"Thwart... their plan?" Alvitr was utterly baffled. "Wasn't our mission to capture the Herrscher of the Void?"
But Rita did not seem to care and simply explained, "Without a doubt, as long as Lady Durandal makes it here, we'll be able to win easily."
"But what if she can't make it in time? What if victory means... defeating the enemy only after thousands upon thousands of innocent people have died... in a city piled high with their corpses? As a Valkyrie, I don't need that kind of victory."
Hearing this, Alvitr was nearly moved to tears. "I... I'm so touched! Before, I only considered Lady Rita's safety... Please forgive me, Ri... Vice-Captain! Please be careful!"
Through the conversation between Celestial Mandate's finest tool Alvitr and Rita, everyone gained a new understanding of Rita and Celestial Mandate.
Because she had inhaled World Serpent's serum gas earlier, Rita was now merely a girl somewhat stronger than an ordinary person.
And although her original purpose had been to capture the Herrscher of the Void, after learning that World Serpent's plan would cost the lives of everyone in the city—
She still chose to work with her target and used her weakened body to stop World Serpent's plan.
In the earlier chapters, many people had thought Celestial Mandate was unquestionably the big bad villain.
They had sacrificed Himeko without hesitation in order to achieve their goal.
And while Rita was elegant and beautiful, and many players liked her, they still saw her as a woman from the villain camp.
But now, a single sentence from Rita sent the players' affection for her soaring.
If their previous fondness had come from her elegance and beauty, they now genuinely liked the character herself.
Looks like Otto is the only bad one in Celestial Mandate.
Otto!! MiHoYo boss, you're watching the stream, right? Get out here! Take my blade!
Otto, look at my sword!
Bronya and Mo Li did indeed see those messages.
"Boss... do you want to make an appearance? Let the players vent a little?"
Mo Li said, "...No need. They're just talking big."
"Is that so?" Bronya looked thoughtfully at the countless Danmaku messages saying, "Otto, look at my sword!"
Meanwhile, as Rita ventured deeper into the laboratory, Mei, who had been out of contact for a long time, finally appeared.
The instant Mei appeared, Kiana, who was playing the game, immediately lit up.
"Wow, Mei looks so pretty dressed like that!" After saying that, Kiana giggled happily. "Mei's here, so she's about to meet Kiana, right? Hehe~ It's definitely going to be sweet!"
From everyone else's perspective, Kiana's lovestruck expression was especially adorable.
It also reminded them of Kiana in the Valkyrie Ranger battlesuit.
Mature and steady, she stood in stark contrast to the mischievous, cute Kiana.
In the game.
After learning Kiana's whereabouts from Rita, Mei rushed over in a panic to rescue her.
The perspective then switched over to Kiana.
At that moment, Jackal was conducting experiments on Kiana.
Onscreen, Kiana was confined inside a test chamber, her face pale and weak.
Jackal stared quietly at Kiana inside the chamber, her voice excited. "Very good, Herrscher of the Void..."
"Your body is practically a miracle. No matter how much I mess with it, it always recovers to its original state."
Immediately afterward, Kiana let out a pained groan.
This scene instantly enraged the viewers in the livestream.
They all shouted for Jackal to show her health bar.
Jackal had only appeared for a few brief scenes, yet she had already made players hate her this much... That was honestly no easy feat.
While enduring the pain of the experiment, Kiana asked in a weak voice:
"Your experiment... the experiment in Sky Dome City... how many people will survive?"
Jackal seemed a little surprised. "You care about the numbers? I thought that, to a Herrscher, the death toll was as meaningless as breadcrumbs on a dining table..."
"Don't worry. As long as you can still hear my voice by then, I'll tell you~"
Then Jackal moved on to the next experiment.
"The connection reaction between the Herrscher Core and physiological tissue~"
Soon after, Kiana's agonized cries echoed from the test chamber again.
It hurts so much to watch... I'm really angry now!
Class Monitor... save Kiana already!!
Why do you keep torturing Kiana... Wuwuwu~~ MiHoYo, you have no heart!
Otto, look at my sword!!
But as the story progressed, everyone finally realized that Kiana had deliberately let Jackal capture her.
While pretending to struggle in pain, she began fishing for information from Jackal.
"Speaking of Stigmata... you stole Celestial Mandate's vaccine, provoked the Valkyries... went to so much trouble..."
"But aside from Death Warriors... I've never seen Stigmata on anyone in the city. Your experiment must have failed."
