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AQK CH1-1 Chapter 1: Kiana's Tips for Answering Questions "Shua!" The metal baseball bat struck the short, white, purple-striped monster wit

AQK CH1-1

Chapter 1: Kiana's Tips for Answering Questions

"Shua!"

The metal baseball bat struck the short, white, purple-striped monster with great force. This merciless and sharp blow smashed the half-human-high creature, sending it flying before it transformed into purple dots and slowly dissipated.

"Huh, another one solved."

Kiana placed the metal baseball bat on the ground and, feeling a bit tired, leaned against the wall behind her and exhaled.

"This is already the fourteenth of this week," she remarked, glancing at the direction where the Honkai Beast had disappeared. She sighed, her voice tinged with complaints and confusion: "What's going on in this city?"

According to past experience, Honkai Beasts like this generally do not appear in human cities. However, in Nagazora City, the number of Honkai Beasts that had appeared in just one week was almost catching up with the number that had plagued the small village where Kiana lived with her father.

She could still understand that small village; after all, her stinky father had said it was more special.

But Nagazora City?

Kiana looked up at the sky and then through the gap in the alley at the tall buildings and the endless flow of people outside.

This calm and peaceful appearance had nothing to do with the word "special."

"Damn it, I came to this city just to find my stinky dad."

Kiana puffed her cheeks, feeling angry at her awful father, who had left without saying goodbye, abandoning her.

"Gu~"

The sudden sound rang in Kiana's ears, causing her to touch her empty stomach subconsciously.

"I'm so hungry..."

Kiana took out her phone and checked the time, then displayed a frustrated expression.

"It's not time for Mei to finish school yet..."

It was afternoon now, and there were still at least two hours before the end of school at Senba Academy, where Raiden Mei was studying. This meant the cafeteria was not open yet!

"Well... let's go buy some bread or something."

Kiana pulled out her shriveled wallet with a heavy heart.

If she remembered correctly, there was a bakery nearby.

She had her first dinner in Nagazora City with bread from that bakery.

Well... it was like this until she found her fixed meal ticket.

Of course, this didn't mean that the bread from that bakery was delicious. On the contrary, the taste of the bread was extremely poor compared to other bakeries. If it weren't for the low price and large quantity, Miss Kiana would never have patronized this bakery a second time.

In order to fill her empty stomach, Kiana walked out of the alley. However, just before she stepped out, the surrounding environment changed instantly.

"What is this...?!"

Kiana at this point of time had not yet been turned into a useless person by Mei, so she still maintained good alertness. She noticed the change in her surroundings, and a hint of vigilance appeared on her pretty face.

"Where is this?"

Kiana picked up the baseball bat and carefully surveyed her surroundings. A pale scene came into view, seemingly without end.

[Welcome here, visitor]

A mechanical voice, tinged with a hint of joy, sounded from all directions. This sudden voice startled Kiana, and she asked with some vigilance, "Who are you?!"

[I am responsible for maintaining the overall Control consciousness of this space.]

The voice that appeared to come from nowhere responded to Kiana's question.

"Control... consciousness?" This unfamiliar term confused Kiana. However, she quickly realized what she needed to do.

"Where is this place?"

Kiana sounded very concerned about being inexplicably transported to this strange location. She asked in a rather unfriendly tone, "Did you trap me here?"

[The word "trap" is not appropriate. You arrived in this space purely by chance. That's all.]

The entity self-proclaimed as "control consciousness" seemed unfazed by Kiana's evident hostility and wariness.

[Independent of time and space, not existing in the long river of fate, if you must describe it, it is probably a strange space where no one resides in the world.]

Kiana found this puzzling. What about the past, future, and present?

"It sounds pretty powerful," she muttered to herself, still not quite understanding it. Then, as if remembering something, she looked forward with shining eyes and asked with anticipation, "Then can you... um, grant me three wishes?!"

[?]

The control consciousness remained silent.

Wow, is she treating it like Aladdin's lamp?

[This is not Aladdin's magic lamp, and I am not the genie sealed within it.]

This obviously negative answer made Kiana mutter in disappointment, "What? I thought you were powerful..."

She made a face of disdain and waved her hand. "Forget it. You're not reliable. Let me out quickly; I need to buy bread to fill my stomach!"

[Are you sure? This space is not entirely incapable of granting your wishes.]

[It's just that, to fulfill your desires, you must meet certain conditions.]

"Uh... I want to know where my stinky dad is. Can I do that?" Kiana asked tentatively.

[As long as the conditions are met, this is not impossible.]

"Well, what are the conditions?!" After getting the answer she needed, Kiana displayed a somewhat urgent expression.

[It's very simple.]

As the voice of the consciousness fell, a blue screen appeared out of thin air in front of Kiana.

[Question: Among the following answers, who is not a blood relative of Kiana Kaslana?]

[A: Siegfried Kaslana]

[B: Cecilia Schariac]

[C: Theresa Apocalypse]

[D: Sirin]

"Is this a quiz show?" Kiana was a little stunned when she saw the content on the screen that had suddenly appeared.

[That's right.]

[This space is independent of time and space. As long as you answer questions, you can earn various rewards.]

[The rewards may contain what you need.]

"Is that so..." Kiana looked confused. She scratched the back of her head, examined the content on the screen, and began to think.

"Answer A, stinky dad must be my direct blood relative!"

Kiana quickly ruled out Siegfried.

"Answer B..." Kiana frowned at this name, which seemed unfamiliar yet strangely familiar, and muttered, "Who is this..."

Forget it; let's keep going.

"Answer C, Theresa Apocalypse... another unfamiliar name."

Keep it.

"Answer D, Sirin..."

"Ahhhh! Why are all these names unfamiliar?!"

Looking at the unfamiliar names one after another, Kiana couldn't help but feel a bit frantic.

It was frustrating enough that they were unfamiliar, but why did these names feel so familiar?

"Forget it! I'll choose the shortest name out of three long ones!"

Miss Kiana who had no clue decided to rely on the secret of multiple-choice questions she had learned by chance, adopting a broken jar mentality.

"I choose D!"

----

Chapter 2: Kiana's Wit

"I choose D."

The answer came out of her mouth.

A moment of dead silence followed.

Kiana looked at the screen in front of her nervously, praying that she could guess the answer correctly.

The result did not disappoint Kiana's expectations; the answer representing D showed a green light, and her throbbing heart soared with the [correct answer].

"Huh," Kiana breathed a sigh of relief, patted her plump chest, and said with a slightly proud look, "What? This lady is quite smart!"

"Okay, this lady has answered the question correctly," she urged with a little insistence. "Give me the reward quickly; don't refuse to pay!"

[Not over yet.]

The control consciousness said so and then released the next question:

[The third great Honkai of this era occurred in Nagazora City. Among the following options, who is the third Herrscher who caused the Third Eruption in Nagazora City?]

[A: Raiden Mei]

[B: Kiana Kaslana]

[C: Bronya Zaychik]

[D: Wendy]

"Huh?!" After reading this question, Kiana widened her eyes in surprise.

The third Eruption occurred in Nagazora City?

Isn't she in Nagazora City now?!

"What's going on? I didn't see any big Honkai Eruptions."

Kiana was a little surprised.

Although the Honkai Beasts in this city are indeed a bit frequent, they are far from the big Honkai that her stinky dad talked about.

[For you, this is what is going to happen.]

The control consciousness gave a very calm answer.

[As I said before, this space is independent of time and fate, and the test questions given are naturally the same.]

"What is going to happen..."

