The collapse started when Kiana came to the door

The helicopter lowered the ladder, and a figure in military uniform grabbed the ladder and descended to the sea. All around were fragments of steel and faintly burning flames. In the midst of it, a man's body was floating quietly.

This man is the captain of the polar research vessel "Ice Dragon". He floats lifelessly on the cold sea, holding a soaked photo in his hand. In the blurred picture due to water, one can vaguely see the laughter of a happy family. The captain has a steel cable tied tightly around his waist. The figure in military uniform extends his gaze along the cable and sees an iron can covered with green paint.

That is a ship's navigation data recorder, which functions similarly to the black box on an airplane. In the last moments of his life, the captain of this research vessel chose to carry out his mission as the captain of the research team to the end.

The figure in military uniform squatted down, stroked the captain's eyes with his palms, and gently closed his eyes that were staring at the photo in his hand.

2014 December 1

Far Eastern Time, 5:40 in the morning.

Feeling tired, Li Shubai slowly opened his eyes.

Although he had just woken up, Li Shubai inexplicably felt that his body was heavy and stiff, as if the blood in his body had solidified and could not circulate smoothly.

His extremely tired brain was so slow that he couldn't even remember who he was. This made Li Shubai feel as if he would fall into a deep sleep again once he closed his eyelids as if they were filled with lead.

He shook his head and whipped his heavy hands and feet with all his strength, forcing himself to sit up from the bed.

Last night, after falling asleep early, he once again entered the crowded Holy Mark space.

Since entering the Stigmata Space was not accidental, Li Shubai, who already felt that time was running out, naturally had no reason to waste the time spent in the Stigmata Space. After talking with Otto for a while, Li Shubai quickly decided what he would do in the Stigmata Space.

For Li Shubai now, it was too far away to understand the knowledge that Otto mastered, just like forcing a child who couldn't even count to learn advanced mathematics. If he just wanted to pass the entrance examination, it would be enough for him to find an opportunity to study in the library of St. Freya Academy during the day after getting the scope of what he needed to learn from Otto.

Since the theoretical knowledge of these great researchers in the Holy Scar Space is not yet of use, Li Shubai naturally decided to use this time to hone his combat capabilities.

As for the person who can help improve his combat effectiveness, among all the stigma wills in this stigma space, there is only one person who has the best combat experience and knows how to teach others the best.

Fu Hua.

In response to Li Shubai's question about how to improve his actual combat skills, Fu Hua's suggestion was:

"Your foundation is not particularly good, but due to the results accumulated from your daily training, from the perspective of athletic ability alone, you have barely reached the threshold to fight."

"Even if you want to continue to hone your body, it won't happen overnight, and combat techniques can't be learned overnight."

"Although this jumpy training method does not conform to my teaching philosophy, since the captain's requirement is to obtain a certain combat capability in the shortest possible time, I think the only way is to make your body understand as quickly as possible in these few days what the so-called combat is all about."

"For the current captain, only by accumulating experience in being able to react even in desperate situations and being able to truly exert all of his athletic ability with a normal mind can he initially develop a certain combat effectiveness."

Fortunately, because he was a conscious body that came to the Holy Mark Space, although he would feel pain when being hit and tired after strenuous exercise, no matter how tired he was, Li Shubai could still endure the feeling of tiredness and fully exert his full athletic ability.

Being able to accept Fu Hua's teaching at the maximum level of his athletic ability, Li Shubai's progress is even faster than he had imagined.

——Thus, in the Holy Mark space, Li Shubai fought against Fu Hua, who was the will of the Holy Mark, for a whole night. From the beginning, he was attacked unilaterally, and he could barely find the correct way to deal with the enemy's attacks.

...Although the results are indeed gratifying, the price is that when I wake up, the fatigue accumulated from nearly seven hours of exercise in the evening now rushes up all at once.

Fortunately, the feeling of tiredness does not actually affect the body's normal activities.

