(Volume V: Placeholder)
The Hyperion was positioned quite far from the border. The main trio had driven for several hours, even stopping for a quick lunch by the roadside, before finally arriving under the massive shadow that blotted out the sun.
Stepping out of the vehicle, Fuli cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone and shouted up at the silver battleship suspended in the air. "Mei—! Sister Kallen—! We're hoooome!"
"We're back! We're back!"
Kiana joined in the commotion, raising her small hand and waving enthusiastically in that direction.
They waited for a moment. Just as the bouncing duo of Fuli and Kiana began to get suspicious, an invisible gravitational field descended—somewhat reluctantly—and lifted the off-road vehicle into the sky with precision, depositing it steadily onto the deck that the Cat Cakes had swept clean.
The twilight afterglow was like splashed molten gold, soaking the horizon of Kazakhstan. Vast drifts of clouds were edged in silver by the last rays of sunlight, while a faint, pale sliver of a moon had already quietly emerged in the clear southeastern sky.
"Go, go, go! Let's go home."
"Mm... let Bronya sleep a little longer..."
Leaving the driver's seat, Fuli fished his sleepy little sister out of the back seat. Carrying her like a piece of luggage, he ran toward the bridge alongside the impatient Kiana.
After a few twists and turns, they reached the entrance. The moment the electronic door slid open, Sauce rushed out with a loud bark.
"Woof!"
"Awoo!"
"Haha! Sauce! Long time no see!"
Kiana, tackled to the ground, aggressively rubbed the dog's head, her pure, youthful face blooming with a bright smile.
Since joining the Hyperion, this was the first time she had been away for so long, so it was no wonder the dog was so clingy.
Of course, Sauce understood the concept of spreading the love. He soon left his owner and ran to circle around the "Owner's Mate"—that is, Fuli.
What? Bronya?
A Ural Silver Wolf and a Cyber-Mechanical Hound are of the same species!
And if they are the same species, they are merely rivals fighting for favor!
Yes, this is the Sauce version of "There are no bad people, only bad dogs." It made one seriously suspect he wasn't modeled after a Husky, but rather a Golden Retriever—another large breed known for its... personality.
Bronya wasn't about to stoop so low as to get jealous of a dog. She lazily curled up on the sofa and was just about to pull out her handheld console when something familiar caught the corner of her eye.
Perched on Mei's high nose bridge was a pair of rimless glasses.
It was that specific Curios of Kiana's: The Glasses That Display Sexual Experience Count.
Why is that woman wearing those things?
Bronya was a little curious. Following Mei's line of sight, she realized the target was her own brother.
Ah, checking up on him. That makes sense, that makes sense...
It wasn't like modern society lacked internet. During their downtime executing missions in the Kanas region, the trio would contact the Hyperion frequently.
Mei was well aware of the situation regarding her boyfriend living under the same roof as his cousin, Ah Hua.
Dead of night, a lone man and woman, in the prime of their youth—if some delightfully cliché anime rom-com plot didn't happen, would they be doing justice to the eager expectations of the audience behind the screen?
Piqued by curiosity, Bronya shimmied her little butt over and whispered, "See anything?"
"Useless. This thing is broken."
Mei, who had read her mind, sighed and took off the artifact, handing it over.
The girl took it, put it on, and looked around:
As expected, Mei was a 0. Kiana was a 0. Bronya, seeing her own reflection, was also a 0.
But Fuli—
"Indeed, it's broken."
Bronya took off the glasses and tossed them casually aside.
The number above the boy's head had sprouted a ridiculous amount of zeros at the end.
Originally, it was at most a large golden cloud made of digits. But now? The string of numbers was so long it couldn't even fit inside the spacious bridge.
It was truly a case of "Qin Shi Huang going to Shanxi"—the "Imperial" (Yellow/Lewd) levels had reached the coal mines (the extreme).*
[T/N: A pun on "Huang" meaning both "Emperor" and "Lewd/Yellow." Essentially, the lewdness count was off the charts.]
Rationally speaking, if the number had only jumped up by a few dozen or a hundred, they could have tried to mathematically deduce the number of times Fuli and Fu Hua had done the deed based on the timeframe.
But this?
This had zero reference value.
"Hey, hey! Don't just throw them!"
Seeing her precious artifact discarded by Bronya, Kiana rushed over in distress to pick it up.
She put them on, struck a pose, and raised a shapely eyebrow at Fuli. "How do I look?"
Behind the lenses, a cunning smile intertwined with a sharp gaze. That unconcealable liveliness and flamboyance seemed ready to spill out of the frames.
"Super-duper ultra-mega damn cute!"
The boy gave a thumbs-up, revealing a mouthful of healthy white teeth.
"Heheh~"
Kiana lifted her chin triumphantly. She spun around in place and was just about to say something else when—
Kallen poked her head down from the ceiling, snatched the glasses right off Kiana's face, and twirled them in her hand. "Incoming external comms from Shenzhou. It's the Celestial of the Phoenix. Want to take it?"
