Cry Out for Friendship and Bonds

Just like that, unaware that his mere "chance encounter" had nearly landed him on an expedited elimination list, Fang Jie had acquired the basic resources he needed to survive.

"Is this all? Isn't there a faster way to make money?"

He looked somewhat displeased at the fruits of his labor. Robbing thugs really did not bring in much, especially since, for Kiana's meal's sake, he could not bring himself to make the first move. So he had chosen the inefficient method of baiting lawbreakers, catching a few little punks who wanted to harm an innocent passerby like him and knocking gold coins out of them with a few punches and kicks.

This method was also recorded in Academy City.

"Forget it. It's enough."

Putting away his spoils, Fang Jie continued wandering around, kicking trash cans and slapping people.

Not knowing that he had nearly been assassinated by the Ural Silver Wolf did not mean he was unaware of Chang Kong City's dangers. The foremost danger was that a Herrscher would inevitably be born.

If not the Herrscher of Thunder, then the Herrscher of Poison.

Chang Kong City already possessed the external conditions needed for a Herrscher's birth. The gathering of such immense Honkai energy was due to Otto's indulgence and Cocolia's fanning of the flames, but even without their help, a Great Eruption would have occurred sooner or later.

Because this was Honkai.

Faced with such a situation, money could not be called useless, but it was certainly not all that useful either. On top of his identity problem, Fang Jie, who looked suspicious from head to toe, had no choice but to disguise himself as God Metal.

He had already kicked apart dozens of trash cans.

Huh, there was another one up ahead.

He eagerly walked over, no longer bashfully checking whether anyone was around. Fang Jie calmly swung his leg in a soccer kick—

"Ah?!"

Someone cried out. He turned his head with thirty percent carefree confidence, thirty percent disdain, and thirty percent cheerfulness. It was a frail-looking purple-haired girl wearing the same white Chiyu Academy uniform as Kiana.

Her purple hair looked entirely natural, and she was obviously far prettier than an ordinary passerby. Fang Jie was used to that by now and would not casually revoke someone's humanity.

That single glance seemed to frighten her. She took a step back, lowered her head, and did not dare look at him. Even the hand holding her garbage bag did not know what to do, trying to hide it behind her back.

"This school lets out so early? Stay in evening study until after eleven, damn it."

Fang Jie had no intention of scaring her. After sighing emotionally, he continued wandering.

Calling for Friendship and Bonds

Sorry, I was wrong, sorry... No, no, no, no...

In the room, the girl sat stiffly on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her head hung low, her face buried away, as she allowed the woman called her mother to strike her. Her expression gradually turned frightened and aggrieved.

Normally, she would only have been scolded, but that was unavoidable too. She had made a mistake.

Today, her mistake was even more obvious. She had actually dared to talk back to her mother and explain why she had been out for so long. But her mother clearly thought that an excuse like "looking for trash cans"...

Was a lie.

Disobedient, unpleasant to look at, and even lying—she had to be taught a lesson!

She did not try to argue. Everyone was like this. She did not like talking, could not fit in, and could not read the room. She was strange, so people would pick on her.

She just had to endure it.

Listening to her mother's scolding and feeling the pain, she did not cry. She merely felt wronged.

Then, she suddenly heard the bedroom door open.

Strange? Mother was hitting her, and she was being hit by Mother... Who was opening the door?

As she thought this, her mother turned around before she could, screaming, "Who are you? How did you get in—"

Slap!

It was an incredibly loud sound, and one she knew all too well. Usually, it rang out against the girl's own face.

Then came a thud, the sound of someone smashing into the ground with considerable secondary damage. The world became quiet.

For some reason, Sato Yuno thought that, and then came fear. The sudden silence left her unable to raise her head or face the unknown changes taking place. She still hugged her knees, burying her face where no one could see it.

Fang Jie did not disturb her. Instead, he shook out his hand and looked on in satisfaction.

If there had been a group of them, he would have shifted around in a tiny area with footwork like a boxer's butterfly steps. But in a "one-on-one" fight like this, he only needed to raise his palm slightly, gather some force in the air, aim at the cheek, and one slap would silence one person.