Kiana murmured, "In other words, in the near future, the Third Eruption will break out in this Nagazora City? No, absolutely not!"

She clenched her palms, a little angry in her brows.

Although Kiana did not receive any formal education, she still learned a lot about the Honkai from her terrible father.

If a great Honkai breaks out in such a densely populated metropolis, then, at that time, this city will definitely turn into a living hell, right?

"We must stop this Honkai." Kiana muttered to herself, her words full of determination.

Carrying the name of Kaslana, when facing such a thing that will endanger the safety of the people, they don't even have to think about how to choose. The Kaslana blood flowing in their veins will make the choice for them.

[So, what are you going to do?]

The control consciousness asked this question about this moth-to-flame determination.

Instantly, Kiana was speechless.

What should I do...

Yes, what should I do...

How can she prevent this tragedy from happening?

Run around like a headless fly?

Or continue to clean up the born Honkai Beasts as usual?

"What should I do..."

Kiana murmured absentmindedly.

Then, she thought of something.

She raised her head again and looked at the content on the screen.

"The third Herrscher that caused the third Honkai outbreak?"

Kiana keenly caught the key words. She thought thoughtfully, "If we find this person, then there must be a way."

[Finally realized it?]

[Although the main reason for the outbreak of the Third Eruption is not the body of the third Herrscher.]

[But if you find her, you may indeed save a lot of effort.]

[So, what to do next is very clear, right?]

"Of course!" Kiana nodded affirmatively.

She looked at the answers to this question very seriously, afraid of missing a word.

Kiana hates test papers and test questions.

However, if it is to protect the people, then no matter how difficult or annoying it is, she must do it.

"Answer A: Raiden... Senior Mei."

Seeing this name, Kiana frowned and shook her head vigorously.

"Impossible! Senior Mei can never be the body of the third Herrscher!"

Recalling Mei's tenderness and kindness towards her, Kiana directly swept the possibility that Mei-senpai would be the third Herrscher's body into the trash can.

"Answer B..." Kiana looked at her name in answer B and was speechless.

You don't even need to look at it; it must be wrong.

She is Kaslana, a warrior who faces the Honkai.

How could she be the third Herrscher's body?

Directly exclude answers A and B.

Kiana looked at the remaining two answers:

[Answer C: Bronya Zaychik]

[Answer D: Wendy]

"Two strange names." Kiana scratched the back of her head, feeling a headache.

So she hated test questions.

"If I answer wrong, can I see the correct answer?"

Kiana asked tentatively.

This question is related to who the third Herrscher's body is.

Only by finding the third Herrscher's body can she prevent the Honkai from happening.

If the answer cannot be displayed, then she can't just rely on guessing like the previous question.

She must be careful.

[Yes.]

Kiana breathed a sigh of relief.

It turns out that you can know the answer even if you don't answer correctly.

That's easy.

Questions? Just answer casually.

Anyway, there seems to be no punishment for answering incorrectly.

As for only answering incorrectly but receiving no reward?

Kiana thought that it was up to fate.

If you can guess correctly, great; if you can't guess correctly, forget it.

"I choose D!"

Kiana made her choice.

As the saying goes, choose the shortest of three long names and one short.

Excluding option A and option B, the shortest name is only option D, which is Wendy.

Anyway, the Herrscher's body is between these two people, so it might be right if she guesses like the previous question.

Unfortunately, Kiana's luck on this question is not as reliable as the previous one.

So...

[Wrong answer.]

A red cover obscured option D, chosen by Kiana.

"Damn, I didn't guess it right!"

Kiana muttered unhappily.

If possible, she would of course hope that she could answer correctly.

After all, rewards are something that almost no one dislikes, right?

But the answer was wrong, so she answered incorrectly.

Kiana was now more concerned about the answer to this question.

Who is the third Herrscher's body?!

She already had an idea about this.

Since Wendy in option D is wrong, then the Herrscher's body must be Bronya Zaychik in option C!

Anyway, she had never heard of these two people's names, so she would just assign the title of the Herrscher's body to these two people she didn't know.

Okay, it's decided.

After she gets out, she will find this person named Bronya!

Kiana looked at the screen, intending to give her accurate reasoning a perfect ending.

However, the moment she saw the answer on the screen, she was stunned as if she had been struck by lightning.

"How... is it possible!?"

[Correct answer: Raiden Mei.]

"Why is it Mei-senpai? It's impossible, right? It must be wrong!"

"How can such a gentle Mei-senpai be the third Herrscher's body?!"

With a look of disbelief, Kiana trembled all over, her eyes full of doubt.

"You must have made a mistake; you must have made a mistake, right?"

[The answer is correct.]

[The third Herrscher is Raiden Mei.]

The control consciousness used cold reality to completely bring Kiana's luck to the bottom.

[End of this quiz.]

[Start settlement.]

[Number of QAs: 2.]

[Correct answer rate: 50%.]

[Reward: Houmu's gift box.]

---

Chapter 3: Kiana and Mei

[I look forward meeting you next time, a visitor with a bad fate but unexpected good luck.]

The existence called Control Consciousness left a meaningful message and disappeared into the wonderful space.

Standing at the entrance of the alley, Kiana covered her eyebrows and looked down at the small box in front of her, featuring the famous mascot, a yellow grass-knotted rabbit, Homu, printed on it.

The presence of the reward box in front of her made her understand that everything she had experienced before was not a dream, but reality.

And this also meant:

"Honkai Eruption..." Kiana glanced at the hurried people driving on the road and walking on the street not far away. She muttered this name, which represents misfortune. "We must find Mei-senpai quickly!"

Kiana knew what she should do next and quickly picked up the Homu box in front of her, rushing to Senba Academy, where Mei was.

Even though she was tired and hungry, there was no time for her to rest. Although she knew that the city would explode through that strange space, she didn’t know where or when it would start. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe it won’t happen for ten days or half a month. Or maybe it will explode in the next moment?

The sun set in the west, and the afterglow of the sunset spread over the largest and most famous aristocratic girls' school in Nagazora City, Senba Academy.

School was about to end.

From a high place, one could see groups of students walking together, laughing as they exited the campus.

Sitting on the edge of the roof of the teaching building was Mei, wearing a standard academy uniform. She looked at all this with a gloomy expression.

She was originally the daughter of the president of the ME Club, the daughter of the ME Club.

But after ME Club president Raiden Ryoma was declared guilty of corruption not long ago, her status plummeted.

After that, all the people who used to surround her disappeared.

The surroundings of Mei became deserted as a result.

However, she didn't really care about this contrast.

As the daughter of the ME Club, although she had not had much contact with the ME Club because of her father, Mei knew very well that those who approached her before probably gathered for her reputation as the daughter of the ME Club. Letting those people with ulterior motives leave was fine with her.

However, what Mei could not let go of was the fact that her father was corrupt.

In her impression, her father was always so great and upright; it was impossible for him to be related to a bad thing as corruption. However, the ironclad fact told Mei that the father she admired and trusted was indeed a criminal.

"Father..." Mei felt a little sad, and at the same time, she couldn't understand why.

Even if she had no contact with her father's ME Corporation, she could know what kind of giant ME Corporation her father controlled through what she had read in newspapers and on TV in the past.

Technology, livelihood, finance...

The ME Corporation, involved in several fields, could be called the uncrowned first consortium in the Far East.

However, the father who controlled this giant was actually imprisoned for corruption.

"Mei-senpai, I finally found you!"

A familiar voice came from behind. Mei looked at the white-haired girl who was breathing heavily and looked very anxious, stunned. "It's you, Kiana," she said, frowning.

