Seeing this, the audience grew excited.
The long-awaited reunion scene between Mei and Kiana was finally about to happen.
The TV screen switched again.
Industrial zone, underground laboratory.
In countless nights, Kiana had dreams where she couldn't distinguish reality from illusion, submerged in a bottomless abyss of memories.
Pitch black, ice cold.
She desperately swam upward, desperately breathed.
But the path upward was too dark, too long... while the choice to give up was within arm's reach.
She was tired—she just wanted to sleep like this, never again bothering with this world full of pain.
However, a faint voice was constantly calling Kiana's name, like cracks splitting through thick ice.
This name sounded so unfamiliar—she had never truly owned it...
...But every syllable hammered at her heartbeat.
"—Kiana!"
"Kiana Kaslana! Wake up quickly!"
She remembered this name.
It was the name she longed to have.
Consciousness gradually cleared—she recalled... she had been undergoing interrogation and experiments.
And there was still an unfinished mission.
She couldn't... just let herself sink into sleep like this.
"Cough cough... cough..."
Kiana woke with a violent cough!
Jackal said excitedly, "Excellent, Herrscher of the Void. In that last test, you only lost consciousness for one-third of a second. Your body is simply a miracle. Heh, no matter how I torment it, it recovers as good as new..."
"Can you still speak?"
Kiana asked coldly, "Your experiments... the experiments in Arc City—how many people will survive?"
Jackal said, "You care about the numbers? I thought to the Herrscher of the Void, the death toll would be as meaningless as breadcrumbs on the table after dinner."
"I'll definitely tell you the answer once I have it—as long as you can still hear my voice by then..."
"Next project: connection reaction between the Herrscher core and physiological tissue."
Kiana couldn't help but scream loudly.
On the other side of the screen, in some unknown place, a series of delighted laughter emerged from beneath Jackal's mask.
After the screaming ended,
Kiana continued asking, "You stole Schicksal's vaccines, provoked the Valkyries... went to so much trouble... but aside from Deadwalkers... I haven't seen stigmata on anyone in this city..."
Jackal had no intention of answering her question: "I don't want to discuss professional matters with a test subject—it's ridiculous."
She directly proceeded to the next test.
The entire laboratory was filled with Kiana's screams of agony.
But she kept asking questions—the audience could tell she was probing for information on the Stigmata Project.
In her smugness, Jackal said, "You lucky little ant, obtaining god-like power and thinking you can dictate everything in the world..."
"How to modify the vaccines, how much Honkai energy to use to baptize this city to fully activate the stigmata in human bodies... such secrets can only be understood by a genius like me."
Kiana quickly pressed, "Honkai energy... where will it be released? The city center... or the edges...?"
Jackal grew impatient, preparing to dissect her directly.
"For this tiny bit of answer, wasting so much time with you..." Kiana, imprisoned in the laboratory, suddenly laughed—as if she had been forcing herself to watch a poor comedy and finally lost patience.
Jackal was shocked: "Impossible... you clearly just..."
Kiana said casually, "Aiya, screaming and fake crying are essential skills for girls. Your little tricks didn't actually hurt that much."
The audience watched Kiana angrily smash the reinforced glass punch by punch.
Almost everyone grew excited.
"As expected of my Tuna—she's gotten so smart."
"Really, you scared me earlier—I thought Kiana was really being experimented on."
"Phew~ It did scare me. When did Kiana get this smart?"
"Only you guys believed it—did you forget? When Kiana was looking for her dad before, she was a wanderer too."
"Oh yeah, actually Kiana was never stupid—she just had everyone to rely on at St. Freya Academy before, so she didn't have to bear everything alone."
A user with the ID Aponia said: "I feel something's off. Those experiment methods earlier were real—normal Valkyries couldn't withstand them, right? How is Kiana completely fine?"
This question was immediately answered: "Because Tuna is a Herrscher—Herrschers have strong recovery abilities."
The ID Aponia continued: "That's not it. World Serpent knows Herrschers well—it's clearly because Kiana's condition defies logic that Jackal was so shocked, right?"
But...
Her question was brushed off, buried under other messages.
No one wanted Kiana to be tortured—they naturally hoped it was all an act.
Seeing this, Aponia continued watching the TV.
