Honkai: Star Rail – Banner Character, Delivering Knives to the Player [14]

Lingzhou is not a Masked Fool.

Seriously.

Lingzhou: "Young lady, you’ve got the look of someone born to sail the stars. I can tell you’re destined to make a name for yourself across the cosmos. Staying on the space station just to be studied by Herta would be a waste of your talent. Why not join the Astral Express and become a Nameless? Start your own journey of brilliance."

① “That was so inspiring! I’m in!”
② “Do I get free meals if I join the Express?”

Ah Xian really wanted to click “join.”

But that second option… it tickled her curiosity just enough.

Lingzhou let out a hearty laugh.

Lingzhou: “Of course! The conductor prepares a feast for everyone every day.”

Lingzhou: "Sometimes you’ll even get to enjoy Himeko’s hand-prepared afternoon tea. It’s a full benefits package."

"Any other questions?"

① “Nope. Looking forward to working with you.”

Lingzhou: “Welcome aboard. Once you’re on the train, don’t forget to find me for your boarding gift.”

The screen transitioned into a cinematic cutscene.

Soft, uplifting music began to play.

March 7th strolled up the train ramp with her usual sassy strut, chatting and laughing with Lingzhou.

Himeko gave Stelle a light pat on the shoulder, her voice warm: “Come aboard.”

Stelle nodded slowly, glanced back one last time, and waved goodbye to Asta and the others.

When she saw Herta turn on her heel and walk off without hesitation, she suddenly felt a quiet relief about her choice.

Lingzhou had been right.

Staying on the space station as Herta’s lab rat… within two days, she’d probably be tossed aside and forgotten.

“Why do I feel like Stelle’s expression just now was kinda relieved?” Ah Xian muttered.

She didn’t think too much of it and waited for the CG to end.

After talking to Pom-Pom, she immediately panned her camera around the train—found Lingzhou.

Lingzhou: “There you are. Here, a little something from me—just a small token of goodwill.

Lingzhou: "These glowing stones have mysterious properties. You might find a handful of them scattered in hidden corners of the galaxy. You’re… special, so maybe you’ll discover what they’re truly for.”

[Obtained: 1600 Stellar Jade]

As Lingzhou’s clear, composed voice rang out and the onscreen reward popped up…

The chat lost its mind.

[GODFATHER!]
[Father dearest!]
[Is that true, Godfather?!]
[Guess I have no choice but to pull for Lingzhou now.]
[Ten pulls just for talking to him? Say no more. If he’s willing to claim me, I’m ready to swear filial piety.]
[There wasn’t a word of this in the livestream. Damn.]

“Y’all better not say a word against Lingzhou from now on. He’s my dad!”

Ah Xian said it straight, causing the whole chat to burst into laughter.

[Wait, is he your dad or your husband?]
[So this is the kind of kink you’re into, Ah Xian…]
[Honestly though, calling him daddy does hit different.]
[Can we split the difference?]
[If this keeps up, we’re gonna get the stream flagged.]

Lingzhou: “You like it?”

Like it?
We love it!

Players could never agree on favorites.

But in gacha games, free pulls are universally adored. No one complains about those.

Lingzhou: “I haven’t formally introduced myself yet. I’m Lingzhou, the Express’s doctor.

Lingzhou: "If you’re ever feeling off—tired, fatigued, low on energy—come find me anytime. I’m pretty good at helping people unwind.

Lingzhou: "There’s still some time before the next jump. Want to try relaxing now?”

① “Sure.”
② “Not right now—got stuff to do.”

“Like hell I’m choosing Option Two. But wait—what exactly does he mean by ‘relax’...?”

Ah Xian’s mind, being the mind of an “artistic” creator, immediately went there.

But alas—this was a 12+ game. Obviously, it wasn’t going to deliver the scene she was imagining.

What played instead was a short animation of Lingzhou laying out a set of acupuncture needles.

[Under Lingzhou’s acupuncture, your mind and body feel deeply relaxed. Recovered 60 Trailblaze Power.]

[During this session, your consciousness experienced a brief, wondrous journey. Obtained: 10 Stellar Jade.]

“???”

“Oh my god. He really does restore stamina.”

“And—he gives Stellar Jade too?”

Ah Xian tried talking to Lingzhou again, wondering if she could trigger more rewards.

But the system gently informed her: one relaxation per day.

“Ohh, I get it.”

“So basically, you can come to Lingzhou every day and recover 60 stamina. That’s great—it’s like having 300 daily instead.”

[That’s more than Genshin!]
[True, but we don’t know yet how costly the material grind will be.]
[No rush. We’ll find out soon enough.]

,,,

Since launch was still fresh, anything related to player welfare spread like wildfire.

More and more players were discovering that you could talk to Lingzhou daily for 60 stamina…

And that your first chat after boarding the train netted 1600 Stellar Jade.

On top of that, the stamina recovery sometimes came with a bonus reward.

Ah Xian soon noticed someone in her chat showing off—

They’d received 10 Special Passes from Lingzhou as a bonus.

“Wait—seriously?”

[Swear on my short stack. Check my profile, I’ve got proof.]

Ah Xian flipped tabs, went to the viewer’s profile.

Right there, pinned as their top post: a screenshot of the 10-ticket jackpot.

“Holy crap, a full ten-pull bonus?!”

“If that kind of chance exists daily… then some of y’all are about to zoom ahead!”

“Okay, everyone report your drops—let’s see how many different bonus types there are. Wait, better idea—I'll make a poll on the HoYoLab forums.”

She kept her eyes on the stream chat for a while, until she was confident:

The bonus drops included only three types—Stellar Jade, Special Passes, and Standard Passes.

All randomly assigned.

Later, she checked the live poll results—already hundreds of thousands of responses.

Over 97% of players had only gotten the baseline 60 stamina.

Just over 2% got the 10 Stellar Jade bonus.

The remaining 1% covered everything else.

The top-tier prize? 10 Special Passes.

Only two players had posted proof so far—one of them from her stream.

[There’s finally something to look forward to every day!]
[Liben, don’t call me again. I’m afraid my Godfather Lingzhou will get jealous.]
[He’s a literal godsend.]

---

Lingzhou sat on the lounge sofa, resting.

He’d spent all his faith points—but the return? At least a hundredfold.

Setting up the sign-in system had been absolutely the right call.

The system, in this life, wasn’t entirely useless after all. Finally doing its job.

If it had emotions, it probably would’ve wept with joy by now.

Finally… finally, I’m not getting yelled at by my host anymore…

“Lingzhou, Welt, your afternoon coffee.”

Himeko, ever elegant, brought over two steaming mugs and set them gently on the table.

Neither of the two grown men—fully capable of handling world-ending crises—could stop the brief flicker of unease in their eyes.

“Uh, is today’s coffee… a new recipe? Or one of the usuals?” Welt asked, trying to sound casual as he subtly sniffed the aroma.

Smelled fine, at least.

...Though that might be the problem?

Tasting normal might be the real red flag.

“It’s a new blend. I’ll be developing more tomorrow.”

Himeko smiled sweetly, a hint of excitement in her voice.

“This time, the supply shipment included some excellent new ingredients—I’ve already mapped out dozens of new combinations to try.”

Lingzhou: “……”

Yeah. Next expedition, I’m definitely getting off the train.

---

T/N: bro... daddy

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!