With a beautiful eyebrow, Mei looked at the girl who unexpectedly broke into her life and was in a hurry.

She couldn't help but feel a little curious: "What's the matter?"

Although she hadn't spent a long time with this girl from another place, they had a good relationship. Kiana often came to her place to eat. This kind of hurry was the first time she had seen it.

"That box... So you like the type of Homu?" Seeing the Homu logo on the small box held by Kiana, Mei raised her eyebrows, a little surprised. Although Homu is known as the national mascot, she didn't like this strange creature. Not at all.

Kiana was a little speechless about Mei's focus, but she didn't mean to dwell on this topic for too long and instead acted very seriously.

"Mei-senpai, I'm going to tell you something very important next; you must not be afraid."

"Hmm..." Mei was stunned at first. Then, looking at Kiana's serious expression, she immediately understood that this girl, who was usually not serious, might have something important to tell her, so she nodded: "I have received professional training; I won't be afraid."

Inheriting the family swordsmanship, she had some samurai characteristics; as long as she was serious, she was definitely a serious person. As for fear... as long as it was not something outrageous, she shouldn't be afraid. Mei thought she was quite brave.

"Okay..." Kiana took a deep breath and explained everything.

After a while, Mei said, "A Honkai Eruption... I am the body of the Third Herrscher... What are these?"

After listening to Kiana's words, Mei was confused. She didn't understand at all.

As a five-star good citizen, she may have been a little better at fighting because of her family's swordsmanship, but she was still within the range of normal people.

But after listening to Kiana's words, why did it feel like the style of this world was heading toward fantasy?

"Ah..." Looking at Mei's confused expression, Kiana slapped her forehead.

She suddenly remembered that she had not told Mei much about the knowledge of Honkai.

"Well... it seems that I have to teach Mei about Honkai first," Kiana thought with a headache.

Fortunately, this was not difficult.

Because Mei was not stupid; her grades could be said to be among the best in Senba Academy.

In addition, the opportunity for Kiana to meet Mei for the first time was related to Honkai creatures, so Mei quickly understood what the so-called Honkai was.

"..." After figuring out what Honkai was, Mei was silent for a moment and said faintly, "In other words, this city will soon be destroyed, and the reason has something to do with me?"

"I don't know; at least that’s what it told me."

Looking at Mei's expression, Kiana felt a little uncomfortable, but since it was about the whole city, she couldn't be swayed by her emotions.

"It?"

Noticing this name, Mei looked confused.

"Well..." Kiana nodded, and then told Mei about what happened today, one by one.

"...a space for answering questions?" Mei raised her eyebrows, puzzled by yet another strange thing.

She looked at Kiana strangely.

Could you really encounter such a bizarre phenomenon just by walking around outside?

Are you really not the child of destiny?

Mei who hasn't completely graduated from her second year of middle school sickness secretly complained about Kiana's fantastic experiences.

But back to reality.

No matter how outrageous Kiana's experiences were, the information she received was enough to make Mei fall into deep thought.

For a while, she was a little confused.

If the information Kiana received was true, then what should she do?

She looked at the empty space on the rooftop with her eyes filled with sadness.

Mei who had her faith shattered because of her father gradually calmed down.

Perhaps...

---

Chapter 4: Kiana, the Thick-Skinned One

"Pa."

A dull sound echoed in the air, followed by a deathly silence.

Mei covered half of her face, feeling the burning pain, her eyes full of disbelief.

Born as a young lady, she had been protected by her father since she was a child.

But now...

She was beaten?!

And Kiana, who made such a shocking move, was surprisingly calm at this moment, unlike her usual playful temper.

"Do you want to die like this?"

"...What else can I do?!?" After a brief silence, Mei's words burst forth, filled with sadness and dissatisfaction.

"My respected father is in prison."

"This city will soon suffer a disaster because of me!"

"What reason do I have to live like this?!"

Not the mature Herrscher of Thunder she would later become, Mei at this moment was just a girl still in the academy, confused because of her father's situation.

The news brought by Kiana would only make her mood worse.

"Is that so..."

Looking at the already collapsed and crying Mei, Kiana suddenly felt a little regretful. Perhaps she shouldn't have told Mei about these things. However, there was no room for regret now. Kiana would never allow Mei to commit suicide because she already regarded this kind-hearted girl as her friend. "It's just a bastard dad. I have one too," Kiana said to herself. "What kind of bastard father can compare to my bastard dad who abandoned his daughter and disappeared for no reason, leaving me to live alone?" "Disaster?" "If this disaster is destined to happen because of you, Mei, then no matter what..."

"...Ah, I'm not good at persuading others!" Kiana, who tried to persuade Mei with the power of words, scratched her hair a little madly. "In short, I will never let you go to hell, Mei!"

"And the collapse that is about to happen, I will do my best to stop it!"

"Well... I will do it for the sake of Kaslana!"

Although she said such willful words, from her eyes as bright as the moon, you could see how much determination this girl, who was a little confused about her own weight, had mustered.

Perhaps it was because of seeing this that Mei's emotions, which were almost collapsed, stabilized a little.

At least the idea of committing suicide was basically gone.

Although Mei had fantasized about becoming a hero who saves the world when she was a child, that was just a fantasy after all.

Reality is reality, after all.

Away from the atmosphere of life and death, Mei herself also had a resistance to the word "death."

Well... I am afraid that most people are like this.

"~Gu 'Lu~"

A sudden sound rang out on the rooftop.

Kiana covered her stomach awkwardly.

She was going to buy some bread to fill her stomach, but she didn't buy it because of the inexplicable answering space. She had run all the way from the other side of the city to Qianyu College and then turned the whole college upside down before she found Mei on the rooftop.

Now, her stomach was already empty.

"...If you want to be a hero, you can't be hungry."

Mei covered her mouth lightly at Kiana's embarrassment, showing a smile that she hadn't had for a long time since her father went to prison. "Let's put aside saving the city for now; let's go to my house to fill our stomachs first."

Hearing this, Kiana didn't refuse. After all, as Mei said, no matter what she wanted to do, she couldn't let her do it on an empty stomach.

"I want to eat fried chicken legs!" The love for food made Kiana somewhat recover her lively appearance, and a trace of crystal clear drool flowed from the corners of her mouth.

…

Putting on an apron and picking up the spatula beside her, Mei was in a good mood at the moment.

Although Kiana's attack still made her face a little painful, when it came to the cooking part that she was best at and loved the most, no matter how bad her mood had been before, Mei could temporarily feel good.

Well... This is probably talent.

Miss Mei, who was in a good mood, picked up the ingredients. She used a knife to clean the frozen chicken legs in the refrigerator, coated them with egg liquid and breadcrumbs, and threw them into the boiling oil pan. Then, she turned around slightly and began to prepare other dishes. A moment later, a small white hand took advantage of Mei's inattention and reached for the fried chicken legs that Mei had placed aside. The fried chicken legs exuded an aroma that could make the children next door hungry. Just when the hand was only a few inches away from the chicken legs, "Bang." The ruthless kitchen spoon hit the food thief's head.

"Kiana, can't you be a little patient?" Looking at Kiana, who was holding her head and crying in pain, Mei wore a helpless expression, though the corners of her mouth rose slightly. Humph, my father never hit me! Although Mei understood that Kiana was trying to stop her from slapping her in the face, she still couldn't change Miss Mei's resentful attitude about it. Now, she had been caught trying to steal food. Couldn't she take a little ruthless revenge?

It’s time to eat.

