38. An Unresolved Incident and a Surprise / 39. Kiana: What the hell was that... Holy crap, the theater!

Looking at the girl's intoxicatingly flushed face, Theresa had a premonition that she probably wouldn't be able to sleep well tonight.

Then, the two figures vanished instantly, leaving behind three people who breathed a sigh of relief.

"Huh?"

Sirin glanced at Kiana beside her and could clearly sense that besides feeling fortunate, Kiana's thoughts also seemed to contain a considerable amount of... regret?

Sirin tilted her head, not quite understanding her complicated thoughts.

The long night passed quickly, and on this night, Theresa experienced the feeling of being a pillow princess for the first time in a long time.

The next day.

"Aaaaaaah! What stupid things did I do last night?!"

Theresa, who had just taken a shower in the bathroom, noticed that the blankets on the bed seemed to have shrunk into a ball, and Xia Ling's mournful cries could still be heard coming from inside.

Theresa: I'm so happy, so happy!

Theresa, amused, rubbed her still-weak body and felt a surge of vengeful desire. So, she decided to play a trick on Xia Ling.

"Hey, isn't this Xia Ling, our leader of the 'Rampaging Sticker' group?"

Theresa peeked through the gap in the blanket. "Why don't you come out and find someone to stick it on?"

"I remember last night you were saying something about letting everyone feel the impact of Emperor-class Honkai Beast, weren't you?"

"Help! Theresa, please stop... Waaah, can you please let Sirin erase everyone's memories of yesterday?!"

Xia Ling, lying on the bed, trembled with shame, which made Theresa, who had been suppressed all night, burst into laughter.

"Alright, I'm sure everyone won't mind. Xia Ling is quite cute for taking the initiative to express her feelings, isn't she?"

"So, want to go out for dinner together?"

"No way! Even though everyone else doesn't care, I do! If I go out now, I'll be so embarrassed I'll turn into a puddle of Xia Ling-chan!"

"Okay, okay... then you can choose your own time to go. Remember not to go hungry!"

Theresa didn't insist. Rather, she was quite intrigued to see Xia Ling in such a different light.

Of course, it would be better if we didn't have to be so proactive.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Unresolved Events and Surprises

At 1:40 PM, near the cafeteria's closing time, a figure with a tuft of hair sticking up suddenly appeared, looking around nervously.

The figure, like a thief, looked around for a while to make sure there were hardly any people left in the cafeteria before sneaking in.

So, who could this person be?

Of course, it's Xia Ling, who's so shy she's afraid to go out!

After the events of yesterday's banquet, Xia Ling didn't dare leave her room for the entire morning. It wasn't until the cafeteria was about to close, when she was starving, that she sneaked out to the cafeteria.

However, perhaps because of the banquet and revelry that just happened yesterday, there is still a lot of food left in the cafeteria today, so we are not reduced to eating instant noodles.

"Sigh... Luckily there's no one in the cafeteria. I'd better finish quickly and go back to my room to hide for another two days."

Xia Ling sighed and was just about to bury herself in her food when she noticed that there seemed to be a plate in her field of vision.

Xia Ling's body tensed up suddenly as the plate appeared, because out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a strand of white hair falling beside her.

Theresa usually wears her hair in a ponytail that falls down to her chest. So, who else in Anti-Entropy has this kind of long, flowing white hair?

"Oh, is Sister Xia Ling coming to eat so late today too?"

Kiana's slightly amused voice rang out from beside Xia Ling.

"Kiana..."

Xia Ling mechanically turned her head to the side, and sure enough, next to her, a white furry ball that she had just petted thoroughly yesterday was looking at her with a smile.

"Huh, in just one day, they've changed my nickname from Kiana to Kiana? I guess I'm just a child who doesn't get love..."

"Then I'll call you Kiana from now on?"

"Uh... I'm sorry, Sister Xia Ling, I was just joking."

Kiana immediately went limp.

"However, Sister Xia Ling's behavior after getting drunk was truly unexpected..."

"You dare to say that! Was it you, you little rascal, who added alcohol to my glass yesterday?!"

Xia Ling pinched Kiana's cheeks hard and pulled them to both sides.

"Ugh... I'm so sorry..."

"Hmph, if there's a next time, I'll specifically target you and stick the sticker on you, let's see if you dare to mess around again."

Xia Ling's gaze swept over Kiana's body with ill intent, as if she was considering where to start.

"Ugh, there won't be a next time... Sister Xia Ling was really scary last night, thankfully the headmaster came to the rescue..."

But if it's just the two of us...

Kiana couldn't help but have this thought pop into her mind, but then she ruthlessly dismissed it.

What am I thinking...? Mei is still waiting for me in World Serpent, but if Sister Xia Ling could be with Mei...

Seeing Kiana suddenly fall silent, Xia Ling didn't think at all what strange things this lecherous Kiana was thinking. Instead, she suddenly remembered something else.

"By the way Kiana, did you have any dreams yesterday?"

"Huh? Sister Xia Ling, how did you know I didn't dream yesterday?" Kiana's thoughts were immediately pulled back, and she looked surprised.

"Just a guess," Xia Ling said expressionlessly.

Actually, it's because during her post-coital period today, she suddenly thought of a possibility that Kiana was dreaming, so she decided to test it out today.

"Sister Xia Ling's guess was spot on... I definitely didn't dream yesterday."

"However, I did ask everyone about Sirin this morning."

