Kane: It Really Is a Miracle That I Survived!

The warm sunlight shone into the bar deep in the alley, but a scream like a pig being slaughtered shattered the tranquility.

"Ouch! That hurts! Luming, can you be a little gentler?!"

In the basement, Kane lay shirtless on the bed, the girl's feet pressing on his back with a steady rhythm. "I'm sorry, this is my first time trying this massage method. Just bear with the pain. I'll press a few more times so your injuries will heal faster."

"Are you sure you're not using me as a guinea pig?!" Kane was on the verge of tears. Although being stepped on by a beautiful girl was a nice experience, it hurt too much!

Fortunately, she noticed his pained expression and was a little annoyed. "Hey, a lot of people beg me to step on him and I don't even bother with them. Now I'm voluntarily treating you and you're still so disgusted? Watch this!" She then exerted a little force.

"Awooo! Awooo! Awooo! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!" Kane let out a scream just like Talking Tom.

Outside the basement, Natasha put on her earplugs and closed the bar door with a headache. Although no one usually came, if any regular customers were looking for her to take on a task, hearing this noise might lead to some misunderstanding.

"This is much quieter than the little guy's cries every night. I should have added soundproofing to the basement," Natasha muttered. She had gone out to resume her old ways last night and hadn't had a chance to be intimate with the little guy, leaving her feeling restless.

But then again, the little one is really shy. She subconsciously avoids kissing me and is very resistant to kissing. I've saved my first kiss for now. Oh well, she's probably thinking about her group of girlfriends. I can understand.

But...

Natasha remembered something that had happened before, and her expression immediately turned cold.

Late at night, the poor girl was brought to climax several times by her, falling into a state of confusion and infatuation. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the mature woman, who was also aroused, inserted her fingers deeper into her body, pressing them against that thin membrane.

That was a symbol of the girl's chastity in this state. Although it was surprising that her girlfriend hadn't taken advantage of her beforehand, the former mercenary was happy to have her.

Natasha carefully pushed forward, afraid of hurting her.

"Stop..." A slight tearing pain awakened the girl's consciousness. She pushed Natasha away forcefully, clutched her lower abdomen, and said to her with rapid breathing but firm will, "Only here, no, this, I want to leave it for Sakura."

"Little guy, do you really like that damn stinky fox that much?" The gray-haired woman chuckled self-deprecatingly and downed a bottle of vodka.

Unsurprisingly, she choked.

"Cough cough, then let her see with her own eyes in your Stigmata Space how you gradually became tainted by my scent and transformed into my shape..." Natasha coughed a few times, wiped her mouth, and her scarlet eyes flashed with an eerie red light.

Inside the Stigmata Space, a distraught Yae Sakura nestled in Kallen's (personality fragment) arms for comfort, surrounded by numerous bricks broken in the middle.

——Inch-force therapy service from a beautiful young woman——

After the back massage, Xing helped Kane up, who felt lightheaded, and enthusiastically offered to let him experience her family's traditional "Inch-Punch Therapy" for free.

For some reason, Kane instinctively felt that this "Inch-Punch Therapy" didn't sound good, but he had no right to resist.

And so, after a brutal beating—

Kane took out a mirror, carefully examined his handsome face, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Although it hurt a lot when Luming hit me, for some reason, I feel more comfortable than ever before. Hey, Luming, what are you doing behind me? Are you going to press it down after you stomped on it?"

The girl didn't answer. She held a few thin silver needles and carefully examined his back. Her slender fingers traced the boy's skin, as if searching for something.

"Hey, Luming, when did you stick so many needles into my back?!" Kane turned around curiously and immediately felt a chill run down his spine. He didn't know when a considerable number of thin needles had been inserted into his back, but he didn't feel any pain at all.

"Don't make a fuss over nothing." The girl rolled her eyes at him. "This is called acupuncture, a medical technique created by the people of Shenzhou in ancient times. If you move around and I prick the wrong acupoints, you might lose your life!"

"Yes, I understand!" Kane saw Xing's serious expression. For the sake of his own life, he decided to obediently comply. But speaking of which, Luming knows so much! She's beautiful, kind-hearted, and a great cook...

As Kane was lost in thought, he heard the girl behind him exclaim, "Oh no, you accidentally poked me wrong!"

"Huh?" Kane was stunned for a moment, then felt his body lighten, and several jets of blood spurted from his face.

