Mei was the prettiest member of the team, the gentlest person in the team, the strongest in terms of combat rank, and the best cook. She was beautiful, kind, and talented. The gods really did favor her too much. If only Kiana had half of Mei's good qualities.
That afternoon, Himeko had already handled Ling Feng's enrollment procedures. He received his salary card, which contained one month's salary specially advanced by the Academy Head. At the same time, it also served as his identification card within the academy.
Class President, Festival, Patrol!
The next day was Monday, the painful beginning of another week...
Although Ling Feng was an assistant, he was also a student at St. Freya Academy, so he still had to attend classes. Of course, he could choose not to go, since he would not be taking the Valkyrie rank assessment anyway...
But Ling Feng still went. He needed more knowledge, a better understanding of this era, and, incidentally, a chance to get to know and observe the other Valkyries in the class...
Before class officially began, a gray-haired girl walked up to the podium. She had blue eyes and a heroic air in her gaze. From that art style alone, it was obvious she was not some background NPC!
Seeing Ling Feng's curious look, Mei leaned over and whispered, "That's our Class President, Fu Hua. She's also the only student who has reached A-rank Valkyrie!"
So this was Fu Hua? As expected of an A-rank Valkyrie, she looked completely different from the other Valkyries. And... as an S-rank Valkyrie, Ling Feng's instincts told him that Fu Hua seemed stronger than Himeko...
Of course, that was just a feeling and could not be taken seriously. Otherwise, his instincts would tell him that all the Valkyries in Honkai Impact were actually his wives...
"Before class begins, I have an announcement!"
Fu Hua directly unfolded the electronic screen behind her and said in an even tone, "There will be a festival in Magic City tonight. The predicted attendance will exceed one million. To ensure that no accidents occur, St. Freya Academy will dispatch Valkyries to assist in maintaining public order. Apart from Valkyries remaining behind at the academy and D-rank Valkyries, everyone else must participate in this operation!"
"However, the mission will be carried out in two shifts, so while maintaining public order, everyone may also enjoy the festival. But please do not violate academy regulations, or you will receive the double punishment of deducted points and funding. That is all..."
"Maintain public order?"
Ling Feng found that rather strange and asked Mei, who was seated next to him, "Aren't we students? Shouldn't maintaining public order be Magic City's guards' responsibility? Why do we have to go too?"
"Festivals like this are actually quite rare, and Honkai Beasts have appeared in Magic City several times before. So it is best to have Valkyries present at an event like this. Besides..."
Mei quietly opened her book and smiled. "You know, our academy is severely short on funding. Taking on Magic City's public security missions can bring in some extra funds. Of course, those funds belong to the academy!"
Ling Feng was speechless. To put it bluntly, there was only one word for it: poor...
"Oh, and one more thing..."
As she stepped down from the podium, Fu Hua seemed to suddenly remember something. She turned her gaze toward Ling Feng. "This is our new classmate, Ling Feng. He is currently Team 233's assistant. All right, that's it!"
Ling Feng was speechless. That introduction was way too perfunctory. Fine, she was the Class President, so her word went...
Then came class time. Just as Mei had said, the morning was mostly theory and basic courses, while the afternoon was practical training. After all, they were Valkyries. Combat ability was the most important thing!
However, because there was a mission that evening, the afternoon practical class was canceled. Everyone was free to do whatever they wanted, as long as they gathered at the designated location before the specified time!
At six in the afternoon, more than half of St. Freya Academy's Valkyries assembled in the square. Then they boarded the academy's only super battleship, the Hyperion, and headed for Magic City...
The Hyperion was indeed huge. Though it was not as large as the Supernova battleship from his era, it was still more than big enough. Its deck was enormous too, capable of launching and landing all kinds of carrier aircraft and mechs. Of course, that also made it rather troublesome to clean. Fortunately, he was an assistant, not a janitor!
Since St. Freya Academy was located near Magic City's coast, it took less than ten minutes for the Hyperion to take off and land. Of course, that was at low speed. At maximum speed, this distance would not even take ten seconds...
"This city is pretty lively..."
Following Kiana and the other two into the city center, Ling Feng finally felt a familiar atmosphere again. A bustling metropolis, streets packed with traffic—he really did prefer staying in cities!
"Hmph, obviously. Magic City is the largest city in Shenzhou!"
Kiana looked somewhat smug as she snorted. "Although the entire world has been affected to varying degrees since the Honkai descended, Magic City is still prosperous. The only annoying thing is that prices are way too high. Our team budget is nowhere near enough!"
"Hey, want to go look around? We rarely get the chance to come to Magic City!"
