What about the promised Third Honkai?!!

"A few words—take them to Theresa Apocalypse of Schicksal's Far East branch for me..."

Chapter 33: "The Kaslana's Inescapable Fate"

"Ah!"

On the worn wooden floor, the groggy Susanna shot upright.

She frantically patted her body, and when she found the Dragon Lord MK2000 and other gear completely empty, she gazed toward Yae Shrine and murmured to herself: "Susanna, you actually did it..."

"You actually, all by yourself, took down a B-rank Monster-type Honkai Beast..."

As she spoke, she suddenly raised a hand to wipe her tears, whimpering softly as she cried.

As the daughter of a jeweler with a modest standing in the industry, Susanna's family naturally knew exactly what Schicksal's Valkyries were.

—A bunch of short-lived fools, completely bamboozled by that five-hundred-year-old monster's talk of righteousness and morality, utterly oblivious that they were aiding a tyrant!

Susanna's father never hid his disgust for Schicksal, and he flatly refused to let Susanna join as a Valkyrie.

But in the end, he couldn't win against his only precious daughter.

Yet the look in his eyes still pained Susanna.

Even so, she never regretted her choice.

That was just who she was—once she made up her mind, she saw it through to the end.

If she hit a wall, she'd smash through it with her head. If she met an ocean, she'd jump in and swim with all her might.

She believed that one day she'd become a powerful A-rank Valkyrie (she didn't dare hope for S-rank), enough to make her father look at her with new eyes and give her a thumbs-up, saying, "That's my girl!"

But that was still an uncertain future. For now, even if she seemed sunny and lively on the surface, a mountain weighed heavy in her heart.

And now, that mountain had been shattered.

Even with equipment helping, she had still defeated a B-rank or higher Honkai Beast on her own.

What couldn't she do now?

She wiped her tears dry and stood up.

Pushing open the door, the pale light of dawn spilled over her slender frame, casting a long, golden shadow.

Like a future full of hope.

On the other side of the corner—

Kiana looked baffled: "Why did she suddenly start crying? Did your Memory Eraser malfunction?"

"I dunno! Probably not?"

Fu Li's answer wasn't certain either. That girl woke up and started laughing and crying and jumping around—was she really possessed by a ghost?

Whatever. She was already gone, so dwelling on it was pointless.

He turned to Kiana: "The gun's yours, the rest is mine. Deal?"

Heavenly Wings (D), Escape Dagger (D), Silver Bloom Seed (C), Spirit Gathering Ring (C)—a real jackpot.

"Deal." Kiana scratched the back of her head, grinning like a simpleton. "But can't you already fly?"

"You're trying to freeload the Heavenly Wings, huh."

Fu Li knew exactly what she was scheming. As someone who could use Void Step, he really had no use for the Heavenly Wings' short-range flight, but the annoyance was another matter.

So, "No deal."

"Oh, don't be so stingy!" Kiana sidled up to him at just the right moment. "How about this—this young lady trades you Photography Death for it! It's a relic, sure, the cooldown's a whole week, but it's super rare!"

"Just for the Heavenly Wings? Not including the Fourth-Dimensional Skirt?"

"Of course including it!" Kiana shot him a flirtatious wink.

"Then no deal. And don't call me stingy with that macho nonsense—my gender is Attack Helicopter."

"Tch, fine. No deal it is."

The girl pouted, then pulled out her dear daughter from another mother.

In the morning light streaming through the window, she carefully wiped down the Dragon Lord MK2000, muttering to herself: "Too bad it's just this one gun. Can't pull off the legendary Nine-Headed Dragon Flash."

Demon Hunt: Nine-Headed Dragon Flash—a technique that fires nine types of shots simultaneously: revolver, pistol, rifle, sniper, shotgun, magnum beam gun, Speshium ray, and more.

Rumor had it that the Vatican's Inquisition had Gunslingers specializing in it—one shout of "Appulupai!" and barely anyone was left standing on the battlefield.

Yeah, just kidding.

Fu Li packed away his loot: "A man's reach exceeding his grasp—that's what that is."

Kiana wanted to retort that she wasn't reaching for his grasp, but on second thought, she realized she kind of was, so she changed her tune: "This young lady calls it a dream! If a person has no dreams, what's the difference between them and—"

"And someone carefree?"

"And a salted fish!"

Kiana spoke with conviction, then suddenly thought as she looked at the Silver Bloom Seed in Fu Li's hand: "I remember that thing has automatic defense, right? C-rank automatic armor, it can defend against attacks within a certain range without needing its owner's command."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"No, this thing has automatic defense!" The girl frowned. "So how did your attack bypass it and hit Susanna directly?"

"Avada Kedavra Fist, the Buddha Demon Emperor's ultimate technique. Didn't I already tell you that once?"

"No, you're telling me that kind of punch actually exists?!"

"Hehe~ Guess?"

"Guess your big head! So mad!! I'm leaving!!!"

Kiana stomped her foot, turned around, and walked toward the door.

Originally, she'd also wanted to ask Fu Li what he'd secretly said to Susanna while she was changing clothes, but this distraction made her forget all about it.

