Arc City, Central Private Hospital.
At four in the morning the corridor was as cold as a morgue, the blue-white emergency lights dragging metallic reflections across the floor.
A thick reek of disinfectant hung in the air, crushing every last trace of human warmth into silence.
Theresa sat on the plastic bench outside the gene-sequencing room.
An oversized school-uniform jacket was draped over her shoulders, making her slight frame look even smaller.
In her hands she clutched a paper bag.
Inside were two freshly printed rush reports, still warm from the printer.
Beside her, Himeko leaned against the wall, yawning, two cups of instant coffee dangling from her fingers, her eyes brimming with the exhaustion of someone thinking, "Why am I out at this ungodly hour helping this crazy girl blow up somebody's family?"
Theresa ignored her. Hands trembling, she pulled the first page out of the bag.
On that A4 sheet stamped with the Apocalypse family's anti-forgery watermark, the last line, in bold black type, came down like a hammer and shattered the dead silence of the hallway.
Probability of Parentage: 99.9999%
Conclusion: The subject Siegfried Kaslana is confirmed to be the biological father of the subject Kiana Kaslana.
Theresa stared at that ninety-nine point nine nine nine nine percent, her pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
"Siegfried... you son of a bitch."
Her voice dropped low, carrying that guttural growl of a cat whose tail has just been stepped on.
"Do the math... You were only thirty-one, Kevin was barely a few years old, and you already had an illegitimate daughter of this magnitude out there?!"
Himeko leaned in for a look, and the hand rubbing at the corner of her eye froze mid-motion.
"Damn... Theresa. I mean, I know Siegfried really did get around back in the day. But this is way past 'getting around.' If Kevin finds out about this, he'll crack right on the spot."
Theresa shot to her feet, so violently the plastic bench let out a shrill screech.
"Whether he cracks or not, I don't know! But I know Siegfried is a dead man!"
Clicking along on her little heeled shoes, she strode toward the hospital exit, the report crushed into a ball in her fist.
"I'm going to make him understand, the Kaslana family rules aren't just words in a book!"
Meanwhile, at miHoYo Studio, the Boss's office.
Su Yu sat at his desk when a line of dark-red System notification suddenly popped up at the edge of his vision.
Ding.
A line of pale-blue text sprang up without any warning right at the edge of Su Yu's retina.
Alert: Detected that target K-423's hair follicle and saliva samples are undergoing gene sequencing in this world.
Underlying firewall has automatically intercepted the real data. This activity may lead to exposure of otherworld genetics; worldview stability will decline.
Executing cover protocol... Nearest homologous legal resident's genetic map has been captured.
Gene sequence loaded: Name: Kevin Kaslana.
Data overwrite submitted successfully.
Note: Be grateful for foster father's help, otherwise the DNA of an otherworld Valkyrie would be enough to scare someone to death on the spot!
Su Yu looked at that line of System prompt, one eyelid twitching hard.
He let go of the mouse, leaned all the way back, let out a long sigh, and reached up to knead his throbbing temple.
Sick sense of humor.
This was absolutely the sick humor of whoever was pulling the strings behind the scenes!
Any other DNA would do, but no, it had to be that guy Kevin's DNA, and then it even dressed it up with an excuse: since they're Counterparts, it's perfectly reasonable!
It was all just the big hand flexing its power!
What?
You ask who'd go do this DNA-testing business?
Su Yu recalled that short, stubby little melon of a woman scrambling for a brick in the cafe a few days back, and yesterday, when Theresa came to inspect the studio, those darting eyes of hers that kept sweeping toward the trash can.
This blame, it seemed, poor Siegfried was going to carry all the way.
Not just carry it, either. This round of the System's "homologous capture" had shoved the whole ethical soap opera straight onto a trajectory of ultimate ascension by spiral.
On that rush report about to roll off the printer, the conclusion field would read a single line:
Blood Relation: 99.99%, father-daughter confirmed.
Su Yu switched off the monitor, turned around, and let his gaze fall on the white-haired girl in the corner of the couch.
Kiana was still gnawing on potato chips, the ahoge atop her head drooping listlessly since she hadn't washed up yet.
"Kiana."
Su Yu spoke, his voice soft.
Crunch.
Kiana stopped mid-motion and turned her head, cheeks puffed out, a trace of confusion in her eyes as she looked at Su Yu.
"What is it? Did the test build throw another bug?"
"It's not that."
Su Yu was silent for a moment.
"In this world... do you want to go meet your mother, Cecilia?"
Plop.