At this point, Kiana took a deep breath, as if enduring the pain from the experiment. "Maybe you misplaced a decimal point in the calculations... just like how I often did when I got 333 on my exams... Ugh~"
At that, Kiana finally could not hold back a cry of pain.
Hearing Kiana's words, Jackal looked as though she had been insulted and became furious.
"Shut up! I will not allow you to use such a childish metaphor to discuss this exquisite knowledge that is enough to change humanity's fate!"
"How to improve the vaccine, how much Honkai energy must be used to baptize this city so that the Stigmata within human bodies can be fully activated... all of this..."
Only then did Jackal suddenly realize that, in her anger, she had revealed things she should not have said.
Kiana smiled to herself and continued asking, "Honkai energy... where will it be released? The center of the city... or the outskirts...?"
At this point, the livestream viewers could no longer hold it together. Their noses stung one after another.
Kiana really grew up... She even knows how to trick people into talking now, wuwuwu~~
Thinking while enduring pain... is this what growth means...
Does growing up really have to cost this much~
Teacher Himeko, did you see that... Kiana really has... become more mature!
That girl who was always smiling... is becoming more and more heartbreaking to watch...
But I still prefer the old silly Kiana...
Look at the livestream camera. The silly Kiana is seriously playing the game right now.
Himeko is seriously watching the story too.
Otto, look at my sword!
In the game, once Kiana saw that she could not get anything else out of Jackal, she finally revealed a hunter's smile.
"I've wasted so long with you for this tiny bit of an answer..."
Seeing Kiana like this, Jackal panicked. "That's impossible... You clearly already..."
Kiana sneered. "Screaming and fake crying are essential skills for girls... Actually, those last two rounds didn't hurt at all!"
As she spoke, Kiana punched the test chamber again and again.
"Remember this! Today, it won't just be these few pieces of glass that get smashed. Your stupid Stigmata Project will too!"
Jackal laughed in rage. "You will witness... the serpent..."
But before she could finish, Kiana smashed the glass with a punch. "Watch your dog head!!"
Jackal said, "..."
She really wanted to point out that it was a wolf-head mask.
But faced with this Herrscher girl, Jackal was still somewhat flustered.
She was not a combatant.
Seeing that Kiana was finally about to get out, Jackal hurriedly sounded the alarm and released an insect-like monster.
The game then entered combat.
While controlling her character to attack the monster, Kiana listened to the conversation between Kiana and Fu Hua in the game.
Fu Hua asked, "Are you really all right?"
Chapter 58: A Blade Hidden in Candy...
While controlling her character to attack the monster, Kiana listened to the conversation between Kiana and Fu Hua in the game.
Fu Hua asked, "Are you really all right?"
Kiana said, "Strangely enough, that woman's torture... didn't hurt at all."
Fu Hua said, "..."
She knew that Kiana's body had already been severely eroded by Honkai energy.
She had completely lost her sense of pain and taste...
But neither the livestream viewers nor Kiana in front of the computer knew that.
Instead, they breathed a sigh of relief, as if they were glad for Kiana that the experiment had not been painful.
"The boss finally acted like a human for once. This time, he didn't torture Kiana... that character anymore."
Hearing Kiana's remark, Himeko nodded slightly in deep agreement.
At this moment, under Kiana's control, the stage boss was finally defeated.
And Kiana in the game finally met Mei.
"That's great! Mei and Kiana have finally reunited!" Seeing this development, Kiana was thrilled.
Himeko also smiled. After so long, were they finally going to get some sweetness...
But...
The game's music felt rather strange. It did not match the joy of a reunion at all... Instead, it carried a faint hint of sorrow...
"Kiana..." In the game, Mei looked at Kiana, her voice trembling as she called out.
But Kiana did not run over and embrace Mei as everyone had imagined she would.
The moment she saw Mei, she instead took a frightened step back.
"Me... Mei!"
"Y-you... why did you come here?" Kiana's eyes avoided Mei's, and her words were disjointed. "Y-you shouldn't be here. I... This place is dangerous!!"
After only a second of surprise, the viewers quickly understood the situation.
Kiana was probably acting this way because of her guilt toward Himeko, as well as her guilt toward Hyperion.
Although she had been controlled by the Herrscher consciousness at the time... it had ultimately been her body that harmed Hyperion and caused Himeko's death...
Now, she no longer had the courage to face everyone on Hyperion.
Including Mei...
This reunion was completely different from what the viewers had imagined, even the exact opposite.
Yet it made perfect sense... and only made their hearts ache even more.
Before you continue