48. Kiana: "Sis, Is Something Wrong?" / 49. Xia Ling: "What the Hell, Is This Still the System?"

"Ideas are one of the hard currencies here; we can use them to do all sorts of strange and wonderful things."

As Kiana put the two ideas into her backpack, she immediately felt a slight dizziness.

"However, carrying too much of this will put a strain on our minds. We need to weigh the pros and cons ourselves regarding how much to carry."

"And then, this is it..."

Immediately afterwards, two icons appeared on the screen, which Kiana recognized at a glance as her and Xia Ling's profile pictures.

Since the candidates are fixed, the recruitment process is skipped.

With a dazzling white light, Kiana suddenly lost consciousness.

When Kiana regained consciousness, she found herself in a strange, dark tunnel.

"Wait, my body is already..."

She lowered her head, staring at her body in astonishment.

At this moment, she had completely transformed into the image in the picture, dressed in red and white, with heterochromatic eyes, and...

The restless, abnormal Herrscher Core within the body, and the Honkai Energy at its command.

"How is it? This is what your Tai Xu Sword Qi looks like after you've made some progress in controlling the Herrscher Core."

Xia Ling appeared beside her and said with a smile, "This outfit... should be called Sky Ranger, right?"

"Try it yourself, doesn't it look cool?"

"Cool... it's alright. As long as I can control this power and not drag everyone down with me, I'll be satisfied."

Kiana stared at her palm, slightly lost in thought.

—

Chapter 48 Kiana: Sister, is something bothering you?

"Alright, stop spacing out. If you really want to get a feel for it, how about some real combat?"

Xia Ling chuckled and led the way.

"Walk a distance through these passages and you'll enter a portal. Inside, you'll randomly enter a 'story,' which may involve battles or other interesting events; it all depends on luck."

As she spoke, Xia Ling stopped and couldn't help but chuckle.

"I didn't expect the first node to be this... Come on, Kiana, you've learned your first lesson today."

Pulling along the somewhat dazed Kiana, Xia Ling directly entered the purple node portal ahead.

As the scene shifted, they arrived at a complex furnace passageway.

"See that blue door over there?"

Xia Zhuer" <Linba'lingzhou (three) {Liu Jiuling pointed to the back of the two people.

"Next, some enemies will keep trying to break through our defenses and sneak into the blue door, and our mission is to take them out."

"Of course, there is a lot of room for error. If you pull down the screen, it will show the map within the node and our remaining 'fault tolerance,' which is the health option above."

"As for this story... if I remember correctly, it should be about a group of people who fled after stealing from their employers."

"However, what I want you to learn is not the story itself, but some tips on using teleportation."

Before Xia Ling could finish speaking, a group of Sarkaz and hounds kicked open the iron gate a short distance away and stormed in, accompanied by a violent slamming of the door.

Then, these people turned their eyes and seemed to have their eyes on the "exit" behind Xia Ling and Kiana.

"So, we're actually playing the role of the guards in this story?"

Kiana belatedly realized what was happening.

"Almost there. Oh, right, remember to stand there." Xia Ling pointed to a mine tunnel platform in front of a gap next to Kiana.

"The main fighting is your responsibility; I'll just be your sniper support." Xia Ling jumped onto a high platform, waving a red Crescent Rose in her hand. "As for why I'm having you guard this place, you'll understand soon enough."

In no time, Kiana watched as Xia Ling, the "support" character, picked off the crossbowmen one by one. Looking down at her own pistol, Kiana suddenly wondered if she should also find a high platform to stand on.

"Why don't you try using your powers Herrscher of the Void, like the Spear of Subspace or something? Sirin did it quite well back then, didn't she?"

While firing her gun, Xia Ling reminded Kiana, "These guys aren't very good at combat, they're not even good for practice, they're basically just moving targets, so you can take this opportunity to train your accuracy."

Kiana suddenly realized that, due to her aversion to her own abilities, she had subconsciously forgotten that she also possessed long-range capabilities.

