Star Rail, Becoming Kiana at the Start

Chapter 68: What? Durandal?

She thought she would recover soon.

Just like her Herrscher form on Herta Space Station back then, or Bronie's form on the train.

Each time, the duration was counted in minutes.

But this time, Ling had been kidnapped long ago, and while she was chatting with Kafka, she had shrunk. Now, the sky was gradually dimming, and she still hadn't returned to normal.

Everyone, please don't complain about the time or the weather. It's for the plot. I don't know if the Luofu is dark or not, or what time it gets dark, but for the sake of the plot, it can only be set this way.

"Could it be Aha's doing again?"

As Kiana thought of this, she suddenly remembered she still had two chances to ask Aha for help. She felt it would be a waste to use them just for asking questions.

"Forget it, let's see if I can change back tomorrow. If not, I'll just waste one. Being powerless is quite troublesome."

Fortunately, she could still use the power of the Path.

"Haha, I won!"

A pleasant voice came from not far away.

Kiana followed the sound and found four people gathered together playing cards.

Even from the background alone, Kiana was certain one of them was Qing Que.

As for the other three, although Kiana didn't know who they were, judging by their attire, they should all be "civil servants" from various departments of the Luofu.

Kiana checked the time and realized that although the sky was already dim, it wasn't yet time to get off work.

So, she had caught four people slacking off and playing cards during work hours?

Kiana tiptoed and approached Qing Que.

Fortunately, this wasn't a formal Mahjong table, but just a pavilion for tourists to rest. This also made it convenient for Kiana to watch their game.

Meanwhile, March 7th and Stelle, who had been following Diting around all day, returned to the hotel.

After telling Mr. Ouyang about their day, March 7th noticed that Mr. Ouyang's expression had become strange again.

She felt like she had been seeing this expression a lot lately.

Back when Kiana first arrived, when Kiana said something like, "Although I'm not good at this, I can be your father," Mr. Ouyang always had that expression.

"Durandal? Give me a moment to process this."

First Himeko, then Kiana, and then seeing Bronya and Seele. During the final battle in Belobog, Kiana and Stelle's words reminded Mr. Ouyang of someone who was crowned the Savior.

This journey, according to Kiana, might even involve meeting her "old friend." Now they were telling her Durandal had also appeared.

Fine, fine, after all these years.

The Honkai is still chasing me, is that it?

Fine, you want to play like this, do you?

Seeing Mr. Ouyang on the verge of madness, March 7th suddenly felt a little scared.

But Himeko wasn't here now, and neither was Pom-Pom.

Kiana had also been kidnapped.

March 7th realized she had nowhere to run. She couldn't possibly hide behind this newborn child, could she?

"What's wrong with Uncle Ouyang?"

"I don't know. Could it be that we didn't invite him to watch Guinaifen and Sushang's performance?"

But upon hearing Sushang's name, the last straw for Mr. Ouyang snapped.

"I feel like Uncle Ouyang is really scary right now. I'm going out for some fresh air."

"Okay, then I'll go back to my room to rest."

March 7th left the inn and wandered the streets, while Stelle returned to her room.

She looked at a message from an unknown contact.

Greatest Hacker: Durandal is Kiana, she just shrunk and wants to cause trouble.

Stelle: Huh? Who are you? How do you know? Why are you telling me this?

But after sending the message, there was only a red exclamation mark and some text.

Friend verification for Greatest Hacker.

Stelle really wanted to jump into the screen, find the sender's location through the network, and confront them.

She wanted to hold a baseball bat to their head.

"Are you the kind of person who speaks in riddles and only says half the story? All riddlers and half-talkers, die!"

But this group message was quite important. March 7th wasn't here, so Stelle went downstairs to find Mr. Ouyang.

By this time, Mr. Ouyang's mindset had already adjusted. Durandal and Sushang? What kind of storms hadn't he weathered?

What difference would it make if you sent a few more?

Even Otto...

Fine, I can't stand this Ouyang anymore.

"Uncle Yang, look at this."

Ouyang took the phone Stelle handed over and carefully read the short message on it.

The frown that was originally on his brow suddenly relaxed a bit.

"Ah, group chat, this is really too much. Then Stelle, forward this message to VI March 7th, this way she can rest assured, at least she can confirm Kiana is fine. Maybe she just wants to have some fun."

But soon, a new account sent a picture.

Just as Ouyang was about to close the message interface and return the phone to Stelle, he accidentally touched the wrong spot and opened the new message. A picture appeared before both of them.

The white-haired ball of fluff is a liar, all sad, not sweet at all: picture.jpg

The picture opened, showing the scene of their meeting at the time.

