The Real Golden Finger in Honkai is Alicia!

Hearing that name suddenly from Gwen, Raiden Mei was a little surprised.

"Gwen, you know Kiana?"

"Yeah, I met her a few days ago while dealing with some minor incidents. She's a very cheerful girl."

Gwen nodded, took Raiden Mei's hand, and walked into the store.

"Judging by how you address her, are you classmates at the same school?"

"Yes, Kiana is one of the few people at school who still shows me kindness."

Raiden Mei said softly to Gwen, and for some reason, she didn't want Kiana to see her holding Gwen's hand.

"Mm, I figured as much."

Gwen smiled.

"After all, Kiana might be a bit slow, but she has a strong sense of justice. Rumors like that wouldn't be enough to make her follow suit."

As the two walked into the store, the white-haired girl who had just served the food saw the customers who had just entered the restaurant and subconsciously said, "Welcome." But her eyes widened in surprise—

The man was very familiar to Kiana; she had even stayed at his place a few days ago. He was a really nice guy.

The woman was even more familiar to Kiana. She was her beloved bento... no, it was Mei-senpai.

Meeting acquaintances should have been a happy occasion. Meeting the only two people she could call friends was also a happy occasion. Two happy occasions...

However, before the white-haired girl could finish her internal monologue, Gwen, still holding Raiden Mei's hand, called out, "Waiter, we'd like to order."

"Coming..."

Although still in shock that her beloved Mei-senpai was being held by a man, Kiana's instinct as a working warrior made her instinctively respond. She pulled a notebook from her pocket and came to their table.

"Please state your order."

"Mei, you order first."

Gwen handed the menu on the table to Raiden Mei and quietly told the white-haired girl, "We'll talk about it tonight if there are any problems," before ignoring Kiana.

Kiana, who had been about to question them impulsively, calmed down upon hearing that. She thought about the unspoken rules of this country that she had vaguely sensed over the past few months and swallowed the words in her stomach, quietly waiting for them to order. She didn't even say goodbye to Raiden Mei before leaving with the fully written order slip to the counter.

After Kiana left, Gwen noticed Raiden Mei's strange gaze and simply explained, "Generally, bosses don't like temporary workers like Kiana to interact too much with customers—it can be troublesome if anything happens."

Chapter 28: Kiana—Looking Like a Pufferfish

Under the occasional resentful gaze of a certain white-haired girl, Gwen and his online girlfriend enjoyed a delicious Japanese lunch.

However, Raiden Mei's acting, which intensified her unnatural feelings due to Kiana's presence nearby, caught the attention of the two people monitoring her, raising some suspicion—

"Our young lady's behavior... doesn't seem quite normal..."

"Heh, it's hard to expect such an inexperienced girl to be at ease in front of acquaintances."

The burly man, reeking of alcohol, grinned.

"Even the female students you hired know to avoid acquaintances, let alone a real young lady."

"Suka!

Who hired students?"

Giving her colleague a sideways glance, the thin man threatened, "Walker, I'm warning you. If you don't watch your mouth, don't blame me for reporting your drinking on the job."

"Heh heh..."

The burly man waved his hand with a smile and turned to collapse on the bed.

"You watch for a while longer. I'll take over your shift after I wake up."

Meanwhile, after finishing lunch, Gwen and Raiden Mei left the restaurant and strolled around the streets like a real couple for two hours before parting ways with "reluctance"—

"Mei, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes, see you tomorrow."

Having gotten used to interacting with Gwen throughout the day, Raiden Mei waved goodbye to Gwen and returned to her rented apartment with light steps. It wasn't until she closed the door and threw off her hat that she lay on the bed, recalling her day's activities. Raiden Mei realized that she had done many things she wouldn't have even dared to imagine before, and she couldn't help but cover her pretty face and curl up in the quilt.

A little later, as Gwen was preparing dinner himself, his door was knocked upon—

"Knock! Knock! Knock!"

From the force of the knocking, one could tell that the person's mood was quite bad, and they were using considerable strength.

"Coming..."

Gwen called out and opened the door, only to see Kiana, who was knocking. She had a puffed-up little face and looked exactly like an inflated pufferfish.

"Kiana, you're here?

Have a seat. You're familiar with everything. Dinner will be ready soon."

With a greeting, Gwen didn't give Kiana a chance to speak, and slipped back into the kitchen. Kiana, who wanted to say something, didn't know what to say.

Sniff sniff~

The aroma filling the air made Kiana twitch her delicate little nose. Her empty stomach, after a busy day, protested at that moment, instantly suppressing the anger that had resurfaced on the way as she kept recalling the scene from noon. It made the Paramecium obediently sit down in the living room—

It wasn't that Kiana was too lazy to help out. It was just that the mess she had created the last time she stayed over at Gwen's was still vivid in her memory. Kiana, who hadn't been spoiled by Mei's cooking yet and was still a proud and self-reliant young lady, couldn't even think of helping.

"Kiana, come and get the dishes."

Gwen, who had prepared extra servings for dinner in anticipation of Kiana's arrival, called out to Kiana, who was spacing out in the living room without realizing it, as he carried the dishes.

"Oh, coming!"

Kiana, who had been thinking about something during this time, jumped when she heard Gwen's voice. Her pretty face, which had a hint of unspoken dignity due to its calm, almost cold expression, suddenly returned to its usual silly demeanor. She responded and then ran into the kitchen.

"I know you have a lot of questions, but let's eat first.

There might be a lot to discuss today, and I'm afraid you won't be able to keep up if we talk while eating."

