"Hmph!"
"Big Bar from the Upper District, it's time to change your perspective. If you compare the lives of people in the Lower District with the poverty in the Upper District, I suggest you go ask Natasha to examine your brain."
"You don't think that being unable to eat your fill or dress warmly is the Lower District's only hardship, do you? In reality, for the sake of survival, what you see as a simple meal might be enough to exchange for several days' worth of heating supplies. Or, simply to survive, it might be traded for food that's even harder to swallow, enough to keep a family alive for a week."
Bronya stopped arguing. Seeing so many people treating the food Kiana had given them as precious treasures, wrapping it up and tucking it against their chests instead of eating it, she finally understood just how difficult life was for the people of the Lower District.
"Um, it's actually not quite that bad. It's just that these pastries are too precious. I want to take them home for the children to try. After all, those children were born in a place like this and have never eaten anything like it."
She had originally been just an Underworld Fire logistics worker. Seeing Seele describe things so gravely, she had wanted to explain that, even though Bronya's clothes had given away her identity, the Lower District had not yet reached such a dire state.
But it would have been better if she had not explained. Her explanation only made Bronya feel even more ashamed.
Especially after hearing so many people mock the Supreme Guardian and criticize the Upper District, Bronya could not even find the words to refute them.
"All right, we're here."
Seele reached the Elevator Platform first. The vagrants who had been plotting to attack the miners saw her charging toward them with her scythe and immediately abandoned their weapons and fled.
"What is this thing?"
Seele picked up a battered robot from the ground. Thinking it was a special machine brought by Svarog, she was just about to destroy it when it suddenly spoke.
"You're the thing! Your whole family are things!"
"It looks like a product of the Interastral Peace Corporation. But it can still produce sound? The quality is pretty good."
"Beep-boop. You know about the Interastral Peace Corporation? That's great.
Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Richard, the Home Finder, version 0.63, Expert Type, Annual Deluxe Edition. My nickname is Chadbao."
This kid really was interesting.
Seeing that part of the object and some of its components were damaged and that it needed repairs, everyone turned their eyes toward Kiana.
"Why are you all looking at me? Don't tell me you think I can repair it?"
"No, but why don't you give it a try? And do you have any suitable tools in your warehouse?"
"I do have some, but..."
Kiana rummaged through it and indeed found the Home Temporary Repair Guide for the Home Finder, along with some replacement parts.
But there was a problem.
"Damn it. The Home Finder has already gone through more than a hundred generations. Chadbao is still the original test machine model. The parts don't match."
"So it can't be repaired?"
"It can't."
Seeing Kiana say that, March 7th lost interest as well.
"Then throw it away. There's a trash can nearby."
"A trash can!"
Seeing Stelle's eyes light up, Kiana could not help complaining. "Stelle, stop getting so excited every time you see a trash can. Do you really think you'll find rare supplies in there? Or repair tools?"
Kiana had just reached out to grab Stelle and stop her from running off when March 7th took her soft hand and interlocked their fingers, stopping Kiana's movement.
Kiana: ?
Looking into March 7th's eyes, Kiana seemed to guess what she was thinking and could not help twitching the corner of her mouth.
"March, don't tell me you really think Stelle can find something in a trash can."
"Mm-hm."
Seeing March 7th nod, Kiana almost lost her composure.
March 7th's explanation was even more ridiculous.
"As everyone knows, there's always an antidote near a venomous snake. So there must be spare parts near broken things. Besides, didn't you say it yourself? Don't believe in common sense. I believe in you, too."
Setting aside what kind of common sense that was, Kiana did not know how to complain. She believed in herself, but March 7th could not seriously think that something Kiana had casually said would mean Stelle could actually find something.
"Found something!"
Kiana watched Stelle pull all sorts of things from the trash can that absolutely should not have been there and fell silent.
Bronya also looked toward Seele.