When Mei announced this solemnly, Kiana excitedly started to eat the delicious food on the table.

Mei smiled at this.

The dishes she made were loved by others, which was a form of affirmation for her. In addition, Mei didn’t have many real friends, so she was still very happy to see Kiana enjoy her cooking so much.

Besides being happy, she also noticed the Houmu reward box that Kiana always carried when she looked at Kiana’s profile.

Speaking of which, according to Kiana, the box was a reward for answering questions in that magical space.

I don’t know what’s inside...

Mei held the chopsticks and looked at the box absent-mindedly.

People have two emotions about unknown things: fear and curiosity.

The former probably related to this reward box is irrelevant.

But as for the latter, Mei was feeling that way now.

A box that she knew would have some unknown good stuff.

Putting this kind of thing aside was like saving a bunch of crystals and watching the card pool without doing anything.

To be honest, it was a bit torturous.

"Kiana, don't you want to open the box and see what's inside?"

After all, Mei was overcome by curiosity and took the initiative to ask.

"Mmm... Gurgle, gurgle." Kiana bit off the fried chicken leg in one bite, her mouth oily from chewing. Then she looked at the reward box in the direction Mei pointed.

Then, she was stunned for a moment.

"Ah... I suddenly remembered that this is still a reward box!!"

Hearing Kiana's words, Mei's mouth twitched slightly.

So you forgot the existence of this thing?

It's amazing that you can carry this thing around and not care what it is.

---

Chapter 5: Kiana's Baseball Bat

Kiana opened Hom's box at Mei's urging. Mei who was interested, leaned in closer.

A golden light burst forth.

"Wow, it’s the Golden Legend!" Kiana exclaimed, excitement glimmering in her eyes. She had once played an evil, pay-to-win game in Shenzhou and felt a rush of nostalgia.

However, when they examined the contents of the Homu box, both of them were stunned.

"This... isn't that the baseball bat you brought?" Mei picked up the baseball bat from the box with an uncertain expression. She had known Kiana for a while and remembered the baseball bat that Kiana always carried.

"Uh..." Kiana scratched her head, took the baseball bat from Mei, and waved it around. "Well... this feels like my baseball bat, right?"

"Really? But... why do you have two baseball bats?"

In a moment of distraction, Mei grabbed the baseball bat that Kiana had left at her house and shook it at Kiana.

"... I don't know; these two baseball bats feel exactly the same. They’re both mine..huh!?"

Mei was startled by Kiana's sudden exclamation and asked in confusion, "What’s wrong, Kiana?"

"Um... this baseball bat..." Kiana held the bat she had pulled from the Homu reward box and pointed out, "If you look closely, there’s something like an item description."

*[Kiana's Baseball Bat (Sub-space Lance)]*

*[Although it looks and feels the same as the baseball bat she used before, it is actually made of the Sub-space lance created by the power of the Herrscher.]*

*[Durability: -1]*

"My baseball bat?" Kiana looked at the description with confusion.

"This... should be the baseball bat used by Kiana in the future, right?" Mei observed, noting the introduction of the baseball bat.

After seeing Kiana’s puzzled expression, Mei explained, "Didn’t you say that the space is independent of time? Then there shouldn’t be a problem with rewarding people with items from the future or the past, right?"

"Uh... that seems to be true." Kiana nodded, recalling Mei’s point. However, she still wore a troubled expression as she examined the bat in her hand.

"It’s obviously my baseball bat from the future, but why is it related to the power of the Herrscher?"

"And this durability... well, it sounds like the durability of equipment in a game. Long-term value, right?"

"It’s actually a negative number. Will this baseball bat really not break upon contact?"

A trace of dissatisfaction crossed her face as she muttered, "Sure enough, that space isn’t reliable at all."

[It’s not a good habit to speak ill of others behind their backs.]

A sudden voice echoed in the air.

"... This voice, is it that... the space's consciousness?!"

Kiana, familiar with the voice, reacted instantly and began to look around.

At some point, the surrounding environment had changed. It appeared a white zone once again.

But this time, Kiana wasn’t alone. The changes around her initially stunned Mei, but she soon reacted and said in surprise, "Is this the strange space where questions can be answered with rewards, the one Kiana mentioned?"

*[You can just call it the QA space.]*

A hint of helplessness tinged the voice of the consciousness.

*[I believe you learned about this space and my role from the one beside you, correct?]*

"Yeah," Mei nodded.

*[Then, welcome, visitor.]*

*[Towards the stars... it seems to be off-stage.]*

"Hey, hey, hey! Explain to me what’s going on with this weird baseball bat?!" Kiana interrupted, visible dissatisfaction on her face.

*[That?]*

*[As you suspect, that baseball bat is indeed your item from the future.]*

"Huh? Then what’s the deal with this Herrscher’s power?! I won’t have anything to do with the Herrscher!" Kiana placed one hand on her hip in frustration, pouting as she weighed the baseball bat in her hand with disdain.

"And why would I use such a broken baseball bat in the future? Durability -1? This kind of thing will break upon contact, right?!"

*[Regarding the first question, I must apologize for my inability to disclose details.]*

*[If you want an answer, you will have to seek it out yourself.]*

*[Everything you wish to know can be found in the questions and rewards generated by this space.]*

*[As for the second question, that is not an issue.]*

*[The composition of the baseball bat is derived from the power of the Second Herrscher, the Herrscher of the Void.]*

*[The power of the Herrscher of the Void is to manipulate and create imaginary space.]*

*[As for the concept of imaginary space...]*

"The world we live in is based on real numbers, while a world independent of this is based on imaginary numbers?" Mei ventured, sharing her understanding of imaginary space.

*[Correct.]*

"Wow, Mei, you know a lot!" Kiana admired her friend.

Although she could comprehend every word spoken by the space's consciousness, the connections made her head spin, and she struggled to understand the concepts of imaginary numbers and real numbers.

"I can’t grasp any of it at all!"

With a slight blush on her cheeks, Mei turned away and twisted her hair with her fingers, whispering, "No, I just occasionally read about this in the library."

*[Since you know the concept of imaginary space...]*

*[That makes things simple.]*

*[Imaginary numbers do not exist within human understanding.]*

*[And that baseball bat is an imaginary creation birthed from the power of the Second Herrscher.]*

*[Its nature resembles that of something called bedrock.]*

*[It does not inherently possess durability.]*

"So I understand roughly," Mei nodded, signaling her comprehension.

"Uh... does that mean this thing won’t break?" Kiana, still puzzled, simplified the conclusion in her own way.

"Not exactly. Although imaginary numbers don’t exist in our understanding, if we encounter something capable of touching imaginary numbers or possess energy that is sufficiently powerful, it can destroy this type of creation." Mei shook her head slightly, contemplating before adding, "But aside from those instances, this baseball bat should be indestructible against normal enemies."

"Really? That’s great!" Kiana beamed. "Hehe, no need to change the bat."

Kiana held the bat close, rubbing it against her face in satisfaction.

Due to genetic factors, the Kaslana family possessed immense strength, rendering normal weapons ineffective. Kiana preferred using a bat not only for the satisfying feeling of hitting but also because bats were notably durable compared to other weapons.

Even so, Kiana had broken several bats in the past.

Now, with an indestructible bat, she wouldn’t have to worry about breaking it with too much force during battles.

"Kiana..." Mei hesitated.

Indeed, having a weapon that could be used to its full potential without fear of breaking was something to celebrate.

However, this bat, rather than its significance as a combat tool, should be regarded with more attention for the information it revealed about the future.

---

Chapter 6: Who Can Refuse a Blind Box?

