"It's alright, it's alright, everyone, please disperse."
"Yes, we're from the Hyperion film crew. This is all special effects, just acting."
Kiana and Bronya expended quite a bit of effort, along with some minor tricks to dismiss idlers, to finally disperse the crowd of onlookers.
Kiana turned back, hands on her hips, and sighed, "Watch your impact, Class Monitor. Even if what Ah Li did was a little bit out of line, there was no need to smash such a big crater in the middle of the street."
As a registered student of St. Freya who had to attend at least a few online classes each week, Kiana naturally recognized Fu Hua, one of St. Freya Academy's only two A-rank Valkyries.
Bronya, meanwhile, crouched down, poking the cheap big brother who was splayed out in the crater.
"Onii-chan, you still alive?"
The little girl, out on a mission, was wearing her custom-made "Silver Wolf" combat suit. It was a cool ensemble featuring an asymmetrical white chest guard, an open blue crop top, and a fantastic combination of ultra-short hot pants, fishnet stockings, and short athletic boots.
Strangely, while this outfit would look incredibly suggestive on anyone else, on Bronya, it simply magnified her cuteness and cool factor to infinity.
This, perhaps, was a testament to the designer's skill.
"No problem at all!"
Fuli propped himself up, brushing off the concrete debris, and gave the girl a cheerful thumbs-up.
While the crowd was being dispersed, Fu Hua, having also calmed down, pushed up her glasses. "My apologies. I failed to control my emotions."
Siegfried, observing in secret, felt this apology was completely unjustified. Fuli was the one who had acted indecently, not her. The fact that she hadn't accused him of sexual assault was already a mercy beyond the law. Why was she bowing her head and admitting fault?
The man wasn't wrong. Even after five thousand years, Fu Hua was still a complete novice in the matters of love, having never even been in a relationship.
Her mindset was still rather conservative. Even though Fuli was her "cousin," and even though she had a soft spot for him because of Cheng Lixue, Fuli's overly memorable first impression had definitely provoked her ire.
However, just as the furious girl was about to teach him a further lesson, she heard a familiar voice in her ear.
"Hua, calm down."
"Now is not the time to discuss this. Don't be rash. We'll see you tonight. Remember to stay close to our little host then. The signal will be better if you're in the same bed."
One was a monotonous, mechanical voice with a hint of childishness; the other was rational with a touch of teasing.
As a side effect of fusing with the Emperor-class Honkai Beast Garuda, hyperthymesia had always troubled Fu Hua, forcing her to periodically use Fenghuang Down to erase insignificant memories from her brain.
However, there were some things the girl would never delete, no matter what.
Hua took a deep breath and said, "It was my fault for not being careful. I caused a negative impact on the environment."
The shattering of her Heart of Taixu Sword had affected her control over her power. If she had even reached the "Still Water" realm, even in anger, the force of her Inch Force Fist would have been almost entirely concentrated on Fuli, with not a single bit leaking out.
'The focus is on damaging the environment, not on retaliating.'
Siegfried, under the alias Qiteng, chuckled to himself. He could see at a glance that Fu Hua still held a grudge against Fuli.
But when he remembered the swaying Wuling Hongguang from earlier, his smile vanished.
"It was pretty bad," Kiana said nonchalantly. "Just make sure you remember the lesson, Class Monitor. Try not to cause trouble for everyone next time."
"You—!"
Fu Hua felt a surge of blood rush to her head. Why was this ball of white fluff so punchable?
Fuli waved his hand. "It's actually fine. Forget a crater, even if my cousin caused a huge scene, as long as no civilians were hurt, the higher-ups would turn a blind eye."
Kiana was extremely curious. "Huh? Why?"
"Let me ask you this: if Yang Jian rebelled, would it affect his uncle's chances of passing the civil service exam?"
"Of course not—wait!" The girl quickly caught on. "Doesn't Erlang Shen's uncle run the Heavenly Court? Who would dare to actually make him step down?"
Bronya was thoughtful. "Onii-chan means that Class Monitor Fu Hua has a very strong background?"
"Strong is an understatement. Think 'god-tier carry'," Fuli explained. "My cousin is the successor to Celestial Master Phoenix. You know Phoenix, right? She basically has emperor-level status here in Shenzhou."
'So she's the Celestial Master's successor.'
Siegfried, eavesdropping, understood.
He had originally planned to contact Theresa and ask her just what was up with this ridiculously strong A-rank Valkyrie under her command, wondering if she was a spy sent by Otto.
