St. Freya's Number One Tank

Kiana stared intently at Sheng Jiu resting on her lap, muttering to herself, This guy's actually pretty handsome when he's quiet! She gently played with his hair and was surprised to find so many white strands mixed in with the black. What on earth does this guy usually work so hard at? As she wondered, she reached out to pluck a few of the more noticeable white hairs.

Just then, the cabin gave another slight jolt, waking Sheng Jiu from his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes and met Kiana's unwavering gaze. The two stared at each other without blinking, and a blush began to spread across Sheng Jiu's face at a visibly rapid pace.

Sheng Jiu hurriedly tried to sit up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to!" Kiana pushed his head back down. "Lie still."

"Oh." Sheng Jiu looked at Kiana guiltily. "Let me explain. I was just so tired that..."

"That's enough. I'm not mad, but this is the one and only time. Don't let it happen again!" Kiana continued to play with Sheng Jiu's hair.

"Does it hurt?"

"It doesn't... Ow, ow, don't press there!" Kiana gently poked Sheng Jiu's wound, making him grimace in pain.

"Hmph, and you said it didn't hurt. I barely even pressed."

"...It couldn't be helped." Sheng Jiu gave an awkward smile and let Kiana do as she pleased with his hair.

"Why didn't you retreat when you were fighting that Honkai Beast? Aren't you afraid of dying?" Kiana glared angrily at Sheng Jiu, who was lying across her lap.

Staring up at the cabin ceiling, Sheng Jiu gave a bitter smile. "I'm afraid of dying. Of course I am... But I'm even more afraid of being left alone to cry over your bodies. You're the only companions I have. I can't lose you."

"...You sure know how to sweet-talk." Kiana gave a soft snort. "Don't do something like that again, got it?"

"That depends on the situation... Ow, stop poking me! That hurts!"

"I said don't do that again, got it?"

"All right, all right. I promise I won't do it again." Hearing that, Kiana contentedly ruffled Sheng Jiu's hair, just as he often did to hers. "I forgive you!"

The gunship soon returned to St. Freya alongside the Hyperion. As soon as it landed, several people in white coats carried Sheng Jiu away on a stretcher.

"What are you doing?! No! Help!" Sheng Jiu struggled to get away from the people in white coats, but his weakened body made it difficult even to walk on his own. In the end, they carried him onto the stretcher by force.

Yae Sakura looked down at Sheng Jiu on the stretcher, crouched with a reproachful look, and gently patted his head. "Be good! You're so badly hurt, and you're still acting up."

"No, Yae Sakura, save me! You don't understand. They must be planning to cut me open and see whether the Honkai Beast's attack did anything to my body... Mmph!"

A hand immediately clamped over Sheng Jiu's mouth. Theresa stood beside the stretcher and said exasperatedly, "Sometimes I really wonder if you're even human. Anyone else would be too badly hurt to speak! Do you think Schicksal is a concentration camp, where they're going to turn you into a specimen and slice you up? They're just taking you in for more thorough treatment. Calm down."

The group watched as Sheng Jiu was carried away. Looking after the retreating stretcher, Theresa let out a quiet sigh, then turned to Fu Hua, who was leading the group. "Thanks for your hard work, Fu Hua. Is everyone all right?"

"As you can see, Teacher Theresa, Sheng Jiu suffered some fairly serious external injuries, and a few of the students had some trouble adjusting after their first time on the battlefield. But they've recovered now."

"Phew, that's good. I only went to Headquarters for an emergency meeting, so how did Sheng Jiu end up this badly beaten? What exactly did you run into?"

"Frontline commander Vena said she'll explain everything to you herself in a little while."

Outside the hospital room, Himeko asked Sheng Jiu's attending physician in disbelief, "Two weeks? Just to make sure I understand, you're saying that despite how badly injured he looks, all he needs is two weeks in bed?"

"Yes, Major Himeko. I'm quite sure of what I'm saying." The military doctor treating Sheng Jiu took out a tablet and handed it to Himeko. "Please take a look. These are the patient's X-ray images. Look at his back."

"Normally, if someone were slammed into a hard concrete wall by a rampaging Herrscher of Honkai, they'd either die or end up permanently paralyzed. Yet he hasn't even broken a single rib. Only his lower left third rib and upper right second rib have suffered fairly serious fractures. It's no exaggeration to call this a medical miracle!"

"And here. Look at the two largest wounds on his back. Normally, if a Honkai Beast left wounds on someone, that person would turn into a zombie within three hours. Valkyries, who have greater compatibility with Honkai Energy, would become the undead."

"But it's already been five hours since the patient was brought to me, and I haven't detected even the slightest leakage of Honkai Energy from his body!"

Himeko stared at Sheng Jiu's medical report, dumbfounded. All of his vital signs were within manageable limits.

The military doctor wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued, "After several full-body examinations, we found only multiple minor fractures and numerous external injuries. There were no life-threatening injuries."

"It's no exaggeration to say that this patient has the strongest recovery ability of anyone I've treated in all my years as a doctor. In my professional opinion, two weeks will be enough for him to recover to normal!"

Himeko nodded and turned to enter the hospital room. Sheng Jiu lay in bed with both arms in casts. "You're here?"

"You really gave me a scare, kid." Himeko pulled over a chair and sat down. "When I heard you were covered in blood, I thought you were going to die out there. I even got you a wreath." As she spoke, Himeko pulled a small white wreath from behind her.

"Holy crap! Teacher Himeko, that's going too far! I'm St. Freya's Number One Tank. Do you really think I'd kick the bucket that easily?" Sheng Jiu stared at the tiny wreath, speechless.

"By the way, did the doctor say how long I have to stay here? Three months? Six?"

"Two weeks."

"Teacher, that's not funny."

Himeko waved the report in her hand, grinning. "It really is two weeks."

"How long?!" Sheng Jiu tried to sit up, but the wound on his back made him suck in a sharp breath. "Just look at me! I've got casts everywhere, and you're telling me I only need half a month?!"