Mei: It's Not That He Doesn't Care About Me.

Kiana, can you imagine fighting someone while wielding a telephone pole you can barely hug, and you can only manage to scratch their clothes without actually hurting them?

Amid the girls' worried gazes, Gwen suddenly smiled and uttered words that made Kiana's eyes widen in disbelief.

Seeing Kiana's adorable expression, as if she wanted to devour him, Gwen's smile deepened.

However, noticing the low pressure emanating from Mei on the other side, Gwen's smile immediately vanished, and he said seriously.

"And then there's probably a severe feeling of hunger—"

It seems that because Apollo's core was damaged, after I synchronized with it, I was able to feel a sense of emptiness from deep within my body.

Even with constant energy supply, the hunger is only somewhat alleviated, not eliminated, ultimately manifesting as an intense craving to satisfy it with food.

This wasn't Gwen making things up, but rather Gwen speculation about the situation without the Cascade Light Source—

Even with this energy source providing a constant supply of energy, Gwen still felt a surge in appetite, which gives you an idea of what it would be like without it.

Hunger?

Having experienced hunger firsthand, Kiana instantly suppressed her earlier resentment at being teased and looked at Gwen with some concern.

"But you didn't seem to eat much this morning..."

"That's right..."

This time, even Mei broke her silence and frowned as she looked at Gwen.

"Furthermore, if this situation continues, your combat effectiveness will probably be affected to some extent, right?"

"Because I'm not really hungry, it's just a manifestation of energy deficiency—"

If I were to rely on ordinary food to replenish my energy, I'm afraid I wouldn't have enough even if I ate until my stomach burst.

Gwen simply smiled in response to the girls' concerns.

"Compared to eating, directly replenishing energy is the right way—"

Anyway, with my Honkai Energy resistance, I can drink ordinary Honkai Energy potions like water without any problem.

As for Mei's concern about the impact on combat effectiveness, that's not a big problem—"

Turning his gaze to the frowning purple-haired girl, Gwen explained with a smile.

"Anyway, after the fusion, my strength experienced a huge leap. Even if it weakened somewhat, it was only a weakening on top of the enhanced foundation—"

In the game, it's basically like converting mana into attack power.

As for not eating much for breakfast—

If I can't even control this little impulse, then wouldn't my A-level ranking be a bit too weak?

Moreover, even with the Cascade Light Source inside his body, Gwen's mana bar didn't actually shorten; he just had a buff that constantly drained mana and rapidly regenerated it.

In fact, it is precisely because the two have reached a certain balance that Gwen is now able to chat and laugh with the two girls.

Otherwise, Gwen would have been fried into Gwen sauce yesterday, and might even be stuck with Eden and Elysia.

This could also be considered one of the reasons why Gwen did not choose Ultimate Lifeform or Mechagod as his next development ability.

Who knows if choosing the next step will result in either exploding or being drained of all life force.

Hearing Gwen's explanation, the two girls' worries subsided considerably, though the concern on their pretty faces did not completely disappear.

In response, Gwen could only continue to offer words of comfort:

"Alright, don't worry about my little problem anymore—"

Schicksal is, after all, the most powerful organization on this planet; at least it should be able to alleviate my problems...

"At worst, I'll request to use the Plague Gem to see if it can replace some of the original energy core's function."

"Plague Gem?

Does that mean Gwen, you'll become Herrscher in the future?

Upon hearing this, Mei, who already knew about the four gems, frowned.

Although she didn't experience any unusual reactions after fusing with the Conquest Gem, a large part of the reason was that the Conquest Gem wasn't activated.

Gwen needs the Plague Gem to take effect before he can fuse with it, and that would mean...

Thinking of that scene, Mei pursed her lips, her eyes fixed on Gwen, her pretty face once again filled with worry.

"Ha ha...

Don't worry, Mei..."

Gwen simply smiled, looking completely confident.

"As far as I know, at least in our time, becoming Herrscher doesn't necessarily mean becoming a demon who can only mechanically destroy everything—"

The First Herrscher Welt Joyce, never intentionally did anything to destroy humanity until his death.

His successors also continued to sacrifice their lives to protect human civilization.

As for Sirin, the Second Herrscher triggered the Second Honkai War...

As far as I know, she initially only wanted to rebel against the injustice she suffered, but through a series of coincidences, she still ended up on the path of destruction...

In short, in this era, becoming Herrscher does not mean losing yourself and becoming a puppet of the Honkai.

As for me...

Do you really think that I, who just killed a Herrscher in that illusion yesterday, would be no match for the Herrscher's consciousness and have my body taken over?

Although he was talking about one of the world's greatest crises, Gwen's relaxed tone didn't make the girls feel much of a sense of crisis. Instead, they surprisingly agreed with Gwen's words.

