Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

Chapter 189 Time is about to accelerate.

This place was a refuge of the pre-civilization, the original stronghold of the World Serpent, and the place where Kevin, Sue, and Fu Hua once made contact.

The place is no longer deserted; all the World Serpent's current executives who could come have gathered here. The news of Kevin's return spread rapidly within World Serpent thanks to Grey Serpent's powerful intelligence network.

Their purpose in gathering here was to catch a glimpse of the face of this venerable master who had disappeared for thousands of years, and also to carry out the ceremony of handing over the Heavenly Fire Judgment to Kevin.

Of course, the Heavenly Judgment here is the one Siegfried wields in this world, while Siegfried himself is imprisoned awaiting Kevin's judgment.

"call!"

A gust of cold wind blew in from the entrance, and everyone inside instinctively shivered. Only Kiana immediately turned her gaze to the entrance.

Suddenly, a tall man with silver hair and blue eyes, typical of the Kaslana family, appeared. He was wearing a combat suit made of an unknown material and slowly walked towards the throne before finally sitting down.

He was Kevin Kaslana. Kiana instinctively recognized the man in front of her as an ancestor of the Kaslana family.

The bloodline flowing in one's veins does not lie. Kevin, who was already sitting on the throne, glanced at Kiana and then turned his gaze to the gray snake that was walking towards him.

"To congratulate you on your return, we have specially brought you your weapon. Please accept it!"

As he spoke, Gray Serpent knelt on one knee and respectfully presented the Heavenly Fire Judgment to Kevin with both hands. Kevin looked at the greatsword in Gray Serpent's hand and a hint of nostalgia appeared in his eyes.

He stepped forward and gently stroked the Heavenly Fire Judgment. With his movement, the Heavenly Fire Judgment successfully detected the familiar Honkai energy fluctuations. As if in response to Kevin, the blade of the Heavenly Fire Judgment changed and gradually transformed into a shape familiar to Kevin.

Kevin picked up the Heavenly Judgment, which had transformed into its Calamity Flame mode, and said, "Long time no see, old friend. We'll be fighting side by side again from now on."

Seeing Kevin take the Heavenly Fire Judgment Grey Serpent, he stood up and carefully asked Kevin, "Although I would like to congratulate you on regaining your weapon, the Heavenly Fire Judgment, as the ancestral weapon of the Kaslana family, naturally has its own wielder in this era. I wonder what you intend to do with it?"

Kiana's heart tightened upon hearing this, and she looked nervously at Kevin. She knew that with Kevin's return, Siegfried's life and death were no longer in her and Grey Serpent's hands, and she desperately didn't want anything to happen to him.

“Let’s send him to that place,” Kevin said after glancing at Kiana. “As for whether he lives or dies afterward, that’s up to fate.”

After saying that, Kevin planned to leave. After all, he was still in a weak period. Even though he had just absorbed all of Chi You's Honkai energy, it only replenished part of his power. Next, he would have to find a way to absorb more Honkai energy to restore his power.

For example, the Honkai reactor that was seized in Sky City was quite good, but before Kevin could even leave the room, Kiana called him back.

"Wait a moment!"

Kevin glanced back at Kiana without saying anything, but his stopped steps clearly signaled for Kiana to continue.

"I want to know...where was Siegfried sent?"

“That place is the Kaslana Stigmata Space,” Kevin replied. “As time has passed, the Kaslana family’s Stigmata have become dormant due to the gradual weakening of the Honkai Beast genes within them. It is a trial ground for awakening Stigmata; those who succeed can awaken their Stigmata, while those who fail are trapped inside.”

"The cost of failure isn't just this, is it?"

“Your intuition is very accurate,” Kevin praised. “The cost of failing the Sacred Mark Space Trial is indeed not just being trapped inside; it also involves some deeper aspects, such as memories and self-awareness.”

"!"

"Don't be surprised. After all, it is a special space formed from my holy mark. Even I can't explain the power it contains in a short time."

"Couldn't we just put him under house arrest?"

"Kiana, you need to know that as Kaslanas, you have an innate desire to save the world in your blood. Even if you imprison him, you can't stop his impulse to save the world. On the contrary, he might escape. It would be better to just let him stay in the Stigmata Space."

"..."

