Just sneezing was enough to contact a doctor. He wasn't that precious.
After rubbing his nose, Levi looked at the woman in front of him.
"Miss Ruan Mei, if you have something to discuss, just contact me online. There's no need to come all the way here yourself."
Ruan Mei put down the gift box in her hand. Levi only gave it a brief glance.
The fragrance of pastries filled the air. Clearly, the gift box contained pastries Ruan Mei had made herself.
She probably used to send them every day.
It was just that he was never around, and on top of that, there was that little thief Qingque, who spent all day stealing the pastries Ruan Mei gave him.
Steal them if she wanted, but the key was that she never left any for him.
Even one piece would have been fine!
Thinking about it made him angry.
Ruan Mei's beautiful eyes rested on the man in front of her, thoughts turning in her eyes. "I want to ask you for a favor."
"Go ahead."
"Those monsters from the ancient sea."
Levi's expression grew serious. "Miss Ruan Mei, it's not that I don't want to give them to you. Those things are far, far too dangerous."
Since it had already been exposed, there was no need for him to keep pretending. He directly told Ruan Mei about the danger involved.
"If I hadn't removed the Honkai energy from your body back then, what do you think you would have become?"
'Honkai energy...'
Ruan Mei silently memorized the name and continued following Levi's words.
"Those monsters?"
"Yes."
"I am confident that I can cure the infected."
"I know you can do it. After all, you're a genius." Levi's expression remained serious, without easing in the slightest because of Ruan Mei's words. "But you need to understand one thing. Those monsters are merely the lowest-level byproducts created by this kind of energy."
Herrschers.
The most troublesome enemies that any civilization infected by Honkai had to face.
Their strength grew along with the strength of the civilization.
A Herrscher born in a weak civilization could even be beaten to death with someone's fists.
But likewise.
A Herrscher born in a powerful civilization could remain completely unharmed even if it were placed at the center of a star without any protection.
"This is the existence we should be most wary of."
As for Honkai beasts and the dead, compared to Herrschers, they simply weren't worth mentioning.
Looking at Ruan Mei, who was deep in thought and silent, Levi said, "Please forgive me for being unable to provide research materials. I need to do everything I can to prevent Honkai energy from remaining in this world for a long time."
What happened at the ancient sea had already made him realize that in this world.
Once a battle ended, not even the slightest bit of Honkai energy could be left behind.
Otherwise, if too many Honkai beasts and dead were naturally born, there was a good chance they would draw the true body of Honkai into this world.
Although it was only a possibility, being careful could never hurt.
He really didn't want to see one world-destroying Herrscher after another appear in the Star Rail world.
Especially the final one, the End.
If the End were born in a world like Star Rail, Levi had no idea how strong it would ultimately be.
'Perhaps... a Aeon? Or even beyond that?'
Levi now felt that crushing an Emanator was like crushing a persimmon. It would be more appropriate if the strongest End had, at the very least, the strength of a Aeon.
Ruan Mei silently nodded. Seeing that she was preparing to leave, Levi stood up to see her off.
Clatter!
The sound of something falling onto the floor echoed through the room.
When Ruan Mei reached the door and heard the sound, she instinctively turned around. One reason was to see what had fallen, and the other was to say goodbye to Levi.
She turned around, the words of farewell already prepared, but no matter what, she couldn't bring herself to say them.
The two stared blankly at the white object lying on the floor.
Levi was the first to recover. He hurriedly picked up the item and stuffed it back into the pocket on the other side, then touched the original pocket to see whether it had torn.
The result was, the pocket wasn't torn.
After recovering, Ruan Mei and Levi looked at each other.
The atmosphere was a little awkward.
"Goodbye." Ruan Mei remained silent for a moment. In the end, she said nothing else, said goodbye, and left.
Levi stood alone by the door for a long time.
Then he returned to his room and began rummaging through the cabinets.
———
"Run for it!"
"Huh? You're that, that Nameless from the Astral Express? Nice to meet you, nice to meet you!"
Stelle, who was sneaking away with her luggage, suddenly felt someone grab her hand. Instinctively, she was about to pull out her baseball bat and give them a hit.
But when she saw the other person's face, she immediately put the baseball bat away.
Wasn't this the online blogger 'Guinaifen' who had interviewed Levi?
Hearing the name the other person used for her, Stelle frowned. "Wrong. It's the Astral Express, not the Starry Sky Express."
"Ah, look at me. How did I make the same mistake as Sushang?"
Guinaifen tapped her own head twice and said with a smile, "As a Nameless of the Astral Express, Miss, you must be very strong, right?"
Faced with the compliment, Stelle raised an eyebrow, looking proud. "Of course!"
"Then that's perfect! We're looking for someone strong!"
A hint of delight appeared between Guinaifen's brows.
Because she thought Levi might get busy sometimes, she had planned to find one or two powerful people to work as bodyguards while she went to the Fyxestroll Garden to film material.
She had originally planned to post a bounty online, but then she saw someone familiar on the road.
A Nameless of the Astral Express, Stelle.
Levi had mentioned this person before. It seemed he had said that a few nice words and a little benefit would be enough to trick her over.
Looking at the proud expression on the other person's face.
What Levi had said really was correct.
"Does it include food and lodging?", Stelle suddenly spoke.
Guinaifen replied without hesitation, "Yes!"
A smile appeared on Stelle's face as she held out her hand. "Pleasure doing business!"
'I've found somewhere to stay again!'
Guinaifen also smiled. "Pleasure doing business."
She had found another Nameless to work as a bodyguard just by offering food and lodging. She had made a huge profit, right.
[Ding-dong!]
[Elysia: @Levi, the matter on Kiana's side has already been resolved, right? It's been so long.]
Seeing Elysia @ him in the group, Levi continued rummaging through the cabinets while replying to her.
"Perfectly resolved! If you don't believe me, ask Kiana."
[Kiana: ...]
Kiana merely gave two cold laughs at this and made no comment.
"What about Lumine?" Elysia spoke again. "Didn't she also have something she needed help with?"
Why had she suddenly disappeared now?
Could it be that she had already been flattened?
Not long after the message was sent, Lumine popped her head out. "Thanks for the medicine, I've been released."
She was currently enjoying some delicious food at Wanmin Restaurant.
[Kiana: Damn it! You didn't even call me!]
Looking at the dishes that no one dared to touch first, as well as Kiana's message in the group.
[Lumine: Are you coming or not?]
[Levi: Charcoal-grilled Slime? Cold Slime salad? Steamed Slime? After seeing these dishes, do you still want to go?]
Looking at the series of dish names Levi had revealed, Lumine recalled the Slimes she had seen in the wilds of Teyvat, and a chill ran through her entire body.
She hurriedly shook her head. "I'm not going, I'm not going."
Seeing that Levi was free now, Elysia told him about her own matter.
"Su found you."
"Su is looking for me?"
His rummaging hands paused. Looking at the message Elysia had sent, Levi's gaze grew increasingly strange.
He had thought that Mobius might look for him, or Blanca might look for him, but he had never really considered Su looking for him.
'What's up?'
Had he been shocked by the quality of his secret manuals and wanted to give him a few more blessings?
"Then I definitely can't miss it!"
A blessing from his father-in-law. Even if a Aeon stood in front of him, Levi could still punch straight through them!
After parting from Elysia, Su suddenly felt a chill rise in his heart.
"..."