"Can't you guys find some proper transportation? Even for slacking, this is going way too far, isn't it???"
The Knight Princess huddled in the sack, her head sticking out, playing the part of a cat-worm as she glared at Raven, who sat beside her in the rear cargo bed.
Meanwhile, the only male laborer present, Mr. Owl, was up front, miserably pedaling the purely human-powered vehicle—
"Ah... We originally had a car, but your best friend, our 'Little Ancestor' Imhotep, took it out to race against the Arc City police..."
"And the remaining vehicles all have Heliopolis Life Sciences logos... Driving one of those into an abandoned, uninhabited area would be too suspicious. In the end, all we could find was this tricycle..."
"Besides, Owl's body is almost entirely cybernetic, just like Gray Serpent's. Just look at him pretending to be all miserable..."
"Race against traffic cops??? Is she out of her mind...? Most of Arc City's police are retired Valkyries."
"If they get pissed, they'll floor it, then jump onto your car and launch a boarding action..."
Kiana's mouth twitched. She mentally gave a one-star review to a certain law-abiding citizen of Arc City, then another thought struck her.
"One more thing: don't you think a human-powered tricycle would be even more conspicuous on the streets of a high-tech cyberpunk city?"
"..."
Raven and Owl fell silent, exchanging an awkward glance.
"Why don't you just teleport us back?"
Raven suggested, running her hands through her hair in frustration.
"Are you sure you want to teleport out in plain sight, right under the surveillance cameras???"
Before Kiana could reply, Owl shot down his partner's lazy shortcut.
"The Heliopolis Life Sciences industrial zone and its surrounding area are constantly monitored by patrol units and high-altitude Honkai energy detection drones. If we teleport there, the alarm will go off the very next second..."
"So, Owl, are you planning to carry this sack all the way back? That doesn't seem very normal either, does it? Be careful not to be mistaken for a human trafficker and get chased down seven streets by the enthusiastic citizens of Arc City..."
"Tsk... Then what do you suggest we do, Raven?"
Owl pondered for a moment, a helpless expression on his face as he looked at his partner.
"It's simple. I have a plan."
The Black Dodo opened her communication channel. In the distance, from the bustling city center, the piercing wail of sirens grew clearer.
"Hey, Little Ancestor Imhotep? Are you free to pick us up?"
"...Is there something wrong with making your own boss come pick you up???"
Owl's eyes widened as he stared at Raven.
"And... judging by the commotion getting closer and closer in the distance, our dear Miss Imhotep probably hasn't shaken off the diligent Arc City traffic police behind her..."
Kiana glanced toward the billowing dust and the cacophony of warnings, admonitions, and sirens, confirming something.
"Okay, let me just confirm with you guys... What kind of car was Imhotep driving?"
"I remember we prepared a local Shenzhou specialty model for her? I think it was called a Wuling Hongguang... It's a minivan."
Raven thought for a moment before giving Kiana the answer.
"...I get the logic, but how the hell did Imhotep manage to drive a minivan faster than that whole pack of police cars?"
As the white-haired Knight Princess stared in disbelief, a certain reckless street racer screeched around the corner ahead, executing a sharp brake and drift to stop right in front of the trio.
"Get in! No time to explain!"
-
On the ring road highway, the utterly reckless Schicksal young lady and the relentlessly pursuing but exhaust-eating retired Schicksal Valkyries began a back-and-forth item race.
In the back seat, Owl and Kiana had pulled their seatbelts as tight as possible, gripping the seats for dear life, their faces etched with terror.
[Ultimate Near-Death Experience x1]
[Ultimate High-Speed Technique x1]
[Ultimate Drifting Technique x6]
[Ultimate Destruction Technique x1]
But Raven, having experienced this before, was different. She sat numbly in the passenger seat, even having the spare energy to act as a human scoreboard for the "Deja Vu"-obsessed Little Ancestor beside her, tallying the score for her Little Boss—a prodigy with a fishy driver's license, who treated speeding like drinking water and a 6-star wanted level like nothing.
"Hmm... another Ultimate Destruction Technique..."
Watching a Dual-Wielding Deadweight get sent flying, Cioara silently added another mark in her mental tally.
"Did you throw out your poison gas... I mean, Honkai energy neutralizing aerosol?"
The white-haired girl in the driver's seat suddenly spoke, interrupting Raven's scorekeeping.
"...Forgot. Hehe."
Startled, Cioara touched the smoke grenade on her hip and flashed an awkward smile.
"In 30 seconds, by the overpass, fourth floor of the red-walled guesthouse, fourth window from the left... activate it and throw it inside. Can you do it?"
Out of nowhere, Imhotep issued a command that was practically an acrobatic stunt. Trusting her Little Ancestor implicitly, Cioara nodded in response.
"Yeah, it's a bit tricky, but no problem."
"Then throw it!"
The black, smoke-grenade-like object accurately shattered the glass and entered the target room. Soon, a greenish smoke billowed out. Watching the effect in the rearview mirror, Cioara nodded at Imhotep.
"Bullseye, Little Ancestor. But why did we need to throw that thing in there...?"
"Even though World Serpent can mass-produce these now, they're still really expensive..."
Raven wore a troubled expression.
"There's a Herrscher Candidate in that room. All the nearby Honkai energy was converging there just now. Didn't you sense it?"
Imhotep, in the driver's seat, glanced sideways at Cioara with a strange look.
"Big chest, no brain, huh..." (muttered)
"Hey, even if you're the boss, you can't call me 'big chest, no brain'! I heard that! Besides, I'm not a MANTIS or a Herrscher. How could I have that kind of high-intensity Honkai energy perception?"
-
"Hmm... so, Little Ancestor, you just interrupted the birth of a Herrscher?"
"Just one of them... If I'm not mistaken, it's a Herrscher with multiple bodies. Anyway, we can't catch her right now."
"A Herrscher with multiple bodies... Wait! The Herrscher of Dominance?!"
"That should be it."
-
"My head hurts... What just happened... Why are all those strange voices in my head gone...?"
Inside the red guesthouse, Little Jian Yun, who had been knocked unconscious by a high-speed smoke grenade thrown by Raven that hit her squarely in the head, slowly regained consciousness... The harsh, grating noise in her mind, which had been incessantly chattering about how the world was never beautiful, had also vanished at some unknown point...
Perhaps this ostracized girl would remain despondent for a while longer, but this was already enough...