"Ahh, finally done with work!"
Through the combined efforts of the Captain and Theresa, today's workload was completed far ahead of schedule.
Sitting in the Captain's lap, Theresa opened her phone to chat with Cecilia.
**World's Cutest**: You there?
**Cecilia**: Yes, what's up Theresa?
**World's Cutest**: Just wondering... how long and how many tries did it take for you and Siegfried to conceive Durandal?
**Cecilia**: (shocked) W-why are you ddenly asking about that?!
**World's Cutest**: Just curious! You know how hard it is for Fusion Warriors to have children. My situation with the Captain should be similar to yours and Siegfried's.
Theresa had been thinking about taking maternity leave, and the best reference point for Fusion Warriors having children would be Cecilia and Siegfried's case. One was a genetically modified human, the other a descendant of Kevin's genes. Though modified by Dr. MEI, they still retained permanent Honkai Beast cellular organelles, technically classifying them as Fusion Warriors.
**Cecilia**: But Theresa, you don't need children, do you? Or have you had a change of heart?
Cecilia knew her adopted sister well - she never seemed like the type to fall in love, otherwise she wouldn't have remained single into her forties. After becoming the Principal of St. Freya, Theresa had even less time or need for such things.
Talking about wanting children now seemed very strange indeed.
**World's Cutest**: Well, I've been thinking about taking maternity leave. I heard you get six months off including postpartum recovery!
**Cecilia**: (serious) Theresa, a child isn't something to be taken lightly. You can't just have one for such a frivolous reason.
**Cecilia**: If you bring a child into this world with nothing but money and power to offer, they won't be happy!
**World's Cutest**: ...
**World's Cutest**: W-well, I'll take it seriously! Just tell me, I need it for reference.
**Cecilia**: Fine. Including our time before marriage, it took two and a half years before we had Durandal.
Cecilia seemed to relent as she revealed the time it took to "create" Durandal. Given Siegfried's Fusion Warrior physique, taking two and a half years of trying to conceive showed quite low success rates.
Two years was a long time - there must have been countless suitable days for conception, yet it still took that long. With both partners being Fusion Warriors, wouldn't the chances be even lower?
Reading this, Theresa glanced back at the Captain behind her. "Captain, you'll need to work hard."
The Captain could only grasp Theresa's slender waist, lifting her up and down. Theresa was truly light - the Captain couldn't fathom how someone so petite could single-handedly wield the half-ton Judah.
The Captain used Theresa's weight for arm training. Of course, given the Captain's A-rank physical attributes, Theresa's hundred-some pounds offered little challenge beyond endurance and occasional resistance training.
For actual physical training, Himeko would be more suitable.
Theresa knelt on the sofa, her toes curling slightly, her body trembling for a good while before she shot the Captain an embarrassed glare.
"I didn't mean right now! I'm still chatting with Cecilia!"
Theresa tensed her muscles in slight protest. "If Captain doesn't behave, I'll squeeze too hard."
Fortunately, this was just a text conversation, not a video or voice call.
Meanwhile, Cecilia sent another message:
**Cecilia**: So, you're really going to have a child? Seriously?
**Theresa**: Keep it a secret for now. I'll bring him to meet you for approval later.
After sending that, Theresa immediately closed the app. Knowing Cecilia, a flood of gossip would follow. Better to wait until she calmed down before continuing their chat.
Seeing Theresa in good spirits, the Captain, while fondling her curves, asked curiously: "You really want a child that badly?"
"Mm-hmm."
Theresa browsed pregnancy-related information on her phone. "After all the relationship progress Cecilia's been showing off, any woman would want children too."
"You'll probably need a C-section."
Theresa was small in every sense of the word, and given her physical condition, the Captain felt a C-section would be safer. After all, Fusion Warriors could survive a cut or two.
"Yeah, I think a C-section would be better. Longer leave time."
Normal maternity leave was usually around 150 days, or five months. With a C-section, you could get extra time off due to the surgery.
Of course, for normal humans, childbirth always carried life-threatening risks. Even someone as strong as Cecilia needed a long recovery period after giving birth to Kiana.
"But for me, with enough Honkai energy, I could probably be up in three days and back in bed in five."
Theresa said confidently, then suddenly thought of something else. "Wait a minute... if I get another maternity leave through C-section and then get pregnant with Captain's child again, I could get another leave period. If I keep this cycle going, I might never have to work again?!"
"...Please don't treat children as tools."
The Captain helplessly squeezed her modest chest as punishment. "Besides, Fusion Warriors already have trouble conceiving. Your plan won't work."
"I-I was just kidding," Theresa whimpered in pain. "And I can relax my image a bit in front of Captain, hehe, maybe I got carried away."
The Captain could see that Theresa was under considerable work stress.
"Well, once I'm done with my current business, I'll help you at St. Freya. I'll bring the Hyperion too."
"Really?"
Theresa immediately brightened up, nuzzling against the Captain's chest. "What's keeping Captain busy lately? Want Theresa to help?"
"Investigating the cause of my death back then."
The Captain inhaled the fragrant shampoo scent from Theresa's hair. "That was star-destroying level power that showed clear hostility. We need to be prepared."
Of course, the main reason was to complete the system's mission.
"But we have almost no leads," Theresa's eyes showed apology. "Apart from knowing the power level was extremely high and they're hiding in the Sea of Quanta, we know nothing."
That was the Captain's killer. Even if Theresa wanted to investigate, she lacked the means. Even the scientists were stumped.
"This shows they covered their tracks thoroughly."
Such a cowardly approach made the Captain increasingly suspect it was Sa.
"If it's that one, I already have a rough plan."
"That one? Stop being so cryptic!"
"An entity with interests similar to the Final Herrscher. I can't say more specifically."
Sa had nearly omniscient eyes. While the Captain wasn't worried about being observed personally, it would be troublesome if any hints were discovered through Theresa, since finding Sa wasn't easy.
Of course, the Captain's knowledge of the plot only extended to Sa's part - the 1.5 arc that was caught up on during the return to Earth. As for Part 2, the Captain was still unclear, which was why the focus remained on Sa for now.
[Warning: This is a higher difficulty world than the original. Please be careful, Host.]
The system warned the Captain, who mentally nodded in agreement.
In this world, Kevin nearly killed the protagonist team including the Captain because he didn't hold back. The Thousand-Person Puppets also had pseudo-Herrscher level combat power like the Previous Era...
The severe power scaling issues and plot differences had caused the Captain quite a few problems.
"But regardless, the next step won't change."
That would be obtaining power capable of matching star-destroying levels.
Of course, the prerequisite was surviving tonight.
When Himeko returned, she brought the Captain a bottle of medicine.
"Captain, I had to call in favors from friends to get this!"
Himeko put the medicine on the table. Seeing the two still joined together, she immediately moved Theresa aside and crouched in front of the Captain. "I'm so tired, let me drink first!"
The Captain watched Himeko burying her face in their chest searching for a drink, and curiously picked up the medicine from the table with a bad feeling. "What is this medicine for?"
Theresa answered: "It's usually used for elephant breeding, about one bottle per elephant. Himeko and I discussed it, and decided just one-third should be enough for today."
"Wait, this could kill someone!"
The Captain tried to leave but found Theresa had already locked their throat in place with her body.
She licked the Captain's earlobe, whispering terrifyingly like a succubus: "You can just reset your state by becoming a Fusion Warrior again, so before that happens, why don't you satisfy both Himeko and me~"
The Captain was horrified.
Wait, you're really going to do this?!
And so that night, the Captain carelessly lost Jingzhou and filled two palaces.
Chapter End