Regarding the question of whether one thousand lives are enough to beat Honkai Impact 3rd.

Kiana, who once awakened Raiden Mei twice, and Bronya, who had previously teamed up with the two, were naturally the best choices.

If Kiana is a constraint on Raiden Mei, then the reason for pairing Su Qing'an and Sato Yuno together is self-evident.

For Sato Yuno, who was unwilling to harm Su Qing'an even after being controlled by the Honkai consciousness in her pseudo-Herrscher form, Su Qing'an was the best lock.

None of the people present had much of an opinion on Theresa's arrangements; in fact, the fact that it wasn't a solo mission made them feel much more relaxed and happy.

"Come see me tomorrow morning to discuss some related matters. If you have any other questions, you can ask Major Himeko and Fu Hua."

"That's all for today. I hope you have sweet dreams, my lovely students."

Theresa smiled and said goodnight, then turned and left without lingering.

The girl's figure disappeared into the already dark night.

In the darkness of night, tiny, trivial things stirred up a grand clamor, only to vanish into nothingness in the sea breeze blowing through St. Freya.

A day at St. Freya Academy has come to an end.

14. Sato Yuno served a straight ball.

February 16, 2014, afternoon.

Su Qing'an looked out the window at the clear blue sky, where white contrails stretched the clouds into messy lines and patterns.

Sitting next to him was Yuno Sato.

The two picked up their boarding passes from Theresa in the morning and boarded a flight to Kanagawa, Japan.

The mission was carried out with great fanfare. Su Qing'an checked online and found that, theoretically, he could buy tickets for this flight through a ticketing app. However, in reality, there were no other passengers on the plane besides Sato Yuno and himself.

The airplane cabin looked unusually empty at first glance.

Su Qing'an had reason to suspect that the flight attendants and the captain were both personnel under the Tianming regime.

In fact, it would be normal for the pomp and circumstance to be even more extravagant in Europe, where destiny is completely in control.

For Heaven, money is just a number.

He took out his phone, which was already linked to the academy's badge, and the mission information was stored there.

The academy badge has many functions. According to Theresa, it also contains the Schicksal positioning system, which periodically sends signals to the Far East Branch's database.

The Far East Branch will be aware of the situation the moment the badge is damaged. If communication with the Valkyrie fails, the Far East Branch will conduct a follow-up investigation.

Moreover, the badge is made of a special material that is not only extremely strong but also highly sensitive to Honkai energy. When it encounters a certain concentration of Honkai energy, it will weakly convert a fixed amount of Honkai energy into light and heat.

This function can be turned off during missions requiring stealth or concealment. Not all Valkyries are highly sensitive to Honkai energy, so this function of the badge can serve as a significant warning.

Of course, this feature is not very meaningful to Sato Yuno and Su Qing'an.

"Sato, you've seen the mission information, haven't you?" Su Qing'an asked, glancing at the bloody scene on her phone.

"Yes, according to the information provided by the client, a series of murders related to the Honkai have occurred in their village. A similar incident also occurred before Changkong City was destroyed, and Kiana was the one who solved it alone in the end."

Sato Yuno spoke in a completely unwavering tone, her speech and emotions remaining unchanged even when she uttered the words "Chang Kong City".

Her eyes reflected the scene left by the murderer: internal organs, blood, and torn parts of his body, scattered haphazardly like a painting.

This is a cruel scene that would make even seasoned criminal investigators and retired soldiers feel horrified, but the girl's reaction was merely a slight frown to express her disgust.

Sato Yuno did not feel any fear or discomfort. Apart from her will becoming more resilient, it was obvious that becoming a pseudo-Herrscher had ultimately had some impact on her personality.

Unlike Raiden Mei, whose personality remained unchanged due to her Herrscher consciousness, Sato Yuno truly controlled this power through her own personality, making it inevitable that her personality would change as a result.

Su Qing'an noticed this a long time ago, but fortunately, apart from the worrying aspects of interpersonal relationships, there was nothing else to worry about regarding her changed personality.

Su Qing'an carefully reviewed the mission information again, and finally spoke to Sato Yuno in detail:

"Yes, based on the current information alone, there is a high probability that someone has been infected by Honkai energy and turned into a suicide soldier to commit crimes."

"According to Principal Theresa, the Science Department analyzed the killer's remains and found that the Honkai energy concentration was only slightly higher than that of a normal suicide soldier. Therefore, the appearance of a tank-class Honkai Beast in this mission is an absurd situation."

"To put it bluntly, the difficulty of this mission should only lie in finding the mission objective; combat is not something we need to worry about too much."

For Sato Yuno, who is a pseudo-Herrscher, and Su Qing'an, who has repeatedly crossed the line of death in Changkong City and killed countless assassins, this mission is not only commonplace but also very simple. If one were to be optimistic, one could even treat it as a vacation.

This mission is practically a no-go for B-rank Valkyries, because C and D-rank Valkyries are not qualified to fight against the Honkai. The missions they receive are not much different from those of mercenaries.

Therefore, this task is extremely gentle as a trial run for newcomers.

"Just stay alert for the mission. Sato, you've been working a little too hard at the academy lately."

Finally, Su Qing'an turned off her phone and spoke to Sato Yuno.

