Honkai: Star Rail – Banner Character, Delivering Knives to the Player [37]

At this point, the players reached the end of available story content—because their Trailblaze Level wasn’t high enough.

The main quest required Trailblaze Level 14 to continue.

“Ugh, seriously? Even the public release makes us grind levels?” Ah Xian groaned in frustration. “Now I have to grind side quests and use up all my stamina just to get enough experience.”

“It’s like watching a race where the track’s ready, but the engine suddenly stalls. It’s such a mood-killer!”

“Husband, wait for me—I’ll reach Level 14 fast and come back for you!”

“Chat with characters on the map?”

“Oh, right, almost forgot. But I’m in a hurry, so I'll just check the Express crew’s dialogues.”

“For the rest of them, go watch another streamer.”

She walked over to March 7th, who was nearby, and pressed F.

Honestly, if she weren’t curious about any new Lingzhou-related dialogue, she would’ve gone straight to him instead.

After hearing March’s general impressions about the Underworld, she selected "Opinions on Others."

March 7th: "Honestly, I'm not really good at figuring people out, but ask away—I’ll share what I think."

[Sampo?]

"Ugh, he's sneaky and lazy—I don’t like him at all. Thank goodness Lingzhou’s here to keep him in check."

"If Sampo ever approaches you for a deal, be careful or you’ll get tricked. Better get reliable Lingzhou to watch your back."

“Haha, Lingzhou—officially designated Sampo-counter!”

“Allow me a tiny spoiler about something irrelevant.”

“Sampo is probably a Masked Fool who loves making trouble, and what a coincidence—husband Lingzhou loves trouble too.”

“Two troublemakers meet, but somehow it’s totally one-sided.”

“I can't help wondering—could Lingzhou secretly be an Emanator of Elation?”

“After all, in his voice-over he explicitly says he isn’t a Masked Fool, but never denies any ties to Elation.”

“That's not necessarily mutually exclusive, right? 'Not a Masked Fool' ≠ 'Nothing to do with Elation.'”

“Emanators of Elation messing with Masked Fools fits pretty well, doesn't it?”

“Anyway, that's just me guessing—don’t clip this out of context, please!”

Ah Xian glanced through the character list and suddenly blinked, puzzled.

Something felt off.

Someone was missing.

When she spotted Lingzhou standing next to March, she finally realized who it was:

Hook was missing from Lingzhou’s route!

From entering the Underworld until now, Hook hadn't appeared even once in the main storyline.

Some viewers also noticed this, though not many minded, since Hook’s role in the original story had always been minimal.

[Bronya?]

"Oh, the young military officer lady? She's pretty nice, actually—and beautiful too."

"When she thought we were interstellar merchants, she warned us honestly about potential dangers and advised us to leave."

"Even when Cocolia ordered our capture, Bronya didn’t just blindly follow orders. She thought for herself."

"Honestly, when Sampo knocked her out, I wanted to shoot an arrow into his kneecap."

"But seeing him injured and stuck in the clinic now… Well, you get what I mean."

"Bronya seems to have a lot on her mind right now, so she probably won't arrest us anymore."

[Scythe Girl?]

"Come on, Lingzhou said her name was Seele."

"Yeah, she’s blunt and harsh, but being stuck here for over a decade—I wouldn’t be nice to surface-dwellers either."

"My impression is she’s just straightforward. It felt good hearing her rant at the Silvermane Guards, but Bronya doesn’t seem to be lying either. We’ve seen how Bronya is ourselves."

"Ugh, finding the Stellaron is hard enough—I really don’t want to get dragged into local grudges."

“Next up—husband Lingzhou~”

She pressed F.

“How’s your first Trailblazing journey so far?”

① "I’m used to it. Adventure makes me happy."
② "I never imagined a Stellaron could devastate an entire world."

Lingzhou nodded. "Even now, our understanding of Stellarons is limited."

"But don't worry. The Stellaron inside you is stable for now. It won't suddenly cause trouble."

"According to my research, there might be some unique resonance between Stellarons."

① "Resonance?"
② "What does that mean exactly?"

"Hard to say—perhaps visions of past events, or sensing each other's locations."

① "Have you found anything out about the Underworld?"

"Of course…"

Seeing the remaining dialogue options, Ah Xian realized the content was basically the same as in beta.

After quickly finishing the dialogue, she hurried off to grind levels.

---

Somewhere secluded in Boulder Town.

Watching Seele’s silhouette vanish into the shadows of the eternal night, Bronya turned to face the Astral Express crew, complex emotions filling her gaze.

Stelle shrugged. "Don't look at us like that. If we hadn’t brought you down here, nothing we said would’ve fully convinced you."

"Now that you’ve seen how people have lived here for over a decade, do you still think Cocolia was completely right?"

Bronya felt an emptiness in her heart—a loss from seeing her former beliefs shattered.

One of Seele’s remarks left her especially speechless:

"What exactly have the Silvermane Guards protected down here?"

Nothing.

The Underground was ravaged by the Fragmentum and monsters. People were starving and restless. The supplies sent down from above were shockingly inadequate.

How were people supposed to survive on so little?

"…I'm sorry," Bronya finally whispered, biting her lip. She had so much more to say, yet the words refused to come out.

Lingzhou took out a rifle and handed it to her.

"An apology means nothing. What matters is changing all of this."

Bronya silently took back her rifle and nodded solemnly.

After a moment, her voice low and strained, she said:

"If there’s anything you want to know, I'll tell you everything I can—no more hiding."

The Express crew exchanged glances.

"How much do you actually know about the Underworld?" Lingzhou asked first.

"Unfortunately, most of what I know comes from today," Bronya admitted, shaking her head.

Lingzhou wasn't surprised. "Then you must at least know why the Underworld was sealed off in the first place?"

Bronya nodded slowly. She recalled the top-secret document she'd once read and recounted it carefully:

"Fragmentum monsters above ground had grown increasingly active. The front lines were under extreme pressure."

"The Architects had no choice but to recall all Silvermane Guards to the surface to defend against the monsters."

"Two years ago, I proposed reopening the Underground passages in case the Fragmentum spread below, but…"

"My mother said that if we couldn't hold the surface defenses, the Underworld would collapse from losing supplies anyway."

"In hindsight, there was probably more to it—something I didn't fully grasp."

Lingzhou gave a faint smile.

"You already know; you're just unwilling to face the truth. Stop clinging to your naive hopes, Bronya."

---

This is a fan translation of 崩铁：卡池角色，给玩家发刀 by 三十度幻. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!