Honkai, But With a Spirit Simulator

Afterward, Hua's father looked with a troubled expression at the Death Soldier who was shakily getting to its feet.

"It's like hitting a concrete slab..."

The Death Soldier's chest was covered in a dense, spiderweb-like network of cracks from the punch. If it were a normal human, they would have collapsed to the ground with a caved-in chest and waited to die. How could this "zombie" in front of him seem relatively unharmed, except for the cracks?

"Damn it, if Reanna or Rita were here, they'd take out these Death Soldiers with a single strike."

Liu Bai couldn't help but miss the two S-Rank Valkyries he knew. He had never imagined that a Death Soldier, which wouldn't even qualify as a grunt in a game, would be so troublesome.

It wouldn't be hard for the three of them to kill this Death Soldier together, but to clear it without taking any damage...

"...The attack intentions are obvious, and the attack methods are also monotonous. If my strength were just a little greater..." Hua muttered softly, not sure who she was talking to.

"I'll find a chance later to let you see how your dad uses Cunxin: Sky Splitter."

Hua's father smiled after hearing Hua's words.

But Liu Bai revealed a thoughtful expression after hearing Hua's words.

"Hua, I have a way to give you more strength in a short amount of time, but it can only be used once a day, for ten seconds at a time... Whether you can kill it or not depends on you."

"...Okay."

"Alright, daughter, watch closely!"

Hua's father cracked his knuckles, staring at the Death Soldier, which was once again showing signs of wanting to attack, like a fierce tiger descending from the mountains.

At this moment, Liu Bai silently activated the new ability he had gained from his Guardian Spirit skill after leveling it up to level five.

——Blessing!

According to the compatibility between himself and the host, the power is amplified at a heaven-defying ratio of 1:1, with almost no negative effects. The only shortcoming is that this enhancement can only last for 10 seconds.

It's only a matter of a few breaths.

[Fu Hua Current Compatibility: 75%]

Thank you, father-in-law... Pui, he means Hua's father, for the assist just now.

Over these days, plus the assist just now, his compatibility with Fu Hua has reached a fairly objective 75%.

...This is probably the only thing the compatibility has done that lives up to its name.

Otherwise, it might as well be renamed Affinity.

Blessing, begin——!

Boom——!

In that instant, a strange power descended from his crown, and a powerful force surged through his body.

Is this... Teacher Liu's power?

——Ten seconds.

Hua didn't immerse herself in this sudden sense of power. In less than half a second, Hua regained her senses, took a step, and directly crossed Hua's father, who was preparing to meet the Death Soldier.

"——!?"

"Roar?"

Hua's father's expression was surprisingly synchronized with the Death Soldier's at this moment.

Who?

Is this my daughter?

Was my daughter originally this strong?

One second has passed.

Hua retracted her fist to her waist, adopting the standard starting stance of Cunxin Fist.

Cunxin: Raging Thunder——!

Bang!

Several powerful punches landed on the Death Soldier's seemingly slender body.

Faced with Hua's punches, the Death Soldier's speed, which was quite good among ordinary people, was of no use in front of the enhanced Hua.

At the same time, its chest, which had already been broken, made it impossible to withstand Hua's enhanced punches.

In game terms, it was—knocked into a stagger.

Two seconds...

At this moment, Hua had already regarded the helpless Death Soldier as a sandbag post for her usual training.

Cunxin: Thunderbolt!

Cunxin: Rock Breaker!

Cunxin: Mountain Collapse!

Cunxin: Cloud Burst!

Seizing this opportunity to stagger, Hua directly unleashed a whole set of Cunxin Fist on its body.

"Guh—!"

The Death Soldier finally made a sound other than a roar—unfortunately, a useless death cry.

—Its spine was broken.

From punches to throws, from throws to rising dragon strikes, and from rising dragon strikes to falling hammer blows, with Liu Bai's all-around buffs, Hua had brought these ten-plus years of martial arts to their peak. Even if this Death Soldier had tendons of copper and bones of iron, they should be shattered.

However, Cunxin Fist still had one move left undelivered.

—Cunxin: Sky Splitter!

The complex techniques once again transformed into a plain, unremarkable punch at this moment.

Looking at this punch, Liu Bai suddenly recalled a joke—

The immortal strokes my crown, Cunxin splits the spirit!

Whether it was a coincidence or not, Hua's final punch landed squarely on the Death Soldier's head.

"Cunxin... Sky Splitter!"