Her long, pure white braided ponytail hung down, swaying mesmerizingly.
"Take it! Take it! Of course we take it!"
Fuli answered without thinking, completely missing the puffed-up, angry cheeks of the white-haired tuna beside him.
He then added gloomily, "By the way, Sister Kallen, that wasn't cool of you. Why didn't you tell me sooner that Cousin Ah Hua was the Celestial?"
"How was I supposed to know before? If I hadn't seen the intel you little brother sent back, I'd still be in the dark myself."
Rolling her icy, beautiful eyes upward, Kallen spread her hands innocently.
To be fair, when she learned that Fu Hua = The Celestial, the Saintess was also shocked.
It was true she possessed most of Kallen Kaslana's memories, but in her eyes, the Fu Hua who occasionally showed up before was, at most, someone who looked similar.
At first glance, it seemed ridiculous. On second thought, it was normal.
Unlike Otto, Kallen really wasn't close to the Phoenix.
The only time they met in her life was on the decisive battlefield of the Kipchak Steppe. The strongest S-Rank Valkyrie of Schicksal brought the Divine Key, Oath of Judah, to the party—only to be suppressed by the Ancient Emperor instantly with a backhand slap. Did the whole fight even last twenty minutes?
This gave Kallen a stereotypical impression of "The Celestial Emperor is Invincible." Even after obtaining the Purple Box containing the Herrscher of Corruption and leaving Schicksal, her first reaction was to go to Shenzhou to ask for help.
And the result?
Fire rose on Mount Taixuan. A golden light shot into the sky from the peak, illuminating a hundred miles. The martial arts legends said the Phoenix had perfected her cultivation and ascended to immortality.
After that, there was nothing.
Hearing her explanation, Fuli realized she had a point.
If Kallen could link Fu Hua—a seemingly innocent A-Rank Valkyrie—to a legendary Immortal based solely on that little bit of intel, then she could have just flown the Hyperion straight to the Schicksal floating island.
She could have marched right into the Central Dogma, kicked a certain gloomy blond man aside, sat on the Overseer's throne with her beautiful long legs wrapped in gold-trimmed white silk crossed, and confidently declared: You think you're the smartest person, Otto? You little sht, I am!*
Though, a timeline where Kallen becomes the Overseer...
Thinking of this, the boy looked up at the white-haired Saintess floating around.
Regardless of how it would develop, Sister Kallen would definitely look super good in the female version of the Overseer's outfit.
"Want to see it? Or perhaps extend that thought... have the Saintess of Schicksal, dressed in expensive Overseer robes, kneel before you and ○ your ○○○?"
A ghostly voice drifted into his ear.
"Eek!"
Old Man Fuli knew who it was without turning his head.
He hadn't been back on the Hyperion for so long that he forgot Mei's electromagnetic perception could read surface thoughts!
At this critical, life-threatening moment, Fu Hua appeared on screen and saved her little cousin.
A holographic screen unfolded timely in front of them, revealing the gray-haired girl looking around.
A greeting came immediately: "Good afternoon, Cousin Ah Hua!"
My cousin is as enthusiastic as ever, Fu Hua thought, nodding gently.
Fuli continued, "Shenzhou didn't give you a hard time, did they, Cousin?"
Huh?
A question mark slowly floated above Bronya's head.
She recognized every word, but why did they make no sense when strung together?
It was only when her gaze swept over Mei, who was standing ominously behind Fuli, that she understood. Her brother was just making conversation to stall for time.
"Not really. The key issue is actually on your side."
Knowing nothing of the context, Ah Hua simply assumed her cousin was worried about her. Feeling a warm current in her heart, she apologized, "I'm sorry. My strength was insufficient. I couldn't stop Qinghong and the others."
Her fragmented bangs hid her lowered eyelashes, and she bit her lip until it glistened.
Her fingertips unconsciously kneaded the wrinkles in her uniform sleeve, the reddened corners of her eyes faintly visible in the shadow.
"No, no, no!"
Fuli, a massive cousin-con at heart, felt terrible seeing this. He hurriedly comforted her, "If you guys hadn't helped, just Yanqing and that aerial battleship would have been enough for us to handle. We never would have gotten those extra twenty minutes to escape the border."
"Mhm! Mhm!"
Kiana nodded like a pestle pounding garlic. "Class Monitor, you have to put in a good word for those fishing uncles! They're all good people!"
"Rest assured, Qinghong won't trouble them."
"And those people down below!"
As an MVP player who had traversed the Eurasian continent for four years, Kiana understood perfectly well the concept that "The King of Hell is easy to deal with, but the little demons are a nuisance."
This principle applied globally.
"I will keep an eye out for them," Fu Hua promised solemnly.
"So, Class Monitor, now that the Kanas incident is over, have you thought about where you're going next?"
Bronya collapsed onto the sofa, her petite body sinking into the cushions.
Kiana didn't quite get it at first. "Where else? Back to St. Frey—a..."
