Nagazora City was quiet in the early morning. For some reason, everyone had discovered that the activity of Honkai Zombies and Honkai Beasts was relatively low before noon, so they decided to seize the opportunity to go out and search for supplies...
Li Xuan walked down the morning street, his ornate, yellow-decorated Xuanyuan boots stepping on the cracked road littered with debris. A thick fog permeated Nagazora City in the morning. The road was covered with dark brown bloodstains and black ash—the final traces left behind in this Honkai-ravaged world by the dead Honkai Zombies. After any creature infected by the Honkai became a Honkai Beast or a Honkai Zombie, once their life functions ceased, their bodies would be consumed by Honkai energy, releasing most of it back into the world...
"Yawn~" Behind Li Xuan, Kiana, pulling at her coat, let out a big yawn. "Why so early? I only had half a breakfast..." she complained, her eyes squinting.
"And yet Kiana's 'half' was enough for two people..." Bronya swiftly added. "To even eat Miss Liv's portion, how rude..." Although Bronya's tone was completely flat, it made Kiana feel a deep sense of disdain.
"Um, uh... I'm really sorry, Liv-chan." Even Kiana couldn't bring herself to talk nonsense in front of the gentle and lovely (and easily enraged) Liv.
"It's okay, Kiana. You can think of it as my treat..." Liv said with a sunny smile. In fact, she had to thank Kiana. If she hadn't greedily eaten her breakfast, Master wouldn't have personally fed her... The memory of Li Xuan forcing a piece of bread into her mouth that morning made Liv feel like she was going to suffocate...
"Liv-chan, you're such a good person! I'll have your back next time~" Kiana patted the dazed Liv on the shoulders, giving her a big 'good person' card, happily forgetting that she had once been scared witless by a certain maid.
Then, according to Kiana's Law, the posturing wouldn't last more than ten seconds...
"Kiana! Watch out!" Mei suddenly shouted. From a dark alley behind Kiana, two blood-red eyes suddenly lit up without warning. The next moment, a speed-type Honkai Zombie appeared behind Kiana, its iron-gray hands tipped with sharp black nails that glinted metallically in the sunlight...
As the concentration of Honkai energy continued to rise, the Honkai Zombies and Honkai Beasts of Nagazora City had begun the rapid evolution that humanity had ceased for millions of years. This Honkai Zombie was clearly an evolving one, its enhancement being speed. It could now easily outrun the world's fastest sprinters, and this wasn't even the limit of their evolution... but that was the miracle of Honkai energy. It possessed the power to both create and destroy, like a god.
"Oh crap, I'm gonna get bitten..." Kiana, completely unaware of what was behind her, turned her head in alarm and came face-to-face with the leaping Honkai Zombie. At a distance of less than a meter, Kiana could even see the zombie's blood-red pupils clearly... Although Kiana wasn't afraid of being infected by a Honkai Zombie—after all, she was a member of the 'Kaslana' family and possessed the family's most precious heirloom, the 'Stigmata'!—but being bitten by a Honkai Zombie would still hurt a lot!
At that moment, two bright silver flintlock pistols extended from behind Kiana's head and pressed against the Honkai Zombie's forehead...
When the others heard Mei's shout, they all turned to see Kiana about to be bitten. Mei desperately reached for the long sword at her waist, the outline of Project Bunny 19C materialized in the air behind Bronya, and Li Xuan had just taken out the five-star weapon 'Super Electromagnetic Hand Cannon, Kai' from his ring, but hadn't raised it yet...
Standing beside Kiana, Liv, in her black and white maid uniform, crouched slightly, her hands sweeping past the hem of her skirt. Like a magic trick, she produced two flintlock pistols. The twin guns passed behind Kiana's head and pressed heavily against the leaping Honkai Zombie. Then, two brilliant red flowers bloomed from the dark muzzles...
The Honkai Zombie's head was blown clean through, and the impact sent it flying backward...
"It's okay now, Kiana. I'll protect you!" Liv said, turning around with a gentle smile, a speck of blood on her fair cheek. For some reason, it felt strangely eerie...
'Why are my eyes always filled with tears?!'... Kiana, who had just been boasting about protecting Liv, was now being protected by her less than three seconds later, reminding her of the time Li Xuan had saved her... Are this master and servant duo professional face-slappers?! Kiana's face burned with a complex mix of emotions...
"Alright, alright. Let's keep moving. Kiana, be careful and don't get distracted again..." Li Xuan summarized.
"Yes..." Kiana said, hanging her head in dejection.
.........
Not far from Li Xuan and the others, a faint ripple appeared in the void... A bottle of blue water materialized out of thin air and fell.
The glass bottle's cap opened on its own, and the clear water inside slowly coalesced into a young girl...
The girl rubbed her head, seemingly a bit dizzy, then opened her eyes and looked ahead.
"Where is this..." The girl looked up and saw towering buildings like a jungle of steel, a look of confusion on her face. In the distance, one or two beast-like roars could be heard. The ground was covered with dark brown bloodstains and thick dust... Compared to the girl's original world, this place was utterly strange.
"Why did I end up in such a creepy place!" the girl in the bottle wondered. Then, thinking of a certain boy's face, she puffed up her cheeks and complained angrily, "It's all that idiot's fault for not buying me a ring, that's why this happened..." Yep, it's all Yuu's fault!
Gurgle... A strange sound came from behind the girl in the bottle.
Eh?! What was that?! It's not a Monster, is it?! The girl trembled. Her tiny body couldn't handle a Monster! She stiffly turned her head...
"Whoa! What is this weird thing! Stay away!" The moment the girl in the bottle turned around, she saw a creature that looked human but had iron-gray skin and blood-red eyes staring at her... What kind of Monster is this?! I've never seen one before!
"Grrr, argh!" The creature suddenly opened its foul-smelling mouth and lunged at the girl in the bottle.
"Eeeeeek~~~~" The girl in the bottle, Melk, covered her head with her hands, executing a 'cover-head-and-crouch-in-defense' maneuver. She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a panicked, girlish scream.