He could slap normally or backhandedly, with either hand. Every strike flowed in one smooth motion, like rushing thunder, as though honed through a thousand battles. One strike killed, one hit ended a life—he had already entered the realm of having no sword in hand yet a sword in his heart!

More importantly, he was fair!

Whether they were thugs or nasty women, there was no need to care about what nonsense these bastards were babbling. Just slap them all.

There was no reason for abusers to act without restraint while victims remained burdened by endless concerns.

If he could not stand it, he acted, even if it meant throwing his weight around.

Besides, he was saving someone. It was an emergency.

He casually grabbed the unknown woman by the hair again and tossed her aside. With nothing left between him and the silent, trembling purple-haired girl, Fang Jie narrowed his eyes slightly. He could sense a restrained but steadily gathering surge of Honkai energy converging upon her. She had not directly turned to ashes, nor had she been corroded into a monster such as a Death Trooper. Instead, the energy was unbelievably merging with her, slowly gathering more and more.

In the world of Honkai, those capable of doing this, aside from natural Stigmata bearers, could only be... Herrschers.

Considering that the Honkai Will had already designated the order in which Herrschers would appear and the authorities they would possess, the limit for a vessel with such qualifications in the current civilization was becoming a Pseudo-Herrscher.

"Sato Yuno?"

He asked.

Hearing her own name, the girl shuddered all over again. She did not dare raise her head, but she did not dare refuse to respond either. Like an ostrich playing dead, she let events unfold and prepared herself to endure pain.

It had always been like this.

But nothing came. Seeing that she did not respond, Fang Jie was not in a hurry. He simply left her alone, then picked up the kettle and drank water as if he were in his own home. He even inspected the kitchen before excitedly going in to start cooking.

Pots, bowls, ladles, and pans—all bent to his will.

The woman woke up midway through. After all, Fang Jie was kind, so he had clearly held back a little. She had no objections whatsoever to the stranger in her home. Even though Fang Jie was not the type to make threats, she had suffered enough to obediently cooperate with... a robber?

When Fang Jie walked out of the kitchen carrying a pot after paying for the ingredients, he found her kneeling.

"Spare me, spare me... Whatever you want, I'll—"

Half her cheek and one eye were swollen, and her words came out slurred and stammering.

"Please go back to your room."

Fang Jie was brief and to the point.

As though granted a pardon, the woman rushed toward the bedroom, leaving behind her daughter, who had somehow also fallen to her knees.

She too hoped to receive a similar order. This person was too terrifying. Even breathing the same air as him made her tremble uncontrollably. It was fear of absolute violence, an instinctive shudder toward anyone who might become an abuser.

Unfortunately, she could not leave.

"Stand up. Don't kneel."

The girl immediately stood at attention. She was very obedient.

But Fang Jie could feel that the Honkai corrosion in this area was clearly consuming more of his Path energy to resist than elsewhere. He did not think he was that scary, though.

He had to stop this process. Otherwise, not only would the nearby streets destined to turn to ashes be destroyed, but the girl before him would also become a Herrscher and later beat Theresa to her knees.

After looking at the household surname, the partially guessed Far Eastern characters allowed Fang Jie to confirm that she was Sato Yuno, the Herrscher of Poison.

As for how to stop it? When he could not disperse the gathering Honkai energy, doing his best to keep her from generating negative emotions was an effective method. Right now, Raiden Mei was enduring the exact opposite treatment, one that continuously produced negative emotions.

So what should he do? She was completely unappreciative. Yes, he had broken into her house and knocked her mother to the ground, but it was all for their own good. He could not just let her mother keep courting death until she forced Yuno to kill her mother, could he?

She could totally trust him, become friends with him, and gain positive emotions from it! (Voice shaking with conviction)

Yet none of that happened. Sato Yuno was trembling like a leaf, making Fang Jie... Fuck, eat, eat, eat, eat. His appetite was plainly excellent, and his table manners were equally bold.

When people were going to die, they should at least die full.

