By the time Leo woke up again, he realized the horizon was already faintly glimmering... Did I... sleep straight through the night?
Crawling out of bed, he took out his mobile phone and glanced at the time—
[08:46]
Additionally, he had received a text message.
[Due to an infectious disease, the school has decided to temporarily suspend classes. The specific resumption time is currently undetermined.]
In other words, there was no need for him to actively withdraw from school; he and MEI wouldn't need to attend classes for now.
So... let's sleep a bit longer!
Lying back down, he felt the softness of the bedding and couldn't help but stretch his body.
Drowsiness struck again; he was simply too tired.
Yesterday's battles had been almost non-stop, giving him absolutely no room to pause.
In the end, he even had to slaughter enemies while in a state with no [Resurrection] left. This was a double consumption of both his spirit and body. Thus, the fact that he could wake up now was entirely because his biological clock woke him up at this time.
But after confirming there were no urgent matters, he naturally couldn't resist wanting to sleep again.
So, when he had replenished his sleep and woke up once more, the sky was already bright.
Even the heavy curtains of his bedroom couldn't block the dazzling sunlight outside.
Under the illumination of the light shining through the gaps, he climbed up and stretched lazily and beautifully.
—I've finally slept enough!
However, he didn't rush to get out of bed. Instead, he first began to organize his harvest.
First—
[Imaginary Energy: 114,874]
In terms of Imaginary Energy, he had broken through one hundred thousand again. After all, yesterday's battle allowed him to frantically harvest quite a lot of Imaginary Energy, enough to let another person on his side break through to [D-Rank].
He and Kiana were already [D-Rank], so they naturally didn't need it, and Raiden Mei, serving as a weapon, was even [C-Rank].
In other words, only MEI could use it. Who else could he give it to if not her?
Next—
[Congratulations Player for completing the Real World Mission: Youth, Seize the Day!]
[Congratulations Player for obtaining mission rewards: Badge · Youth, Honkai energy *3]
[Badge · Youth]
[Description: Youth is short, seize the day!]
[Effect: Burning · Within five minutes, all attributes are amplified by 200%.]
[Side Effect: Burned Out · Within one hour, all attributes are forcibly reduced to 5 points.]
[Cooldown: 24:00]
[—Live by the blade, die by the blade!]
—So the rewards were all here?
To be honest, after experiencing such an arduous and unparalleled battle, Leo naturally thought that those 3 points of Honkai energy were insufficient as a reward.
But after seeing the effect of [Badge · Youth], the resentment in his heart vanished instantly.
After all, no matter where, equipment that can explode with double power for a short time like this is an extremely precious existence.
—With this thing, he finally possesses the qualification to challenge those above his level.
To be fair, if he had this thing when fighting the Eye Monster before, he could have handled it with much more ease, and wouldn't have needed to bluff.
"Good stuff!"
Pursing his lips, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but show wild joy.
—The rabbit head, the rabbit head is moving!
After that—
[Demon Fox's Diary]
To be honest, if he wasn't being greedy, he thought the Eye Monster should have also dropped a diary.
However, he had dug out quite a lot of intelligence from the Eye Monster, so if there was no diary, then there was no diary.
On the contrary, that fox was obviously purer than the Eye Monster. From its perspective, they should be able to excavate even more information.
It was just that right now, reading the diary content alone would be a waste of time. Watching it together later would maximize time efficiency.
Finally—
[Player: Leo]
[Rank: D-Rank Valkyrie]
[Strength: 15+14 (MEI) +29 (Kiana) +7 (Sakura) = 65]
[Constitution: 15+14 (MEI) +29 (Kiana) +7 (Sakura) = 65]
[Energy: 15+14 (MEI) +29 (Kiana) +7 (Sakura) = 65]
[Agility: 15+14 (MEI) +29 (Kiana) +8 (Sakura) = 66]
[Honkai energy: 127]
[MEI · Bond: Max! (Qualitative Change Available!)]
[Kiana · Bond: Max! (Qualitative Change Achieved!)]
[Sakura · Bond: 25%]
[Abilities: Hokushin Ittō-ryū (Slight Achievement: 1275/2000), Tiny Miracle (C-Rank)]
[Equipment: Homu Sword Sage Suit (D-Rank), Badge: Fast, Badge · Sanitation Model, Badge · Youth]
[—A fledgling warrior.]
—Only a fledgling?
Looking at Tongzi's evaluation, his expression couldn't help but be somewhat subtle.