Ling Feng really wanted to take a look around. St. Freya Academy was out at sea, so getting around was usually extremely inconvenient, and travel expenses were a bit costly too. He had to seize this chance to explore Magic City!
"I'm afraid not right now. According to the instructions, this is the area our team is responsible for!"
Mei looked at the mission instructions on her phone before continuing, "The festival will not begin until seven, but the academy requires us to arrive at our designated area by six-thirty to maintain public order. It's already six twenty-four, so there's no time to go shopping. However, another team will relieve us at eight-fifteen, and the festival lasts until ten. We can go shopping then!"
Mei was clearly tempted by the thought of shopping too, but before that, they had to carry out this mission properly. It would not be fun if they got caught and had their funding deducted...
"That long..."
Kiana looked rather aggrieved...
"Kiana, it's fine. We can still browse around while carrying out the mission!"
Mei smiled at Kiana and comforted her, "We're responsible for this area, but our mission is not really to maintain public order. That's the guards' job. We only need to stay within this area. In other words..."
Mei winked at the two of them...
"In other words, we can have fun within this area. If anyone asks, we'll say we're patrolling!"
Ling Feng seemed to understand what Mei meant. Who would have thought that Mei, such a serious and responsible good girl, would do something like this? He wondered if that counted as gap moe...
"Mm!"
Mei nodded slightly, then said in a somewhat stern tone, "But we can only browse around. We cannot participate in any activities, and we definitely cannot run over to check out anything fun. I won't name names, but someone here knows who I mean!"
Ling Feng and Bronya very tacitly looked at Kiana. The meaning was obvious without being spoken...
Kiana was speechless...
Originally, Ling Feng had planned to wander around by himself, but now he felt a little embarrassed about leaving alone. Besides, shopping alone was not much fun!
So Ling Feng decided to patrol with the three of them. It would not take too long anyway. Once the shift change came, he could go shopping with Mei. Shopping with a beautiful girl was the true essence of shopping. Hopefully, nothing would happen tonight to ruin the festival!
Soon, the festival began. Mei had been right: the Valkyries' work was very easy. Magic City already had guards, so the Valkyries were basically just there to show their faces and make up the numbers, wandering around under the grand excuse of patrolling!
Mech Attack, Inch-Perfect Strike: Heaven Splitter!
"Mmm, delicious! I haven't had takoyaki in so long, sob..."
During the patrol, Kiana held a box of takoyaki and happily ate away. Her eating style was as steady as ever, making it obvious at a glance that she was a true foodie!
"Mm, it really is good!"
Mei nodded slightly. "Being able to eat food from my hometown here is also a pleasure. Thank you, Ling Feng!"
"Agreed. Thank you!"
Bronya nodded too, showing that she was quite satisfied...
"Hehe, don't mention it. We'll all be comrades fighting side by side from now on, so treating everyone is only proper!" Ling Feng smiled as well, completely calm about picking up the tab. The snacks were a little expensive, but for the sake of building goodwill, it was no big deal!
Besides, these three were all Valkyries on the same team as him. Although he intended to coast along, he still needed to build good relationships with them. That way, whenever something important happened in the future, his opinions would be more readily accepted!
Besides... Ling Feng could tell that Mei was definitely the team's backbone and held absolute authority. Even though Kiana was the captain, Mei made nearly every decision. So, as long as he held tightly onto Mei's lovely thigh, he could definitely keep coasting...
Ding ding ding...
At that moment, a convoy drove down the street. Lion dancers and acrobatic performers accompanied it, while the vehicles carried dragon and lion models and props. They were probably heading toward the central square to assemble!
Kiana quietly stuffed another takoyaki ball into her mouth. In all the world, only food could make her forget her worries in an instant...
The festival continued, and the convoy slowly passed through the district. Everyone went about their business, and everything was peaceful...
Boom...
Yet amid that peace, the vehicle at the front of the convoy suddenly exploded, instantly causing panic...
"Ahhh..."
"What happened?"
The entire district immediately descended into chaos. People scattered in every direction, not caring where they went. All that mattered was getting away!
"Kiana, Bronya!"
Mei had already drawn her katana at the first sign of trouble. Although Kiana often seemed unreliable, her reaction speed was also extremely fast. She drew her twin pistols almost at the same time as Mei!
As for Bronya, Project Bunny was her weapon, and it had never left her side...
"Ling Feng, find somewhere to hide. It could be dangerous here..."
Before heading toward the explosion site, Mei did not forget to remind Ling Feng. In her eyes, he had no combat ability, so keeping him away was undoubtedly the best choice!
"Damn... Something really happened?"
