Where's the promised Third Honkai?!!

"Hmph." Fu Li glanced at her, the corners of his mouth involuntarily lifting. "Slow down, don't choke."

"Got it!"

As it turned out, Fu Li really didn't eat that much.

He wasn't like Kiana, who had to replenish energy through food. Flowers, trees, the sky, the breeze, clouds, the sun, rainbows, the ocean, the beach, the forest, pebbles, gravel, the earth... with the Human Immortal Path, he could devour all of them to absorb nutrients.

As for Kiana, before leaving, under the well-meaning advice of the auntie waitress, she ended up putting on Fu Li's pants—soft on the inside, stubborn on the outside, as always.

After leaving the breakfast shop, the girl asked, "You heading to school later?"

Unlike her—a chronic truant who skipped class at the drop of a hat—Fu Li, even after transferring to the Far East, had mostly been a model student, aside from that one time he got into a fight with some punks for certain reasons.

"I am going, but not for class." Fu Li replied. "Looking for someone."

"Who?"

"Raiden Mei."

The moment the words left his mouth, Kiana's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

After a beat of delayed reaction, she quickly caught up. "What do you want with Mei-senpai?"

Her eyes narrowed, and her tone turned into a low, rumbling growl, like a big white cat whose ball of yarn had been snatched away.

This was clearly within Fu Li's expectations.

"What for?" He opened his mouth and smoothly spun a lie. "There's a small world bubble bordering Earth over by the Whale Sea. I want to find two or three reliable teammates to explore it together. You and Raiden Mei are both candidates I've picked."

To be fair, Kiana's dashing entrance last night was a rare variable that completely caught Fu Li off guard.

He had originally planned to take the unfinished Kikyo and quietly slip out of Changkong City, trying not to disturb the original trajectory of fate as much as possible.

The Trio would walk their broad road, and Fu Li would cross his single-plank bridge.

After all, who knew what those three cheaters had gone through before his rebirth? In just a few days, they'd shot from being weaker than him to ridiculous S-rank.

They were all survivors of the Third Honkai, with a pretty good relationship. Fu Li didn't want his actions to hold them back or steal their original opportunities.

Not anymore.

The most important member of the Trio—Kiana—had already been affected by his actions.

Since that was the case, Fu Li might as well see it through. Before the Third Honkai broke out, he'd send all three of them off safely, sparing the sisters any mishaps in this demon-infested Changkong City.

After that, if the Trio wanted to follow him, they'd go together. If they wanted to leave, he'd send them to St. Freya.

The latter went without saying. As for following him, Fu Li was confident he could make their growth rate no slower than the original.

He was a second-playthrough player, with the full support of the Ultimate Development Aura—Heavenly Time Calamity Bestowal.

If he couldn't carry them with that, he might as well just wash up and go to sleep.

But of course, he couldn't openly talk about the Third Honkai. Who knew what idiotic stunt that hot-blooded idiot Kiana might pull?

So Fu Li casually made up a lie about exploring. After all, there really were plenty of similar ruins from the Previous Civilization in this world.

If she asked later, he'd just say that the Great Honkai 'happened to' break out in Changkong City during the exploration.

Back to Kiana—the moment she heard the word 'adventure,' the lively, adorable big cat's eyes lit up.

"Hmph, picking me and Mei as your right and left hands—guess you've got some taste after all!"

She puffed out her chest, hands on her hips, her nose practically pointing to the sky.

In the girl's mind, Mei, who had mastered the ancient sword art Hokushin Itto-ryu, was outstanding even among C-ranks. It made sense Fu Li had chosen her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Sitting in the taxi, Fu Li brushed her off casually, then turned to the driver. "Sir, Senba Academy."

"You got it!"

"Hey! Wait for me!"

Chapter 35: "Mei: What the Hell Is This?"

In the Far East, city-level administrative units fall below the county level, which is the exact opposite of Shenzhou.

However, as an international, emerging metropolis, Changkong City's land area was a full three times that of a standard county unit.

Add in the morning rush hour traffic, and the taxi still took a full hour to reach Senba Academy, where Raiden Mei was.

After paying and getting out, Fu Li took out his phone and handed it to Kiana. "You still remember Mei's number, right?"

"Of course!" The girl patted her chest as she took it. "Speaking of which, my phone got wrecked in that fight earlier."

"I'll reimburse you. We'll buy a new one on the way."

Fu Li glanced at the relatively strict campus security, then pulled Kiana around to the back of the teaching building.

A few Void Steps later, they were on the rooftop. He let go of her hand. "Call Mei. Tell her we're waiting for her on the roof."

"Alright, alright." Her slender finger swiped the lock screen open, and Kiana squinted over at him. "Changed your wallpaper, huh?"

Fu Li was rarely caught off guard. His previous lock screen and wallpaper had both been photos of Kiana.

"Just get on with it!" He put on a stern face.

"Hmph."

The girl cast him a triumphant sidelong glance, then lowered her head and tapped the contact icon that combined chat and dialing.

The contact list was very sparse—only three people in total, including Kiana and Little Great-Aunt—which fully exposed someone's knack for alienating friends and endearing enemies.

"You could at least save the teacher's and landlord's numbers," Kiana said, almost feeling sorry for him.

Fu Li, leaning against the parapet wall on the rooftop as the wind blew past, waved a hand. "I had them before."

He'd deleted them after being reborn.

"Fine."

Seeing he didn't want to dwell on it, Kiana flipped past that topic and began typing Raiden Mei's number on the virtual keyboard.

After a moment, she hung up and tossed the phone back.

"Mei said she'll be here soon."

"Oh."