One must know that with his current standard, placed in Kiana's world, he would be at least an A-Rank Valkyrie.
Admittedly, ordinary A-Rank Valkyries couldn't beat stronger Honkai Beasts, let alone participate in battles against Herrschers.
But even so, A-Rank Valkyries were the backbone forces of the human world.
—It's not that A-Rank Valkyries aren't strong, it's that Kiana and her group are too overpowered!
Yet even such backbone force was only "fledgling" here; this was indeed hard to accept.
—Just how high is the ceiling of this world you're preparing?
Shaking his head, he temporarily cast aside this goal that looked incredibly distant and turned to face reality.
Entering the bathroom, he bathed and changed clothes.
Next, he changed the bedding on the bed. After all, although Raiden Mei had changed his clothes, the dirty spots on the bed definitely couldn't be replaced.
Thus—
"Done!"
After wiping away non-existent sweat, he walked out of the bedroom.
Then... sure enough, they weren't home!
Not just Kiana and MEI, even Raiden Mei had been taken away by them.
Of course, as long as he wished, with just a thought, [Blade Soul · Herrscher of Thunder] would return to his hand.
But since Kiana and the others wanted to use it, he just let them be.
After all, up until now, he hadn't sensed any fluctuation in the Honkai energy on Kiana's side.
In other words, they weren't in combat.
Therefore, he let them do as they pleased.
Opening the refrigerator, he found that the ingredients were used up, leaving only those [pre-prepared dishes] he had taken from the canteen kitchen.
"Looks like Mei cooked last night."
Feeling the hunger in his stomach, he went out to buy ingredients, intending to buy two buns to pad his stomach along the way.
And when he returned home carrying bags big and small, he finally saw Kiana and the others.
"See!"
While walking towards Leo and taking the ingredients from him, Kiana spoke excitedly: "I said he went to buy groceries, right?"
"If he had entered the Honkai Domain again at this time, I would have beaten him up."
"Mhm..."
Seeing Leo's fully recovered appearance, MEI nodded and said: "It looks like you've maintained your sobriety."
Her hair was still a bit damp, clearly having just come out of the bathroom.
Did she go to exercise?
Associating it with the disappearance of [Blade Soul · Herrscher of Thunder], Leo guessed what Kiana and the others had gone to do.
"Let me handle it."
Taking the ingredients from Kiana again, Raiden Mei said to Leo: "You go rest a bit."
"I originally wanted to ask what you wanted to eat before going to buy."
After speaking, she walked into the kitchen with the ingredients, looking every bit the good wife and loving mother.
"Mhm."
Nodding, Leo laughed: "Mainly I was idle and had nothing to do, so I went out to buy groceries by the way."
"What about you guys?"
Looking at MEI, he asked curiously: "Went to exercise?"
"Don't ask when you already know."
Arms crossed over her chest, MEI's small chin couldn't help but lift slightly.
"Now, I also possess the ability to fight side by side with you guys."
It wasn't that she was arrogant or complacent, but after this morning's exercise, she discovered that at the very least, she wouldn't drag Leo and the others down anymore.
And more critically, her compatibility with Raiden Mei was extremely high.
Compared to Leo, she could bring out the abilities of [Blade Soul · Herrscher of Thunder] to a greater extent.
Furthermore... this thing could split!
In other words, in future battles, Leo could have one and she could have one.
But it was limited to only her; this should be her privilege as the Herrscher of Thunder of this era!
"Mhm, mhm."
Seeing that look of uncontrollable excitement on MEI's face, Leo naturally wouldn't pour cold water on her.
In fact—
"This is for you."
Speaking, he handed the [D-Rank License] to MEI.
Unlike him, the girls had to reach [D-Rank] before he could continue to [Level Up] their base attributes.
Whereas for him, using the [D-Rank License] meant a breakthrough in Honkai energy.
Additionally, whenever the girls advanced a rank, their base attributes would also directly rise to the minimum attributes of the current rank.
Just like MEI, once she advanced to [D-Rank], her various attributes could break through the major barrier of [15]; otherwise, she could only continue to be stuck at [14].
The same logic applied to Kiana; her four base attributes were all [29], and her Honkai energy was [299].
This was because as a [D-Rank], she could only exert this much strength at most.
Only when she reached [C-Rank] would these base attributes and Honkai energy of hers continue to rise upwards.
"Mm?"