Indeed, as Kevin said, the Kaslana family is born to walk the path of saving the world. If Siegfried is simply confined to one place, given enough time he will surely run away on his own. Given Siegfried's current physical condition, it would be better to keep him in the Stigmata Space until a way is found to suppress his overly active Honkai Beast factor.

Is he safe inside?

"I cannot guarantee absolute safety. After all, it is still essentially a training ground and cannot provide the trainees with an overly comfortable environment."

Seeing that Kiana was no longer speaking, Kevin left, entrusting Kiana to Gray Serpent before he left.

"Give."

"What is this...?" Kiana asked, looking at the reagent that the gray snake handed her.

"This is an enhanced version of APTX-4869. It has the same effect as before but is more potent. Once you inject this vial, you can use Honkai energy at will for a certain period of time, but there are also corresponding side effects."

"side effect?"

“That’s right.” Gray Serpent nodded. “First of all, you cannot use even a little bit of Honkai energy for the next three days after the effects of the medicine wear off. At the same time, you cannot be exposed to excessive amounts of Honkai energy during these three days and while using it, otherwise the Herrscher consciousness in your body may break through the restrictions and take over your body.”

Kiana hesitated for a moment when she saw the potion in Gray Serpent's hand, but eventually reached out and took it. However, she also had many questions she wanted to ask Gray Serpent.

"Speaking of which, I didn't expect your potion to be so miraculous; it can actually suppress the Herrscher's consciousness."

"Hehe, Miss Kiana, there is no drug on the market that can work on something as mysterious as consciousness."

"Why then?"

"I don't know if you realize it, but in fact, the consciousness of you and the Herrscher of the Void within you are extensions of the same consciousness."

Gray Snake, holding an umbrella, walked ahead and spoke. Kiana, behind him, blinked a few times but said nothing. However, Gray Snake could tell something from her reaction.

"That's why the Honkai energy erosion you're experiencing now is actually caused by your subconscious rejection of the Herrscher core within you. APTX-4869 is actually a newly developed anti-Honkai erosion agent, with just a little bit of sedative added to it."

"If that's all there is to it, it certainly won't affect the Herrscher consciousness, but when using this medicine, you can definitely feel the Herrscher consciousness within your body subsiding."

"That's because the Honkai energy in your body has been suppressed to a safe level, and through the power of Feather Dust and your own self-suggestion, the Herrscher consciousness has been suppressed deep within your consciousness."

"Feather Dust has such an effect?"

"After all, it is a Divine Key created from the core of a Herrscher who possesses the power of consciousness. It is naturally easy to manipulate consciousness. Besides, isn't the feather on Miss Kiana's body the most special one?"

"...How did you know?"

Fu Hua appeared in Gray Serpent's line of sight and asked.

"Although World Serpent wasn't at the scene of the Great Collapse a few months ago, we still know a little about what happened at Schicksal Headquarters. So we naturally know that you successfully bound your consciousness to Ms. Kiana using the rated power of Feather Dust."

"What exactly is your purpose?" Fu Hua questioned.

"Lord Fu Hua, our Serpent's goal has always been simple: to advance the Stigmata Project. For this reason, I once traveled to Shenzhou seeking your guidance and leadership. Unfortunately..."

As he spoke, Gray Snake revealed a hint of regret and said, "When I found you, you had already been killed by those traitorous disciples, and your body was about to be cremated. If it weren't for your youngest disciple risking his life to move your body into the basement, perhaps we wouldn't be standing here discussing this topic right now."

"Since then, I have realized that relying solely on the warriors of the previous civilization is not enough. To successfully execute the Stigmata Project, we must gather more manpower. Therefore, I developed the World Serpent based on the organization that Lord Kevin had hastily established earlier. And I have been secretly observing the development of the world, silently waiting for the Lord's return."

"If, as you say, you have been secretly observing this world for a long time, then you should know that I would never agree to the implementation of the Stigmata Project, and not only would humanity in my current civilization certainly not agree to it."

"Of course I know that, which is why we need the Lord, who possesses unwavering will and unparalleled power, to lead us, isn't that right?"

"That sounds nice, but isn't it just about using Kevin's abilities to achieve your goals?"