Cutting Kiana off again, Gwen lowered his head and started eating. Kiana's little face puffed up again in anger, and she muttered, "Who do you think you are? Watch me eat you broke." She then turned her grief into appetite and began to eat heartily.

"No rush, eat slowly. Let's see if you eat me broke first, or if I make your little belly bigger."

"Mmm... with my exercise routine, you'll never make me fat in this lifetime...

Hmph, who wants you to support me?

I have hands and feet, I can support myself, why would I need you to?"

Although Kiana wasn't very familiar with many things due to her experiences in her early years, she had worked in a bookstore before and reacted with a light scoff...

In the end, although they said they would eat first, the two of them gradually started chatting. While the atmosphere wasn't entirely harmonious, it did help to strengthen their relationship, and their connection, which could only be considered a tentative friendship, became even more solid.

"Do you want more?"

Gwen asked with a smile, looking at Kiana, who was leaning back in her chair with a look of "no regrets in this life."

"No more, I'm full today. We can talk about it next time."

Kiana, who was in a state of satisfied fullness, patted her slightly bulging belly and waved her hand:

"Hold on."

"Look at you."

Gwen chuckled, giving the unreserved Paramecium a sidelong glance.

"I'm going to prepare some materials. You rest for a while, clear the dishes, and digest. We'll talk again in half an hour."

"Okay, go ahead."

Kiana lazily waved her hand, wanting nothing more than to sit there and do nothing. After being brushed off twice, she seemed to have gradually forgotten her original purpose.

"Mm."

Nodding, Gwen returned to his room, opened his Schicksal terminal, and began to inquire with headquarters about how much information could be revealed to Kiana, the "daughter of a sinner."

As early as their first meeting, Gwen had reported Kiana as "suspected to be a Kaslana living in exile." Otto, who was well aware of Kiana's whereabouts, naturally didn't have any extreme reactions. He simply sent Kiana's identity information to Gwen and told him to use his discretion, as long as he didn't reveal information about her parents' origins—

Of course, it would definitely be a version that didn't involve the Paramecium's true identity or Otto's plans.

When it came to revealing information to someone like this, Gwen naturally had to seek instructions from headquarters in a timely manner.

Otto, who was pleased with Gwen's contact with Kiana, naturally had no intention of stopping it and directly agreed.

Therefore, Kiana learned a lot of information from Gwen—

For example, Siegfried, who had not received formal training and had theoretical shortcomings, could not provide rigorous explanations and introductions to Honkai, nor could he explain the crisis Changkong City was about to face (the Raiden Mei special version).

After learning this information, Kiana's question was quite in line with Gwen's impression of her—

"Then why don't we just rush into ME Corp. and beat up that bad woman Cocolia to solve the culprit directly?"

Chapter 29 Kiana: Mei's safety is up to me to protect!

"Kiana..."

Looking at the confused white-haired ball, Gwen sighed deeply and asked earnestly:

"If you stole my ice cream, would you stay at my place and wait for me to come back?"

"I didn't steal it!"

Kiana's pupils contracted, and she answered without hesitation.

"..."

Gwen, who had just made a casual analogy, fell silent upon seeing Kiana's reaction. However, seeing Kiana's evasive gaze, he gave up on that explanation and instead said:

"Alright, let me put it another way. If a greedy little white cat sneaked into my house and ate the cake I was saving for the next day, would she stay put and wait for me, her owner, to come and deal with her?"

"How can there be such a stupid cat?"

Kiana retorted.

"You see, you know that even a greedy cat wouldn't stay put after stealing something.

Then, would Cocolia, this conspirator, really stay in ME Corp., the source of the impending great Honkai?"

Gwen asked in return.

"Even if the warlord's background limited her perspective, making many of her actions seem foolish, it doesn't detract from this vixen's cunning."

"..."

Listening to Gwen's meaningful words, Kiana suddenly realized that she seemed to have asked a very stupid question. Her barely calmed expression couldn't help but become flustered again. Her gaze shifted as she continued to ask:

"Then... then why don't we just take Mei away?"

"Do you think Cocolia wouldn't arrange for people to monitor Mei, such a valuable experiment?"

"Then I'll beat them all down!"

Whether to hide her fluster or out of genuine confidence, Kiana yelled, waving her fair little fists.

"Unfortunately, Changkong City is temporarily Cocolia's territory. Unless Schicksal officially intervenes, no force in the world can deploy enough power here in a short time to overpower Cocolia."

Gwen lightly shook his head, once again rejecting Kiana's seemingly irresistible suggestion and dousing her fiery emotions with a bucket of cold water:

"Moreover, even if we had the military might to overpower Cocolia, if she activates the equipment prepared to unleash the Great Honkai, it would only cause more damage."

"Damn it, is there really no way to stop that vixen?"

Directly using Gwen's term for Cocolia, Kiana's fair little face puffed up like a pufferfish again.

"Currently, the best way to prevent this disaster is to sneak Mei out of Changkong City without being detected by Cocolia."

Gwen spoke words that made Kiana's eyes widen. The white-haired girl, shaking her twin pigtails, questioned:

"Didn't you say Cocolia was closely monitoring Mei?"

"So, directly taking Mei away isn't feasible. We have to do it without Cocolia's knowledge."

Gwen crossed his arms and sat up straight, looking down on the paramecium both physically and mentally—

"However, this depends on the alertness of Cocolia's subordinates. If their vigilance is too high and our actions alert them, causing Cocolia to act prematurely, then we will still fail."