She quickly held her breath and focused her mind; a Spear of Subspace instantly shot out from the space and pierced through the body of a hunting dog.

"Huh? My Honkai Energy..."

Kiana looked at her hands in surprise. She had thought she would be clumsy when using her abilities, but to her surprise, her control over Honkai Energy was far smoother than she had imagined.

"Is this the effect of the Tai Xu Sword Qi...?"

"Well, for you, combat training is secondary. The biggest purpose of this place is to let you get familiar with the use of the Herrscher of the Void Core and the operation of the Tai Xu Sword Qi in advance."

"In this way, in reality, you can improve your mastery of the core while ensuring safety, and even gradually reverse control of the core."

Just as Xia Ling was about to say something more, she suddenly noticed a Kingkiller flash by in the distance.

Xia Ling grinned mischievously. "Kiana, someone's coming, be careful~"

"Okay, I understand."

Two Spear of Subspace appeared around Kiana, ready for battle.

Sure enough, she quickly spotted the red-haired figure moving at lightning speed in front of her.

Under Kiana's control, the Spear of Subspace flew rapidly toward the Kingkiller. However, due to Kiana's somewhat rusty control, the two Spear of Subspace did not serve any purpose other than briefly blocking the Kingkiller's movement.

"Sister Xia Ling doesn't seem to have any intention of helping me. Is she planning to let me challenge this enemy alone...?" Kiana pondered silently, raising her twin pistols as she prepared to unleash the Kaslana family's gun-fu technique, ready to engage in close combat with this formidable foe.

However...

Just as they were about to engage the enemy, Kiana suddenly noticed something was wrong. There was a hint of human cunning in the eyes of the enemy in front of her.

Sure enough, the moment the short sword made contact with Kiana's armor, Kiana immediately felt the force exerted on her arm fall into empty space, and the figure in front of her had completely disappeared.

"Oh no, I was careless..."

Kiana, who often sparred with Xia Ling, naturally realized that her opponent had an ability similar to Flash. With a hint of annoyance, Kiana quickly turned around to prepare to defend.

Then she saw the Kingkiller had just vanished, instantly reappear at the gap in the mine tunnel behind her, and then...

It fell.

"?"

Kiana stared blankly behind her, then at the splattering sound a moment later. She blinked, then silently looked at Xia Ling, who was trying not to laugh on the platform.

"See? People like us with spatial abilities must be careful to land precisely when we use teleportation or teleportation."

Xia Ling pointed to the large hole behind her. "Especially you, Kiana, you're not yet proficient in using your abilities. Be careful you don't end up like her, falling in and becoming Kiana- chan!"

"Sister Xia Ling... the Valkyrie armor has a high-altitude landing module..."

"What if your Valkyrie armor malfunctions under the interference of strong Honkai Energy?" Xia Ling gave Kiana a heads-up. "So, you still have to believe in your own abilities. What if you manage to save the world one day, only to end up getting injured from falling from the sky?"

"I keep getting the feeling that you're implying something, Sister Xia Ling..."

With the Kingkiller's "accidental" fall into the pit, the remaining scattered monsters naturally couldn't stop the two in the slightest. Soon, the battle ended with Kiana throwing out a Spear of Subspace.

"How about it? The Herrscher of the Void's abilities are quite useful, aren't they?"

"Hmm, compared to that, I've actually gained some insight into how the Tai Xu Sword Qi operates..."

"If I fight a few more times, maybe I can directly..."

Kiana felt the flow of Honkai Energy within her body, her tone filled with joy.

"Want to fight? No problem."

Xia Ling snapped her fingers, "Let me count the spoils from this node, then we'll move on to the next one."

"Tonight, I guarantee there will be plenty of fighting!"

Chapter 49 Xia Ling: Bushgomen, is this still the system?

"Spoils of war?"

Kiana looked curiously at the backpack on the screen.

"Hmm, this green cube is Originium Ingot, used to buy things, and this coupon... is a Medical Recruitment Voucher."