In a daze, Li Shubai recalled what Otto said: "In a sense, the moment the human body is injected with Honkai energy, its life form and physiological mechanism have been transformed into another kind of creature that is completely different from humans."

"Although from a philosophical point of view, you are still the same you, but from a biological point of view, after experiencing the Honkai and the baptism of the Stigmata, not only has the underlying physiological mechanism of the body as a living being been completely rewritten, but even the material composition has also undergone earth-shattering differences from the original you."

"After all, given the structure of human bones and muscles, no matter how much they are trained, they can never be harder than solid steel."

"And Honkai energy makes it possible for the human body to break through the physical limits that it could originally reach."

"Captain Li Shubai, you may not realize it yourself, but your body has been strengthened by Honkai to a certain extent."

"Besides, before this, you were not like ordinary people, totally without any resistance to Honkai energy."

Already received the strengthening from Honkai? Although Li Shubai did not notice it, he was not completely clueless about what Otto said.

I guess when I was in Changkong City, after my body had exited the state of a dead soldier, I didn't completely get rid of the Honkai energy.

Therefore, although it is only a trace amount, there is indeed a certain amount of Honkai energy in his body.

As for the fact that he is different from ordinary people, it is not that he does not have resistance to Honkai energy. Otto only said one sentence -

"For ordinary people, the moment they come into contact with the Herrscher of Thunder, their bodies will naturally begin to break down into atoms."

——That is to say, unlike what Li Shubai originally imagined, from the very beginning, he was not an ordinary person who had no resistance to any Honkai energy.

Although he felt a little surprised, Li Shubai quickly accepted this fact.

At the same time, according to Otto's speculation, the power he can now exert is not just as simple as it seems on the surface.

"Even if it's just a tiny amount, the changes that Honkai energy brings are earth-shaking."

"You don't feel any difference in yourself right now, it's just that your body and brain haven't had time to get used to the changes that have taken place in you."

“So there is only one thing you need to do.”

“Push yourself to the limit as much as possible so that your body and brain can completely accept the changes that have taken place in you.”

It's so light to say... With a little complaint in his heart, Li Shubai walked out of his room, enduring the fatigue that could easily make one dizzy.

Fu Hua could teach him how to fight and how to adapt to the power of his body, but she was, after all, one of the fusion warriors from the pre-civilization era. In terms of [how to maximize the power of ordinary people with mediocre talents], Fu Hua's teaching approach was far inferior to Otto's.

However, although it was Li Shubai's own request, when he saw the training plan that Otto had made for him, he couldn't help but twitch his eyes slightly and felt a little frightened.

But Li Shubai still gritted his teeth and took the plan. Otto was indeed very cunning and had a terrifying brain. But even Otto could not make Li Shubai invincible in an instant.

It is said that a good cook cannot cook without rice. Even with Otto's assistance, if Li Shubai himself does not have much strength, many things cannot be changed. Just like when Fei faced Cocolia who controlled the group of mechas in Changkong City, Li Shubai has had enough of his own powerlessness.

Moreover, Otto in the Holy Scar Space specifically reminded him of one thing——

"Otto Apokalis from the Eigenworld may sound a little strange to me, but I advise you not to try to contact him until you are 100% sure."

“He and I are the same person, but his way of thinking and solving problems are completely different from mine.”

"Kallen exists in the Stigmata Space. For me, who witnessed how you transferred Kallen's soul to the Stigmata Space, this fact alone is enough."

"But he is different. Although five hundred years have not been able to change his obsession, five hundred years later, Otto Apokalis, who has a deeper obsession, I don't think he will accept the existence of the Stigmata Will like me."

"Five hundred years have twisted his obsession with resurrecting Kallen into something else that is far from resurrecting Kallen."

"It's very likely that what he wants to achieve now is 'a world where Kallen still lives' rather than 'Kallen's resurrection' itself."

While recalling Rialto's advice in the Stigmata Space, Li Shubai went to the bathroom to wash his face.

Sure enough... Just as Otto said, even with this level of fatigue, the normal functioning of the body was not hindered.

The only troublesome thing is probably that one needs to study under such slow thinking.

