Wanjie Game Hall, I sent Kiana to Silent Hill

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——The author has something to say——

I would also like to thank the book friends [The Omniscient in the Fantasy Secret Realm], [Xiong Yanqi], [The Fish Killed by a Meteor], [Flashing Wings], [Wind-Chasing Slaughter], [Demon Devouring Lord], [Lose Friend], and [Coarse Willow Winnowing Sifter and Fine Willow Bucket] for their recommendation votes, and thank you for your support.

Volume 227: : You wouldn't have ruled out the correct answer, would you?

Before setting off, Wang Xuanqiao specifically calculated the time difference between the two places. The current time at the Tianming headquarters where Theresa was should be around noon, which was just right for eating something.

After finally entering Theresa's office, Wang Xuanqiao realized it wasn't a good place to eat. The reason was simple: seeing a mountain of documents piled high on a desk longer than a bar counter wouldn't likely spark an appetite.

And the current owner of that desk, Theresa, looks like she's about to die.

Can't the fusion warriors hold on any longer?

Wang Xuanqiao walked to the desk carrying the lunch box.

"Manager..." Theresa raised her head from the office terminal screen. Although she didn't have dark circles under her eyes, her eyes had taken on the look of a tired office worker.

"I can understand that Archbishop Tianming has a lot of work to do, but why are there so many paper documents?" Wang Xuanqiao glanced at the documents on the desk and couldn't help asking.

"These are all things that need to be kept on file, waiting for my signature... If I'm tired from work, I'll sign these documents and take a break."

Theresa replied in a weak tone.

This was truly heartbreaking. It was unbelievable that Theresa even took breaks from work by doing lighter tasks. What a perfect slave worker.

"How long have your symptoms lasted..." Wang Xuanqiao could only continue holding the lunch box in his hand as there was really no place to put it on the desk.

"Not too long, mainly because I'm rushing to clean up all of Grandpa's shameful things. Once I'm done with this and optimize the destiny structure, things should be a little easier."

Theresa leaned back in her chair, and her face involuntarily showed the expression of the little match girl seeing the feast in the firelight.

"By the way, Manager, did you... come here specially to bring food to thank me?" She quickly smelled the fragrance coming from the lunch box.

"What else? Do I look like someone who would come all the way to you just to eat barbecue?"

"Hmm - the store manager still has a conscience! Unlike that Siegfried, who accidentally gave me a big job."

Theresa leaned forward on the desk, stretched out her hand, and took the lunch box from Wang Xuanqiao.

"I'm a little hungry, so I won't be polite." She was indeed not polite at all. She held the lunch box in one hand and brought the other hand to her mouth, biting her fingertips with her teeth, took off her white gloves and threw them aside, then picked up a piece of bitter melon stuffed with meat, blew on it, and put it in her mouth.

This operation surprised Wang Xuanqiao.

"...Do you care about your image anymore?" He asked after a moment of silence.

"Image? I haven't slept in almost a week. Why should I worry about my image?" Theresa chewed the bitter melon stuffed with meat even more carelessly. "Besides, what kind of image can we have in front of you? Your netizens over there are making me look like a fool."

"Hey, have you seen your second creation?" Wang Xuanqiao was immediately happy.

"I happened to browse a video website the day I applied for the card. I was originally looking for anime, but the homepage of the video website pushed me an abstract video of mine. I took a look at the content and the comments section, and it took me a whole day to recover."

Theresa looked furious when talking about this matter.

"Unfortunately, I got busy right after that and didn't have time to look at the other content. Manager, how many people here know about the game Honkai Impact 3rd?"

"I'm not sure about that, and I don't care." Wang Xuanqiao spread his hands. "But at least Mei, Bronya, and Bianca just found out, and I told Kiana when she came to my shop."

"Alas, fortunately, those who apply for cards here are all mature. Even Kiana, who gives me the most trouble, has you, the store manager, to take care of her."

At this point, Theresa's expression of regret, like that of an elderly person, suddenly changed.

"Oh, that's right!" Her eyes, which were originally between opening and closing, suddenly widened. "Manager, do you know anything about Kiana? I'm not talking about this Kiana now, I'm talking about her sister."