On the TV,
Fu Hua also asked Kiana, "Kiana, your body... are you really okay?"
Kiana said while escaping the laboratory, "Come to think of it... this guy's torment didn't hurt at all."
"...Sigh." Fu Hua only sighed, filled with endless heartache.
As Kiana's pistols fired, Honkai beasts glowing purple fell to the ground, shattering into tiny black fragments before being sucked into a black hole and vanishing.
At the same time, the laboratory doors behind her trembled violently with a massive boom, collapsing outward.
Kiana turned, preparing to face new enemies.
...However, the person before her caught her completely off guard.
"Kiana...?"
Mei called her name with a trembling voice.
Kiana had imagined ten thousand scenarios for reuniting with Mei. But none were like this—in this moment, in this place...
Her heart held no joy, only panic: "Mei...? What are you doing here? ...You, you shouldn't be here—it's dangerous! I..."
After all these changes, she thought she had become strong enough—strong enough to face reuniting with an old friend calmly.
But the instant she saw Mei, her confidence crumbled—she became that lost wandering girl in Arc City again.
Lingering guilt, fear of losing control again... the demons of the past whispered endlessly behind her.
Mei silently stepped forward and tightly embraced Kiana.
She clutched Kiana's clothes as if letting go would make the girl before her vanish like smoke.
At such close distance, the traces of recent torment couldn't be hidden: "Kiana, you're hurt... I'll take you back. Back to the Hyperion—the principal and everyone are waiting for you."
Kiana was silent for a long time before saying, "I... can't go back, Mei."
Go back?
Could she still laugh carefree with her friends like before? Could she stand before them as if nothing happened?
And they... would they still respond with affectionate smiles like in the past?
Some things, once they happen, are like scars etched on the face.
Forced smiles only make the pain clearer.
"I'm sorry... I can't let you take that risk."
Mei gazed at Kiana, feeling for the first time that she was so unfamiliar.
The audience had been anticipating the reunion, expecting a joyful scene.
No one imagined it would be so heartbreaking—especially after Kiana's refusal, they felt even more heartache for her.
Inside the company,
Elysia heartachefully stroked Kiana's head: "You've been through a lot."
Kiana shook her head, leaning closer to Elysia—as if being near her made her very happy.
Mei also leaned very close to Kiana. After all this filming and getting too deep into character, she too feared losing Kiana.
Mobius asked Hessian, "With your personality, you wouldn't make Kiana and Mei die—one of them, right?"
Hessian made an exaggerated expression: "My friend, how can you misunderstand me like this? My intention is to let both of them be together properly, giving them a beautiful, perfect ending."
Mobius said disdainfully, "You think I believe that? And! I'm not your friend—don't use that line to trick me, or... you couldn't bear the consequences."
This actually made Hessian curious: "Consequences? What consequences?"
"The consequences are..." Mobius was about to say when a cough from Fu Hua came from the TV.
She immediately turned to the TV.
"Cough cough!"
Fu Hua's cough suddenly rang in Kiana's mind, snapping the dazed audience back to attention.
"Kiana, this isn't the time for reminiscing—enemies are surging through the passages. Remind Mei to prepare for battle."
Kiana immediately composed herself and said to Mei, "Mei, give me a little time. We must leave here first. Once we've resolved the crisis in this city... we'll talk about other things."
Mei nodded in agreement: "I understand. It was Rita who sent the message for me to find you—I know all the relevant details. Kiana... I hope you understand that everyone on the Hyperion and I will always wait for you."
Kiana nodded and turned to face the enemies.
The two quickly broke out.
They arrived outside Shencheng Pharmaceuticals.
"Back in the laboratory, that guy with the dog head revealed their plan—World Serpent will create a Honkai disaster covering the entire city to fully activate the stigmata." Kiana took down the last defensive mech and informed Mei of this.
Mei quickly asked, "Isn't there more detailed timing or location? Even if we tear this place apart, we can't stop their plan."
Rita suddenly appeared: "I know where."
She wore her latest armor, sizing up Kiana: "It seems Miss Kiana is in good condition—I'm relieved."
Mei immediately shielded Kiana: "You won't take her from me!"
Rita said elegantly, "Miss Mei, calm down. As I said, in this city, we can stand on the same side."
