[Daily Mission: Defeat an A-rank enemy in the Memory Arena.
Reward: Slight increase in Honkai resistance and output. Skill Point: 1]
Jun'an immediately headed to the Memory Arena to complete the system's daily task, selecting an A-rank difficulty Ganesha.
Ganesha was a massive Emperor-class Honkai beast with thick armor but no special abilities. It was the type that could be dealt with easily once you reached certain combat parameters to inflict effective damage.
Wielding the Xuanyuan Sword, Jun'an channeled the essence of Taixu Swordsmanship. This technique primarily allowed him to resonate with the sword, transforming it into the wielder's preferred weapon form. While Fuhua excelled with gauntlets, Jun'an was most comfortable with greatswords.
When Ganesha charged forward with a brutal rush attack, Jun'an didn't meet it head-on. Instead, he quickly dodged, reacquainting himself with combat after a year's absence had left him somewhat rusty.
Jun'an repeatedly exploited Ganesha's recovery frames to chip away at its health. Once familiar with its patterns, he seized an opening after one of its charges to slice off one of its hind legs.
After systematically weakening its mobility, he finished the beast by driving his sword through its head, ending Ganesha's existence.
[Mission Complete. Honkai Resistance increased, Honkai Output increased. Skill Point +1]
Jun'an felt his body's changes - or rather, the lack thereof. Though he was certain the rewards were granted, they were characteristically meager.
[Please use your Skill Point.]
The system promptly displayed a skill interface showing several base statistics: Physical Resistance, Honkai Resistance, Recovery Rate, Honkai Output...
—Save it.
Jun'an made his decision without hesitation. A single skill point couldn't change much, so he'd rather accumulate them and spend them when necessary.
"Well done, Captain," Himeko approached, praising him. "Though it's clear you've weakened considerably. How does it feel?"
Jun'an gave a wry smile. "With power at this level, I can barely handle small fry. Feels like I can't beat anyone significant."
Jun'an's current strength would at best match a Judgment-class Benares, but Judgment-class beings were merely crowd control in major battles.
"Oh? At your age, having this much power is quite remarkable," Dr. Yalina, who had examined Jun'an a few days ago, approached with admiration in her eyes. "You might just become a hero like Hyperion's captain someday."
"Yalina? What are you doing here?"
It was Yalina who had informed Himeko yesterday about Theresa's unusual behavior in adopting a child.
"I'm a military doctor, not just a physician," Yalina replied. "When there are no missions, I need to maintain basic physical training too."
Military doctors needed more than just healing skills on the battlefield - they needed survival abilities and the capability to evacuate teammates, similar to the logistics squad. In essence, she could be a Valkyrie if she wanted.
After exchanging pleasantries with Himeko, Yalina turned to Jun'an. "My, you did rescue this little one. I thought he'd look completely drained by the second day, but thankfully he survived."
Jun'an awkwardly turned away, remembering yesterday's repeated exploitation - they hadn't even let him save some energy for the evening.
Noticing Jun'an's discomfort, Himeko coughed twice. "Yalina, he is the Captain himself. Theresa wasn't wrong - he's alive again."
So a little exploitation should be fine.
"...Don't joke with me! I'm a doctor! A military physician with dual masters in Biology and Honkai Studies! Even the Captain himself said that the dead cannot return to life - it's an absolute truth!"
Yalina naturally didn't believe Himeko's nonsense. "If he's really the Captain, I'll tear up both my diplomas and eat them!"
Himeko frowned, looking at Jun'an in disbelief, and whispered, "Hey, did you really tell her that?"
After all, Jun'an had not only revived the Second Herrscher who'd been dead for over a decade and the Kaslana heir, but also brought back thoroughly deceased individuals like Cecilia and Cheng Lixue. Coming from him, even a dog wouldn't believe that statement.
"Well, resurrection technology isn't something we can make public," Jun'an explained helplessly. "Nobody wants another Otto, right?"
The two most challenging bosses Jun'an had faced were Kevin, with his maxed-out combat ability and suicidal determination to protect the past's only hope, and Otto, with his maxed-out intelligence and status.
