"How does it feel to be hammered?"
After a long time, Miss Ling's voice, filled with the taste of schadenfreude, rang out.
Waking up to see a certain guy get sent flying by a fierce punch, then chased all over the room by a flurry of Dull Goose's Meteor Fists—for the little fox who had never seen this guy get his comeuppance, this was a very happy occasion indeed.
The certain someone, who was indeed being chased and beaten by Dull Goose but was completely unharmed, continued to adjust the proportions of various ingredients and went on making water chestnut cake.
"I'm very happy, you know."
After a long while, he finally raised his head and looked at the little fox beside him, who was mocking him while eating the water chestnut cake.
"You're happy being chased and beaten?"
"Are you sick in the head?"
The girl eating the cake froze for a moment, her beast ears twitching atop her head. Her azure eyes, looking at the certain someone, carried a hint of disbelief.
Then, as if thinking of something terrible, the way she looked at him took on a strange tint.
"Hey, hey, you couldn't possibly be... a legendary masochist, could you?"
"Are you talking about the kind of masochism where you play the role of a servant who is bullied by his mistress and doesn't dare to resist, only to turn the tables by coincidence, pinning the mistress beneath him, and even imprisoning her in the basement?"
The boy, who occasionally engaged in some cosplay while rolling in the sheets with his lovers, raised an eyebrow and then spoke.
"If it's that kind, then I might indeed be a little bit of one."
"Of course, just consistently playing the servant who doesn't dare resist and arranging the mistress into various poses according to her commands isn't bad either."
Listening to the certain someone's words, Ling, who was eating the water chestnut cake, was speechless for a long time.
This guy's private life is really...
...colorful.
"You really are a pervert."
Ling, who had long resided in Li Zihan's Herrscher core, was for a rare moment thankful that she was usually asleep, having not witnessed this person's utterly rotten lifestyle.
But speaking of which, is that kind of thing really so addictive?
Ling fell into deep thought as she looked at this modern-day Cú Chulainn, who seemed to be constantly chasing after outstanding and virtuous girls, only to get them into bed and sow his wild oats like mad.
She felt that Li Zihan's obsession with these things was as if he had been injected with an overdose of Demerol.
"Hey, hey, should you go get checked out? Maybe you have a hormonal imbalance causing hyperactive sexual impulses."
Feeling that Li Zihan's situation was a bit outrageous, the fox girl looked at the guy who was probably the closest person to her besides her long-dead sister and Yae Sakura. Her voice carried a hint of concern.
If possible, she still hoped this guy could be a bit more normal.
Although she didn't want to admit it, Ling understood that she had actually always cared about this guy.
After all—
He was one of the only two people close to her who were still left.
"I don't have a hormonal imbalance."
Very calmly, the boy uttered some rather crude and explicit words.
"I just like the infatuated look in a girl's eyes, and the joys and sorrows, the anger and happiness that revolve around me."
This statement left Ling stunned for a moment.
Then, her expression suddenly became gloomy.
She seemed to understand why Li Zihan wasn't angry but was actually happy after being chased and beaten.
Durandal's emotions were revolving around him.
She would be displeased by his philandering, she would be enraged when he asked her to deliver the gift to another girl...
Li Zihan was indeed beaten, but in the battle called love, Li Zihan had won.
In the process of their interactions, Durandal had already given herself away.
Her relationship with a certain scum would probably be official as soon as that last paper-thin barrier was pierced.
In other words, this guy has corrupted another good girl?
The thought of another outstanding girl falling into the hands of a certain scum made Ling's mood turn sour.
This guy truly is a scumbag the likes of which is seen only once in a millennium.
"By the way, in a few days, I'll probably give you a small gift."
As if suddenly remembering something, Li Zihan looked at the dazed Ling and said this.
"What gift?!"
Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Ling instantly became vigilant.
"Let me make this clear first, even if you give me a very precious gift, I won't be moved to tears like those other 'freebie' girls and end up getting tricked by you."
"I know, I know."
As if he had already anticipated Higokumaru's reaction, the boy shrugged.
"Just consider it a reward for helping me for so long."
Since he had already promised to help Kevin retrieve Dr. Mei's soul, and to help Fu Hua retrieve the souls of the Previous Era's Carol (Fu Hua's good 'ji' friend) and the Previous Era's Captain Himeko, his next trip would be to fifty thousand years ago.
Since he was already going fifty thousand years into the past, retrieving the soul of Ling's true older sister—the fusion warrior 'Sakura'—would just be a matter of convenience.
Yae Sakura and Ling were indeed like real sisters. But they weren't, after all. They were just a younger sister who had lost her older sister and an older sister who had lost her younger sister, huddling together for warmth.
In a future where Yae Rin would be resurrected, Ling's situation, having always been treated by Yae Sakura as a substitute for Yae Rin, would suddenly become very awkward.
When the genuine article arrives, the pirated copy will have a hard time.
So, it was better to just let Ling reunite with her real sister.
With this thought in mind, the boy shrugged, then packaged the newly made water chestnut cake and walked outside.
As a boyfriend, even if you get dragged off for a boxing session after giving a gift, you can't back down, can you?
---o---
Meanwhile, on the other side, at the Anti-Entropy base.
The true scientific genius with blue, bird's nest-like hair held a test tube as she walked up to the white-haired man who had crimson dual pistols hanging at his waist.
The eerie blue potion emitted a demonic glow.
"In the ruins of the Previous Civilization that Anti-Entropy discovered, we only found records of creating super soldiers by implanting Honkai Beast DNA into the human body."
In Welt's absence, Einstein, who had become the de facto leader of Anti-Entropy, sighed.
"If I'm not mistaken, the bloodline that the Second Herrscher mentioned would cause fatal damage to 'It' must be referring to the bloodline of these super soldiers."
"In other words, as long as I activate my ancestor's bloodline, I might have a chance to defeat the Second Herrscher?"
The man whose entire world had collapsed in a short period of time fell silent for a moment before speaking.
"Don't be rash, Mr. Siegfried. According to our data, the Honkai Beast DNA will damage the fusion warrior's nervous system and circulatory system. Your future could—"
"Say no more!"
The white-haired man's angry shout interrupted Einstein's words.
"If we don't defeat the Second Herrscher, we won't have any future."