"The World Serpent plan Miss Kiana mentioned—creating a Honkai outbreak in this city—I think I know the second half."
"In a city strictly monitoring Honkai energy use, there shouldn't be anything capable of triggering a large-scale Honkai outbreak."
"But if it's something that passed inspection and entered legally, that's different."
"Especially large vehicles powered by Honkai energy—my ship, the Eos, is a perfect target."
Kiana instantly understood: "So those guys..."
Rita nodded lightly and continued, "They removed the Honkai energy engine from the Eos. To maximize the impact on Arc City, they placed the engine at the top of the central signal tower."
"Without the protective shell, if the core is overloaded for a while, it becomes a timed bomb releasing massive Honkai energy... BOOM."
"Afterward, in investigations, Schicksal could never clear its name."
At that moment,
a large number of Honkai beasts emerged from Shencheng Pharmaceuticals—one far stronger than those encountered before.
Rita directly drew her scythe: "Miss Kiana, do you remember what you said to me? Stopping the disaster is more important than running away."
"I'll hold it off—disarming the bomb is up to you."
"I understand." Kiana didn't hesitate, quickly leaving with Mei.
Rita said finally, "Thank you for coming to save me back then... Now we're even."
Kiana hurried toward the signal tower.
But World Serpent had no intention of letting her stop the plan easily—especially... Raven!
She harbored hatred toward the Herrscher of the Void.
Striking against her carried no burden!
She directly blocked the road ahead with armored vehicles.
"Move!" Kiana shouted: "It's not too late to stop now—your plan isn't saving people, it's slaughter!"
Raven sneered: "Slaughter...? As the creator of the Second Eruption, the greatest murderer in human history... a monster like you—what qualification do you have to judge us?"
The more she spoke, the angrier she became: "Have you heard the voices of those who died because of you? Those infected with Honkai energy on the verge of death... women mourning their husbands... children torn from parents and siblings, trained as mercenaries... their wails, their cries... you could never hear them!"
Anger on her face gradually mixed with pain.
"Once the experiment succeeds, humanity will no longer have to endure everything you represent!"
Kiana directly aimed her weapons at her: "I say it again... move!"
Since words couldn't communicate, only force remained!
This time, Kiana wasn't pretending to be captured like before—she unleashed full power, defeating Raven in a short time.
Blood soaked Raven's gray cloak into pitch black. She clutched her wound tightly, staggering back as if denying the approaching defeat.
Unwillingly, she said, "You can kill me... Herrscher of the Void... just like you've always done..."
Kiana looked deeply into her eyes—in those eyes about her age, she had never seen anything but death and terror.
She holstered her guns.
Raven said, "The experiment has begun—no matter what, the outcome can't be changed. I held you back—this battle, I won."
With those words, Raven smiled cruelly, weakly spreading her hands. White smoke rose from her feet—in the darkness of the towering buildings, her figure dispersed with the smoke, vanishing.
But the area activated an energy cage, trapping Kiana and Mei inside.
Kiana grew anxious: "We've come this far, but there's no time left!"
To reach this point, she had drained every bit of her own strength, forcing her body to the brink of collapse.
"There must... there must be another way out! I can't be trapped here."
Fu Hua suddenly spoke: "Kiana, use the Herrscher of the Void's power at full strength."
Kiana was stunned: "Squad Leader, what did you say??"
Fu Hua said, "Awaken all the Herrscher of the Void's power within you—we still have hope of reaching there before the engine explodes and stopping everything."
Kiana remained worried: "I understand what you're planning... and I know it's the only way. But you... you're already very weak."
Fu Hua smiled gently: "I'll fully restrain her personality—you can freely use the Herrscher core's power. You're right—a person, when recalling the past, shouldn't find they were always running away."
"Those who sacrificed because of the Honkai are gone—they had no chance to witness the world becoming better through your efforts."
"But you can let those still alive see it all with their own eyes."
Kiana turned back, looking deeply at Mei.
Mei's lips trembled slightly—as if in the instant she turned, she already understood every decision Kiana would make.
Her gaze and silence had already conveyed her feelings to Kiana.
And she understood... she understood that Kiana at this moment would not stop.
Kiana lifted her head and closed her eyes.
"Do what you must."
Fu Hua's voice echoed in her heart. Kiana thanked her and began channeling the power...