thefictionvixens Page 27
Page 27
“Why? Kaslana will never stand by and watch her people sacrifice themselves. I have the power to do so. I can’t just watch! I can’t do it. Please, they have a better future. As Miss Rita said, go and save more people.”
After struggling for a while but unable to break free, Kiana pleaded with Bai Zhi to let her join the battle, saying she could save more people.
“Mr. Paimon, I can join Kiana in the battle.”
"Bronya agrees."
Raiden Mei and Bronya were equally unable to bear it, witnessing their comrades fighting against the Honkai and dying before their eyes, they could not remain unmoved.
"Shut up and sit still. You're not even worthy of being called D-rank Valkyries. If you join the battle now, you'll only disrupt the battlefield strategy and make their sacrifices a joke." Bai Zhi stopped the three of them from doing something stupid without any politeness.
Yes, that's right. In terms of strength, the graduating students wearing standard Valkyrie armor on the front lines are probably no match for you.
The battlefield is never a one-man show.
“Strength, absolute strength, represents absolute authority. If you have the strength to wipe out all the Honkai Beasts in the city by yourself, I will not stop you. If you have the strength to forcibly subdue me, I cannot stop you. If you are strong enough that all the Valkyries trust your strength, I will even take the initiative to let you participate in the battle.”
"But unfortunately, you didn't. You're so weak that you can't even beat me. Participating in this battlefield called the Flesh Mill will only lead to your death."
Kiana, who had just left Changkong City, possessed a unique and somewhat unorthodox Kaslana gunfighting style, a ruthless spirit honed from her struggles in the darker side of society, and a smuggled collection of ordinary firearms and a limited amount of ammunition.
Without a fixed place to live, they rely on daily jobs for food. The authority of the Void Herrscher is suppressed by the dormant Sirin personality. Only Kaslana's Honkai energy resistance can be considered adequate.
This setup allows Kiana to participate alone in the early stages of exploring the ruins of Changkong City, paired with the swordswoman Raiden Mei and the heavy-armored bunny summoner Bronya.
Bai Zhi was afraid that one day, if she were to carelessly fail to keep an eye on them, the future triumph of Yuehai Yuyu Cat would be gone.
The miracle was forged by two civilizations. Bai Zhi did indeed intend to betray destiny, but that did not mean he betrayed humanity.
The time loop initiated by the Herrscher of the End on the Honkai side targets the entirety of human civilization. Bai Zhi will not gamble on whether the shared mechanism of Bai Zhi Space can allow his consciousness to travel through 50,000 years of time.
The Tree Sea Universe and the Blue Arc Universe do not have the same probability of reincarnation mechanism.
"Rita, get dressed and come with me. I'm taking these three ladies to witness firsthand the cruelty of the Honkai. Good seedlings can't grow into towering trees without experiencing wind and rain. They deserve my serious attention."
Rita is an S-rank Valkyrie, representing the limit of what mortals can reach. Combined with Bai Zhi's strength, theoretically, as long as they don't encounter multiple Honkai Emperors, leading three burdens into the Changkong City Ruins dungeon is like a high-level character carrying low-level characters, making the level of danger relatively low.
Theoretically, there shouldn't be any danger, but what if there is?
Bai Zhi gambled.
Discussing deeds, one does not care about one’s heart, and no one is perfect when considering one’s heart.
If Kiana were to gain some prior awareness and a preliminary understanding of what it means to 'fight to protect the goodness of humanity', then this would be a good opportunity.
That would be worth it.
“Since it’s your request.” Rita’s hands, which were resting on the maid’s skirt, clenched slightly. Her gaze swept over the three girls in turn, finally settling on Kiana. Rita knew some of the inside story of K423, and she also had some guesses about Durandal’s true identity.
It's not surprising that Rita knew that she was Otto's black glove.
The problem is coming.
Despite his appearance as a sixteen-year-old boy, he is actually just a one-year-old baby.
How did Bai Zhi know this secret, this little-known information at headquarters?
Who exactly is the guy standing behind him?
What outcome is being achieved by using Angelica dahurica? Is it an influence on destiny? Or a test of His Holiness the Bishop?
Rita sighed; she would have to spend a considerable amount of time reporting to the bishop again tonight.
"OK, you three heard that, right? We're leaving in ten minutes." After giving the order, Bai Zhi didn't give the other party any room for objection and looked out from the deck at the route ahead.