Never having expected Leo to give the [D-Rank License] to her so readily, MEI couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
"What's with that look?"
Looking at MEI's astonished expression, Leo couldn't help but laugh: "I just hope you proceed step by step when acquiring power, and don't accidentally lose yourself."
"But if there really is a safe way to acquire power, I certainly hope you become stronger as soon as possible."
"After all, only if you become stronger can I become stronger here."
What he truly worried about was MEI overdrawing her body due to a mindset of rushing for quick results; this was naturally not something he wanted to see.
And regarding a safe promotion method like this, he only regretted that there weren't enough opportunities.
"...Mhm."
Silent for a moment, MEI nodded.
Although she had already acted sufficiently reserved, the look in her eyes toward Leo was still intense enough to stretch like melted cheese.
In short, tonight, a great battle would be inevitable.
"Additionally—"
Somewhat unable to bear MEI's gaze, Leo turned to look at Kiana and said: "Let's not challenge high difficulties for these few days; let's ease up for a week first."
"Mainly, [Tiny Miracle] needs a week's time."
To be honest, it was precisely this divine skill that helped him overcome quite a few difficulties.
Whether it was the early stage, letting him judge if he could beat the enemy, or later on, causing the Eye Monster's surgery to fail, all of this indisputably manifested the necessity of this ability.
Although regarding the point about making the surgery fail, he wasn't sure how much effort the ability exerted.
But just the strength scanner aspect alone was extremely useful in his view.
Otherwise, if he didn't have this ability, he definitely wouldn't have jumped into that obvious trap.
At that time, he would have only been able to think of ways to contact Fire Moth in advance.
In short, without this ability, he didn't dare to continue exploring for the time being.
"You indeed should rest a bit."
Going along with Leo's words, Kiana said: "Besides, there are some areas we haven't fully explored yet."
"Like the backstage of the rostrum, and you haven't gone to take another look at the aftermath of the Kendo Hall either, right?"
Recent events had practically appeared in a cluster; they simply hadn't had the chance to continue the methodical exploration from before.
"Mhm, then tonight's goal is there."
Nodding, Leo said: "Also, let's find a chance to thank Bronya."
"If not for her taking action, we very likely would have only been able to flee."
It had to be said, among the heroes who stopped the monster big shot's possession, Bronya was the one with the greatest contribution.
And it was precisely because of this that he couldn't judge how much of a role [Tiny Miracle] had played.
"This is natural."
Nodding, Kiana said: "However, for her, the reward she wants is nothing more than news of Seele. You just tell her a bit more relevant information then."
As her old rival, she was naturally clear about Bronya's "weakness".
Of course—
"No problem."
Agreeing with a smile, Leo naturally also understood what Bronya needed.
And during their conversation, Raiden Mei had also finished cooking the meal over there.
Considering Leo was hungry, Raiden Mei didn't choose overly difficult dishes; they were all types that could be served most quickly.
Thus—
"I'm full!"
Rubbing his stomach, Leo had a face full of happiness and relaxation.
If not for this hateful Honkai Domain, he could totally enjoy a real Galgame!
But now, he could only enjoy this moment of peace.
Afterwards—
"I'll clean up."
Stopping Kiana and MEI from helping, Raiden Mei said: "You guys continue discussing proper business."
"Anyway, my soul is linked with his. Whatever conclusions you have, I can learn them from him."
Inadvertently, she even showed off a little.
However, Kiana naturally wouldn't be jealous of Raiden Mei, and as for MEI, she didn't have much of an opinion on this "younger sister" of hers.
Therefore—
"Let me summarize."
After listening to the intelligence Leo obtained yesterday, MEI took the initiative to speak and categorize.
"First of all, their goal is to become Gods. Is this completely different from our initial estimate that they were trying to defeat [Finality]?"
"No."
Shaking his head, Leo said: "Perhaps becoming a God is also the method they thought of to be able to defeat [Finality]."
"After all, the underlying logic of your world is to defeat [Finality]."
"Alright."
Nodding, MEI said thoughtfully: "Then secondly, there are different factions among them. It is precisely because of this that you were given space to develop."
"That should be the case."
The one speaking this time was Kiana. She stated bluntly: "Last time I went to the [75%] area, the monsters I encountered were always just one single individual."
"Precisely because of this, Leo and I could easily escape with our lives."
"Otherwise, if they had ganged up on us even slightly, we would have had absolutely no possibility of survival."
—Mainly, Leo definitely wouldn't have survived.
