[...]
Prometheus frowned slightly, her mood turning unpleasant.
Just listening to Fuli rambling like an old father, she knew her Host had truly cared for Kiana while looking after her.
Yet, facing the savior who picked her up and nursed her back to health, Kiana just upped and left without a word?
"Oh, it's not like she left nothing." Fuli remembered something and added, "I turned the whole room upside down before finding a tattered piece of paper in the corner under the bed. A paper filled with 'Sorry' and 'I am not'."
The paper was crumpled, as if it had been soaked in some liquid.
[Host.]
"Hmm?"
[Next time, remember to mention this earlier.]
Fuli felt aggrieved. "No, does leaving a piece of paper make up for my hard labor?"
The boy could somewhat understand the "Sorry" part; after all, that scumbag girl had freeloaded on his energy for so long and then fled the scene.
But he couldn't figure out the "I am not" part. It couldn't be read together as "I am not sorry," right? That would be a bit too excessive.
[Maybe Miss Kiana had some compelling reason, like being wanted by Schicksal and not wanting to implicate the Host,] the little AI speculated. [That's how it goes in TV dramas.]
Fuli looked at her with slight disdain. "You absorb garbage information pretty quickly. It seems that not only humans, but AIs also degenerate at the speed of light."
[Then let me rephrase.] Prometheus remained unmoved. [If Miss Kiana hadn't left, what would the Host have asked for as compensation?]
"First, she'd have to pay the medical bills." Fuli thought seriously. "Although pills are cheaper than weapons, buying two or three B-rank weapons with the total cost wouldn't be a problem. Also, the labor fee needs to be calculated. Since I'm kind-hearted, I'll just double the price of the pills and sell them to her."
[That is indeed kind-hearted.]
Heaven have mercy, the little AI definitely wasn't mocking her Host.
Taking in a heavily injured, dying Kiana under Schicksal's nose when the entire Far East Branch was wanted—Fuli was literally gambling with his life!
Not to mention he nursed the girl back to health. In a Wuxia or Xianxia setting, it wouldn't make sense if she didn't offer herself to him in return!
"We both came out of Nagazora City, so we should support each other. Others wouldn't get this treatment from me." Fuli didn't think he was being a saint. "And it's not just me. Other survivors, like Raiden Mei and Bronya, are also quite nice to me."
Hearing new characters unlocked, Prometheus expressed interest.
"Nothing much to say. They are the two survivors from Nagazora who joined St. Freya with Kiana. I met them a few times during missions. Once they heard I also escaped from the Third Honkai Eruption in Nagazora, they were incredibly enthusiastic."
[How enthusiastic?]
"Bronya often taught me her best hacking skills. If I had any difficult problems on the Dark Web, she would help solve them without a second thought. Mei was even more enthusiastic; she actually wanted to give me her family's ancient sword art, the 'Hokushin Itto-ryu', for free."
Speaking of this, Fuli looked regretful. "Unfortunately, I have zero talent for hacking, and due to various reasons, I only learned the basics of the sword art."
[It seems the Host is quite popular with girls.]
Prometheus felt happy for him from the bottom of her heart.
"Unfortunately, that's not a good thing."
Whatever he thought of, Fuli's face, which had been reminiscing about the past, suddenly clouded over.
Years of ups and downs meant Fuli rarely showed such intense emotional fluctuations, but every time he recalled those damn Barbar-species (a reference to Ultraman Ace's enemy Alien Baraba, often used in CN internet slang to mean despicable/shapeshifting/deceitful), he couldn't help but want to draw his sword and hack something to vent.
"The Herrscher of Domination..."
...
After Kiana left without saying goodbye, Fuli continued his life as a lone wolf.
His strength climbed steadily through experience, and soon he was just one step away from the Critical-class.
Normally, after a period of self-accumulation, Fuli would evolve from an A-rank who "wantonly rewrites the surrounding environment during combat" to a Critical-class who "redraws the map when fighting."
However, just like the bizarre small countries and hardcore ruthless people featured in the "Tongliao" series (a reference to a popular Chinese video creator known for history/politics videos), since it's been mentioned, it was impossible for things to go as expected.
Fuli was kidnapped by a group of small puppets who called themselves the "Legion of Puppets" (Crowd of Mob).