"Weapons made by the power of the Second Herrscher..."

Just that sentence alone provided a wealth of information.

Looking at Kiana with a smile on her face, Mei felt a twinge of worry.

[Okay, the leisure time is over.]

The voice of the QA consciousness rang in their ears.

[Now it's time to get back to the topic.]

[The QA time begins!]

As the voice of the QA consciousness faded, Kiana and Mei grew serious.

[1. Which of the following options is the real reason why President Raiden Ryoma was imprisoned?]

[A: He helped an old lady cross the street, was short on funds, and embezzled.]

[B: He was framed by his colleagues during an organizational power struggle.]

[C: He was tempted by money, followed his heart, and embezzled.]

[D: He touched the buttocks of all the young girls in Nagazora City and was imprisoned.]

"...Father?!"

Seeing that the question was about her father, Mei instinctively pursed her lips in shock.

"Is it a question related to Mei? Then it seems it's not my turn to play," Kiana said, displaying a regretful expression.

"Well... I'll answer it," Mei nodded slightly and read the question nervously.

Since it involved her father, she focused intently, not wanting to miss a word.

"Help an old lady cross the street..."

Mei glanced at option A and muttered, "If it were my father, he would help her, right?"

"But it's impossible for the company to face problems because he helped an old lady cross the street!"

She seemed quite certain about this.

Although she occasionally heard stories about elderly women in Shenzhou causing financial ruin for those who helped them, it was inconceivable that her father's company would suffer just from one such act.

Given the size of her father's company, it would take helping hundreds of thousands of old ladies in a short time to cause a financial crisis, right?

So, option A could be dismissed without doubt.

"If it's option B..."

Mei felt uncertain about this answer.

Framed by his colleagues in an organization?

What organization?

She had never heard of her father joining any group. He has his own ME Company.

Mei knew little about her father; her only memories were of him teaching her family swordsmanship when she was a child.

Since entering the academy, she had even less time to spend with him.

"Let's hold off on that one..." Mei thought, unsure if her father was involved with any strange organization.

"Options C and D are absolutely impossible!"

Though she hadn't spent much time with him in the past two years, Mei still knew her father well.

Blinded by greed? As the president of ME Company, he would never lack for money!

This was precisely why she was confused about why her father was arrested for corruption.

Option D was even more ridiculous.

It had nothing to do with the corruption Mei had learned about.

"Even wild boars in estrus wouldn’t act so indecently, right?!"

Mei felt a surge of excitement when talking about her father.

"Father has never remarried because of Mother," she insisted.

"These two answers are absolutely wrong!"

Options A, C, and D could all be ruled out.

"Then only one correct answer remains!" Mei looked at the option she had been considering, hoping it was the right choice.

"I choose B!"

[Correct.]

Accompanied by the affirmative sound of the QA consciousness,

"Bang!"

Mei's legs buckled, and she collapsed onto the ground.

"Mei, are you okay?" Kiana wanted to ask, but when she saw Mei's expression, she swallowed the words.

That was undoubtedly a smile, right?

"Great... Father."

The knot in her heart caused by her father's corruption and imprisonment slowly untied. Although her eyes were filled with tears, Mei felt a sense of relief.

However, after feeling relieved, anger surged within her.

Yet Mei did not show her anger on her face; instead, she slowly stood up with Kiana's help.

"About that person..."

[You can obtain the information you want through the following questions.]

Before Mei could finish speaking, the QA consciousness interjected.

"I understand."

Having received the answer she sought, Mei nodded calmly and urged, "Please start the next question!"

[2. Please choose the main planner of the Third Eruption from the following options:]

[A: Otto Apocalypse]

[B: Cocolia]

[C: Walter Joyce]

[D: Kevin Kaslana]

"The main... planner?" Mei frowned upon noticing this word, her expression shifting to disbelief. "Does this mean that the Honkai Eruption that is about to happen in this city is actually man-made?!"

Mei who was educated by Kiana had a rough understanding of the Honkai. So this revelation was shocking.

"If the Honkai Eruption occurs in this city, millions of people will die, right?! This disaster is actually planned by humans... The creator isn't a player of Paradox, is he?"

Miss Mei who had been a normal person not long ago could not fathom that this upcoming catastrophe was deliberately orchestrated by someone.

Of course, she wasn't the only one shocked.

Kiana who knew the inner workings of the Honkai(Half-baked) was also equally astonished to learn that the Third Eruption was man-made.

But more than shock, Kiana was filled with rage.

"I will definitely teach this bastard a lesson!"

From Kiana's clenched teeth, it was clear she was seething with anger.

As everyone knows, when people are pushed to extreme anger...

~Hiccup~

"..." Mei remained silent. Her eyes brimming with cold determination.

She had grown up in Nagazora City.

This was Mei's hometown.

And now someone wanted to bring about a Honkai Eruption in her hometown?

That was absolutely unacceptable!

Mei glanced at the answer options and frowned slightly.

The culprit behind this disaster was among the choices provided.

But the troubling part was that she didn’t know any of these names.

"Kiana, do you have any clues?"

Noticing Kevin Kaslana in option D, Mei turned her gaze to Kiana. She recalled that Kiana's last name was also Kaslana.

"...Uh," Kiana scratched her head and shook it in response.

"If option D is correct, it should be someone from our Kaslana family, but I heard from my dad that our family is very large."

"I have been living outside with my dad, so I don't know much about the family."

"However, option D should be ruled out."

"My stinky dad said that the Kaslana family's creed is to protect the people."

Kiana sounded a bit uncertain.

"The Kaslana family shouldn't do anything that endangers the populace."

"But if the cage is large, there will be all kinds of birds. Who knows if there is a scoundrel in the Kaslana family?"

Kiana muttered, "But if Kevin is really a scoundrel of the Kaslana family, then I will definitely clean up the family."

"...Anyway, let's exclude option D for now. It's better to give your people some trust."

This ambiguous statement left Mei feeling helpless.

"It's up to you."

Kiana was very open-minded about it. Regardless of which answer was correct, she intended to teach the other party a lesson, so she had no strong opinion on the matter.

"But I think we shouldn't pay too much attention to the reward. After all, it may not be a good thing."

Mei initially thought that made sense.

But she didn't plan to give up the rewards still.

After all, the thrill of opening a random Gacha box was simply too enticing.

---

Chapter 7: You Are Not a Good Person at First Glance

"Except for this member of your clan, about the other few people..."

Mei looked at the other three answers again and searched through her memory repeatedly, but she had no impression of them.

These three names did not appear in any TV shows, books, or news she had watched.

"No way, I can only guess blindly..."

Although she really wanted to answer this question correctly, Mei had no way to get the right answer at present and could only sigh helplessly.

"Oh, it's time to guess blindly?!"

Kiana's eyes lit up.

She was good at this part.

"I'll do it; my intuition is accurate!"

The extremely confident Kiana looked excited.

"Hmm..."

Mei didn't want to compete with Kiana.

It's a guessing question; whoever comes up with an answer will be different.

"Hehe, let me guess who it is..."

Kiana hummed and repeatedly scanned the blue eyes of the people who were excluded. The names of the other three people besides the tribe member finally caught her attention, and her eyes stayed on the option [A: Otto Apocalypse].

Although she didn't know this person and had never even heard of this name, for some reason, the moment Kiana saw it, she subconsciously felt unhappy for no reason.

So...

"It's decided to be you!"

She spoke without hesitation: "I choose B!"

[Correct]

The answer was finalized.

"Great! I got it right!"