—Splat.

Its head was flattened. Forget just a Death Soldier, even a Herrscher probably wouldn't survive that.

Watching the Death Soldier, now completely devoid of breath, Hua finally let out a sigh of relief. The augmented power rapidly dissipated, and Hua plopped down on the ground, panting heavily.

Hua's father, who had watched the entire process from the side, made a dazed, cute gesture that didn't match his mature image—he rubbed his eyes.

T-This is his daughter?

Is his daughter this strong?

Even the zombie that he found troublesome was powerless in his daughter's hands, especially that last Cunxin: Sky Splitter, which had domineeringly targeted the Death Soldier's hardest part, its head.

And she actually flattened it with one punch?

Hua's father didn't feel the joy of a junior surpassing him, nor the vicissitudes of admitting he was getting old. Instead, he was filled with sorrow.

—How is this girl going to get married in the future?

Woo—!

Just as Hua's father was feeling distressed, a loud siren suddenly came from outside the door.

Soon, an armored vehicle that looked very much like a police car stopped in front of the martial arts hall—well, the martial arts hall no longer had a door.

"This familiar tardiness..."

Liu Bai couldn't help but complain as he looked at the familiar scene.

The first one to get out of the car was a red-haired woman who looked only about twenty years old.

...This is really good timing.

Looking at her friendly face, Liu Bai smiled.

The other party rushed in anxiously.

"Who called the police, saying there was a zombie attack? Is anyone injured?"

"I called the police, Officer... Miss?"

Hua raised her hand, attracting the red-haired woman's attention.

However, looking at the other party, the confusion on Hua's face was obvious.

Although she was wearing a uniform that looked like a soldier's, she didn't look like a police officer at all.

Could it be that zombies were already something that required the military to deal with... uh, that seems pretty normal?

Come to think of it, this monster that Teacher Liu called a Death Soldier was indeed not something ordinary people could handle.

"You?" The red-haired woman looked at Hua, who was sitting on the ground panting, and was about to say something when she suddenly caught sight of a pale corpse with a flattened head and terrifying chest wounds.

Even in the dim night, this corpse was still so eye-catching.

"You... you killed the Dea... cough, zombie?"

The words of comfort that were about to come out of her mouth turned into astonishment.

"My father and I worked together to kill it."

Hua corrected her. If it weren't for Hua's father's defense-breaking strike, Hua wouldn't have been able to easily stun the Death Soldier.

"You..."

"Ahem, I am a martial arts master, and my daughter and I both have some knowledge of martial arts."

Hua's father came out and reluctantly explained.

His eyes, movements, footsteps, the hidden calluses on his hands, and even the tone of his voice all told him that this red-haired girl in her twenties might be even stronger than the monster from before.

"Martial arts master..." The red-haired woman's expression couldn't help but become strange when she heard this answer.

When she came in, the sign above the door seemed to say something about a martial arts hall.

But you... martial arts that can kill Death Soldiers?

If martial arts were really that effective, what would be the point of elite soldiers like them?

"Do you mind if I examine the bodies?"

"Of course, officer, please feel free."

After receiving Hua's father's consent, the red-haired woman walked to Hua's side and began examining the injuries on the Death Soldiers.

"All blunt force trauma, with the injuries mainly concentrated on the chest, showing clear fist marks... They appear to have sustained high-frequency, high-intensity blows in a short period. As for the cause of death, it's obvious, the head. The fist marks are also very clear."

So, they really were beaten to death by fists.

After confirming this again and again, the red-haired woman's expression became strange.

"Uh... By the way, I'm Himiko, Himeko, captain of the Moth Chasers to Fire's Fifth Squad. I just happen to be on vacation here. You're lucky... never mind."

Himiko was about to say that this little girl was lucky to have met her.

But then she suddenly remembered that these Death Soldiers didn't seem to be killed by her...

"By the way, you killed these Death Soldiers, right? The fist marks on their heads... you're not very old, but you're certainly strong."

Killing Death Soldiers with bare hands, and judging by her age, she's probably a high school student at most. What a promising talent!

Himiko immediately felt a desire to nurture her talent.

"By the way, how old are you this year?"

"I, I'm fifteen this year..."

The gaze of the red-haired older sister in front of her reminded Hua of the way the neighborhood aunties looked when they heard about a supermarket discount.

"Fifteen..."

Himiko calculated in her mind.

That age... is too young.

"Are you in high school?"