Recovered

Zhang Wei did not expose him. He merely smiled at Chrono. What a tsundere—he had already agreed to teach Durandal.

Before Chrono could fly into a rage from embarrassment, Zhang Wei got up, left the money for the bowl of ramen, and headed elsewhere.

"Take a look, have a look! Dear customers, is there anything you want?"

Pardo lay sprawled across the table with an expression of pure enjoyment. Even her sales pitch had been prerecorded.

The sunlight fell over her and Can, making them both stretch lazily. Pardo's slim waist was completely free of excess fat—clearly the result of years spent "stocking up." A nimble body made it easier to stock up, and easier to escape, too.

Basking leisurely in the sun was what Pardo enjoyed most. During such rare moments, she even forgot that she was a Fusion Warrior.

"Boss, feel free to look around. My prices are fair!" Zhang Wei had arrived, but Pardo did not even raise her head as she spoke lazily.

Zhang Wei had no intention of waking Pardo. He had only come to browse around; he truly could not think of what Pardo could teach Durandal.

Could it be how to stock up everywhere, or how to run away?

Those skills did seem useful. If you could not win, you could run—but considering Penguin's nature, she would probably charge in even if she could not win.

"Kitty, why are my things here?"

Zhang Wei looked over the items for sale, altered his voice, and imitated Chrono's tone and manner of address.

Whoosh!

In less than two seconds, Pardo's body triggered a conditioned reflex, and she immediately performed a fancy 360-degree sliding kneel before Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei was left dumbfounded. That was far too practiced. There was not the slightest hint of stiffness in her movements. She must have knelt countless times to achieve such flawless mastery.

"J-Jie Ge, I... I was wrong!"

Pardo lowered her head, her voice trembling. In her mind, she was already imagining herself being turned into Pardo and Felis.

She did not even stop to think whether she had any of Chrono's belongings for sale. Her survival instinct had instantly maxed out.

"Pardo, you may rise!"

Seeing such an entertaining sight, Zhang Wei did not tease Pardo for long and immediately switched back to his own voice.

"Hah... I thought Jie Ge had come. So it was you, Boss!" Hearing that far less irritable voice, Pardo finally breathed a sigh of relief. She naturally rose from the floor and skillfully brushed the dust off her knees.

"Are you that afraid of Master Chrono? Do I look easier to bully?" Zhang Wei could not help teasing her.

"Cough, cough, no! Boss, you just look friendlier. If it were Jie Ge, I'd be Pardo and Felis by now!" Pardo said awkwardly.

"But you really dare to take anything. This isn't some ordinary display item!" Zhang Wei picked up a blood-red gemstone from the counter. It was crystal-clear and beautiful, yet it carried a dangerous air. It was sealed, however, so that danger did not normally show.

"Boss, what is that? Is it dangerous? I saw you leave it in a cabinet on the Hyperion." Pardo's heart skipped a beat. Could it be something capable of destroying the world?

"A Herrscher Core, from the Herrscher of Blood. Kiana stripped it out," Zhang Wei said with a hint of nostalgia.

Against humans and other creatures with blood, this Herrscher had possessed overwhelming restraint. Unless one had absolute strength, there was basically no way to resist it.

"Herrscher of Blood... never heard of it..." Pardo's heart sank. She had never expected that such an exquisite-looking gemstone would be a Herrscher Core.

"It's normal that you haven't heard of it. It isn't from this world, after all. Its owner once caused seventy million deaths. An entire city was turned into dried corpses; even pets like dogs were drained dry. With strength like yours, Pardo, if you were within that range, you'd become Dried Pardo!" Zhang Wei smiled and put it away.

If someone actually bought it and happened to become a new Herrscher, it could cause considerable casualties. The odds of that were small, though. He did not care about others as much as he cared about Kiana and the others, but he was not cold-blooded either.

"Eek~~~"

Pardo stared at the gemstone in terror. It was far too dangerous. If she had known something that dangerous was here, she would not have even gone near it.

"Don't worry. I'll take it away for now. If you want to stock up in the future, you don't need to be afraid either. Everything has a stable seal." Zhang Wei turned and left. Pardo bade him farewell in a stiff voice; she needed some time to recover.

"Captain, don't move. Elysia didn't look in a mirror today, so I'm borrowing your eyes as one. There, how do I look?" Upon arriving at Eden's company office, Elysia used her reflection in Zhang Wei's red eyes to tidy the ends of her hair.

"There's a mirror right next to you!"

Zhang Wei said helplessly. Elysia like this was adorable, but that mirror was so obvious. Still, it was hard to get angry at her when she acted like this.

"Don't be so unromantic. That makes you less cute."

Elysia put her hands on her hips and spoke with complete seriousness.

"Alright, Elysia. Captain, what brings you here?" Eden sat in her office chair beside the enormous floor-to-ceiling window, a precious wine swirling in the golden goblet in her hand.

"I came to visit you, and also to ask for a favor. Durandal will need some teachers later, so I'm asking you Flame-Chasers to help out."

"Kevin's descendant? I can teach her some etiquette and the arts. As for combat, Kevin and the others are more suitable!"

Eden smiled gently. As comrades-in-arms, helping Kevin's descendant was no problem.

"What should I teach her?"

Elysia pondered with some distress. Kevin and the others would handle combat techniques, and a child could not spend all her time studying. She needed time to relax as well.

"I've got it!"

"I'll teach little Durandal how to dress beautifully!" Elysia's eyes lit up. Durandal was clearly a natural beauty. With just a little dressing up, she could show off her charm.

"Whatever you want, but I don't think she needs makeup!" Zhang Wei could say that for certain. Women with strong Honkai Energy adaptability all had exceptional presence. Kiana and the others never used cosmetics in their daily lives, yet their looks were still off the charts.

"Dressing up isn't just makeup, Captain. You don't understand!" Elysia raised her nose slightly and waved her slender, jade-like fingers, speaking meaningfully.

"Perhaps."

Two months passed. Durandal's absurd recovery ability once again shocked Mobius. She clearly did not possess the overt Honkai Beast genes that Mobius and Hua had, yet she had now fully recovered and could slowly adapt to walking on the ground.