Honkai, Cross-Dressing Strategy Kiana, Then

Honkai, Cross-Dressing Strategy Kiana, Then

Author: Ji Tang

Synopsis:

"You're saying you disguised yourself as a woman, infiltrated St. Freya, and ate and lived with Kiana until the Herrscher of the Void incident broke out?"

"Yes. It was the Bishop's mission. I had no choice."

"You pretended to be killed by the Herrscher of the Void?"

"Yes. That way, no one would have to die, and Kiana's consciousness could be awakened."

"You were actually the Herrscher of a Thousand?"

"Yes. It was all to defeat Honkai."

"You were also the one who put the memory within the Plague Gem?"

"Yes. That was also to defeat Honkai."

"Why do you want to board the train now?"

"They all know the truth now. Please, save me!"

"...Figure out how to get rid of Aha first."

From the Orphanage to Schicksal Headquarters

2014, Schicksal Headquarters.

Along the long corridor, greedy gazes came at him covertly, as if they wanted to devour this boy born in 1999 the very next moment.

Even Rita, who was leading him ahead, occasionally turned back to exchange looks with Bai Yan, taking the chance to sneak a few more glances at him.

The Valkyries' gazes converged on him. It felt as though countless sniper rifles were trained on him.

Even though it was not the first time, Bai Yan still felt a little intimidated. He instinctively moved closer to Rita to ease his unease.

Within Schicksal, aside from the Bishop himself, there were mainly combat Valkyries and logistics Valkyries.

Generally speaking, the Schicksal Patriarch was rarely seen.

But Bai Yan from the logistics department could be seen often, so he was frequently treated as a substitute fantasy by the single Valkyries.

Following behind Rita Rossweisse, Bai Yan felt uneasy.

What mission does Otto want me for?

Bai Yan's joining Schicksal had to be traced back to the Second Honkai War.

That year, Bai Yan had been reborn in Siberia. Yet the Second Honkai War broke out the very next moment. Before he could even investigate what his parents in this life looked like or what business they had been running in Siberia, he was muddleheadedly adopted by a blonde woman.

The woman who adopted him was Cocolia.

With some memories of Honkai Impact 3rd's plot still remaining, Bai Yan had prepared himself, the moment he regained consciousness, to face either a second rebirth or a final farewell to the world in the near future.

At Cocolia's orphanage, he underwent his first Collapse Energy adaptability experiment.

He emerged completely unharmed.

After verification, Cocolia confirmed Bai Yan's identity as a Stigmata Awakener and immediately regarded him as a priceless treasure.

Correspondingly, Bai Yan's life at Cocolia's orphanage improved by the day. He was treated almost like her biological son.

However, Bai Yan knew that not all sons and daughters were treated equally. When Mom desperately wanted something, even her biological son would have to descend into the Sea of Quantum.

If he stayed at the orphanage, the X-10 experiment would eventually put him in.

After all, his Collapse Energy adaptability was the best in the entire orphanage.

So, while Cocolia was away one time, Bai Yan packed his things and ran.

Ever since Cocolia adopted him, he often said one thing to himself in the dead of night.

"Back then, invincible Kiana could sneak from Siberia to the Far East without a scratch. Me, Bai Yan, slipping from the orphanage back to Shenzhou? No problem!"

"First, swipe a handgun and quietly travel by night."

"Sounds like people are fighting up ahead, and it's pretty intense, but there's no need to panic. They're too far away to notice me. I just need to take a small detour and nothing will happen."

"If I could trade this handgun for a sniper rifle now, this escape would go very smoothly. Too bad I can't."

"I'll take a narrow path alone and avoid meeting any of you."

"It's probably Sigfried fighting Sirin. I should pray for those Valkyrie aunties. Don't run into Sirin—and don't let them find me."

"The snowfield is so huge, and I'm so small. Why would anyone find me?"

"There's no way anyone will run into me. If I, Bai Yan, get spotted by a character from the plot in a place as huge as Siberia today, I'll swallow this handgun on the spot!"

"..."

"Wait, why is Ragna charging this way?!"

"Ah, damn it, old lady, let go of me! I don't want to see Otto! NOOOO!"

And then he was taken away. Because the Valkyrie assault team had gone to deal with Bai Yan first, they happened to miss the moment the pufferfish inflated and survived completely unharmed.

By the time they found K423 again, the pufferfish had already deflated and posed no threat whatsoever.

After dealing with the scene and taking care of unconscious Kiana for a while, they released her again on Otto's orders.

But Bai Yan's side had it rough—though perhaps not that rough.

With the Herrscher of the Void already in his sights, the Schicksal Patriarch did not turn his poisonous hand toward Bai Yan.

So after some simple testing, Bai Yan was thrown into another orphanage. From then on, Ragna always remembered to visit the children there for lessons and to see him along the way.

Not all orphanages were the same. Bai Yan's life in France was far more comfortable than it had been in Siberia.

The French branch had ample supplies, more than enough to support so many orphans.

It was also there that Bai Yan met Dumb Goose.

Although Dumb Goose was listed in the files as one year younger than Bai Yan, her actual age was two full years older. Combined with girls maturing earlier, Bai Yan was actually smaller and more delicate than Dumb Goose at the time.

When she heard that Bai Yan was a "ruthless person" who dared to walk alone across the Siberian snowfields with a handgun, she immediately became interested in him.

Could this pretty little sprout really be that bold?

Bai Yan's answer was rather vague.

