The next day, Jun An boarded the Helios bound for World Serpent headquarters. Although the journey was long, compared to the speed of a fighter jet, it wouldn't take too much time.
This time, however, Jun An brought Himeko along. She planned to work remotely for a while, using the official internal reason of escorting the hopelessly inept Jun An for a period.
But in reality, everyone understood the implications when a leader went out on "official business."
Although Theresa also wanted to come along, as the Overseer of Schicksal, she had already taken four consecutive days off. This was completely outrageous; in five hundred years, no Overseer had dared to rest like this. It nearly resulted in Amber issuing an arrest warrant for her.
Theresa had no way to counter Amber's firm stance and could only bid a temporary farewell to the Captain before returning to Schicksal HQ.
The upside to this was that Theresa managed to squeeze several more rounds out of Jun An before leaving. She didn't let him go even when she couldn't possibly hold any more.
Of course, there was a price. Especially for the petite Theresa, Jun An saw her the next morning with a large belly, looking almost two or three months pregnant.
Theresa couldn't help but complain, "Ugh~ This feeling of abdominal distension isn't very comfortable."
For women, the sensation of being completely filled is just intensely bloating, comparable to stomach gas, perhaps even more uncomfortable.
But for Theresa, these were potential opportunities for "maternity leave." However, to maintain her image and prevent any accidental leakage midway, she had no choice but to go to the restroom with Himeko and flush out the excess with water.
Himeko, on the other hand, due to her more mature physique and the fact that Theresa had taken most of it, had no such worries.
Returning to the present, Jun An was lying on Himeko's lap pillow as the Helios flew on autopilot.
Although the Hyperion's cruising speed was much faster than the Helios's, the Hyperion was ultimately a capital-class battleship. In these current times of peace, flying something like that out – especially piloted by a MANTIS with nation-destroying capabilities – would undoubtedly put any country along the flight path on extreme high alert.
Times were different now. During the Great Honkai Eruption, nations were overwhelmed and desperately wished for powers like Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, capable of fighting the Honkai head-on, to pass through their territories and help them deal with the disaster.
If one wanted to fly the Hyperion through another country now, it was possible, but procedures had to be followed.
"By the way, Himeko, where did you get such dangerous medicine?"
Jun An currently looked like a withered husk, his entire art style turned grayscale, seemingly having shrunk by two sizes.
In stark contrast, having been thoroughly 'cultivated' and 'sown,' Himeko appeared radiant and brimming with vitality.
Himeko said, "I bought it from an old teammate of mine. Cost quite a bit, you know."
Medicine meant for breeding elephants... Jun An seriously doubted if Himeko had any intention of letting him survive. Fortunately, his A-rank physique wasn't too bad; he was just drained of vitality, barely hanging on by a thread.
"Don't do that again next time. I'll die."
"That depends on the Captain's future performance," Himeko shrugged nonchalantly. While the Captain's stamina was satisfactory for a one-on-one engagement, dividing it between two people made it seem somewhat insufficient. After all, the Captain's 'storage pouch' was only so big.
"Besides, Captain, aren't you about to become a MANTIS? Your stats are going to reset, how could I not use you up a bit before that?"
As the current Commander of the Far East Branch, she was extremely principled – absolutely no wasting a single grain of rice in the bowl.
Himeko stroked Jun An's hair, continuing, "And didn't you still have the energy to go train in the Memory Arena this morning, Captain? If you can handle combat, that means you're fine."
"No, I feel like I have very big problems."
If it weren't for those few skill points from the daily missions, Jun An wouldn't have dragged his nearly bleeding 'third leg' to the Memory Arena for morning practice.
"'I don't care what you think, I only care what I think.'"
Himeko watched Jun An casually stroking her thigh, his hand slowly slipping towards her butt. He looked perfectly healthy no matter how she looked at it; psychologically, at least, he should be fine. It was just that his Sage Mode was lasting a bit long.
"Right, you and Theresa are separated now. So how does the 'dinner arrangement' agreement work?" Jun An suddenly grew curious about their wager.
"Hmm, let's keep it pending for now." Himeko thought for a moment before saying, "Right now, I'm the one beside the Captain. When Theresa comes back, however many odd days have passed since we separated, the Captain will have to be drained that many rounds by Theresa. Something like that."
Jun An's face instantly darkened. He pinched the flesh on Himeko's inner thigh in protest, "Don't you two know anything besides exploiting your old employee?"
