Starfire Furnace's internal dormitory quarters.
Su Yu lay flat on the single bed in his room.
Hands pillowed behind his head.
He stared blankly at the gray-white acoustic panel on the ceiling.
With the Main Mission's progress, Starfire Furnace had officially become the new stronghold for Anti-Entropy and their whole group.
Inside the base, Kiana could move about freely now, no longer bound by any restrictions.
Over the past half-month, miHoYo Studio hadn't been idle.
The new version's update content had already been finalized.
The next chapter wouldn't just bring a Main Mission interlude — it would also release Chapter Ten: Beneath the Abyss.
At the same time, the Deep Sea storyline content tied to Bronya and Seele would be released alongside it.
Tomorrow was the day of the new version's preview livestream.
Over the past month, the destructive force unleashed by 'Final Lesson' had far exceeded anyone's imagination.
That short animated film, steeped in tragic grandeur, had landed like a heavyweight bomb, blowing the entire gaming community into chaos.
Players cursed Su Yu online for being heartless, all while pouring real money into Honkai Impact 3rd, sending its revenue soaring to terrifying heights.
The Emotion Points converted from all that feeling had turned Su Yu's System account balance into a staggering figure.
As for the progress bar of the side quest named 'Saving Private Himeko'—
—it had settled firmly at forty percent.
Four months left.
Su Yu silently counted down the days in his head.
He sat up from the bed.
The room wasn't large.
But under Eden's utterly unrestrained infusion of funds, this ostensible dormitory was, in terms of amenities, no different from a luxury suite at some high-end hotel.
A latex mattress, a private bathroom, and a floor-to-ceiling window with a panoramic view of the underground bomb shelter.
For the sake of easier scheduling and training, Su Yu and Kiana had moved their things out of that old rented apartment half a month ago.
These past two weeks, Su Yu had finally gotten to enjoy the luxury of sleeping in a room all to himself.
And yet.
He glanced at the empty couch beside him.
No sound of a certain white-haired Paramecium grinding her teeth in her sleep, or mumbling about wanting pizza.
No waking in the middle of the night to see her tumble off the couch in some ridiculous dream, either.
The room was so quiet he could hear water running through the pipes in the walls.
It really did take some getting used to.
Su Yu rubbed the bridge of his nose.
He knew.
Right now, Kiana was surely lying in Cecilia's room.
That girl was probably wearing a sickeningly sweet smile, face buried in Cecilia's arms, sleeping soundly.
The corners of Su Yu's eyes softened.
Family, right by her side.
Companions, just next door.
No more drifting from place to place, no more fear of being hunted down at any moment.
Wasn't this exactly the life he'd first set out to build for that girl?
Now, that wish had already come more than halfway true.
The drifting girl who once curled herself up like a hedgehog, wary of the whole world.
had finally, in this world, in this base, found a place to call her own.
She was no longer rootless duckweed adrift.
Su Yu picked up the comm terminal on the nightstand and checked the time.
Eleven fifty-seven.
Three minutes left before his appointed time with Rita.
Rita's room was at the other end of the floor, less than fifty meters from his own.
Time to get moving.
He pulled up the System panel, his gaze settling on two gold-gleaming items in his inventory slots.
A Nano Stigmata Inscriber, and a full set of Aphrodite Stigmata, already redeemed.
With this Stigmata set, plus the soon-to-be-deployed Shadow Iron Valkyrie armor—
—Rita's combat strength would reach a whole new level.
Even against an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, their group would finally have the standing to go toe-to-toe on the front lines.
Su Yu stood up, zipped his jacket, and walked out the door.
The corridor's motion-sensor lights flicked on one after another.
Su Yu stopped in front of the door bearing Rita's nameplate.
He'd just raised his hand to knock on the metal door.
A small camera above the doorframe lit up with a ring of blue light.
A red scanning beam swept across Su Yu's pupils.
A crisp, synthesized electronic voice rang out in the silent corridor.
"Iris match confirmed — Master Su Yu, welcome."
Click.
The heavy metal door automatically swung open a crack.
Su Yu's hand froze in midair.
He stared at the gap in the door.
When had he ever registered his biometrics with this door? And on Rita's private dormitory door, no less.
"Rita? I'm coming in."
He knocked twice on the door and pushed it open, stepping inside.
The layout of the space matched his own room exactly.
But the scent in the air was entirely different.
This was the first time in days he'd actually stepped into Rita's room.
The room was kept without a speck of dust.
Every piece of furniture was arranged with an almost obsessive-compulsive symmetry, the decor carrying a classical European elegance.
On the coffee table sat a white porcelain vase holding a few fresh lilies still beaded with water.
A faint fragrance hung in the air, a blend of floral scent and some high-end body wash.
"Master Su Yu? Please wait a moment."
Rita's voice carried through a frosted glass door.
Behind that door was the bathroom.
