Star Rail, Starting as Kiana

"This is a family heirloom Gun Fu technique."

"Oh."

March 7th thought of something, directly clenched her right fist and tapped it against her palm, putting on an expression that said she understood.

"Not the kind where bullets curve."

"It's not?"

Kiana looked at March 7th's expression and guessed what she was thinking—after all, this wasn't the first time she'd seen that look.

But the Kaslana family's Gun Fu really did have some issues, since it was a combat technique designed to match the Sacred Relic of the Heavenly Fire. Using it with just an ordinary handgun felt pretty awkward.

Fortunately, Kiana didn't talk much along the way, and they made it through without too much trouble.

When the two took the elevator down to the first floor, arrived at the Interastral Peace Corporation, and saw the gray-haired girl already lying on the floor—

Because Dan Heng, the voice of reason, wasn't around, the two of them directly lifted Stelle up and propped her against the wall nearby.

"Why is she sleeping here? Is she okay?"

Kiana didn't speak, just quietly watched. As expected, Stelle woke up quickly.

"Who are you?"

Stelle rubbed her head, unable to sort out her thoughts, not knowing what was going on.

"I'm Kiana, and this is March 7th."

"I'm Stelle. Sorry, it seems I've lost my memory."

"Stelle, you don't need to apologize. After all, the beginning of your memory is meeting me—let's make this encounter a beautiful one."

Kiana reached out her hand, intending to pull Stelle up.

But the moment Stelle's hand touched hers, Kiana instantly felt her spatial control ability improve.

The increase was small, but this was the first time Kiana had felt any growth since gaining her power.

"Um..."

Stelle hesitated, unsure if she should speak and ask Kiana to let go, but seeing Kiana spacing out a little—

Stelle thought Kiana was lost in thought about her own identity, so she didn't pull her hand back, letting Kiana follow her train of thought.

Stelle also had a little selfish motive: lying on the floor earlier, even though the space station's floor wasn't cold—it was actually warm—the moment she touched Kiana, she felt like she was soaking in a hot spring.

Her whole body felt warm and cozy.

"Ah, sorry, I was thinking about something."

"It's fine."

March 7th looked at the two of them suspiciously. For some reason, she felt they had a lot in common, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

After all, they were both protagonists from the same company.

Even after letting go, Kiana still felt her power growing inside her, though she didn't know if it was because of the Stellaron or Stelle's uniqueness.

While March 7th watched Kiana lost in thought, she stepped forward, taking Kiana's place in front of Stelle, and started asking about her situation.

Kiana listened while making a decision.

Originally, joining the Express crew was just something Kiana had casually mentioned. But now, if she didn't want to just coast through life from now on, joining the crew might be a good opportunity to grow stronger.

"Kiana, let's go meet up with everyone first. I feel a bit creeped out staying here surrounded by all these strange curios."

"Alright, follow me."

Watching Stelle grab a baseball bat from the side for self-defense before leaving, Kiana was curious—was this bat left behind by Kafka or Silver Wolf? And why a baseball bat?

Along the way, since they'd cleared the path earlier, there were no dangers except for a few newly arrived Voidrangers.

When they reached the elevator, before March 7th could step forward, Kiana pulled out her ID card and swiped it at the elevator terminal.

"Kiana, you're back too! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

When Kiana and the others arrived at the Master Control Zone, Asta immediately left her original position and rushed over.

She looked Kiana up and down, as if trying to confirm whether she was injured.

If there weren't other people around, Asta might have even lifted Kiana's clothes to check every inch of her body.

"Asta, I'm fine. You know my strength. And there are people behind me. Be good, don't make a scene."

Only then did Asta notice the two people behind Kiana. She recognized March 7th, but the gray-haired girl was unfamiliar.

Asta was certain she wasn't a member of the space station.

But the current situation didn't allow Asta to dwell on it.

In just this brief exchange, countless new situations had emerged that required Asta, as the station master, to personally analyze.

"There are still ten waves of attacks expected. Sigh..."

Watching Asta coordinate between various control zones, Kiana wanted to help but didn't know what she could do. So she pulled out her phone and found a contact she'd never messaged before.

Dominating Moon Sea Fish Fish Cat: Herta, if you don't come back soon, Asta's not going to hold out. You don't want to lose a capable assistant, do you?

Herta: [Auto-reply] Hello, I'm busy right now, and I won't be contacting you later either.

Looking at the auto-reply Herta had set up, Kiana puffed out her cheeks and dug up a set of scare costumes she and Asta had bought while shopping before.

Originally meant to prank others, but since Asta was at the space station every day, they'd just changed into them for a couple of photos as a memento back then.

Now, it seemed time to pull out the trump card.

Chapter 5 Herta: ?

Watching Asta and Himeko still discussing how to contact Herta.

Himeko said, "I knew it... It's fine, I'll send Herta a message too, saying we brought the curio she wanted. At least that might catch her interest."

Kiana curled her lip.

She knew all too well how much Herta cared about curios—maybe a little, but not enough to prompt a direct reply.

Asta chimed in, "The space station is just her warehouse for followers and curios. She doesn't care at all."