The girl, covered in blood, quickly found acupoints to stop the bleeding and saved him.

"Luming, are you really not trying to kill me?" The boy who almost died stared at him with a sinister look.

Fortunately, she turned her head awkwardly and said, "I'm sorry, this is my first time doing acupuncture, I'm not very skilled yet, but I'll get used to it after a few more times."

"So they really are using me as an experiment!"

"Hehe, I'll make you a delicious meal later to make it up to you~"

Okay~

In the Kamen Rider Branch World, Sento, who had been tricked into becoming an experimental subject by Sento Ryuga, suddenly sneezed. He looked resentfully at his partner, who was engrossed in developing new gadgets, and thought, "Why is my partner such a strange scientist, instead of a cute girl?"

The girl is cooking...

Wearing an apron, Xing was humming a song as she busied herself in the kitchen. Kane, who was drooling from the aroma, couldn't wait to open the kitchen door before everything was ready. He wanted to see what delicious food his partner would prepare for lunch. But as soon as he put his eyes close, he saw a scene that Honkai his worldview.

The girl swiftly wielded the cleaver in her hand, neatly and evenly cutting the ingredients on the cutting board with a speed comparable to a machine. She completed the processes of washing, cutting, chopping, stirring, and cooking in one go, with ease and skill.

But while the girl was focused on cooking, what exactly were those two white fox ears standing up on her head and that long tail under her skirt?

Kane turned his head in bewilderment, wondering if he had seen wrong. He rubbed his eyes, opened them wide, and tried to observe carefully, but before he could see, Natasha grabbed him by the back of the neck. "Hey, even if you like the little one, you don't have to peep, do you? She'll get angry."

"This, this is a misunderstanding!" Kane tried to explain, but his voice drew Xing's attention.

Natasha left quickly, and Kane, who had no time to react, was caught red-handed.

To Kane's surprise, she wasn't very angry. As if she remembered something, she sighed helplessly, handed him a small plate of braised pork to tide him over, and just as Kane was about to eat, she took a large piece, gave him a mischievous smile, and then turned and went into the kitchen.

Kane saw it clearly; when she came out, Luming didn't have a tail or ears. He must have been mistaken.

But when I saw Luming that morning, she seemed to be the same way?

--cooked rice!--

As a descendant of the Kaslana Family, it's hard to guarantee that she won't sneak a bite while cooking, but she can assure that every plate will be spotless when it's time to wash the dishes.

"Full~" Xing patted her belly after eating and drinking her fill, and leaned back in her chair with a happy look on her face. "It's really a good thing to be able to cook for myself."

"Full~" Kane patted his belly after eating and drinking his fill, and leaned back in his chair with a happy look on his face. "It's really a good thing to have a partner like Luming."

"I'm full~" Natasha patted her stomach, looking blissfully happy as she leaned back in her chair. "What should I say?"

Fortunately, I picked up the remote, turned on the TV, and started watching the news.

"Recently, the panda pavilion at Changkong City Zoo has officially opened. Let us warmly welcome Huanhuan, the giant panda from Shenzhou..." On the television, the giant panda rescued by Xing and Kane was leisurely lying in its den. Looking at the bamboo shoot in its paw, a faint sadness flashed through its heart. Woof, this national treasure wants to eat ham!

"Hey, Luming, weren't you healing your wounds last night? How did you manage to get it back in time?" Kane asked curiously.

When asked about this, Xing lowered her head in shame. "I'm sorry, I thought that the distance to the zoo wouldn't take long with the Knight System's speed, so I used the Hawk Gatling to send it back first, and then came to support you. I'm very sorry! If I had let you retreat first, you wouldn't have been injured."

So, that's why Luming was so eager to heal my wounds? Kane suddenly understood why the girl had been so attentive that morning.

"It's okay, Luming probably just wanted me to gain more combat experience, right? It was just an accident, and besides, the one who was seriously injured was clearly..." Before Kane could finish speaking, Xing quickly covered his mouth.

Natasha witnessed all of this, sighed, and silently began watching the news.

"At the same time, to our surprise, the zookeepers discovered this morning that Huanhuan had given birth to a cub..."

Kane stared at the hairless red mouse on TV, then looked at Xing incredulously. "No way, that's a panda?!"

"Oh, it's a newborn panda," Xing corrected.

"The difference is too big! You're telling me that such a big panda grew from such a tiny thing?!" Kane was amazed.