After finishing his simple washing, Li Shubai walked down the stairs to the living room on the first floor.

"Good morning, Mr. Li Shubai."

Although it was a gentle and sweet voice, Li Shubai was still shocked when someone approached him so closely from behind. He turned around reflexively and leaped back about five meters, almost hitting the kitchen pedestal.

Rita looked at Li Shubai's reaction, which was like that of a frightened mouse, and tilted her head. Her charming face was filled with confusion: "Is this some new way of greeting?"

"Yes, it's Rita..." Looking at Rita's confused eyes, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, and the tired feeling flew away to who knows where. "Good morning."

Rita looked at Li Shubai's frightened expression, sighed softly, walked forward step by step, and came in front of Li Shubai.

Li Shubai looked in doubt and amazement at the beautiful maid who suddenly walked up to him. She stared at his chest with a serious look. Her wine-red pupils, which gradually restrained her emotions, made Li Shubai feel that the next second the maid would pull out a knife from her skirt and stab that place fiercely.

"Huh? You..." He couldn't help but take a step back, and this step made him lean completely against the kitchen counter. He could only watch Rita slowly raise her slender and soft hand that could easily break human bones and reach it towards his chest. He couldn't help but close his eyes.

"Please don't move. Your clothes are messed up." A helpless and dissatisfied voice sounded in Li Shubai's ears. Only then did Li Shubai remember that the pretty maid in front of him was a severe patient of obsessive-compulsive disorder. She stared at his chest with emotionless eyes because his collar was messed up in the quick turn and retreat just now, not because she wanted to break his neck.

So Li Shubai breathed a sigh of relief. I was saying that I had never offended her, so how could I deserve to be remembered by this S-class Valkyrie of destiny! Impossible, absolutely impossible!

Rita carefully adjusted Li Shubai's collar, but just as she put her arm around Li Shubai's neck and began to turn up his wrinkled collar -

"hello!"

——The door was slammed open by someone outside.

"Shubai! I'm here to play with you..."

Outside the door, Kiana's joyful voice became smaller and smaller, and finally she shut her mouth and stared blankly at the two people in the kitchen.

The maid, with her back to him, leaned her upper body slightly, stretched out her hands to wrap around Li Shubai's neck, and her figure overlapped with Li Shubai's figure leaning against the back seat behind her.

That posture, no matter how you look at it, looks like...

Kiana, petrified.

Chapter 3: Morning Failure (k)

In the early morning sunlight, the atmosphere in the room was quite awkward.

Kiana sat at the dining table with tears in her eyes, eating the breakfast made by Rita angrily.

The way it eats silently looks like a little hamster.

Kiana's extremely violent way of opening the door even alarmed Bronya who was living in her own room.

However, Bronya was not at the dining table now. After going out, the petite double-helix girl glanced at Rita and Li Shubai, then looked at Kiana who was petrified at the door, and came downstairs expressionlessly. Then she took the portion that Rita had prepared for her, and returned to the room on the second floor without saying a word.

Before taking her portion of food, she politely bowed to Rita, as a way of greeting her and thanking her for preparing breakfast for her. Rita smiled softly, and subconsciously wanted to reach out and touch Bronya's head, but she felt that this was really impolite and stopped herself, and finally raised her hand and waved at Bronya's back as if saying goodbye.

Now only Li Shubai and Kiana were at the table. Rita had probably finished eating a long time ago. After seeing Li Shubai and Kiana were seated, she stood behind Li Shubai's chair. This made Kiana, who was already feeling sad, even more uncomfortable.

Perhaps she had already anticipated that Kiana and Raiden Mei would come back to find Li Shubai, the amount of breakfast Rita prepared was impossible for four people to finish alone. Bronya and Li Shubai had normal appetites, and Yulandel would deliberately control her diet. If so much food was left there and was not taken care of, it would not taste good when it got cold.

