The weather could no longer be called warm, but compared to Siberia's bitter cold, it still felt warm and comfortable to him.
During the spacetime simulation, he had lost count of how many times he missed Mei and Kiana. He missed the former's delicious cooking, the latter's innocent smile, the feeling of a girl's lap pillow, and the time the three of them spent having lunch together.
To him, this was already a long-awaited reunion. The longing he had accumulated for the two girls in the simulation made Bai Ge unconsciously more passionate and proactive.
"Mei, is it not okay?"
"It is, of course it is!"
Mei took a deep breath. It was just a hug. Though she did not know what kind of dream had made Bai Ge act this way toward her, she could not have wished for anything more!
Still, she felt that she needed to prepare herself mentally. Hugging the boy she secretly loved was simply too difficult for a proper young lady whose heart had only just begun to stir.
But Bai Ge hugged her the very next second.
"...Mm, hehe, Mei smells so nice."
"*@#+*!@#*%!"
"Bai Ge, Bai Ge, look! Mei is about to faint! Hurry up and let her go so I can have a turn!"
"K-Kiana, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, I can keep going!"
Mei subconsciously swallowed. For some reason, the moment Bai hugged her, she felt incredibly comfortable, as if every cell in her body were cheering.
"Waaah, so unfair! I want a hug too!"
"Hm? Kiana wants one too? Sure."
Bai Ge blinked and gave this little tuna a huge hug without playing favorites.
Kiana instantly froze. This was also the first time she had been hugged by a boy her own age.
"No, I meant hugging Mei! Who wants a hug from you, Bai Ge? Hmph~ You've really gotten bold today, but trying to take advantage of this young lady will bring you terrible misfortune."
"I'll give you a drumstick."
"Gulp! Is this about drumsticks? This is about a girl's modesty and purity!"
"Two. No, three!"
"..."
Half a minute later.
Kiana happily gnawed on a chicken drumstick.
She had been craving it for a long time. If Mei had not said that lunch was being saved for Bai Ge after he woke up and forbidden her from touching it, this little tuna would have devoured it all already.
And while Kiana happily gnawed on her drumstick, Bai Ge was also blissfully inhaling this Kiana Cat. Both sides were satisfied; it was a win-win situation.
"Sniff~ Sniff~ Sniff~ Awesome!"
After inhaling enough Kiana to his heart's content,
Bai Ge finally picked up his chopsticks and enjoyed lunch. The cook's dishes were also delicacies worthy of his full attention, so... he did not notice the girls' strange behavior.
Mei: (What's going on? Why is Bai Ge so attractive today? I keep wanting to move closer to him. I really, really want to get close to him...)
Kiana: (Calm down, calm down! What is wrong with me? Why does Bai Ge suddenly look so pleasing to the eye? Did this guy turn into aphrodisiac medicine or something? No, no, I have to calm down. He's Mei's boyfriend—wait, aren't they fake dating? Then there's no problem!)
Neither of them knew that the reason their hearts raced and they could not help developing a fondness for Bai Ge was actually within their own bodies.
The Conquest Gem and the Gem of Serenity.
The two Herrscher Cores buried inside the girls' bodies had, after fifteen years, sensed the presence of their original holder, Bai Ge, once again.
Thus, the cores instinctively wanted to merge with Bai Ge.
After all, regardless of their compatibility, Mei and Kiana were both artificially implanted Herrscher vessels, while Bai Ge had been personally chosen by the Will of Honkai as an Apostle of God during the Second Honkai Eruption fifteen years ago.
He was the true master of these two cores!
The two cores instinctively wanted to get close to Bai Ge. This had nothing to do with the girls' wills; Kiana and Mei's bodies simply instinctively wanted to cuddle up to him.
Second update. Please send flowers, votes, and tips.
Chapter 54: Bai Ge: Quick, Kiana, Call Me Dad! (New Book, Please Support)
"Mei, another bowl!"
"Mm, okay, no problem."
Bai Ge handed his empty bowl to the cook beside him. She immediately refilled it with rice skillfully, and he resumed his ravenous feast.
Mei almost failed to recognize Bai. His starving-ghost-reincarnated appearance and wild eating manners had nearly made her think some little tuna had disguised herself as him.
But no matter what, seeing the person she liked enjoy her cooking so much was something that would make any girl whose heart had just begun to stir happy.