Half a chip, not yet crunched through, dropped back into the bag.
Kiana looked like someone had hit pause on her.
Then that ahoge, which had been drooping so listlessly, under Su Yu's gaze, snapped bolt upright in an instant like it had been electrified, even quivering faintly in the air.
She'd actually thought about it countless times.
From the first time she ran into that scruffy, down-and-out Siegfried on the street, the bloodline urge carved into her very bones had nearly made her burst into tears right there on the main road.
But she'd held it in.
This was a peaceful world. The Siegfried here had a wife, had a son.
She was a ghost who'd crossed over, an aberration that shouldn't exist.
She was afraid that if she, a scarred stray cat, forced her way in, she'd dirty that perfect home, she'd trouble Kevin, and worse, she'd drag Su Yu, who had taken her in, into unimaginable trouble.
Kiana held her breath, her hands unconsciously clenching the chip bag tighter, the wrapper crackling harshly.
She looked at Su Yu, her eyes flickering with a hope so humble it was almost painful to see, her voice small as if she were talking to herself.
"Really... is that okay?"
Looking at that expression, so terrified the dream would shatter, Su Yu let out a soft sigh.
He stood, walked over to the couch, and sat down beside her.
"Originally it might have taken some legal procedures, or I'd have had to cook up a more convincing lie. But now, things have gotten simple and brutal."
Su Yu laid out, start to finish, exactly the shady little thing the System had just done.
"Theresa took the cup you drank from and some of Siegfried's hair and went to get a paternity test done."
"And then, due to certain... irresistible forces, the conclusion on that report used Kevin's genes as the template."
Su Yu spread his hands and dropped the hardcore conclusion.
"So, no need to worry about awkwardness, and no need to fear that it's not proper or official."
"Starting today, the moment Theresa got that report... Kiana Kaslana, under this world's medical and legal definitions, is the genuine, honest-to-goodness biological daughter of Siegfried and Cecilia."
"Congratulations, Miss Kaslana, you are now Kevin's undeniable little sister. Tomorrow morning, you could even go straight to Siegfried's face and demand all these years of child support."
Kiana was thoroughly dumbstruck.
The ahoge on her head seemed to lose all control in that moment, whirling and thrashing through the air like a propeller.
"Wait... no, let me catch my breath, how did things turn out like this?"
Su Yu didn't answer her, because he could already picture the tragic scene of Theresa charging up to Siegfried with the report in hand.
Though right now Theresa probably couldn't find that Schicksal S-rank agent who kept himself so well hidden.
He stood and walked to the break room.
By the water cooler.
Kevin was holding that ceramic thermos printed with "Work Hard," unhurriedly filling it half-full with warm water, then dropping in a few plump red goji berries.
He sensed Su Yu approaching, expression as blank as ever.
Su Yu patted Kevin on the shoulder and let out an earnest, heavy sigh.
"Kevin, put down that cup. Take a deep breath. Your foster father here has a piece of tremendously good news to share with you."
Kevin lifted his cup. He knew Su Yu's nature; when this guy said a line like that, it was usually nothing good.
"Just this morning you told me my dad isn't only a meat thief, he's also an agent."
Kevin's worldview had already cracked once today. He'd never imagined that unreliable old man Siegfried had been faking it and actually had real skills.
All these years he'd had no idea his father was engaged in such dangerous work out there, striking down crime and evil across the world.
But on second thought, how similar he and the old man were. Just as he too didn't dare tell Siegfried that he'd joined the plan against the apocalypse.
Kevin sighed silently within. He could more or less understand Siegfried's reasons for not wanting to tell him these things.
He'd just taken a sip of water. Knowing something like this, he felt there was nothing left in this world that could shock him more.
Then Su Yu opened his mouth again.
"Skipping over all the stuff you wouldn't understand, the fact is..."
Su Yu pointed at Kiana over on the couch, still not recovered from her daze.
"Congratulations, Mr. Siegfried and Ms. Cecilia have just given you a little sister."
Pfft.
A fine mist sprayed straight onto the blue plastic shell of the water cooler.
Kevin's ten-thousand-year-unchanging deadpan face finally split open at that moment, a vast crack tearing across it.
"Su Yu, are you messing with me?!"
August twenty-ninth.
In a cheap rented room in Arc City's Old District, the air was so stifling it was hard to breathe.
The curtains were pulled tight, not letting in a single ray of the sunlight outside.
The only light source in the room was that old desk lamp on the table, one that had passed through who knew how many hands.
On the desktop sat a calendar with several pages torn out.
