"Can you believe it?"
Kiana grabbed a handful of potato chips and stuffed them into her mouth, chewing with a loud crunching.
"That little squirt Bronya is honestly kind of uncanny. She just threw a few things together and made a bomb. She kicked up a big commotion somewhere with nobody around, and I rushed in amid the chaos, took down those few guards, and got Kallen out—pretty perfect plan, right?"
One part sulfur, two parts niter, three parts charcoal—clearly Metal Gear Bu Langya knew exactly how to make explosives.
Su Yu tapped at the keyboard, entering the words "Project Bunny Demolition Squad" into the document.
"At the time I was thinking, since we were going to hijack the execution ground, a fierce battle was bound to be unavoidable." Kiana waved her arms, miming a combat stance. "I'd even worked out how to deal with that martial arts teacher guarding Kallen. And then guess what?"
She slapped her thigh, her whole face written all over with the word "preposterous."
"That guy half-heartedly blocked me a couple of times, then just pointed at the alley next to us and told me to go that way. Made me feel like I'd punched into a wad of cotton—not a shred of satisfaction."
Kiana curled her lip.
"Only later did I find out that even if I hadn't gone, Kallen wouldn't have been hanged. That martial arts teacher had been planning to rescue her all along."
"I'd thought that once I got Kallen into the alley, everything would be fine." Kiana's expression darkened, the chip bag crackling as she squeezed it. "But then Honkai Beasts suddenly appeared in the streets. Everywhere."
"Even though there was a tight cordon around the perimeter."
"And then, the guy who still disgusts me to this day showed up."
Kiana clenched her teeth and spat out a name.
"Otto Apocalypse."
The temperature in the living room seemed to drop a few degrees at that name.
"That blond bastard is an utter, thoroughgoing lunatic. He's the one who released those Honkai Beasts locked up underground, deliberately creating chaos so he could seize the chance to whisk Kallen far away."
The more Kiana spoke, the angrier she got, her fingers gripping the edge of the sofa cushion.
"He actually said, right to Kallen's face, that compared to Kallen, the lives of those civilians were utterly insignificant."
"Ancestor Kallen backhanded him with a resounding slap right then and there." Kiana waved her fist excitedly, as if she'd been the one to land the slap. "It was so satisfying. She told that bastard that the Kaslanas are the shield of the people. Then she turned around and went off to lure the Honkai Beasts away, to protect the civilians."
The mood grew oppressive.
Kiana lowered her head, gazing at her own empty palm.
"Bronya hacked into the internal data of that space. Only then did we learn that Kallen's true ending wasn't being executed by hanging at all."
"To protect the people being attacked by the Honkai Beasts, she used her frail body to block a fatal blow, and died of utter exhaustion."
Kiana lifted her head and looked at Su Yu with a complicated expression.
"So in the end, that self-righteous Otto guy actually became an accomplice in getting Kallen killed."
"How ironic."
Su Yu looked at her and pushed the cup of warm water by his hand over to her.
Kiana cupped the cup and took a small sip; the warm liquid slid down her throat, restoring some strength to her voice.
"Facing so many powerful Honkai Beasts, I had no weapons at all in the data space, and I completely couldn't deal with them."
She drew a deep breath, her tone rising again, carrying that radiant spirit unique to a young girl.
"And it was right then that Bronya unexpectedly connected to another Otto. Only later did I find out he wasn't a virtual personality, but the real Schicksal Bishop in reality."
"That old fox actually authorized Bronya to use the data of White Knight: Moonbeam."
Kiana stood up, making a spreading motion with both hands in front of her, excitement flashing in her eyes.
"That was my first time coming into contact with god-slaying armament—that kind of power was just amazing. The instant the Light Wings Unfolded, I locked onto every single Honkai Beast, bang bang bang a few times, and instantly wiped them all out."
Su Yu obligingly clapped a few times.
"As expected of a future S-rank Valkyrie. That show of force was truly maxed out."
Hearing the praise, Kiana scratched her head a little bashfully and sat back down on the carpet.
Her voice softened again, as if recounting a fragile dream.
"After wiping out the Honkai Beasts completely, Bronya and I found Kallen on her last breath."
"Only then did I learn that she'd known all along that this place was a virtual data space, that she was nothing but a created virtual personality."
"But she still smiled and told me—thank you for treating her so gently."
Kiana's eyes reddened a little; she blinked hard, forcing the tears back.
"She hoped I could pass along a message for the real Kallen Kaslana."
"A message that had been buried in her memory for over five hundred years."
The room was so quiet that only the faint hum of the computer fan could be heard.
"Before I left that space, I saw her wave at me, smiling as she said goodbye."
