The Final Guardian (Part 1)

Cang Qiong was a little troubled because of this girl who had shown them kindness.

She had no complaints about this girl; she was kind-hearted and understanding. Although she was a little bit cunning, she was still just a human being.

This doomed their friendship to a short time, given that human lifespan is only a brief period of less than a hundred years. In cross-species bonds, lifespan is an insurmountable obstacle.

When those you love turn into cold tombstones, and your appearance remains unchanged from back then, even forming new bonds to continue this cycle... even the most open-minded, optimistic, and sociable person will eventually become as cold as an iceberg.

But can we refuse to meet just because we're afraid of separation?

However, Luming, who saw the worry in Cang Qiong's heart and talked to him, said, "I can easily live for tens of thousands of years."

Cang Qiong: "..."

Good heavens! After tens of thousands of years, have human lifespans become this long?!

LOL, if it hadn't died prematurely, it would have dared to outlive any life form in any of the Honkai Branch World.

——Xingmen——

At the Schicksal West Asia branch, Susanna, who was unable to go to the Schicksal Headquarters due to changes in the Fog City Holiday instance, is training hard to advance to A-rank Valkyrie as soon as possible, otherwise she will have to go home and inherit the gem business!

"Waaah, why are kids so much younger than me almost S-rank, while I'm still stuck at B-rank..." The golden-haired rich young lady cried alone while looking at the incredibly handsome boy on her phone. As St. Freya's first male student, Happiness caused a storm in the Schicksal's public opinion circle as soon as she entered school.

Initially, the discussion was confined to a small circle of logistics Valkyrie, but as the Fire-Chasing Squad's performance became increasingly outrageous, more and more Schicksal members began to pay attention to this wandering Kaslana named Xing—that is, a member who was not incorporated into the Kaslana Family.

Originally, the Kaslana Family disliked him because of his impure bloodline due to his eye color and had no intention of recruiting him. But... this little boy is just too damn strong.

Most importantly, he is very good-looking, and has made several significant contributions at a young age. He is the dream lover of many young Valkyrie —we'll talk about him when he grows up.

Susanna also admired his power and posted his picture next to Durandal.

"If I could, I would love to see him. Hmm, but Yuki seems to have disappeared lately. We rarely see any live news about Yuki on St. Freya's gossip news team anymore. Is he on some secret mission?"

Susanna shook her head, dragged her tired body out of the simulation combat room, and returned to her room. Like Guotie that had been tormented by Brother Jie for half a day, she collapsed on the bed, took out her phone and opened Chen Xilumeng's live stream.

"Huh, Luming isn't streaming today? Let's watch a clip. I'd love to meet Luming if I could~ Compared to Durandal and the others, meeting Luming-chan is so much easier! But last time when Luming had her concert, Captain Matira didn't approve my leave request..."

PS: Idol Lady's influence among the general public may not be universally known, but in the Schicksal faction, it's safe to say that everyone knows her. Who could resist a lively, adorable, and incredibly beautiful girl?

Julia, who knew that Luming was her boyfriend's partner, exclaimed, "Me!"

—After this episode ends, we'll kidnap Susanna... and bring her over—

The cold winter wind blew through the forest, and the little jellyfish, dressed in thin clothes, shivered from the cold. Luming chanted a simple fire spell to provide warmth for the three of them.

"She's alive~" Haiyi seemed to be glued to Luming, and Xingchen couldn't pull her away. Seeing this, Cang Qiong could only smile helplessly, "Well, this is not bad. Let her be carefree for a while before Chi Yu comes back."

For some reason, as soon as he heard Akabane's name, the little jellyfish's originally comfortable little face suddenly stiffened, and he jumped down from Lumeng in despair. Lu Meng looked at Hai Yi who looked like he had been dried in the sun, and asked doubtfully, "Are you afraid of her?"

"It's more than just fear... that red-grass chicken is my nemesis!" Haiyi trembled with fear just recalling her second sister's back, her teeth chattering, and even the jellyfish on her head looked frightened.

"Xiaoyu is actually a very nice person, it's just that Haiyi always makes her angry, so that's why she has this impression." Seeing Luming lost in thought, Cang Qiong quickly explained. She was naturally aware of the feud between her second and fourth sisters. Cang Qiong didn't have much energy to care about the sisters' love-hate relationship, but it would be strange if Chi Yu ate Jellyfish Silk in front of Haiyi, and Haiyi ate roasted chicken in front of Chi Yu, without them fighting.

Note: Chi Yu seems to have some connection with Phoenix. The Silly Loli suspects that the official design team of Five-Dimensional Medium referenced Fu Hua's elements when designing Chi Yu's character, because both of them are: fire + only because + flat... cough cough!

"Sister Xiaoyu is a good person... but she can be really scary when she's angry." Xingchen recalled with a fearful expression, clearly remembering some unpleasant experience.

