Star Rail, Starting as Kiana Chapter 4

"Oh! We'll go deal with the Doomsday Beast right now!"

If it were before, March 7th might not have been so bold, but now things were different—Herta had authorized Himeko to use the orbital cannon in the comms. A tiny Doomsday Beast was nothing to worry about.

But March 7th's cheer was cut short by Himeko beside her.

"March 7th, don't mess around."

Pulling back March 7th, who had wanted to watch the fireworks up close, Himeko calculated roughly what damage using the orbital cannon right now would cause.

After the calculation, Himeko chose to give up.

"Forget it, Asta. We'll head to the Platform first. If a fight breaks out there, the losses should be much smaller. Even if we have no choice but to activate the orbital cannon, the destruction will be less."

"I'm counting on you, Himeko."

Watching Himeko lead Stelle and March 7th away, Dan Heng picked up his spear while using his other hand to update Ouyang on the situation.

Kiana wanted to follow too—after all, she'd never seen a living Doomsday Beast before.

The legendary planet-killing weapon. Even though the combat power of Emanators was often measured in planets, the only one she knew was Herta, and Herta wouldn't let her true body appear just because Kiana was interested.

But before Kiana could take two steps, she was grabbed by the scruff of her neck.

Seeing Asta tugging at the collar of her Staff Uniform, holding a special tape in her other hand, Kiana sensed trouble.

Too bad—by the time she wanted to run, it was already too late.

By the time Kiana caught up with the group, March 7th looked curiously at the pink cartoon tape sealing Kiana's mouth, immediately pulled out the camera hanging at her waist, and planned to take a photo as a souvenir.

After snapping the picture, she tugged at Kiana, who looked like a salted fish that had lost all its dreams, and asked what happened.

"Kiana, what did you do to make Asta mad this time? She even taped your mouth shut. But we're not in the Master Control Zone anymore—why don't you just tear it off?"

Kiana wanted to speak, but with her mouth sealed, all she could do was let out muffled whimpers.

Helpless, Kiana pulled out her phone, typed something, and handed it to March 7th.

It was a new product from the Interastral Peace Corporation, specially developed for gagging—it didn't harm the skin, and even claimed to beautify and moisturize. But once applied, it couldn't be removed for an hour unless exposed to high heat or a specific solution.

"Uh..."

March 7th was left speechless, wondering what the Interastral Peace Corporation was thinking all day. Would anyone actually buy this kind of product?

But then she remembered Asta's rumored identity—well, whether anyone bought it was no longer the point.

March 7th looked at Kiana Cat, who was like a ball of fluff with her mouth gagged and unable to yap freely. For some reason, she suddenly felt an urge to pet the cat.

But relying on her strong willpower—ha, March 7th didn't have that. Still, Kiana just shifted slightly and dodged March 7th's grabby hands.

Himeko watched the scene and decided that before leaving, she'd contact Asta for the link and buy a case to keep on hand.

This time it was a Doomsday Beast. Next time, if they ended up shouting at some existence they couldn't hope to fight, they'd be crying with no way out.

But since Stelle had also come to the Platform with them, the space station's alarms were gradually de-escalating.

By the time they reached the Platform, Asta in the Master Control Zone noticed that the warnings had completely disappeared.

Ouyang had been waiting there for a while, but when he saw the white-haired ball of fluff in the group with her mouth taped shut, even he couldn't help his lips twitching.

What scene hadn't he seen before?

This one, he really hadn't.

The battle ended anticlimactically. With Ouyang joining in and Himeko able to fight freely, the Doomsday Beast was quickly cleared without anyone taking damage.

To be honest, only Himeko, Ouyang, and March 7th fought. Himeko and Ouyang handled the damage, while March 7th provided support and interference from the rear.

As for Stelle and Kiana, they'd initially planned to fight too, but as the battle went on, they realized their attack range wasn't enough. So they retreated to the back and chose to watch the show.

"Stelle, want some?"

By now, the seal on Kiana's mouth had fallen off—she'd suddenly remembered she had spatial abilities, so this kind of thing couldn't stop her.

She pulled out two bags of chips and handed one to Stelle beside her.

Stelle didn't stand on ceremony and started eating directly.

They watched as the Doomsday Beast fell under their righteous beating, its core on the verge of destruction, its life nearing its end.

But in its final moments, the Doomsday Beast gathered the remaining power within its body and launched a desperate counterattack.

And the target was March 7th, who had collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.

"Watch out!"

Since March 7th walked the Preservation Path, she bore the responsibility of tanking damage and supporting the team, standing at the very front.

So even Himeko couldn't intervene in time.

March 7th thought she was about to be seriously injured, but when she opened her eyes, she found she hadn't taken any damage at all.

March 7th realized she was wrapped in a warm embrace.

She sniffed—a faint, pleasant fragrance entered her nose, leaving her mind a little dazed.

But for some reason, Kiana felt like something was missing around her.

Looking ahead, she saw that Stelle, who had been eating chips beside her, had somehow rushed forward and was standing right where March 7th had collapsed.

Watching March 7th, whom she had pulled over using her ability, Kiana could only sigh—the gears of fate were truly terrifying.

Fortunately, the space station's position wasn't March 7th's original spot, so the Doomsday Beast's attack didn't directly hit the Express crew member. Based on the trajectory, they'd most likely just be blasted away, not facing the Doomsday Beast's strike head-on.

"Ah, they won't be in trouble, will they?"

"Relax, it's not like the Doomsday Beast's attack can take a detour."

Ouyang created a miniature pseudo-black hole in front of him, just pulling the Express crew member toward himself, but when he heard March 7th and Kiana's voices, his heart couldn't help but race.

