The Captain Only Wants to Go Home and Play Games

Instead, if the Honkai were to truly happen in the future, staying by the side of a protagonist group like Kiana's, as long as they didn't court death or try to be a hero, and knew when to lie low, their chances of survival would be much higher than if they ran around on their own.

Of course, Mo Yi could also move away from Changkong City right now because of this possibility. However, such a decision would require a lot of consideration.

The first thing was the difficulty of leaving one's hometown. For Chinese people, 'home' was not just a physical place, like the house they lived in, but also an abstract concept, a place that carried many beautiful or sad memories.

Regardless of which interpretation was used, 'home' was definitely the most important thing to Chinese people. A person's entire life might be spent burning themselves out for their home.

Besides that, Mo Yi also had to consider the cost of moving. Unless he sold the house left by his parents, it would be impossible for Mo Yi to buy a new home in another city.

This decision required careful consideration before he could make up his mind.

Moreover, in their short time together, Mo Yi had learned from Kiana that she was also a cultivator, and an registered E-class cultivator at that. He had long been interested in the cultivators of this world but had no way to learn about them before.

Kiana, who had come to him now, was the best person to learn from. With her innocent and naive demeanor, it wouldn't be difficult to get information out of her.

Comforting himself this way, Mo Yi felt that he wasn't letting her rent his place out of soft-heartedness, but for other practical benefits.

Good people, I, Mo Yi, will never be a good person in this life! Only by being neither good nor bad, a justice partner driven by interest, can I maintain my way of life.

Soon, Mo Yi led Kiana to the supermarket.

Mo Yi pointed to the checkout area and said:

"Kiana, is there anything you need to buy? If you need anything, you can go buy it yourself. We'll wait here."

"I don't need to buy anything—"

Kiana shook her head and said:

"I'll just follow you—"

"Alright—"

Although being followed around the supermarket felt a bit strange, and Mo Yi, who was used to being alone, felt a little unaccustomed to it, since she had said so, Mo Yi directly picked up a basket and, with familiarity, walked to the ingredients section to select the ingredients he wanted.

Mo Yi habitually picked up his favorite beef and pork, and as he was about to put them in his basket, he suddenly remembered that he wasn't alone today. He had promised to treat her to a meal as a celebration.

This required considering her preferences, as different people had different likes and dislikes, and some people did not eat beef or pork.

Mo Yi turned to look at Kiana beside him and found her looking at the surrounding ingredients with a strange gaze, muttering softly, "I really want to eat meat." "Hey, Kiana, do you eat pork and beef?"

"Is there anything you don't eat?"

"Ha—"

Interrupted from her fantasies by Mo Yi's words, Kiana first showed an expression of disbelief, then nodded with great joy and said, "Mo Yi, did you say we're having beef and pork later?"

"That's great! I eat everything except chinjao—"

Sensing the intense gaze emanating from Kiana's eyes, which was not directed at Mo Yi but at the boxes of pork and beef in his hand, Mo Yi asked curiously, "You haven't eaten meat in a long time, have you?"

It's already 9021, Kiana, you can't be living that miserably, can you, unable to even eat meat?

"Cough—"

Kiana also realized that she seemed a bit embarrassed. She turned her face away, forcing herself to stop looking at the ingredients in Mo Yi's basket, and explained awkwardly, "I've been homeless before, working and traveling, and that's how I came to Changkong City. Then renting a place cost a lot of money."

"Once I settle down and take on some missions from the Cultivator Association, I'll have money soon."

"When I have money, I'll treat you to a big meal, Mo Yi."

After hearing Kiana's explanation, Mo Yi did not choose to ask her further questions like why she 'worked and traveled to Changkong City' or 'about your family.'

After all, they were just strangers who had just met, and such probing questions were clearly inappropriate.

Moreover, based on Mo Yi's vague memories, Kiana's background in the Honkai world seemed to be that of a typical protagonist, a very tragic one.

Her mother had sacrificed herself in a battle against the Honkai when she was just born.

He remembered that in Honkai Impact 2, she came to Changkong City to find her missing father, which was still okay, a typical hot-blooded protagonist's beginning.

By the time of Honkai Impact 3rd, that Kiana was even just a clone, not even the real Kiana. Everything she thought she had wasn't hers but belonged to the real Kiana. She even borrowed her name, a fake belonging to someone else.

Thinking of this, Mo Yi looked at Kiana, who was promising 'we'll still be friends when we're rich and powerful,' and would treat him to a big meal later, with a hint of pity.

Perhaps he should treat this silly and straightforward girl better in the future? Treat her to a couple more meals?

"It's rare for the first time, Kiana, is there anything you'd like to eat? You can give me some suggestions."

"Can I really?"

Hearing Mo Yi say this, Kiana swallowed and said:

"How about we have an all-beef feast tonight?!"

Mo Yi: "..."

I was just being polite, do you have to be so straightforward? Beef, and the like, is much more expensive than pork, damn it!

An all-beef feast, looking at you, I'm afraid you'll eat up a month's rent in one meal.

"Cough—"

Mo Yi said with a serious expression:

"Girls can't eat so much meat, they'll get fat easily."

With that, he took two more boxes of beef from the shelf and walked towards the vegetable section.

You can eat beef if you want, but if you want to eat beef as your main meal, I, as the Captain, can't afford a Valkyrie like you.

"Eat more vegetables and less meat; that's the secret to maintaining your figure."

Watching Mo Yi shake his head and mutter, Kiana pouted in dissatisfaction, then chuckled to herself, "Such a stubborn guy—"

Kiana, who was searching for her missing father, had endured countless hardships. If she were truly the simpleton Mo Yi imagined, she would have long been sold off to Africa to mine for ore.

Although Kiana's thoughts were simple, when interacting with others, she could always discern whether they harbored ill will or good intentions towards her, which is how she'd managed to get by without major incident.

Watching Mo Yi's retreating figure as he carried the basket, Kiana, for some reason, was reminded of her own father. He had also taken her grocery shopping and used various health-related excuses to be stingy, refusing to let her eat her fill of beef.

In that moment, Kiana felt Mo Yi's silhouette overlap with her father's.

"They don't look alike at all."

After muttering this, Kiana realized she was falling behind and about to lose sight of him. She quickly jogged to catch up, calling out, "Don't walk so fast, Mo Yi—"