] revealed an unusually sorrowful expression, with flickering flames seemingly dancing in her eyes.

"In order to seize the planet first and win the competition among departments within the company, Oswald Schneider used the fastest and most 'efficient' means: he ordered his employees not to negotiate compensation with those backward barbarians, but to resort to force and turn the planet into a sea of ​​fire."

Ruler Mikhail angrily slammed his fist into the long table, leaving a dent, and even broke his fist in the process. Even though he was a renowned clockmaker, he never forgot his pioneering spirit, and a passionate young man, unskilled in political maneuvering, still resided in his heart.

Beside him, Gopher, who had been handling Pinocchio's complicated duties and was skilled in political maneuvering during his prime, sighed deeply and revealed a sad expression.

"Until this moment, the black minerals are being transported to other planets by cargo ships. The nomadic peoples of those planets have vanished from the world, leaving only a small, ever-shrinking plot of land inhabited by the old and young, and the ghost of a man who has transformed most of his body into machinery and has spent his life trying to take revenge on the company."

With a sigh, Meng Weiyu finished recounting the first half of the life of the seafaring ranger named Potio.

Inside the Holy Grail, lines of text appeared in Archer [Potio's] memory:

“Mr. Cowboy, I am standing right in front of you, without any weapon in my hand.” A pink-haired girl in a purple dress suddenly appeared in front of [Potio], where there was nothing there.

“My companions and I have no ill intentions. I happen to know the rules of this so-called Holy Grail War, or rather, the conflict between dreams and the Holy Grail.” Her voice was gentle and sweet.

"You, me, and my partners all belong to the same camp."

“If my guess is correct, our common enemy is the Interstellar Peace Corporation!” The real Caster [Xi Lian] stared directly at the muzzle of his gun and said softly.

Chapter 64 True Stinging Insects and Unlimited Blade Works

Since they had no idea they would encounter [Potio], Caster [Xilian] learned about the [Luofu] Immortal Ship, Onpharos, and even Yalilo and the Black Tower Space Station from Meng Weiyu, but had not shared any memories of the personal experiences of the Sea Rangers such as Luanpo and Potio, and was unaware of the latter's past.

But she noticed the change in Archer's expression and realized that he might regard his partner as an enemy.

The real enemy is still hiding behind the scenes, and "he" seems to have a lot of intelligence on our side.

From the start of the Second Holy Grail War, Caster [Xi Lian] also obtained a great deal of information about this Holy Grail War:

This Holy Grail War is divided into two camps, the Red and the Black. The two sides will fight along the main storyline of Pinocchio, and the final winner will obtain the Holy Grail and another golden piece.

In addition, she also discovered a note that should have been hidden...

Currently, she and Meng Weiyu have been assigned to the Red Team. Given the history of Pinocchio that the latter shared with her, her intuition tells her that the enemy of the [Xilian] team may be a force representing the Interstellar Peace Corporation!

But the arrival of the real insects seemed to negate her guess. These insects had a clear goal: they created an illusion to isolate Meng Weiyu from her senses, and then launched a sneak attack. When the sneak attack failed, they tried to make them fight each other through the illusion.

Because she can switch to exist in the form of a meme, like a Memory Spirit, she is immune to the illusions created by the True Stinging Insects. However, the situation is not optimistic; she sees thousands upon thousands of True Stinging Insects covering the once vast sea of ​​stars outside the observation cabin!

Meng Weiyu, who had recently used the sword [Slaying Illusion] to see through the illusion, also noticed the swarm of insects outside the window. He looked at the archer [Potio] and then at the caster [Xilian] who was confronting the latter.

Noticing that [Potio] did not have any traces of being contaminated by the black mud like in the first Holy Grail War, Meng Weiyu gritted her teeth and made an extremely bold and crazy decision!

He turned his back to [Potio], ignoring the gun pointed at him!

"I am the bone of my sword."

With a do-or-die attitude, Meng Weiyu used the second ability of his level 100 [Projection Magic], betting his biggest trump card on this gamble—the Archer Emiya ten-minute "trial card," which can only be used once every 24 system times!

He did not project the [Pseudo-Spiral Sword] to launch an attack. Instead, he used Archer Emiya's peak condition to project a Noble Phantasm called [Symbol of the Laws of All Things]!

Back during the first Holy Grail War here, Meng Weiyu used her level 50 Projection Magic to create this bent short sword, destroying the illusion created by the Holy Grail's corruption in Saber's (Yun Li's) memories.