"Miss Kiana, you are mistaken. The Stigmata Project was designed by the previous civilization to enable the current civilization to defeat the Honkai. At the same time, the Lord was also the executor of this project. It was only because the nature of this project was too terrible that it was regarded as a backup plan after all other plans failed."

“He’s right, Kiana,” Fu Hua explained. “Although I don’t have much memory left about this part, there are indeed multiple plans, such as the Fire Seed Project that I was in charge of. Its purpose is to allow people to learn some advanced civilization technologies in advance so that they have enough power to fight against the Honkai.”

"Unfortunately, with the rapid development of civilization, the process of Honkai has also been accelerated. The Honkai Beast codenamed Chi You that you encountered before was a product of the Fire Seed Project at that time," Gray Serpent said quietly.

"Chi You is a Honkai Beast born from the class monitor's past efforts to accelerate the progress of civilization, so doesn't that mean..."

“You’re right.” Fu Hua nodded, confirming Kiana’s guess. “Because of the Fire Seed Project, Honkai Beasts that did not belong to that era were born, so the Fire Seed Project also failed. Of course, it did not completely fail, but it just stagnated. As for the reason, I think you should understand.”

"Aside from the 'Spark' plan that the class monitor is in charge of, are there any other plans?"

“Of course,” Gray Serpent replied. “There’s also the Hengsha Project, which Lord Su, the Lord’s close friend, is responsible for using the Second Divine Key to observe parallel worlds in order to find a way to defeat the Honkai. There’s also the Ark Project, which carries human genes and genes from other organisms to the universe to find a suitable environment to survive and avoid the Honkai. However, one project is progressing slowly due to its excessive time commitment, and the other was forced to stop due to the loss of contact with the spaceship. Now, only the Stigmata Project, which Lord Su is in charge of, still has a glimmer of hope.”

“But the price is too high,” Fu Hua said, shaking his head.

“Yes!” Gray Serpent affirmed, “but right now, this is the only plan that can guarantee humanity’s victory over the Honkai, isn’t it?”

Fu Hua fell silent. Seeing this, Grey Serpent revealed his purpose in giving Kiana the enhanced version of APTX-4869.

"Just now, World Serpent's equipment detected an abnormal accumulation of Honkai energy in Changkong City. In order to investigate this matter and to recover Serpent's 'assets' in Changkong City, Ms. Kiana, I would like to ask you and Raven to go to Changkong City together."

"It's her again?" Kiana's face showed a hint of annoyance, but she quickly suppressed it.

"But Changkong City, could it be those kids?"

"Oh? I didn't expect her to talk to you about those children. It seems your relationship isn't as bad as I thought."

"..."

Kiana didn't speak, but Grey Serpent continued talking to himself.

"Although I don't know how much she told you, I still have to explain that those children are all Stigmata Awakeners, but because of their age, they haven't fully awakened. This means they can only live in areas with high Honkai energy content, which is why Raven has been hesitant to send them out of Changkong City."

"But why must we send them out this time? They should be safe with the ravens around."

"Indeed, the children would be safe if Raven were there, but Raven can't be there to watch over them all the time, so the safety there cannot be guaranteed. Moreover, because the Honkai energy accumulated in Changkong City this time, there is a high possibility that another Honkai eruption will occur, and its scale will be no less than when the Herrscher of Thunder awakened. At that time, the shelter built by Raven will be in danger."

“I understand, I’ll set off now!” Kiana said. “But where is the captain? I haven’t seen him since earlier.”

"He has his own mission. Don't worry, he'll head to Changkong City once he finishes what he's doing."

After leaving behind these meaningful words, Gray Serpent departed. Kiana wanted to stop him and ask for more details, but Gray Serpent didn't give her the chance. In just the time it took to turn a corner, Kiana completely lost track of Gray Serpent.

Meanwhile, our captain has arrived in Sky City and found Mei and Tesla. Although Tesla and the others had previously shared information, the captain was attacked as soon as he appeared.

But in the end, the captain managed to evade all the attacks thanks to his knowledge of them, and informed the two of the situation in Changkong City.

Of course, the captain of the intelligence team also remembered that Kiana would be going to Changkong City, so Mei and the others set off with the captain, taking a "better safe than sorry" attitude.

Of course, the captain wouldn't have gotten a free ride; he was taken away bound hand and foot.