Looking at the flames from the explosion ahead, Ling Feng felt rather frustrated. He wondered whether this would affect the festival...
As an S-rank Valkyrie, even a former S-rank Valkyrie, Ling Feng had no reason to retreat. Besides, letting girls stand at the front while he went and hid would be far too humiliating. Charge!
Thus, Ling Feng decisively followed behind the three of them...
Whoosh, whoosh...
But before Ling Feng could get close, numerous smoke grenades suddenly dropped from the high-rises on both sides, directly enveloping both the explosion site and Mei's group in smoke. And then...
"Mechs?"
Standing some distance away, Ling Feng could clearly see a row of blue mechs descending from the buildings overhead. If he had not guessed wrong, these were the Anti-Entropy mechs Mei had mentioned...
"This is bad. The three of them are in danger!"
Ling Feng immediately sensed that things were going wrong. To high-ranking Valkyries, mechs were not much of a threat. But for a deadweight team like Team 233, they were not easy to handle. And machines naturally counter living creatures... Wait, was he mixing up stories?
In any case, never mind that. He needed to think of something, fast...
"Team 233, Team 233, this is Fu Hua. What happened over there?" Fu Hua's voice came through the wireless earpiece at that moment...
"Class President Fu Hua, this is Ling Feng, Team 233's assistant!"
Ling Feng had dealt with situations like this plenty of times before, so he immediately said, "There was an explosion in the convoy, and Anti-Entropy mechs have appeared here. Please send support immediately!"
"Class President, Ling Feng is right. Mechs have appeared here. There are estimated to be more than ten, but Anti-Entropy's target is currently unknown!" Mei's voice also came through the earpiece!
"Received. I'll provide support immediately!"
Fu Hua's voice disappeared...
"You Anti-Entropy bastards, take a shot from me!"
Seeing the Anti-Entropy mechs approach, Kiana immediately opened fire. But pistols did practically no damage against mechs...
Mei charged straight forward, drew her katana, and slashed at the mechs. Yet compared to the pistols, the katana dealt even less damage. Forget damaging them—she could not even break their armor!
"Project Bunny, attack!"
Finally, Bronya's Project Bunny launched its attack. Three shells struck the same mech at once, instantly reducing it to scrap metal. As expected, magic had to be defeated with magic—uh... no, science had to be defeated with science!
But the mechs retaliated at once. The melee mechs rushed at the three girls, while the Thunder God Mechs fired dozens of shells, their firepower several levels above Bronya's...
"Project Bunny, defend!"
Mei immediately dodged aside, while Kiana and Bronya were protected by the ion shield raised by Project Bunny. That girl was high-tech from head to toe...
However, Anti-Entropy was clearly not interested in the three rookie Valkyries. Apart from a few mechs assigned to deal with Team 233, the rest focused on the convoy, violently tearing apart the things loaded onto it as though they were searching for something...
Meanwhile, Mei's group was pinned down by the firepower of two turret-type mechs and could barely raise their heads. Even if you were a Valkyrie, even if you could slay Honkai Beasts, in the face of absolute firepower suppression, you were still just a little brother. Did you think having firepower suppression meant you could do whatever you wanted? That was right, firepower suppression meant you could do whatever you wanted!
Suppressing firepower felt great for a moment, and continuous suppression felt great forever. Even rabbits, beings who had once valued tactics and calculations, had embarked on the path of massive explosions. That showed just how good firepower suppression felt!
Inch-Perfect Strike: Heaven Splitter!
A thunderous boom suddenly erupted from the sky. The immortal descended in dazzling fashion, smashing down with one punch and instantly sending two Thunder God Mechs flying, scattering parts everywhere...
Inch-Perfect Strike: Thunderclap!
Then Fu Hua unleashed a circular shockwave, once again blasting away the two Titans closest to the front...
Ling Feng was speechless. They were both Valkyries, but this was the difference...
Mei and the other two could not defeat the mechs even with their weapons, while Fu Hua had dismantled four mechs with nothing but her fists. The gap between A-rank Valkyries and B-rank Valkyries was a little too huge, was it not...?
Crimson Storm, Baldr Mech!
"As expected of an A-rank Valkyrie. You really are powerful!"
At that moment, a girl's voice rang out. Then a crimson mech appeared in the sky, blue exhaust flames streaming from behind it as its source of propulsion...
Moreover, this mech looked completely different from the others. The other mechs were huge and had a heavy metallic feel, while this one was slender and not particularly large, almost the same size as a Valkyrie's body. Its waist was extremely narrow too. From the looks of it...
It did not look like a mech piloted by a human...
"Who are you?"
Before you continue