The moment the [Symbol of Breaking the Laws of All Things] appeared in the air, Meng Weiyu grabbed it and poured a large amount of magic power into it, causing the entire illusion surrounding the Star Train to shatter instantly!

Having broken free from the illusion, Archer [Potio] uttered another curse as he turned his gun from Meng Weiyu toward the two trapped insects.

Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger. The bullet accurately hit the two real stinging insects through the thick, transparent barrier. The two insects began to expand and explode the moment they hit the barrier, but the blast wave and the scattered viscous liquid were isolated by the barrier.

Before they self-destructed, Caster [Xi Lian] even meticulously traced back the bullet holes caused by the bullets.

Looking back, she was still slightly startled: Archer's bullets pierced through the thick barrier as easily as tofu, and two shots blew up the real stinging insect!

Fortunately, she and her companions made the right choice and did not become his enemies...

Meng Weiyu did not focus his attention on the two insects. At this moment, he had completed the chanting of the entire [Unlimited Blade Works] incantation!

The moment the chant ended, the scene of the Star Train around them vanished, and the sky above them transformed into a crimson dome shattered into countless fragments by gears. Countless swords pierced the scorched brown soil, stretching to the horizon and forming thorny hills layer upon layer.

He pulled himself, Caster [Xi Lian], Archer [Potio], and thousands of True Insects into a mental world called [Unlimited Blade Works]!

Meng Weiyu, along with Caster [Xi Lian] and Archer [Potio], stood atop the central sword mound. Beside them was a spiral-shaped greatsword (symbolizing Shirou's prototype "Kanjo Moya"), the bronze patterns on the hilt resembling burning incantations radiating outwards with spiderweb-like cracks.

In the crimson sky, tens of thousands of true hibernating insects floated like black clouds. Their numbers were enormous, but at this time and place, there were also an equally enormous number of swords!

Seeing this, Xi Lian instantly understood Meng Weiyu's meaning. She grasped Meng Weiyu's hand, provided him with a large amount of magic power, and told him what she knew about the Holy Grail War in the form of memories.

Meng Weiyu held Xi Lian's hand as he looked at the swarm of true insects, his eyes seemingly blazing with bright flames.

A barrier spread out from under [Xi Lian]'s feet, enveloping the three people on the sword hill. It was the one that Meng Weiyu had used when she sparred with Berserker [Jing Liu], and it could greatly reduce the consumption of [magic power]—which is essentially a special memory substance.

"Holy crap, is she really Lazarina? She seems like her, but not quite." Archer [Potio] murmured to himself, sensing the changes and buffs brought about by the barrier.

The next moment, most of the swords in Unlimited Blade Works left the scorched earth, turning their blades to point at the swarms of insects rushing in from the sky.

“This is truly an extraordinary [Outer Territory Pioneer], Mikhail. It seems your Nameless Ones have a worthy successor.” In the conference room-like screening room, Ruler [Gopher Wood] said meaningfully.

His gaze wasn't directed at Mikhail beside him, but rather, through his black-rimmed glasses, at Meng Weiyu, who was dressed in white and wearing half a "Fool's Mask."

“Yes, most Destiny Walkers wouldn’t possess such power. But I didn’t expect that you would be on the path of [Joy]. Mikhail looked at the grand scene of tens of thousands of swords clashing with the swarm of insects and sighed with emotion.

"You flatter me, gentlemen. These are all blessings from our Lord (the God of Joy), and all gifts in destiny often come with a price tag," Meng Weiyu said humbly.

"Speaking of the markings of fate, as the ruler, I did discover that the rules of this Holy Grail War also have an additional note on the last line that only Mikhail and I can see." [Gopher Wood] pushed up his black-rimmed glasses.

"Can you explain the meaning of 'Everyone will part from one person, but that person will witness miracles'?" he said quietly.

Chapter 65 Only the Right Person Will Be Presented [Miracle]

"I didn't add this rule. I suspect it was the fictional person who provided the history of 'Pinocchio,' the fictional historian hiding behind the scenes, who had this idea. Then, my lord probably made some dark humor modifications based on the experiences of another version of me." In the conference room-like screening room, Meng Weiyu, dressed in white, shrugged.

"This statement originates from an oracle of Onphalus. Its use here likely indicates that only one person will remain victorious in this Holy Grail War, and only that person can obtain the final Holy Grail," he replied.