The date rested on the page for the twenty-ninth.
That red ballpoint circle had been drawn with such force it nearly punched through the paper, leaving a deep scratch on the desk beneath.
Siegfried sat beneath the lamp, a chamois cloth soaked in gun oil in his hands.
He wasn't looking at the calendar.
His gaze was fixed entirely on the pair of large-caliber twin pistols in his hands.
The pungent smell of gun oil filled the air, mixed with the particular mildew of a rented room that hadn't seen sunlight in years.
These past few days he'd been lurking like a genuine ghost inside this room, barely thirty square meters.
He'd shut off every communication device, severed all physical contact with the outside world, and even his food was a large bag of compressed biscuits bought in advance and a few cases of bottled water.
He was waiting.
Waiting for the clues in his head to settle on their own and assemble into the final picture.
Now, the puzzle was complete.
That company called miHoYo, that studio with its high-profile sign in the city center, it was all a smokescreen.
Anti-Entropy used this harmless-looking shell to conceal the insane plan they were running at their base on the city's outskirts.
Siegfried thought of that black-haired kid named Su Yu, thought of that maid who'd kicked a sonic boom into the night wind in her short skirt, thought of that white-haired girl in the archive room who could use Kaslana Gun Kata.
What Siegfried found even more unbearable was that his son, Kevin, was sitting in that den of demons' CEO office at this very moment.
Had he too become part of that dangerous plan? Was Theresa in the know or not?
He didn't know.
He only knew that, as a father, there was just one thing he could do.
Siegfried set down the chamois cloth.
He picked up the two magazines on the desk, loaded with large-caliber custom rounds.
Click.
The magazine slid into the chamber with a crisp, lethal bite of metal.
He stood, slid the twin pistols into the holsters under his arms, and pulled on a loose black trench coat.
The hem fell to his thighs, perfectly hiding the bulges beneath his arms.
Today was the network-wide open-beta launch event for Honkai Impact 3rd.
Those madmen hiding in the shadows would all gather today at Arc City's largest esports center.
They were going to push that camouflage of a game out to the whole world.
Which also meant that today was the moment their guard was loosest and their top brass most concentrated.
Everyone's attention would be on that glittering stage; no one would pay any mind to the dim backstage corridors.
Siegfried pulled the trench coat's hood down, covering most of his face.
He was going to slip inside.
Find Su Yu, force this insane meat-grinder plan to a halt.
Then, drag Kevin out.
If the kid dared resist, he'd just knock him out cold and carry him off.
There wasn't a father in this world who'd stand by and watch his son leap into a pit of fire.
The door of the rented room was pushed open and pulled shut. He slipped out, without making a single sound.
As time moved to seven forty-five in the evening.
Arc City International Esports Center.
Outside the venue it was already a sea of people, the enormous LED screen looping the promotional PV for Honkai Impact 3rd, the light and shadow lighting up half the sky.
Inside the venue, the cheers of the fans at the front rolled in wave after wave, mixed with the event staff's loudspeaker countdown, a fevered vibration that even the thick walls couldn't hold back.
A cleaner, hunched over, pushing a cart loaded with mops and disinfectant, walked along slowly.
He'd pulled his cap brim low, his dark-blue work coveralls even bearing a few old grease stains, looking every bit like an odd-jobs man who'd worked this venue for a decade.
Under cover of the cart, Siegfried slipped past every security patrol.
He listened to the tsunami-like roar of fans coming through the other side of the soundproof panels, his gaze still calm.
And at this moment, in the backstage VIP lounge, things were relatively much quieter.
Su Yu stood before the full-length mirror, tugging at the necktie around his throat.
Today he wore a hand-tailored navy-blue suit over a snow-white shirt.
This outfit had been rushed out overnight by Eden's personal tailor, whom she'd specially dispatched.
The fabric was exquisite, the cut fitting perfectly to the balanced, solid muscle lines his body had taken on after the second-stage Genetic Lock's enhancement.
But he felt it was choking him.
He'd originally planned to go onstage in a T-shirt printed with a chibi Valkyrie head, only for Fuxi to pin him down in a chair and force him into this elite skin.
"Hah..."
Su Yu took a deep breath at the mirror, trying to make himself relax.
The lounge door was pushed open from outside.
With the sound of the hinge turning, a light and nimble figure hopped right in.
"Ta-da-da-da—"
Elysia appeared in the doorway, a rolled-up script in her hand, beaming with laughter.
As Honkai Impact 3rd's official brand ambassador and miHoYo's chief closed-beta officer, she'd changed into a stunning haute-couture gown.