Kiana suddenly became interested and said, "The headmistress told me that she doesn't hate Sirin, but she often felt that she couldn't find the Babylon Tower sooner and save her sooner."

"Bronya told me that her hatred for Sirin had long since vanished with Sirin's death during the Second Honkai Outbreak. She hates the current Sirin only because Sirin hurt me."

"Everyone here is actually a very kind person, right?"

Xia Ling smiled and said, "So, some problems can be easily solved if you just say them out earlier."

"Well, but when I was talking to Bronya, she mentioned something very suspicious."

Kiana's tone became serious. "Bronya's Herrscher Authority have not been fully restored yet, or rather, only a small part of them have been restored."

"We initially thought that Bronya's powers would gradually recover as the Thousand-Man Herrscher disappeared, but now it seems that this is not the case."

Bronya guessed it might be because not all of the Herrscher of Domination had been captured... After all, according to Anti-Entropy's statistics, we hadn't found more than a thousand cores.

"This matter is indeed a bit strange... So, Bronya said she wanted Sister Xia Ling to help contact Dr. Kal'tsit, and then contact that girl named Mulsus, to ask if there is any solution."

"So that's how it is..." Xia Ling was naturally aware of Bronya's situation and the reasons behind it.

After all, since they are called puppets, there must be a controller. Those who are killed are puppets, and those who return to society are hosts. But the collective consciousness that controls the puppets has never shown itself yet.

However, she naturally couldn't tell Kiana the truth right now, so she just made up an excuse that wasn't really an excuse.

"If you're looking for Dr. Kal'tsit ..." Under Kiana's expectant gaze, Xia Ling drawled out, "I really can't help you."

"Huh?"

"After all, Dr. Kal'tsit's last contact with me was just to tell me not to let my guard down against the Herrscher of Domination, and that she would give me a surprise when we meet again."

Xia Ling shrugged:

"But she never mentioned what the surprise was, or when we would meet again, and she didn't even contact me afterward."

"I see... then there's nothing we can do."

Kiana sighed, "However, since even Dr. Kal'tsit said so, then the Thousand-Man Herrscher might really be hiding some secret..."

"Yes, that's right. So, we can't let our guard down these next few days, okay?"

Meanwhile, in the Sea of Quantum.

"I didn't expect it to be so sudden, but Himeko, you can go home now."

"Ha?"

Himeko pulled a giant sword from the body of a Sea Creatures and pointed to herself.

"I didn't hear wrong, did I?"

"Miss Himeko, I am not lying."

Theresia gave a knowing smile, then took out a terminal.

"Before you understand why I say this, take a look at what happened in the Intrinsic World during your training period."

Chapter 39 Kiana: What the hell is going on...? I'm in the theater!

"So... the Herrscher of Domination has been dealt with?"

Himeko stared blankly at the event report on the terminal.

"It's only been resolved on the surface; the true Herrscher of Domination has yet to appear."

"A broken doll can be made again, and a host can be found again... Of course, the Herrscher of Domination probably wouldn't think that far ahead."

"After all, in their view, they should already be able to take over the generalship."

"General?"

Himeko glanced at the report again, and after confirming that she hadn't misread it, asked, "But judging from this report... wasn't the Herrscher of Domination losing miserably? What makes it think it can win?"

Theresia looked at Himeko, smiling without saying a word.

Himeko suddenly remembered something, picked up the report again, and quickly flipped through it.

"Their general's weapon, is it me?"

"It seems you've already thought of that, Himeko." Theresia nodded. "This report shows that the Herrscher of Domination managed to contact almost all the Herrscher in the previous battle, but only managed to obtain the power of the Herrscher of Reason, relying on the first encounter kill."

"But you said almost." Himeko's expression became somewhat complicated. "They didn't steal Kiana's powers, did they?"

"That's right. Kiana used her powers on the dolls, but the dolls didn't choose to plunder them directly. That proves that they thought it wasn't worthwhile to take action against Kiana at that time."

"But they can't help but covet the power of the Herrscher of the Void... So, the only explanation is that they believe obtaining Kiana's power is a piece of cake. Only in this way can they have the leeway to choose the right time."

"Judging from the previous performance of the Herrscher of Domination, their attack methods mostly involve finding psychological weaknesses in their targets and then attacking those weaknesses... And you, Himeko —are Kiana's greatest wound."

"The Herrscher of Domination has been patient for so long; it's probably time for it to make its move."

"To be honest, I've missed Kiana quite a bit since I've seen her in so long... According to the report, she's changed a lot."

"You'll be in for a surprise, Himeko." Theresia gave a mysterious smile.

"I think the Herrscher of Domination might also be quite surprised." Himeko clenched her fist. "After training here for so many days, I'm almost developing PTSD from seafood."

"I've been holding back for so long, I can't wait to beat them to a pulp!"

"Hmm... a healthy body, exceptional combat skills and awareness, and outstanding control over Honkai Energy... you should be able to pass the S-rank Valkyrie exam right now."

"It doesn't matter. At least, we don't need such luxurious equipment to deal with those puppets."

"So, when do we set off?"

"I don't know, it might be tonight, it might be tomorrow night."

Theresia glanced at the time. "After all, we don't know how powerful the Herrscher of Domination will be. In the end, we'll need a mole to provide us with the coordinates if we want to enter the theater."

Salt Lake Base, Kiana's bedroom, late at night.

"Ugh—I'm so tired, so tired..."

"I was thinking about all sorts of things during training, and before I knew it, it was time to go."