The promised third collapse, where is it?!!

The hand reaching out suddenly swatted the spoon from Kiana's grasp.

The girl was truly angry this time. "Fu Li, you!"

"Don't eat it! The food is poisoned!"

Fu Li, his expression more serious than hers, stood up, grabbed both of their hands, and pulled them outside.

"If the food is poisoned then—wait? Poisoned?!"

Mei was completely stunned by the rapid turn of events. After a subconscious retort, she suddenly realized the problem. "Fu Li, are you okay? Who poisoned it?!"

"I don't know, let's just go!"

Fu Li currently felt like he had just finished a competitive eating contest, his stomach distended, and then was forced to run a marathon. He stumbled home, got into bed, and then had the 300 cats he owned pile on his stomach all night.

Fortunately, thanks to the Human Immortal Path's powerful digestive abilities, and the enemy's apparent goal being only to incapacitate them, he was only slightly uncomfortable.

However, countless movies and TV shows have already taught us that poisoning is at best an appetizer. It would be strange if there wasn't any follow-up.

The street, which had become empty at some point, now had heavy drones soaring in the sky.

Well-equipped soldiers, some in the open and some hidden, aimed their firearms at the three people who had just emerged from the restaurant.

Sunlight shone on the empty street, illuminating a lone, towering black silhouette. It was a Titan Mech, a creation of Anti-Entropy, a killing machine capable of single-handedly carving through a 30-meter class Honkai Beast.

And at the very front of it all—

Slender willow brows, a straight, delicate nose, and slightly pursed, moist lips formed a beautiful and ethereal face. Her slightly immature features exuded a unique exotic charm, like that of a mixed-race individual. Her crystal-clear, snow-white skin faintly revealed a pale pink glow, bringing out the elegance hidden within the ice and snow to its fullest.

"Hand over Raiden Mei."

Bronya said calmly.

"Eighteen soldiers equipped with D-rank defensive personal armor, twenty-six soldiers with heavy-duty military exoskeletons of the same rank, six heavy armed drones, three Titan Mechs, and Bronya, who is A-rank in every sense of the word."

Quickly assessing the enemy numbers, Fu Li, whose abdominal discomfort had rapidly subsided, thought to himself, So they found us after all.

In his opinion, the reason Bronya and the others had tracked them here was undoubtedly due to the excessive commotion he had caused during his previous fight with the Kikyo.

This wasn't ancient times; Anti-Entropy's technology was also world-class. Even if he had covered his tracks before leaving, it was understandable that they would be able to follow the trail.

However, now was not the time for reflection. The first priority was to find a way to break through the encirclement.

On their side, they had two fighters with the combat power of an S-rank— no, a B-rank exceptionally strong— and one relatively powerful C-rank melee fighter.

As long as one of the top two could hold off Bronya, the remaining two had a decent chance of breaking through the encirclement.

This wasn't an open suburb; in a complex and chaotic urban environment, the enemy's numerical advantage would be far less significant than their own individual combat capabilities.

As long as they kept moving and consistently employed a hit-and-run strategy, Kiana and Mei would eventually reach a safe place.

Yes, Fu Li intended to stay behind to cover their retreat.

This wasn't about personal heroism, but the result of careful consideration.

Fu Li's combat power was the strongest of the three, meaning he could buy the most time.

If something truly unexpected happened, he could also use the Flying Thunder God Kunai to teleport away.

Or, more directly, he could put on the God King Mask and turn the tables on Bronya, giving her a thorough beating.

It would be different if Kiana stayed behind. In Fu Li's view, while the girl had sufficient raw strength, she lacked trump cards. She didn't have the secret backing of top-tier figures (lol), nor a powerful second personality (lol).

Once she was entangled by Bronya, she would inevitably be defeated and captured after a prolonged stalemate.

At that point, they would have to turn back to rescue her, which would be both troublesome and cost-ineffective.

Then, after making all his preparations, Fu Li heard Bronya say to hand over Raiden Mei.

The expression on Fu Li's face when the young girl uttered those words was so amusing that Kiana instinctively took out her phone to capture the moment.

It was the look of someone who had spent half the night reflecting, only to be told that the person they were after wasn't them but someone else entirely. It was akin to someone who grew up reading liberal magazines and admiring foreign cultures, then used a shady agency to emigrate to the United States, only to find the streets filled with homeless people and garbage.

Damn it, where's all this democracy and freedom they promised? Turns out it's just 'min zhu zi you' (a pun on democracy and freedom, sounding like 'oppressive freedom')!

Chapter 46: "Pin Ru is a Rare Resource!"

"You..."

Seeing Fu Li's peculiar expression, a mixture of emotions swirling within him, a flicker of surprise flashed in Bronya's large eyes.

But she still spoke, "Bronya will say it again. Hand over Raiden Mei, and Bronya will let you all leave."

"Lady Bronya!"

Hearing this, one of the soldiers seemed displeased and wanted to speak.

Bang!

"Shut up! You have no right to speak here!"

The person next to him stopped him with the butt of his rifle.

This caught Kiana's attention. She raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically, "You still claim you want to capture Mei? Having a small chest is one thing, but you can't even control the dogs under you."

It's no wonder she's got a temper. Both the black-stockinged mouren who just finished paying respects and the waitress from the Chinese restaurant were standing in the crowd, fully armed.

Even Kiana, with her slow reactions, could tell that these people had been setting a trap for her from the very beginning.

"Bronya's subordinates are not dogs," the girl shook her head slightly. "Bronya's subordinates are precious. Bronya does not allow you to speak of them like that."