The Hyperion used the bay area as a breakthrough point, attracting more than 50% of the city's Honkai beast horde.
The route then enters the city from the station intersection, passing through commercial streets and large supermarkets, through residential areas and park streets, and finally stops at Chiba Academy for rest.
The purpose of this trip is to give Kiana a trial.
Humans are best at empathy, and the tragic experiences of her compatriots will lay a solid foundation for Kiana's growth.
Honkai Impact 3rd Serpent Soloist: Chapter 54 The Walking Dead
"Mei, Bronya, how many people have you encountered? I've searched four apartment buildings, opened every door, and checked every single room, but still haven't found a single living person. You tell me, I'm just incredibly unlucky, aren't I? Ha...ha..."
The girl, shaking her head with a gloomy expression, was wary of her surroundings. Her pure white combat boots were stained with the blood of the assassins, and her silenced guns were emitting white smoke from overheating.
"Idiot Kiana."
Riding on the shoulder of the heavy bunny, Bronya cursed the paramecium in her heart. This kind of topic was taboo and could not be discussed with Raiden Mei. Did you want to experience the Third Honkai again?
"It's alright, Kiana. There are quite a few residential communities in Changkong City, including villa areas, commercial areas, industrial areas, and company dormitories. There are still many places for us to search. Don't give up too soon."
Purple blood dripped from the gleaming blade of the katana. Raiden Mei forced a smile and said, "The biggest perpetrator of the tragedy that destroyed the city is now talking about saving it. The girl is going to look down on me."
The boy crossed his arms, a celestial purple robe slung across his waist, his gaze fixed on the bay area, listening to the echoes of the battlefield, silently pondering the duration of this battle, the casualty ratio, and even Theresa's subsequent harshness and helplessness.
Suddenly, Bai Zhi noticed the three girls returning. She gestured to the maid in the Hunter's Suit, Shadow Iron, beside her for the next instructions. While she could talk about it, in practice, Rita, the vice-captain of the Undying Blade, was more suitable.
"Lord Paimon, real-time satellite monitoring shows that the Honkai Beast horde that was lingering on the road has been lured away. Based on data simulation, we will not encounter any large Honkai Beasts blocking our way in the short term. Rita suggests that we set off immediately."
"Okay." Bai Zhi waved to the three of them: "Get ready to leave."
"But, there's still half of the building missing..." Kiana tried to struggle a little longer.
Even just one person, she is Kaslana!
"That's enough, Kiana. We've wasted more than three hours. If we keep dragging this out, we'll miss the original schedule." Bai Zhi scoffed, pressing Kiana's head down with both hands and turning her to her two friends: "Are you going to risk your friends' lives for strangers you don't even know? It's not worth it. Nothing is perfect. You should learn to make choices."
Kiana's stubborn gaze dimmed as she chose to compromise for the sake of her friend's safety.
If it were just her, she wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice anything, but Kiana couldn't bring herself to sacrifice her friends or even her lover.
"Kiana, we talked about Kaslana before, and your answer was that 'Kaslana would never stand idly by and watch her people sacrifice themselves'."
The Church of Destiny was founded by the Kaslana, Shaniat, and Apocalypse families, and lasted until Bishop Otto seized power and established the New Destiny five hundred years later.
The Kaslana family remains the oldest, most established, and most powerful of the three founding families of Schicksal. For a long time, many elite warriors of the Kaslana family have been remembered throughout history for their exceptional fighting prowess.
Forcibly grabbing Kiana's hand, Bai Zhi wouldn't leave her alone to make a foolish mistake and leave Rita's protection; he was afraid Kiana would disappear into some unknown corner.
He intended to make Kiana realize the truth, and first he needed to tear away the beautiful facade that Kiana wore on her heart.
"My old man didn't preach any grand principles. When we lived in the snowfield, he patrolled the area around the village every day, stopping and killing the Honkai Beasts that attacked the village. He never stopped, even when he was covered in wounds. Those were the most peaceful years the village had ever had." Kiana's eyes lit up when she talked about Siegfried. Her father proved Kaslana's chivalry with his actions.
Bai Zhi felt it was absurd; what village would be attacked by collapse every moment?
Given Otto's current level of limiting civilization's development, it's true that Honkai events occur from time to time. However, if we expand the scope to the entire planet, one might be lucky enough to never encounter a Honkai disaster in their lifetime.
