After confirming that there were no other problems, Maria's tightly wound nerves finally relaxed, and she let out a soft breath.
She slowly rose from the operating table, her fingertips unconsciously resting against her flat abdomen, cautiously testing.
A child?!
After a brief moment of stunned silence, once Maria accepted the fact that she was pregnant, a strange sense of calm and faint joy welled up within her.
"What are you looking at?" Maria lifted her eyes, meeting Kiana's fixed gaze directed at her chest, and couldn't help but ask.
"Nothing. I have a secret technique here that you might find useful," Kiana said mysteriously, a sly glint flickering in her eyes.
"What kind of secret technique?" Maria's curiosity was piqued, and she pressed further.
"A technique that can convert Honkai energy to make sure the baby never goes hungry. Want to learn?" Kiana blinked, her expression both playful and enigmatic.
Hearing that, Maria instinctively glanced down at her chest and instantly understood the implication behind Kiana's words.
"Teach me," she said decisively.
Perhaps because of her genes, her body had stopped developing early. Even though she was already an adult, she still retained the figure of a young girl.
"Then you'd better study hard," Kiana grinned wickedly, making a grasping motion with both hands in front of her, looking eager to try.
"Wait—what are you doing?" Maria stepped back two paces warily, her eyes filled with caution.
"Don't be scared. I'm just going to demonstrate." Before she finished speaking, Kiana lunged at her.
"Tsk, you're really flat," Kiana teased.
"!!!" Maria instantly exploded in embarrassment and fury, immediately retaliating against Kiana.
Just as the two of them were tangled up in a scuffle, the Queen of Insects pushed the door open and walked in, only to see Maria straddling Kiana and giving her a thorough "lesson."
"Sorry to interrupt. I didn't expect you two to enjoy this kind of play," the Queen of Insects said with a meaningful smile.
Maria quickly stood up and explained, "Don't misunderstand. I'm just beating her up."
"Oh~ I can tell. Though with those little fists of yours, it looks more like you're rewarding her," the Queen of Insects said. As her words fell, a purple beetle flew over, gripping a baseball bat and hovering beside Maria. "Use this. It's very effective for hitting people."
"Thank you." Maria accepted the bat.
"Wait, that could actually kill someone," Kiana hurriedly protested.
"Haven't you already caused a life?" Maria said with a sweet smile, raising the bat high.
"That's different! At worst, you can just make me pregnant too. Then it'll be one life for one life."
Kiana spoke shyly.
What kind of ridiculous logic is that!
Maria's instincts told her that her pregnancy was most likely intentional on this girl's part.
"Enough. Stop playing around," the Queen of Insects said, looking at Maria. With her special perception, she had already sensed the new life in Maria's womb. "Looks like there was still a bit of an accident."
The True Godzilla genes were inherently unstable. Even after imitation and refinement, that trait had not changed.
That kind of uncertainty was interesting. After all, if everything could be predicted, how dull would life be?
"By the way, Iselin told me she arranged for someone to send those superpower users who were tricked by humans into slaughtering each other on the isolated island over here. Three of them are from our side. They should be arriving soon," the Queen of Insects added, abruptly changing the subject.
Meanwhile, above the city, Shigure Kira frowned.
With her abilities, she could clearly sense that the city was filled with zombies, undead soldiers, and insects.
The Will of Ruler truly doesn't treat lives as lives at all, she sighed inwardly.
Soon, the transport aircraft landed. Shigure Kira led the others off the plane.
The moment she saw Maria and Kiana, she froze slightly.
She wasn't surprised that Maria was here, but Kiana's presence caught her off guard.
In her understanding, Kiana was destined to become a Herrscher—a born Herrscher vessel. Why would she appear in an examination where no one was supposed to be a Herrscher?
"Shigure Kira! Big sis, I like you!" The instant Kiana saw her, she pounced over like an excited kitten.
Seeing this, an inexplicable emotion stirred within Maria.
After hugging Shigure Kira, Kiana turned and threw herself at Susannah. "Rich lady, please take care of me," she said with a grin.
"Y-You shouldn't act like that," Susannah stammered, her face flushed red.
Kiana released her and turned her gaze to Rin, tilting her head in surprise. "Huh? You're not dead?"
Rin was momentarily speechless, unable to resist complaining inwardly about the lack of tact.
"Miss Kiana, may I ask—did I originally die fighting against Honkai?"
She was strangely curious about her own death and couldn't help asking.
"You died in a human experiment conducted by your grandfather, who fused a Herrscher core," Kiana replied with a smile.
To the side, Nana Hiiragi, who was tied up with rope, listened to their conversation and secretly speculated.
They mentioned the future again!
Could these superpower users really have traveled back from the future?
If that were true, then everything would make sense. The future must already belong to superpower users.
If the future could support the past, did humanity still have hope?
At that moment, Kyoya Onodera stepped forward, his tone wary. "You brought us here to use our abilities against the military, didn't you?"
"Use you? Do you really think you're that strong?" Kiana couldn't help laughing. "As long as you don't get in the way, that's enough. We'll handle the rest."
"Handle it? You mean like this city? Turning everyone into those kinds of monsters?"
Kyouya Onodera pointed toward the mindlessly wandering zombies in the distance. The others followed his finger and were instantly too frightened to speak.
"Is it immortality that gave you such courage?"
Kiana raised her hand, but suddenly felt an invisible force restraining her.
Following the direction of that force, she saw Tachibana Shin using telekinesis. A smile immediately spread across her face. "Little sister, your ability is pretty good. Want to come home with me?"
In reality, Tachibana Shin's true identity was Onodera Rin—Kyouya Onodera's younger sister.
Her true form was a white-haired girl with a very special ability. She could transform into anyone except herself, whether human or animal.
Kiana's words left those unaware completely confused. Wasn't Tachibana Shin a man?
At this moment, cold sweat beaded on Onodera Rin's forehead, shock filling her heart.
These people were all monsters!
Even against her telekinesis at full power, they remained completely at ease—just like earlier with Shigure Kira.
Hearing Kiana's words, an inexplicable irritation rose within Maria. She cut in, "All of you, come with me."