Even though the girl's powers included healing abilities, Su Qing'an didn't want her to treat him this way, but at the same time, he felt he had no right to stop Sato Yuno from doing such a thing.

The boy's words were actually a subtle way of telling her to relax.

Having understood this, Sato Yuno nodded obediently. Then, glancing at the boy's handsome profile, she suddenly said softly:

"Su Qing'an. We're friends, I guess."

"Of course." Su Qing'an answered without hesitation, but for some reason, he felt the atmosphere was abrupt and a little strange.

"From a friend's point of view, it's a little unpleasant that you keep calling me by my surname."

As the girl spoke, she involuntarily leaned towards Su Qing'an. Her purple hair slid down to the boy's thighs, and her bare shoulders touched his. A cool, light fragrance filled her nostrils.

For a moment, Su Qing'an thought of the lotus flowers that bloomed and withered silently in the ancient spring, a faint fragrance that carried a sense of loneliness and detachment.

I never noticed before that Sato had a habit of wearing perfume, and her hair seems to have grown a lot longer than yesterday.

Faced with a scene that would theoretically make one's mind wander, the boy's first reaction was this.

"Sorry, I've gotten used to calling you that. From now on, I'll just call you by your name, Yuno."

After some thought, it's a bit inappropriate that I've started calling Raiden Mei by her first name, while I've been using the same name for Sato Yuno, with whom I'm closer. It's understandable that Sato Yuno might be a little upset about it.

"Unwavering at all? You're something else." The girl couldn't help but sigh.

The physical touch, the alluring fragrance, and the enchanting atmosphere all vanished in those deep, calm eyes.

Although Sato Yuno understood that Su Qing'an wouldn't be swayed by such a test, she still couldn't help but feel frustrated.

Even though she achieved her goal of getting the other person to change how they addressed her, Sato Yuno did not feel any pleasure whatsoever.

Are you and Fu Hua already indestructible before you've even started? You bastard.

The girl started conjuring up all sorts of strange reasons and ideas, and finally, just as her brain was about to shut down, she couldn't help but bluntly ask Su Qing'an:

"What does the class monitor mean to you, Su Qing'an?"

"Hua?" The boy was stunned when he heard this. He murmured the name, feeling somewhat lost.

This is different from his clear positioning of characters like Sato Yuno and Kiana.

Su Qing'an's feelings towards flowers have always been complicated.

That was the only being in this world who truly shared life and death with him, and depended on him for survival.

Even if the timeline restarts, Fu Hua will have no memory of him.

Fifty thousand years later, the Hua who once relied on him as a pillar of support and the Fu Hua of today are almost two completely different people.

But for Su Qing'an, she remains irreplaceable.

It's like when you play FGO and get your first five-star Servant with free Saint Quartz in a single pull, no matter how weak her combat power is or how ordinary her Noble Phantasm is.

Even if you encounter many more adorable, charming, noble, aloof, and incredibly powerful five-star Servants in the future, you will still feel that she is irreplaceable.

Because such an encounter is almost like fate, right? And while humans are nostalgic, they cannot refuse fate.

But sometimes he can't help but think about it.

Has that fragile, sensitive, and adorable girl, who was as cute as a cat, ceased to exist?

Is the Fu Hua he knows now the same person as the Hua he knew?

But when he saw the girl's ethereal smile in the twilight, he knew that it was Hua.

She will still be the same honest person who likes to overthink things, or the person who is fragile yet possesses a strong inner strength.

It's still that Hua, whom he finds irreplaceable.

"She is very important to me," the boy said, his eyes seemingly reflecting the desolate night sky, but when he spoke of Hua, the desolate night sky was illuminated by countless lights, shining brightly.

After giving a vague answer, he looked directly at Sato Yuno with those eyes and continued:

"I should care about her a lot."

"Hmm."

Upon hearing this, the girl couldn't help but utter a sound that was difficult to express.

Upon hearing Su Qing'an's answer, Sato Yuno's mind trembled. Unlike the aloof atmosphere she had in the minds of the students at St. Freya Academy, her mind was now filled with pink bubbles.

How is this any different from confessing your love?! You idiot!!!

Damn it, why did I, an idiot, ask such a question?

This is no longer a question of whether or not we will lose.

It's like you go cycling to see the sea and find dolphins thronging the surface, white doves circling in the air, people waving flowers and applauding, and the words of blessing and the refreshing sea breeze all so fitting and harmonious.

And standing at the center of all this is a perfectly matched newlywed couple. At this moment, what can you do besides stop your bicycle, smile, clap, and cheer?

Sato Yuno, who hit a super straight shot, suffered a crushing defeat.

"Yuno? What's wrong with you?" Completely unaware that Sato Yuno had conjured up a bunch of strange images in her mind in just a few moments, Su Qing'an only felt that Sato Yuno's reaction was a bit abnormal.

He waved his hand in front of the girl's eyes, but she remained unresponsive, as if her brain had shut down.

Ah, did I touch some wonderful switch?

Yuno has always liked to think about strange and unusual things, and this time is probably no different.

Unsure whether he had guessed the right answer or the wrong one, Su Qing'an continued to look out the window.

Kanagawa, almost there.

15. Destination

Yokohama International Airport, Kanagawa Prefecture.