A Quick Heads-Up.
When you're maneuvering in upper circles, the most important thing is knowing where to stand—and who to stand with.
From a certain angle, how people are handling Kiana's situation right now speaks volumes. You can tell who's thinking what, and who's really on your side.
Lately, what's been happening behind the scenes isn't something the public gets to see.
But within the state, within the organization, among the higher-ups—large-scale reshuffling, purges, and replacements have become commonplace.
Sure, some people are seizing the chance to attack political rivals and stir up power struggles.
But many others genuinely want to clean their house. They don't want some clueless teammate screwing up down the line and making Finality mad.
Now that would be a stupid way to go down.
Forget about the rest of the world—they still want to live.
Even if they're seventy or eighty, every extra day counts. What's wrong with that?
Besides, everyone's got a family.
Everyone has descendants they're rooting for.
You really wanna drag the whole clan—nine generations deep—into some group deletion game?
Take the entire world up with you in a blaze of glory?
Yeah, right~
So!
Right now, it's a classic case of "one person ascends, and even their pets rise to heaven."
The family behind Kiana is quietly flexing its influence, quickly embedding their people into various nations and organizations.
Whether it's business, politics, the military, or just civilian circles—you can almost always spot their presence.
A lot of things they wouldn't have dared touch before are now fair game.
Originally, their main base was just up in Northern Europe.
In other regions, other countries, they had influence—but that was it.
Think about it:
It's one thing for an organization to play along,
but no region or country in their right mind would let a foreign power openly infiltrate their military, political arena, or inner circles—let alone hand over control of national lifelines.
Yet now, it's happening. It's like every nation, every region, is trying to curry favor with Kiana.
Before, it was just certain higher-ups in various organizations and countries who had good ties with her family.
But now, they're actually letting her family in.
Even if it's just an honorary seat, it represents their collective stance.
Compared to other options, aligning with and appeasing Kiana's family isn't such a big deal.
It's not like they're actually handing over sovereignty.
It's more like willingly allowing a communication channel—a way for various powers to connect more directly with Kiana's family and foster better dialogue.
So, Kiana's family gets it too.
They don't overstep; they don't meddle in internal affairs.
Lately, they've been holding emergency meetings day and night—even dragging out every living ancestor to preside over things.
The heir question?
Huh?
Was that ever even a question?
Hasn't it always been our young mistress from the start?
The family unanimously agreed: wherever the young mistress leads, they follow.
Those sent out are there only for her affairs.
If the young mistress is happy, they're happy. If she's suffering, they suffer.
Even if she isn't awakened yet, even if she might never bother with family matters, as long as she's part of the family, the whole clan is hers. You gotta know which way the wind blows—everyone gets it.
"Bring it! Fetch the family register!"
Without another word, they opened a new volume just for the young mistress.
From now on, the family tree starts with her.
Of course, this is one difference between the previous era's West and the current era's West.
Since the previous era didn't use surnames—only given names—both Eastern and Western families kept genealogical records.
Though here, it's not called a genealogical record.
It should be called a family roster.
But the meaning's the same!
The newly created family roster placed Young Miss Kiana right at the top—bolded and in all caps, while everyone else was listed in smaller font.
Heck, to keep her from feeling awkward, some of the older ancestors even volunteered to stay on the old registry.
"We'll just stay put. Let the younger generation move over."
When Kiana heard her mom mention this, she really didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
At the same time, thanks to the purges among the world's elites, plus her family's efforts—lobbying, speaking out, actively protesting—the decisions about her arrangements were finally made official.
Everything was coordinated and agreed upon.
At the meeting, the elder at the head of the table read from the documents unhurriedly, his gaze sweeping over those present.
"The international community has decided to entrust the care of Miss Kiana to Sapphire CIty. Since Sapphire City is located within Shenzhou, and according to our investigations, she has lived there for several years, continuing her life in a familiar environment will help stabilize her emotionally."
He continued, "Additionally, Miss Elysia will soon be transferred from the MOTH headquarters to the Shenzhou branch. She will be the one to make contact with Miss Kiana. As for our own personnel—we don't need that many. Withdraw those who should be withdrawn; keep those who should stay."
Pausing briefly, the elder scanned the room.
"Keep your troublesome family members in check. Otherwise, no one can protect you. I won't say more."
He went on, "The review at the higher levels is mostly complete. Next, we will carry out a society-wide crackdown across all industries—especially targeting umbrella organizations, criminal forces, and the like. We will strike hard, at any cost."
"With the emergence of the Honkai, a new era is upon us. Comrades, we must not falter. Our nation must not falter. Is that clear?"
Meanwhile, over at MOTH, in the First Research Institute.
"What's up with the Doctor lately? She seems like she's been in a bad mood for a while," asked Fuxi, poking her sister.
Nuwa silently closed her stock-trading window and took a sip of milk tea. "No idea… Maybe her experiments aren't going well?"
"Not quite~!"
A sweet, clear voice chimed in suddenly, yet it didn't feel out of place.
It was Elysia. She'd dropped by for another visit.
"Don't forget—last time, that video featured me, and the teaser said the next one would be about Dr. Mobius… and granny~! I bet that's why, right?"
She giggled. "Aww, my poor Doctor! She must be so stressed about being next that she can't eat, can't sleep, tossing and turning, crying and sulking… sob sob, so pitiful~"
"E—ly—si—a—!"
Mobius had been there for who knows how long, grinding her teeth.
Elysia playfully stuck out her tongue, then put on an exaggerated look of surprise. She gently covered her mouth with a soft hand, her bright, lovely eyes wide.
"Oh, Doctor! I was just about to look for you, and here you are… Does this mean we're, like, totally on the same wavelength?"
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.