Welt: Is Otto Dead? / Aha, You Wouldn't Want to Lose a Capable Assistant, Would You, Herta?

Kiana really did want to travel to various planets with the Express crew. She also wanted to see what sort of expression one of them would make upon seeing her.

"Hmm, then I'll wait at the Platform for a while."

For some reason, Kiana had a feeling that something was about to happen.

But she couldn't remember exactly what it was. After slacking off for a month, many of her memories from her original world had gradually faded. She would only recall them after seeing something related.

"Eh! Wait. Herta's new collection and the Express crew's arrival—this can't be such a coincidence, can it?"

Kiana suddenly remembered the beginning of everything, so she changed direction and decided to take a look at the Interastral Peace Corporation first.

But halfway there, she heard alarms ringing all around her. The warning bells sounded simultaneously everywhere, heralding the arrival of some impending event.

Quite a few Voidrangers had directly broken into Herta Space Station, which confirmed the current timeline for Kiana.

In fact, for the sake of safety, Kiana should have returned to the Master Control Zone or found a secure area to wait for everything to end.

But the Kaslana family bloodline made it impossible for her to ignore everything around her. Some staff members nearby had yet to evacuate, while the Voidrangers had already arrived.

Kiana's choice was to fight.

With a gunshot, the Voidrangers discovered that besides the few staff members in front of them, there was also a white-haired girl behind them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After several consecutive gunshots, the Voidrangers fell to the ground, becoming the first casualties.

Several staff members were just about to say something when Kiana interrupted them.

"You three, leave first. Contact the Security Department and meet up with them."

"Ms. Kiana, will you be all right by yourself?"

"Don't worry. They're only Voidrangers. Even if it's—"

Before Kiana could finish, she was interrupted.

"Don't jinx it. We trust your strength. Just say something auspicious."

Kiana said nothing more and merely rolled her eyes at him.

If I said the Great Lord of Destruction was coming, would it really show up? In the end, it would only be the Doomsday Beast. Otherwise, the ones panicking wouldn't be me, but the Stellaron Hunters.

Kiana planned to clear out the nearby Voidrangers first, then make her decision after March 7th and the other person arrived.

However, just after taking the elevator to the first floor, she encountered two familiar figures around the corner.

"Eh!"

Chapter 3—Uncle Yang: Is Otto Dead?

Before Kiana could even cry out her "eh," she vanished from the spot.

Kafka glanced at Silver Wolf, then at the place where Kiana had just appeared in front of them.

She found Kiana's identity in her memories.

Although it was already too late, she still gave Silver Wolf a brief reminder.

"Don't be so hasty next time. But where did you teleport her? If that little girl gets hurt, Herta might not care, but the station's master will certainly get angry and go berserk."

Silver Wolf popped the bubble gum in her mouth, then ran her pink tongue around her lips and drew the gum back into her mouth before answering Kafka.

"Relax. I only moved her to the Platform. There's nothing dangerous there, and those people from the Express are there too."

The two of them ignored the identity verification at the entrance and entered the Interastral Peace Corporation, finding their target inside Herta's storage room.

The Stellaron.

Kiana only felt the scene switch in an instant. With a blink, she had arrived at the Platform.

A train was currently stopped there.

"Ah, what a pity. Forget a complete Herrscher of the Void—even with only one core, I wouldn't have been teleported away so easily."

Complaining as she walked, Kiana headed toward the train.

Going back now was unrealistic. By the time she returned, the flowers would have wilted. She might as well go to the train and look for Himeko and Uncle Yang.

While sending Asta a message about what had happened, Kiana walked toward the train.

Kiana had thought she was late, but it seemed she had been too eager and had actually arrived early.

Just as she approached the train doors, they happened to open.

A pink-haired girl jumped straight out of the train.

"Phew, we're finally here!"

March 7th had thought no one was nearby.

But when she turned her head slightly, she spotted a white-haired girl in a Staff Uniform staring at her.

Because of that, March 7th lost focus for a moment. She failed to land properly and nearly fell to the ground.

March 7th closed her eyes, ready to meet the cold floor.

But no pain came. Instead, she felt an unusual warmth.

March 7th opened her eyes and discovered that she was being held in the arms of the staff member from before. The warmth came from her body.

"Are you all right?"

Looking at March 7th in her arms, Kiana couldn't understand why someone who clearly possessed the power of a Path would close her eyes when falling. Even after opening them, she only stared blankly at Kiana instead of getting up.

If March 7th's appearance hadn't been so conspicuous, Kiana would have suspected that some wealthy young lady had come here on vacation.

"Ah! Sorry, sorry!"

Hearing Kiana, March 7th hurriedly stood up, apologizing as she looked Kiana over.

There were many staff members here, and March 7th didn't know many of them. However, it was obvious that this Staff Uniform was of a high rank. It wasn't standard clothing; it looked more like something custom-made at great expense.

