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After finishing off the corrupted beast, Jiuxiao patted his belly, reflecting that this thing was really awful—like rubber mixed with scrap metal, a weird creation born out of a fight between the two. But surprisingly, it was filling.
He let out a loud burp, feeling like two stones had been shoved into his stomach, hard and unyielding. Walking with that feeling gave his movements a bit of a rhythm to it.
Coming out from the kitchen, Jiuxiao saw Kiana lying on the sofa, her little belly sticking out like a small, exhausted tiger who'd just raided a warehouse. He walked over, curiosity written all over his face, and poked Kiana's belly with his finger.
"Gurgle."
The feeling was unexpectedly bouncy, almost like poking a rubber ball.
Before he could even fully reflect on it, Kiana slapped his hand away like she was swatting away a summer mosquito.
"You ate that entire chunk!? Aren't you afraid you'll burst?"
"What's the big deal? I'm Kiana Kaslana, I'll digest it in a bit, nothing's gonna happen to me."
Kiana waved her hand dismissively, then continued lounging on the sofa, her little hands gently rubbing her stomach like a pregnant woman. She looked so relaxed that Jiuxiao couldn't help but admire her. "I'll be a great mother someday," she thought, feeling proud of herself.
Jiuxiao leaned back on the sofa, starting to think about what he should do next. The biggest enemy in this world was the Honkai, but Honkai was closely tied to the development of civilization. At this stage, the Honkai concentration wasn't high enough. Jiuxiao really wanted to just burst out and shout, "I am the Savior of Light, the people's hope, the terminator of Honkai!" But then he stopped himself. After all, even with the stigmata, he was still a weakling.
Kiana, with her missing parents, possessing immense strength, high compatibility with the Honkai (after all, she could eat Honkai beasts), and being the beautiful girl who saved him—she was like the protagonist's love interest in a traditional RPG!
She saved the protagonist from mortal injury, then journeyed with him to fight the great demon king. Along the way, they meet comrades who share the same goal. In the end, through the hero team's relentless efforts and the bond they share, they defeat the demon king and write a touching epic.
Lost in thought, Jiuxiao looked at Kiana and nodded.
The ultimate, invincible, incredibly cute Kiana... marrying her would be a great deal!
[Your thoughts are dangerous. In my world, I could fulfill your protagonist dream, but this world is still "too weak." I can't project much of my power here.
Also, and more importantly, the "Honkai" is not a game. The world allows consciousness to match new containers but doesn't allow the container to collect dissipated consciousness. Before you can easily transfer your consciousness, if you die, it's true death.
Don't imitate your consciousness counterpart—Penglai Temple Jiuxiao. She doesn't even know I exist yet, but I've quietly intervened and saved her several times already.]
"Another me so reckless? How many times has she almost died in just a few days?"
[Different worlds have different time flows.]
"Oh, well, that's fine then."
Jiuxiao snapped back to reality, and he noticed Kiana was staring at him, her gaze full of suspicion.
"You keep looking at me like that. You're not thinking bad thoughts, are you? Pervert! Do you have a thing for me? I'll punch your pig head off!"
Kiana puffed up her cheeks in irritation, raising her tiny fist to threaten him. Though Kiana was only 12 years old, a full-force punch from her could easily kill three cows. (Fun fact: Yulandal's real name, Zhenqi, was born on December 17th, 1998. Two years later, the corpse of Sirin ended up in Otto's hands, and the black-tech that created the current Kiana came about. In 2006, Siegfreid and Zhenqi fought to get back the body of K423, which was "8 years old." Kiana's real age is actually 4, so how can anyone criticize the intelligence of a little child, right?)
Jiuxiao, his mind still on Kiana's words, couldn't help but laugh.
"I was thinking... If Kiana became my future wife... wait a minute, your digestive system, how does it work? It's been a few minutes, and your stomach's already shrunk down by half. At this rate, you'll be back to normal soon."
Ignoring Jiuxiao's puzzled expression, Kiana smacked away his wandering hand from her stomach, then proudly lifted her chin and said to him:
"Dad said, being able to eat like that is proof of the Kaslana bloodline. Though it doesn't make sense, it sure fits the Kaslana way."
"I acknowledge your bloodline," Jiuxiao said, flashing a bright smile and giving Kiana a thumbs up.
"By the way, what are you planning to do next? Are you still planning to follow the road and search for your dad, Siegfreid?"
"Hmm, and what about you? I don't know why you're out here in the middle of the snowy plains wearing short sleeves, but I'm guessing you have nowhere to go now, right?"
"No, no, no, it was an accident! I'm the Honkai terminator, the destined hero, the savior of the gods! How could I have nowhere to go? I was just momentarily lost on the path of life!" Jiuxiao dramatically placed one hand over his eyes, striking a heroic pose with the other hand, dramatically pointing at Kiana.
Kiana casually waved away his finger and rolled her eyes.
"You must be the 'chuunibyou' my dad talks about, so creepy and delusional. Can't believe it's you."
"Hmm... If what I say all comes true, then who could call me a 'chuunibyou'? But since you invited me so sincerely, how could I refuse my little princess? Your most loyal knight—Jiuxiao, is at your service."
Jiuxiao dramatically knelt on one knee and looked up at Kiana with a gaze full of devotion.
Kiana, however, smiled sweetly at him, then shook her head.
"Thank you for offering to join me, but I am Kiana Kaslana, the Shield of the People—the descendant of the Kaslana family. We are the knights of the people. How could we let the people become our knights?"
"If that's the case, then I must be your knight," Jiuxiao said without hesitation. "As the knight of the people, you protect them. But who will protect you? Kiana, I really like you. Although we've just met, the moment I saw you, I already thought of names for our future children. Let me be your exclusive knight!"
Jiuxiao raised Kiana's right hand and kissed it gently. But what responded to him was Kiana's flushed face as she kicked out her little foot, sending it straight for his face.
In a brief moment of hesitation, Jiuxiao stuck out his tongue and licked her foot while it was still in mid-air.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash! The wall that had been repaired that morning now had another large hole in it. Kiana wasn't concerned about Jiuxiao getting hurt since he had no problem earlier when he broke the wall. Plus, this time, he had held back.
Kiana buried her bright red face into the pillow, rolling back and forth on the couch.
"Did he just confess to me...?!
Ahh, ahh, ahhh—
Although he's handsome, sounds nice, and feels comforting, we just met! And he's a chuunibyou pervert..."
"Damn pervert, I even held back a little. If I knew, I would've kicked him straight to the moon! Pervert! Pervert! Go die!"
"My exclusive knight..."
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