In the end, Lucius still pushed back the black card Kiana offered.
"I actually have an asset I can sell, I'm not lying to you."
"As long as I find the right buyer, the funding problem won't be a problem."
Kiana blinked, curiosity written all over her face.
So Lucius explained, "Some things that have no value to me, but to certain others, they might be priceless."
"So mysterious." Seeing that Lucius had no intention of explaining further, Kiana gave up asking.
For a moment, the atmosphere quieted down.
So Lucius turned around and asked Kiana a question instead: "During this time at school, have you become friends with Mei?"
Hearing Lucius's question, Kiana's expression instantly became gloomy.
"No. I have no idea how to become friends with her. She's like isolating herself from the world. This whole week, I haven't even spoken ten sentences to her."
While listening to Kiana pour out her grievances, Lucius glanced at the system's task bar.
[This is the beginning of the story, the convergence of fate.]
[Mission: Witness the friendship between Kiana and Raiden Mei. Reward: Crystals 300, A-rank Stigmata Selection Box x1]
[Mission Status: Key character Raiden Mei not detected]
This was quite normal. After all, the current Mei wasn't yet ME Corp's young miss and wasn't equivalent to Raiden Mei in character setting.
However, preparing in advance and having the two of them become friends was still very necessary.
So Lucius comforted her, "No need to rush. The establishment of friendship doesn't happen overnight."
Based on the underlying rule that bonds would inevitably form between Mei-types and Kiana-types in the Honkai world, surely Kiana could easily become friends with Mei, right?
"I hope so." Kiana sighed, then continued, "Besides that, Su's also sent me quite a few messages these days. I can still deal with him through text messages for now, but I probably can't hide it from him much longer. You know, he's a very perceptive person."
Hearing Kiana's words, Lucius instinctively turned his gaze toward the window, then turned back nonchalantly and said, "Although Su's role in the early stages isn't much, I think having him participate wouldn't hurt. Why not tell him?"
Upon hearing this, looking at the reflection on the surface of her cold drink cup and seeing her current appearance, Kiana shook her head vigorously.
"How could I possibly let Su see me looking like this?"
"After being brothers for so long, if he sees how I look now... my life would probably be over, right?"
"I might have to run away to the moon overnight."
After being transformed into a girl by Lucius's elbow strike, Kiana found her entire social circle basically ruined.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but let out a long sigh, her gaze toward Lucius becoming increasingly resentful.
As if sensing her vengeful ghost-like stare, Lucius hurriedly took out a card and pushed it in front of Kiana.
"Eden will be holding a concert in Nagazora City in a few days. This is a ticket for the concert. I know you're her fan, so go see it. Consider it a way to relax."
"Soon, the plot will hit the accelerator."
"What are you saying that people can't understand again?" Kiana sighed once more. Although still complaining, she didn't refuse.
These past few days of surreal daily life had shattered her worldview. Going to see a concert and re-experiencing the world's beauty wasn't a bad thing.
However, she didn't pick up the ticket Lucius gave her. Instead, she took out another ticket from her pocket, lightly twirled it between two fingers, and said to Lucius with a smile, "Together?"
Going to a concert alone—what fun was that?
To Kiana's invitation, Lucius smiled and shook his head.
"No, you go alone this time. I have some matters to handle."
"What are you scheming again?" Kiana was suspicious.
"Of course running around to save the world."
"You didn't deny you're scheming something?"
Lucius smiled without answering, just put away that ticket and settled the bill.
The two quickly parted ways at the shop entrance.
Just when leaving, Lucius glanced again toward the corner near the street but didn't pay it any mind.
After the two left, a figure peeked out from the corner, looking at the direction they'd left with a shocked expression.
This was a boy with gray hair, handsome features leaning toward androgynous—clearly good material for crossdressing at first glance.
He was Su, another good friend of Lucius and Kevin.
However, at this moment, watching the direction Lucius and Kiana had left, Su was greatly shocked.
After learning that Eden would be holding a concert in the Far East soon, Su had used his connections to obtain three concert tickets, planning to invite his two other good brothers to watch the concert together.
But Lucius had tactfully refused, telling him he needed to be busy with some matters recently.
And Kevin had even cut off contact with him, only occasionally replying with some messages.
Su was an extremely perceptive person. He vaguely felt himself drifting further from his two good brothers, giving him a subtle feeling of being left behind.
Therefore, his mood had been quite depressed these past few days.
Until today, he decided to go out for a walk to clear his mind. Walking around, he unconsciously came to the cold drink shop the group frequently visited.
So he saw Lucius conversing with a white-haired girl.
The moment he saw that white-haired girl, Su felt a certain subtle familiarity.
Why does she look so much like Kevin?
If reasoning by common sense, he would probably suspect this was Kevin's older or younger sister or something like that.
But Su was an extremely sensitive person. He extracted a lot of information from that white-haired girl's words and behavior.
Appearance could be disguised, but daily behavioral habits were hard to fake.
Combining this information led to a seemingly fantastical conclusion.
This white-haired girl conversing with Lucius was his good brother Kevin!
"How could Kevin become like this?" Su felt his mind震. A guess surfaced in his heart. "Could it be... Kevin has a crossdressing hobby?"
Becoming a girl was too unscientific, but if it was crossdressing, that would be quite reasonable.
"This makes sense... this makes sense..."
Thinking carefully, Kevin's base features were indeed suitable for crossdressing.
However, Su's heart still felt a sense of loss.
He could understand his good brother having a small crossdressing hobby, but you two sneaking around, going out behind my back—what's up with that?
Do you still consider me a brother?!!!
Recalling all the past moments, Su felt only bitterness in his heart—a depression of being isolated outside the small group.
He took out Eden's concert ticket from his pocket and looked at it. A dark cloud seemed to hang over his head as his whole person became dejected.
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Advanced 30+ Chapters of Honkai: Is this even the Prevoious Era