Ethan Lane opened his eyes and rubbed his head, finally coming to his senses. He looked down at his completely healed injuries and said with some confusion, "Did I just activate a cheat? Not only did I not die, but all my injuries are healed."
"But wait, why is my hand so fair? It seems to have gotten longer too. Does healing also come with a skin-whitening function?" Unable to figure it out, Ethan Lane didn't dwell on it. He began to look inward. The massive amount of Honkai Energy from before had vanished without a trace. He had to make sure he hadn't been corroded by it.
"Body is normal, but the flow of Spiritual Qi in my meridians seems to have increased a lot. My strength is at least double what it was before, and my meridians have widened. Did I refine all that Honkai Energy?" His focus entered his dantian. He stared blankly at the slowly rotating Taiji symbol and finally said, "This... a white and purple Taiji, it's a bit strange. But the conversion efficiency of this Spiritual Qi is astonishing. At this rate, I won't have to worry about running out of Spiritual Qi at all. It's infinite stamina."
Seeing that there were no other abnormalities besides the spiraling white-purple Spiritual Qi turning into a Taiji, Ethan Lane sighed in relief and stood up. He immediately felt a bit cold and looked down to see his clothes had been reduced to tatters.
"Hm? What's this, a tattoo?" Ethan Lane looked at the red, tattoo-like pattern that had appeared on his chest with curiosity and touched it. He then frowned. He could feel a power coming from it, the source of which seemed to be the Spiritual Qi in his body, but he didn't know its function yet.
"It looks a bit like a Stigmata. I wonder what kind of Stigmata it is. Is it a powerful one? Like Sirin's Herrscher of the Void form." Shaking his head, Ethan Lane stood up and looked around. He found that the Chariot-type Honkai Beast was already dead, with no wounds on its body.
He ignored it and ran towards Kakarov's hiding place. When he found Kakarov, he discovered that the pit he was in had been buried by snow. He hurriedly started digging, and soon pulled him out.
Seeing that Kakarov was still alive, Ethan Lane breathed a sigh of relief, but Kakarov's breathing was very faint. He quickly began to treat him. He grasped Kakarov's left hand, closed his eyes, and mobilized the Spiritual Qi in his body to begin repairing his injuries.
Nearly ten minutes later, Kakarov's injuries had stabilized, and the wound on his back had begun to scab over. Looking at his right arm, which was now just a stump, Ethan Lane sighed and began to search for the severed hand, hoping to reattach it.
After searching for a long time, he couldn't find the severed hand anywhere. He had to give up. Ethan Lane then began to treat the other survivors. After so much time, only a few were still alive.
Just as he had stabilized their injuries and gathered them together, preparing to take them back to the town, Ethan Lane suddenly looked up. He heard the sound of a helicopter. In fact, he had faintly heard it before, but the sound had quickly faded, so he hadn't paid it any mind.
But now he saw the helicopter in the distance flying towards him. Soon, the helicopter was hovering above his head. After circling a few times, the cabin door opened, and two girls jumped out.
Ethan Lane was shocked. Jumping from this height was very dangerous. He was just about to cast a spell to catch them when they landed steadily on the ground, seemingly unharmed. After landing, they didn't come straight to him but started bickering. One of them, a girl with hair the color of blue crystals, said, "It's all your fault, Patricia. If you hadn't said there was an abnormal Honkai Energy fluctuation over there, we wouldn't have taken so long to find this place."
The other woman, with short, grayish-white hair and darker skin, retorted, "Huh?! Kira, I think those were your words. Why are you denying it now?" "Ah?! Really, did I say that? Haha, the weather is nice today, perfect for sunbathing," the girl named Kira said, laughing it off.
Ethan Lane walked up and said hesitantly, "Um... excuse me, who are you? What are you here for?" Shigure Kira turned her head upon hearing him and said in surprise, "Eh, where did this cute little girl come from? Little one, why are you here? It's dangerous here, you should go back quickly."
"Er... I'm not a little girl," Ethan Lane retorted. Shigure Kira was about to say more when Patricia walked in front of her and said to Ethan Lane, "Who are you? This isn't a place an ordinary person should be, is it?" "Oh! Right, the air here is still thick with the scent of Honkai Energy," Shigure Kira said, clapping her hands.
"Me? My name is Ethan Lane. I'm a Valkyrie," Ethan Lane replied. Just as Patricia was about to speak, Shigure Kira pulled her aside, walked up to Ethan Lane, looked him up and down, and then scooped him up in her arms.
"Er... what are you doing? Don't think you can just pick people up because you're bigger than me!" Ethan Lane said, grabbing her hands. "Wow! So cute! Come, let big sister hug you. Hehe, this is the first time I've seen such a small Valkyrie," Shigure Kira said like a creep.
"Cu... cute! Are you describing me?" Ethan Lane stammered, pointing at himself. "Hehe, you're getting shy," Shigure Kira kept rubbing her face against Ethan Lane's, making him blush. After all, having a beautiful girl do this to a single guy from his previous life was bound to make him shy.
Patricia walked up and sighed, "Kira, we're here to investigate a Honkai incident, not for you to tease little girls." "Oh, right. Then you can ask her," Shigure Kira seemed to just remember, but she still chose to hold Ethan Lane, who struggled a few times but couldn't break free from her surprisingly strong grip and had to give up for the time being.
Patricia was mentally exhausted. She said to Ethan Lane, "Miss Lane, do you know what happened here?" Ethan Lane ignored her form of address and answered directly, "This place was attacked by a group of Honkai Beasts. The town militia who came to defend suffered heavy casualties. I saved them and eliminated all the Honkai Beasts. After that, this area was enveloped by a large amount of Honkai Energy, so I had to retreat. Later, the Honkai Energy here suddenly disappeared, so I came back to treat them."
Patricia looked at him with suspicion. "Is that all? No other anomalies?" Ethan Lane shook his head. "That's it. You can check the surroundings to see if you can find anything." Patricia gave him a deep look and turned to investigate.
Shigure Kira suddenly said in surprise, "Lane, you actually eliminated so many Honkai Beasts! Although they were only the lowest-grade ones, there's even a Skybreaker-type Honkai Beast here. Are you a B-rank Valkyrie?"
"I guess so, I don't really know. I became a Valkyrie by adapting to Honkai Energy on my own," Ethan Lane replied. Shigure Kira was astonished. "You said you adapted to Honkai Energy on your own? But the probability of that is very low. Unless you have a Stigmata. Could it be..."
Ethan Lane didn't say anything, just lifted the cloth of his shirt. Shigure Kira looked at his Stigmata with envy. "Is this a natural Stigmata? I heard only the Three Great Families of Schicksal have them. Ah! I don't even have a Stigmata, I'm so jealous."
Shigure Kira suddenly pressed her face against his chest and started rubbing, while Ethan Lane pushed her head away, struggling and saying, "Don't do that, it tickles." Just then, Patricia returned. Seeing them still fooling around, she shook her head and said, "Kira, stop it. The investigation is over. There's nothing unusual."
"Hehe, Patricia, look what this is," Shigure Kira suddenly lifted Ethan Lane's shirt, revealing the Stigmata. Patricia was surprised. "Is that... a Stigmata?" "Yes, and it's a natural one! I'm taking her back to Schicksal to be trained by Lady Cecilia. Then our Schicksal will have another powerful Valkyrie," Shigure Kira said.
Patricia smiled, a meaningful look in her eyes. "Is that so? This is a cause for celebration for Schicksal." Ethan Lane glanced at her. This person seemed to be an Anti-Entropy spy. Perhaps Anti-Entropy would know about this matter soon.