Anna: My Head Is Spinning

Although the image shown above is very complex and can make one feel dizzy at first glance, Changguang found it pleasing to the Changguang as he painstakingly sketched out the structure and understood its meaning.

"Active yet stable, it almost perfectly confines Honkai Energy within the crystal."

If this technology can be realized through scientific means, then the day when Honkai Energy truly be used by humanity may not be far off.

Compared to Changguang, who was bundled up tightly, Otto, who was only symbolically wearing a white coat and a mask, had a smile in his voice.

"It seems that, besides being a renowned warrior, Gwen, you might even be included in human history books first because of this discovery..."

"Forehead..."

During the experiment, most of the time was spent practicing the Divine Melody, and Gwen only outputted according to the two's requirements when necessary. When he heard Otto's words, he did not know how to respond for a moment.

Fortunately, besides Gwen and Otto, Changguang was also there—

"Bishop Otto, you're supposed to be a tech person, so please stop using such layman's language."

We only have the energy distribution map right now; we haven't even figured out the principle behind how it works. We can't even talk about knowing what it does, let alone skipping over understanding why it works and claiming it's already a mature technological achievement in use.

"Cough..."

Hearing Changguang's sarcastic remark, Otto coughed lightly to cover his embarrassment, then chuckled and said...

"Of course I know that, I just got a little carried away when I was imagining the future."

After all, Changguang, you should know how much manpower and resources Schicksal every year dealing with the corpses of Honkai Beast and the residual Honkai Energy at the Honkai sites.

"Well, that's certainly something to look forward to."

However, Bishop Otto, please don't skip over my prize money too..."

Knowing full well the Changguang that "anyone who criticizes me to my face shall be killed without mercy," Nagamitsu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Otto hadn't made a decision on a whim like some of the "big shots" he had met before, and immediately joked with a grin.

"Whoever conquers this technology in the future will certainly receive the reward they deserve."

However, given the importance of this technology, it's unlikely that only a few of us will be conducting research on it.

Whether you can receive this bonus depends on your efforts, Changguang ...

Looking at the large white rice dumpling beside him, Otto smiled and spoke, his eyes almost narrowed into slits, causing Changguang to subconsciously take a half step back.

"Tch, what a stingy guy..."

Understanding that Otto was retaliating for his earlier "sharp rebuke," Changguang, inwardly cursing, could only pretend not to understand Otto's "threat" and continued jokingly:

"Alright, even without a bonus, considering how hard I worked, putting in extra hours and cracking the energy distribution map in just one month, you can at least treat us to a big meal, right..."

As he spoke, Changguang put his arm around Gwen, who was standing next to him, and looked at Otto with a grin.

"Of course, I'll cover your lunch today."

Otto didn't press Changguang any further, smiling as he agreed, but then added,

"However, I have some things to take care of at noon today, so you two can have lunch by yourselves."

Have a pleasant noon...

Otto waved his hand and left the laboratory before Changguang could respond.

"That old man really won't change his ways..."

Cursing inwardly, Changguang, who had his Changguang around Gwen's shoulder, patted Gwen's arm again and called out.

"Let's go, Gwen, let's go have a big meal."

"Since he's not here, we can eat whatever we want."

"Um..."

Gwen, who was frowning and watching Otto's departing figure, was interrupted by Changguang and instantly lost his train of thought.

Although neither Gwen Changguang were short of money, Gwen could still understand the joy Changguang was experiencing at that moment, which he called "getting something for free".

However, although he understood, Gwen still smiled and "kindly" reminded him:

"Although you can eat whatever you want, Changguang, you still need to pay attention to calories—"

I remember just two weeks ago you were complaining to me that you were working so much overtime that you had less time for your fitness workouts.

"You're still so unlovable..."

When Gwen touched on his sore spot, Changguang rolled his eyes, lightly tapped Gwen on the head, and then turned and left.

"You don't need to worry about that. Come on, let's go have a big meal and eat him out of house and home!"

"As long as you're not worried about gaining weight, I don't care what happens to me. After all, the energy from food is just a drop in the ocean for me..."

Watching Changguang's back, completely bundled up, Gwen continued his incessant chatter, causing Changguang to pause and slowly turn around—

"You'll never find a girlfriend if you keep going like this, you know that..."

Although he was used to joking and Gwen, when his sore spot was touched, Changguang couldn't help but exude a low-pressure aura, staring blankly at Gwen.

"Hey..."

Faced with Changguang's death stare, Gwen simply chuckled, unperturbed.

Although they've only known each other for a month, they've already reached at least a verbal friendship of mutual teasing, and that's nothing new.

Soon, Changguang, having changed his clothes, pulled Gwen toward the most expensive restaurant in headquarters.

As the director of the St. 1504 Research Institute left the institute with his unofficial lab technicians, a figure with somewhat heavy steps slowly emerged from the training ground—

In order not to fall too far behind, Anna abandoned her initial idea of taking a day off and instead spent half a day at the training ground.

Judging from her somewhat heavy footsteps, Anna's half-day spent at the training ground wasn't just for show; she was genuinely putting in the effort.

"Phew... It's hard to imagine how Bianca could still spend a whole day at the training ground after returning from a mission..."

Exhausted but feeling immensely elated by her own efforts, Anna wiped the sweat from her brow, her heart filled with emotion.

"However, this is pretty much my limit..."

Sigh, they really can't compare to Gwen and Bianca...

After her reflections, Anna didn't plan to go home and cook for herself. Instead, she decided to treat herself to a nice meal.