Not only did it fail to diminish Kiana's charm, it even softened her naturally heroic air, adding a touch of refined, scholarly elegance.

Asta: Hmph!

If someone like this existed, March 7th couldn't possibly have forgotten her.

Just as March 7th racked her brains trying to recall Kiana's identity, Himeko, who had gotten off behind her, recognized Kiana at a glance.

"Oh, it's you. Asta told me about you.

"But let's put that aside for now. Something seems to have happened on the Space Station. Can you tell us about it?"

Kiana briefly explained the situation. At the same time, Himeko contacted Asta, but interference seemed to be affecting the signal, making the communication intermittent.

"All right, I understand. She's with me. Yes, she's fine. She's safe."

Himeko ended the call with Asta, but her gaze at Kiana carried a hint of strangeness.

After all, according to Asta's description, Kiana was merely an immature child—a mischievous little stray cat.

Himeko had originally intended to resupply and assess Kiana. If she truly was as Asta had described, Himeko could only find an excuse to decline her.

But now, it seemed Asta was acting like an overprotective mother who always believed her own child was lacking in one way or another.

After meeting Kiana this time, however, Himeko felt that both Kiana's mentality and her abilities had reached the standard she had expected.

Dan Heng said nothing after getting off the train. He merely took out his weapon and remained on guard.

As for Uncle Yang, the last to appear, his brows furrowed the instant he saw Kiana. His grip on his cane tightened slightly.

Others might not know Kiana, but he did.

He was thinking to himself:

Why has she come here? Has she grown tired of being the Earth God, and decided to enter a Stargate like me and travel through the universe?

But Kiana's face still carried a trace of youth. Compared with the final form he had last seen on the moon, she looked completely different—more like she was still in her academy days.

Thus, Uncle Yang tentatively asked, "Kiana?"

"Mm."

"Is Otto dead?"

Kiana: ?

It wasn't only Kiana. The others also stopped what they were doing and looked at Uncle Yang in unison.

After all, what kind of devilish question was that? Asking whether someone was dead right at the start—what sort of grudge did they have?

Kiana understood Uncle Yang's thinking very well. If he wanted to determine her timeline, this was the simplest question.

If it was the beginning of her academy days or earlier, even if Otto was mentioned, the original Kiana wouldn't remember him. At most, she would think she had heard the name somewhere.

If it was after "The Last Lesson" but before Otto's death, Kiana would certainly have angrily said no.

"I don't know."

"Oh."

The others were curious about their conversation, but didn't ask further. Everyone aboard the train had their own secrets.

If the other person didn't bring them up, they wouldn't pry.

That applied not only to the Express's old-timer, Uncle Yang,

but also to the girl who might become their companion in the future—Kiana.

"You're still not going, Pa? With the Security Department's strength, will the Space Station really be fine, Pa?"

Only after Pom-Pom came out and complained did they stop chatting and begin walking while discussing the situation.

However, traveling together was too inefficient, so Himeko had March 7th head to the Interastral Peace Corporation with Kiana first. Dan Heng went to find Arlan of the Security Department, while Uncle Yang stayed on the train on standby.

Himeko herself cleared out the Voidrangers along the way as she headed toward the Master Control Zone.

None of them objected to Himeko's arrangements. After all, this was the optimal choice.

But after walking for a while, Kiana suddenly remembered something.

It seemed that because of her, the Express crew had learned about the Voidrangers' arrival ahead of time. However, she also had an access card, so she didn't need to find Asta first.

Perhaps Himeko had thought of this as well, which was why she had arranged things this way.

Chapter 4—Dominating Moon Sea Fish Fish Cat: Herta, You Don't Want to Lose a Capable Assistant, Do You?

"Eh? So you only just arrived, Kiana? And you used to spend all your time in the laboratory. No wonder I've never seen you."

Along the way, March 7th kept asking questions without the slightest worry.

After all, they were only Voidrangers. They posed no pressure to her.

As for Himeko, she advanced so quickly that they didn't see a single Voidranger—or even another person—the entire way.

"Mm. But didn't Himeko mention me to you?"

Asta and Himeko were in contact, and so was Herta.

Himeko should have told the others about this.

Hearing Kiana's question, March 7th couldn't help recalling what had happened the previous week.

It seemed that Himeko might have mentioned it, but no one had paid attention.

Seeing March 7th's reaction, Kiana guessed what had happened.

"Forget it. Let's go. Stay alert, and watch out for ambushes around the corners."

"How could th—"

March 7th then discovered that several Voidrangers had suddenly appeared around the previously empty corner.

Seeing the look March 7th gave her, Kiana felt slightly embarrassed.

Her ability was unreliable when saying nice things, but when used as a jinx, it was frighteningly accurate.

Fortunately, there weren't many of them. With March 7th, she could handle them easily.

After the battle ended, however, March 7th looked at Kiana's weapon with some confusion.

"Handguns? But Kiana, why do you fight so close to the enemy? Shouldn't you keep your distance when fighting with firearms?"