But she naturally wouldn't say these words out loud.
"It seems the conflict between them is very deep, or perhaps, they are in a relationship of mutually devouring each other?"
Touching her chin with her left hand, MEI's right hand was winding a lock of hair that had fallen down.
"Probably."
Nodding in agreement with MEI's statement, Leo said: "Their trait is fusion, and this process of fusion shouldn't be that beautiful; it must be accompanied by mutual devouring."
"Therefore, it makes sense that they would guard against each other and be unwilling to take the initiative to attack."
"They are all afraid of being targeted by the oriole behind the mantis!"
Having no combat experience was certainly one of the reasons, but they should also be afraid that after being worn down, existences of the same level would come to devour them.
Precisely because of this, they couldn't unite as one.
"Then afterwards, we have hope to defeat them one by one."
Eyes rolling, MEI said again: "Finally, they should have stolen the Herrscher of Thunder's power."
"As long as Mei and I continue to become stronger, perhaps we can directly draw out the energy within their bodies."
In the final analysis, they were the true masters of the Herrscher of Thunder's power.
It was just that their current strength was weak and they couldn't control too much power.
Otherwise, they could just start sucking directly.
"Mhm, this is also a line of thought."
Nodding, Leo said: "After this, we'll mainly invest in you guys."
Kiana was certainly strong, but her current armor was only the healer [Divine Prayer].
If it were changed to [Knight Moonbeam], he would guarantee investing in Kiana first.
One could only say, right now Raiden Mei and MEI were still more important.
Even he himself could be placed in the back row for now.
"Additionally—"
Seeing Leo trust her so much, MEI added: "If we follow this line of thought, regarding the dead body of Mei we have to face, the strength might not be as strong as we imagine."
"Even, if the two of us are strong enough, we can directly suppress it."
Since the Herrscher of Thunder's power was stolen by these rats, then the power of Raiden Mei's dead body inevitably couldn't be in a victorious state.
Originally they were still distressed about how to face a Herrscher; now they had tentatively found an answer.
Only—
"Hope so."
Regarding this, Leo wasn't as optimistic as MEI.
After all—
"Kiana understands the strength of a Herrscher best."
"Even if stolen by these monsters, a Herrscher's power is still terrifying."
"Indeed."
Nodding, Kiana chimed in: "The power of a true Herrscher will definitely not become weak just because a part was stolen by someone."
"However—"
She spoke of a point Leo hadn't thought of.
"She still needs to sustain the entire Honkai Domain."
"?"
Undoubtedly, Leo really hadn't considered this issue.
"If adding the fact that she has to sustain the entire Honkai Domain, I think her strength won't be too strong either."
Seeing that this was indeed something Leo hadn't thought of, Kiana said with a face full of confidence: "At the very least, she is an opponent we can reach!"
"That is true..."
Nodding slightly, Leo accepted Kiana's statement.
"Right."
Suddenly, Kiana thought of something else and couldn't help but say: "Before challenging Mei's dead body, we can first go find that young girl who is about to become a Pseudo-Herrscher to test the waters."
"With her as a reference, we should be able to determine our strength."
"And we must be quick too; we can't really wait for her to completely become a Pseudo-Herrscher, otherwise she won't be salvageable."
By her estimation, at most two more weeks, and that girl would become a Pseudo-Herrscher.
"Mhm."
Understanding that this matter couldn't be delayed, Leo said: "Wait for [Tiny Miracle] to be ready, and we'll go try again."
This week's time should be enough for them to grow a large chunk again.
When the time comes, they might not necessarily lack the power to fight that girl.
"At that time, we can also invite Sakura."
Seeing Leo make a decision, Kiana gave another suggestion.
"Although her long sword isn't quite suitable for facing vines, having one more teammate is definitely still good."
"Sakura?"
Hearing Sakura's name, Leo nodded slightly and said: "It's definitely best if she can come."
"Besides, did she promise to join us?"
"Of course not."
Shaking her head, Kiana said with a weird expression: "Although I have told her that Rin will eventually become the Herrscher of Corruption, she still didn't relent."
"She wants to wait for you to say this to her personally."
"Uh..."
Hearing this, Leo couldn't help but be stunned.
After all, in his view, it should be the same regardless of who said these words.
And if one really had to say it, Kiana and Sakura had fought together for so long; the relationship between the two sides should be better.
But—
"Stop pretending to be dense."