But if she was Phoenix's successor, then it all made sense.
With that, he abandoned the idea of "tattling" to his old friend.
Fuli took the Octavia Emblem that Theresa had given him out of his pocket. While activating the Great Prophecy Art within the badge to repair the damaged ground, he launched into motormouth mode:
"Speaking of which, cousin, I heard that Celestial Master Phoenix usually appears with elegant gray hair and azure eyes, only changing into her white-haired, red-eyed Celestial Master form during battle. Do you know that trick?"
Seeing the boy proactively repair the damage, the girl, who was starting to feel a tiny bit of fondness for him, replied without expression, "Not yet."
"So you can in the future?" Fuli's eyes lit up. "The origin of the white-hair, red-eye fetish in Shenzhou! If you can really do that, it'll be like Zhang Zuolin on a train—the bomb!"
"Origin of the fetish?" Bronya, who had followed him, tilted her head up.
"Yeah," Fuli said. "Why does everyone in Shenzhou have a thing for white hair? It's because during the dawn of Chinese civilization, Celestial Master Phoenix appeared in that form time and time again before our ancestors, who were ravaged by beasts, disasters, and the Honkai, saving them from dire straits!"
"Imagine this: you're an ordinary person in the Flame Emperor's tribe five thousand years ago. One day, you grab your bronze spear as usual and go out hunting with your comrades."
"But fate has other plans. On your way back, a monster infected by the Honkai targets you."
"Your spear is snapped in an instant. You stumble and fall, watching in despair as your companions fall one by one. The monster's foul-smelling maw is about to swallow you whole."
"Just then, a blazing flame on the horizon suddenly illuminates your lifeless eyes. A white-haired figure trailing a meteor descends from the sky and, with a single strike, slays the monster that nearly wiped out your tribe."
"After doing all this, the figure nonchalantly turns around. Her face is exquisitely beautiful, noble, and elegant. Her aura is divine, her white hair cascades to her waist, and her ruby-like eyes gaze at you. Her thin lips part slightly, and she softly says, 'It's alright now.'"
"Whoa! I'd fall for her in an instant!" Kiana's jaw dropped as she imagined the scene. "That would be absolutely carved into your DNA, the kind you could never erase!"
"The key is that this kind of thing happened more than once. Over five thousand years, who knows how many people were saved by Phoenix, their minds forever imprinted with her magnificent form," Fuli concluded, putting away the badge after finishing the repairs. "Rounding it up, Celestial Master Phoenix is the dream lover of every person in Shenzhou!"
"I-It's probably not that exaggerated?" Fu Hua said sheepishly, turning her head away as a blush crept onto her cheeks. Her fondness for her little cousin rose another notch.
Exquisitely beautiful, noble, and elegant... an aura as divine and dignified as a goddess...
Dammit! Why is he so smooth with his words!
It had to be said, if Fuli had known that Fu Hua was Phoenix and praised her so lavishly, she would have just thought he was trying to flatter her, coming off as a smooth-talker.
But since he didn't know, it proved that his words were from the heart.
"Ahem!"
To prevent herself from being completely reeled in by his sweet talk, Fu Hua quickly changed the subject. "Since we're all here to investigate the Kanas Lake monster, let me start by sharing the information I have."
"Wait." Bronya, her fine brows knitted, interrupted. "How did Class Monitor know that Bronya and Onii-chan were here to investigate the lake monster?"
She had naturally skipped over Kiana.
'Crap!'
Realizing she had misspoken in her haste, Fu Hua's heart skipped a beat.
She had taken the mission alone and had come here by herself a few days ago. Logically, it was impossible for her to know the Hyperion's mission objective.
"Theresa must have told her," Fuli smoothly picked up the conversation. "My cousin is a student at St. Freya, and they're close. It's normal for her to mention it."
"Is that right?" the little sister looked at Fu Hua.
"Yes, that's right!" the girl nodded repeatedly, the negative impression from her little cousin's earlier inappropriate actions completely vanishing.
What a considerate and understanding boy!
"Bronya, you're just too suspicious. Class Monitor and Ms. Himeko are such good friends, how could she be full of schemes like some people?" Kiana complained, then eagerly held out her hand. "So, where's the intel?"
From her eager expression, it was clear she was already fantasizing about being Sherlock Holmes, about to find clues to the truth within the seemingly common information.
"Here."
Fu Hua—not full of schemes, but definitely a spy—took out three identical files and handed them over.
Fuli quickly scanned his copy.