In response, Kiana excitedly hugged Mei.

This intimate contact made Mei feel a little helpless, but she didn't mean to break free. Instead, she let Kiana and offered her praise: "Well done, Kiana."

"But how did you think of choosing B?"

While praising her, Mei was a little confused.

She had been looking at Kiana just now, and Kiana's gaze should have been on option A. Why did she suddenly choose option B?

"Ah, well..." Kiana scratched her neck. "I originally wanted to choose A because I felt very uncomfortable when I saw that name."

"Well... It's similar to the feeling of [this person must not be a good person!]"

"But just before making the choice, I felt that although this person is not a good person, the correct answer to this question is not most likely not this person, so I subconsciously changed my mind."

"I didn't expect to get the answer right, hehe."

"Is that so?"

After listening to Kiana's explanation, Mei was a little incredulous.

Why did this sound a bit magical?

"Uh... I remember hearing my dad say that people from the Kaslana family have a natural intuition that is more accurate."

Kiana thought back and stuck out her tongue.

"I have this gift myself, but my stinky dad's intuition doesn't seem to be that good."

"By the way, if this question is answered correctly, then the person who planned to create a great collapse in Nagazora City will be revealed."

"Is this the one called Cocolia? From the name, it seems like she is a woman."

Letting go of Mei, Kiana took a look at the answer and said angrily:

"But no matter if she is a woman or not, she actually wanted to artificially create a Hobkai Eruption. I won't be polite to bad guys like this, no matter if they are young or old!"

"There's really no need to be polite to people like this."

Mei didn't object to Kiana's idea.

Everyone has a responsibility to fight against bad guys.

"But Kiana, have you ever thought about how we should find this person?"

But for Kiana, who was eager to rush out with a baseball bat to find this person named Cocolia and test her new bat, Mei had to pour a basin of cold water on her enthusiasm.

"Ah this..." After Mei poured cold water on Kiana, her eager high spirits were extinguished instantly.

Indeed, although they knew the name of the person who planned the Third Eruption, they only knew the name.

They had no idea where the other party lived or what her background was.

"Although we don't know why this person named Cocolia wants to create this disaster, according to what you said, it would take a lot of manpower, material resources, and equipment to artificially create a Honkai Eruption, right?" Mei analyzed calmly.

"If we only have two people, I'm afraid we can't defeat this person named Cocolia."

Kiana, who still wanted to solve the problem by overthrowing everything, couldn't help but start to have a headache after hearing Mei's words.

"What should we do?"

"...I don't know either." Mei was annoyed by Kiana's question.

To be honest, she was just a relatively good student. Because of her father, she didn't have much contact with the ME Club. It was okay for her to use her brain to do some simple analysis, but it would be really difficult for her to be a resourceful female Zhuge Liang.

Sure enough, cooking was the easiest.

Mei suddenly missed her spatula.

Compared to this kind of mental work, making delicious meals by hand was more in line with her heart.

Kiana was a little disappointed to hear that Mei had no plan, but she cheered up after a while.

"Then there's nothing we can do. If we don't have a plan, we can only bite the bullet."

"We don't even know when this disaster will break out, so time is very tight."

"We can't waste time. After we get out of here, I will look for this bastard named Cocolia in this city. I must find her!"

"...That's the only way." Mei sighed. She had no other choice.

[It seems that you are in a hurry.]

[Then, let's start distributing rewards.]

The voice of the control consciousness sounded, attracting the attention of the two.

[End of this question]

[Start settlement]

[Number of answers: 2]

[Correct rate: 100%]

[Reward distribution: Homu treasure box x2]

As the voice fell, two Homu boxes that Mei had seen before fell from the air in front of them.

[I'm looking forward to...]

"Wait a minute."

Mei interrupted the voice of the control consciousness.

[It's not polite to interrupt others.]

The words of the consciousness carried a little resentment.

[Forget it; is there anything else?]

"Well, I want to ask, can we come here next time?"

Unlike the dull Kiana, Mei was very concerned about this.

[Yes]

[The affinity of visitors to this space will be pinned down.]

Mei was relieved to hear that she could continue to come, and then asked an important question.

"What about the time?"

[Originally, it was not limited, but perhaps because it was opened twice in a short period of time, the space itself had some adverse effects.]

[As the consciousness of this space, I decided to set the opening time to every seven days.]

"Seven? So a week..."

Mei murmured. To be honest, this time is not long.

----

Chapter 8: Strange Props

[Looking forward to meeting you next time, visitor]

As if worried about being interrupted again, the speed of the QA's consciousness was a level faster than before.

As the voice faded, the white infinite walls slowly dissipated at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"You're back."

The scene changed. Mei looked at the familiar furnishings and the steaming food around her. Then, thinking about the fantastic experience that had just happened, she couldn't help but feel a dreamlike illusion.

Fortunately, the two Homu boxes lying quietly on the ground proved everything that had just occurred.

Mei and Kiana looked at each other and then approached the Homu reward box.

This box can open a variety of items.

"I hope to open a prop that can help in the current situation..."

Praying, the two opened the Homu box with trepidation.

A burst of dazzling light made it impossible for the two to open their eyes.

"It's so dazzling..."

Kiana rubbed her stinging eyes with some complaints and then looked at her prize with some expectation.

The opened Homu box slowly disappeared into the air.

Her prize was...

A pair of pistols with yellow as the main color and white embellishments.

"What beautiful pistols!"

Mei, who was standing by, took a look and commented with some appreciation.

The main body of the pair of guns was very delicate, and the moon decoration made of unknown material on the gun body looked even more gorgeous. It looked more like a work of art than a weapon.

"Hehe."

Kiana also played with the pair of guns happily, rubbing them against her face.

"Don't rub them, Kiana. Take a look at their information."

After Mei's reminder, Kiana nodded. Then she read:

[Artemis' Guardian]

[An automatic pistol designed and made by Schicksal at the request of someone. The gun body is designed in a crescent shape using the trajectory of Honkai particles and the principle of bionics, hence the name.]

[Weapon carrying skill: Sickle Ascent (a certain amount of Honkai can enhance the power of the fired bullet and affect the target's gravity state depending on the situation).]

[Weapon bullet model: Honkai particles.]

[Schicksal manufactured these pistols 16 years ago. The weapon sports a fine inscription that reads: "May the moonlight be with you, Kiana. Love, Siegfried, Cecilia, and Theresa."]

"Bang!"

As Artemis' Guardian fell to the ground. Luckily, Mei reacted quickly and reached out to catch it.

"What's wrong, Kiana?"

Looking at Kiana's dazed expression, she asked with some concern.

"...No, it's okay." Kiana shook her head after coming to her senses and took the Artemis' Guardian, looking down at the pair of guns in a trance.

"These are the things your parents gave you."

Looking at the information at the end of the Artemis' Guardian, Mei felt a little emotional. She roughly understood that Kiana's behavior had something to do with this gun, but Kiana didn't talk to her much about herself. The only thing Mei knew about Kiana was the "stinky dad" she often mentioned.

"Speaking of which, my father also gave me a lot of things..."

Talking about the gifts from her parents, Mei placed her index finger on her chin and recalled carefully, revealing a happy smile.

The kitchen knife for cutting vegetables.

And the very durable pot.

The apron.

Well... because there were too many gifts, even if Mei had a good memory, she couldn't remember them all.

"...Well, what did Mei get?" Kiana stroked the Artemis' Guardian in her hand and then turned her eyes to Mei.

Upon hearing this, Mei's pretty face suddenly fell.

