Honestly, Kiana hadn’t actually tasted what that piece of tofu was like.
The moment it entered her mouth, a sharp ringing exploded in her brain, as if the very folds of her cerebral cortex were being smoothed flat.
And so, after that piece of tofu…
let’s tentatively call it tofu…
entered her mouth, she lost consciousness.
In a daze, it was as if her consciousness had been dragged down to the underworld.
By the side of the Bridge of Helplessness, she saw her deceased great-grandmother waving at her.
She even dreamed that Old Lady Meng by the bridge ladled her a bowl of her signature soup, but when she held it, it looked suspiciously like a bowl of noodles.
Before she could even taste what the noodles were like, she was hit with a sudden, intense falling sensation.
And then, she woke up.
Staring blankly at the ceiling, Kiana realized she was back in Mu’s living room.
Then, she heard a voice.
“You’re awake.
You are now a Valkyrie.” Hearing this, Kiana instinctively shot a hand down below.
But she quickly remembered she was already a girl, and her entire body seemed to deflate as her expression soured.
Only then did she have the time to look around.
She lifted her head and saw Li Mu standing before her, holding a glass of water.
Seeing her sit up, he handed the glass to her.
Kiana took it and found that the water was warm.
“If you’re not feeling well, you should drink plenty of water,” Li Mu said with a brilliant smile.
But Kiana was so frustrated she just wanted to smash the glass on his face.
However, feeling the nausea in her stomach, she lifted the glass and drank anyway.
After the warm water settled her stomach, another thought occurred to her.
“Wait a minute.” Kiana stared at Li Mu.
“Wasn’t I having dinner at Mei’s house?
How did I end up here?” “Because I just had to pull you out of the ICU!” “???” Seeing Kiana’s confusion, Li Mu explained: “You passed out during dinner and were sent to the hospital by Mei’s family.” “The hospital needed a family member’s signature.
To prevent your parents from finding out, I had to pretend to be your family and get you out of there to keep your identity from being exposed.” “You don’t have to thank me.” Kiana rolled her eyes.
“Oh, I really thank you!” “I already told you, we’re brothers.
No need for thanks.” Kiana said nothing, simply downing the rest of the warm water in the glass.
After finishing, she went to hand the glass back to Li Mu.
But just as she extended her hand…
CRACK!
With a sharp shattering sound, the glass in her hand exploded into a pile of shards.
Kiana stared blankly at the glass fragments remaining in her palm.
It was only then that she realized, aside from the lingering nausea, her body felt better than it ever had before.
She could feel a powerful energy flowing through her veins.
Right now, she felt like she could easily punch through a wall.
“What is this…?” Li Mu provided the answer to Kiana’s confusion.
“A Stigmata.
I implanted one in you while you were unconscious.” “A Stigmata?” “You can just think of it as a superpower from a fantasy novel.
Congratulations, my dear brother.
From now on, you are a Valkyrie with extraordinary power.” Li Mu glanced at his system’s mission panel.
[Mission: Witness MEI Corp’s young lady Raiden Mei enroll in Senba Academy.
Reward: 300 Crystals, 1x A-Rank Stigmata Option Box] [Mission Status: Completed.
Reward available.] [Mission: Witness Kiana and Raiden Mei become friends.
Reward: 300 Crystals, 1x A-Rank Stigmata Option Box] [Mission Status: Completed.
Reward available.] While Kiana was still out cold, he had already completed the check-in missions.
First was the task of establishing MEI Corp.
He had directly used the massive funds from Eden to acquire a nearly bankrupt engineering and machinery manufacturing company in Nagazora City and renamed it MEI Corp.
With Eden’s financial backing, he could have built MEI Corp from the ground up, but he didn’t have that kind of time.
With the Third Great Honkai Eruption only about a year away, the entirety of East Asia would likely be wiped out by the time he finished building the framework for a new company.
So, the optimal solution was naturally to acquire an existing company and just hang up a new sign.
However, his plans for MEI Corp weren’t to just use it for a check-in and then discard it.
The future creation of St.
Freya Academy would still require MEI’s resources.
Therefore, he would be undertaking a major overhaul and upgrade of this rebranded MEI Corp to ensure it could meet his requirements.
The moment MEI Corp was officially established, the system notified him that the previously missing “Raiden Mei” had been detected, and the check-in was naturally completed.
At the same time, since Kiana and Mei had long since become friends, the second check-in mission was completed along with it.
The rewards totaled 600 Crystals and two A-rank Stigmata.
Li Mu immediately used one of them to select the Stigmata of the A-Rank Valkyrie-era Kiana and loaded it into his good brother, granting him most of the combat abilities Kiana possessed during that period.
In other words, only now was his good brother a true Valkyrie Kiana.
His previous state couldn’t even compare to the stats of the “White Comet” battlesuit.
Kiana stared blankly at the glass shards in her palm.
Although she already believed Li Mu was someone who had returned from 50,000 years in the future and had witnessed his various incredible abilities, it was only at this moment, personally feeling this extraordinary power flowing through her body, that she truly understood the weight of his words.
After being told by Li Mu about the future tragedy, she had constantly felt a sense of unease.
Because no matter how powerful her future self was, her current self was just a high school student with slightly better-than-average physical fitness.
Faced with a future disaster of cataclysmic proportions, she could only feel a sense of powerlessness.
But now, feeling the power surging within her body, a true fighting spirit ignited in her heart.
Power was the most potent weapon for shattering the chains of fate.
Kiana pressed her lips together and said to Li Mu with the utmost seriousness, “Thank you.” In response, Li Mu slung an arm around her shoulders, filled with heroic bravado.
“We’re brothers, what’s with the formality?” “With you and I, brothers, united, we’ll ensure that Herrscher of Finality never returns!” THWACK!
Kiana jabbed an elbow into Li Mu’s side, making him suck in a sharp breath.
But she quickly smiled, hooking her own arm around his neck in a matching side-hug.
“You’re right, Mu.
My good brother.” “If the future is really as dark as you say, and I have the chance to become the savior who ends it all…” “Then take my strength and use it.
I trust you, just as you trust me.
Always have, always will.” —o— CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Aleph_02 show some support!