Through the glass—
—Su Yu could hear the splash of shower water striking the tile floor.
Steam had fogged the glass into a white haze, leaving only a vague, shapely silhouette swaying behind the curtain of water.
"Please, have a seat. I'll be right out."
"Mm."
Su Yu grunted in acknowledgment. He walked over to the European-style high-backed chair by the window, pulled it out, and sat down.
The sound of water in the bathroom stopped.
Less than two minutes later—
—the frosted glass door slid open.
A gust of hot, humid steam poured out through the gap, washing over Su Yu's face.
Su Yu turned his head.
Rita emerged from the steam.
She had only a white hotel-style terrycloth towel wrapped around her.
The rising heat of the bathroom had flushed her already-fair skin with an enticing shade of pale pink.
Her ash-gold hair, damp and short, clung to the sides of her face, droplets dripping from the ends.
A single glistening drop slid down her long, smooth neck, tracing over collarbones as delicate as a work of art.
The droplet continued down along the contours of her pale skin, disappearing at last into the swell of flesh straining against the towel, vanishing beneath the concealing fabric.
The hem of the towel was short.
It barely covered the tops of her thighs.
Her long, slender legs were completely bare.
Her bare feet left a trail of damp footprints on the dark wood floor.
Su Yu looked at the towel, held in place by nothing more than a single clip at her hip.
Beneath that layer of fabric—
—there wasn't a single mark from any other garment underneath.
He pressed a fist to his lips, coughed hard once, and shifted his gaze to the lilies beside him.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Su Yu said, eyes fixed on the vase. "Timing it so perfectly that you're showering right when I show up."
Rita walked over to the vanity.
She picked up a dry towel and began drying her wet hair, watching the man seated in the chair through the mirror.
In the mirror, an unmistakable trace of amusement had crept into her eyes.
"Mm." Rita tilted her head, letting the towel soak up the water from her hair. "Couldn't it just be that your usually careless maid miscalculated the time today, and, not wanting to greet her esteemed master drenched in sweat, had to rush off and clean herself up in a hurry?"
Su Yu pressed the back of his hand to his forehead. "Do you want to hear yourself right now?"
Rita, forgetting the time?
This woman, whose scheduling precision could account for errors down to the second, miscalculating the time?
The odds of that were lower than Kiana suddenly cooking up an entire imperial feast tomorrow morning without blowing up the kitchen.
"So then," Su Yu lowered his hand, looking at her reflection in the mirror, "what new test has Instructor Rita cooked up this time?"
Rita draped the towel over the back of a chair.
She turned around and, bare feet padding across the floor, walked slowly toward Su Yu.
"As expected of you, Master Su Yu," Rita said softly. "You've seen through my little scheme at a single glance."
Su Yu didn't move from the chair.
He wasn't surprised by this kind of trick.
Over the past two months of hellish training, Rita had used incidental — or not-so-incidental — physical contact and torn clothing countless times during their sparring, trying to divert his focus and shake his fighting resolve.
But that had always been out on the training field.
Now they were in this enclosed private room, thick with fragrance and steam.
Only a thin towel between them.
Skin glimpsed and hidden by turns.
Add to that the natural, bone-deep allure this woman carried.
It was a hormonal assault devastating enough to overwhelm any ordinary man.
Rita didn't stop in front of Su Yu.
She circled around the chair and came to stand behind him.
Su Yu sat there.
He didn't need to turn around; his sense of smell could already catch the faint, steam-touched scent of a grown woman drawing close to the back of his neck.
The next moment—
—Rita's body pressed directly against his back, separated only by the damp towel.
Startling warmth radiated from the point of contact.
The curve of flesh, compressed and reshaped, registered with vivid clarity against every one of Su Yu's nerve endings.
The muscles of his back instantly went rigid as a sheet of iron.
Two pale arms reached around from behind, crossing to encircle his neck.
Rita bent slightly at the waist.
She rested her chin on his shoulder, damp strands of hair brushing against the side of his face.
Warm breath washed over the curve of his ear.
"My apologies, Master Su Yu."
Rita's voice sounded right beside his ear.
Her voice was pitched low, carrying the faintest breathy edge.
"Watching you surpass your teacher in today's test, defeating me with the very techniques I taught you — I really was happy for you."
Her arms tightened slightly, pressing her chest closer against him.
"But as your instructor, being surpassed so effortlessly... I do feel a bit of dissatisfaction in my heart."
Rita tilted her head slightly, her lips almost brushing his earlobe.
"So let me savor a little longer this flustered look of yours — where you don't even dare to breathe too hard."
"Consider it punishment from your wicked-hearted maid."
Su Yu's voice came out rougher than usual. "Do you know what it means to play with fire?"
Rita let out a soft laugh right beside his ear.
The laugh sent a faint tremor through her chest, transmitted straight through his back.
"If that were truly your nature," Rita said, "then everything happening right now would actually be a lot simpler to deal with."