Most of it described the local customs of Kanas, with a smaller portion related to various legends.
What caught his attention was the story of the local Tuvan people.
In the eyes of this ethnic minority, who had lived by Kanas Lake for nearly four hundred years, they were all descendants of the great Genghis Khan. After his death, his body was sunk into Kanas Lake, and the Tuvans, as his former personal guards, remained to guard the royal tomb for generations.
And the lake monster was the sacred protector of the tomb.
"Basically unfounded," Bronya said flatly, leaning over. "According to historical records, Genghis Khan Temüjin died of illness on August 25, 1227, in what is now Qingshui County, Tianshui City, Gansu Province. Although his burial site is still debated, it's impossible for him to have been buried in Kanas Lake, which is over two thousand kilometers away in the far north of Xinjiang."
Her own copy of the file lay untouched beside her. This little act of wanting to read the file together with her big brother was also very nice.
"Official history isn't always true!" Kiana, the great historical revisionist, objected, only to see the siblings staring at her with strange expressions.
Fuli: "Page three, eighth line down."
Bronya: "Read it yourself."
"Oh." Kiana followed their instructions and subconsciously read the information aloud: "It is rumored that the reason Genghis Khan's European conquest was thwarted was that his advance was intercepted by a white-haired man wielding a greatsword of fire. The unending divine flames burned his magnificent body, which had been blessed by Tengri, forcing him to halt his advance and return to the northern deserts to recuperate. The following year, despite his injuries, he led an army against the treacherous Western Xia and died of his illness..."
She looked up, stunned. "What kind of history is this wild?"
"Instead of wild, I'd say this plot feels strangely familiar."
Fuli's tone was peculiar. He looked at Siegfried, who had been huddled in the corner pretending to be a middle-aged otaku. "Mister, what's your take on this?"
The man looked left and right, then pointed to himself as if he had just realized he was being addressed, before quickly shaking his head.
He was inwardly impressed that Fu Hua, as Phoenix's successor, had managed to dig this up.
Yes, one of the main reasons Siegfried had chosen Kanas Lake as the location to observe his daughter and son-in-law (?) was this ancient legend that had been passed down in the Kaslana family for nearly eight hundred years—a story about the Judgement of Shamash and an incarnation of Tengri.
Of course, at this stage, in his disguise, he certainly wouldn't be making the legend public.
So, he wiped his sweat, backed away while waving his hands, and clutched his camera equipment to his chest, looking as aggrieved as a 200-pound man-child.
Kiana clearly couldn't stand the sight. "This mister doesn't seem to talk much, Ah Li, so don't give him a hard time—huh?"
Just as she was about to say more, she saw an elderly woman across the street slowly fall to the ground.
The people around glanced over, but all were hesitant. Not only did no one offer to help, but they also quickened their pace and moved far away.
"Granny, I'll help you!"
Kiana, possessed by the Kaslana spirit, immediately ran over.
Halfway there, an old hand reached out from behind and firmly grasped her shoulder.
"Don't help her!"
A stern, aged voice echoed in her ear. Kiana looked over and saw an old man in a Zhongshan suit with a serious expression and glasses.
"But!"
The kind-hearted girl was anxious. She had traveled around Shenzhou and knew that in modern society, some old scoundrels used this trick to scam people.
But what if that old granny was really in trouble?
The thought of it made it impossible for Kiana to just walk away.
"Sir, I know you mean well."
She explained while gently removing his hand without hurting him.
To her surprise, the old man suddenly said, "I'll help."
He took two steps forward, then turned back to Kiana and said:
"If she tries to scam me, I'll just lie down too."
At that moment, the old man's tall back seemed to glow with a brilliant light.
Kiana was dumbfounded.
In the distance, Bronya's mouth twitched. "Seriously? Is it that bad?"
"Don't judge others when you haven't walked in their shoes," Fuli said, rubbing his forehead with a pained expression as if recalling a traumatic past. "Remember this: if something shocks you, you should first be grateful for your own good fortune, not stand on the sidelines and pass judgment."
In the past, he had had more than his fair share of battles of wits with that shameless demographic.
At the same time, Fu Hua and Siegfried also looked over.
The moment the old man's familiar profile came into view...
It's him?
That's right. The heroic old man in the Zhongshan suit, who had bravely stepped forward, was none other than the retired deputy director of the Xinjiang Environmental Science Research Institute, the man who had issued the mission to investigate the Kanas Lake monster—Dr. Zhou.