The reason why we are attacked by Honkai Beasts day and night is that Siegfried settled in the village with K423, which led to natural disasters and man-made calamities.
Going alone to clear out the Honkai Beasts around me is to atone for my sins and make my heart feel better.
No, Bai Zhi could only imagine a walking corpse following its past, searching for a reason to live.
Looking at it this way, Bai Zhi glanced at Kiana. She was able to survive her childhood thanks to the Kaslana bloodline. She remembered that Siegfried was an alcoholic back then.
"It seems I misunderstood Mr. Siegfried. He also had times when he protected others. I'm sorry, I don't know much about him. Most of the information I got came from my elders."
Bai Zhi didn't hold back in recounting Siegfried's dark history to Kiana.
During his rebellious youth, he was unwilling to inherit the responsibilities of the family patriarch and ran away from home, leaving the old patriarch to grit his teeth and persevere amidst the covetous eyes of the collateral branches. It was not until he met Cecilia that he decided to return to the Kaslana family and beg the old patriarch to give him a chance to atone for his sins.
Later, with the help of his outstanding talent, Siegfried caught up with the family's front-line troops in just one year. With Otto's deliberate help, he married Cecilia, the renowned Saint of Shaniat, and only then did he secure his position as the head of the Kaslana family.
"My dad and mom's marriage was an arranged marriage..." Kiana frowned, looking slightly uncomfortable, but then relaxed. Arranged marriages didn't matter, as long as there was love: "My dad loves my mom very much. I used to often hear him calling my mom's name in his sleep."
"Love? Indeed, they love each other very much, to the point that they ignored the strange looks from others and still chose to be together."
"...Cousin, what are you saying?"
"One is a traitor who once betrayed his family, and the other is a successor entrusted with the family's hopes. In terms of sentiment, reason, public and private matters, the two clans that opposed the two coming together are beyond your imagination."
Kiana fell silent. She wasn't naive; she'd been through the ups and downs, and that's why she understood reality.
"Love arises without knowing its origin, yet it runs deep; affection has no fixed source, yet it remains steadfast until death," Bai Zhi sighed, "In the end, they still got together. The die was cast, and both families tacitly accepted it. Although it was a marriage alliance, marrying the one you love was a beautiful story. It's a pity what happened later..."
"What happened next? How did Dad become like that?" Kiana asked anxiously. Bai Zhi changed the subject without denying it, saying, "If you want to know, I can tell you, but only if you answer one question for me: Why did Siegfried run away from home in the first place? And is Kaslana's responsibility really 'protecting the world'?"
Bai Zhi stopped in her tracks. Before her lay the Thousand Feather Academy, scarred by battle.
Honkai Impact 3rd Serpent Single Fan: Fifth Generation Qi Liu Yin San: /` Chapter 15 Mutual Compromise
"Everyone, now that we've arrived at Chiyu Academy, to avoid being ambushed by assassins while we sleep, we'll split into two groups. Rita, you take Raiden Mei and Kiana to clear out the east campus, and I'll take Bronya to clean up the west campus. We'll meet at the cafeteria in three hours."
After speaking, Bai Zhi chose to leave alone, and Bronya quickly chased after her, leaving Kiana standing there in a daze.
Rita, standing beside her, was puzzled by Bai Zhi's instructions. Along the way, the latter had spent most of her time talking to Kiana about the older generation of Kaslana, but now she had chosen to team up with another person. She didn't understand, but Kiana was also one of the people Otto had secretly instructed Rita to monitor.
As long as Bai Zhi and Kiana don't both leave Rita's sight at the same time, she doesn't mind giving young master Bai Zhi some private time.
"Paimon, this doesn't seem to be the way to the west campus."
Bronya squinted. She'd already left the school, let alone gone to the west campus.
"..."
"I remember you were an assassin. What, you haven't had any work in years? Has your professional skill declined?" Ignoring the girl's gaze, the emotionless loli was indeed eye-catching. Bai Zhi was only planning to escape Otto's clutches and couldn't care less about romance.
There was still some distance to their destination, and Bai Zhi didn't mind chatting with the little girl: "On the surface, I'm here to deal with the aftermath of the Third Honkai Impact, but that's not actually the case." In the end, no matter how much Otto wanted to learn something from Bai Zhi, how could a baby who was just over a year old understand how to deal with Honkai?