Su Yu's brow twitched.
"Hm?"
Rita released her arms from around his neck.
She straightened up.
But she didn't step away from behind him.
"Do you know, Master Su Yu—"
Rita looked at his shoulders, faintly rigid under the light.
"—the title 'S-rank Valkyrie' has never simply been a rating of combat strength, nor just a symbol of destruction and killing power."
She paced slowly behind the chair.
"What it represents is the highest peak of humanity's technology and willpower in this era."
"And among the three active S-rank Valkyries currently serving Schicksal, I specialize particularly in intelligence reconnaissance and assassination work."
Rita stopped just behind his right shoulder.
"Because of the special nature of my work, I often have to move along the fringes of various factions, dealing with all sorts of people — politicians, mob bosses, corporate power brokers."
She looked at the side of his face.
"So I know very well what lies hidden beneath the mask a person wears."
"And I know very well exactly what kind of person you are."
The stillness of the corridor outside seemed to seep into the room.
The hum of the air conditioning vent became the only background sound.
"You're the kind of person who would set his own flesh and blood ablaze without a second thought, just to pave an easy road for others."
Rita's voice grew calm, all trace of the earlier teasing gone.
"People like that, after the fact, might be enshrined on an altar by the world — called Forerunners, called heroes."
She looked at the man sitting in the chair, his back held ramrod straight.
"But to me, you're just a liar — and not even a very skilled one, with lies and rhetoric that aren't all that convincing."
"Someone like you will always show only the good side, the hopeful side, to the people around you."
"While swallowing down all the fear, all the pressure, every sacrifice destined to bleed — carrying it all alone, by yourself."
A rare note of a sigh crept into Rita's voice.
"You worry about too many things. You think too far ahead."
"You won't even allow yourself the means to indulge, to let your own emotions out."
She walked back behind him.
She reached out, fingertips resting lightly on his shoulder.
"Just like right now."
"Here I am, dressed like this, nothing but a towel, pressed defenselessly against your back."
Rita's fingertip traced slowly along the fabric of his shoulder, sliding down toward his spine.
"And yet what's running through your mind isn't turning around and taking me for yourself."
"You're calculating."
"You're thinking about my future, Kiana's future, the future of everyone here."
Su Yu sat silently in the chair.
The only sound left in the room was the ticking of the wall clock's second hand.
Sometimes, not answering is itself the most honest answer.
There were some things he truly couldn't bring himself to say.
His throat felt like something was lodged in it.
And there were feelings he couldn't allow himself to take even half a step toward.
Su Yu knew he was a man dull to matters of the heart.
If not for a blade pressed to his throat, backed to the edge of a cliff with no room left to retreat—
—he would never have willingly confronted the tangled mess of feelings inside him.
But.
No matter how dull he was—
—he was still a living, breathing man.
How could he not understand the dependence hidden in Kiana's mismatched eyes, every day as she waited with hot food for him to come home?
How could he not know what it meant, the yearning written plainly in Eden's gaze whenever she looked at him?
And he remembered, even more clearly—
—just how heavy the words 'body and soul, wholly given' had been, months ago, when the woman standing behind him now had lowered her proud head and sworn her oath of fealty.
But.
There was something else he knew even more clearly.
All the good things.
All the Bonds.
All these feelings.
All of them had to survive the coming apocalypse unscathed.
All of them had to make it past what Aponia had spoken of — the so-called Fated Death he was destined to meet.
"You've already made up your mind—"
Rita's fingertip stopped over the center of his back.
"—to leave the rest of us behind and go to your death alone. Haven't you?"
The words cut straight through the tightly wrapped shell around Su Yu, drawing out everything he'd been hiding away inside.
Su Yu looked out at the pitch-black night beyond the window.
His expression didn't so much as flicker.
"Do you think I'm the type to leave things half-done, to give up the moment I run into trouble?"
Su Yu's voice was flat, betraying no emotion at all.
"I'm not going to abandon all of you and run off on my own."
The hand Rita had rested on his shoulder slid slowly away.
She let out a soft sigh.
"You know, Master Su Yu," Rita said, "that's not actually answering the question."
Su Yu set his hands on the arms of the chair.
He turned his head, meeting Rita's eyes with a flawless smile on his face.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
The two of them stared at each other in the quiet room.
Rita looked into those eyes, calm without the faintest ripple.
She knew that door had been bolted shut again from the inside by Su Yu.
There was no way she'd get anything more out of him.
She sighed once more, letting her arms fall away completely, and stepped back.
The lethal warmth pressing against Su Yu's back vanished.
"Very well then," Rita's voice returned to its usual maidly professionalism and poise. "Let's get down to business."
She walked over to the couch and sat down, crossing her long legs.
"You mentioned in your message that you had something related to Stigmata for me."
Rita looked at Su Yu.
"What is it?"
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