"Ahem, Raven, let's go, we're heading back to the Nest," Chen Luo finally said to Raven helplessly.
Because Chen Luo realized that everyone around him seemed to be homeless.
"Bringing a Herrscher back to the base, what a novel experience," Raven muttered before leaping off the rooftop of the teaching building.
"Hey, why aren't you all following me?" Raven turned to see if the others were coming, only to find them still standing on the rooftop without moving.
"Well, after you return to the Nest, just open the bar's door. We'll wait for you at the bar," Chen Luo said somewhat apologetically.
"..."
"Don't get angry yet. I've left you a means of transportation. Make sure not to lose it."
As Chen Luo spoke, a super go-kart "held" by a giant thread hand was slowly delivered to Raven.
"..."
Standing at the base of the building and watching the group return to the bar, Raven had ten thousand curses she didn't know if she should voice.
You bastards are making me drive back to the Nest alone in this piece of junk go-kart?
Chen Luo, you jerk, do you have no conscience? Don't you know how to fly? Why don't you fly back? Wouldn't that be faster than me driving this go-kart?
"I'm not giving you those 30 dollars later!" Raven said angrily.
These 30 dollars were the cost needed to purchase 30 Honkai crystals.
"Wait, Chen Luo only gave me $1 million worth of gold as a down payment. He still has the remaining $4 million worth of gold."
Raven wondered if Chen Luo would withhold the remaining $4 million if she didn't pay the 30 dollars.
After some fruitless thinking, Raven stepped her long legs into the go-kart.
For the remaining $4 million, I'll endure it!
* * *
"Beep beep beep!" Chen Luo, who had been quietly waiting for Raven to return to the Nest, suddenly heard the communicator on his wrist ring.
"Hmm?" Hearing the urgent communication sound, Chen Luo answered the call.
Chen Luo always carried two communicators: one was his ordinary phone, and the other was a high-tech virtual touch panel communicator kindly given by Theresa.
Looking at this communicator, Chen Luo had once wondered how much money he could get if he sold it to a real-world phone company.
Of course, it was just a thought.
And when it came to knowledge, the wisdom of Void Archive was actually more valuable, containing an astonishing amount of knowledge from the previous civilization.
When Chen Luo opened the communicator given by Theresa, he saw the anxious face of Raiden Mei.
"Whew, A'Luo, you finally answered. Are you in the bar? It's great that you're not in Nagazora right now," Raiden Mei said, visibly relieved upon seeing Chen Luo.
"What's wrong?" Chen Luo asked.
"The principal just received an emergency notification. Nagazora has experienced another intense Honkai energy reaction, which we suspected to be the arrival of a Herrscher. It's good that you're in the bar. Otherwise, if you encountered a Herrscher, it would be dangerous," Raiden Mei explained, having relaxed a bit.
After receiving some proper education from St. Freya Academy, Raiden Mei now understood how terrifying Herrschers were, especially the damage the second Herrscher had inflicted on humanity.
"Um, well..."
"My turn, my turn! A'Luo, can you see me?" Before Chen Luo could say that he was the Herrscher, Raiden Mei was pushed aside, and Kiana appeared on screen.
"I can see you, I can see you. No need to be so excited," Chen Luo said.
"Come on, A'Luo, step back a bit. Let me see if you're hurt," Kiana directed Chen Luo.
"Let me tell you, Herrschers are really terrifying beings. Don't think that just because you can beat Mei means you can beat all Herrschers. You can't have that kind of wishful thinking. If you encounter a Herrscher, run away immediately. There's no shame in it. Return to the bar, and no one can harm you there," Kiana then said concernedly.
"..."
Should you, the Herrscher of Void, be saying things like that.
But receiving concern from Kiana, who usually acted like the sky was first, the earth was second, and she was third, was quite a shock to Chen Luo. [1]
"Hey, Bronya, you should show your face too. Oh, I forgot you're too short to even see the screen." But before Chen Luo could feel touched for long, he heard Kiana mocking Bronya.
