---o---
"Who are you?"
Kiana raised her right hand, her finger pointed at Fu Zhu like the barrel of a gun. Though the gesture seemed simple and casual, Fu Zhu had no doubt she was serious.
However, more than Kiana's faint hostility, Fu Zhu was focused on her face.
The resemblance… it was uncanny!
She looked so much like Phainon. Not completely identical, but the underlying features were all there. If you put them side-by-side, they would absolutely be mistaken for blood relatives.
His mind quickly recalled the stories Welt had told him about his homeworld—Honkai, Herrschers, Schicksal, Anti-Entropy… and the name that matched the tag on his minimap: Kiana Kaslana.
Fu Zhu took out his phone and sent a voice message to the group chat.
"Phainon, come on out for a second."
The group chat was quiet for a moment before Phainon's message appeared: "What's wrong?"
"Someone's blocking the way outside." Fu Zhu's tone was relaxed, his eyes still on the girl in front of him, a slight curve to his lips. "Come and see. I think it might be a relative of yours."
"...What relative?"
Phainon, still on the train, was a bit baffled. His relatives were all on Amphoreus, and they were basically ordinary people. How could any of them have made it this far into outer space?
"You'll know when you come out."
Phainon scratched his head and turned to the others in the chat group, who were also looking at their phones. "I'll go take a look."
Just as Phainon was about to move, Welt and Rider stood up in unison. He glanced at them and saw an indescribable excitement on their faces, a joy in their eyes that they couldn't hide.
"We'll go too. She's not an enemy."
Although Welt couldn't be sure if this was another counterpart, the name Kiana Kaslana alone was enough. He and Rider had to see her with their own eyes.
Phainon naturally had no objection. The three of them prepared themselves and opened the train door together.
As soon as the door opened, Welt projected three small, floating platforms to carry them to Fu Zhu's position. Once there, they first checked on Fu Zhu. Seeing no signs of a struggle, they relaxed and turned their gazes to the girl floating in the distance—Kiana.
When Phainon saw Kiana's face, his eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened slightly.
Kiana's face wasn't a carbon copy of his, but they had the same brow line, the same narrow facial structure, and even the curve at the corners of their eyes matched in several ways. If any stranger saw them, their first reaction would be that these two were related by blood—either brother and sister, or siblings.
Now, Phainon finally understood why Fu Zhu had said his "relative" was outside. The resemblance was just too striking.
If he weren't absolutely certain that there was no one named Kiana Kaslana among his relatives, he would have started to have his doubts.
"The resemblance… is definitely there," Phainon muttered, his speech slower than usual.
Fu Zhu grinned cheerfully. "See? I told you!"
---o---
While Fu Zhu's group was looking at Kiana, Kiana was looking right back at them. Setting aside the unfamiliar face of Fu Zhu, the faces of Phainon, Welt, and even Rider were etched deep in her memory—the kind she would never, ever forget.
Especially Rider!
But the tearful, emotional reunion everyone might have expected didn't happen. Instead, upon seeing those three familiar faces, the hostility in Kiana's eyes intensified. Her empty left hand summoned a pistol out of thin air, which she aimed at the four of them.
"I'll ask one last time. Who are you? Why are you wearing Himeko's face?!"
Fu Zhu raised an eyebrow. Faced with the outburst of hostility from Kiana, he remained calm. Instead, he turned to tease Welt and Rider.
"Uncle Yang, Rider, looks like this old friend of yours doesn't recognize you."
Faced with Fu Zhu's teasing, Welt could only feel helpless.
"Fu Zhu, this isn't the time for jokes. And Kiana, I am no imposter. I am truly the former Sovereign of Anti-Entropy, Welt Yang. And this person beside me… you may not believe it, but she is truly your teacher, Murata Himeko, who died in the battle against the Herrscher of the Void."
Despite Welt's explanation, the hostility in Kiana's eyes did not lessen. She didn't press them further, only falling silent for a moment before speaking again.
"Those are just your words."
The four of them understood what she meant. She wanted more concrete proof of their identities.
Fu Zhu, with a mischievous glint in his eye, turned to prompt Welt and Rider.
"Uncle Yang, Rider, I have a plan. Based on the novels I've read, in situations like this, you need to bring up some embarrassing childhood story about her to get her to believe you."
Although the method sounded a bit unreliable, Welt and Rider thought it was worth a try. However, Welt didn't know Kiana's past all that well, so he could only turn to Rider.
Rider thought for a moment. She did know a few of Kiana's quirks.
"Kiana, you used to always talk about wanting to eat 'Beauty-flavored' instant noodles, and you always told me you wanted to become the strongest Valkyrie. And Principal Theresa's favorite drink is bitter melon juice, while Bronya loves to follow Mei around calling her 'Mei-oneesama'… Is that enough?"
Kiana's eyes gradually cleared, a flicker of hesitation in them, but she still couldn't bring herself to believe it. A person who had been dead for years had suddenly appeared right in front of her. Not only that, but she had returned with another missing person and a man who looked strikingly like Kevin Kaslana. It was all too much to accept.
Seeing Kiana still hesitating, Rider urged her small flying platform to move closer. The hesitant Kiana reacted instinctively to Rider's sudden movement, raising her gun and aiming it at Rider's head.
"Stop! Don't come any closer! Or you'll face the consequences!"
Fu Zhu's smile vanished in an instant. He watched Kiana's every move, ready to intervene the moment she attacked.
But Rider acted as if she hadn't even seen the gun in Kiana's hand. She continued her approach, her arms open wide. Finally, under Kiana's stunned and bewildered gaze, she stepped forward and pulled her into a hug.
"Kiana, I'm back. It's been hard on you all this time."
That simple sentence completely shattered Kiana's defenses. Her lips began to tremble, and finally, she wailed like a child.
She knew. Her teacher, Himeko, was really back.