As a symbiotic being, I raise children amidst the chaos.

'Sigh, that familiar feeling again…' Chen Yuan slowly opened his eyes, finding himself back inside Kiana's body. 'But this time it's a bit novel; it's the first time I've experienced what it's like to turn into specks of light.'

[This will happen often in the future, you'll get used to it~] The system's voice rang in Chen Yuan's mind. [Congratulations, host, you have gained fire resistance and the Symbiote Variable Ability!]

'The symbiote's variability—I wanted to ask you about that back then, what does that mean?'

[Well, have you seen Venom? You know about carnage and riots, right? Turning your own body into a weapon or a tool to your advantage—that's the symbiote's variability.]

"At 10:00 AM today, Changkong City lost contact with the outside world!" Just then, a news anchor's words on a television station outside Qianyu Academy caught Chen Yuan's attention. "The United Nations has issued a statement confirming an outbreak of infectious disease BH in Changkong City!"

"Huh? I didn't expect the city to have become like this, yet the TV station still has a signal~" Chen Yuan emerged from Kiana's body and, mimicking a tiny figure, perched on her shoulder. "Well, this infectious disease is quite interesting!"

"Infectious Disease BH? What does that mean?" Raiden Mei looked at Chen Yuan with a puzzled expression when she heard him say that.

"Well, it's not that hard to understand~ This should actually be called Honkai, those guys saw it, right?" Chen Yuan pointed to the zombies walking all over the street, "That's what an ordinary male looks like when infected with Honkai."

"As for women who have a slight tolerance for Honkai energy, they can resist for a while, but once they are completely corrupted by Honkai, they will become like that, or in other words, suicide soldiers."

"Was my previous appearance also caused by this so-called Honkai..." Raiden Mei bit her lip, her expression darkening.

"Pretty much. Your form was called a Herrscher, the pinnacle of Honkai." Chen Yuan yawned and continued, "However, back then you were much weaker than ordinary Herrschers, with far too many debuffs."

"Little guy! You know a lot!!" Kiana's eyes lit up after hearing Chen Yuan ramble on for so long. "Then you must know about my stinky dad and my mom, right? Where are they now?"

"Your mom and dad? I know a little about them, but not much. My shoulder's a bit sore, so I'm not really keen on talking about it."

At this point, Chen Yuan shook his shoulders in a pretentious manner, looking like a child deliberately keeping someone in suspense, which made Raiden Mei next to him burst into laughter.

"Hmph! If you don't tell me, I won't ask anymore. Anyway, I'll find the answer myself sooner or later!" Kiana didn't tolerate Chen Yuan's behavior and threw him away. She crossed her arms and looked unhappy.

With a flick of Kiana's wrist, Chen Yuan's body arced through the air before gently landing on the ground, still retaining its tiny form.

He dusted himself off, looked up, and said with a teasing smile, "Oh dear, you really don't give me any face. But since you're so curious, I'll just give you a little hint."

"I can't say much more, but you can rest assured about one thing: your stupid father is doing pretty well now."

Chen Yuan's words made Kiana's eyes light up again. She immediately leaned closer and asked eagerly, "Really? Where is he? Is he alright?"

Chen Yuan smiled slightly and shook his head: "I can't tell you the specifics, but he is indeed doing what he believes is right somewhere. As for whether it's good or bad..." He paused, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes, "At least for now, he's not in any danger."

Kiana was somewhat disappointed, but she nodded nonetheless. After all, knowing that Siegfried was still alive was the best news she could receive.

"Kiana, it's alright. You'll find your father someday." Raiden Mei saw that Kiana looked a little dejected, so she stepped forward and patted her on the shoulder before turning her gaze to Chen Yuan.

"So what should we do next? Should we wait here for rescue, or..."

"Of course, we need to find a way to escape from here." Chen Yuan raised her small hand and pointed to the street outside. "The commotion from our battle was too great. From what I've observed, quite a few Honkai Beasts are starting to gather here. Staying here will only increase the danger."

“But where should we go now?” Kiana asked, her brow furrowed. “Honestly, I can’t think of a single safe place. Ugh, this is so frustrating!!”

"Eh? I do know a place we can go, and it should have a way to contact the outside world and plenty of emergency food," Raiden Mei's eyes lit up, then dimmed again. "But it's too far away, and it'll be difficult for us to get there on our own."