"Using this, we can recruit a companion from our memories to help us in the next stage of the battle. Of course, this requires a medical profession and that we need to spend this currency called Hope."

Xia Ling pointed to the yellow indicator on the screen. "We have hope now. We can't recruit any good medical staff, so we can save up for now."

"As for this..." Xia Ling looked at the small cube in her backpack. "This thing is a wisp of thought, similar to the idea I just had, except that it is classified as a last wish, and can be combined with other last wishes to create some magical collectibles."

"This last wish is just a very ordinary daydream. As for the others, we'll talk about them when we encounter them."

Continuing towards the next node, this time we encountered a green portal.

"Unexpected Encounter... No problem, this is the one we've found."

Xia Ling nodded and led Kiana inside.

[Unexpected Encounter]

The black beast gripped its prey's throat tightly until it ceased struggling and lay limp in its mouth. Suddenly, a golden light flashed in the wilderness—a creature never seen before, its mane gleaming in the sunlight, its sharp teeth and claws displaying its power. What was it? The black beast released its prey, and then...

It invites the other party to share the prey (to obtain Graffiti of the Hope Era)

It lunged forward (infused with the Hatred from the Age of Vengeance)

It turned and left with its prey in its mouth.

"Are we going to fight these two beasts?" Kiana drew her weapon and became alert.

"No, we are just spectators, or rather, spectators who decide the course of fate."

Xia Ling shook her head and directly chose the second option.

A blood-red horn wrapped in jet-black threads appeared before the two, and before their eyes, a black beast and a golden creature began a fierce battle.

"This is..."

"This is the collection. With this, we can encounter more battle points."

Just as Kiana was about to touch Ling Mengyi Erling San ⊙ Qi Si Xia, Xia Ling stopped her.

"The negative emotions contained in this are quite strong, Kiana, you'd better not touch it."

Xia Ling grasped the sharp horn, a hint of bloodshot appearing in her eyes. She shook her head, clearing her mind of distractions, and quickly threw the object into her backpack.

Seeing that Xia Ling didn't want her to touch the strange-looking artifact, Kiana could only suppress her curiosity. After all, Sister Xia Ling must have her reasons for doing so.

Following Xia Ling, we arrived at the third node. This time, the enemy was a bunch of strangely shaped insects. Although these creatures posed a limited threat, their small size and agile speed made it quite difficult for Kiana to aim.

It's worth mentioning that the explosion of the high- Originium Slug caught Kiana off guard and left her covered in soot.

"Sister Xia Ling... did you already know all along...?"

"Haha, this is also training your ability to adapt to unexpected situations."

Xia Ling's eyes darted around, unable to meet Kiana's resentful gaze.

"I don't think insects that suddenly explode can be considered creatures that could exist in the real world... So, Sister Xia Ling was living in such dire straits before?"

"Why not? Isn't Anti-Entropy already developing the latest version of the self-destructing Venom Spider Mech?"

The two bickered as they made their way to the next point. With Xia Ling deliberately teasing and stirring up topics several times, Kiana became much more lively than when she first met her.

Although she was still completely different from her silly self at the academy, she was no longer as lifeless as when Xia Ling first met her.

"We've arrived. The shops on this floor are just ahead. Here we can spend Originium Ingot to buy some good stuff. Of course, you can also choose to save your money, but I don't recommend doing that."

"Oh, is it because of the interest rate?"

"You still want interest? It's a miracle that his broken machine doesn't break down." Xia Ling scoffed at this.

"Hey, I haven't even left the house yet and I already hear people talking bad about me."

A low, muffled sound rang out, sounding as if something was muffled inside.

However, Kiana soon discovered that the person was indeed trapped inside a large metal canister.

"So what if I talk bad about you? Be careful, or I'll just rob your little shop." Xia Ling snorted. "Besides, I didn't say anything wrong. I, Tianhuju, brought over a hundred Originium Ingot to deposit money, and after depositing two, you told me the investment machine was broken. Haven't you done this many times before?"