Mei: (Eat, eat as much as you want! If it's not enough, I'll keep cooking. If it's for you, then I'll enter the kitchen and trade it for a full meal for you!)
Meanwhile, after several months, Bai Ge finally got to eat the cook's homemade food again—and it was Divine Cuisine, too. His appetite was immediately whetted.
He ate about as much as Kiana did during this meal.
(So delicious. As expected, Mei's cooking is the best. Though... I wonder how Sirin and the others are doing now. Have they been eating properly?)
That concern only lasted a few seconds before Bai Ge shook his head, thinking that he was surely worrying too much.
With Cecilia, such an amazing mother, around, Sirin and the others would definitely have lived wonderful lives even though he had not been by their side all these years.
Bai Ge thought that he had to find an opportunity to visit them later. After all, they had already made a promise.
But speaking of Cecilia, he unconsciously thought of Kiana again. Both Kianas, in fact.
True Kiana, namely Durandal.
He did not know how she was doing now, but with what he had said before dying, Otto presumably would not lay a hand on her.
Bai Ge genuinely was not worried about that. After all, in the original story, Otto had treated Durandal as a student as well.
As for the other one, the Kiana in front of Bai Ge...
(I've changed the Second Honkai Eruption's story beyond recognition, so how exactly was this girl born?)
According to the system, no matter how Bai Ge changed the past, as long as he did not erase it completely, these important characters fated to exist would be fine.
In other words, Kiana K423's birth was bound to happen. Even if the past had changed, the world's corrective force would still ensure that she was born.
Even if the process differed from the story Bai Ge knew, she was undoubtedly still Kiana.
For another example, Hare—Misteln Sanya—the Schariac Stigmata crystallization that should have been born because of Cecilia's death, would still be born in some other form in this timeline where Cecilia survived.
The process might differ, but the destiny of their birth would never go wrong unless... Bai Ge killed everyone in the past and completely destroyed the entire story of Honkai Impact 3.
But right now, he was genuinely curious.
(According to the original story, Kiana was actually an artificial human created by fusing Durandal's and Sirin's genes. But in the Second Honkai Eruption I changed, Sirin avoided becoming the Herrscher of the Void. So what exactly were this girl's ingredients... Huh? Uh, wait! Hold on! No way, no way, no way!)
Bai Ge suddenly realized something.
He thought of a possibility.
He was so shocked that the chopsticks in his hand fell to the floor.
In the original story, Otto had used the genes of Herrscherized Sirin and Durandal to create Kiana. But was Sirin the important part? No, obviously not!
What mattered was the Herrscher of the Void!
And now, Bai Ge had replaced Sirin as the Herrscher of the Void. That meant... the little tuna before him had actually been created by fusing his genes with Durandal's!!
"..."
Bai Ge was speechless. After realizing this, he suddenly did not even feel like eating Mei's cooking anymore. He stared at the little tuna before him with an extraordinarily complicated expression.
Kiana, being stared at like that, was also at a loss. She subconsciously picked up Mei's cookbook to cover her face and said,
"Bai Ge, why are you staring at me like that?"
Because of the Herrscher Core within her body, Bai was now as irresistibly alluring to Kiana as catnip was to a cat.
Kiana Cat instinctively wanted to stick to him, hug him, and lick him.
Bai Ge crossed his arms and remained silent for a while. Then he abruptly stood up, approached the little tuna with an oppressive air, and said,
"Call me Dad!"
"Huh? Huh?"
"Hurry up, call me Dad!"
"D-Dad?"
Overwhelmed by this sudden momentum, Kiana instinctively obeyed Bai Ge under the influence of the Herrscher Core within her body.
Of course, the most important reason was the Kaslana family's inherited trait: when they had an external brain, their own brain went offline. Kiana had already treated Bai Ge as her external brain, so when he suddenly said that,
she really did call it out without thinking.
"Gasp~ It feels kind of strange. Kiana, say it again?" Bai blinked, drawing in a sharp breath and making an outstanding contribution to global warming.
Once Kiana came to her senses, she immediately bristled.
"Bai Ge, you tricked me! I'll fight you!"
"Hey, hey, don't hit me. Fine, fine, I apologize. Sigh~ What's the big deal? Back in our dorm, everyone had several good sons, and several dads too."
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