The Honkai Beast That Hadn't Been Weaned Yet

"Mm, Han, you're pretty fast."

A virtual image of Kiana appeared before Han Jiang's eyes, projected through the Battlegear's communications system.

In the image, Kiana sat on a piece of cloth printed with white floral patterns, holding a dessert in one hand with her cheeks puffed out.

"Urgh!"

"Mei, quick, water... water!"

"Coming, coming. Eat slower, no one's going to steal it from you." Mei handed Kiana a cup of tea through the image.

Kiana gulped it down, tossed another two desserts into her mouth, and only began speaking after swallowing them and brushing the crumbs from her hands.

"You cleared out a whole group of Deadwalkers by yourself. I really underestimated you. But your score isn't the highest."

"Score?"

Only after Kiana reminded him did Han Jiang remember that the combat training was scored as well.

He had been focused on evolving the Muramasa of Bizen and had not had time to check his score.

Han Jiang immediately operated the Battlegear system, split Kiana's image to one side, and checked the training map.

The students' records scrolled across the top of the map. His own record happened to be replaying there, so Kiana had probably seen it.

There was a score query in the upper-left corner. After opening it, Han Jiang saw that he had 20 points, placing him tenth.

Kiana's group of three occupied the top spots, each of them with more than 30 points.

Bronya was good at calculations. She had probably planned their route before heading toward the target location, and the three of them coordinated far better than the others.

It was only natural that they had earned so many points.

Han Jiang did not care much about such things. His real goal was to obtain large quantities of Evolution Points through combat training.

Still, seeing the three of them sitting down to drink tea and eat desserts during combat training made Han Jiang rather envious.

There was no need to think about it. Mei must have prepared the food.

"All right, enough talk. We've rested for quite a while already. Next, we're heading to the place with the most Deadwalkers." Kiana ended the communication after saying that.

Han Jiang checked the time. It was not even ten o'clock yet. Kiana was most likely trying to prove that she truly was a genius girl, while Mei and Bronya were merely indulging her.

Since he had already opened the map, Han Jiang looked up the nearest group of Deadwalkers. It was only a kilometer away.

Han Jiang did not know the exact materials required for system evolutions, but large amounts of Evolution Points were definitely indispensable.

Han Jiang quickly arrived at the next red marker. Unfortunately, this group of Deadwalkers did not include anything like Imperial Guards or an Imperial Guard Commander.

The strongest among them were probably the two Dual-wielding Schicksal Soldiers, one black and one white.

Han Jiang had faced this kind of Deadwalker alone during the academy's combat power test, so he already had experience with them.

A group of barely more than ten Deadwalkers was quickly dealt with by Han Jiang.

Fortunately, the Dual-wielding Schicksal Soldiers gave five Evolution Points each, making them especially satisfying to kill.

"Roar!"

After dealing with the Deadwalkers before him, Han Jiang heard a familiar yet unfamiliar roar.

When he turned around, he saw a very small Chariot-class Honkai Beast slowly crawling toward him.

This Honkai Beast was only the size of a compact car. It moved at a snail's pace, yet it kept roaring at Han Jiang.

Han Jiang held his twin blades in hand and bared a row of white teeth. "This Honkai Beast came out to cause trouble before it was even weaned. Come on, let me take care of you."

Everyone knew that Deadwalkers were monsters formed when humans could not withstand the corrosion of Honkai Energy, while Honkai Beasts were monsters born when Honkai outbreaks occurred.

Yet no one had ever known exactly how these Honkai Beasts were formed. Perhaps Otto knew, but he had never made it public.

"Let's see how many Evolution Points killing a Honkai Beast gives." Han Jiang charged toward the Honkai Beast in the middle of the street.

The Honkai Beast that had not even been weaned was dispatched in a few slashes by Han Jiang. It was practically free Evolution Points delivered to his doorstep.

"Ding. Evolution Points obtained: +2."

"Cleaned up. Time to head to the next place." Han Jiang put away his twin blades and turned to leave.

"Thud, thud, thud!"

As Han Jiang turned around, heavy footsteps sounded behind him.

Looking back, he saw a Honkai Beast the size of a truck lumbering toward him from around the corner of a building.

Han Jiang swallowed. With a body that big, it had to be worth dozens of Evolution Points, right?

Before Han Jiang could think further, several more Honkai Beasts emerged one after another from around the building's corner.

Some were as small as the one Han Jiang had just killed, some held fireballs in their arms, and several flew through the air. There were not many of them, but they represented three different types.

"Good lord, where did these come from?!"

Han Jiang turned and ran without pausing for even a moment.

There had to be some reason these three types of Honkai Beasts had appeared together. The truck-sized one had definitely been drawn here by the Honkai reactor in the camp.

"Attention, all students. Attention, all students." An emergency notice from Himeko came through Han Jiang's communication channel.

"Students in training area Zone C, listen carefully. A small-scale Honkai Beast gathering has appeared in Zone C. Move away quickly if you see them. I repeat, move away quickly if you see them."

Honkai Beasts were far more dangerous than Deadwalkers. Han Jiang was not foolish enough to charge over and proclaim that they were all his Evolution Points.

Fortunately, the Honkai Beasts were targeting the camp. Han Jiang was not something they cared about.

As Han Jiang quickly retreated, a cherry-blossom-colored figure appeared beside the group of Honkai Beasts.

That figure moved incredibly fast, closely following behind the Honkai Beast group.

Whenever the figure struck, a Honkai Beast fell.

Viewed from above, more than twenty Honkai Beasts of various sizes had already fallen along the route of the gathering, advancing horde.

Unfortunately, Han Jiang did not get to witness that sight. He was too busy running away with his head down.

He ran for more than twenty minutes before completely leaving Zone C.

After killing Deadwalkers all morning and then running all that way, he was already somewhat tired.

Han Jiang found a relatively intact building and entered it. He climbed straight to the fifth floor, intending to rest for a while and eat some rations.

The rations Han Jiang had brought were all self-heating meals packed with high calories, enough to sustain a day's activity.

Himeko had stipulated that once students left the camp, they were only allowed to return after eight o'clock at night. They had to bring their own food and water in advance, or they would simply go hungry.

"Little tabby cat, meow, meow, meow, I'm a little tabby cat..."

After reaching the fifth floor, Han Jiang heard a faint song drifting from one of the rooms while he was in the corridor.

The singing was crisp and pleasant. From time to time, it even switched between the languages of several different countries, sounding exceptionally cheerful.

Han Jiang was puzzled. Was someone from his class taking a break, or were the Valkyries in the camp really this childlike? Did they not have missions to carry out?

But it could not possibly be someone from an organization trying to profit from Honkai. Those people all bore blood-deep grudges. Even if they had free time, they would not sing like this.

Of course, that was only what Han Jiang thought to himself. He hoped the other person was one of the girls in his class, or perhaps a younger Valkyrie from the camp.

The doors to the rooms in the building had all been destroyed. Han Jiang gripped his Tang Dao and quickly headed toward the room the song was coming from.

Hope was one thing, but being careful could never be wrong.

The moment Han Jiang reached the doorway, the singing abruptly stopped.

His vision suddenly went black, and he saw a medieval European Knight's Lance pointed at his throat.

"I... was just passing by."