41. The White Cat of Sky Dome City

On Coral Island, Raven buried his face in the back of the sofa, looking melancholy.

"What's wrong? You seem really agitated."

Flame Willow, who was passing by, asked curiously.

"Waaah, I don't want to work, it's so annoying..."

Raven's eyes lit up, and she pulled Flame Willow close, burying her head in Flame Willow's chest, enjoying the warm and soft feeling.

"You rascal..." Flame Willow hugged Raven and scolded her gently, "Little Kong and the others are still outside, and you really don't set a good example at all."

"It's not that I'm slacking off..." Raven looked up, looking aggrieved. "This mission will last at least six months!"

"Half, half a year?!"

Flame Willow was startled. "So long? Where is it?"

"Initially located in Changkong City, but the exact location is uncertain. We also need to assist Jackal..."

The Raven couldn't help but bury its head in the water again. "Waaaaah, I want to quit my job, Reed ~"

"I feel like you just want to act cute..." Flame Willow sighed, "Sigh, I really can't do anything with you."

"Shall I go with you on this mission?"

"Eh, eh eh eh?"

Flame Willow's words startled Raven: "You, what did you say?"

"Will I go with you?"

Flame Willow tilted her head. "Are you worried about the children? Anna is here watching over them, so there won't be any problems. Besides, Little Kong and the others have already adapted to independent living."

"Besides, we can always come back when we have some free time, right?"

"No, no, I mean, this mission requires us to partner with the Jackal!" Raven shook her head repeatedly. "Putting aside the fact that the jackal is mentally unstable, she conducts live experiments on ordinary citizens. Can you really resist the urge to beat her up?"

"Then what are we going to do? Just watch you get bullied in the past?" Flame Willow put her hands on her hips. "Besides, given the current state of your World Serpent, Jackal's research capabilities aren't that irreplaceable, are they? At least, Jackal has never been involved in your truly core projects."

"The real core plan? I don't know anything about this..." Raven looked bewildered. "Wait, who's the World Serpent, you or me? How come you seem to know more secrets than I do?"

"Hehe, it's a secret~" Flame Willow winked playfully. "I already told you I know some people in World Serpent, but you still don't believe me."

"Damn it, tell us everything you know right now."

Raven grabbed Flame Willow's hand and pulled her backward, causing Flame Willow to fall onto the back of the sofa. Raven's hand stroked Flame Willow's waist, while her cheek pressed against Flame Willow's face.

"Hmph, I won't tell."

"You really won't tell? Watch out, or I'll..."

The Raven's warm breath gently brushed against the Flame Willow's ear.

"Nah, I won't say. Even if you want to... I absolutely won't say."

As if anticipating Raven's next words, Flame Willow blushed, but still resolutely shook her head.

"Damn it, it looks like we really can't say anything now..." Raven said viciously, "Hmph, you'll get what's coming to you later."

"However, since you're coming with me, I'll ask Gray Serpent's opinion first... It just so happens that Changkong City is short of combat power for missions, so he should be very welcoming of your joining."

"Remember to negotiate a good price for me, there's lots of delicious food in Schicksal!"

"Okay, okay..."

Meanwhile, the atmosphere aboard the Hyperion remained as oppressive as ever.

Currently, the Hyperion is temporarily docked at an Anti-Entropy base in North America, where it is undergoing renovations and resupply.

During the Schicksal War, the engine transfer for the Moon Throne was crudely modified due to time constraints. Now that time has finally been freed up, Einstein and Tesla are finally able to carry out a thorough overhaul of the Hyperion.

During this time, they also mobilized the forces of Anti-Entropy and conducted a thorough search of all areas that Anti-Entropy could influence, in an attempt to find Kiana's whereabouts.

Unfortunately, they still came up empty-handed.

It was as if she had completely disappeared from the world. Neither Schicksal nor Anti-Entropy could find any trace of Kiana, not even the traces left by Himeko and Xia Ling.

If it weren't for the fact that the small-scale Honkai caused by Sirin were still occurring around the world, they would have suspected that all three of them were no longer in their Intrinsic World.

Thus, with no leads, the Hyperion had no choice but to temporarily remain in North America.

Night Hyperion.

Ain, who had been working late into the night due to her busy schedule during the day, decided to go out for some fresh air.

Then, she saw an unexpected figure on the deck.

"Ms. Theresa, it's so late, aren't you asleep yet?"

"Ain... you're not asleep either."

Theresa did not answer Ain's question; after all, the answer was somewhat difficult to say.

After Xia Ling left, she hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time.

Even if hugging a life-sized Hormu doll could help her drift off to sleep, once she was asleep, she would subconsciously feel that something was missing.

This sense of loss will further manifest as nightmares, waking Theresa from her dream.

Due to lack of sleep these past few days, she has noticeable dark circles under her eyes, and she looks quite tired.

"Yeah, I just finished my work and thought I'd come out for some fresh air."

Ain picked up the conversation and leaned against the railing next to Theresa.

"Kiana... is there still no news?" Theresa turned her head slightly.

"No, the method of inferring backwards from the location of the Honkai seems to be completely ineffective against the Herrscher of the Void. We can't find any clues at all within the sphere of influence of Anti-Entropy."

"The same should be true for Schicksal. They are well-prepared and handle Honkai events very efficiently, but only in terms of dealing with the derivative Honkai."

"Well..."

Theresa sighed and looked up at the night sky.

"Ain, I want to go back to the Far East to take a look..."

"Back to the Far East Branch?"

"No, at least not in that area... I don't want to go back to the Far East Branch for the time being."