The skirt was a gentle pink-white gradient like the dawn, the material so light it seemed not to exist, rippling in layered waves around her feet with every movement.
The bodice fit seamlessly, the neckline designed just right, showing off her perfect collarbones without ever seeming too revealing.
Her long hair had been meticulously styled, the ends curving prettily, the signature pink crystal earrings hanging at her ears.
The instant she appeared, the whole somewhat stuffy lounge seemed lit up, and even the scent in the air turned sweeter.
"Boss, you look so dashing today! This suit really suits you."
Elysia walked up to Su Yu on her heels, steps light and brisk.
She leaned in very close.
Su Yu could clearly smell the sweet fragrance wafting from her hair, not perfume, more like the scent of some fresh fruit just plucked from the tree.
"Let's do a final check on the entrance order."
Elysia spread open the script in her hands, pointing at the key parts marked in pink highlighter.
"After the final PV plays, the host will introduce me first."
"Then I'll lead into you with a question. When you come up on the lift platform, remember to wave at the camera, okay? Whatever you do, don't just stand there with a wooden face."
As she spoke, she poked Su Yu's arm lightly with the barrel of her pen.
"We rehearsed this bit of interaction before."
Su Yu looked at the script, doing his best to pull his attention away from that sweet fragrance.
"Just confirm there are no problems and we're good."
Elysia closed the script and stepped back half a pace.
She winked her right eye at Su Yu, a dazzling wink bright enough to make his head spin.
"Watch me closely from down below, okay?"
"I'll make everyone fall in love with this story."
She turned and, like a pink butterfly fluttering through a garden, pulled the door open on light feet and drifted off to the front-of-house waiting area.
The door closed again.
Before Su Yu could let that breath out.
Another scent pressed in. Aged red wine, and a certain indescribable powdery fragrance of a mature woman.
Eden came holding a glass of amber champagne. She walked with perfect steadiness, the sound of her heels landing muffled on the carpet.
That dark-gold gown clung tight to the curves of her body.
As she moved, the fabric tugged lines of light and shadow across those breathtaking swells.
Noble.
Elegant.
Yet carrying a mature allure that threatened to drown a man inside it.
Eden approached Su Yu with the glass, swaying with grace.
She extended a finger.
The fingertip was long and slender, the nail polish dyed a tipsy dark red.
That fingertip hooked around Su Yu's tie.
A slight tug, and the knot pulled tighter.
Su Yu had no choice but to shift half an inch forward.
The tip of his nose nearly touched the gold thread of Eden's gown.
"Boss Su Yu."
Eden gave a soft laugh.
Her voice low, carrying a flirtatious hook.
The distance between them shrank to a truly dangerous degree.
"My little... coworker..."
Eden lowered her voice, her lips almost pressing against the curve of Su Yu's ear.
There was a languor in her voice, steeped in alcohol, like a cat's claw scratching at the tenderest part of a person's heart.
"Don't forget, you promised Ellie and me before, after the launch event succeeds you'd treat us to a grand feast."
The finger hooked on his tie slid slowly down the fabric, finally stopping at Su Yu's chest, tracing a light little circle.
"However."
She lifted her head, those beautiful eyes brimming with undisguised aggression.
"My own share, the exclusive custom order, you'd better prepare it well. The usual half-hearted stuff, I don't accept."
Su Yu's heart skipped a beat.
Of course he knew what Eden meant by "exclusive custom order."
It seemed there was no escaping this "grand feast."
As for who the "dish" would be, probably himself.
Eden watched Su Yu's slightly stiff reaction, the corner of her mouth curving into an elegant, meaningful smile.
She let go of the tie, her fingertip flicking lightly against the fabric over Su Yu's chest.
"Go on, prepare to greet your era."
Holding her champagne, she turned and walked toward the door, her retreating figure swaying.
Watching the door close, Su Yu raised his hand and wiped the back of it across his forehead.
Sure enough, a fine layer of sweat had seeped out.
He let out a long breath.
Dealing with these two goddess-sisters strained the heart's endurance even more than sparring with Rita with his second-stage Genetic Lock open.
Su Yu decided to go to the restroom and splash some water on his face.
He pushed the door open.
The clamor in the corridor felt more real.
Su Yu pulled out his phone and dialed Kevin's number.
"Kevin, how are things over at the studio?"
"All normal, Boss. It's almost time for you to go on."
Kevin's voice was as flat as a dead fish's eyes.
Su Yu rounded the far end of the corridor.
He pushed open the door of the VIP men's room.