Her expression seemed to say: "Were you lying to me earlier? Didn't you say supplies were scarce and weapons were in short supply? Why can she find perfectly packaged food and all kinds of weapons in a trash can?"
Seele was curious as well. She had never searched the Lower District's trash cans, but she could be certain that supplies really were scarce down here. At the very least, no one would throw food and weapons into them.
But Stelle ignored the food and weapons, merely taking them out and setting them aside. Instead, after finding a box, she carried it over to the robot.
As expected, the box contained various parts and the tools needed for repairs. Unfortunately, the parts still did not match.
Seele arranged for some Underworld Fire members to send the food they had found back to town, while those unwilling to leave carried the weapons.
After all, although they were called weapons, most were old-fashioned flintlock guns. As long as one kept a certain distance, their power and accuracy would drop sharply. Still, they were quite useful for self-defense.
"By the way, why do I feel like we've forgotten something?"
March 7th watched the members begin distributing the weapons, then looked at her companions. She felt as though something was missing, but she could not remember what.
Meanwhile, in the Fighting Club in the distance, the host raised Dan Heng's right hand and loudly announced to the crowd below the stage:
"Congratulations to our newcomer, Cold-faced Little Azure Dragon, on achieving seventeen consecutive victories! Can he break the Fighting Club's winning streak record and claim both the Rookie King and Streak King titles?"
"Oh!!!"
Since everyone was equipped with weapons, whenever they encountered vagrants trying to take advantage of the chaos or saw a conflict break out along the road, those vagrants would notice that Seele and the other members leading the group were armed and flee without putting up a fight.
Thus, they successfully rescued all the miners.
After Kiana gave several miners simple first aid, some members who had originally been miners escorted them back. Only a few miners and Underworld Fire members remained behind.
They had not gone far when they found a damaged mine cart blocking the track.
"What should we do?"
Seele and March Ling Seven tried to push it, but the mine cart seemed to be made of some unknown material. It was lodged perfectly in place, and no matter how hard they pushed, it did not budge.
Seeing this, Chadbao, the Home Finder from earlier, climbed out of Stelle's pocket, intending to demonstrate its value.
Unfortunately, just as it appeared, the problem had already been solved.
"I have to admit, spatial abilities really are useful."
Kiana used her ability to move the mine cart aside.
"Beep-boop?"
Chadbao was stunned. Chadbao fell silent. Chadbao crawled back into Stelle's pocket and began pretending to be dead.
But after they followed the road and reached the depths of the mining area, they saw Oleg, whose expression looked somewhat strange.
"Boss, these people came looking for you. Oh, right, Sampo brought them here. He said they came from outside the planet? Huh? Where's Sampo?"
But when Seele turned around, she found that Sampo had disappeared at some point. He had clearly still been with the group at the entrance, yet somehow he had vanished without anyone noticing.
"Sampo brought them here? Is it that girl from over there, the one wearing the Silver Mane Iron Guard Uniform?"
"She seems to have been kidnapped. I'm talking about the person over there."
Seele pointed toward Kiana, who was surrounded by the crowd. March 7th tried to pull Kiana away, but every time she took a step, the crowd followed. With no other choice, March 7th gave up and stayed with Kiana in the center of the crowd, forced to enjoy everyone's adoration.
"Weren't there four people? Where are the other two?"
"One of them seems to have been tricked by Sampo into going to the Fighting Club. He isn't here. As for the other one—oh, there she is."
Seele pointed toward a trash can some distance away.
At that moment, Stelle had just finished searching through it for supplies. Feeling that someone was talking about her, she poked her head out of the trash can and looked toward Seele and Oleg.
"This kid really is interesting..."
Oleg felt that life had become incredibly surreal today. First, they had discovered a large amount of Geomarrow, only to end up clashing with the vagrants because of Svarog.
After finally resolving that, he found that every person Seele had brought with her was distinctive in some way.
"Iron Guard Girl, Seele said you came from the Upper District and had never understood the Lower District's current situation. Now that you've seen the real Lower District, what do you think?"