"Ahem!" Cang Qiong coughed awkwardly twice to prevent his two silly sisters from revealing the family's dirty laundry. If a sixth person found out about that matter, Chi Yu would definitely go berserk on the spot!

PS: If the Five-Dimensional Sisters were to team up, Cang Qiong would be the archer, Haiyi the mage, Stardust the assassin, and Chi Yu the berserker responsible for dealing damage. As the member representing the element of fire, Chi Yu's destructive power is the strongest among the five. Oh, and the smallest loli, Shian, is a Defender operator. What, you're asking what a Defender operator is? A tank, someone who takes the hits. Does that make sense now?

Seeing the strange expressions on the three people's faces, Luming tactfully changed the subject, "Xingchen, can you sense the approximate location of Shi'an?"

Stardust picked up the mirror and looked at the wildly spinning ahoge (cowlick) on his head that was about to carry him into the sky. He shook his head regretfully. "No, I can only sense a vague location. It should be in this forest. The area isn't very big. I should be able to find Shanshan if I keep looking."

"Not a large area?" Haiyi from PTSD, looked up, spewing out a jet of water and stardust as he rose into the air to survey the forest. "You call this huge forest a small area?!"

Looking out, all they could see were towering trees stretching as far as the eye could see. Stardust felt incredibly awkward and weakly said, "Many hands make light work, right? We'll set off from the four directions—east, west, south, and north—and split into four groups to try and find Shanshan before sunset!"

"They probably won't find it until the next sunset!!!"

Even though Haiyi had a lot of opinions, as the sister with the least say, her thoughts were naturally ignored, and she could only go south with a long face.

"An ancient Shenzhou saying goes that the Azure Dragon is in the East, the White Tiger in the West, the Vermilion Bird in the North, and the Black Tortoise in the South... well... it seems we can't gather all five elements." Operations leader Luming carefully considered the personnel allocation, then gave each person a feather from the "Mortal Tribulation Difficult to Cross" series for location tracking. "Haiyi will go south, Xingchen will go west, Cang Qiong will go east, and I'll go north. It's decided!"

The girl is on her way~

Luming, in her Magical Girl transformation, moved through the forest like a fish, seemingly floating in the air without any support. Stardust's suggestion was foolish, but for the time being, it was the only option.

What? You're asking why we didn't send more people? Idiot, what if we scared Shi'an away? We need to be more patient with little girls!

And most importantly, when Luming arrived here, she immediately activated her Honkai Vision, but what she saw was—

Like blood, the yellowish-brown particles scattered on the ground were so numerous that they could still be seen even after she had been flying for so long.

There are two possible reasons why Stardust cannot sense the exact location of Poetry Shore:

1. Shi An used his power to set up a barrier or something similar in this vast and boundless forest, isolating the stardust from his senses;

2. Stardust's senses were correct; Poetry Shore was indeed in this forest—everywhere.

"Hmm, continuing to search like a headless fly isn't going to work." After flying a certain distance, Luming, still unable to detect any other life signs on the radar, stopped and began to think of a solution.

"I remember Stardust saying that Shian seems to really like small animals? Among the Five-Dimensional Sisters, Shian seems to be the one closest to nature..."

Luming deactivated her Magical Girl transformation, and her gaze involuntarily fell on the Omnitrix on her left wrist.

"Although this method seems a bit unreliable, let's give it a try. Maybe from the perspective of a small animal, we can discover things that are imperceptible in human form?" Luming spun the watch bezel, saw the pattern reveal the Crimson Kite's Wings, gritted her teeth, and slapped it down—

As the green light faded, a small, adorable pink fox sat on the ground, staring at its two tiny pink paws in deep thought.

Damn it! I accidentally used too much force when filming, and it turned out wrong!

Why is Hiyokomaru's transformation into such a tiny fox?! And a one-tailed one at that! Shouldn't it be at least a three-tailed fox?!

Well, what's done is done. Let's just act this way for now.

After getting used to walking on all fours, Fox Lady quickly mastered the movement thanks to the training she had received after acquiring the Omnitrix, and ran swiftly through the forest.

Haiyi's side—

"Waaah, you ignored my opinion again. Shanshan, come out quickly, don't make your sister search too hard..." Haiyi complained while looking around, hoping to see that small and cute figure again.

No matter what, she was still her sister. Haiyi was very anxious because she hadn't seen Shi'an for so long.

"Huh?!"

Suddenly, the little jellyfish felt something under her foot. Looking down, she saw a thick snake coiled around her calf, flicking its tongue.

"Mobius, Mobius!!!"

Haiyi was so frightened that he summoned rain in the forest, causing groundwater to gush out and send the unfortunate giant snake to the sky.

In the Luming's Courtyard, Mobius that was preparing to hibernate was crawling wildly, with Brother Jie chasing after it relentlessly with a kitchen knife in hand. "Stop right there, you stinky snake! The witch isn't home today, I'll chop you up and make you into snake soup!"

