After dodging aside, she charged straight into the mannequin section, smashing through a pile of human-shaped dummies before poking her head out from the heap of severed limbs.
She said indignantly, "Fine, you came back! But why did you have to put on women's clothes and run over here to scare me?! Pervert!"
That was what she said, but the upturned corners of the girl's lips refused to stay down no matter how hard she tried, perfectly embodying the phrase "her mouth said no, but her heart was honest."
"Pervert? Don't slander me, okay?"
Fu Li corrected her, "First, my previous clothes got wrecked in the fight, so I temporarily found something easy to wear. Second, this outfit only took inspiration from women's kimono during its design. It's still fundamentally a men's style."
Mei nodded instinctively. Having grown up in the Far East, she knew far more about traditional clothing than Kiana, who had only just arrived.
With a local's support, the boy shot Kiana a smug look. "Also, I chose a kimono because it's loose-fitting, which makes it easier to hide small items inside."
"Lastly."
He emphasized, "Even if I really were wearing women's clothes—"
"Yes, yes, yes. Lord A Li's gender is Attack Helicopter. You've used that joke so many times already, so stop using it. Even if you aren't sick of it, I am."
Having finally suppressed her inner excitement, Kiana crawled out of the pile of severed mannequin limbs on all fours.
She stroked her chin, sized up Fu Li as he stood there preening, then suddenly grinned wickedly.
"You look like a god-blessed cherry blossom."
"The lion is hiding in your damn eyes!"
"Mei: I Don't Understand This Chuunibyou Stuff!"
Seeing Little Sakura Fu Li and Little Dragon Girl Kiana getting more and more animated, Little Monster Mei hurriedly asked, "Fu Li, are you all right?"
That was an incredibly awkward segue—abrupt, while also carrying an air of weakness, pitifulness, and helplessness.
Fu Li stopped bickering with Kiana, spread his arms, and spun around in place.
"See? Completely unharmed!"
The Silver Bloom Seed, which had tanked several attacks head-on, was completely ruined. Fortunately, he had Bronya's original leg ring as an equivalent substitute, so it was not a big problem.
He then handed the hair ornament and neck ring he had taken earlier to the two girls. "Star-stone Shields. One each. Inject Honkai Energy into them to activate them if you run into danger."
Mei instinctively accepted the butterfly-shaped hair ornament, then hurriedly tried to refuse after realizing what it was. "No! This is too valuable. I can't accept it!"
"Oh, Mei, if he wants to give it to you, just take it!"
Kiana was not polite at all. She picked up the neck ring and put it around her neck.
"How is it?"
"Not bad."
Fu Li praised her. "Tie a rope around it and you'll have one-third of Soth's charm."
"Hehe! Of course!"
The girl proudly raised her head.
"Stinky A Li, who are you calling a dog?!"
"The thing I just gave you was a Star-stone Shield, you know?"
"Damn it!"
Kiana, who had spent four years fighting and struggling her way through life, had naturally heard of the Star-stone Shield. She stamped her foot and said somewhat unhappily, "Just this once, okay!"
Seeing that she was actually ready to bark, Fu Li hurriedly covered her cherry-red mouth with his hand. "Can't you be a little more cautious? You sold yourself for a C-rank shield?"
"It doesn't cost me anything to bark twice for you."
Kiana glared at him irritably.
That was only because they knew each other well. She would never be someone else's dog!
But soon, the girl caught sight of Mei beside her, who looked like she wanted to say something but hesitated.
Realizing that she had accidentally ignored her friend again, Kiana hurriedly asked, "Mei, is there something you want to say?"
Fu Li looked over as well.
Under the completely contrasting gazes—one azure, one crimson—Mei said softly, "Well, um..."
Her pale, slender index finger pointed behind Fu Li. "I think there are some, uh, protrusions there?"
"Oh, you mean this."
Fu Li took off his loose kimono, revealing the little angel Bronya tied to his back with Shadow Rope.
This was the small thing he had mentioned at the end of the previous chapter, the one that was convenient to hide.
"This! This?!"
Mei was dumbstruck on the spot.
Kiana was also shocked when she saw it. "Fu, you actually kidnapped a child?!"
"Don't make trouble. I only kidnapped her. I never planned to sell her."
Fu Li put his clothes back on and hid the unconscious Bronya again.
"You're not selling her? Then it's fine."
Kiana nodded in relief, then asked, "She won't wake up midway and cause trouble, right?"
Fu Li gave a thumbs-up. "Every once in a while, I give the back of her neck a little tap. I guarantee she'll enjoy the most perfect sleep experience throughout this journey!"
"That's good!"
Kiana also gave a thumbs-up, her porcelain-white teeth gleaming brightly.
Was that really the issue here?!
Mei felt that she genuinely could not keep up with these two's thought processes. An enemy unit with such massive security risks should have been executed immediately after capture, right? Or did Fu Li have some other plans for this girl?
While Mei was lost in thought, something flashed before her eyes.
A swordswoman's instincts made her reach out and catch it. "What is this?"