"The original Kiana? I know." Wang Xuanqiao nodded. "Why did you suddenly bring this up?"

"It was Siegfried. He suddenly said recently that he felt Kiana was still alive, so he wanted to secretly hack into the Destiny database to look through Grandpa's secret files. As a result, he triggered the alarm left by Grandpa and was caught by me."

Speaking of Siegfried, Theresa sighed softly.

"Honestly, a ten-year-old child fell from ten thousand meters. Even if the stealth fighter performed exceptionally well and mitigated the fatal impact, she still chose to crash into the harshest snowy mountains. No matter how much I wanted Kiana to survive, I wouldn't be so blind as to do that."

"Although Grandpa later claimed that the rescue Valkyries had found Kiana and brought her to the Skyward Headquarters for treatment, he didn't allow me to visit her and cut off all avenues for investigation. So I secretly investigated for a while without his knowledge, and finally confirmed that it was a decoy thrown by Grandpa to lure back Siegfried and Kiana who had escaped."

At this point, Theresa's meaning was very clear. She actually didn't think that Kiana at that time, now Bianca, was really still alive.

"Even if Kiana really is still alive in this world, with Grandpa's methods, I really can't imagine what she would be like now." Theresa sighed again, "So I can only ask Fu Hua to help take Siegfried to investigate elsewhere, while I work hard to sort out Grandpa's dirty laundry here, hoping to find some clues as soon as possible so that I can at least be prepared."

"You've already made all the plans, haven't you?" Wang Xuanqiao looked at her with a half-smile. "Why do you suddenly want to ask me?"

"Siegfried and Fu Hua have already investigated everything, leaving only the dirty laundry behind," Theresa replied. "I just want an answer right now so I can prepare myself mentally."

"Hmm... Honestly, you're really starting to become like Otto." Wang Xuanqiao looked at Theresa. "Let me be frank. Compared to whether Kiana is dead or alive, you actually want to control the development of this matter more, right?"

"Yes, I am responsible for the living." Theresa admitted without hesitation, "Of course I hope Kiana can live well in this world. I have watched her grow up little by little. But what if... what if Grandpa really did something unforgivable?"

"I understand why you'd have this thought," Wang Xuanqiao nodded. "Also, there might be another assumption you've subconsciously overlooked. You simply don't want to admit, from the bottom of your heart, that Honkai Impact 3rd, or the information in my world, truly holds the answers you seek."

"...Really?" Theresa didn't admit it this time, but she didn't refute it either.

"You're becoming a bit like Otto, aren't you?" Wang Xuanqiao smiled. "But the difference between you two is that Otto won't hesitate to use that information, but you still have to get over it in your own heart first. Which is a good thing, after all, if you really become another Otto, Karen might come and beat you up first."

"It doesn't matter. If I want to run, grandma can't catch me." Theresa finally found something to be proud of and smiled.

"Let's get back to business. Regarding Kiana's specific situation..."

Just as Wang Xuanqiao opened his mouth, the office door suddenly opened.

Fu Hua and Siegfried walked in from outside, looking exhausted. When they saw Wang Xuanqiao in the office, they were stunned.

"Manager, why are you here?" Fu Hua and Wang Xuanqiao were quite familiar with each other, so she asked first.

"I'm here to give you some gifts and to thank Theresa for her strong support for the barbecue party in my store." Wang Xuanqiao joked to Fu Hua.

"Isn't that full support? I've sent the strongest Valkyrie there." Theresa muttered while eating in the back.

"I see." Fu Hua nodded slightly, then turned to introduce Wang Xuanqiao to Siegfried. "Siegfried, this is Wang Xuanqiao, the manager of the Ninth Art Game Hall. He was the one who took care of Kiana before. You should thank him."

"Of course!" Siegfried hurried forward and bowed in thanks. "I've heard my daughter talk about you so much, and I'm truly grateful for your care for her. If you have time, please allow me to entertain you."