"So, does that include me and [Mikhail] as well?" Ruler [Gopher Wood] narrowed his eyes, and the golden Holy Grail appeared out of thin air, now held in his hand!

"In the Holy Grail War, the Ruler is theoretically not a faction belonging to any side. I believe that as long as you don't get involved, you won't be included in the [Oracle]," Meng Weiyu explained earnestly.

"But as far as I know, there are very few Rulers who can be absolutely neutral and selfless in the actual Holy Grail War," he cautioned.

"Can you explain your reasoning?" [Gopher Wood] looked directly into his eyes.

"It's very simple. I will face off against another version of myself in the final Holy Grail War. As a spectator just like the two of you, I can guarantee that [this place] is absolutely safe," Meng Weiyu said casually.

“I also sincerely hope that we haven’t deceived each other…” [Gopher Wood] scrutinized the young man in white clothes wearing the upper half of the [Fool’s Mask], his tone carrying an inexplicable meaning.

"I don't care, anyway, my original self is already dead." [Mikhail] looked completely unconcerned. Before he shouldered the burdens of Pinocchio and later Dream Reef, he had always been this carefree and unrestrained person, passionate about [exploration].

"If your actions truly deserve the title of [Outer Territory Pioneer], I won't hesitate to intervene when necessary." [Mikhail] smirked as he watched the young man on the screen send tens of thousands of flying swords soaring into the air, a golden Rider chess piece appearing in his hand!

[Everyone will part from one person, who will witness miracles; this is the will of fate.]

Dressed in white, Meng Weiyu inexplicably recalled those words again, but in the next instant, an even more resolute thought flashed through her mind:

Even if fate has been sealed, we must resolutely raise the banner of resistance!

And he is proof of that.

Within the mental world of Unlimited Blade Works, the entire sky and earth were trembling violently. This was caused by the unusual movement of swords leaving the ground simultaneously and the resonance caused by the high-speed flapping of wings by the insect swarm.

Tens of thousands of true insects swarmed towards Meng Weiyu and the others in the Holy Grail from all angles in the sky!

If this weren't a world of imagination, and if the true, king-level True Insect wasn't actually here, it could have bred a large swarm of insects using only these imagined soils and counterfeit treasures!

The fake "breeding" path seekers only know how to have intercourse with the opposite sex; the true "breeding" can make even rocks sprout worms!

The "Cosmic Locust Plague" of that year destroyed a third of the universe in this way, forcing several star gods to intervene and ultimately stop all this madness!

The remnants of the Zerg Swarm are still scattered throughout the universe. The True Swarm King, who wiped out the [Lampmoth Family] in Pinocene, has also been summoned in this Holy Grail War.

Tens of thousands of swords left the desolate land. Under the enhancement of the fake Noble Phantasm of the projection by the Archer Emiya in Meng Weiyu's [Projection Magic] entry, they used the power of the level 100 [Escape Sword] and the enhancement of the Caster [Xi Lian] barrier and [Magic Power] to fiercely collide with the swarm of insects swooping down from the sky like a swarm of bees emerging from a beehive.

Upon impact, all the counterfeit treasures were detonated, resulting in a tremendous explosion!

Waves of air and energy fluctuations repeatedly struck the transparent barrier and the [Sevenfold Blazing Heaven Ring], creating ripples on their bodies. Cracks appeared on the transparent barrier from time to time, but [Xi Lian] used the power of [Memory] to rewind them.

Even as the master of Unlimited Blade Works, Meng Weiyu did not have the ability to simultaneously control tens of thousands of Noble Phantasm swords for precise attacks. He could only mobilize the counterfeit Noble Phantasms in batches and then detonate them evenly in the swarm of insects.

It was precisely because of this that, among the tens of thousands of True Stinging Insects, dozens of them could dodge the bombardment of the Noble Phantasm and swooped down towards Meng Weiyu and the others in each wave of attack.

"Too slow, my little darlings."

Archer [Potio] quickly drew his gun, raised his hand, and pulled the trigger. The bullets from the revolver, along with his taunts, made a continuous roar!

The bullets whistled through the transparent barrier in front of them, then struck each of the stinging insects that were about to pounce, blasting them into a disgusting mass of slime and scattered limbs.

The heavily damaged swarm immediately changed tactics. Some of them continued their feint attack, while others, out of Meng Weiyu's sight, plunged into the ground.

But this is the mental world controlled by Meng Weiyu. Every blade of grass and every tree is under his control, let alone the swarm of insects hiding in the soil preparing to launch a surprise attack.

