"Finally back～ It took so long this time, I wonder if that old antique secretly missed me."
Just returning from the Honkai: Star Rail universe, Fu Shi stretched out her limbs, her tone wrapped in the lazy comfort of someone returning to their home.
But that looseness didn't last long. Her brows suddenly furrowed as she looked around in confusion, this wasn't the familiar St. Freya Academy.
Even the Honkai energy in the air was so thin she could barely feel it. An unfamiliar feeling surged over her like a rising tide.
"Where is this?" Fu Shi pinched her brows together, fingertips unconsciously rubbing her empty palm. "The Honkai energy is ridiculously low… and where are Fu Lin and Kiana☆?"
"...Herrscher of Sentience?"
A sudden soft call from behind her contained disbelief, startling Fu Shi into spinning around, and she crashed into Fu Hua's wide, shocked eyes.
Fu Hua, in front of her, wore a clean, crisp white shirt, the sleeves casually rolled up to her forearms, revealing the neat lines of her wrist bones. In her hand, she carried a woven bamboo basket, with the corners of oil paper faintly visible through the slats.
But right now, she stood still, staring at Fu Shi with an expression mixed with complicated emotions that were hard to describe.
"Why are you here?" Fu Hua's voice paused slightly, like she needed to confirm Fu Shi was real. "I thought you..."
"Eh? Old antique, that should be my question!"
Fu Shi blinked, instantly throwing her confusion aside. She bounced toward Fu Hua in a few quick steps and slung an arm over her shoulder, shaking her lightly.
"I just got back and I'm already lost, Fu Lin and Kiana☆ are nowhere to be found, and you, you're just here waiting for me?"
She leaned closer, nose twitching sharply, and suddenly her eyes lit up like she had discovered a new continent. She pointed at Fu Hua's basket: "Eh? Old antique, you smell so nice! Like cake, did you just make some?!"
Fu Hua's steps faltered from Fu Shi's shaking. She awkwardly brushed away that restless hand, though she didn't really push her off. Instead, she turned and started walking toward a building not far away.
She deliberately slowed her pace so Fu Shi could keep up, then asked: "Where have you been all these years? I always wanted to find a chance to apologize to you, but no matter how I searched, I couldn't contact you."
Fu Shi continued hanging off Fu Hua's shoulder, matching her pace with a sway. When she heard the word apologize, her steps paused for just a moment, then she resumed her casual manner and poked Fu Hua's rolled-up sleeve.
"Apologize? For what? Old antique, don't tell me you did something behind my back while I was away. And what do you mean 'years'? I've barely been gone from St. Freya for, like, a month."
Fu Hua stopped completely.
She turned to Fu Shi, her gaze sinking as though she was trying to confirm if she really meant "a month."
"You said… one month?" Her voice was softer, carrying a heaviness Fu Shi had never heard before. "Since the goodbye at the Theater of Domination… it's already been nine years."
"Nine years?"
Fu Shi's voice jumped an octave. She stared at Fu Hua in shock, the hand on her shoulder sliding off unconsciously, her mind a chaotic mess:
No way?! Where did I end up?!
The old antique apologizing, barely any Honkai energy, nine years… and the Theater of Domination incident…
Don't tell me this is my original world, and the timeline… is Post-Honkai Odyssey?!
.....
"Is this… the moon base? Where's Fu Lin?"
Inside the lunar base's cabin, Kiana☆ slowly straightened up while holding her waist, her eyes sweeping around.
Outside the viewing window was the cold silver-gray lunar surface, and above it, the endless void of space, with the blue Earth hanging in the dark.
At that moment, the movement inside her belly gently nudged her. The sensation brought her back to reality a little, yet she still couldn't help muttering: "What happened? Why did I suddenly return to the moon… If not for my belly still being huge, I'd think this was just a dream. But.... where's Fu Lin? Is he here too, or back on Earth?"
She debated whether to call out when soft footsteps sounded behind her.
Kiana☆ turned around and immediately spotted Einstein not far away. She waved cheerfully: "Dr. Einstein, long time no see!"
"We detected a sudden spike of Honkai energy. I came to check and found it was you." Einstein pushed up her glasses. Her tone was as calm as ever, but her gaze unconsciously dropped to Kiana's belly, pausing. "Your stomach…"
Before long, the metal door on the other side of the lab slid open with a hiss. Tesla walked in quickly.
Her gaze also froze when it landed on Kiana's belly, then she raised a brow: "So the Finality can get pregnant normally like humans? Judging by this, you not only found the person you were looking for, you've already tied him down."
"Mm, I found him."
Kiana☆ instinctively protected her belly, her fingers brushing the gentle curve beneath her clothes. A soft smile bloomed in her eyes.
"All right. Later, come to the lab for a full checkup. Don't assume you can slack just because you're Finality."
Tesla waved her hand, her tone brisk, though there was concern hidden in it.
"Thank you, Dr. Tesla～"
Kiana☆ pressed her palms together in a playful gesture, just as her belly moved again, as if responding to Tesla's warmth.
After Tesla and Einstein left, Kiana☆ sank into the familiar dumpling-shaped sofa, the soft fabric wrapping around her and relieving all her tension.
Without the suppression from that other world, even while pregnant, her power flowed much more freely, the only pity was that she couldn't return to Earth.
Purple particles glimmered faintly at her fingertips, and her consciousness followed the threads of energy toward Earth, passing through the atmosphere , soon catching several familiar presences.
Fu Shi's lively chatter, Fu Hua's steady responses, Mei☆ and Elysia talking in the World Serpent base, all flowed clearly into her perception.
Sirin returned to Kiana☆'s consciousness.
Kiana☆ frowned slightly, the particles pausing as she murmured: "Fu Shi's with squad leader, Mei☆ is with Elysia in World Serpent… but Fu Lin isn't with them."
Sirin appeared beside her: "Then where is brother?"
"I'm still searching."
Kiana☆ continued her perception, letting the energy thread travel across mountains, rivers, forests, and oceans.
She didn't know how long she searched until a strange fluctuation suddenly crashed into her senses. Kiana☆ instantly focused on that direction.
It was an urban area on the African continent, devastated ruins, red crystals crawling over the skeletons of collapsed buildings, containing faint traces of Honkai energy.
And even stranger, a massive floating "island" hovered above the city center, space rippling around it like breathing.
"What happened to this city…" Kiana☆'s tone lowered. "And that floating island… Bronya's energy… the two doctors must know something. I'll ask them later."
"Wait, I found Fu Lin!"