“On the surface, Rita is my assistant, but she’s the one who actually handles the important matters. At St. Freya Academy, apart from making dinner and taking breaks in class, where do you think she goes? Rita isn’t a game NPC; she won’t stay still and wait for the player to return during cutscenes.”
"Where is the St. Freya teaching monitoring special envoy?"
"Of course it's just a bluff."
When you go out, you have to provide your own identity.
Bai Zhi chatted and joked with Bronya casually.
He only revealed half of Rita's purpose.
Rita was indeed the one responsible for handling the aftermath of the Third Honkai Impact; she had other tasks to complete.
Monitoring Angelica dahurica?
No, you're wrong. The person Rita really wants to monitor is Kiana, and K423.
One is a pawn of the Sirin Project, which has been cultivated for ten years, and the other is a special android that appeared by chance.
Otto was determined to win against the former.
For the latter, it's just a trivial move.
Before Otto learned that Bai Zhi knew too much information she shouldn't have, her importance was far less than that of Kiana.
"Adults compromise half out of necessity and half to avoid trouble."
When Bai Zhi suggested splitting up into teams and Rita acquiesced, the unspoken implication was that Bai Zhi had left to handle personal matters.
"Also, Bronya, we've only known each other for four days, calling me 'classmate' is too formal. From now on, I'll call you Bronya, and you can call me Lord Paimon... Oh, we're here."
"You think you're right just because you're strong?" Bronya thought, not bothering to argue with her. She secretly rolled her eyes, her disdainful gaze fixed on the scumbag who was abusing a young girl. Her gaze shifted to the basement bar with the nameplate 'Raven' engraved on it.
Suddenly, Bronya glanced around and noticed something amiss.
Where are the Honkai Beasts?
Since leaving Chiyu Academy, the two have never concealed their whereabouts. Given the Honkai Beasts' ingrained malice towards humans, they should have attacked long ago, but they don't know when it started, the Honkai Beasts have all disappeared.
"Led away by the Gulf War Zone? No, the data from the Heavy Bunny scan shows that the concentration of Honkai Beasts, zombies, and even Honkai energy is lower than in other places. Could this area have been cleared out beforehand? Who did it?"
Bronya was even more puzzled upon drawing this conclusion. According to her understanding, the forces in the world that had absolute lethality against Honkai Beasts were either Schicksal or Anti-Entropy. Schicksal's branch, St. Freya, had opened up a war zone, so its headquarters didn't need to send any additional personnel. Anti-Entropy's mechs, on the other hand, would never have been so quiet.
Overwhelmed, Bai Zhi took Bronya's small hand, pushed open the door of the 'Raven' bar, and walked down the spiral staircase into the basement hall.
The bar was very soundproof; the soothing background noise was completely unnoticed from the outside.
The bar was bathed in a blend of orange light and filled with an unknown fragrance. The interior was spotless and tidy. It seemed like a normal bar, but it was abnormal that it was operating in the ruins of the abnormal Changkong City. By the way, did this bar even need customers?
"How much revenue have you made these past few days? Enough to break even?" Bai Zhi asked directly to the woman behind the bar who was shaking a cocktail shaker.
Short gray hair, with a tuft standing up on top. Rose-red eyes with pupils shaped like snakes, a beauty mark on the left corner of her mouth, adorned with burgundy metallic embellishments, and a fitted leather bartender's uniform that accentuates her figure.
"This is not a question a guest should ask." Raven glanced at Bai Zhi and recognized the employer. Perhaps the deposit he gave was really generous (Bronya's money). The mercenary lady didn't mind letting him know what it meant to expose someone's shortcomings without revealing their weaknesses.
“If you don’t know how to mix drinks, don’t force yourself to open a shop. Natasha Ciora, the restaurant business is tough. Even a simple coffee shop is difficult. You don’t have cooking skills. Most of the bar’s income comes from gang members and intelligence brokers. It’s thanks to them that you’ve embarked on the path of no return as a mercenary.”
"Bronya, go and show off the reputation of the Ural Silver Wolf. Mix a Ramos Ginfizz and let Miss Raven understand what it means to be the No. 1 mercenary in the past."
Bronya, with her cat-like face on her arm, went to the bar to prepare the necessary ingredients. Raven scrutinized her and took her mixing bowl, starting the Ramos Ginfair, a bartender's nightmare that requires continuous shaking for more than 12 minutes to create a dense meringue foam and demands extremely high arm strength and rhythm control.