Introduction: Summer Carnival 2022 announcement of collab
During the Summer Carnival 2022 stream, this trailer announcing the Legend of Hei collab appeared at the end.
If you find the style kind of familiar, it's because the same animation studio of Luo Xiaohei (Beijing Hanmu Chunhua Animation Technology Co., Ltd.) worked on the Lee Detective Agency animation for Arknights. Which was also shown during another older stream.
Curiously enough, the same background is used in both the Lee Detective Agency animation and the Luo Xiaohei trailer.
Recycling art or a hint to the collab plot? We will see. Some speculate that Xiaohei will end up in Lungmen where Lee's Detective Agency takes him in. For it fits his lore which I will explain in the next section.
It's Been A While event
The Luo Xiaohei collab has been announced for mid-September. Here is the introduction from the Developer Note.
You do not know, for the sake of meeting you, how long was the path I walked alone.
Noisy streets, dark pipes, deserted tombs, and even the threshold between life and death. But you do not need to know. Because from the moment we met, the footprints of lone travels have become the past.
You have me, I have a home. I do not need to wander from now on.
The event will begin mid September. New collab operators and collab costumes will be released.
Note: Collab operator can only be obtained through It's Been A While story collection event. It will not join any headhunting or standard recruitment.
It will not be collected in [Intelligence].
There is no banner, which means that Xiaohei is likely the welfare operator. Or maybe we could be getting multiple operators? But in the trailer there is only Xiaobai (who is just a 10 year old human) and Bidiu (a small yellow creature).
But unlike Nine-Colored Deer collab, there will be story and costumes like Rainbow Six Siege collab. I highly look forward to it.
About The Legend of Luo Xiaohei and some speculations for collab
Look at the cute black cat please watch for him.
The Legend of Luo Xiaohei (罗小黑战记) is a flash animation and webtoon developed by Chinese artist MTJJ (real name Zhang Ping 章平). It derives from an animated series that was mainly broadcast online in March 2011. As of July 18, 2021, 40 episodes of "The Legend of Luo Xiaohei" are available alongside 3 extra videos, "Exam Day", "Sh…", and "Goodnight Meow". A feature-length prequel film named "The Legend of Hei" was released in Chinese and Japanese theaters in September, 2019.
Plot of the web animation: The story begins on a rainy night when Luo Xiao Hei, a cat spirit, is badly injured after stealing Laojun's pearl artifact. As a result, he is transformed from his humanoid form to become a black kitten. He is then saved by a young girl named Luo Xiaobai, who takes him home. Luo Xiaobai and Luo Xiao Hei become good friends and their adventure begins. They live in a world where people, spirits, and gods coexist.
You can watch The Legend of Luo Xiaohei with English subtitles with this YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmb33LfttlX4BnPyc4BR9W394589iLjq6
There is also a movie which is a prequel to the web animation which you can watch on BiliBili with English subtitles: https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/2003044381
Movie summary: In bustling human world, various of goblins live peacefully with mankind. Luo Xiao-Hei, the cat demon, begins his journey of wandering because his forest home is destroyed. With sympathetic goblin partners and earnest human master appearing one after another, Hei is in the dilemma of which side will be his true attribution.
I highly encourage you to watch The Legend of Luo Xiaohei so that you can enjoy the collab. Like there is such a cute cat. Irresistible. The plot is sort of like Natsume Yuujinchou with the elfin being like the youkai if we are comparing to anime. At the same time there is a lot of hilarity (which I hope makes it into the collab) and breaking the fourth wall (eg. 'I'll be back by the end of the episode'). Episodes 30-40 have a very interesting video game isekai plot with very twisted and realistic rules since it's made by an elfin. Meanwhile the movie is a lot more serious.
Speculations:
-If the collab is really in Lungmen and Lee's Detective Agency, Xiaohei and Aak will have a lot in common: black cat boys who were suffering and lost before they found their ways. And then Lee will adopt more children: Xiaohei and Xiaobai.
-Unlike the R6S cast that stays in Terra, LXH cast need to go back to Earth. Xiaobai is just a 10 year old human girl who needs to go to school. Letting her stay at Terra would be too brutal.
-Due to Xiaohei's melee style of fighting with his body or sword, he will likely be a guard. And he has space warping abilities, so probably Lord class/ ranged guard like SilverAsh.
Either way, I hope you will like Xiaohei as much as I do and I look forward to the collab a lot.
Same for the Capcom collab announced during 3rd anniversary stream, though there has been no further information yet. Please do not ask me when for I have no connections with Hypergryph.