It sounded shameful, but actually, it wasn't shameful at all.
The Legion of Puppets, true name Herrscher of Domination, the tenth among the Serial Herrschers of the Current Era. An existence defying heaven with a thousand independent clones, rated as S-rank (Rule Breaker).
For them, let alone Fuli who was only A-rank at the time, even if he were Critical-class, kidnapping him would be a piece of cake.
S-rank and below S-rank are two completely different concepts. The former has transcended the sea of suffering, while the latter still struggles among the masses.
However, the question was, since the gap between the two sides was so huge, why did the Herrscher of Domination insist on kidnapping a small fry like Fuli who could be wiped out with a wave of a hand?
The answer was simple.
With a bone-chilling coldness like ten-thousand-year-old ice in his eyes, he rubbed the slightly cool tang of Mikazuki and said indifferently, "Their purpose in capturing me was to use my life to threaten their enemy."
"Urgh!!!"
The bus driver suddenly felt a chill. He touched the back of his neck where the hairs were standing on end and looked suspiciously in the rearview mirror.
A young woman holding a baby was comforting the crying infant. On the other side, a man in a suit was leaning groggily against the glass, dozing off.
A few workers were gathered playing poker. An old lady noticed the driver's gaze and returned a kind smile. Everything seemed peaceful and prosperous.
An illusion?
He didn't think much of it and turned up the bus's air conditioning temperature a bit.
Presence Concealment. A byproduct of cultivating the Human Immortal Dao, a special skill that can mask and cut off one's presence for covert operations.
Initial rank D, upgrading continuously with the cultivation of the Human Immortal Dao.
As a status-type skill, Fuli could actively control the activation and deactivation of Presence Concealment.
And the energy consumption of this skill was quite low, so much so that until now, no one had noticed there was a person holding a cool-looking baseball bat at the back of the bus.
It was just a pity that a D-rank skill had its limits. At least it failed to completely mask the killing intent Fuli had suddenly erupted with just now, startling the baby in the pregnant woman's arms.
[The Herrscher of Domination captured the Host... to threaten someone else?]
The baby's crying and Prometheus's murmur calmed Fuli down. He suppressed his killing intent. "Yes, they captured me to threaten someone."
"When I first heard this news from that mob, I thought they were purely joking. With my interpersonal relationships where 'loved ones are hurt and enemies are happier,' who could they threaten by capturing me?"
[Host, that's not something to say with a proud face...]
The little AI facepalmed, but quickly thought of something.
She tentatively asked, [Could it be that the Herrscher of Domination wanted to use the Host to threaten Miss Kiana?]
This was a very logical guess. The famous Russian playwright Chekhov once proposed the theory of Chekhov's Gun:
If there is a gun hanging on the wall at the beginning of the movie, it must go off by the end.
Similarly, since Fuli had been talking about Kiana for so long, she must appear at a crucial point.
And the boy's next answer confirmed Prometheus's conjecture.
"That's right! Those damn scumbags blindfolded me with a black cloth, gagged my mouth, and took the helpless me to a domain constructed by Herrscher Authority, an interdimensional space called the Theater of Domination."
"And it was there that I heard Kiana's voice... the voice of Kiana who had reached S-rank."
[S-rank?]
"Yes, exactly, S-rank!"
Even having experienced many storms, Fuli's tone still revealed a bit of absurdity and disbelief.
"God knows how that guy leveled up. She was slaughtering her way through the mob with a broken crimson sword all by herself... I vaguely heard someone helping her too?"
Normally, for someone of Fuli's level, even if his vision was blocked, it wouldn't hinder his judgment of the battle situation too much.
Unfortunately, probably to add some dramatic effect, the malicious Domination Puppets used some small tricks to block most of his perception of the battlefield.
With the help of her companions, Kiana quickly cleared out most of the puppet army and pressed straight towards the main body of the Legion of Puppets.
So at this moment—Ta-da!
The beauty Fuli, coerced by the villains, made a shining debut in front of everyone!
His state back then wasn't miserable; the puppets treated him quite well.
This was the ultimate trump card to turn the tide at the critical moment. Of course, they had to protect him well to prevent any accidents.
But not being miserable didn't mean his appearance was dignified.