Himeko smoothly took the opportunity to caress the Captain's thigh. "If the Captain wishes, you can exploit us in return, you know."
Himeko's action startled Jun An into releasing her hand. His kidneys and body were instinctively warning him to exercise restraint.
Seeing Jun An wasn't interested didn't stop Himeko from continuing her ministrations.
"...Um, Himeko, you can't force something out if it's not there."
"Cells are like sponges. If you squeeze them, something is bound to come out."
"But if you squeeze any more, it'll bleed!"
Yesterday, Jun An's 'little bird returned to its nest,' soaked in a moist environment all night, leaving the skin a bit soggy. Now this again... Jun An really couldn't take it anymore.
"Fine, if the Captain doesn't want it, then forget it." Since the Captain was always flipping her switches, she could never quite tell if he wanted it or not. But since he said so explicitly, Himeko stopped.
"..."
"...So, Captain, you really don't need it?"
"Don't need it."
"You're not just playing hard to get?"
"No."
"Just in case, let me ask one more time..."
"Don't ask."
"Just say it if you want it. We're practically an old married couple."
"Don't want it!"
"...No, you do want it!"
Ten hours later, Himeko, her clothes slightly disheveled, got up and looked around. The display showed they still had some time before reaching the Elysian Realm. It made her yawn uncontrollably.
These past few days, she had fallen into a pattern of sleeping right after finishing their activities. It was almost becoming a biological clock; she felt sleepy the moment they were done.
Still, she finally understood why the Captain and Theresa enjoyed napping at noon so much. A lazy sleep truly did leave one feeling relaxed and refreshed.
Suddenly, she felt someone patting her thigh. Himeko looked down to find the Captain, who seemed to be having difficulty breathing.
Himeko awkwardly got up, and she and the Captain went to wash their faces. After a hasty cleanup, Himeko and Jun An finally disembarked from the ship.
————
Elysian Realm
Elysia tiptoed into Mobius's laboratory. Unsurprisingly, she found one of her dearest friends, the green-haired critter, slumped over the desk.
Elysia threw her arms around Mobius, who was catching up on sleep on the lab bench, hugging her from behind.
"Hi! Mobius, my dear bestie! Did you happen to dream of me?"
"Elysia, what are you doing here?" Mobius snapped awake instantly, forcefully struggling free from Elysia's enviable softness and quickly putting distance between them.
"Are you some kind of low-level lapdog creature that doesn't know how to knock?! What are you doing in my room?" Mobius's sharp tongue was, as always, directed at Elysia.
"Klein said you had a nightmare, so she asked me to come check on you." Elysia keenly observed the redness at the corners of Mobius's eyes. It didn't take much to guess what she had dreamed about.
The Captain had died. Just a few days ago was the anniversary of his passing. Everyone was heartbroken; they all felt the same way.
"Nightmare? I absolutely did not have a nightmare!" Mobius stubbornly wiped the corners of her eyes, looking away. "Don't lump me in with those human cubs! I've seen countless people die. How could I possibly shed tears over one person's death? It's just... sand in my eyes, that's all!"
That's right, she, Mobius, was long past being some little woman in heat!
"I haven't even said anything yet..." Elysia sighed helplessly, then started glancing around Mobius's lab. On her workbench lay a half-finished combat puppet with red hair – one could easily guess who it was modeled after.
"What are you snooping around for now?" Mobius frowned. "If there's nothing you need, hurry up and leave. Don't interfere with my experiments on the Cocoon of Finality."
Although Mobius didn't leave the Elysian Realm these days, it was now connected to the network, allowing her to work remotely. As a biologist and Honkai researcher, she had naturally established her own Mobius Labs.
Elysia turned a deaf ear, her gaze falling upon a nearby crate filled with pink liquid. "What's this? The color is as pretty as my hair! Can you give me a bottle as a decoration?"
"Just some things for that little lab rat to consume. Concentrated MANTIS-specific supplements, I suppose. They aid cell regeneration." Mobius glanced at the crate, her expression dimming. "They're useless now, anyway. Just taking up space. You can have them all."
Right now, Mobius just wanted to get rid of this pink fatty who had witnessed her embarrassing state. She had finally, finally managed to dream of him.
Mobius rummaged through her things and found some potent sleeping pills.
According to her understanding of biology, if she could fall asleep again quickly, there was a decent chance the dream might continue.
"Hurry up and go. Don't disturb me."