"Lord Bronya!!!"

"An angel! It's a little angel!"

"Please don't refute her, Lord Bronya! Your subordinate is your dog! Woof! Woof!"

"Then I'll walk you when Miss Bronya and I go on a date."

"Who ate shit? Your mouth stinks so bad?"

The girl's words stirred up quite a splash in the crowd. A group of men and women in exoskeletons immediately had hearts in their eyes and their bodies contorted, their gazes towards Fu Li and his group filled with determination.

Fu Li actually understood them. Three-no, flat-chested, mecha-girl, double helix, assassin, pro gamer, tsundere, prosthetic limb, twin tails, long curly hair, little angel, little sister, third-person self-reference... Kiana, possessing so many moe attributes simultaneously, was truly, truly, super cute.

Just by looking at that tense, tender young face, Fu Li himself couldn't help but want to step forward and hug her, kiss her, and lift her high, just like in the previous playthrough.

What? Kiana was mocking Duck Duck's small chest?

Pin Ru pfft, Pin Fu Li is a rare resource!

"Little girls get easily swayed by a few nice words and lose their way. I thought such simps only appeared in VTB fan clubs and idol fan clubs, but I didn't expect to see it happening live this time!"

Facing the enraged Anti-Entropy troops, Kiana, with the Galaxy Bat in her left hand and the Dragon Lord MK3000 in her right, sneered. "Originally, I just planned to break through your formation single-handedly and leave. Now it seems I, this young lady, must demonstrate what it means to take an enemy's head from the midst of an army and capture that Bronya person right in front of you to spank her soundly!"

"There's such a good thing?"

A voice suddenly popped out from the crowd.

Everyone looked and saw the middle-aged captain who had previously disciplined the new recruits with his rifle butt.

This guy was wearing a black silk balaclava, similar to a bank robber. When he noticed the attention, he bashfully lowered his watery eyes, adorned with long eyelashes.

"Chu? Mii~"

"Gag..."

Kiana almost threw up. The girl admitted that even though she realized these people were deliberately trying to provoke her in this way, her only thought at the moment was to punch them into two small patties!

She couldn't help but punch these idiots into oblivion!

So she did.

"Hey, A Li, what are you doing?"

"Don't fall for the trap." Reaching out to pull back the frolicking white-haired husky, Fu Li whispered, "I'll hold off Bronya. You two take this chance to leave. We'll meet at Susanna's (Yae Village ruins)."

Considering that his words might be lip-read or monitored, he didn't directly state the meeting place was Yae Village ruins, but used Susanna as a substitute.

He believed the girl would understand.

Kiana, however, shouted, "No need! I!"

"The opponent is A-rank."

As soon as Fu Li finished speaking, three Shadow Blades whistled through the air, piercing an equal number of Mach 2 plasma balls that were rushing towards them.

'Boom! Boom! Boom!'

Three fireworks exploded in mid-air, significantly raising the temperature of the entire street.

"Good!"

The weight of an A-rank was enough to cool Kiana's overheated brain. She glanced at Fu Li with concern, then pulled Mei and ran in another direction.

"Fu Li!"

Mei, who had been silent since hearing "Hand over Raiden Mei, and we'll let you go," couldn't help but look back. A pair of pure white wings were just tossed in front of her.

It was the D-rank item, Heavenly Wings, borrowed from Susanna, which possessed the ability to keep someone airborne for a short period.

"Ask Kiana how to use it, and then have her give you the Galaxy Bat. What's the point of hitting people with a wooden sword?"

Fu Li retracted his throwing motion and gave the worried girl a gloating smile. "Instead of worrying about me, worry more about yourself. These Titans, soldiers, drones, and so on will be chasing you all the way. I'll just have to deal with one Bronya here."

"What do you mean 'one'! She's a living, breathing person too!"

Even while running, Kiana couldn't help but retort.

"Also, you two are speaking so intimately. Have you known each other before?"

Her tone was subtly questioning, and who knows why.

"You don't need to concern yourself with that."

"Tch! So pretentious!"

Kiana's mood soured again.

The scumbag who toyed with the girl's feelings continued, "Don't lose our Princess Mei, okay?"

"Don't underestimate a Kaslana's knight!"

"Mhm, I'll look forward to it."

Fu Li waved his hand without looking back.

Meanwhile, on Bronya's side—

Seeing her attack easily blocked, the gray-haired girl, who had roughly determined Fu Li's combat strength was on par with hers, ordered those around her, "Pursue them. Raiden Mei must be captured alive."

"Yes!"

Her subordinates, who had received the order, abandoned their previously flippant demeanor. They quickly moved past Fu Li, who stood in the middle of the street, from both sides and formed ranks, chasing in the direction the girls had left.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

The continuous sounds of explosions soon came from behind, and the wind stirred by them tore at Fu Li's incandescent white coat. The brief burst of light even caused his shadow to shift for a moment.

"It's a city area, and they're still so careless about the impact?" He was surprised by Anti-Entropy's conduct. Couldn't they at least put on a show?

"To capture Raiden Mei, some sacrifices are unavoidable."

The Heavy-duty Rabbit materialized behind Bronya. It gently embraced the girl, like a knight protecting a princess in a fairy tale.

It's just a matter of dying sooner or later.

The girl, who knew Cocolia's entire plan, lowered her silver-gray eyes, which in the next moment turned into stubbornness and determination.

Seele...

She raised her hand and ordered expressionlessly, "Heavy-duty Rabbit, fire!"

Chapter 47: "Fu Li's Fleeting Slash"