Theresa shook her head. "I just think that if we're talking about sheer influence, Anti-Entropy and Schicksal could encompass almost the entire world."

"Under these circumstances, only Schicksal remains, which is a region that neither of us can easily interfere with."

"Even using the process of elimination, only this one answer remains."

"That's a rational answer. So, Ms. Theresa, what are your own thoughts?"

Ain looked at Theresa and asked.

Theresa paused for a moment, then slowly said, "If Xia Ling and Himeko succeed, Kiana should already be able to control her body, right?"

"I know her. After something like this happened, she would subconsciously avoid getting close to St. Freya... but she won't go too far."

"So, let's just take it as a premonition. I think she might be in Schicksal."

"I see..." Ain pondered for a moment, "I understand."

"I will first have Anti-Entropy send people to Schicksal to conduct preliminary investigations. The Hyperion's modification will take more than a month. If there is any news in the meantime, we will take other warships to Schicksal."

"If there's still no news..."

"Then we'll wait Hyperion is fully modified, and then go to Schicksal to find Kiana."

Chapter 41 The White Cat of Changkong City

Changkong City, outskirts.

"Here it is..."

The white-haired girl stared at the map on the screen, muttering to herself.

"This is Changkong City, one of the important large cities in Schicksal. It has a complete defense system and Honkai detection technology, and also has a sufficient number of mech troops, who pilot the 'Sky Guardian' series of mechs to maintain the entire city."

"If you can enter Changkong City, it should be much more convenient. With the current activity level of the Herrscher Core in your body, it will almost be undetectable by the detectors. Moreover, the Honkai caused by this level of activity can be easily resolved by Changkong City, or it may not even cause Honkai at all."

In the mind of the white-haired girl, a voice quietly rang out, explaining her current confusion.

However, the girl didn't seem to appreciate it much.

Pretending not to hear the voice, Kiana continued to look at the map and headed in the direction she had originally intended to go.

"Kiana, that's an outer defensive line set up for Changkong City. If you go any further, you'll be discovered."

"You're so annoying, can you shut up?"

Kiana stopped and responded coldly.

"I don't need your help, please get out of my body."

"Kiana..." Fu Hua's voice paused for a moment. "In your current state, you are not capable of suppressing Sirin's consciousness on your own."

"I won't let her take my body away, at least not my living body."

Kiana's tone was unwavering. "So, may you please leave?"

"Don't do this, Kiana... they wouldn't want to see you like this..."

"How dare you bring them up?"

Although Fu Hua didn't call her by name, Kiana knew who she was referring to. For a moment, Kiana couldn't control her emotions. "If you want to kill the Second Herrscher, I'll accept it. You can just take my life."

"But you, Otto, what have you actually done? You accomplice!"

"Kiana, calm down! Don't let Sirin take advantage of any openings!"

Kiana took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and forced herself to calm down, trying to quell the restless Honkai Energy within her.

"I'm very calm. If you want to avoid this situation, you can simply not speak next time. It would be better for both of us."

"Well..."

With a soft sigh, Fu Hua fell silent for the time being.

Kiana, on the other hand, opened the map and began choosing the next route into the city.

Four or five days have passed since Kiana woke up.

But for Kiana, those few days felt like years.

From the despair and sadness upon waking, to the anger upon discovering Fu Hua's consciousness, and then to the loneliness of embarking on a solitary journey, Kiana realized in just a few days that she was no longer the person she was a week ago at the academy.

Is this what growth is? Perhaps, but... what is the price of growth?

In the past few days, Kiana had thought about ending her life more than once, but in the end she did not take the plunge. It was not that she did not have the courage, but rather... she knew that her life was already too heavy for her to make the decision to give up on her alone.

Even for Himeko, for Xia Ling, for Theresa who came to save her from Schicksal, and for the Doctor from Anti-Entropy, she couldn't just give up on herself so easily...

However, Kiana didn't know how much longer she could hold on.

In her mind, besides Fu Hua's voice, another voice began to gradually awaken. She hadn't slept for two days. Whenever she closed her eyes, she would recall that scene in the Imaginary Space, and at the same time, Sirin would sneak into her dream.

Last time, she couldn't resist and fell asleep on a roadside bench. It was Fu Hua who rescued her from her dream. She didn't want to have anything to do with Fu Hua again, so she was unwilling to fall asleep again unless absolutely necessary.

However, while sleep problems can be overcome in a short time with willpower, physical fatigue cannot be relieved by willpower alone.

She didn't want to replenish Honkai Energy from the Imaginary Space, as this risked accelerating Sirin's awakening. However, the price for doing so was that she would need to consume several times more energy than a normal person, meaning she couldn't go hungry.

Kiana took out a pack of compressed biscuits from her coat, carefully tore open the packaging, and began to eat them slowly.

Before arriving in Changkong City, her only food was compressed biscuits that she bought with the little money she had left when she passed through a small town.

After all, Kiana usually spends her time at the academy and uses her card to pay for things. So, she wouldn't be foolish enough to use the money in her card to buy things. The money she had on her was from a week ago when Xia Ling insisted on playing cards with them, and she won a coin by luck.

She had originally planned to go to the academy to play the claw machine, but because a practical class was suddenly added later, she put the coins into the pocket of her Valkyrie armor first.

Of course, she only spent what she won from Bronya; as for what Xia Ling lost to her... she didn't spend it.

The compressed biscuits were awful, at least compared to the food Mei and Xia Ling made. However, they were the only thing Kiana could eat to stave off hunger. For a moment, under the influence of hunger, the compressed biscuits in her mouth actually tasted strangely delicious.

She just didn't expect that even at this time, she would still be able to enjoy the care that Xia Ling had left her...