You bastard Kalpas! Wait till I regain my human form and I'll make you pay!

Stardust's side—

"Did I just hear Haiyi's voice? It must be my imagination."

Stardust listened intently for a while, puzzled. After not hearing Haiyi's screams again, he concluded that he was hallucinating because he was too worried about Shian, and continued his search.

A wolf eyeing the meat menacingly nearby barked, "Roar, boss, wanna eat this piece?"

The wolf king swatted it with its paw. "Eat my ass! This lady is someone we can't afford to mess with!"

A gunshot pierced the sky, Stardust paused, and a wormhole opened up beside him.

In the grass not far away, an injured bird lay on the ground, barely alive. Its once proud and beautiful feathers had now become the most attractive thing to poachers. Just as it was in despair, a loud noise suddenly rang out, and then the soil beneath it changed. A pair of small hands made of soil carefully picked it up and handed it to Stardust, who had just crossed the wormhole to arrive at this place.

Stardust wasn't quite sure what had happened. She only felt a blur before her eyes, and the clod of earth that had vaguely formed a human shape crumbled and returned to dust. She looked at the bird in her hand that needed rescuing, then at the poacher beside her whose face was mangled beyond recognition, seemingly crushed by something heavy. After a moment of silence, she summoned the wormhole again and left.

Not long after Stardust left, countless green lights appeared in the shadows of the forest. The hungry wolves swarmed in, and in no time, the jungle returned to its usual tranquility.

Beyond the Cang Qiong—

A brightly colored butterfly lingered on her fingertip for a moment before flying away into the distance. The Cang Qiong watched it disappear from its sight, marveling that such a beautiful butterfly still existed in this era.

"The wind here is harmonious and pleasant, it seems few people set foot here... Hmm?" Just as Cang Qiong, who was in a good mood, turned a corner, the dense tree stumps in front of her instantly brought her good mood down to earth. The green-haired lady's expression gradually turned ruthless. In the forest... oh no, there was no forest anymore, only the empty sound of the wind echoing here.

"... Never mind, this is a necessary expense for production." Cang Qiong was, after all, a cultured person. Seeing such a large forest being cut down, she was only slightly annoyed. Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly thought of something.

The air currents swirled beneath her feet, and the Cang Qiong seemed to ride the wind, carefully surveying the region below from above. Her gentle face suddenly turned somber...

Luming's side—

Fox Lady strolled leisurely through the forest. The transformation time of her Omnitrix seemed to depend on the target; for example, it only lasted a few minutes for a Honkai Beast like Parvati, but there was no clear time limit for her current cute pet appearance. Luming speculated that this was a preventative measure to prevent the user from being unable to revert to human form due to prolonged Honkai Beast transformation.

Oh my, I found one of my kind!

Fox Lady called out to a yellow fox that was foraging for food, and the fox came running over respectfully.

Fox Language Translator:

"Hey, hello there! I'm a fox from out of town. Are there any rules here?"

"Hello, hello, beautiful lady, welcome to our place. Let me tell you, everything here is great, you won't have to worry about food or lodging. The only thing to watch out for is those two-legged beasts who are always eyeing our fur. Especially someone with such bright fur like you, you're definitely their prime target... What's that glowing thing on you?"

Seeing that the other party noticed the Omnitrix logo on her chest and curiously reached out its paw to touch it, Fox Lady quickly swatted it away with one paw. "You rude fellow, don't touch me like that!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" The yellow-skinned male fox quickly lowered his head to show his obedience. It seems that no matter where you go, being good-looking gives you special privileges.

Just as Luming was about to try and extract some information from the fox, she saw its expression suddenly turn terrified. "Quick, run! Those two-legged beasts are coming!"

Looking back, her excellent eyesight pinpointed the pair of greedy eyes staring straight at her in the distance. Luming snorted coldly, and flame patterns spread across her body.

Take this Foxfire Hellfire attack!

Just as she was about to imitate Hiyokomaru's fire-breathing technique, she saw the soil around the poacher undergo a strange change. Countless scattered clods of earth rose into the air and combined to form the shape of a girl. Her face, with indistinct features, was aimed directly at the poacher, who was unaware that his death was imminent. A boulder shot out from the ground and transformed into the shape of a giant hammer in her hand.

The petite girl formed from the soil wielded a giant hammer that was clearly disproportionate to her size, bringing down punishment on the greedy poachers. By the time they realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

The fragile head exploded like a watermelon, followed by the body... I won't describe the specific scene in detail.

Luming stood frozen in place, her tiny paws, which had just taken a step, hovering in mid-air, staring blankly as the girl swung the giant hammer again and again at the poacher.

This, this shouldn't be Shian, right?

However, things didn't go as planned. She opened the Honkai Vision with a sense of relief, but the result made her heart sink.

The clay figure has a color that is completely different from the yellow particles scattered in the jungle, and is much deeper.