By the time he thought to speak up and stop it, it was too late.

The Doomsday Beast's charged attack had already arrived.

But absurdly, the attack seemed locked onto the Express crew member. Even though they had clearly left the Doomsday Beast's attack range, its final strike still chased after them.

What could the Express crew member say? Before passing out in a frenzy, they left behind only one instinctive word.

"Fuck!"

Chapter 7: Interastral Peace Corporation Account Deposit, 1 Billion Credit Points

"So... if I said I had nothing to do with it, would you believe me?"

But seeing everyone's expression—"Go on, we almost believed you"—Kiana ultimately swallowed her excuses.

Not far away, Silver Wolf looked at her handiwork and nodded in satisfaction.

"Close call, close call. Almost slipped off Elio's script. Mission complete. Let's go, time to head back."

With a few taps in the void, Silver Wolf opened a door to another world before the two of them. As they stepped through, everything came to an end.

Luckily, Kiana didn't end up taking the blame in the end.

Kafka and Silver Wolf hadn't deliberately hidden their tracks, so after they left, all their actions along the way were recorded by nearby surveillance.

Silver Wolf had even provocatively sprayed her signature graffiti right under many of the cameras.

"I told you it wasn't my fault! You didn't believe me! The surveillance is the proof! Whether it was running into Voidrangers around the corner or the Doomsday Beast's attack curving, it was all the Stellaron Hunters' doing!"

"But the Doomsday Beast..."

"Well, if the surveillance hasn't been tampered with, then everything about the Anti-Matter Legion's appearance is tied to the Stellaron Hunters, and their target was..."

At that point, Asta looked at the Express crew member.

Everyone else's gaze followed suit.

"Oh, right, Ms. Herta wants to see you."

Himeko said this to the Express crew member. Herta had just reconnected, partly to check on the one who had taken a Stellaron into their body, and partly to clean up the mess—after all, the Doomsday Beast's remains were a rare and valuable material.

"Mm, I'll go now."

As soon as the Express crew member left, Himeko and the others also departed. The Express crew's purpose here, aside from finding Kiana, was to deliver the curios Herta needed and restock supplies.

In the end, only Asta and Kiana remained.

"Kiana, how was it? Do you like the atmosphere on the Express crew?"

"Mm. Asta, I'll come visit you often."

"Alright, alright, don't make it sound like a farewell forever. It's not like you can't keep in touch by phone. Wait a moment, I'll send you some pocket money. If you ever run out, just let me know."

Kiana was about to say she didn't need it, but when she heard the phone notification, she held back her words.

Interastral Peace Corporation Account Deposit, 1 Billion Credit Points.

"Wah, Asta, you're the best."

"Alright, alright."

Asta pushed away Kiana, who was trying to hug her, and returned to her seat to start handling the follow-up work.

Kiana didn't linger either.

Like Asta said, it wasn't a farewell forever. If she wanted to come back, she could drop by every now and then.

A short separation only made the next reunion sweeter.

Just then, Kiana felt her phone vibrate. Opening it, she saw that Herta had added her back.

Herta: Come test.

Dominating Moon Sea Fish Fish Cat: ?

Herta: Simulated Universe. Come test.

Herta didn't explain further. No matter what Kiana sent after that, she only got Herta's auto-reply.

"Whatever, I'll go check it out."

As Kiana left.

Watching her walk into Herta's office, everyone suddenly burst into cheers.

"Yesss!"

Even though Kiana was adorable, not weak in strength, and even had plenty of fans, they were truly terrified of her blessed—or rather, cursed—mouth.

This was especially true for researchers currently working on projects, who were thrilled—after all, they no longer had to live in daily dread of running into Kiana and getting a sarcastic remark from her that exposed a flaw in their research.

They'd probably cry in their dreams.

Although Asta was uneasy about Kiana leaving, once she was sure Kiana had actually gone, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Because while others might only be worried, she was the real victim.

Thinking back to half a month ago, when she had taken Kiana to see the subject of her research—a planet unsuitable for life but stunningly beautiful in appearance—

Kiana had blurted out: "Wow, this planet's all red. But I read in a book the other day that this planet's lifespan is pretty long. It's not going to explode one of these days, is it?"

Asta's heart had skipped a beat at that moment, because studying that planet was one of her latest projects, and the one with the highest completion rate.

But she remembered that Ms. Herta had assigned her this project, so it couldn't be that coincidental, right?

Then, when Asta tried to continue her research the next day, she found it was gone. Completely gone.

That planet hadn't perished from reaching the end of its lifespan—instead, it had been blasted into rubble by the passing Anti-Matter Legion.

Fortunately, the space station had good soundproofing. By the time she entered Herta's office, Kiana hadn't heard the noise outside, or she would have given those guys a proper scolding.

"Herta, what did you call me here for?"

"Simulated Universe. Go test it."

In response to Kiana's question, Herta simply pointed at the equipment nearby, gesturing for Kiana to lie down inside.

But seeing Stelle beside her, and the surveillance footage of Stelle inside the Simulated Universe, Kiana wasn't in a hurry. Instead, she watched the interaction between Stelle and the Aeon within the Simulated Universe.

"Hurry up!"

Perhaps because Kiana's constant peeking around was distracting Herta, Herta stopped her work directly and turned to shout at Kiana.

But Herta's appearance didn't match that of an old stick-in-the-mud—it wasn't the kind of look that made people feel pressured—so Kiana felt Herta's shout was more like a coquettish complaint.

It wasn't until a purple hammer appeared in Herta's hand that Kiana reluctantly lay down inside.