Fu Li took the phone and stuffed it into his pocket, then thought for a second and reached his hand toward the hem of Kiana's skirt.

The girl, of course, wasn't about to let him get away with that. She backflipped out of range and said warily, "What are you doing?"

"Getting something," Fu Li replied matter-of-factly.

The Fourth-Dimensional Skirt only worked its magic when Kiana was wearing it, so naturally, any luggage would also be stored with her.

Earlier, for convenience during the ride, Fu Li had casually stuffed Little March inside.

Now he needed to retrieve it.

"Oh."

Seeing that was the case, Kiana reluctantly came closer.

She lifted her skirt and said with a face full of disgust, "Then hurry up."

Raiden Mei walked alone down the hallway leading to the rooftop. A wooden sword was strapped to her back, the hilt positioned far forward, clearly ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.

Ever since November 16th of last year, when her father, Raiden Ryoma, was arrested by the police on charges of fraudulently obtaining 3.4 billion US dollars under the pretext of financing the development of ultra-high-frequency electromagnetic field confinement, she had been in this getup.

ME Inc.—short for Massive Electric, the world-renowned multinational electronics corporation—was also the Raiden family's enterprise.

At least, it used to be.

Now that the former president, Raiden Ryoma, had been convicted and imprisoned, ME Inc. had been taken over by a new CEO recommended by the shareholders—a foreigner who called herself Cocolia.

Raiden Mei didn't know the specifics, nor did ME Inc. have anything to do with her anymore.

What troubled her was the present.

Before the collapse of her status as the young mistress of ME Inc., countless people had thought, "If I could marry Raiden Mei, I'd gladly drive a luxury car and live in a mansion!"

But after her status crumbled, the classmates who once admired and fawned over her instantly changed their tune. All sorts of ridicule and filthy rumors spread like wildfire, as if anyone who didn't take a jab at Raiden Mei would be breaking some kind of rule-based horror story.

Some even went so far as to try to lay hands on her. Fortunately, Mei wasn't an ordinary person. With just herself and her sword, she easily routed those people and the out-of-school thugs they'd gathered, but that also drained the last of her savings.

At least after that incident, her "classmates" understood that Mei, who was skilled in Hokushin Itto-ryu, wasn't someone to mess with.

Aside from treating her like air and isolating her, they no longer did anything too excessive on the surface.

Mei wanted to tell herself that this was better—she could enjoy some peace and quiet—but she couldn't fool herself.

She was so lonely. She wasn't used to eating alone.

She didn't understand what she had done wrong, and she refused to believe that her principled father could be a con artist.

But the evidence provided by the police was right there. The families of the victims kept barging into the school, coming right up to her face to scream and curse, accusing Raiden Ryoma of ruining their lives and bankrupting their families.

They were all forcing Raiden Mei to accept this reality, and little by little, Mei was accepting it too.

If it were any other girl facing this situation, she'd probably give up on herself and sink into depravity.

A girl like Mei, if she was willing to soften up, could actually live well anywhere.

Because Mei was extraordinarily beautiful.

Her deep purple hair, like silk, cascaded over her shoulders, and her skin was fair and pure as fresh snow.

Her features were elegant and flawless, her legs full and slender, and her whole being exuded a sacred aura like an orchid in a secluded valley, manifesting a cold, untouchable beauty—as if carved by nature itself.

Beautiful girls in this world have privileges.

And when that beautiful girl can cleave an armored vehicle in half with a single sword strike, that privilege expands to an unimaginable degree.

Mei could easily leave Senba Academy, leave Changkong City—this place of heartbreak—and start fresh in another city, building a new life for herself.

But she didn't, because in these short yet long three months, there had been something that illuminated her.

Or rather... one and a half?

Gazing at the slivers of light leaking through the gap in the door leading to the rooftop, the girl's features gradually softened.

The feelings between high school boys and girls were like beating a cowhide drum—one side swinging the mallet to vent emotions, the other hiding inside the drum, covering their ears and secretly rejoicing.

Fu Li and Kiana were a pair of genius fools, yet utterly different from each other.

Neither of them made any effort to hide their feelings for the other person, not worrying in the slightest whether they might beat the one hiding in the drum to death with their excessive force.

It was just that Fu Li's feelings were for Kiana, and Kiana's were for Mei.

Fu Li's obsession stemmed from childhood—the girl named Kiana was his one and only pure moonlight.

As for Kiana, well, the moment she saw Mei's face, which resembled MEI's, her Kaslana genes started stirring.

Fu Li mocked her for being driven by lust at first sight.

Mei's sexual orientation was still normal—she liked boys, and she had fantasized about having a sweet romance with a boy she fancied.

As things stood, she had no thoughts toward Kiana beyond friendship.

She felt the same about Kiana—that this girl had simply never encountered a boy her age in her life so far who caught her eye (past Fu Li barely counted) and could also overpower her in combat (past Fu Li clearly didn't meet the standard).

Once she did, she would quickly return to normal.

But no matter what, the light named Kiana had shone into her heart, along with a sliver of Fu Li, who was always hovering around her.

Amazing, wasn't it?

Mei herself found it amazing.

It was these two who made the girl understand why her father used to pat her head and say, with a complicated expression, that the deeper one waded into the world, the more one wanted a true friend.

And so, even without knowing what the boy and girl wanted from her, Mei decisively skipped class and sprinted full throttle toward the rooftop.

Friendship was fate, to be cherished forever—a treasure that must be carefully treasured.

Thinking this, Mei grasped the door handle and twisted the locked fire door open with some effort.

"Kiana? Fu Li? You two...?"

She stepped forward and called out her friends' names with restraint.