"The world is full of wonders, isn't the Knight System incredible too?" Xing patted him on the shoulder. "If you hang out with me, there will be many more surprising things to come. Look at Kiana and the others, they're already used to it."

When the Knight System was mentioned, Kane's eyes suddenly sharpened. "Luming, I want to ask you some questions, is that alright?"

"Okay, go wash the dishes first." Xing pointed to the empty dishes on the table. "I'll wait for you in the basement."

The boy is washing the dishes...

The foam in the sink floated erratically on the surface of the water, and Kane's thoughts were also in turmoil.

He knew far too little about Chen Xilumeng. Although he had gained her approval and thus obtained the power of Cross-Z, he had no idea which action of his had earned her Luming.

In his view, he was just doing what every Kaslana would do.

Moreover, for some reason, he felt that Luming's background was even more extraordinary than he had imagined.

"Let me give you some advice. After all, I'm the one who picked him up." Natasha leaned against the wall, looking at him with amusement, or more accurately, at the Stigmata on his hand.

"The little one admires you, but are you really determined to follow her? It's undeniable that she can give you great power, but have you considered the price to pay?"

"The price?" Kane chuckled, putting the washed dishes and chopsticks into the cupboard. "She can take whatever she needs. If she thinks the same way I do, then she's right."

Kane washed his hands and whispered as he walked past Natasha, "I'm also observing Luming, shopkeeper."

The boy stood in front of the basement entrance, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door—

The white-haired girl was lying on the table, as if observing something.

"What are you looking at, Luming?" Kane curiously leaned closer and discovered a transparent glass box placed on the table.

Inside the glass case, a hairless, strange creature resembling a red rat lay, its body rising and falling slightly with its breathing.

"This is an incubator. I specially asked Little Te to make this, and there are other things to get. After all, raising it is quite troublesome." Xing got up and rubbed her temples. "I brought it back on a whim. Consider it a reward for completing the mission."

"A panda cub! Luming, keeping this is a crime punishable by jail time!" Kane was so frightened that he retreated to the corner and said tremblingly, "It's not too late to return it now! If the police find out, you'll be arrested!"

"Huh?" Sachi and Ai-chan was studying the panda's food next to him, both looked at him strangely. "Police? Do you think the police can control me? I don't mean to disrespect the police, but their power is not enough to bring all the evil in this world to justice."

"And—" The girl slowly approached him, placing her hand on his shoulder with a sly smile, "Partner, remember one thing: if we get caught, you'll be my accomplice. Let me make it clear, I'm not an angel, so are you ready to walk with a devil?"

Kane's eyes widened; he could sense a hint of sadness in the girl's eyes as she spoke those words.

"Demons? Those people are far more terrifying than demons." Kane felt nauseous just thinking about those self-righteous old men; in comparison, the girl in front of him was so pleasing to the eye.

But why call yourself a devil? You've always been doing righteous things, and to me, you don't seem like the kind of person who would do bad things. At least, I can't smell any evil in you.

"Well then, ask away. You have a lot of questions in your mind, right? I'll answer them as appropriate." Xing arranged the table and chairs, and like a pair of friends about to start a discussion, she and Kane sat on opposite sides of the table.

The table isn't very long; two people can reach each other by simply stretching out their arms.

Kane looked at Sachi, who was still smiling, and asked his first question, "Please tell me, what is your real name?"

"Keep it a secret."

"Okay, keep it a secret, the second question..."

Enraged, she threw the chair at his face. "Hey, are you really stupid or just pretending? Who asks for a secret?" The atmosphere was completely ruined!

Author's Note—

Congratulations on your new pet!

As a side note, here's a piece of information from a future Honkai World!

Post-Honkai Odyssey 1.0 Prelude —

"Hmm..." The silver-haired woman casually rolled over on the bed, the fallen blankets revealing her impressive figure.

"Xing, is dinner ready?" She nudged her partner, who was still fast asleep.

"Tell Heavy Cannon Rabbit to go. You kept pestering me to pay my dues all night. Let me rest." The adult-sized man reached out and pulled his wife into his arms. Her smooth body had no lines whatsoever.

Bronya tossed his long black hair in annoyance. "Hmph, all you do is exploit Heavy Cannon Rabbit. He'll become a cripple sooner or later!"

He pinched the soft flesh of her waist. "Aren't you the same?"