Looking at the trembling girl, Fang Jie decided to start with interpersonal relationships. "You don't have to be afraid of me. I'm Kiana's friend, offering a free ride-hailing-and-beating service. This service is free of charge. The people who bullied you have already been beaten up, so remember to leave a good review."

Kiana?

Hearing that familiar name, Sato Yuno finally stopped looking so vacant and foolish. Although there was not much change, the Honkai energy gradually gathering around her did indeed slow down.

It worked.

But it did not work that well. She still remained silent, passive from head to toe.

Fang Jie did not press on. He gave her time to stabilize her emotions while he continued devouring food like a whirlwind. By the time he had eaten everything clean except the portion left for Sato Yuno, he said, "I'm full. Help yourself."

Then he turned his back to her, utterly unselfconscious as he prepared to sleep soundly.

This person, this person...

Only then did Sato Yuno come back to her senses. She still could not understand what had happened. It seemed like she had only blinked, so how had her mother ended up lying on the floor?

You... you're not leaving?

Should... should she call the police?

She thought of something even her mother had not considered, then silently gave up on it. Even if she called the police, no one would probably come deal with it. She did not want to trouble anyone.

Looking at the meal that had clearly been left for her, a meal her mother had not been given, the girl lightly bit her lip. Only then did she dare secretly examine this person who had suddenly barged in so forcefully.

He slept so soundly!

So utterly unrestrained!

So arrogant!

Wh-why? How could there be such a strange... No, it seemed there was someone like that. She knew someone like him too.

Kiana, the classmate who had helped her when she was being bullied.

However, Kiana only paid attention to that Lady Raiden Mei.

If it were Kiana, what would she say?

Probably—

You don't need to worry about me. It's fine if they beat me up. I get beaten at home all the time too. I'm used to it.

She looked toward her mother's room. There was no movement within, nor had her mother ever cared about leaving her here. Tears as large as beans began to fall from Sato Yuno's eyes.

The next day, it was as though nothing had happened. The stranger who had suddenly barged in had suddenly left as well, disappearing at some unknown time.

Her mother's bedroom door had not opened. She hid inside, too afraid to come out.

"I'm leaving."

Sato Yuno still had to go to school. It was a habit.

Students were supposed to go to school.

Chiyu Academy...

From the rooftop, Fang Jie watched this scene while basking in the early morning sun. He did not follow her.

He certainly would not barge into an all-girls school. Beating up ordinary people was one thing; he was not even afraid of those useless Far Eastern police officers. But once it involved Honkai, especially when it escalated to Anti-Entropy, Schicksal, and Herrschers...

Civilian technology in the Honkai world was plain and ordinary, basically not exceeding his understanding. But once Honkai was involved, it was practically "capable of anything."

Recklessly approaching that powder keg was extremely dangerous. Had he not considered talking heart-to-heart with Raiden Mei, chatting and laughing with Kiana, expelling Bronya from humanity, then going to meet those "familiar" Valkyries?

That would get him killed for sure right now.

But leaving just like this also made him unwilling, because danger also brought opportunities.

He was not some Stellaron Spirit who could beat the Doomsday Beast to death with a Galactic Baseballer. His superpower leaned more toward escaping than combat ability, while this body's survivability-focused, combat-secondary constitution had been enhanced through Path energy.

These attribute points were not even enough to let him leave Belobog's snowfields. Even the weakest monsters wandering the Fragmentum would be more than he could handle without a suitable weapon.

So he could only find a way in the world of Honkai, gain enough strength to leave the snowfields, embrace the promising future of Belobog, and then develop himself until he met the standards required to board the train.

The Astral Express did not accept just anyone.

I definitely don't have something like Stigmata. Mechanical modification can go to whoever wants it, and the same goes for biological modification. If I had that idea, going next door would be more cost-effective. But piloting a mech...

In truth, the best choice would be a God Key, or becoming a Herrscher. With Welt as a shining example—uh, behind him, in front of him, whatever—the thing was useful.

Useful, but difficult to obtain.

Then the target is clear. Get myself a mech.