Inside it was empty.
The marble sink counter reflected the glare of the incandescent lights.
A figure in cleaner's coveralls was mopping the floor with head lowered.
Su Yu put away his phone and was about to head for the sink.
A lethal chill shot up from the base of his neck without any warning, instantly crawling across his entire spine.
"Don't hang up the phone."
Siegfried's voice was pressed low.
Like sandpaper scraping over raw iron.
"Get Kevin out here."
"Wait for me at the back door, Su Yu. You people dragged him into this deadly hellish game where anyone could die at any moment. This debt, I'll settle with you slowly."
His finger was hooked on the trigger, the barrel jammed into a spot behind Su Yu's back, not fatal, but one shot there would instantly rob an ordinary man of the ability to move.
Su Yu's expression didn't shift at all.
So it had come after all.
As for that gun pressed against his waist, not a ripple stirred inside Su Yu.
This old father-in-law truly was an elite among humans. Perhaps in pure combat technique, in infiltration and disguise, Su Yu really was no match for him.
But regrettably, this enhanced body of his was already beyond the human category.
To Su Yu, a hot weapon like this was no different from a slightly larger fire poker. Even if the gun landed solidly on him, it couldn't take his life.
In fact, if he wanted to, he could disarm and kill in return in under a single breath.
But there was no need for that.
Siegfried was Kevin's father, and then, thanks to that lousy System, he'd gained a daughter too.
"Uncle Siegfried?"
"It's me."
"You calm down first."
"I can't calm down one bit!!"
Su Yu stared at the head-lowered cleaner in the mirror and was just about to open his mouth.
"BOOM—!!"
That thickened solid-wood restroom door.
It was as if it had been blown open head-on by a heavy bomb.
The entire door panel tore free of its hinges, spun through the air, and crashed with a thud across the space between the two sinks.
Wood splinters burst everywhere.
A gale full of destruction swept into the restroom.
Theresa stepped onto the toppled door panel and strode in.
Her eyes blazed with a fury that seemed capable of burning a person to ash, the very air around her warping slightly under that terrifying killing intent.
Himeko followed behind her, wearing the despair of "I couldn't stop her."
This was absolutely not some aunt coming to have a chat with her nephew.
This was an avenging spirit come purely for demolition and for tearing a scumbag apart with her bare hands.
After coming through the door, Theresa didn't so much as glance at Su Yu.
She didn't even care whether Siegfried was holding a large-caliber pistol, nor whether that gun was pressed against Su Yu.
In the enraged Theresa's eyes, none of that mattered.
She flat-out ignored the hostage situation, the agent infiltration, all of that nonsense.
She strode straight up to Siegfried.
In her fist she clutched a crumpled A4 sheet stamped with the vivid red seal of Arc City's top private hospital.
Slap!
Without a shred of hesitation, she smashed that sheet hard against Siegfried's old face, contorted with extreme astonishment.
The paper scraped across the bridge of Siegfried's nose with a crisp sound, then fluttered to the floor.
On it, the bold black characters "DNA Blood-Relation Test Report" were clearly visible.
"Siegfried!"
Theresa let out a roar that rang through the entire backstage. So loud it even drowned out the cheers of the fans outside.
"You cheating, seed-scattering old scumbag!!!"
She pointed at Siegfried's nose, her finger trembling.
"Today, even if the Almighty himself came down, you're going to explain to me, clearly, about that sixteen-year-old biological daughter of yours out there!!!"
The scene froze.
Siegfried held the gun.
His head knocked to one side by that lab report.
He stared at the paper on the floor, then stared at the short stubby melon in front of him.
His brain bounced back and forth between "save my son" and "when did I get a sixteen-year-old daughter."
He had completely crashed.
Theresa panted heavily.
Her mind was full of Cecilia's gentle face, and of poor Kiana, who should have been cradled in their palms yet had drifted homeless out there for over a decade.
All she wanted now was to hack this heartless man in front of her into eight pieces.
Su Yu, with the gun jabbed against him, still heard Kevin's voice coming through the phone: "Hello? Boss? Su Yu? Bad signal?"
"...President Su!! President Su, where are you?!"
In Su Yu's earpiece.
The director's voice sounded ready to shatter his eardrum.
"The global livestream countdown is over!! Thirty million players are watching!! The lights are already on the center stage!!"
"You've got ten seconds!! Ten seconds and you MUST be on the lift platform!! Run!!"
Front of the venue.
Honkai Impact 3rd's opening symphony swelled.
The countdown ended.
The livestream began.
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