Seeing that Leo wanted to pretend confusion while understanding clearly, MEI spoke up: "This concerns Sakura's entire life after all; she naturally hopes it is you who says these words to her."
"Heh..."
Laughing dryly, Leo nodded and said: "When I see her again, I will tell her."
"I just didn't expect her to make a decision so quickly."
"Although you guys might not believe it, I originally thought Sakura still wanted to tug-of-war with me for a while longer."
—Although whether he gave Sakura the chance to tug-of-war was another matter.
"Hmph!"
With a light snort, Kiana said: "Then you underestimated Sakura's love for her sister too much."
Thinking about it, she evaluated: "No less than Bronya's love for Seele!"
"Then it's fine."
Nodding slightly, Leo said: "I will also guard Rin well together with Sakura!"
And speaking of care for Rin, he naturally thought of the other party's studies.
"MEI, Rin's advancement to higher education relies on you."
After speaking, he looked at MEI.
However—
"This?"
Frowning slightly, MEI stated bluntly: "Last night we went to Sakura's home."
"Regarding Rin's studies..."
Speaking of this, she revealed a look that was hard to describe in words.
"I understand."
Not waiting for MEI to speak, Leo said with a serious face: "Then we will guarantee her advancement through other methods."
One could only say, if Rin's talent wasn't up to par, then he was also quite well-off with family assets.
Only—
"You thought wrong."
Shaking her head, MEI said solemnly: "Rin, that child, isn't stupid, she's just somewhat unbalanced in subjects."
"Unbalanced?"
"She leaves others in the dust in terms of computers, but for matters unrelated to this subject, she can almost be described as illiterate. I can't teach her."
After speaking, MEI revealed a helpless expression.
"There's such a thing?"
Frowning slightly, Leo said: "But in that case, she shouldn't have problems with Chinese, Math, and English, right?"
"But only related to computers."
Understanding Leo's meaning, MEI spoke up: "So in other words, wanting to patch up this gap for her can only be done by teaching her through knowledge of computers."
"But this area isn't my strong suit."
"Is that so?"
Hearing this, Leo understood MEI's meaning.
"Then we can only find Bronya."
Speaking of a genius in computers, he naturally thought of the cute Bronya immediately.
It was just a pity the other party was still locked in a treasure chest, which gave him quite a headache too.
But the good news was that he was already very close to the Gymnasium Changing Room where Bronya was located.
He estimated he would go there either through the Medical Room or through the Kendo Hall. In short, he was already very close to rescuing Bronya.
If he could conveniently pull Bronya out during this week, that would be perfect.
"Mhm."
Nodding, MEI said: "I usually only use a mobile phone; computers are only used for publishing papers."
"So for this area, we still have to let a professional handle it."
Of course, this was also mainly because she was almost angered to the point of vomiting blood by Rin.
Undoubtedly, Rin was a good child, but the other party's underlying logic was built upon computers.
If it wasn't a principle that could be explained through this, the other party simply couldn't understand.
She spent quite a lot of time last night, but it still had no effect.
And she could tell that Rin was also anxious, but some things just couldn't be done if they couldn't be done.
Helpless, she could only give up.
Fortunately, for the three subjects of Chinese, Math, and English, Rin had a high probability of having no issues.
But for Social Studies and Science, the problems would be huge.
After all, even if some schools mainly cared about the first three subjects, you couldn't drag your feet in the latter two subjects, right?
Therefore... the plan of being 'quite well-off with family assets' wasn't unfeasible!
If not for knowing there was still Bronya, she would definitely have directly agreed to this plan.
At the very least, this way she wouldn't need to damage her brain cells anymore.
—So teaching children is this tiring!
For the first time, she profoundly understood the difficulties of being a parent.
"Mhm, we will strive to rescue Bronya a bit earlier."
Although Leo felt Bronya was more useful continuing in the Honkai Domain.
But, leaving aside that he had to consider Bronya's physical and mental health... always staying alone in the Honkai Domain, she definitely didn't feel good either.
Just speaking of the [75%] area, the monsters there all possessed intelligence. If he wanted to let Bronya spy on intelligence again, matters wouldn't be so simple.
Therefore now, they might as well rescue Bronya, so they could have one more combat force.
As for letting Bronya teach Rin, that was just incidental content.
"Tentatively, the current intelligence only leaves that diary."
And after MEI finished summarizing the explicit intelligence, they only had that [Demon Fox's Diary] left unread.
________________________________________
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