Humans are in chaos, despicable outsiders.

"But you did a really good job, Princess Himeko. When a heartache eventually becomes a knot that a person cannot understand or overcome, the inner demons and karmic obstacles can be resolved for others. Isn't that a good deed?"

Having sat quietly under the Bodhi tree listening to the entire city's events, Su finally spoke. The man opened his eyes, looked at Raiden Mei's departing figure, and nodded.

"Oh, Dr. Su...that child has finally come to his senses? So quickly?!"

Upon hearing Su speak, Himeko turned her head to look at the gray-haired youth beside her.

"To be precise, she has already figured out her own feelings—all that's left is to express them."

Su nodded.

"That's good... Speaking of which, that little girl Imotek is really something. She looks to be the same age as Mei and the others, so how come she's so clueless about human relationships..."

Relieved, Himeko began to complain about a certain white-haired girl.

"...That child, perhaps, cannot be called Mei-san's peer, Himeko-san."

Su shook his head, piquing Himeko's curiosity—

"Dr. Su, what do you mean by that? Surely that child isn't some old relic from the last era like you?"

"No, she is not from the same era as me, but she is certainly comparable—that child's consciousness is not composed of an independent individual... but rather comes from the bloodline left behind by my comrade Kevin in this era, a mixture of the will, beliefs, and memories of generations of the Kaslana family..."

"—and an existence formed from the fusion of a somewhat peculiar and sublime will... Having merged with all the memories and wills of the Kaslana family, she is in a sense comparable to the state my friend Kevin was in at one time..."

"A savior demon king... or rather, a 'monster'?"

"...This is truly incredible information, Dr. Su. Does she know about it herself?"

Having heard some startling news, Himeko Murata lowered her voice and asked quietly...

"Naturally, I don't know either... I also ask Miss Himeko to help keep this secret."

Chapter 290 Those who know, know.jpg

"Hey hey, it's been a while! You seem to have changed a lot?"

Raven, sitting in the cockpit of the transport plane, looked at Raiden Mei in the co-pilot's seat, who seemed to have just gained some insight, and was a little confused for a moment.

"It's nothing, I've just come to terms with it."

"You've come to terms with it? Well, you came to terms with it pretty quickly. You were just acting like you were dying in the lobby a moment ago."

Having piloted the transport plane to the autopilot altitude, Ciora handed over control of the aircraft to the onboard AI, looking at Raiden Mei next to her as if she were some rare species.

"So what exactly is your relationship with Kiana?! You almost choked me to death in the lobby just now..."

Seeing that Raiden Mei had given a very cold reply and then remained silent, in order to pass the long time on the transport route, Siola took the initiative to start a conversation—

"Speaking of which, I've met that Herrscher named Kiana a few times in Sky City."

Seeing that Raiden Mei was completely ignoring her, Shiora decided to drop a bombshell.

"What! You've met Kiana!"

The bait that Siola throws out is so tempting that it's almost too good to pass up, but there are always people willing to take the bait.

"Hey, calm down! This is the pilot's seat, don't lunge around and touch things!! And don't discharge electricity everywhere! This is an airplane, not my coffin!"

Immediately, Siola regretted her fishing attempt—

"I'm sorry—so Kiana, she..."

Realizing her outburst, Raiden Mei immediately composed herself, reverting to her somewhat expressionless demeanor.

"Phew... If I ever mention that white-haired guy to you again on public transport, I'm not a raven, I'm a free-range chicken!"

After flipping the misplaced switches back to their original positions, Theola let out a long sigh and looked back at the Thunder Queen, who was sitting obediently in the passenger seat.

"Let me make this clear first, I only know a little about that white-haired knight lady. If you want to ask me everything, I can't answer you."

"No, I only want to know one thing... Raven, how is Kiana doing?"

"How are you doing? That's a really difficult question—never mind... as a mercenary, I'd say she's doing quite well?"

"She has a lively character around her who keeps her entertained, and a dragon as her maid. She eats well and sleeps well... I can only say that she's living a pretty good life, except for being a bit busy rushing around to film sets and stuff."

Ciora, in the driver's seat, shrugged.

"That's good...."

Raiden Mei nodded, seemingly relieved...

"What a strange fellow, is that all he cares about in the end?... So, that knight lady is really the Thunder Queen's prince charming?"

"My beloved...?! What! No...?"

Raiden Mei was stunned for a moment, then blurted out a denial.

"Mmm, I understand, I understand—"

The raven nodded, giving me a knowing look.

"...Hmph, think what you want."

Reflecting on her previous behavior, and realizing that explanations would be futile, Raiden Mei could only snort in the end, trying to save face.

After a long silence, Raiden Mei looked at the few scattered boxes of supplies in the cabin and raised her question.