No matter how uncomfortable she felt, food was innocent after all, so Kiana turned her grief and anger into food and became a ruthless eater. She chewed the food in her mouth like Rita and Li Shubai were doing that kind of thing under her nose, but when she saw Rita standing calmly behind Li Shubai, she felt that the food tasted like wax, and the delicious food in her mouth suddenly lost its fragrance.

Ahhhh, she quickly stuffed the breakfast in front of her into her mouth in three or two bites, then swallowed it down with a gulp and slammed the table. "You, you, you, what is your relationship with Shu Bai? Why are you in his dormitory so early in the morning and preparing breakfast for him?!"

"Stop!" Li Shubai quickly raised his hand and clarified, "It's not for me! I'm preparing breakfast for everyone. Can you please be reasonable? I don't even eat as much as you!"

"I--" Kiana was speechless for a moment and subconsciously licked her red lips.

This was the only point she couldn't refute as she ate everything with gusto.

"So what happened in the kitchen just now?" Kiana asked again. Suddenly, as if she remembered something, she widened her eyes and looked at Rita with a probing look. "Wait! Are you also a member of Shu Bai's crew?!"

Her future self, Bronya from the future, Yulandel from the future, and Rita in front of her. Kiana counted on her fingers, and the more she counted, the more something seemed wrong in her eyes.

She spread out her five fingers and held them in front of Li Shubai's eyes with trembling hands. "Five in total? I've only known you for three days! Are you a light novel protagonist from somewhere? Tell me the truth, how many crew members do you have under your name?"

"..." Li Shubai was now speechless. He couldn't help shrinking his neck with a guilty conscience, humming and talking about other things: "Well, this..."

"Crew?" Suddenly, Rita interrupted Li Shubai, her tone full of puzzlement that didn't seem fake: "Excuse me, Miss Kiana, what does crew mean?"

"..."

"..."

The scene fell into silence for a moment.

Kiana covered her mouth almost instinctively, thinking to herself that it was bad. Although she felt sad, she had come to Li Shubai's company early in the morning with great enthusiasm, but ended up seeing that kind of scene. It was certain that she felt uncomfortable.

But Kiana also knew the priorities of the matter. Compared to that kind of thing, if this Rita was not one of Li Shubai's crew members, then her self-destruction would really be exactly what the other party wanted.

After all, Rita is now one of Otto's S-class Valkyries.

At this moment, the door of the dormitory was suddenly opened.

Yulandel walked in from the wide-open door, wiping the sweat from her forehead with a towel. As always, she was wearing a sports suit that perfectly showed off her figure.

Seeing Yulandel walk into the dormitory, Rita seemed to have forgotten her previous question and walked over to her naturally. She stretched out her hands and took the sweaty towel from Yulandel's hand. Her voice was warm and pleasant: "Lord Yulandel, breakfast is ready."

"Well, thank you for your hard work. I'll go take a shower first and be ready soon." Yulandel, who had finished her morning exercise, nodded gently, then turned her head and greeted Kiana and Li Shubai: "Good morning, Kiana, Shubai."

"Huh... Good morning." Seeing that Rita didn't seem to have any intention of pursuing the issue further, Kiana quietly breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"Good morning." Li Shubai nodded in response.

After this little episode, the breakfast atmosphere was no longer so awkward. When Yulandel finished her breakfast, the time had reached eight o'clock in the morning.

"By the way, Kiana." Li Shubai turned his gaze towards Kiana and asked curiously, "Is Mei not with you?"

"Her." After finishing the meal, Kiana's upper body was limply spread on the clean table, and her tone became soft: "Mei told me that she wants to prepare well for the entrance exam the day after tomorrow... Really, why is she so serious? With our strength, isn't it easy to get the first place?"

"..."

Li Shubai was silent.

After being silent for several minutes, he spoke cautiously: "Well, I think it shouldn't be that serious..."

"?" Kiana raised her eyes and looked at Li Shubai in confusion, who was hesitant to speak.

I don’t know if she thought of something, but Youlandel covered her eyes and turned her head away, looking as if she couldn’t bear to look at it.

Rita was smiling as always.