"Foiling... their plan?" Alvitr asked, completely bewildered. Wasn't their mission to hunt down the Herrscher of the Void?
Rita, however, paid it no mind and continued explaining, "Without a doubt, once Lord Durandal arrives, we'll achieve victory with ease."
"But what if she doesn't make it in time? If victory means... after thousands of innocents die... defeating the enemy in a city piled high with their corpses... then as a Valkyrie, I don't need such a victory."
Hearing this, Alvitr was almost moved to tears. "I... I'm so touched! I was only thinking about Lord Rita's safety before... Please forgive me, Li... Vice-captain! Please be careful!"
Through the conversation between Alvitr, Schicksal's best tool, and Rita, everyone gained a new understanding of Rita and Schicksal.
Having inhaled World Serpent's serum gas earlier, Rita was now only slightly stronger than an ordinary person.
Moreover, her original objective was to hunt the Herrscher of the Void, but upon learning that World Serpent's plan involved the lives of the entire city...
She still chose to cooperate with her target and used her weakened body to stop World Serpent's plan.
In previous chapters, many people felt that Schicksal was unequivocally the main villain.
They were willing to sacrifice Himeko to achieve their goals.
And although Rita was elegant and beautiful, and liked by many players, in their eyes, she was ultimately a woman from the villain faction.
Now, however, a single sentence from Rita caused players' favorability towards her to skyrocket.
If their previous good impression was due to her elegance and beauty, then now they truly liked this character.
[It seems the only bad one in Schicksal is Otto.]
[Otto!! MiHoYo boss, you're watching the stream, right? Come out! Take this!]
[Otto, draw your sword!]
Bronya and Mo Li indeed saw these messages.
"Boss... do you want to make an appearance? Let the players vent a little?"
Mo Li: "...No need. They're just talking big."
"Is that so?" Bronya looked at the countless "Otto, draw your sword!" comments, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, in the game, as Rita delved deeper into the laboratory, Mei, who had been missing for a long time, finally appeared.
The moment Mei appeared, Kiana, who was playing the game, her eyes lit up.
"Wow, Mei looks so beautiful dressed like this!" After saying that, Kiana giggled happily. "Mei's here, so Kiana must be about to appear soon~ Hee hee~ It's definitely going to be sweet!"
From everyone else's perspective, Kiana's infatuated expression appeared particularly cute.
It also reminded them of Kiana in the Skybound Ranger battlesuit in the game.
Mature and steady, she formed a stark contrast with the mischievous and adorable Kiana.
In the game.
After learning Kiana's whereabouts from Rita, Mei rushed to rescue her with great urgency.
The perspective then shifted to Kiana.
At this moment, Jackal was conducting experiments on Kiana.
In the scene, Kiana was confined within an experimental pod, looking weak.
Jackal stared quietly at Kiana in the experimental pod, her voice filled with excitement. "Very good, Herrscher of the Void..."
"Your body is simply a miracle. No matter how I torment it, it seems to recover."
Immediately after, Kiana let out a painful groan.
This scene immediately enraged the viewers in the live stream.
They all shouted, "Jackal, show your health bar!"
It was quite an accomplishment that Jackal, after only a few scenes, managed to make players hate her to this extent...
Enduring the pain of the experiment, Kiana asked in a weak voice:
"Your experiments... the experiments in Sky Dome City... how many people will survive?"
Jackal seemed surprised. "You care about the number of casualties? I thought, for a Herrscher, the number of deaths would be as meaningless as breadcrumbs on a dining table..."
"Don't worry, if you can still hear my voice by then, I'll tell you~"
Then, Jackal proceeded to the next experimental item.
"Link reaction between the Herrscher core and physiological tissues~"
Immediately after, Kiana's pained cries echoed from the experimental pod again.
[So heartbreaking... I'm really angry now!]
[Class monitor... save Kiana quickly!!]
[Why are you still tormenting Kiana... Wuwuwu~~ MiHoYo, you have no heart!]
[Otto, draw your sword!!]
……
But as the story progressed, everyone finally discovered that Kiana had deliberately allowed herself to be captured by Jackal.
While feigning pain and struggling, she began to question Jackal.
"Speaking of Stigmata… you stole Schicksal's vaccine, provoked the Valkyries… went to all this trouble…"
"But besides the Death Warriors, I haven't 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 of the experiment: "Maybe there was a decimal point error in the calculation… like when I often got 333 on my exams… Ugh~"
Saying this, Kiana finally couldn't help but cry out in pain.