However, before entering the restaurant, Anna suddenly stopped, staring blankly at the two people chatting and laughing inside...

Chapter 112 Anna: My head is buzzing

Despite Gwen's reminder, Changguang didn't hold back at all when ordering food, and with Gwen's order, the table was quickly filled with dishes.

Gwen wanted to tease Changguang a bit more, but recalling the death stare he'd received earlier, he regretfully gave up and could only hope that Changguang was ready to lose weight.

Of course, although they had one less topic to talk about, the two of them didn't stop talking.

Amidst the laughter and conversation, Gwen suddenly felt a pang of unease and turned his head to look, only to see the chestnut-haired girl standing at the restaurant entrance, looking in their direction.

"Anna?"

Gwen was somewhat surprised to run into Anna here, but he still smiled and waved for Anna to come over.

"Um?"

Seeing Gwen's actions, Changguang raised an eyebrow and suspiciously followed Gwen's gaze, only to see the girl standing blankly at the door, staring at them.

"!"

Instantly, Changguang's eyes lit up—

As a member of the headquarters who frequently surfs the internet, Changguang had naturally seen the photos of several female protagonists in the gossip posts about Gwen and recognized Anna's identity at a glance.

Seeing Anna's blank expression, Changguang, who had never eaten pork but had seen pigs run, realized what had happened.

After realizing what had happened, Changguang suddenly remembered Otto's inhuman mission—

"Hmm... Otto's mission... perhaps we can complete it in a different way?"

Changguang, unaware of what Gwen was thinking, was surprised by Anna's slowness. He simply got up, walked to the door, grabbed her strangely cold hand, and pulled Anna inside.

"Anna, what's wrong? Why are your hands so cold?"

Realizing something was wrong with Anna, Gwen frowned and looked at Anna, asking uncertainly.

"Without..."

Seeing the concerned look on Gwen's face, Anna pursed her lips, shook her head vigorously, and forced a smile, wanting to say something, but the girl, whose mind was in chaos, could not say anything. She opened her mouth and then pressed her thin lips tightly together, a glint of tears in her eyes.

"..."

Gwen was puzzled after confirming that something had happened to Anna. They were fine when they parted in the morning, so how did she end up like this when they met at noon?

As Gwen pondered what was wrong with Anna, Changguang gracefully approached Gwen, glancing sideways at this Gwen rumored girlfriend with a puzzled expression.

"Um?

Gwen, who is this...?

"This is Anna, my instructor who guided me into the profession, and also my good friend."

Upon hearing Changguang's voice, a sudden flash of inspiration struck Gwen, and he realized what had happened—

"Am I stumbling upon a scene from a melodramatic romance novel...?"

While muttering to himself, Gwen calmly introduced the Changguang beside him to Anna:

"Come, Anna, let me introduce you. This is Elizabeth Changguang McSmith, the director of the St. 1504 Institute. She is the same Director Nagamitsu Director Changguang examination for Bianca, and she is also the person in charge of the experiment I conducted."

This morning, thanks to Bishop Otto's help, the experiment was completed ahead of schedule, which allowed us to enjoy a leisurely breakfast here.

Otherwise, we'd probably still be eating boxed lunches in the lab right now.

"?"

Listening to Gwen's calm and steady introduction, Anna instantly felt the dark world brighten up again, and the warmth that suddenly came from her hands made Anna feel alive again.

The overwhelming amount of information clashed sharply with Anna's existing knowledge, leaving her momentarily stunned and only able to stammer out a question:

"...real?"

"Otherwise what?"

Seeing Anna's expression, and confirming his suspicions, Gwen tightened his grip on Anna's small hand, and with his other hand, he tapped Anna's head.

"You didn't think I was just lying to you this morning about going to work, but actually went out on a date, did you?"

"No!

Absolutely not!

Anna's thoughts were exposed by her beloved, and she immediately shook her head like a rattle drum. A blush rose on her pink face, and the dark cloud that had been weighing on her heart was thrown to the winds.

As Gwen explained their relationship in a very fast pace, Changguang admired Gwen's keen insight, but on the surface, he put on a pretentious expression of grievance:

"He was just flirting with someone, but now that his girlfriend is here, he wants to distance himself from her?"

You really are... oh dear..."

Before Changguang could finish speaking, Gwen had already poked her temple with his index and middle fingers together, causing her to cry out in pain.

Then, before Gwen retort, Anna loudly countered:

"No, I'm not. Gwen and I are just ordinary friends..."

Anna, however, had a stress reaction to Changguang's earlier mention of his "little girlfriend."

However, before she could finish speaking, Anna realized the occasion was inappropriate and lowered her voice—

The three of them had already attracted the attention of some diners in the hall by whispering to each other as they entered, and Anna's loud rebuttal drew even more attention.

Sensing the gazes that held a mixture of curiosity and amusement, Anna shrank back like an ostrich, lowering her head and avoiding Gwen's eyes.

"Alright, since we've run into each other, let's eat together..."

Gwen gently patted Anna's shoulder, defusing the crisis with a smile, and led Anna to the seats he and Changguang had previously shared.

Although it is the main hall on the first floor of the restaurant, each table is also partitioned to block the view and provide a relatively private space.

After taking her seat, Anna's burning face, unaware of the stares from all around her, began to cool down slightly.

Gwen could tell that Anna was probably feeling a mix of shyness and embarrassment, her toes practically digging into the soles of her shoes, so he politely avoided bringing up the previous topic.