Bronya, Enter the Stage!

"No internal issues, no Titans, we can proceed!"

On a street in Changkong City, Dong Moxuan peeked around cautiously, scanning his surroundings. Seeing no sign of Titans, he let out a small sigh of relief and led Mei out from a hidden corner.

"Jun Xuan, where do we go next?"

A full day had passed since Dong Moxuan revealed his identity as a death warrior to Mei.

As if some inner turmoil had been resolved, the faint Honkai Energy that used to linger around Mei had completely vanished. The "Honkai Will" that had often urged her on in her mind was also gone. Mei was now no different than she was before the Honkai outbreak.

However, as a price, Mei had also lost the ability to freely wield the power of the "Third Herrscher" as she could before. Still, Mei was already quite strong on her own, so she wouldn't be a burden.

At this moment, she stood obediently by Dong Moxuan's side, her expression gentle as she asked him.

"I studied the map for over an hour yesterday."

In response to Mei's question, Dong Moxuan pulled out a paper map of Changkong City from his pocket.

He pointed to a spot on the map and said with confidence, "If we can cross this bridge, we'll have covered almost half of Changkong City!"

"This is... Qinjiang Bridge?"

As a resident of Changkong City, Mei was familiar with the bridge Dong Moxuan was pointing at.

"That's right."

Dong Moxuan turned his head. From here, they could already see the silhouette of the bridge.

"We need to get to the other side of that bridge by this afternoon at the latest. Mei, you should have enough stamina, right?"

"Yes, no problem."

After receiving Mei's affirmative reply, Dong Moxuan took her hand and they quietly headed towards the bridge.

The Honkai infected weren't the main concern; the worry was being discovered by Cocolia's Titan mechs.

Meanwhile, a cute girl with silver braided pigtails was walking listlessly through the ruined streets of Changkong City, her hands clasped behind her head.

"Dong Moxuan..."

She softly mumbled the name of a certain silver-haired youth, her eyes practically overflowing with annoyance.

"That bastard..."

She muttered this softly while kicking pebbles by the roadside.

She didn't even know why she was so annoyed, but the events of yesterday were burned into her memory and refused to fade.

Although she didn't have many kind words for Dong Moxuan when facing him, it was undeniable that besides the elder who raised her, Dong Moxuan was the only person she cared about, the only one she could call a friend.

It was a shame that her friend didn't seem to need her.

Ever since that person left, she had returned to her state of being alone once more.

Humans were social creatures, and even for Kiana, the feeling of loneliness was ultimately not easy to bear.

"Porn轩, a guy like you who looks so sickly shouldn't be hanging around such a cute girl... Be careful not to overwork yourself to death... Huh? What's that?"

Recalling the intimate way Dong Moxuan and Mei had been yesterday, Kiana inwardly cursed Dong Moxuan to die of kidney deficiency from overwork.

However, Kiana had only cursed him for a few sentences before spotting the cautious figures of Dong Moxuan and Mei.

She had just been cursing him, and now she ran into the very people she was talking about. Kiana felt inexplicably guilty.

But looking at Dong Moxuan and Mei's demeanor, she couldn't help but furrow her brow slightly.

"What are those two sneaking around doing?"

After a moment of hesitation, Kiana quietly followed them.

"This... is Changkong City?"

Beside a shattered ruin in Changkong City, a girl with golden, waist-length hair, clad in blue and white armor, looked around and exclaimed.

"This devastation... truly worthy of the Honkai..."

As an S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, she was no stranger to the Honkai.

But no matter how many times she had seen it, she could never completely ignore the destruction caused by the Honkai.

"Indeed... such a thing as the Honkai should not exist in this world."

She mumbled softly and lightly tapped the device on her ear that resembled a Bluetooth headset.

"Reporting to Bishop Otto, I have arrived in Changkong City. The target location matches the intel exactly. No unexpected anomalies detected so far... Wait!"

"Emergency situation, halting communication temporarily."

With that, the girl lightly touched the device on her ear and smiled faintly as she looked at the pink-haired Miko-clad girl who had just bumped into her.

"Quasi-Herrscher?"

Hearing the girl's murderous tone, the Miko-clad girl instinctively gripped her sword hilt.

"Thump!"

On the Qinjiang Bridge in Changkong City, Dong Moxuan and Mei had already walked nearly half the way, and were about to reach the other side of the bridge.

However, just as he breathed a sigh of relief, several Titans suddenly emerged from the river on both sides of the bridge, surrounding Dong Moxuan and Mei.

"I knew it wouldn't be that easy..."

Dong Moxuan rubbed his temples in distress as he looked at the blue robots that had surrounded him.

"I say, Cocolia, do you have to be so persistent?"

"If not for our past relationship, how about letting us go this time?"

Titans "..."

However, no one answered him.

"Cocolia?"

Seeing this, Dong Moxuan called out the name of the blonde woman again.

This time, there was a response, but it wasn't what he had imagined.

"Sorry, brother, the mechs are not controlled by Mother Cocolia, so Mother Cocolia probably can't hear what you're saying."

Unlike Cocolia's mature and hoarse voice, the voice that sounded now was crisp, with a hint of youthful innocence and coldness.

"You are..."

Dong Moxuan's pupils contracted sharply as he looked at the girl slowly emerging from behind the Titans.

"Bronya..."

He called out the girl's name in surprise.

"Mhm,"

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar youth before her, Bronya couldn't help but feel her eyes redden.

"Long time no see, brother!"

Dong Moxuan "..."

After a long silence, Dong Moxuan finally spoke, "I didn't expect Cocolia to send you out to catch Mei and me..."

"But this is indeed in line with Cocolia's style."

"It's just,"

Dong Moxuan looked at the girl before him, his tone filled with confusion.

"You shouldn't be able to sense the Honkai Energy on Mei anymore, so how did you know Mei and I would pass by here?"

The Titans in front of him were clearly ambushing them here beforehand, so Dong Moxuan was very puzzled.