265

Chapter 265 Mei: It's not that he doesn't value me.

As he spoke, Gwen's gaze swept over Kiana, trying to catch a glimpse of golden light in her deep blue eyes.

However, Kiana's eyes did not show any change until Gwen finished speaking, which disappointed Gwen but also relieved him.

After Gwen used the events of yesterday's illusion as an example, the two who witnessed Gwen seemingly acting as divine retribution and completely destroying Hiyori gained more confidence.

However, because of this, Kiana couldn't help but ask in surprise:

"Gwen, you mean..."

Was the Hiyori in yesterday's illusion also a Herrscher?

Although the ability is very strange, is that all there is to Herrscher?

It's a little short of destroying the world, isn't it?

"Don't underestimate that guy—"

The opponent was likely in a semi-sealed state at the time, unable to use their most threatening abilities, and could only play around with us in the illusion.

Looking at Kiana's expression, Gwen could roughly guess what the girl was thinking. He said seriously.

Even so, the other party is not an easy opponent—

If I hadn't broken the deadlock with brute force, we probably would have truly remained in the illusion until our bodies died, just as they said, completely losing all hope of victory and becoming their slaves.

"Oh..."

Upon hearing this, Kiana immediately abandoned her initial disdain.

"Kiana, Gwen is right."

Mei said seriously, recalling her experience in the illusion.

"Even if Hiyori is weak, that only applies to Gwen."

"To us, they remain a formidable enemy who can be difficult to deal with even without us showing our faces; they only need to use their ragtag troops."

"Okay, I understand..."

Faced with Gwen and Mei's joint admonition, Kiana nodded her head repeatedly, indicating that she would behave and obey.

"This applies not only to Hiyori— "

Seeing Kiana in a rare, obedient mode, Gwen couldn't help but offer a few more words of advice—

"Kiana, whether you become a powerful Valkyrie in the future or not, I hope you will always remember this—"

Complacency leads to failure; pride leads to regret!

Only by always maintaining the mindset of an apprentice can you see what shouldn't be overlooked and go further.

"Okay, I've got it."

Although she instinctively disliked this kind of preaching, Kiana didn't resist since it was rare for Gwen to speak so seriously, and nodded to make a note of it.

As for whether Kiana can actually do this...

If the plan goes smoothly, Gwen believes Kiana will have no room for complacency.

"Alright, it's getting late, we should go have lunch."

Gwen rolled the report in his hand into a tube, grabbed Mei's hand, and pulled the girl up as he stood up.

"Kiana, after all I've said, shouldn't you treat me to a meal?"

"Let's get this straight, you can't eat as much as you want."

Upon hearing this, Kiana did not immediately refuse, but looked at Gwen, her right hand instinctively covering the pocket containing her bank cards.

It's a deal.

Gwen laughed.

"Since you went through so much yesterday, I'll treat you to a meal."

After confirming that Gwen wouldn't cheat her out of her money, Kiana jumped up with her hands on her hips, looking like she'd hit the jackpot.

"Then I'll have to take a good look at the recipe..."

Gwen smiled, preparing to remove the barrier, but added before doing so.

"By the way, what I've told you today, please don't tell anyone else about it—"

After all, although it's just a topic of conversation for us involved, it's confidential information no matter where it is.

"Okay, I'll pretend I never heard of these things."

Upon hearing this, Kiana ran her finger across her lips, indicating that she would keep quiet.

"Um?

Kiana, there are some things you should remember.

Gwen smiled and reminded him.

"Oh, I know, I'm not a little kid anymore."

Seeing Gwen lecturing a child, Kiana put her hands on her hips again and said angrily.

"I can only say that the impression I got from some people not paying attention in class was too deep."

Gwen shook his head and sighed, then raised the hand that was clasped with Mei's.

"Even if I don't tell Mei, Mei can tell the difference."

"Mei, look, he's bullying me again!"

Seeing this, Kiana could only run to Mei's other side in a huff, grab her hand and shake it while acting coquettishly.

"Oh..."

Mei simply smiled at this, silently taking Gwen's words to heart—

"So it wasn't because you were too concerned about Kiana, but because you trusted me...?"

After a lavish meal that cost Kiana quite a bit, Gwen didn't immediately arrange a training plan for the two of them, but instead told them to rest well.

Although Gwen did not intend for the two to spend two easy years in St. Freya as they had originally planned, he also did not intend to deny them even a little rest.

After a midday rest to recover from the discomfort caused by frequently activating the Gene Lock, Gwen met up with Fu Hua and spent another half day in the training room.

Thanks to his extraordinary physical condition, the accumulated side effects of unlocking the Gene Lock have not had a significant impact on Gwen.

However, its effects were precisely applied to Gwen—