"No need to be so polite." Wang Xuanqiao waved his hand. "It was Kiana's good fortune to meet me. I was just helping out. Forget about the hospitality. If you're so inclined, help Theresa with some work. She hasn't slept in almost a week."

"Uh..." Siegfried suddenly lost his composure. He looked at Theresa with a confused look on his face.

"Alright, alright. Some of the work Siegfried does only adds to my troubles." Theresa sighed three times and took over the topic. "The investigation of the French orphanage is over, right? Besides discovering that Yulandel might be your daughter, do you have any other clues?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Xuanqiao turned around and looked at Theresa.

What's going on? You didn't exclude the correct answer, did you?

——The author has something to say——

As to why Theresa knew that there was a game in Aqiao's world that corresponded to their world, but did not choose to directly climb over the wall to watch the plot after Siegfried launched the investigation, the biggest reason was actually as mentioned in the article, she did not want to believe the game plot.

This is also what I personally think is the biggest difference between Theresa and Otto. Otto doesn't care whether he believes it or not; he will use it first if he can. I think the concept of "take what you want" and "pragmatism" that Dai'e has developed during his re-education is actually something he learned from Otto.

Don't forget, Dai'e is the Valkyrie brought up by Otto himself.

But Theresa's own perspective wasn't quite so unrestrained. Perhaps she was the only one in the entirety of Destiny who best understood the consequences of Otto's exploitative mindset. Therefore, she wouldn't immediately consider exploiting the game's plot, and might even resist it due to conflicting perspectives. To put it bluntly, Theresa acknowledged the game's plot, but didn't fully accept it.

And finally, Theresa is also a representative of the reputation that has been damaged. The secondary creations are all Deli Silly, which made me type Theresa's name as Theresa all the time (laughs)

However, I have already written so much, and it is a bit difficult to change it all, so I will just leave it as it is (sad)

Volume 228: : Isn’t this scene scary?

"We have exhausted all the clues we can find so far. Now the only thing left is Otto's secret safe house."

Fu Hua got straight to the point, suggesting an investigation into Otto's secret safe houses. Theresa placed her lunch box on her knees and, with her ungloved hand, quickly operated the terminal, granting Fu Hua and Siegfried access to a certain area of headquarters.

After sending the two away, Theresa breathed a sigh of relief and continued to ask Wang Xuanqiao about Kiana.

Wang Xuanqiao looked at her with a half-smile and asked, "Do I need to say more?"

"What do you mean?" Theresa blinked, not reacting for a moment.

She stared at Wang Xuanqiao for a long time, and suddenly thought of something. She almost jumped up from her seat and almost knocked over the lunch box on her legs.

After a flurry of activity, Theresa asked Wang Xuanqiao in surprise, "You mean... Yulandel? Her?"

"With a face very similar to Cecilia's, and a growth rate far exceeding that of Kaslana and Shaniat, when these two factors are combined, have you ever thought about taking a photo of Bianca and changing her hair to white?"

Wang Xuanqiao asked her back, stumping Theresa.

Theresa sat back in her chair, her little mouth opening and closing like a swimming fish, her eyeballs rolling around in her eye sockets again and again, and finally she couldn't help but slap herself on the head.

"I see. That's not surprising, that's not surprising... I was wondering why Grandpa was so keen on promoting Yulandel's existence. I originally thought he was just eager to create a new brand to fill Cecilia's shoes."

The more Theresa thought about it, the more excited she became, but the more excited she became, the more she began to blame herself.

"Damn it! If I had been smarter... I could have spent more time with Youlan Daier! If I had been more reliable, then..."

"Alright, there's no need to waste your energy here. Honestly, you already thought she was dead." Wang Xuanqiao quickly interrupted Theresa's inner thoughts. "At least Otto did devote himself to teaching Bianca, and she's actually had a pretty good life these past few years."

"But manager, if Yulandel is really Kiana, then she must have lost her previous memories. In that case, there's no way for us to recognize her."

"Oh, don't worry about that. Her memory has been restored by me. Now she and Kiana have recognized each other, and Kiana is very happy."

As soon as Wang Xuanqiao finished speaking, Theresa's concentrated emotions collapsed.

