As the news spread further and wider, the audience grew even more curious about its authenticity.
After a full day of filming wrapped up, evening arrived.
Raiden Mei opened the official live stream and began her broadcast.
In just dozens of seconds, the viewer count soared to a million!
"Finally streaming! Mei, what are you planning to do next?"
"I heard Kevin is going to fight Durandal—is that true?"
"..."
Countless questions flooded in at once.
Mei was visibly exhausted, her mood low—she clearly hadn't rested well due to worry over Kiana.
She replied, "The humanoid machine is almost fully decrypted. I'll continue searching for Kiana. As for this Kevin you mentioned... who is he?"
The live stream audience explained in detail once more.
Mei shook her head. "I don't know. I haven't been paying attention to matters involving Schicksal or World Serpent. The principal isn't here either—I'll contact her soon to ask."
The viewers then asked many more questions.
Most were about Kevin.
But following Hessian's instructions, Mei played dumb, claiming ignorance on everything and focusing solely on Kiana.
This left the audience feeling helpless.
At the very least, they confirmed one thing: Mei would soon set out to find Kiana.
In the live streams over the next few days,
a similar pattern emerged. For instance, Rita's stream focused only on her activities in Arc City, stating that the Bishop would handle World Serpent matters.
Theresa and the others similarly emphasized that the top priority was finding Kiana, dodging all questions about the rumor.
This only heightened the public's curiosity.
The hype continued to build.
Until the day Honkai Impact 3rd aired.
On this day,
Hessian and Elysia stayed at the company together.
To give employees a better viewing experience, the company had specially set up a lounge with a TV.
As soon as Elysia walked in,
Kiana lit up with excitement: "Elysia!!"
Rita was equally delighted: "Elysia, you're not going home today?"
Bronya edged closer: "Elysia, are you watching with us?"
Mei, Theresa, Durandal...
All the actresses gathered around her.
They had agreed to sign with the company because they adored Elysia—in their hearts, she was far more important than the director, Hessian.
Mobius, standing beside Hessian, remarked, "Watching your own wife get snatched away by so many people—aren't you starting to worry?"
Hessian replied calmly, "Mobius, what do you think would happen if I cast Elysia in Honkai Impact 3rd and then wrote her to die?"
Mobius stared at him in shock.
She couldn't comprehend it—how could a husband say something like that?
How could a normal person even think of saying that in this moment?
Still, she answered, "Then you'd end up as a corpse in the wilderness that very night."
Hessian smiled. "That does sound thrilling."
Mobius felt a bad premonition and warned him again, "I'm seriously telling you not to mess around—you really will die."
Hessian's smile widened. "How could I? Elysia is the wife I love most. I'd only ever make her the woman everyone in the world adores."
"That's good..." Mobius let out a long breath, but unease lingered in her heart.
This bastard never said anything meaningless.
While the two were talking,
Elysia had already settled in among the group, surrounded as they watched TV.
Her face glowed with a happy smile.
Being surrounded by so many cute girls had always been her dream!
Mobius pointed to seats in the back. "Let's sit over there. Today, we shouldn't disturb her beautiful dream."
Hessian nodded. "You're right."
The two took seats in the very back.
Amid the anticipation of hundreds of millions of viewers nationwide, this episode of Honkai Impact 3rd finally began.
The opening scene was at the edge of Arc City.
Even four months after the Great Collapse, Honkai beast disasters continued unabated.
Mecha pilots were desperately holding off the Honkai beasts: "So many monsters—they're like cockroaches, you can't kill them all!"
Honkai outbreaks in Arc City had increased in frequency, placing the entire city under martial law. Other mecha units had been deployed to the front lines, leaving no reinforcements here.
"Damn it! There are too many—we can't hold out much longer!"
"At this rate, it'll only be a matter of time before the city's defenses are breached."
"Hold the line, everyone!"
At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared on the battlefield, weaving through it and striking down the Honkai beasts.
A mecha pilot exclaimed excitedly, "Did you see that, Captain? That girl... she took down a Honkai beast in just a few moves. She's a monster—no, a superhero! Like in the comics!"
And that person was none other than Kiana.
She quickly cleared out the Honkai beasts.
Fu Hua said to her, "Hurry and leave this place. Don't let too many people witness you."
"Got it~"
The surviving mecha troops barely caught a glimpse of her before the battle ended.
People no longer remembered when that white silhouette under the moonlight had appeared—or when it had vanished.