"Don't mention it." She raised the object in her hand and sighed helplessly. "It's a pair of glasses..."

"What bad luck! I'm not nearsighted." Mei attributed the fact that she was prescribed a pair of glasses to her bad luck. "Wait, does this mean that I will be nearsighted in the future?"

Suddenly, Mei, who remembered something, had a bold idea. She looked at the glasses in her hand with some doubt and murmured, "I won't need to use these glasses in the future, right?"

"Well... doesn’t this mean that I will be nearsighted in the future?"

She felt a little distressed. To be honest, Mei didn't like wearing glasses very much because it always felt weird to have them on the bridge of her nose.

Of course, the more important reason was that she had a good work and rest schedule and was not nearsighted, so she didn't need glasses.

"Take a look at the description; maybe there will be something special?" Kiana encouraged Mei.

"Well... okay."

So saying, she read:

[Glasses that won't break]

[Just like Hulk's underwear won't break, this pair of glasses also has the same property. In addition, this pair of glasses also has the ability to automatically adjust the degree.]

[Friendly reminder: hidden properties will be triggered when worn by specific people.]

"..." Mei and Kiana looked at each other after reading the introduction, both of them confused.

Let's not worry about what the Hulk's pants are for now.

There are only two features introduced for this pair of glasses: they will not break and will automatically adjust the degree.

These two functions can be said to be very user-friendly. It's a magic tool for myopic people. But... what's the use of it?!

Mei is not nearsighted, so she doesn't need to wear glasses. As long as she doesn't wear glasses, they won't break.

Automatically adjusting the degree... She is not nearsighted; why would she need it adjusted?

To sum up, just ignore the last one.

"This is a waste," Mei criticized the glasses in a very positive tone.

Kiana also pulled the corner of her mouth at this. Indeed, it was a waste; her expectations had been in vain.

Suddenly, Kiana noticed something.

"Mei, was there this piece of paper on the ground?" She picked up the paper and then found something underneath it.

It was an exquisite hairpin, primarily dark blue.

"Is this yours, Mei? It's pretty, but it doesn't seem to suit you very well."

"Hey, that one?" Mei took a look and shook her head. "Not mine."

She is a fan of hair bands and ribbons. Although she occasionally uses hairpins, she wouldn't use this kind of dark blue. Mei prefers purple to dark blue.

Mei's answer made Kiana raise her eyebrows, and then she understood.

"Then these two... are the ones that came out of the Homu box?"

"It should be."

Mei's box disappeared slowly. Since it seemed that there were only glasses, she only took the glasses. It was a pity that it turned out to be a waste. But if these two were also things from her box, then maybe they would be something useful?

With this thought in mind, Mei took the hair accessory and tried to read the introduction.

[Seele's hair accessory]

[Seele Vollerie's favorite hair accessory. Very beautiful, carrying Seele's beautiful memories, but more symbolic, so it's just an ordinary hair accessory.]

[Note: Although it's very ordinary, it may play a role at a critical moment.]

"Uh... it seems to be another piece of garbage."

After reading the introduction, Kiana scratched her neck.

Seele's hair accessory? Seele? Who is that? Another unfamiliar name. Apart from this name, the hair accessory is only beautiful and has no other use.

Suddenly, Mei's hurried shouting sounded from the side.

"Kiana, come and see!"

----

Chapter 9: Physical Repair Method

"What’s wrong?"

Kiana looked at Mei, her expression changing slightly as she moved closer out of curiosity.

"You’ll know after you take a look." Mei didn’t say much but moved the paper in her hand toward Kiana.

"Well... let me see... Wow!?"

Kiana screamed subconsciously when she saw the first line of words on the paper.

[Information about Cocolia]

"This... isn’t this the name of the person who wants to plan the Honkai Eruption?!"

Kiana was a little surprised and continued to read.

**[Once a former Soviet officer, she joined the anti-Honkai organization "Anti-Entropy" after the Second Eruption and historical changes. With ruthless methods, she became the executor of Anti-Entropy in less than a few decades and the iron-blooded leader of the Anti-Entropy radical faction.]

**[Although she is a tough type, she is inexplicably indecisive at times. She is the kind of bad woman who can make a decision without hesitation when something happens but will do whatever it takes to save it because of regret afterward.]

[Although she doesn't seem to have much combat power, she is actually not weak in combat. With the help of Anti-Entropy technology products, she is able to suppress most B-rank Schicksal Valkyries head-on.]

[The main planner of the Raiden Ryoma corruption case is also Cocolia.]

[Appendix: Please be careful of the Anti-Entropy Titan Force, which is a force that has defeated a Herrscher.]

On a small piece of paper, all the information about Cocolia was laid out. After reading it, Mei’s face was terrifyingly calm.

So... did my father go to jail because of this woman?

This is truly a narrow road for enemies!

She framed her beloved father, sent him to prison, and wanted to destroy the city where she grew up.

"Unforgivable..."

She whispered, and the coldness in her words made Kiana shudder.

"...Let’s sort out the information about this woman named Cocolia first."

Mei recovered and set the information about Cocolia aside. She was very angry, but in the current situation, anger was meaningless. It would only make things more chaotic and allow Cocolia’s malicious plan to succeed. She had to stay calm.

"First of all, do you know anything about the anti-Honkai organization Anti-Entropy revealed in the intelligence, Kiana?"

"Sorry, I've been out with my stinky dad. I don’t know much about life on the surface. As for the organizations that resist the Honkai, I only know one called Schicksal, and I don’t know much about the others."

Facing Mei’s inquiring eyes, Kiana shook her head.

"That’s a bit troublesome..." Mei frowned and sighed. "Try searching for this word on the Internet; maybe you can find some useful information."

Mei didn’t use computers much, so she didn’t have one in her room. She supported her forehead, saying, "If I remember correctly, there seems to be one in my father’s room..."

Kiana followed Mei as they entered a room.

"It’s so clean here."

Kiana looked around, surprised that although the decor was simple, it was very clean and didn’t look like a room that hadn’t been lived in for a long time.

"Well... I’ve been cleaning here all the time." Mei replied, opening a laptop that hadn’t been used in who knows how long. The screen lit up for a moment, then went black. "Uh..." Mei was stunned by this situation.

"What’s wrong?" Kiana, who was lying nearby, didn’t quite understand what was happening.

"...It seems that it has been out of service for too long." Mei was uncertain as she looked at the dim screen in front of her, since she didn’t know much about computers.

"Huh... There’s no choice; I can only go outside." Mei felt a bit helpless.

"Well... Can’t you use a mobile phone to search for things?" Kiana was puzzled. If she remembered correctly, mobile phones could also search for things now.

"Mei, you didn’t think of that, did you?"

Mei didn’t show any embarrassment at Kiana’s words, but sighed instead.

"Kiana, where’s your cell phone?"

"I don’t have one." Kiana spread her hands in resignation when asked by Mei. She had lived with her stinky father on the edge of a small village in Europe. Even when eating toast and cheese slices, they had to be frugal. It could be said that father and daughter were real poor people—no money, no demands. Mobile phones, such a luxurious and useless item, were naturally far from Kiana’s reach. She knew that mobile phones could search for things because she had heard others talk about it during her wanderings.

"Sure enough..." Mei expressed surprise at Kiana’s answer and then took out her own cell phone from her skirt, waving it. "This is mine."

"Do you think it’s the kind of high-tech device that can search for things on the Internet?"

Holding a nine-button phone that looked delicate and beautiful but was outdated, Mei’s face was full of helplessness.