Kiana sniffled and reached up to rub her eyes.
She turned her head, looked at Su Yu, and forced a smile to the corner of her mouth.
"Su Yu, tell me."
"My ancestor really was a big fool."
Su Yu looked at the girl before him, tears still glistening at the corners of her eyes.
He reached out and, neither too gently nor too roughly, ruffled that head of white hair.
His fingertips passed through the soft strands, conveying a wordless comfort.
"Yeah."
Su Yu said softly.
"But the Kaslana family is exactly the sort that produces these heart-aching fools, isn't it."
Kiana sniffled and roughly wiped the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand.
She gave two dry coughs, hugged her knees again, rested her chin on them, and resumed that "I'm fine, I'm strong" expression.
"Anyway, that's the story of how I first came into contact with the Moonbeam Armor."
Her voice was still a little hoarse, but her tone had returned to normal.
"But after that whole thing, there was a follow-up." Kiana tilted her head, as if sorting through fragments of memory. "Strictly speaking, I wasn't there to witness it myself. I only found out later from Headmaster Theresa's mission report."
Su Yu's fingers landed on the keyboard again, making a faint clacking sound.
"Over in Nagazora, a pseudo-Herrscher reaction appeared again," Kiana said. "Theresa took the Oath of Judah and went to face it single-handedly. None of us were by her side at that time."
"And as it turned out, she got poisoned, on her last breath."
Kiana's brows knit together, her fingers unconsciously tugging at the hem of her clothes.
"But then someone saved her. I'm not sure exactly who—the report was vague about it. In the end, Theresa still managed to deal with that pseudo-Herrscher."
"But the story isn't over yet..."
Kiana was just about to keep going.
Within Su Yu's field of vision, a huge System pop-up window suddenly sprang up, glittering with golden light, plastered right in the center of his retina.
[Ding—! Congratulations, Host!]
[Main Mission "Memory Collection · Academy Arc" material recording complete!]
[Current Progress: St. Freya Academy Daily Life | Valkyrie Exam | White Knight: Moonbeam Origin · Kallen Kaslana □]
[Unlockable comic production: The Third Eruption, Academy Arc]
Before Su Yu could even digest this message, a second pop-up window jumped out right after.
This one had a pink border, plus several twinkling star effects—it looked thoroughly unserious.
[Friendly reminder~]
[Detected that the Host has gone 23 days and 14 hours without feeding "Teacher Painted World" a new script!]
[Little Griseo hasn't received a creation commission from Su Yu in a long, long time~]
[If you don't get in touch soon, watch out—Teacher Painted World might just ignore you, you know? (.>﹏<.)]
[The Host is advised to slide on over to Teacher Painted World as soon as possible and start creation commissions for the new comics The Third Eruption and Academy Arc!]
[ps: A line for the Host—the rose need not grow taller; the lover will bend down of their own accord.]
[PS: Teacher Painted World may be wonderful, but don't get too addicted~ If you get caught living off an elementary schooler, the Host would probably get zapped to ashes by Mobius~]
Su Yu's temples throbbed.
"The lover will bend down of their own accord," my ass? You damn dog of a Sys, are you trying to get the door kicked in by the FBI? Even when picking bullets you've got to go for the smallest one, huh?
And what's that last reminder supposed to mean? What do you mean, "living off Griseo"? Being kept by a rich older woman would at most earn me a few snide remarks—but being kept by Griseo would really be a three-years-to-life situation!
And as for that "zapped to ashes" part—is there any chance there wouldn't be that big a pile left?
He was already too drained to even bother retorting.
He let out a sigh.
But come to think of it, it really had been a long while since he'd gone to see Griseo.
The last time they'd met was at Homu Land, where that taciturn little painter had helped them win the giant HOMEI doll from the encyclopedia quiz contest.
"Squad Monitor, do you think a kid Griseo's age would get angry after being left hanging for three weeks?"
"From my experience, she wouldn't get angry." Fenghuang paused within his consciousness. "But she would paint a portrait of you smeared beyond all recognition in every color imaginable to express her displeasure."
Right—his to-do list for tomorrow had grown by one more item: go bring snacks to Teacher Painted World and discuss the new script.
Su Yu glanced out the window.
The night view of Arc City spread out beyond the floor-to-ceiling window; the distant cluster of office towers glittered with scattered pinpricks of light, like a giant circuit board.
The hands of the clock had quietly slipped past eleven.
"Kiana."
He closed the laptop screen, leaned back against his chair, and stretched lazily.
"Let's save the Crimson Sakura Arc for next time. That's enough for today."
"Mm..."
Kiana nodded.