"The Supreme Guardian, she must..."
Bronya still wanted to defend her mother. But along the way, whether they were miners, Underworld Fire members, or vagrants, they had all made one thing clear: a large part of their current suffering was because of Cocolia.
So in the end, Bronya did not finish speaking.
Seele: Do You Dislike My Clothes?
"Forget it, Iron Guard Girl. We'll talk about your matters after we return to town."
"Seele, I want to talk with those people. Introduce me to them."
Seele squeezed through the crowd and came to Kiana's side, explaining that Oleg wanted to have a proper talk with them.
That was exactly why Kiana had come here, so she did not refuse.
However, once the two sides began discussing matters, Oleg felt that perhaps he had been too hasty and should have waited until they returned to town.
He had originally worried that, as the public leader of Underworld Fire, he might make the outsiders feel pressured. That was why he had asked Seele to leave and take Bronya around nearby.
But now, it seemed he should have been worried about himself instead.
I should have known better than to let Seele leave. Why do I feel like they're the leaders of Underworld Fire and I'm the outsider?
Oleg had been distracted for only a moment when he heard Kiana apparently ask him something.
"Sorry, I was distracted. What did you say?"
"The Stellaron? Sorry, only the City Builders should have the authority to access information like that. Perhaps Svarog knows something. But if, as you say, the Stellaron was the culprit behind everything, then several hundred years have probably passed already. I can go back and look through the ancient records and help you investigate it first."
After Oleg finished speaking, he hurriedly prepared to lead everyone back to town.
It was not for any other reason than the fact that all the Underworld Fire members and miners were now standing behind Kiana. Even the members who had arrived here with him first had moved to Kiana's side after hearing about her deeds.
It gave Oleg the illusion that he had been overthrown.
Oleg did not care much about power. He had only become Underworld Fire's public leader because there had been no better candidate. Still, seeing his familiar comrades stand behind someone who had only just arrived made him feel strange.
With Oleg's introduction, they returned to town, where Seele led everyone to the Goethe Grand Hotel.
Bronya had changed into a set of casual clothes and was now standing beside Seele.
"Miss Seele, thank you for the clothes."
"You really know how to flatter people, missy. But don't use the honorific. It sounds strange. Your Iron Guard uniform was too conspicuous. I only gave you these because I was worried you'd cause trouble for us."
Seeing Seele's tsundere expression, Kiana could not help raising the corners of her mouth.
Sure enough, no matter which world they were in, Seele and Bronya would always form a bond.
"But..."
"But what? Do you think my clothes are dirty?"
"No, no."
Bronya hurriedly waved her hands, worried that Seele had misunderstood. Seeing that Seele was not truly angry, she cautiously voiced her trouble.
"It's just... um..."
Bronya's upbringing left her unsure how to explain the current situation. She could only turn her thoughts over anxiously as she looked at herself in the hotel mirror.
She and Seele were wearing matching outfits. Their heights and figures were not much different, so there was no issue with the clothes not fitting.
Fortunately, it was Honkai: Star Rail Bronya and Honkai: Star Rail Seele. If it had been Honkai Impact 3rd, who knew how much she would have had to stuff into the front to keep it from looking flat?
Kiana had just finished arranging the rooms and was about to go out for a stroll when she noticed that Bronya's door was open. Since there was no sound from inside, she assumed Bronya had gone out and forgotten to close it, so she planned to shut it for her.
But when she poked her head in, she discovered someone inside.
Seeing Bronya's current outfit, Kiana did not hesitate to offer her praise and gave a thumbs-up at the sight before her.
"Hot pants with black stockings. Fantastic!"
Seele heard Kiana's voice as well. Her gaze moved down from Bronya's face to her lower body.
Hot pants, black stockings, and thigh-high boots.
Seele inhaled sharply. Why was it that the same outfit looked practical and capable on her, but so alluring on Bronya?
Bronya's face flushed bright red.
Before you continue