"When you understand that staying in Siberia is even scarier than risking an escape, you'll be as brave as I am."

It was during his time at the French orphanage that Bai Yan discovered the abnormality in himself was not limited to being a Stigmata Awakener.

He might have been a succubus, possessing a bizarre attraction toward the opposite sex.

At first, Dumb Goose coming to play with him whenever she had time could still be explained as fate.

But gradually, he discovered that every girl in the orphanage liked to gather around him.

Unfortunately, Bai Yan from his previous life had lived a perfectly innocent twenty years before transmigrating. The only women whose hands he had ever held were female relatives within The Family.

Faced with so many little girls in a foreign land, Bai Yan was actually very uncomfortable.

So at the orphanage, Dumb Goose was the only one he was close to.

A few more years passed. Around the time Bai Yan was gradually beginning to develop, Dumb Goose suddenly came over one night, pulled him aside, and whispered to him.

"Bai Yan, I want to become a Valkyrie. Will you come with me?"

"People die doing that. No..."

Later, the two even got into an argument, and Dumb Goose finally left in a huff.

They never saw each other again after that.

Bai Yan knew perfectly well what had happened on Dumb Goose's first mission.

In the original timeline, the entire second echelon she belonged to was wiped out except for her. It was from that moment that Bianca learned she was special.

Bai Yan, who wanted to live a few more years, naturally could not possibly form a team with her.

So he eventually joined Schicksal's logistics department and became an ordinary low-ranking employee.

However, things were not that simple.

Not long after Bai Yan joined Schicksal, perhaps because his performance was outstanding and he worked exceptionally hard, Otto gave him an additional position.

The full title of the position was too complicated to go into detail here.

All that needed to be known was that Bai Yan, as a non-combatant, worked part-time under Rita Rossweisse as an intelligence support assistant, though his official affiliation had nothing to do with Immortal Blade.

After becoming Bai Yan's superior, Rita often abused her authority for personal gain.

For example, given Bai Yan's personality, he would never spend more than fifteen minutes dressing himself up.

Yet this morning, Rita had first woken Bai Yan at five in the morning, then spent two hours styling him.

A dashing ponytail, flowing bangs, and earrings half-hidden by his side locks, with one exposed and one concealed...

There was a trace of composure within the rakishness, and a touch of seriousness within the casualness. Appearance and temperament complemented each other, while color and styling blended perfectly.

Rita had enjoyed every moment of those two full hours of styling, while Bai Yan felt each day had lasted a year.

Just imagine it: two hours without moving, unable even to look at his phone. It was truly unbearable torture.

Was this necessary?

Absolutely not!

So what exactly was that legendary mission?

If I Evolve Any Further, I'll Have to Go to Work

Having a scumbag boss was not scary. What was scary was having a perfectionist boss.

Rita Rossweisse was the kind of woman who would spray perfume on ropes before tying someone up. Any tiny imperfection before her eyes made her want to fix it herself.

Even scarier, she always seemed to think there was something wrong with Bai Yan, yet she could never figure out exactly what was wrong.

Thus, during the period Bai Yan had walked right into the tiger's jaws, Rita had constantly been trying out his best possible looks, often spending enormous amounts of time treating Bai Yan like a dress-up doll.

She turned back from time to time not because romance had struck, but because her old habit was acting up again.

Rita Rossweisse wanted to eliminate every imperfection around her. In a sense, that barely counted as fighting for all the beauty in the world.

The first time Bai Yan met Rita had not been at Schicksal, but at the French orphanage.

At the time, since he and Dumb Goose were closest, she would come to Bai Yan first whenever she had any questions.

Gradually, Dumb Goose realized that she truly wanted to fight, so she asked Bai Yan how she could become a powerful warrior.

Bai Yan had been utterly baffled at the time. Why are you asking me instead of asking our Mama Ragna?

But seeing how much Dumb Goose trusted him, Bai Yan simply made up a training program on the spot, preventing her from having too much energy with nowhere to vent it and then making trouble for him again.

Dumb Goose possessed both Kaslana Genes and the Saniate holy blood, giving her extraordinary talent. In Bai Yan's memories of his previous life, some had even jokingly called her an "innate sacred body with a Dao womb."

Her body becoming saintly was only a matter of time, so she just needed to make up for her weaknesses!

Come on, finish these three hundred sets of real exam papers, and you too can become Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie.

At the time, Bai Yan's dream was to join Schicksal as a non-combatant and coast along until Honkai was defeated.

Then continue coasting along.

Faced with the sea of questions, Dumb Goose was miserable, while Bai Yan enjoyed himself immensely.

Back then, he had not known how fortunate he was. Only after going through Siberia once did he understand that being able to do practice questions was itself a kind of happiness.

Dumb Goose had not failed to raise objections to this, but after Bai Yan selectively told her the truth and had Ragna personally test her, Dumb Goose immediately regained her spirits, looking as though she had found her purpose in life.

Then she buried herself in practice questions, putting actual combat aside for the time being. After all, her talent for combat was invincible.

A Kaslana specialty: the marginal benefits of investing in the intelligence multiplier were far greater than for anyone else...

Ragna was deeply gratified. She had truly met two good children. Dumb Goose alone had the potential to reach at least S-rank.

Unfortunately, Bai Yan was a slacker. If he could be a civil servant, he would never touch a blade or gun. He put on the appearance of a frail scholar, as though Ragna had never seen him, at such a young age, daring to fire warning shots at a whole group of Valkyries.

Back to Rita.