Hearing Kiana's words, Jackal seemed insulted and became exceptionally angry:
"Shut up! I won't allow you to discuss this exquisite knowledge that can change humanity's destiny with such a childish analogy!"
"How to improve the vaccine, how much Honkai energy to use to baptize this city, to completely activate the Stigmata within the human body… these…"
At this point, Jackal suddenly realized that in her anger, she had said things she shouldn't have.
Kiana secretly smiled and then asked, "Honkai energy… where was it released? The city center… or the outskirts…"
Seeing this, the viewers in the live stream finally couldn't hold back their emotions, their noses stinging.
[Kiana has really grown up… she even knows how to trick people now, sob sob sob~]
[Enduring pain while thinking, is this growth…]
[Is the price of growth really this high~]
[Teacher Himeko, did you see it… Kiana has really… matured!]
[This girl who always smiles… makes my heart ache more and more…]
[But I still prefer the silly Kiana from before…]
[Look at the live stream camera, the silly Kiana is seriously playing a game]
[Himeko is also seriously watching the story]
[Otto, draw your sword!]
……
In the game, seeing that she couldn't get any more information, Kiana revealed a hunter-like smile.
"For this little bit of an answer, I've wasted so much time with you…"
Seeing Kiana like this, Jackal panicked: "This is impossible… you clearly just…"
Kiana sneered, "Screaming and fake crying are essential skills for girls… Actually, those two times just now didn't hurt at all!"
Saying this, Kiana punched the experimental pod repeatedly.
"Remember! Today, it's not just these pieces of glass that will be shattered, but also your foolish Stigmata plan!"
Jackal laughed in extreme anger: "You will witness… Serpent…"
But before she could finish, Kiana punched through the glass: "Watch your head, you dog!!"
Jackal: "……"
She really wanted to retort, "It's a wolf head mask."
But facing this Herrscher girl, Jackal was still a little flustered.
She was not a combat personnel.
Seeing that Kiana was finally about to break free, Jackal quickly pressed the alarm and released an insect-like monster.
Immediately after, the game entered combat mode.
While controlling her character to attack the monster, Kiana listened to the dialogue between Kiana and Fu Hua in the game.
Fu Hua: "Are you really okay?"
Chapter 58: Hidden Daggers in Sweets…
While controlling her character to attack the monster, Kiana listened to the dialogue between Kiana and Fu Hua in the game.
Fu Hua: "Are you really okay?"
Kiana: "It's strange, this guy's torture… doesn't hurt at all."
Fu Hua: "……"
She knew that Kiana's body had been severely eroded by Honkai energy.
She had completely lost her sense of pain and taste…
But Kiana in the live stream and in front of the computer was completely unaware.
Instead, they felt relieved, as if they were fortunate for Kiana, fortunate that the experiment just now was painless.
"The boss finally acted like a human, and this time they didn't abuse Kiana… this character anymore."
Hearing Kiana's sigh of emotion, Himeko nodded slightly in deep agreement.
At this point, under Kiana's control, the boss of this stage was finally defeated by her.
In the game, Kiana finally met Mei.
"That's great! Mei and Kiana are finally reunited!" Seeing this scene, Kiana was extremely excited.
Himeko also smiled at the corner of her mouth. After such a long time, was it finally time to give them some sweet moments...
But...
The music in the game sounded a bit strange. Such music didn't match the joy of reunion at all... Instead, there was a hint of sadness...
"Kiana..." In the game, Mei looked at Kiana, her voice trembling as she called out.
And Kiana didn't rush forward to hug Mei as everyone imagined.
The moment she saw Mei, she recoiled in panic:
"Mei... Mei!"
"What... what are you doing here?" Kiana's eyes darted away as she looked at Mei, her words jumbled:
"You... you shouldn't be here! I... this place is dangerous!!"
Facing this situation, the audience was only surprised for a second before they quickly understood.
The reason Kiana was acting this way was likely due to her guilt towards Himeko and the Hyperion.
Although she was controlled by the Herrscher's consciousness at the time, it was ultimately her body that had harmed the Hyperion and killed Himeko...
Now, she didn't have the courage to face everyone on the Hyperion.
Including Mei...
This reunion was nothing like what the audience had imagined; it was the complete opposite.
Yet, it was perfectly reasonable... and only made one's heart ache.
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