Mei's Helplessness

"Please, have some tea."

After their previous conversation, Dong Moxuan was led into the house by Mei and sat on the sofa in her living room. Mei, dressed in her Senba Academy uniform, sat opposite him.

The young lady was now elegantly serving Dong Moxuan tea.

"So, you're saying you were a colleague of my father's from way back, and you came to Changkong City for work. But your bank card got frozen, you're penniless, and that's why you've come to rely on my father?"

Mei watched Dong Moxuan take a sip of his tea, but she didn't pour herself a cup. Her gaze was fixed on him, her tone laced with a hint of suspicion.

Just moments ago, Dong Moxuan had laid out his situation to Mei in full, only making minor adjustments to a few details. But that wasn't important.

"That's right."

Hearing Mei's words, Dong Moxuan put down his teacup, his expression turning serious.

The rest of their conversation would determine whether he'd be living with the gentle cook this month or out on the streets.

"When we worked together before, Brother Ryoma told me that if I ever ran into any trouble, I could come to him for help."

Too bad that guy can barely help himself right now!

As soon as Dong Moxuan finished speaking, such a dark thought flashed through Mei's mind.

However, she didn't show it. She simply looked at Dong Moxuan, her eyes full of suspicion.

"Then... do you have any proof that you're my father's friend?"

That's right, Mei didn't believe Dong Moxuan's story.

After all, any normal person wouldn't trust someone who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, claiming to be an acquaintance of their father, whom they'd never met before.

If Mei's sixth sense hadn't told her that Dong Moxuan wasn't lying, she probably wouldn't have bothered with him at all.

But sixth sense or not, if Dong Moxuan couldn't produce concrete evidence, Mei would dismiss his words as a lie.

As for whether bringing this unknown young man into her home was unwise...

Well, Mei was quite confident in her combat power.

Although Mei's strength at this moment was far from what it would be later in the story, it was still leagues beyond that of an ordinary person.

According to the manga's settings, Mei at the beginning of the story, even without using the Third Herrscher's power, was not much weaker than Kiana at that time.

And Kiana at that time was likely not much weaker than a B-rank Valkyrie.

While Mei's strength now might not be comparable to her strength at the beginning of the story, she could still handle an ordinary Honkai Beast.

Reality was nothing like a game. In games, for the sake of game experience and game balance, Honkai Beasts were roughly the same size as Valkyries.

Real-life Honkai Beasts were much closer to those in the manga.

As for the Honkai Beasts in the manga...

To put it mildly, the one that sent the Paramecium flying and directly caused Mei's Herrscher transformation, whether it was Temple-class or Knight-class, was dozens of meters tall. It looked like it had wandered over from an Ultraman set.

So, the Valkyries in this world were truly amazing...

And ordinary Honkai Beasts, if not dozens of meters, were at least seven or eight meters tall, right?

A seven or eight-meter-tall Honkai Beast, with one swing of its arm, could flatten Immortal Crimson Kite into a Divine Land pancake. And Mei could take down a Honkai Beast like that alone. Aren't you scared?

This was also the reason why Mei wasn't afraid that Dong Moxuan might be a bad person.

"I have proof!"

However, Dong Moxuan, this weak, pitiful, and helpless death warrior, truly had no ill intentions towards this future member of the Three Great Herrscher Families.

Facing Mei's doubt, he immediately declared that he had evidence.

"Look, this is a photo of me and Brother Ryoma together."

Saying this, Dong Moxuan pulled out a photo from his pocket and handed it to Mei.

Mei took the photo Dong Moxuan offered and, after just one glance, her expression froze.

"Mr. Dong Moxuan..."

Mei took a deep breath, as if suppressing her emotions.

She turned the photo to face Dong Moxuan, revealing a very awkward smile.

"This is the photo you're talking about?"

The photo indeed showed two people together. One of them was Dong Moxuan, but the other was not Raiden Ryoma. Instead, it was a voluptuous woman with long golden hair.

However, Raiden Ryoma's head had been crudely photoshopped onto her body, and the entire picture exuded a "high-skill" aura.

"Um..."

Seeing the dark-haired girl in front of him with a displeased expression, Dong Moxuan cautiously whispered, "Perhaps Brother Ryoma was working out a lot during that time, which is why his chest muscles looked so large?"

Mei: "..."

Seeing Mei open her mouth as if about to curse, Dong Moxuan quickly pulled out another photo from his pocket.

"Sorry, I accidentally grabbed the wrong one. It's this one."

"..."

Mei silently took the second photograph from Dong Moxuan's hand, remaining speechless.

Then, she saw Raiden Ryoma in the photo, and an old man in a black suit opposite him.

Hmm, this old man's head had been photoshopped to look like Dong Moxuan.

Mei: "..."

Dong Moxuan: "..."

They stared at each other for a long time. Seeing Mei on the verge of losing her temper and yelling, Dong Moxuan chuckled awkwardly and handed over a third photograph.

"..."

Taking the third photograph Dong Moxuan offered, Mei decided that if this one was like the previous two, she would kick this scoundrel out immediately.

However, Dong Moxuan seemed to know that Mei's emotions were already at their limit, so he stopped messing around. The third photograph he handed over was completely unedited. It indeed showed Raiden Ryoma and Dong Moxuan.

Raiden Ryoma was wearing a blue shirt, and Dong Moxuan was wearing a white lab coat. They had their arms around each other's shoulders, looking like close buddies.

"Hoo..."

Seeing that the guy in front of her had finally stopped messing around, Mei let out a deep sigh.

As a young lady from a good family with a proper upbringing, Mei had never lost her composure like this before.

It was just that the guy in front of her was too mischievous, making her want to hit him.

Could it be that he's truly a friend of her irresponsible father?

Just like her father, he's not a good person.

Due to a certain unscrupulous death warrior, her father's reputation in his daughter's eyes dropped another notch.

"Mhm, this photo is indeed correct."

Rubbing her temples with a hint of helplessness, Mei acknowledged Dong Moxuan's identity.

Although the photo in her hand could also have been photoshopped, Mei's intuition told her that Dong Moxuan wasn't lying.

Besides, whether Dong Moxuan was her father's friend or not wouldn't significantly impact her next decision.