However, in the darkness,
two pairs of eyes had been watching everything.
One belonged to Jackal, a member of World Serpent.
She reported to World Serpent: "According to Gray Serpent's intelligence, she has remained in Arc City and hasn't left."
Raven, also a World Serpent member, added, "K-423 has been appearing at every Honkai beast disaster site. I'm concerned she may endanger the experiment."
Jackal replied, "It's troublesome indeed, but we don't have time to worry about her. The Lord has returned from the Sea of Quanta and ordered us to commence operations."
"Our current priority is interference from Schicksal. They've already sent people to Shenzhou—don't let them hinder what we're about to do."
Raven said, "I have an idea. K-423's whereabouts are far more significant to Schicksal, so let them busy themselves chasing her."
The scene shifted to Schicksal.
They too had concluded that K-423 was still in Arc City.
Otto instructed Rita to disguise herself as an advisor for Shencheng Pharmaceuticals, head to Arc City, and investigate from within.
Alvitr quickly uncovered suspicious information: "In a record from two months ago, a large number of Honkai beasts appeared on a certain overpass in the south."
"A victim witnessed a girl fighting the Honkai beasts. Though the diagnosis concluded it was post-traumatic stress disorder, I believe it wasn't a hallucination—someone definitely saw her."
Rita praised her, "Well done, Alvitr."
Alvitr grinned, "Thank you for the compliment, Vice-Captain! In the third squad, I'm known as the reliable tool person!"
"Is that really a compliment?" Rita looked momentarily stunned but continued, "...Are there any other similar leads?"
Alvitr shook her head. "No. I searched medical records matching K-423's characteristics and found nothing. That means she hasn't appeared in hospitals or similar places."
She wondered curiously, "No medical records, no shopping records—even the city surveillance couldn't capture her. Does this girl have invisibility powers?!"
Rita explained, "She can avoid cameras and disguise herself as an ordinary person. But as long as she's moving through this city, she can't completely evade everyone's eyes."
"Someone will remember her, or even photograph her. The leads you've filtered already prove that."
Alvitr said, "But such tiny pieces of intelligence are scattered across every corner of the internet. Salvaging them all would take us months."
Rita smiled faintly. "Did you know, Alvitr... it's said that in this city, there's an intelligence black market that monitors every single piece of information flowing through the net, no matter how trivial."
"If we're looking for leads, I'll go check there."
With that, she left Shencheng Pharmaceuticals and headed to Gray Serpent's territory.
Using the humanoid robot module she had previously obtained, she easily unlocked Gray Serpent's intelligence system.
Recalling that sightings of Kiana occurred at Honkai outbreak sites,
she plotted all coordinates of Honkai beast disasters in Arc City over the past few months on a map... Countless related online rumors, photos, and videos cascaded across the screen one after another.
Amid this waterfall of results, Rita's eyes caught a familiar figure.
"Found you at last, K-423."
Rita contacted Alvitr: "You mentioned earlier that Arc City has experienced frequent Honkai beast disasters over these two months?"
Alvitr replied, "In two months, there were thirty-five recorded incidents, concentrated around the city's outskirts, which is why the city entered martial law."
Rita murmured, "...As if something in this city is attracting the Honkai beasts."
"I need you to monitor disaster alerts from Arc City at all times. The moment Honkai beasts appear, Immortals Blades members must depart immediately and head to the scene."
Alvitr asked, "Eh? So we're pausing the pursuit of K-423?"
Rita said, "Based on the intelligence I've gathered, multiple records confirm sightings of K-423 at disaster sites—some even captured her back view..."
Alvitr understood: "By staking out the disaster sites, we'll have a chance to catch K-423. As expected of the Vice-Captain!"
Thus, they began waiting for the next Honkai disaster.
Only two days passed.
The Honkai disaster alarm sounded once more.
Rita immediately issued orders: "Assemble the team and proceed to the target location at once. Upon entering the site, quickly conceal yourselves."
After hiding for several dozen minutes,
they finally spotted traces of K-423.
Kiana was battling Honkai beasts and Deadwalkers, with intense gunfire and flashes of light blooming everywhere.
As the final burst of gunfire flashed, she landed gracefully.
Under the night sky,
Kiana's white hair gathered into a beam of moonlight, making the mountain of wreckage at her feet appear even darker.
She turned her head slightly, paused in silence, then spoke: "...Are you going to keep hiding? Come out."