Dealing with Otto, that deceased ancestor, had given Jun'an PTSD.
Therefore, Cecilia and others' revival was officially claimed as "awakening from slumber," while Seele was stated to be different from the Second Herrscher Seele, which Seele herself had agreed to.
So apart from some close associates, few knew the truth about these resurrections.
This put Himeko in a difficult position. As one of Hyperion's veteran members who had been present since the Captain was found by Theresa in the snow, through the defection from Destiny and the space battles, she had served longer than Jun'an. She'd even performed several surgeries on him, so she didn't want to keep secrets from Yalina, but the doctor simply wouldn't believe.
Himeko was quite interested in seeing her tear up and eat her dual master's degrees.
Before Himeko could devise a strategy, Yalina's face suddenly froze as she realized something. "Himeko, did you just call him Captain?"
Himeko nodded, "Yes, what about it?"
However, Yalina looked extremely tired. "Didn't I ask you to persuade Theresa? How did you get pulled into this too!"
She had hoped Himeko would be more rational and use her friendship with Theresa to help her move past the grief of losing the Captain. Instead, Himeko had been converted!
"Wake up, Major Himeko!" Yalina shook Himeko, saying, "This boy is just a child! The life of Hyperion's Captain wasn't meant for humans. We're in the post-Honkai era now, please don't torture children anymore!"
Everyone knew about Jun'an's frequent visits to intensive care - if not for the Black Abyss White Flower keeping him barely alive, he would have died eight or nine times already.
More importantly, there was that inhuman workload.
"I-I haven't tortured him!" Himeko averted her gaze guiltily. She had only joined Theresa in exploiting him a few times - not even reaching double digits! And they hadn't used him as breeding stock!
"Ahem, without evidence, you can't accuse me of anything!"
Himeko spoke with a serious face while feeling extremely guilty inside.
"..."
However, Yalina froze, fear appearing in her eyes as she seemed to misunderstand something.
It's over - the local snake and the mighty dragon had joined forces! One with physical coercion, one with authority to silence - how could a mere Far East Branch military doctor possibly stand against them!
Besides saving people on the verge of death, she couldn't do anything! She was completely outmatched!
Faced with power and authority, she felt utterly helpless.
Yalina immediately said with tears nearly falling, "I understand, I won't mention this again. Please don't fire me! I have an eighty-year-old mother and a three-month-old kitten! My whole family depends on this salary."
"Wait, that's not what I meant!" Himeko felt she had definitely misunderstood something. "I never said I'd fire you!"
"That's good."
However, after making clear she wouldn't oppose Himeko, the military doctor just sighed in relief, then turned to Jun'an.
She rummaged through her bag and placed a bottle of medicine in Jun'an's hands, looking at him with pity.
"Little one, these are the stimulants the Captain used to take. Use them if the work gets too overwhelming. If things get really bad... I also have a full bottle of sleeping pills without emetic effects that you can use... ah."
Yalina sighed helplessly, patting his shoulder. "Although the former Captain's life wasn't meant for humans, I hope you believe there's still light in this world!"
After saying these seemingly random words, she left carrying her medicine box.
Himeko called after her, "Remember to tell others the Captain is back! The one I'm exploiting is the real Captain!"
However, the military doctor only ran faster.
Jun'an held the familiar stimulants he used to take when overwhelmed with work and asked puzzedly, "So... did she believe us?"
"Don't know, at least she didn't eat her diplomas."
Himeko shrugged helplessly. "Well, Captain, your daily Memory Arena training is done. What's next?"
Jun'an used his sword will to transform the Xuanyuan Sword into a convenient bracelet. "Let's check on Hyperion first, that was the plan anyway."
Jun'an remembered that Hyperion had apparently been upgraded beyond its space carrier capabilities, and he was curious about its current state.
"Hmm, the bridge is too crowded, should we check the office first?" Himeko suddenly said, "Or the deck, if we turn off the surveillance..."
"Wait, can we not go there?" Jun'an felt apprehensive. "We've only been dating for two days, do we need to be that adventurous?"
Himeko glanced at Jun'an. "Hmm, you're right. Then let's start with the office."
End of chapter