Her voice grew thinner and thinner until it was inaudible.
"Looks like she realized it. There's still hope for her," Bronya noted, withdrawing her reminding gaze.
Fu Hua had joined St. Freya under a concealed identity. Leaving aside her reasons for doing so, Kiana—being Theresa's precious niece—certainly couldn't keep this a secret.
Moreover, during the previous tomb battle, Siegfried, who had been knocked out, woke up early and overheard the conversation between the Immortals and Fu Hua.
Now that he had confirmed her identity, he would 100% tell Theresa. The Principal might be lazy when it comes to using her brain, but she wasn't actually stupid. How could she keep a spy by her side—
"Hey, hey! Trying to steal my student?!"
A crisp, childish voice rang out abruptly as another screen unfolded on the bridge.
"Don't think this Principal doesn't know what you little brats are planning! You want to squeeze Fu Hua out of here and then trick her into joining your Hyperion, right?"
Today, Theresa was still wearing her signature black nun outfit with gold trim, the ornate golden threads on the hem and cuffs flowing with fragmented light.
She crossed her arms, puffing her cheeks. "I'm telling you, no way! So what if she's the Celestial of the Phoenix? So what if Grandpa sent her? As long as Fu Hua herself doesn't want to leave, St. Freya will be her home forever! Uwah!"
"There's also the factor that 'The Celestial being a student is super cool'."
An ice-cold beer was pressed against Theresa's face. While the girl shrieked, Himeko added with a grin, "I personally think it doesn't matter. But if Hua leaves, no one will take the initiative to clean up the mess after our parties."
"You're clearly just bullying an honest person, Auntie Himeko!" Kiana yelled, pointing a finger at her.
"Student Asakura Miyuki helps clean up too," Fu Hua said with a wry smile.
"Little Miyuki only comes out when no one else is around," Himeko said with a straight face. "In this regard, Hua, you're much more useful."
"Ha... haha..."
Even knowing the older woman was joking, the girl's knuckles cracked.
It's hard! My fist is getting hard!
"So, Class Monitor, what do you choose?" Mei, who had been silent for a while, asked the soul-searching question. "Hyperion? Or St. Freya?"
"I..."
"What about Shenzhou? Is our Taixuan Front not in the Grandmaster's consideration?"
A third screen unfolded. Situ Qinghong had arrived!
"Grandmaster, you previously said you needed to repay a favor to Otto Apocalypse, which is why you accepted his request to infiltrate St. Freya," the blonde girl said eagerly. "But now, your true identity is known to everyone present. There is no meaning in continuing undercover. Why not take this opportunity to officially return to Shenzhou and lead us in resisting the Honkai and the many enemies from outside the world!"
"The people of the Motherland need you!!!"
The lethality of this sentence was immense. Fu Hua fell into deep hesitation once again.
"Why are all these random people popping up?"
Seeing these people barging in without even saying hello, Kallen was ten-to-ninety percent dissatisfied.
The Hyperion was her turf!
As a fellow top-tier Super AI, it was one thing when she was in other people's territory, but in her own base, she represented absolute authority.
Snap!
The Saintess snapped her fingers. The connections from St. Freya and the Shenzhou faction, which had intruded using the computing power of Ella or Bai Ze, were instantly dropped. Only Fu Hua was left standing there alone.
The indecisive girl clearly let out a sigh of relief.
[How about letting Ah Hua use Fenghuang Down to split herself into three parts?] Dr. MEI popped up with a suggestion at this moment. [One for the Hyperion, one for Shenzhou, and one for St. Freya. That way, the Host can also harvest three times the happiness.]
What happiness?
Guess~
[Shoo, shoo. Nothing but terrible ideas.]
After habitually dismissing the unreliable System No. 2, Fuli stroked his chin and offered his own suggestion. "Cousin, you don't need to decide where to stay so early. The worst thing in these situations is making a hasty decision because outsiders are pressuring you."
"Don't have any psychological burden either," he added cheerfully. "Even if you choose to stay at St. Freya or go to Shenzhou later, I can always run over there to play with you."
"Cousin..."
Ah Hua was deeply moved.
Bronya rolled her eyes, thinking to herself that the scenario she created had once again been used by her brother to farm affection points.
Eh? Why did I say "once again"?
"Hard to say," Mei said, speaking from a practical perspective. "For the time being, Yuan, you'd better not step into the territory of the Taixuan Front. Unless you want to get arrested."
True, when the orders were first issued, the Shenzhou side had intended to invite Fuli politely.
But that was the old price.
Now, after the two sides had caused such a ruckus at the border, the other side definitely wouldn't be as easy to talk to as before.
"Oh."
Fuli punched his palm, indicating he understood. Then he said, "Cousin, you'd better not consider the Taixuan Front then. That way I can't come visit you."
"That's too realistic of you!"
Kiana glared and hammered his chest with her little fists.
Fu Hua didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I will consider it."
She felt a strange sensation in her heart. Since when did she become such a hot commodity?
...