Wearing a Domination-style blindfold wasn't too much, right? Wearing a matching bodysuit wasn't too much either, right?
As the puppets expected, the moment she saw Fuli, Kiana's heart indeed wavered, even far more than they had imagined!
Think about it from Kiana's perspective:
A boy chased her alone from a foreign land to the Far East, encountering a catastrophe like the Third Honkai Eruption where survival was nearly impossible, altering his own destiny. After the "Final Lesson," he took her, who had lost the will to live, back home and cared for her meticulously. Yet after recovering, she turned and left without even saying hello—or rather, didn't dare to!
The most crucial point was that Fuli's goal had always been the name Kiana Kaslana. He had been chasing Kiana Kaslana from beginning to end.
But what about herself? She wasn't her!
She was never the Kiana Kaslana who made a promise to him since childhood; she was just a test subject, K423, occupying the magpie's nest!
Shamelessly occupying his white moonlight's (First Love, an ideal, pure, and unattainable person that someone has always loved but cannot have) identity, yet repeatedly hurting and disappointing him with this face and these words—this already filled Kiana with extreme guilt. And now, you son of a bitch, Herrscher of Domination, dare to push Ah-Li out as a shield?
I'll kill you!
I'll f**king kill you!!!
Thus, logically, a flaw appeared in the Herrscher of Flamescion's perfect state of mind.
The main body of the Herrscher of Domination keenly seized this opportunity, hoisting the rampaging girl up with invisible threads containing the power of Domination!
The Herrscher had prepared well. In the blink of an eye, the threads containing all her remaining power cut into the skin of Kiana's neck!
"She's going to die!"
Whether it was Kiana who reacted, or the others watching the battle, these words surfaced in their hearts!
"I'm going to win!"
The Legion of Puppets couldn't help but want to laugh out loud, or perhaps she already did, but the speed of sound was far slower than the lightning-fast battlefield!
However, no one could have imagined that in this most critical instant, a sacrifice ignored by everyone would change everything.
When a person's pride and everything else are broken, when he finds that he has become a drag and a burden.
No matter how normal he usually looks, he will snap.
Fuli extended his right hand and slowly clenched it.
"I broke through. At that moment, from Seventh Turn to Critical-class."
Peerless Nine Turns. Created by Su Mei, the Peerless Fairy and disciple of the Celestial Phoenix, and Ma Feima of the Galloping Horse Sword, referencing the Edge of Taixuan but having little connection to its content.
Using the Dantian as the medicine primer and the meridians as the medicine cauldron, guiding True Qi (Honkai Energy) to circulate throughout the body, strengthening the flesh and organs.
There are nine layers of internal energy, called the Nine Turns;
Breaking through each layer means being reborn and greatly advancing in power.
(The above is from the Honkai Impact 3rd official visual novel Seven Swords of Shenzhou.)
This was the technique given to him by the person who truly led Fuli into the Honkai side.
With the technique breakthrough, Fuli filled the last shortcoming of his physical fitness, and his comprehensive evaluation finally reached Critical-class.
Yes, a Critical-class couldn't make a splash in a battle between S-ranks.
But that depended on the state of both sides.
More than ninety percent of the Domination Puppet clones had been destroyed. The battle had reached a fever pitch, and the remaining power was all used to imprison Kiana and the others who had destroyed the puppet clones.
Even a little Fuli could turn the sky upside down at such a critical moment.
"I wiped out the remaining Domination Puppets, then walked up to Kiana," he said. "I wanted to kill her."
[?]
"Come on, Prometheus, that was the Herrscher of Domination," Fuli complained with half-closed eyes. "I was tied up by them the whole way. It's normal for my mind and body to have been tampered with, right?" (far long spoiler: Actually No)
The little AI expressed that the Host made so much sense she was speechless.
Other Herrschers might disdain doing such things, but Domination, that bitch?
That was way too normal!
What happened next was simple. Fuli, whose brain was filled with "Kill Honkai, kill Honkai, typing is so tiring, kill Honkai, kill kill kill kill kill!!!", only felt a burst of heat in his body and a trance in his mind. When he, who had been stabbed through the heart, opened his eyes again, he heard the landlady's deafening banging on the door.
...