Honkai: Oh No, I’ve Become the Herrscher of Corruption?! - Chapter 167

Chapter 167: Side Story – Hot Spring

Some year, some month, some day, in the Far East.

Kiana, Bronya, and Raiden Mei walked tensely through a city.

Aside from Bronya, who was protected by her Heavy Armor Bunny, both Kiana and Raiden Mei held pistols in their hands, vigilantly scanning their surroundings.

This city was located not far from Nagazora and had been somewhat affected by that major Collapse.

Although the disaster level here was low compared to Nagazora, even the lowest-level zombie from a Honkai disaster would require an ordinary person to exert tremendous effort to deal with. Therefore, when facing the Honkai, simply managing to escape alive to a safe place was already a stroke of luck.

As rookies in the Valkyrie corps, Kiana and the others were on their first combat mission without a teacher’s supervision. Their task was to search this city for possible survivors.

However, the first mission wasn’t going smoothly. Several full days had passed without finding a single survivor. Instead, they had fought consecutive battles against Honkai beasts, leaving all three of them mentally strained and physically exhausted.

A person’s mental energy is limited. After this battle ended, all three of them involuntarily started doing things unrelated to combat.

Raiden Mei sniffed her own clothes, then waved her hand dismissively.

“What’s wrong, Mei?”

As if seeing a question mark above Kiana’s head, Mei quickly waved her hands.

“Ah… it’s nothing…”

But at that moment, Bronya chose to spill the beans:

“Although Big Sister Mei has a strange smell on her, Bronya doesn’t mind at all.”

On the verge of tears, Mei grabbed Bronya.

“There really is a strange smell, isn’t there?”

Hearing this, Kiana immediately leaned in, took a deep breath, and then instinctively took a few steps back.

Seeing Kiana also keeping her distance, Mei immediately squatted down in a corner, the whole person sinking into an emo state.

“Um… Mei, it’s not really that strange, you know? But look, we’ve been in this damp, almost moldy environment for days without a shower. Having some odd smells is pretty normal…”

After Kiana’s attempt at comfort, Mei became even more dejected.

“A shower and hot water are definitely out of the question… Sigh, if only there were a hot spring.”

Bronya, who had always lived in Siberia, was puzzled:

“What’s a hot spring?”

Kiana didn’t expect she’d have a day explaining things to Bronya:

“A hot spring, simply put, is water that comes up from underground. But because of geothermal heat, the water temperature is a bit higher than usual.”

Bronya: “(???)… Understood.”

“Hey, hey, Bronya, where are you going?”

“Looking for a hot spring.”

Watching Bronya walk into the distance, a somewhat confused Kiana and Raiden Mei exchanged a glance, then followed.

A quarter of an hour later, in a park within the city, Bronya stared at a patch of muddy ground ahead.

“Bronya, don’t push yourself. It’s fine if you can’t find one.”

“Big Sister Mei, don’t worry. Bronya’s mech has a thermal detection device. We can use it to quickly locate a hot spring…”

While they were talking, Bronya noticed the readings on the device change.

“Big Sister Mei, Kiana, step back.”

“Heavy Armor Bunny 19C, target locked. Fire!”

A beam shot from the cannon of the Heavy Armor Bunny, blasting a large crater in the muddy ground.

Looking at the empty crater, Kiana remarked with a hint of mockery:

“So, we got nothing. But at least we didn’t hit a natural gas or gas pipeline, which is fortunate.”

Kiana’s mouth clearly had a prophetic touch. No sooner had her words fallen than water began seeping out from the soil. After about another quarter of an hour, a natural hot spring appeared before the three of them.

“The underground material isn’t just soil. Bronya speculates that without special materials for support, this area would collapse due to the groundwater.”

“Geez, why worry about all that? If there’s a hot spring to soak in, let’s hurry up.”

Kiana swiftly took off her clothes and jumped into the water.

“Mei, come quick! The water temperature here is just right.”

Soon after, Raiden Mei also jumped in.

“Ah~~ It’s been so long since I’ve enjoyed something this comfortable… Hmm?”

Just as Raiden Mei was relaxing, she noticed Kiana’s gaze fixed intently on her chest, drool dripping from her mouth, wearing the expression of a total pervert.

Mei immediately instinctively covered her front with her hands:

“Kiana, stop looking at strange places!”

Kiana wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, swam next to Mei, and taking her by surprise, launched a sneak attack on her chest.

“Hey now, Mei, we’re all girls, it’s fine…”

I am an engineer, this is wall building.

The two frolicked in the hot spring until Raiden Mei was nearly exhausted from the altitude, and only then did Kiana stop.

At that moment, Raiden Mei noticed Bronya was still standing on the shore, wrapped up tightly.

“Bronya, aren’t you coming down to bathe together? It’s very comfortable.”

“It’s fine. Bronya’s current performance is satisfactory and does not require dust removal operations.”

Mei spoke with a hint of displeasure:

“Bronya, what kind of silly talk is that? You’re not a machine. Get down here right now!”

Seeing Mei looking somewhat angry, Bronya felt a warmth in her heart.

“Big Sister Mei, Bronya requests… to bathe.”

“Excellent!”

Mei somehow produced a stool from somewhere and had Bronya sit on it.

“If you’re afraid of bathing, let’s start with a steam bath first.”

Bronya sat down very obediently, allowing Mei to undress her.

Looking at the scars on Bronya’s back, Mei frowned. Many of them were left from the battles against zombies and Honkai beasts over the past few days.

She remembered a time when Bronya went on alert alone while she and Kiana rested in the rear. By the time they heard the commotion and rushed over, she had already dealt with hundreds of zombies and Honkai beasts by herself.

“Bronya, next time you encounter enemies, don’t think about facing them alone again. Aren’t we comrades? Rely on everyone a bit more.”

Mei’s chest pressed against Bronya’s back, causing a blush to spread across Bronya’s face.

“Understood…”