"Food! Where is it? We can make a plan!" Kiana immediately regained her usual energy upon hearing about food. "It's okay, Mei. No matter how far away it is, I'll help you."

'What an idiot...' Chen Yuan glanced at Kiana speechlessly and couldn't help but sigh. The place Raiden Mei mentioned was most likely ME Company.

Sure enough, after Kiana's persistent pleading, she finally revealed the place she was looking for. "The place I'm talking about is ME Company, which is managed by my family. Since the TV station has a signal, it should have one there too."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuan was taken aback. Back then, thanks to Chen Yuan's help, Seele was prevented from entering the Quantum Sea, and the children of Cocolia's orphanage had the opportunity to continue living.

Logically speaking, Cocolia doesn't need to be as obsessed with the Herrscher as she was in the original work. Planning the Third Honkai Impact would be a thankless and arduous task for her.

But if it wasn't Cocolia who did it, then who did it... World Serpents? They're too cowardly to plan such a daring operation right now, unless they're planning to confront Otto head-on.

'Could it be that Otto guy?' Chen Yuan pondered this, his heart sinking. He didn't want to enter Otto's field of vision so soon; that guy... was too dangerous.

"Mr. Chenyuan? Mr. Chenyuan?" Just as Chenyuan was thinking, Raiden Mei's call brought him back to his senses. "What is it, Miss Raiden Mei?"

"Just call me Mei." Raiden Mei smiled and looked at Kiana, who was excitedly waving her arms and legs on the other side. "Could you please help me persuade Kiana... I'm having trouble convincing her."

'There's nothing I can do about this...' Chen Yuan glanced helplessly at Raiden Mei, then stood up and stretched. 'It's alright, let's go to ME Company, it'll be good for us after all.'

"Right, right!" Hearing Chen Yuan's approval, Kiana proudly puffed out her chest, a smug expression on her face. "Following me, you absolutely won't go wrong!"

"But..." Raiden Mei was still a little worried, and before she could say anything more, Kiana pulled her away. "It's okay, Mei. I'm very strong. Those zombies and Honkai Beasts are no match for me!"

------

A few minutes later

"Little one!!! Help me!!!" Kiana ran frantically through the streets, with four or five Rush-class Honkai Beasts relentlessly pursuing her, determined to keep chasing her no matter what.

"Go for it, Kiana! I'm protecting Mei right now, so I can't help you~" Chenyuan sat on Raiden Mei's shoulders, watching Kiana run with great interest. The ground around them was littered with the corpses of assassins.

"I believe those Honkai Beasts will be no match for you. I'll be watching your performance closely. Good luck!"

"Um... Mr. Chenyuan, is it really okay to do this?" Mei looked at Kiana with concern and whispered to Chenyuan. "Let's go help him. I'm worried something might happen."

"Oh, it's alright, it's alright. It'll save her from becoming so confident all the time. Besides, don't you think it's funny?"

"You vile bastard!! I only bragged a little, why are you targeting me like this?!" Kiana glanced at the Honkai Beast still chasing after her, tears welling up in her eyes! "If I die here, I'll haunt you even as a ghost!"

"Huh~ Is it really necessary to be so ruthless..." Chen Yuan jumped off Mei's body, gave the latter a look, and then stretched out two tentacles to grab the railing in front of him.

With a sudden pull from the tentacles, Chen Yuan flew towards Kiana at an extremely fast speed, arriving in front of her in the blink of an eye. His body transformed into a large net, instantly enveloping Kiana.

The sudden turn of events startled the Honkai Beasts, causing them to stop in their tracks and hesitate to continue their pursuit, unaware of the bizarre situation.

"Ah!!!" Enveloped by the dust of fate, Kiana transformed back into her previous symbiotic form, her gaping maw screaming as she charged towards the Honkai Beasts!

The Honkai Beasts were clearly startled by this sudden change and retreated, but they quickly recovered, letting out low growls as they prepared to attack.

Seeing this, Chen Yuan's arm sprouted tentacles that continuously coiled around it, eventually forming a massive, pure black blade! "Hmph, a bunch of roaring beasts, watch how I deal with you!"

With the sound of a blade slicing through the air, Chen Yuan lunged at the nearest Honkai Beast. The blade formed from his tentacles traced a black trail in the air, slashing down fiercely with a whooshing sound.

Although the Honkai Beast tried to dodge, it had no chance of escape against Dust's speed. The blade cleaved it in two, and purple liquid splattered everywhere.