Prompted by Meng Weiyu, Archer [Potio] sneered, flicked his wrist, and spun the revolver in his hand. He blew away the seemingly non-existent gunpowder smoke from the muzzle, preparing to unleash a saturation attack on the ground.

Then he was surprised to find that he seemed to have gained a "thermal imaging"-like field of vision, and could clearly see the swarm of insects digging underground not far away.

"Damn, his precious thing can actually see through this unloved mud and sand." [Potio] said the dirtiest thing in the cutest tone, then looked at Caster [Xi Lian] with surprise and admiration.

“Miss, you’re truly a talent!” Archer [Potio] exclaimed to [Xilian].

This is the magic of synesthetic beacons... Upon hearing this, Meng Weiyu felt he couldn't hold back any longer, and now his smile was harder to suppress than an AK.

The burrowing swarm was much slower than the swarm that swooped in, and was quickly destroyed by the Archer [Potio]. Not long after, Meng Weiyu also cleared away the remaining swarm in the sky.

"They seem to be just testing the waters; the real mastermind behind it all doesn't seem to be here," [Xi Lian] said softly, withdrawing the buffing barrier.

“Hmm, I haven’t received any feedback from the system either.” Meng Weiyu grabbed [Xi Lian’s] hand and conveyed this information to her.

At this moment, he also prematurely deactivated the mental world of [Unlimited Blade Works].

Archer [Potio] looked at the couple in front of him who were behaving somewhat intimately and clicked his tongue twice.

“But we didn’t come away empty-handed.” Xi Lian smiled and opened her other hand to show Meng Weiyu and Botio what was in her palm—a handful of fine, sand-like powder.

"I collected these in a recent illusion, partner. Try projecting them later," [Xi Lian] whispered to Meng Weiyu.

Chapter 66 Star-Piercing Noble Phantasm

Meng Weiyu and Caster [Xi Lian] withheld some information. It wasn't that they distrusted [Potio], but rather that the information [Xi Lian] had given Meng Weiyu about the Holy Grail War not long ago contained a note that greatly concerned them:

[Everyone will part from one man, but he alone will witness miracles!]

I never expected to come to the Second Holy Grail War. Although I am playing the role of Bai Er in the previous "script" - "Listen! Revel on the Mountain of God's Blessing", the prophecy about the trench targeting Bai Er still came after me... Meng Weiyu couldn't hold back her emotions the moment she saw this sentence.

Based on the fragmentary glimpses of Pinocchio's history in the game, he had a vague sense of unease, as if his companions would also perish one by one on this deliberately arranged stage, just like the Golden Blood of Onfaros, just like the ending of the story of Tirnan and Lazarina in Pinocchio's history.

For the sake of Pinocchio's future, Tirnan rekindled the spirit of exploration. He did not die in the swarm of breeding insects, but became the Blood Sin Spirit of nothingness, wandering in the earth-shattering battle against the Destroyer—the Annihilation Lord, Zhuluo, before finally being released by the Self-Destroyer, Huangquan.

Lazarina, however, went on to further study the flow of memory in Pinocone and never returned... and her research laid the foundation for Pinocone's future glory.

Is this kind of "script" also the ending for Archer [Potio] and Caster [Xilian]?

Looking at the pink-haired girl in the purple dress holding powder in front of her, and then at the cyborg cowboy next to her who looked very interested and whose face seemed to say "I want to study this too," Meng Weiyu was somewhat dazed.

"Friend, what's wrong?" [Xi Lian] squeezed his small hand slightly tighter, as if to suggest that he could secretly tell him what was on his mind.

"It's nothing, I was just a little distracted for a moment." Meng Weiyu conveyed his thoughts to Xi Lian through [memory], while taking the powder that the latter handed him with his free hand.

"Partner, if we are all pawns of fate, and this story is the arrangement of the so-called 'script,' then let's smash this chessboard like a game!" After a moment of silence, Caster [Xi Lian] conveyed the message to him.

"And I've always believed that this will be a romantic story unlike any other." She looked at Meng Weiyu, her long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings.

Her face was flushed, and her lips curled into an incredibly healing smile.

Xi Lian's smile struck Meng Weiyu's heart like lightning, making the old deer in her heart, which had only recently been revived, feel ten years younger, almost to the age of impulsive excitement...

Archer [Potio] looked at the man and woman in front of him and refrained from whistling loudly.