"An Escape Dagger. It's for teleportation, and it's long enough to use as a wakizashi."
Fu Li briefly explained the weapon's abilities. "I wanted to lend it to you when we separated earlier, but I still needed it in the fight, so it got delayed."
This also showed that Bronya had not lost unfairly. There had never been such a thing as the weak defeating the strong. In essence, it was always the strong defeating the weak—the only difference was whether the strength was overall or localized.
A B-rank outlier and an A-rank were already on the same level in close combat. With all the intelligence in hand, Fu Li had calculated every one of her reactions and every step of the battle from the very beginning.
Mei lowered her head and examined the dagger in her hand, which was over forty centimeters long.
She gripped it tightly and nodded lightly. "Mm."
After settling things on this side, Fu Li turned and grabbed Kiana's well-concealed left arm.
Caught off guard, the girl had no time to dodge. A pig-slaughtering howl immediately rang out. "Ow, ow, it hurts! Let go, let go! My injury there still hasn't healed, you know!!!"
"Kiana, you're injured?!"
Mei was so shocked that her voice cracked.
"A Titan hit me by accident earlier. It didn't feel like much, so I didn't tell you."
Tears glimmered at the corners of Kiana's eyes as she tried and failed to downplay it. "...Hiss! Stupid pear! Why are you using so much force?!"
She really had hidden it well. Just now, when she raised her thumb in response, the corner of her mouth had twitched for an instant before she smoothly changed it into a smile.
If not for that, Fu Li might not have noticed.
"Didn't I give you two Healing Bullets? Why didn't you use one?"
Fu Li was not surprised that she was injured at all.
She had charged through an army while protecting Mei, and Kiana did not have a Silver Bloom Seed.
"That wouldn't be cost-effective."
The girl scratched her braid with her good hand and said calculatively, "I estimated the medicine's potency. If I wait until after taking another attack around that strength, then use it, the Healing Bullet's effects can be maximized. And besides..."
"And you wanted to save one for Mei too, right?"
Fu Li had guessed as much. With a flick of his thumb, he shot a Healing Bullet into Kiana's body.
"Mmm..."
The girl let out a soft moan and wrapped her arms around herself, her skin gradually flushing a seductive pink.
"What is this?"
Mei blinked and sent an inquisitive look at the culprit.
After observing for a moment, Fu Li guessed, "Healing is basically just accelerating cell division in the body. Once the metabolism speeds up, reactions similar to excessive exercise are normal."
"Then why didn't that happen when you fought that pink-haired Miko?"
Kiana looked at him with watery eyes. Under the urging of her breathy gasps, her tone carried a little more resentment and allure.
Unfortunately, Fu Li was completely unmoved. "I'm different."
Ever heard of the Human Immortal Path?
That was right. Being able to directly digest and absorb it after it entered the body was pretty impressive.
That said, Kiana's reaction kept making Fu Li think of the Healing Bullet's description: developed by the Anti-Entropy faction.
He had not paid attention before, but now that he thought about it, there was something wrong with that name no matter how he looked at it.
Of course, that was not to say the mating faction was any more respectable. The two sides were about equally bad.
Fortunately, that awful state resembling arousal only lasted until her injury had healed.
"I, the great lady, have revived!!!"
With her face restored to its fair complexion, Kiana Cat stepped onto a pile of mannequin limbs and raised one hand toward the sky, loudly declaring her rebirth.
"Ooh, ooh, ooh!"
Fu Li and Mei applauded from either side.
Kiana stepped down awkwardly. "So what now? What should we do next?"
"Does Miss Kiana, returned from the dead, have no brilliant ideas?"
"Then I order you, General Fu Li! Use your pathetic swordsmanship plus three stages of Blood Burst to cut the Dragon King in two!"
"Come on, what Dragon King would be killed that easily?"
"The Dragon King who fell in love with a dead kid would."
The two idiots looked at each other and simultaneously sank into EMO mode.
Oh, and Mei, the young lady who could not keep up with the conversation, had to be included too.
I don't understand this 2D otaku stuff at all!
"Revive, My Beloved Dog!"
After dealing with a series of matters, it was time for the Invincible Trio Squad to leave.
Anyone could tell that Kiana's earlier clowning around had merely been meant to let Mei, who was in low spirits and poor physical condition, rest for a while.
Since Fu Li had already returned like lightning with his prize, Bronya, there was naturally no need to keep dawdling here.
"Oh dear, what should I do, A Li? I look good in anything!"
Having changed into a new outfit, Kiana gazed at herself in the mirror with a dreamy expression. Her and Mei's clothes, like Fu Li's, had been ruined during the earlier chase, so they took the chance to change into new ones.
"Can you have a little shame?"
Fu Li's retort lacked some force, mainly because the girl really did look good in anything.
Not only did she have a face beautiful enough to make even natural beauty seem unfair, her figure was top-tier as well.
Catching that faint lack of confidence, the white-haired beauty grinned mischievously and leaned close, her star-like lashes only a hair's breadth away from the boy's cheek.
Before you continue