"Hey... Isn’t Mei a rich lady?" Kiana was a bit confused when she saw the phone in Mei’s hand.

Aren’t you a rich young lady? Shouldn’t you be using the most advanced high-tech devices?

"I don’t use a mobile phone much..." Mei muttered softly. "And who says that young ladies must have high-tech products? Isn’t the young lady in the next studio a technology inept magus?"

"Why do I always feel that Mei said something strange."

"Forget it; let me show my strength first."

Kiana rolled up her sleeves confidently. "Mei, get out of the way; let me help you fix your computer!"

"? Can Kiana fix computers?"

Mei was a bit surprised to hear this but couldn’t understand Kiana’s attitude.

Did one really need to roll up their sleeves to repair a computer?

"Ah... I’ve never repaired a computer, but when I was wandering, someone taught me how to fix small faulty home appliances."

"Really... I’ll leave it to you, Kiana."

Mei, who hadn’t realized the seriousness of the matter, looked forward to seeing Kiana’s skills.

Then, the next moment, accompanied by a "bang" sound, Mei was shocked.

"...Kiana... Is this how you repair things?!"

She stuttered.

"Yeah, that’s right," Kiana scratched her chin. "I heard that when something breaks, you can basically get it back to normal by just hitting it once."

"Strange; why hasn’t it recovered yet? Could it be that one hit is not enough..."

She looked at the flickering computer screen, puzzled, and then became eager to try again. If one hit wasn’t enough, trying again would surely work after a few tries. The boss of a scrap recycling station said so.

Mei couldn’t help but speak up, "Kiana... I think if you hit it again, this computer may never work again."

Although she didn’t feel sorry for the computer, she was a bit panicked watching Kiana do this.

But it seemed Mei’s warning came too late. Kiana, having hit the computer again, looked at the screen that was slowly turning on and asked in confusion, "What did you say just now?"

---

Chapter 10: She's There

Although it was hard to understand how Kiana's reckless operation restored the computer to normal, there was no point in dwelling on it. Overanalyzing would only make things feel a bit boring, so Mei chose to forget what had just happened.

Thanks to Kiana, the computer looked worse for wear, at least on the outside. However, it still usable, so there was nothing much to say about it.

Mei turned on the computer, went straight to the point, and typed "Anti-Entropy Organization." Unfortunately, the search results were all unsatisfactory. The majority of what she found was just an explanation of the concept of anti-entropy.

“Seriously? I’m a top student! Do I really need you to explain the concept of entropy to me?”

“I can’t find anything… Ugh.” With no clues to the information she wanted, Mei felt a bit exhausted. Not only could she not find the term "Anti-Entropy," but even the terms "Honkai" and "Schicksal," which Kiana had mentioned, were nowhere to be seen.

Most of the results were nonsense from clueless netizens.

However, as Mei thought carefully, she realized how naive she had been. Terms like "Honkai," "Schicksal," and "Anti-Entropy" were hidden from the public eye to stabilize society and prevent chaos.

“Kiana, do you think I’m really stupid?” She lay her head on the table in frustration.

“Well… No, Mei is much smarter than me.” Kiana thought for a moment and encouraged her.

“…Even with your encouragement, I don’t know why I can’t feel happy.”

Looking at Kiana’s serious face, Mei managed a bitter smile.

“Forget it; I guess I can’t find anything useful through normal channels.”

“From that information, it seems my father is also a member of this organization called Anti-Entropy.”

Mei glanced at the twilight outside the window and said softly, “Tomorrow, I’ll ask for leave to visit my father.”

“I hope I can get useful information from him.”

---

The next day, Mei took a leave of absence from school and brought Kiana to Nagazora Prison, where Raiden Ryoma was incarcerated. As a family member, she still had the basic right to visit him.

After completing a series of procedures, Mei and Kiana finally met Raiden Ryoma.

“Mei, you’re here…”

Seeing his daughter whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, Raiden Ryoma was very happy, even though she looked a little disheveled due to prison life. However, after noticing Kiana beside Mei, he frowned. “The girl next to you…”

“Kiana Kaslana; I’m Mei’s good friend!” Kiana introduced herself enthusiastically.

“Kiana Kaslana, Kaslana…” Raiden Ryoma muttered the surname in a trance as he looked at Kiana’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Kiana asked, a bit curious.

“No… Nothing, I just thought of someone I knew when I saw you.”

“So, Mei… Do you have anything to ask?” Putting away his nostalgic expression, Raiden Ryoma focused his gaze on Mei.

“Well… Father, how are you…?” Mei was a little surprised; she hadn’t even finished her thought.

“You are my daughter after all.”

Hearing what Raiden Ryoma said, Mei subconsciously bit her lip.

Sure enough, she still couldn’t hide her feelings in front of her father.

“Father, this time we mainly want to learn about Anti-Entropy from you.”

As soon as Mei said this, Raiden Ryoma’s expression changed instantly.

“How did you know this…?” He glanced at Kiana beside him, “Is it this little girl?”

If it was a Kaslana, that wouldn’t be impossible.

“Cocolia.”

Upon hearing Mei say this name, Raiden Ryoma’s face turned cold instantly.

He looked straight at Mei and asked, “Mei, where did you hear that name?!”

“…From some strange place,” Mei replied vaguely, choosing not to mention the existence of the QA space. “The person named Cocolia seems to have set her sights on this city and on me as the third Herrscher.”

“She dares!” Raiden Ryoma exploded with fury.

That bastard woman had been attacking his precious daughter. She still hadn’t given up?!

However, thinking about his current situation, Raiden Ryoma couldn’t help but feel a bit defeated. How could he possibly stop that crazy woman in his current state?

With a loud “bang,” Raiden Ryoma punched the wall.

“Damn…”

“…Father, you should know where Cocolia is, right?” Mei asked, getting straight to the point with calm determination.

“You know… you want to stop her?!” Raiden Ryoma reacted instinctively, then quickly focused on the two of them with a serious expression. “No! Absolutely not!”

He didn’t even wait for Mei to respond and directly refused her.

“That woman has taken control of ME and can manipulate the Titans. You two kids would just be sending yourselves to your deaths.”

“Then are you going to let this person named Cocolia create the Third Eruption?” Kiana exclaimed angrily from the side. “Do you know how many people will die? This city will become a dead zone!”

“…Third Eruption?” Hearing those words, Ryoma raised his eyebrows.

The third Herrscher's body, Third Eruption… These two concepts together…

Wait...

What is that woman trying to do?

As he considered a certain possibility, Ryoma’s face instantly turned extremely grim. How dare that crazy woman attempt this?

“How did you two know her plan?” He questioned, curious about how his precious daughter and the girl from the Kaslana family had come to know Cocolia's crazy scheme.

“Like I said before, from a strange place, Father,” Mei explained apologetically. “Through that place, Kiana and I can learn something about the future and the past.”

“I’m sorry, Father.”

“I’m not a child anymore; I’m qualified to make decisions about my own future.”

“For this city, for myself, and for you, who have been wronged…”

“Goodbye, Father.”

“I hope… the next time I see you, it will be at home.”

After saying that, Mei took Kiana away without waiting for Ryoma to react.

---

Outside the prison...

“Mei, why did we leave so suddenly?” Kiana asked, puzzled.

Didn’t they want to ask about Cocolia's whereabouts? They hadn’t asked yet—why leave so abruptly?

“Father won’t tell me,” Mei said, shaking her head slightly. “I know his temperament very well.”

“What should we do? We still have to find her…” Kiana complained.

“No… no need. I have a rough idea of where this woman named Cocolia is.”

-----