Stowing Away

Outside the heavily guarded naval port, two sneaky figures were slowly approaching the barbed wire.

"Hey! You stepped on my foot!"

"Shh—keep it down, I didn't mean to."

Sheng Jiu slowly moved to the side of the barbed wire and turned his back to Kiana. "Hurry up, step on my back and get over!"

"Hiyo!" Kiana kicked off Sheng Jiu's back and flipped over the barbed wire. She then reached out and pulled Sheng Jiu over just as a nearby autonomous weapon passed by.

"Hey, lazybones, what do we do now?" Kiana asked Sheng Jiu, leaning against a shipping container.

Sheng Jiu looked at the hangar ahead. Valkyries were constantly moving back and forth. If they walked straight towards the Hyperion, they would definitely be discovered. The two were still wearing St. Freya school uniforms, and if caught, they would be sent back to the academy, ruining everything.

Just then, Sheng Jiu's peripheral vision caught sight of something, and a mischievous smile appeared on his face. "Let's hitch a ride."

"...?"

Ten minutes later, in a pitch-black, confined space.

"I have to say, lazybones, your imagination is truly the wildest I've ever seen... Ouch, you poked my side!"

"...What else could I do? If we were discovered, a 3,500-word self-criticism would be the least of it!"

The two were crammed inside a supply crate that was about to be loaded onto a gunboat destined for the Hyperion. They listened to the footsteps outside, too scared to move.

Time ticked by, second by second. Suddenly, they felt a sense of weightlessness, and with a "clang," the inside of the cabin began to shake.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on?" Kiana asked, covering her head in panic.

"It's fine, the crane must be loading the gunboat. We made it!" Sheng Jiu breathed a sigh of relief, then opened the crate. After confirming there was no one inside the gunboat, he climbed out and then pulled Kiana out. He collapsed onto the ground, wiping sweat from his brow. "Damn, I'm suffocating!"

Kiana greedily inhaled the fresh air. "Hoo... hoo... a few more minutes and I would have been roasted meat!"

Meanwhile, the Hyperion had already set sail. On the bridge, Theresa stared at the map of Changkong City on her tablet, lost in thought.

A few hours earlier, Theresa had looked at Himeko with a grave expression. "I still find all of this rather unrealistic. Normally, an outbreak of Honkai only produces one Herrscher. The Third Herrscher is currently under strict surveillance. How could there be two Herrschers in one outbreak?"

Himeko shrugged in response. "...According to the reports, the excessive Honkai Energy in Changkong City has started to converge towards Senba Academy. There must be someone formidable absorbing it."

"Forget it. It's happened now, and your injuries haven't healed yet. I'll go investigate myself this time before making any decisions."

A few hours later, the Hyperion finally reached the outskirts of Changkong City, and the battleship began to descend. Sheng Jiu was rummaging through something inside the gunboat.

Soon, he pulled out a uniform and threw it to Kiana. "Here, put this on."

Kiana caught the uniform and looked at it, then said with disdain, "What is this? It looks so ugly. I don't want to wear this."

"Grasshopper, this is standard light armor. Although it looks a bit ugly, its durability is still better than a school uniform. Besides, do you think the guards are blind, letting you sneak out of Schicksal's defenses in a school uniform?"