She rubbed her slightly sore, watery eyes and let out a long yawn—a yawn so wide her mouth opened to its very limit, baring a row of neat little white teeth, utterly without any trace of a Valkyrie's image.
"I really did talk a ton today... my head's about to explode."
She stretched her arms, her joints giving off crisp cracking pops.
"Su Yu, do we have to keep recounting the plot tomorrow?"
As she asked this, her right hand quietly slid over to her phone.
On it, the screen was lit up with an unread message.
The sender's ID was a rabbit avatar, the contact name reading [Bronie], followed by a Homu sticker.
The message was only two short lines:
[Ten a.m. tomorrow, gather at the usual place. Final phase of the Sheepdog Tactics—take out three more outlying hideouts, and those big fish of the Tiger Claw Gang should surface. Remember to wear clothes you can move easily in.]
Kiana stole a glance at it, while keeping an air of having nothing better to do on the surface.
Su Yu shook his head. "Not tomorrow."
He stood up and went to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water.
"Fuxi told me earlier that the studio on the top floor of the Arc City Tower—the one Eden gifted us—is ready for us to go check out."
"That place was originally a preset site for some well-known major domestic company's branch office, but it got abandoned later because of some internal restructuring or other. Fuxi swooped in and snapped it up at a low price."
"How low?" Kiana asked curiously.
"Low by Eden's net worth, that is." Su Yu took a sip of water. "If we're really being honest, selling me off could probably cover the down payment."
"That's pretty pricey, then—you're worth that much?"
"...Are you praising me or roasting me?"
"Anyway, that studio was meant for a big internet company to begin with, so a lot of the basic infrastructure is already in place." Su Yu went on. "But to convert it for game development, we'd still have to add a whole pile of professional equipment. Fuxi said to meet up at the Arc City Tower tomorrow—she wants to record on-site what needs to be purchased and put together a financial report."
"I'm planning to go inspect the site tomorrow. Do you want to come along?"
Kiana's body stiffened slightly.
"Renovations and all that—I don't understand any of it! Motion capture rigs, server rooms, soundproof booths... just hearing about it makes my head spin."
She shrank deeper into the sofa, hugged a cushion, and rolled over, turning her back to Su Yu.
"Tomorrow I want to sleep in at home. I finally don't have to get dragged all over the place by you—what's wrong with letting this young lady rest for one day?"
Su Yu, holding his cup of water, looked at that figure curled up on the sofa, pretending to already be utterly worn out.
Bronie had already sent him a message ahead of time.
The wording of that message was concise, professional, and very Bronie:
[BOSS, borrowing that white-haired one of yours for a day tomorrow. The Sheepdog net is about to close in; we need her fists. Don't worry, I won't let her lose a single hair. Hack Bunny guarantees it.]
Of course Su Yu knew what Kiana was going to do tomorrow.
She was going to go with Bronie to smash the Tiger Claw Gang's hideout and earn the Vigilante bounty.
And the use for that bounty was to buy him a new graphics card.
This was something she'd never managed to keep hidden from him from the very start.
Kiana Kaslana probably would never learn how to lie in her whole life; what was written on that face of hers was even clearer than a System pop-up.
But Su Yu said nothing.
He didn't want to be a killjoy of a parent.
Kiana had, with no small effort, found something in this peaceful world that she wanted to do.
Even if that something seemed a bit dangerous in his eyes, even if the reason behind it struck him as bubble-headedly silly.
But it was her choice.
She wanted to do something for the people around her by her own strength.
This sentiment was more precious than any gift.
"All right."
Su Yu said softly.
"Then get yourself some good rest. Sort out your own lunch tomorrow—if you're hungry, ordering takeout is fine too."
"I know, I know..."
Kiana answered in a muffled voice and buried her face in the cushion.
She turned her face slightly to the side, looking at the message on her phone, her fingertips flying rapidly across the screen.
"Got it, ten o'clock tomorrow. By the way, any recommendations for a wallet that can hold lots of loose change? I'm planning to save up a big sum lately."
A few seconds later, Bronie's reply popped out.
"...Are you going to rob a bank? And who even still uses cash these days."
"Forget it, I don't want to know. Just show up on time, dummy Kiana."
Kiana grinned soundlessly.
On the carpet beside the sofa, that odd-eyed white cat Chongchong was curled into a ball, its tail rhythmically patting the floor.
It half-opened one golden eye, glanced at the pretending-to-sleep Kiana, then glanced at Su Yu, who was washing a cup over in the kitchen.
Then it yawned and buried its head in its own fluffy tail.
Outside the window, the night sky after the rain held no stars—only the aviation warning lights atop the high-rises blinking at regular intervals.
On, off. On, off.
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