They didn't know where the other party took the photo from, as it perfectly avoided the surrounding passersby.

In the photo, March 7th was holding a pink sack and standing quietly behind Kiana.

And looking at her expression, March 7th's smile reminded Ouyang of someone.

Ouyang's previously relaxed brows furrowed again.

"Forget it, let's not tell March 7th about this. I'm afraid March 7th will be arrested then."

Ouyang was genuinely worried that if March 7th found out about this, she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

She would probably go out directly with the sack.

And then the next day, a team of Cloud-to-Guard would come to investigate.

Meanwhile, inside the pavilion, Qing Que still hadn't noticed Kiana beside her.

It was hard to say whether Kiana had low presence, good stealth skills, or if Qing Que was just too focused on her game.

Only a few cards were left in the deck. If another round passed with no winner, the game would end.

Five, four, three.

It was finally Qing Que's turn, and only the last card remained in the deck.

Kiana realized that all four players had already formed a waiting hand, and they were all waiting to see if Qing Que would draw the last card for a "moon retrieving from the bottom of the sea" win, or if she would cause others to "pay the price," or if it would be a "yellow Zhuang" and start a new round. Was it called "yellow Zhuang"? She played too many games, and many terms were mixed up.

"One-strip, one-strip, one-strip!"

As Qing Que drew the last card, she kept muttering, her eyes closed, holding the last hand of cards to her chest, like a devout believer.

At this moment, the sound of footsteps came from behind.

Kiana turned her head and saw a familiar figure she had only met yesterday, walking towards her step by step with a strange smile.

Chapter 69: Could it be that I have a "Mom" skill?

"One-strip! I win! Moon retrieving from the bottom of the sea!"

The last card was revealed, and it was indeed the one-strip Qing Que needed.

Qing Que's face lit up with joy, and she placed the one-strip on the table, pushing the cards in front of her.

A pure hand of one-strips.

Seeing the strange expressions on the faces of the three other players, Qing Que just assumed they were a bit dejected seeing her win with such a large hand.

But a familiar voice came from behind Qing Que at this moment.

"Oh? One-strip, right? Moon retrieving from the bottom of the sea, right?"

"Qing Que!"

"Yes!"

As the familiar voice called out, Qing Que forgot everything else and stood up from her seat, her body tensing.

She had already thought of how to explain her slacking off and playing cards, and why she would be here during work hours.

"Supreme Diviner, I really wasn't slacking off. This is for work, yes, for work!"

"Oh? This Seat would like to hear, you were doing what kind of work that required you to sneak out and play cards during work hours?"

"Ah..."

"Supreme Diviner, isn't this also for the stability of the Luofu?"

"Look, my work is done. During my leisure time, I thought about why the Fox Clan's ears suddenly became like that yesterday. I'm investigating the reason. Look, my card partners, ah, no, the three colleagues I invited are all young members of the Fox Clan."

"Qing Que, do you think this Seat will believe you?"

"Supreme Diviner..."

Qing Que wanted to beg for mercy, but Fu Xuan jumped up, grabbed Qing Que, and prepared to take her back for overtime.

Sigh, Qing Que was good at everything except for slacking off.

Even though she was new, her work efficiency was more effective and rigorous than that of veterans who had worked for decades.

She had even intended to pass on the position of Supreme Diviner of the Divination Department to Qing Que when she became General, letting Qing Que take over her role.

But this girl slacked off every day and always barely passed her evaluations.

It gave Fu Xuan a headache.

It made her, the Supreme Diviner, go to Shence Manor every day to supervise General Jing Yuan to not slack off, and then find the slacking Qing Que before leaving work.

"Ah, I'm so tired!"

The three card-playing friends Qing Que had found exchanged glances. Seeing that the Supreme Diviner Fu Xuan had no intention of paying them any mind, the trio chose to slip away.

After all, it was still working hours, and they didn't want to get themselves involved.

"Huh? Who is this child?"

Fu Xuan had been too busy catching Qing Que slacking off, and Qing Que's attention had been on the card game and Fu Xuan. Only after her three friends left did she notice a little girl standing behind her for some reason.

"Qing Que, do you know this child?"

"No, I don't. Didn't she come with the Supreme Diviner?"

Fu Xuan was about to ask, but Qing Que had already stepped forward and squatted down in front of Kiana.

"Little sister, what's your name?"

"My name is... Durandal. Hello, big sisters."

Kiana had originally wanted to say her real name, but with Fu Xuan here, she might connect some dots. So, Kiana once again used the name of the silly bird.