Asta was only half right. If it were anyone else, Herta might truly not care, but if Asta were in trouble, Herta would definitely step in.

Even setting aside the vague, one-sided notion of a master-disciple bond others imagined between them, Asta's abilities alone meant Herta couldn't afford to lose her.

After all, under her command, people as capable as Asta were few and far between, and someone as hardworking, obedient, and free-spending as Asta was simply irreplaceable.

Kiana scrolled through her phone, pulling up a photo she'd saved before. Though taken on a phone, it was the latest model from the Interastral Peace Corporation, no less sharp than a professional camera.

She flipped through some solo shots of Asta—mummy, witch, skeleton costumes—and finally picked one of Asta in casual clothes wrapped in bandages with fake wounds, sending it to Herta.

Dominating Moon Sea Fish Fish Cat: image.jpg

Herta: ?

Herta: Wait for me.

Herta: Is Himeko with you? Tell her to use the orbital cannon. I authorize it!

On the other side of the galaxy, one of Herta's puppets was attending a meeting in her place. Bored, it happened to catch the message Kiana had sent.

At first, seeing the messages from Asta, Himeko, and Kiana, Herta paid no attention, merely ordering her scattered puppets in the space station to stir a little if something happened.

Then she saw the picture Kiana sent.

Herta slammed the table hard.

The researcher who was speaking thought he'd said something wrong and asked timidly, "Ms. Herta, did I make a mistake?"

Herta ignored him, frantically tapping her phone screen.

Three messages sent in a row, and she left with, "Let's end the meeting here. Send me the rest later, I'll skim it."

With that, Herta left.

When Herta connected to the nearest puppet in the Herta Space Station's Master Control Zone, she found the space station surrounded by a strange field.

But for Herta, it took only seconds to cut through and link to the puppet.

She'd thought the place would be a hellscape by now—how else could Asta have gotten hurt? But when she arrived, everything seemed no different from usual.

Researchers on the path smiled when they saw Herta.

But Herta ignored them, rushing straight to the center of the Master Control Zone. Seeing Asta unharmed, directing the scene, and Kiana beside her clutching her phone, Herta immediately understood what was going on.

It was panic clouding her judgment—Herta had forgotten she could just check the surveillance or make a call.

Now, she felt she'd been played.

"Ah, Ms. Herta, why are you here?"

Hearing Asta speak, Herta said grumpily, "Weren't you the ones looking for me? Whatever, since I'm here, I might as well clean up those pests in the space station."

Herta swiped in the air, and all the Herta Puppets in the space station awakened, each picking up a purple hammer and starting to clear out the Voidrangers inside.

After that, Herta shot Kiana a glare and logged off.

"Kiana, what did you do?"

None of them were blind, and Herta hadn't hidden her mood, so they all turned to Kiana.

Asta, especially, was curious. She and Himeko had gotten nowhere, so how had Kiana managed to actually summon Ms. Herta?

"Ah, don't worry about it. The ending's perfect, isn't it? With Herta's dolls handling things, unless a Doomsday Beast shows up..."

"Here, have some candy. Don't talk nonsense."

Asta quickly pulled a candy from her pocket, didn't even unwrap it, and shoved it straight into Kiana's mouth.

Afraid Kiana might keep talking and jinx things, Asta had shoved so hard she didn't notice her finger went in too.

When she pulled it out, a few silvery strands came with it.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Kiana coughed violently. She hadn't expected to get hurt by a Voidranger, but nearly reincarnated from Asta's candy.

"Ah, sorry, sorry, Kiana, are you okay?"

Ignoring the candy that Kiana had spit out, still wrapped in its outer skin, Asta quickly walked over and gently patted Kiana on the back.

The Express crew and Stelle watched this scene, finding it quite amusing.

Only Himeko, having learned about Kiana's mouth from Asta beforehand, understood it somewhat. Watching the red-marked danger zones on the console gradually shrink, Himeko felt her worries might have been unnecessary.

Warning!

High-energy alert!

Danger!

Just when everyone thought this crisis was over, and Herta's puppets had returned to their original posts to stand by after completing their tasks...

Before anyone could cheer, warning signs began frantically popping up on the screen in front of Asta.

Kiana had just taken a photo, planning to send it to Herta for further handling, when she noticed an exclamation mark appear next to the message she'd just sent.

Dominating Moon Sea Fish Fish Cat: image.jpg!

Kiana tapped it and found it wasn't a network issue—a prompt had appeared.

Herta has enabled friend verification. You are not yet their friend. Please send a friend request first. Once approved, you can chat. Send friend request.

Oh ho, deleted by Herta.

When the footage came through and everyone saw the Doomsbeast captured outside the Herta Space Station, they couldn't help but turn their gazes toward Kiana.

"Um... if I said this has nothing to do with me, would you believe it?"

"What do you think?"

Kiana felt completely innocent. It really had nothing to do with her—just her mouth running off—but now she had to take the blame.

Chapter 6: Don't Worry, It's Not Like the Doomsbeast's Attack Can Curve Around

Everyone looked at each other, and finally, with a sigh from Asta, since Herta was offline, she chose to seek help from the Express crew.

"Everyone from the Express crew, I'm counting on you."