The Immortals Blades members emerged together, surrounding Kiana.
Rita appeared before her: "It's been a while, Miss Kiana. Or perhaps... I should call you the Herrscher of the Void?"
Kiana looked at her: "Rita Rossweisse, I remember you. You were the inspector sent from headquarters. We met a few months ago during the exam at St. Freya Academy."
Rita said, "I'm glad you still remember my name. Wandering out here for so long must have been hard. On the Bishop's orders, I'm inviting you to return to Schicksal headquarters."
Kiana refused outright: "I'm not going with you."
Rita persuaded her: "You should understand that your condition is unstable. This innocent city is proof—because of your presence, it suffers frequent Honkai beast attacks."
"The only one who can help you is Schicksal. Return to the lab for treatment, and no one else will get hurt because of you. That's best for everyone."
"I don't want to repeat myself." Kiana's tone was cold.
Rita shook her head slightly: "How willful."
Battle erupted in an instant.
Explosive gunfire and sweeping scythes crisscrossed endlessly in the darkness, like a ceaseless duel between stars and the crescent moon.
Yet this endless battle was merely an illusion lasting a brief moment in the eyes of onlookers.
Moments later, both figures settled back into their original positions.
Kiana spoke again: "Rita, I have a question for you... Between capturing me and stopping this city's disasters, which do you think is more important?"
Rita answered: "Capturing you is stopping this city's disasters."
Kiana holstered her weapons: "Unfortunately, capturing me now isn't easy. Believe it or not, I'm not the reason Honkai beasts are attacking this city. The disaster in Arc City is far more dangerous than you imagine."
"With this evidence, you can see for yourself what Shencheng Pharmaceuticals is planning." She tossed something to Rita and continued: "I'm not leaving here. To me, stopping the disaster is more important than running away."
"I know you don't believe my stance, but the choice is always in your hands."
With that, Kiana vanished from the battlefield.
Aboard the transport ship,
Rita examined the injector Kiana had given her—a standard Schicksal model she recognized.
The data card bore the Shencheng Pharmaceuticals logo, clearly a key for certain doors.
Kiana's parting words left a seed of doubt in Rita's mind, which grew over time into curiosity.
Alvitr's message arrived just then: "Miss Rita, I checked the registrant's serial number—this is indeed one of the vaccines Schicksal supplied to Shencheng Pharmaceuticals."
"But the injected solution has been replaced—or rather, modified..."
"Using Schicksal's vaccine formula as a base, it was altered into some kind of activator that significantly enhances human Honkai resistance."
"Yet from the effects, it poses no harm to the body."
This only deepened Rita's confusion; she couldn't fathom what Shencheng Pharmaceuticals was truly up to.
Alvitr continued: "Miss Rita, I must remind you—in today's operation, I noticed glowing patterns on those Deadwalkers. Thinking back, those shining marks... were undoubtedly stigmata!"
"Stigmata?!"
Rita grew instantly serious: "Alvitr, do you realize what you're saying?"
Alvitr panicked: "I-I-I... I absolutely didn't missee it! Sure, many friends call me reckless, but on this, I wouldn't get it wrong!"
Rita sighed: "If you're correct, then what's happening in Arc City is far more troublesome than we imagined."
"Stigmata are technology equipped only to Schicksal Valkyries. For them to appear on ordinary Deadwalkers means only two possibilities—"
"Either someone turned Valkyries into Deadwalkers, or someone is experimenting with implanting stigmata into ordinary people. Whichever it is..."
Rita fell silent for a moment, then looked up: "I'm afraid we won't get proper rest tonight. I must verify my suspicions."
Alvitr exclaimed in shock: "Eh? Miss Rita, are you planning to infiltrate Shencheng Pharmaceuticals' industrial zone? That's against regulations!"
Rita replied: "Sometimes, to achieve certain goals, we have to bend a few rules. Besides, the priority now is no longer K-423."
As night deepened,
Rita launched her operation.
Infiltrating Shencheng Pharmaceuticals' industrial zone alone.
With Alvitr's external support, she easily accessed some files:
"Providing free special medicine to citizens infected with Honkai energy..."
"Offering free clinical treatment to severe Honkai patients..."
"Drug report on HBA-220... this is the Honkai vaccine shipped from Schicksal headquarters to Shenzhou."
"This drug's inventory is 0?"
She remembered that 30,000 doses had been sent this time.
This information made Rita increasingly uneasy; she still needed a key clue to connect it all...