"......So everything has been arranged, then why am I worrying so much about it?" She couldn't help but mutter.

"At least you should be worthy of the fact that I used to call you aunt, right?" Wang Xuanqiao laughed. "So now that you know the truth, what are you going to do?"

"What else can I do? Since Youlandel...sister and younger sister have recognized each other, then as their aunt, of course my job is to help them rebuild their former home."

Theresa adjusted her mindset quickly, but that was probably due to the surprise of the news. As the saying goes, happiness always brings joy, and the news that Yulandel was Kiana was indeed a pleasant surprise for her.

"I feel so relieved now!" Theresa actually jumped up from her chair this time. "All that dirty laundry Grandpa left behind is gone in an instant. I can now send all the coordinates to Grandma and have her take people to destroy them all!"

Apparently, she had been wondering whether Otto had really turned Kiana into a monster experiment, and she wanted to find the answer to this question before Siegfried and Fu Hua, and then make preparations early.

Wang Xuanqiao realized that Theresa had been forcing herself. Regardless of whether her actions became like Otto's, wanting to take control of things, her original intention was to guide the outcome of things in the most ideal direction.

She probably wanted to at least prevent Siegfried and Kiana from being hurt again because of this incident. Even if that damage was unavoidable, she would do her best to minimize it.

"It's not easy for you either." Wang Xuanqiao suddenly said to Theresa.

"Grandpa dumped this mess on me," Theresa said with a wry smile. "This is probably... my last act of granddaughter's duty to him."

"Let's not talk about this anymore, Manager. Since the sisters are all with you, please tell them that if you have any plans later, you can tell me first. I will do my best to cooperate with them."

Having said that, Theresa seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly looked at Wang Xuanqiao with suspicion.

Wait... this guy can't possibly catch both my elder sister and my younger sister in one fell swoop, right?

No, shouldn't it?

But when I think about it carefully, the store manager does seem to be a very...good person?

Theresa couldn't help but reflect on Wang Xuanqiao's words, and suddenly found herself feeling a sense of satisfaction. After all, choosing to silently contribute was a form of self-sacrifice, but if someone could notice this effort, it would at least be a pleasant surprise.

Oh no... Theresa suddenly felt a little worried.

------

"Sister, how about this? Hasn't my stinky dad made my aunt mad again recently? It just so happens that my aunt has also punished me to make up my homework, so I'll send my aunt a message and ask her to send my stinky dad to the moon to handle official business and accompany me to do my homework."

"When my stinky dad arrives on the moon, I'll take him for a walk outside the base. Then I'll find a crater, jump in it, and fly up and say, 'Stinky dad! Did you drop this super cute daughter, or this super beautiful daughter?'"

"Sister, come fly up with me now, and we'll float around in front of our stinky dad and give him a big surprise!"

Kiana excitedly briefed Bianca on her plan for the father-daughter reunion, but Bianca was almost numb from listening.

Putting aside why you seem so proud of being punished to make up your homework, and why your aunt is determined to let your dad go to the moon, isn't it scary for a dad to watch his two daughters floating in front of him?

Especially since my dad didn’t even know he was still alive.

Bianca was about to criticize Kiana, but seeing her sister's expectant look, the critical words were on the tip of her tongue and she couldn't say them.

After much thought, she could only say, "I think we should discuss this with the store manager. He has more ideas. For example, the idea of playing the video just now was his."

"That's right!" Kiana didn't seem to care much about the fact that her plan was rejected. She directly took out her terminal and sent a message to Wang Xuanqiao, asking him to come back quickly to discuss things.

Although it looked like a cross-world crossing, it was actually only a short walk. Wang Xuanqiao quickly returned from Theresa's place. On the way, he happened to run into Raiden Mei and Bronya, who had run to the first-floor rest area, looking down at their terminals. They both seemed to be watching a video about Honkai Impact 3rd.

Wang Xuanqiao greeted the two of them and then ran into Huang Quan chewing roasted marshmallows in the corridor. The four people who had left temporarily gathered together and returned to the rooftop.

Because everyone came back so neatly, the expressions of Bianca and Kiana became a little subtle.