Nearby, a man in a blue coat looked down in disdain. "Tch, the splattered blood almost dirtied my favorite coat."
He turned his back to Dr. Magi and said, "Old man, let's go. Cocolia has already prepared a safe hiding place for you."
Seeing the two about to leave, Kiana appeared in front of the man in blue, pointing her gun at him. "You're not leaving today."
"Oh~ Another Valkyrie who's not afraid of death?" The man in blue sneered at Kiana arrogantly. "Then let me, the great me, send you off..."
-----------------------
Before the man in blue could react, Kiana shot him in the head, leaving his eyes wide open in disbelief as he looked at her, then collapsed heavily.
"Sorry, I'm in a hurry," Kiana said, blowing the smoke from her gun barrel as she looked at the lifeless man on the ground.
"You… I won't let you hand over the 'Gem' to Otto!" Dr. Magi shouted, clutching the box tightly.
"Who said I was going to give the 'Gem' to Otto?" Kiana replied, looking down at Dr. Magi from above.
"Huh? Aren't you a Valkyrie of Destiny?" Dr. Magi froze at her answer.
"Of course not," Kiana said, mimicking a gun shape with her hand and aiming it at Dr. Magi. She smiled warmly and added, "This is a robbery—hand over the Serenity Gem!"
"...." Dr. Magi looked at the smiling girl in front of him and was reminded of his granddaughter. With a sigh, he handed the box to Kiana and said, "Giving this 'Gem' to anyone is better than letting it stay in Otto's hands. Take it."
"Then I won't be polite," Kiana said, taking the box. She turned and left. A gunshot rang out shortly after.
Kiana paused for a moment before continuing her journey toward Mount Taixuan with the Silent Gem.
...
Not long after Kiana left, Durandal stood over the corpse on the ground, gripping the Abyss Flower tightly. After a brief search, she took out her communicator and reported, "Your Excellency, the box containing the 'Gem' is missing. All pursuing Valkyries have been killed. A male corpse was shot in the head. Dr. Magi appears to have... committed suicide."
"Understood. No need to investigate further."
Otto ended the communication and gazed silently into the endless horizon.
...
Meanwhile, in the Star Rail world, as Himeko and Welt were chatting pleasantly, Himeko brought a little girl over to Fu Lin and said, "This is the true owner of the space station, the 83rd seat of the 'Genius Society,' Herta."
"If you're introducing me, do it properly. Why mention the Genius Society? I have so many extraordinary achievements—any one of them sounds better than '83rd seat,'" Herta grumbled, looking at Himeko with a speechless expression.
"Are you a puppet?" Fu Lin asked curiously, noticing the visible assembly seams on Herta's joints.
"What you're looking at is a puppet I made. I'm controlling it to talk to you."
"Where is the person with the Stellaron inside them now?" After answering Fu Lin's question, Herta immediately asked.
"She's helping Fu Shi clear the remaining antimatter legion forces in the space station. Oh, and by the way, it feels as real as it looks," Fu Lin said, poking Herta's cheek and finding it surprisingly lifelike.
"...Take me to her," Herta said, slapping away Fu Lin's unruly hand with a high-and-mighty expression.
"You're awfully arrogant. Fine, I won't argue with a kid. I don't know where they are, so I'll just tag along," Fu Lin said, blowing on his reddened hand and looking at the childlike Herta.
"Heh~ Her age might be far older than you imagine. It's said that she could already be..." Himeko began, unable to help but laugh at Fu Lin's words.
"Himeko..." Herta said quietly, her gaze implying that Himeko might not live to see tomorrow if she continued.
"Ahem, Welt and I will stay near the Astral Express to keep an eye on things. You and Herta can look for Stelle," Himeko said, quickly changing the subject under Herta's intense stare.
"Himeko, I want to go too," March suddenly interjected.
"Little March, don't make trouble," Himeko said, grabbing March by the collar and dragging her toward the Astral Express despite her protests.
"Let's talk later. I'll be waiting on the Express," Welt said, adjusting his glasses and leaning on his cane.
"Let's go, kid," Herta called out to Fu Lin, who was still standing there.
"...So how old are you?" Fu Lin caught up, looking curiously at the puppet-like Herta.
"Hasn't anyone ever taught you not to ask a woman's age?" Herta said, her expression darkening.
"As long as you're not over fifty thousand, I think it's fine..." Fu Lin replied, not noticing that Herta had already pulled out a hammer larger than herself.
"Why aren't you saying anything..." Fu Lin turned to see Herta behind him, then immediately turned and ran without hesitation.