"Just make you kneel down, and then I'll be able to see," Bronya's emotionless voice sounded, followed by the screen shaking rapidly and suddenly dropping a notch, revealing Bronya's face.
At that moment, Bronya seemed to be standing behind Kiana, which made forcing Kiana to kneel quite easy. A light kick to the back of her knees was all it took.
"Hmm, it's good that you're fine. But then again, someone who put all their skill points into escaping probably wouldn't get hurt anyway," Bronya said after looking at Chen Luo for a moment, then nodded.
For this friend who was willing to help her rescue Seele, Bronya held a bit of concern.
"Well, although I'm very happy that you're all so concerned about me, could you let me say one sentence?" Chen Luo said helplessly.
"Hmm, what is it?" Raiden Mei's voice came through, though her figure wasn't visible on screen.
"Actually, you might not believe it, but that Herrscher-level fluctuation that just erupted was me."
"Huh?" Kiana was the first to show astonishment.
"Does that mean you've become a Herrscher like Mei? Then, A'Luo, won't you be influenced by a Herrscher personality?" Kiana asked concernedly while still restraining Bronya.
"No need to worry about a Herrscher personality. My Herrscher personality is very weak. I suppressed it with just one hand," Chen Luo said disdainfully.
After all, when Chen Luo clicked on the talent panel, he really did use just one hand—or more precisely, one finger.
But to be precise, Chen Luo wasn't just like Raiden Mei, because it seemed that whether on this end of the call or the other, everyone present seemed to be Herrschers.
On this end: Chen Luo, Yae Sakura, Rin, and the Herrscher of Sentience.
On the other end: Raiden Mei, Kiana, Bronya.
Good grief, what kind of Herrscher squad is this?
Or should I say, what kind of traitor Herrscher squad is this?
"Wait, you can't just say you've suppressed the Herrscher personality and we believe it. What if you're actually the Herrscher personality pretending to be you?" Just as Raiden Mei was about to speak, Kiana suddenly stopped her.
"Kiana, what are you trying to do now?" Chen Luo looked warily at Kiana, who was clearly up to no good.
"Alright then, the three of us will take turns asking you a question. Only if you answer correctly will we believe you're really you," Kiana said.
"You... Fine, go ahead and ask." Although Chen Luo really wanted to pry open Kiana's skull to see what she was thinking, since Raven was probably on her way to the Nest and there was nothing else to do, he might as well humor her.
"Okay, which of you three will ask first?" Chen Luo looked at the three people crowded on the other side of the virtual screen.
"Let's go in the order we met. Mei asks first. Best to ask something only the two of you know," Kiana reminded Mei.
"Something only two people know? Hmm, I understand." Mei nodded emphatically.
"Well, A'Luo... can you repeat the first thing you said to me when we first met?" Mei looked at Chen Luo expectantly.
"Huh? Are you sure??"
"Of course I'm sure."
"This..."
Chen Luo hesitated for a moment.
"Can you answer or not? If you can't, we'll treat you as the Herrscher personality. Don't be a sore loser, okay?" Kiana said discontentedly.
It's just what you said when you first met. What's so hard to say?
Meanwhile, Raiden Mei on Kiana's left didn't say anything, but the expectant look on her face was completely unconcealed.
"Fine, if you insist. Ahem, Saber Chen Luo, summoned from another world. Tell me, are you my master?"
Chen Luo glanced at the others sitting nearby listening to him and the three people on the screen, then gritted his teeth and said those words again.
It's not that the words themselves were particularly embarrassing, but rather that saying them required the right atmosphere.
When he descended from the sky and said those words to the despairing girl, it was incredibly cool.
Saying them now was just incredibly awkward.
"Mhmm, that's right. Those were exactly the words A'Luo said to me when we first met. And back then, A'Luo even descended from the sky," Raiden Mei said satisfactorily after hearing this, nodding her head.
"Wow, your first meeting was that cool? And A'Luo, when were you a swordsman? I've never seen you use a sword," Kiana said surprisingly.