"So why are we bringing so little stuff??? Changkong City should have been rebuilt a year ago with the help of Anti-Entropy and Destiny. And even if it's for transporting supplies, this is far too little, isn't it?"

".....???"

Mei's question surprised Raven.

"You really only heard about that knight lady and followed me here... We're not going to New Changkong City, but Old Changkong City, which is the ruins that were created during the Third Honkai Impact."

"I adopted several orphans born from the Third Honkai Impact there, so I need to bring so many supplies to them."

"An orphan? If I remember correctly, the old city is a dead city, and there are Honkai Beasts and zombies roaming around it. Why would you put an orphan there...?"

"Do you think I wanted this? Those children are different from other Honkai survivors—there are only two kinds of people who can survive the Great Honkai: Herrschers like you and Awakened Stigmata."

"People in this era all possess the genes of the Holy Mark. Given enough external stimulation, they can become overt Holy Mark bearers. However, the children I adopted seem to have only partially awakened their Holy Marks because they live on the outskirts of the city..."

Siola sighed and added—

"The semi-awakened and fully awakened stigmata are two different things. Fully awakened stigmata wearers can move freely between the Honkai and non-Honkai zones, while semi-awakened wearers will also gain resistance to Honkai, but they cannot freely move between the two zones."

“Once they leave the non-collapse zone, those children’s bodies will experience severe withdrawal symptoms.”

"Isn't there...is there really no way?"

"Yes, we're transporting supplies. This is a drug I commissioned Jackal to develop. It can guide the children to gradually and fully awaken their Holy Marks. This is the last few courses of treatment."

Siola pointed to several boxes behind her.

“I brought this huge transport plane not just to deliver this little bit of medicine, but also to take the children out. Jackal told me not long ago that the children’s withdrawal symptoms will disappear after another course of treatment. So I will stay here for a week to take care of these children through this most important course of treatment.”

"As for Raiden Mei, you can stay here for a week at most. Anyway, you two are both Herrschers, so you should have a similar ability to sense each other, right?"

Siola looked at her companion beside her and confirmed it.

"The ability to sense each other...? I guess so..."

Having neither received instruction on using the Herrscher Core nor been taught by anyone else, the Thunder Queen responded somewhat uncertainly.

"Anyway, good luck. Remember, we only have one week. If you refuse to go back in the end, I can't really do anything to you... but the Lord and the others will definitely have me under their thumb."

"I'll consider it a good deed by the Thunder Queen to save my life."

"...Okay, but you can't interfere with my actions for these seven days."

Mei paused for a moment, then looked at Siola's neck beside her, where there was a mark left from where Siola had been choked earlier. A pang of guilt welled up inside her...

“That’s easy to say. I’m just here to see the children. As long as you don’t endanger them, I won’t interfere with your actions.”

"Of course, I didn't realize you were so kind-hearted."

Mei nodded to Ciora.

"Is it a deal?"

"It's a word."

Chapter 291 The Scumbag Girl's Time

Headquarters of Destiny, Core of the Eastern District.

“The executive from World Serpent called Gray Serpent gave us a piece of information: Kiana appeared in the old Changkong City, and her image was captured by the surveillance cameras left by World Serpent in the area.”

Mr. Stargazer slapped several photos onto everyone's faces; it was a white figure with a high ponytail.

"I'll leave the intelligence here. You can decide how to proceed yourselves. I'm going to rest now. By the way, I've basically processed all the official documents of your so-called Destiny Organization these past few days."

"What I received at the bishop's office was basically the same as I expected—mostly applications and declarations."

"If we process things quickly enough, it can be completed in less than half a day. The only slowdown in the first few days was because I wasn't very familiar with this thing called a computer..."

"So how did Bishop Theresa, who looks just like me, manage to sit in this chair all day long?"

The stargazer raised the biggest question that had been accumulating in her mind over the past few days...

"Perhaps the headmaster has slacking off into his genes...?"

The group thought for a moment and then murmured amongst themselves.

"Alas... tomorrow and tomorrow, how many tomorrows there are; I live waiting for tomorrow, and all things are wasted—"

"Your Excellency, I have said all I can say. Take care of yourself."

He waved to Theresa, who seemed to want him to stay and help for a few more days, and walked towards the door.

"Let's put the academy head's matter aside for now. We need to bring Kiana back. Come to think of it, Kiana has been running wild outside for so long."

Bronya grabbed the photo left by Mr. Stargazer, looking somewhat envious and jealous.

"Ahem... Let's put my matters aside for now. This mission mainly involves negotiation, and there might be some fighting..."

Theresa stepped forward and began planning their next move.

"As you can see, Dean, I'm off to my office again."

“Jiuxiao, you… never mind, you should stay at headquarters. I’m afraid you’ll punch Kiana into the ICU… Besides, the Honkai events have been happening more frequently lately… We need someone to stay at headquarters to support branches that might have problems.”