Fu Li, hands clasped behind his head, strolled leisurely behind the girl, keeping a distance of about three to five meters—neither too close nor too far.

Sunlight spilled through the clouds onto this pair of golden boy and jade girl. The stone path beneath their feet was clean and dust-free, reflecting the unique tranquility and peace of early morning.

Fu Li, following behind, held up the denim trousers in his hand: "You sure you don't want to wear these?"

"No!"

Kiana said huffily.

Her clothes had been riddled with holes during the fight with the Miko Ling, leaving her no choice but to wear some of Fu Li's clothes from his backpack.

The only exception was the Fourth-Dimensional Skirt. Fu Li had kindly suggested she put on a pair of trousers over it—early spring in Changkong City was hardly warm, and looking a bit ugly was better than freezing.

But the sulking girl insisted on being beautiful and freezing. Those tender, long, fair legs were indeed beautiful.

'Whoosh~'

The spring wind was like scissors.

"Hiss--!"

Kiana, her silver hair flying, sucked in a sharp breath.

Freezing.

And it wasn't over.

The two walked one after the other, the city's outline gradually sharpening in their eyes, and the shops lining the road steadily increased.

At this hour, it was peak time for breakfast shops. The overflowing aromas filled the streets and alleys, fiercely tempting Kiana's taste buds.

'Gurgle...'

She stared longingly at the steaming Xiaolongbao in the shop, patting her grumbling little belly.

Her hand instinctively reached into the pockets on either side of her clothes. After fumbling for a while, they came up empty.

The girl swallowed her saliva and struggled to shuffle forward a few more steps.

"A--Li--"

Then she turned around, dragging out her voice pitifully.

"Eat, eat, eat. I'll treat, I'll treat."

"Yay!!!"

This was the fate the Kaslana could never escape.

Chapter 34: "Teammate Recruiting (Double Update, Please Vote!)"

Back in the day, Fu Li wouldn't have dared to take on the task of feeding Kiana full.

The Kaslana were famously as roomy as a prime minister's belly—anyone close to them who treated them to a meal would get cleaned out of a whole ship's worth of food.

Besides, the two of them were birds of a feather, poor together. When it came to being broke, they were a real pair of hard-luck siblings.

Luckily, Fu Li still had the startup funds Little Great-Aunt had given him. Even though buying the scabbard and hilt had used up most of it, and various odds and ends had eaten into it along the way, what remained was still enough for a few meals.

But rather than eating out, Fu Li preferred to go back to Kiana's place and cook with her.

It wasn't like he couldn't cook—eating out just meant getting ripped off.

Still, seeing the girl's longing little glutton expression, and since the shop she'd set her sights on was a Shenzhou-style breakfast place, Fu Li's nostalgia for the taste won out, and he finally walked into the shop.

"Boss, first give me ten steamed buns, and one bowl of Fennel Beans."

"Ten? Who are you looking down on!" Kiana snorted, raising her hands in excitement. "Give this young lady twenty first! And Tofu Pudding! Spicy! And Soy Milk and Fried Dough Sticks!"

Fu Li couldn't help muttering under his breath: "Sis, you really don't know the price of rice when you're not the one running the house, do you?"

"Oh, it's not like I won't pay you back! I need to eat my fill to have the strength to work!" Kiana pulled him over to find an empty seat and sit down.

"That's right, the little lady's got the right idea," the waitress auntie said cheerfully. "Young man, you should learn from your girlfriend. Eating so little—how are you gonna have the strength to work?"

She deliberately dragged out the word 'work.' People were all gossipy, after all.

"Who's his girlfriend? This young lady is not!"

"Having a tiff?"

The auntie smiled knowingly, not buying it at all—the girl was clearly wearing the young man's clothes. If they weren't a couple, could they be that close?

Dressed like that first thing in the morning, who knew what they'd been up to last night!

"Really, we're not." Fu Li also denied it. "I couldn't afford a girlfriend like her. This one's only purpose in life is to drive up the price of rice."

"What do you mean, this young lady only drives up the price of rice?" Kiana slammed the table in anger. "Not repaying kindness with gratitude is one thing, but you have to badmouth your most important lifesaver like this?"

"That's called repaying kindness with gratitude, not with vasectomy! Read fewer trashy novels and improve your literary standards a bit, alright?"

The surrounding customers couldn't help but laugh at the bickering of this bickering couple, and for a moment the shop was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Just then, the waiter brought breakfast. The two tacitly stopped their oral gymnastics and split it half and half.

"Can you really eat that much?" Kiana asked, full of suspicion.

"Whatever I can't finish, I'll leave for you."

"Fine." Kiana grabbed the sugar. "Want sugar in your soy milk?"

"Yes, two spoonfuls or four."

"Why not three?"

"Three spoonfuls of sugar would bring a carriage of death."

"True."

The girl nodded, her cherry lips going 'om nom' as she bit into a freshly steamed meat bun.

The rich juices exploded on her tongue, and she squinted her eyes in pure bliss.

"Mmm, good! Thanks, A Li!"