"Um, you might not believe it, but the first weapon I ever used was indeed a sword," Chen Luo muttered quietly.
"Now it's my turn. Let me think... something only A'Luo and I know... I remember." Kiana slapped her thigh.
But judging by Bronya's exclamation from beside her, Kiana hadn't slapped her own thigh.
Kiana and Chen Luo had almost no time alone together, but almost none didn't mean absolutely none.
There really was something only the two of them knew.
"Question: who helped us when we were attacked by Mei's Herrscher personality?" Kiana asked.
That's right, this was something only Chen Luo and Kiana knew.
Back then on that battlefield, Bronya had been knocked out, Raiden Mei was in her Herrscher personality state and had no memory of the event, any possible surveillance in the area was mostly disabled due to the Herrscher of Thunder's influence, so the only one who clearly saw the future Raiden Mei was really just Kiana.
After hearing Kiana's question, Chen Luo looked toward Raiden Mei beside Kiana.
"Alright, you've already answered. No need to say it out loud." But before Chen Luo could speak, Kiana suddenly said.
Because Kiana had noticed Chen Luo's glance.
And since it was a secret only the two of them knew, keeping it hidden was kind of fun.
"Huh? Someone helped you back then?" Raiden Mei couldn't help but ask.
"Of course, and it's someone Mei would never expect," Kiana affirmed with a nod.
"Now it's my turn." For some reason, Bronya also seemed eager to take part in this questioning game.
"Go ahead and ask."
"What did you promise me?" This was also something only Chen Luo and Bronya knew.
"To help you rescue Seele," Chen Luo said succinctly.
Hearing the answer, Bronya nodded.
"Seele? Who's that?" Kiana asked, hearing a name she didn't recognize.
"That's Bronya's sister. Alright, let's not dig too deep into this. But Kiana, since you dared to provoke me, you should know what's coming, right?"
"Tonight, the only thing served to you at the bar will be bitter melon juice. Nothing else," Chen Luo said with a cold laugh.
"!!! So cruel!" Kiana looked at Chen Luo in disbelief.
"Ding-dong!"
The doorbell rang, and a resentful-looking Raven pushed the door open, staring straight at Chen Luo.
"Uh, alright, I'll hang up now. Someone's here to see me. See you tonight." Seeing the full-faced resentment on Raven, Chen Luo said to the three on the communicator.
After the three said goodbye to Chen Luo and hung up, he stood up.
"Raven, you've worked hard," Chen Luo said solemnly.
"...Instead of saying empty words, how about giving me an extra gold bar?" Raven rolled her eyes at Chen Luo.
This guy actually made her drive that go-kart, modified with who knows what, all the way from Chiba Academy back to the Nest by herself.
Even though he'd placed a thread-woven doll that looked very much like Chen Luo in the other seat as a companion, punching it a couple times didn't make Raven feel any better.
"...Raven, you've worked hard." After a moment of silence, Chen Luo emphasized again.
"...I give up. Come on out."
Raven could clearly see that Chen Luo had no intention of pulling out a gold bar and throwing it in her face.
"Oh, right, Raven, did you give those 30 Honkai crystals to Sora and the others?" While ushering the others to leave the bar, Chen Luo asked.
"No, why? We haven't decided when to leave yet. If I tell them now, they'll definitely get pretty anxious, and anxiety isn't a good quality in the apocalypse," Raven shook her head and said.
"Then could you give those Honkai crystals to me first, so I can give them to the kids?" Chen Luo negotiated with Raven.
"I can do that, but... what's in it for you?" Raven looked at Chen Luo puzzled.
"To leave a good final impression in their hearts, since it'll be hard to meet again in the future."
To see if he can make one last effort to upgrade the three-star achievement to a four-star achievement—[Loli King].
"...Hmm, alright." Raven nodded after seemingly thinking of something.
TL Note:
[1]: This is an idiom (a play on the Chinese saying 天老大地老二我老三) in context, it means Kiana sees herself as the most important person in any situation, just below the heavens and the earth in the natural order of things. She's the center of her own universe.