"Shua!"
The metal baseball bat struck the short, white, purple-striped monster with great force.
This merciless and sharp blow smashed the half-human-high creature, sending it flying before it transformed into purple dots and slowly dissipated.
"Huh, another one solved."
Kiana placed the metal baseball bat on the ground and, feeling a bit tired, leaned against the wall behind her and exhaled.
"This is already the fourteenth of this week," she remarked, glancing at the direction where the Honkai Beast had disappeared.
She sighed, her voice tinged with complaints and confusion: "What's going on in this city?"
According to past experience, Honkai Beasts like this generally do not appear in human cities. However, in Nagazora City, the number of Honkai Beasts that had appeared in just one week was almost catching up with the number that had plagued the small village where Kiana lived with her father.
She could still understand that small village; after all, her stinky father had said it was more special.
But Nagazora City?
Kiana looked up at the sky and then through the gap in the alley at the tall buildings and the endless flow of people outside.
This calm and peaceful appearance had nothing to do with the word "special."
"Damn it, I came to this city just to find my stinky dad." Kiana puffed her cheeks, feeling angry at her awful father who had left without saying goodbye and abandoning her.
"Gu~"
The sudden sound rang in Kiana's ears, causing her to touch her empty stomach subconsciously.
"I'm so hungry..."
Kiana took out her phone and checked the time, then displayed a frustrated expression.
"It's not time for Mei to finish school yet..."
It was afternoon now, and there were still at least two hours before the end of school at Senba Academy, where Raiden Mei was studying.
This meant the cafeteria was not open yet!
"Well... let's go buy some bread or something."
Kiana pulled out her shriveled wallet with a heavy heart.
If she remembered correctly, there was a bakery nearby.
She had her first dinner in Nagazora City with bread from that bakery.
Well... it was like this until she found her fixed meal ticket.
Of course, this didn't mean that the bread from that bakery was delicious. On the contrary, the taste of the bread was extremely poor compared to other bakeries. If it weren't for the low price and large quantity, Miss Kiana would never have patronized this bakery a second time.
In order to fill her empty stomach, Kiana walked out of the alley.
However, just before she stepped out, the surrounding environment changed instantly.
"What is this...?!"
Kiana at this point of time had not yet been turned into a useless person by Mei, so she still maintained good alertness. She noticed the change in her surroundings, and a hint of vigilance appeared on her pretty face.
"Where is this?"
Kiana picked up the baseball bat and carefully surveyed her surroundings.
A pale scene came into view, seemingly without end.
[Welcome here, visitor]
A mechanical voice, tinged with a hint of joy, sounded from all directions.
This sudden voice startled Kiana, and she asked with some vigilance, "Who are you?!
[I am responsible for maintaining the overall Control consciousness of this space.]
The voice that appeared to come from nowhere responded to Kiana's question.
"Control... consciousness?"
This unfamiliar term confused Kiana. However, she quickly realized what she needed to do.
"Where is this place?"
Kiana sounded very concerned about being inexplicably transported to this strange location. She asked in a rather unfriendly tone, "Did you trap me here?"
[The word "trap" is not appropriate. You arrived in this space purely by chance. That's all.]
The entity self-proclaimed as "control consciousness" seemed unfazed by Kiana's evident hostility and wariness.
[Independent of time and space, not existing in the long river of fate, if you must describe it, it is probably a strange space where no one resides in the world.]
Kiana found this puzzling. What about the past, future, and present?
"It sounds pretty powerful," she muttered to herself, still not quite understanding it. Then, as if remembering something, she looked forward with shining eyes and asked with anticipation, "Then can you... um, grant me three wishes?!"
[?]
The control consciousness remained silent.
Wow, is she treating it like Aladdin's lamp?
[This is not Aladdin's magic lamp, and I am not the genie sealed within it.]
This obviously negative answer made Kiana mutter in disappointment, "What? I thought you were powerful..."
She made a face of disdain and waved her hand. "Forget it. You're not reliable. Let me out quickly; I need to buy bread to fill my stomach!"
[Are you sure? This space is not entirely incapable of granting your wishes.]
[It's just that, to fulfill your desires, you must meet certain conditions.]
"Uh... I want to know where my stinky dad is. Can I do that?" Kiana asked tentatively.
[As long as the conditions are met, this is not impossible.]
"Well, what are the conditions?!" After getting the answer she needed, Kiana displayed a somewhat urgent expression.
[It's very simple.]
As the voice of the consciousness fell, a blue screen appeared out of thin air in front of Kiana.
[Question: Among the following answers, who is not a blood relative of Kiana Kaslana?]
[A: Siegfried Kaslana]
[B: Cecilia Schariac]
[C: Theresa Apocalypse]
[D: Sirin]
"Is this a quiz show?" Kiana was a little stunned when she saw the content on the screen that had suddenly appeared.
[That's right.]
[This space is independent of time and space. As long as you answer questions, you can earn various rewards.]
[The rewards may contain what you need.]
"Is that so..." Kiana looked confused. She scratched the back of her head, examined the content on the screen, and began to think.
"For Answer A, stinky dad must be my direct blood relative!"
Kiana quickly ruled out Siegfried.
"Answer B..." Kiana frowned at this name, which seemed unfamiliar yet strangely familiar, and muttered, "Who is this..."
Forget it; let's keep going.
"Answer C, Theresa Apocalypse... another unfamiliar name."
Keep it.
"Answer D, Sirin..."
"Ahhhh! Why are all these names unfamiliar?!"
Looking at the unfamiliar names one after another, Kiana couldn't help but feel a bit frantic.
It was frustrating enough that they were unfamiliar, but why did these names feel so familiar?
"Forget it! I'll choose the shortest name out of three long ones!"
Miss Kiana had no clue so she decided to rely on the secret of multiple-choice questions she had learned by chance, adopting a broken jar mentality.
"I choose D!"