Polka Kakamu: "..."
"Heh." Lin Yi let out a cold laugh.
"You think you can't assassinate Screwllum—or that he's too difficult to kill—but you can easily kill me?"
"So you picked me because you think I'm the soft target?"
Kakamu did not answer.
Whether that was the truth or not didn't matter.
Because in the next instant—
The scalpel was already pressed against Lin Yi's heart.
A small, delicate hand suddenly grabbed the scalpel—
And crushed it to pieces.
It was Zhuxing's hand.
Zhuxing appeared beside Lin Yi out of nowhere.
Her face was icy cold, eyes burning with anger as she stared at Kakamu.
Lin Yi smiled calmly.
"Why did you waste so much time talking to me?"
"If you're assassinating someone, wouldn't it be easier to strike before they can react?"
"One clean cut."
"Simple."
He noticed the confusion in Kakamu's eyes.
"Want me to explain?"
"Every 30 seconds, a message automatically sends itself to Zhuxing."
"If there's even the slightest irregularity—"
"She'll come immediately."
"And you cut off the communications between here and the outside world, didn't you?"
Lin Yi stepped back behind Zhuxing.
"Now for the real final question."
"Try guessing."
"How much Path power did Aha share with Zhuxing?"
"Try calculating the probability."
"Is Aha generous enough?"
"You're good with probability, aren't you?"
Zhuxing suddenly spoke in a low voice.
"Teacher."
"She's already gone."
The woman in the candy-colored dress—
Polka Kakamu—vanished instantly.
How much power Aha had given Zhuxing—
Only Aha himself knew.
It was a false premise.
Because if no one knows the real answer—
The truth could change whenever Aha felt like it.
If Kakamu had hesitated even slightly just now—
She might have been captured by Zhuxing.
Because Aha would never miss the chance to create a surprise.
Or perhaps a scare for Lin Yi.
But the entertainment Lin Yi could bring Aha was clearly far greater than Kakamu's value.
Lin Yi looked toward where Kakamu had been standing.
He already knew Zhuxing couldn't keep her here.
At least—not this time.
A faint glow flickered in Lin Yi's eyes.
From the moment Kakamu appeared—
He had been using Laplace's Demon to record everything.
Her movements.
Every environmental change.
Every tiny detail.
Kakamu's most troublesome ability was mobility.
Anywhere there was her portrait.
Anywhere someone spoke her name.
Anywhere she existed in someone's memory—
She could use it as a path to arrive.
But after observing her at such close range—
Lin Yi finally began to grasp something.
When Kakamu left—
Laplace's Demon suddenly encountered severe logical errors.
The process crashed.
But a problem appearing was actually the best possible news.
Zhuxing looked at Lin Yi.
Seeing he was unharmed, she finally relaxed.
Not even a scratch.
Lin Yi noticed her gaze.
"I'm fine."
"And she didn't stab my real body anyway."
"Even if that body died, it wouldn't matter."
"Besides—"
"Even if Kakamu had attacked my real body…"
"There still wouldn't be any problem."
"Did you forget the special stone that Qlipoth gave me?"
Lin Yi grabbed Zhuxing's hand.
"Alright."
"Let me see if your hand got hurt."
There was only a faint white mark.
Lin Yi frowned slightly.
"That scalpel of hers isn't ordinary."
Zhuxing smiled.
"Don't worry, teacher."
"You know my physical strength."
"Unless I take something like a neutron star explosion to the face at close range—"
"It's very difficult for me to get hurt."
Lin Yi nodded.
"Fair enough."
"Go back and eat your cake."
"Remember to bring me one."
Zhuxing still looked worried.
"But teacher… Kakamu…"
Lin Yi interrupted her gently.
"It's fine."
"Every genius has their own pride."
"She won't come again for a while."
He explained:
"She left so decisively this time."
"Until she finds a way to reliably deal with you—the unstable variable…"
"She won't come back."
Right now, no one knew how much power Aha had given Zhuxing.
So Zhuxing was like a nuclear weapon with unknown yield.
She might be:
A dud.
A Little Boy.
A Tsar Bomba.
Or maybe even an antimatter bomb.
A reckless person might not care.
But Polka Kakamu wasn't reckless.
She understood risk.
Until someone triggered that unknown explosive once—
She would not act rashly.
But then—
Why had Kakamu come just now?
Was it merely to ambush him and test her luck?
Or was it just a probe?
Lin Yi pondered.
Even though he didn't fully understand—
He was certain of one thing.
Kakamu wouldn't come again anytime soon.
Having dealt with so many geniuses—
And being one himself—
Lin Yi could confidently say:
"No one understands geniuses better than I do."
As symbols of intelligence in the universe—
All geniuses possessed their own pride.
Lin Yi reassured Zhuxing.
"Alright."
"Go on."
"When have I ever lied to you?"
Zhuxing tilted her head.
She thought about Herta.
Then Screwllum.
Then Ruan Mei.
Then looked back at Lin Yi.
…Hmm.
It did seem like geniuses were all like this.
But it felt like someone had been forgotten.
Stephen: "..."
Zhuxing nodded.
"Alright."
"I'll go first."
"I'll come back soon."
"Sister Qiqing has been traveling for a long time and walking around for hours."
"She's tired."
"I'll take her to her residence first."
Lin Yi barely looked up.
Then immediately returned to analyzing the Laplace's Demon error logs.
"Don't forget my dessert."
Zhuxing waved as she left.
"Got it!"
"I already packed it earlier."
After Zhuxing left—
Lin Yi continued processing the data.
And as expected—
The results matched his hypothesis.
Polka Kakamu's mobility came from multiple layered effects.
Her portraits.
Written records of her deeds.
People mentioning her name.
Living beings remembering her existence.
All of these could serve as anchors for her movement.
There was also her ability to tamper with mathematical laws and cosmic constants.
Through that—
She could temporarily disable most technological systems.
And create various impossible phenomena.
Simple teleportation naturally fell within that ability.
Lin Yi's expression grew serious.
This was a terrifying opponent.
Even with preparation—
It was impossible to feel truly secure.
Since arriving in the Honkai: Star Rail universe—
This was the most troublesome enemy Lin Yi had ever faced.
Polka Kakamu…
Was perfectly suited to counter him.
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