"Bronya has joined the team too. Let's leave this place. It'll be dark soon."
Yu Luo looked at the setting sun on the horizon. A lot had indeed happened today. Since morning, they had fought their way out of the light rail station, encountered Titan and Bronya, fought a battle, then chased after them to the ME Corp building. Only now had they successfully freed Bronya from the machine's control. With everything settled, the exhaustion from all those battles flooded over Yu Luo, and he desperately wanted to find somewhere to rest properly.
"Reporting, Commander. The area around the ME Corp building has been cleared. We can rest here." Bronya expressionlessly offered her suggestion.
Yu Luo stepped forward and patted Bronya's head. Bronya tilted her head slightly, puzzled by his actions. Yu Luo bent down and looked directly into her gray eyes, smiling. "We're companions from now on. Just call me Brother. You don't need to be so formal."
"Sister Complex?" the system said disdainfully in Yu Luo's mind.
"What am I not obsessed with? As long as they're good-looking, I'd even obsess over Bowser for you."
"As expected of you. What a pervert!"
"Brother..." Bronya thought for a moment before tentatively calling him that. Yu Luo's heart nearly melted. He patted her head again, and Bronya narrowed her eyes, seeming to enjoy the intimate gesture a little.
Kiana also eagerly ran up to Bronya, pointed at herself, and shouted, "Then Bronya can call me Sister Kiana from now on!"
However, Bronya directly rejected Kiana's words. "According to Bronya's assessment, Kiana's intelligence is on the same level as a paramecium. Proposal rejected!"
"Why?!" Kiana shouted indignantly. "Why does that guy get to make you call him Brother?!"
Hearing Bronya's words, Yu Luo couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing. "Paramecium... Hahahaha... It really suits you, Kiana!"
"Alright, alright," Mei Raiden interrupted their banter, her face filled with genuine joy. "I remember there's a lounge inside the building. There are refreshments and beds there. Let's stay there for the night, then leave Changkong City at daybreak."
"Okay, Sister Mei." Bronya obediently replied, further provoking Kiana's dissatisfaction. "Why do they get called Brother and Sister, while I'm a paramecium?!"
"After testing, Kiana scored zero in reading comprehension. Communication refused." Bronya spoke expressionlessly, then turned and followed Mei Raiden, leaving Kiana behind to shout in despair.
"Ah... you damned little runt!"
"Paramecium!"
"Little runt!"
The two bickered like children. Of course, Bronya's expression remained as cool and indifferent as ever, her tone completely flat. It was precisely that expression that stoked Kiana's anger even more.
Even during dinner, they remained like this. Yu Luo and Mei Raiden exchanged looks, each seeing the helplessness in the other's eyes. They could only sigh deeply.
Fortunately, there had been too much fighting today, and Kiana soon grew tired. She unconsciously leaned against Yu Luo's shoulder and fell asleep. Bronya was also sound asleep with her head resting on Mei's lap. At last, the lounge became quiet.
Yu Luo gently carried Kiana to the bed and carefully laid her down. On the other side, Mei Raiden carried Bronya over as well, laying her beside Kiana. The single bed was instantly packed full by the two of them.
Yu Luo looked around the lounge. Aside from the bed, there was only one sofa for resting. Clearly, only one of Yu Luo and Mei Raiden could take it.
"How about..." Mei Raiden blushed as she was about to speak, but Yu Luo cut her off.
"You get some rest. I'll go up to the roof for some air." Yu Luo pointed at the two sleeping girls on the bed and smiled at Mei Raiden. "Those two have given me a headache from all their arguing."
"Alright, then. Be careful." Mei Raiden said nothing more, only gently reminded him. Her words warmed Yu Luo's heart. He nodded and casually closed the lounge door behind him.
Sitting at the edge of the battered rooftop, Yu Luo quietly looked over the deathly silent Changkong City. There were no lights representing human civilization, only walking corpses that had long since died, along with the occasional gigantic monster appearing beneath the deep night sky.
"Are you in your post-nut clarity phase again?" the system's voice rang out in Yu Luo's mind.
Yu Luo took out a pack of cigarettes he had swiped from the lounge, took a deep drag, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke before slowly replying, "Yeah."
There was no one else on the rooftop besides him. He liked speaking aloud to the system. Maybe it made him feel that the system wasn't just something his split personality had imagined.
"I keep wondering whether I'll wake up tomorrow and find that the past two days were just a dream." Yu Luo chuckled, the ember at the end of his cigarette flickering. "Kiana, Mei Raiden, and Bronya might just be fantasies I made up to satisfy an otaku's hormones."
"Who can say?" For once, the system didn't bicker with Yu Luo or mock him. Instead, it said seriously, "Maybe Nyarlathotep is the mastermind behind the Honkai. Or maybe you and I are just a bubble belonging to Yog-Sothoth?"
"Heh, why would unknowable Outer Gods care about ants like us?" Yu Luo laughed, though he felt much better than before. "That's true. Real or fake, I just need to do what I want to do. Why think about so much messy nonsense?"
As if responding to Yu Luo's mood, cherry blossoms suddenly began drifting from the sky, swept high into the air by the fierce wind. Yu Luo reached out, and a snow-white blossom fluttered down into his palm. A bright, magnificent flash of blade light passed through the corner of his eye.
"What was that?!" Yu Luo hurriedly turned his head. A monster as large as a two-story building crashed to the ground. A girl in a kimono elegantly sheathed her sword, with a pair of long ears atop her head. The night was too dark for him to make out anything more.
The girl seemed to notice Yu Luo at the rooftop's edge. Standing at the boundary between moonlight and shadow, her lips moved twice as if she were saying something. But the distance was too great for her voice to carry. Fortunately, Yu Luo had learned lip-reading for certain reasons before, and he could tell what she was saying.
"Long time no see?" Yu Luo was confused. He was certain he had never met this girl, much less knew why she would say such a thing. Yet after speaking those words, the long-eared girl in the kimono vanished without a trace, leaving Yu Luo to keep his doubts to himself.
"Forget it. Time to go back and rest. Tomorrow will probably be another day of fighting." Yu Luo rose from the rooftop's edge and walked toward the lounge, thinking, I hope we can leave Changkong City safely.
"Today, the United Nations issued a statement confirming that an infectious disease, BH, has broken out in Changkong City..." In the plaza, the giant screen was still dutifully broadcasting the news. But those watching below were no longer humans—only walking corpses.
"Dead things shouldn't block the road. Move!" Kiana sprinted over, firing the Electromagnetic Hand Cannon in her hand at the middle of the street. An orange beam burst from the barrel and pierced through the entire street, tearing every Zombie Girl standing in its path to pieces.
Mei Raiden and Yu Luo ran behind Kiana as well, as though something terrifying were chasing them.
Boom! The small building behind them collapsed with a thunderous crash. A massive sphere shot toward them with unstoppable force. The three dodged it in a panic, and the giant screen that had been broadcasting the news was pierced straight through by the sphere.
Roar! An inhuman howl sounded behind them. A monster as large as a two-story building crawled out of the ruins of the collapsed structure. It had thick limbs, a white body covered in pink patterns, and didn't look ferocious at all—if anything, it seemed rather goofy. But the three fleeing for their lives knew exactly how terrifying this thing was.
"Damn it, it's been chasing us the whole way! Why won't it give up?!" Kiana said furiously.
"Kiana, watch out!" Mei Raiden warned. The massive monster completely ignored the concrete buildings. An elevated pedestrian bridge was ruthlessly smashed apart in midair, sending debris flying and nearly hitting Kiana.
"You pervert who keeps following girls around!"
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