Honkai Impact: Grandma Pine Sparrow is still chasing me!

Chapter 372 I saw a dragon, and calamity followed.

Durandal believes that the minor conflict between Sora and Rita was merely a result of Rita's emotional imbalance after a mishap. However, in her view, being defeated by Sora might not be a bad thing for Rita; if Sora chooses to stay, it might even trigger a healthy competition on an unprecedented scale.

But there are no "what ifs," and Sora probably won't stay at Schicksal headquarters. Therefore, it's necessary to resolve the small conflict between the two on the spot to avoid it becoming a grudge overnight. The silly goose, who believed the words of a certain B-rank Valkyrie, dragged her adjutant along and sent a small gift to the other side of the conflict—in Rita's name, of course.

"Qiong, this is a small token of Rita's appreciation. I hope you can accept it."

Upon entering Xing's hospital room, Durandal shoved the reluctant maid beside her (I've never even tasted the food Lady Durandal makes!) and pointed to the lunchbox in her hand.

"For us?"

Although slightly puzzled, Qiong didn't think much of it—Rita brought him food, probably still resentful about losing to her, right? Making him feel indebted to her, unable to refuse her challenge later? It's just that the so-called "prize" was given out early after Alvett went back to report that she had refused.

However, since the food was already served, Qiong naturally had no reason not to eat it—she couldn't waste food! For the sake of the food, she would let Rita have three shots with a little water first, so as not to embarrass her too much in front of Durandal.

"You're too kind, Rita. You came all this way, why did you bring anything? Speaking of which, I was actually a little hungry... um?"

Qiong reached out to take the lunchbox from Rita's hand, but for some reason, Rita's hand seemed to be welded to the lunchbox.

Qiong exerted a little force, but the lunchbox didn't budge. He looked up in confusion and met Rita's smiling eyes, which were curved like crescent moons.

"Rita?"

Qiong had to speak again, her tone full of confusion. To be honest, Rita's smile looked a little fake.

"Qiong, please allow me to remind you that overeating is bad for your health. You two have already eaten lunch, so it is not advisable to eat now."

Although Rita's explanation was for Hoshino's health, Hoshino noticed that Rita's eyes kept falling on the lunchbox...

Qiong tried again, but it didn't work. It seems Rita still has no intention of giving up.

"Um... Rita, if you don't want to deliver it, then forget it—"

"No, Rita is just concerned about you, right?"

Durandal quickly interrupted Qiong, and Rita, unsure of what to say, simply wore that impeccable, perfect smile—her eyes still fixed on the lunchbox.

"Yes, Lady Durandal, you are right."

Rita, unwilling to look directly at the sky, turned her face away, but she still let go of the sky.

Fine, I'll let Qiong have it.

"small star!"

Although I was a little surprised, it was Rita's cooking after all. Even if it was her hometown dish, fish and chips or Stargazing, it should be top-notch among similar dishes. It shouldn't be bad, right?

But when he opened the dome and saw the "charcoal" emitting black smoke, he realized he had guessed wrong: What is this thing?

Qiong looked at the "charcoal" in her hand with a look of astonishment, and then at Rita: Are you sure you didn't put the wrong thing in there?

"Try it! Rita spent half a day making this braised beef."

"Braised beef..."

The air was filled with a burnt smell mixed with soy sauce. Qiong looked at the "charcoal" with a troubled expression. Braised beef? Putting aside the shape, it looked more like coal that had been dug up from who-knows-where, judging from its color and texture!

To be honest, the difference between "charcoal" and braised beef is even greater than the difference between the Herald of a Thousand People and the Trigger...

"Um...Ms. Rita Rossweisse, are you really going to give this to me?"

Rita smiled without saying a word. Qiong looked at Rita's forced smile, and her anger flared up.

Sister Ta, isn't this revenge? Blatant revenge! Making something like this and giving it away is clearly an attempt to poison Xing and Durandal in front of them!

Thinking about the worst-case scenario, if he lost his temper on the spot, he would definitely lose points with them, especially since he had stated that Durandal was his idol... Could Rita be petty and want to embarrass him in front of headquarters? If he didn't lose his temper, it would be like eating the food, and eating it would definitely make him feel disgusted...

But... maybe not? We shouldn't think the worst of people! It's also possible that this is some kind of charcoal-shaped English beef that looks unpalatable on the outside but is actually rotten on the outside but glittering on the inside... like stinky tofu?

Rita remained silent, maintaining her perfect maid smile, but winked at Sora—seemingly a provocation.

"Qiong, won't you try some?"

If he hadn't known that Durandal was such an honest idiot, he would have suspected that Durandal urging him to eat beef was playing a trick on him with Rita...

Fine, fine, Rita Losweiser, you won't have it easy either!

Qiong took a deep breath, steeled her resolve, and picked up a piece of "braised beef" to feed the animals.

"Xiaoxing, you're the younger sister, you should try the good stuff first...Xiaoxing?"

Qiong looked around, searching for his younger sister.

However, the moment Qiong exited, Xing transformed into a blur and fled with a baseball bat.

"Brother, I'm not hungry! And I don't like eating charcoal! Susana and the others asked me to train, so I went out!"

"Charcoal?"

"Lady Durandal, don't listen to her! You have no right to speak if you haven't tasted it!"

Qiong looked in the direction Xing had fled, then at the "braised beef" in her hand, feeling a sense of helplessness.

Xing is no good either. He has no pioneering spirit whatsoever. Even poison can't harm him, yet he's afraid of food? At most, it's just a disgusting meal—from Himeko's coffee to the mochi of the End Worm, how much has he eaten?

Under Rita's gaze and Durandal's expectant look, Qiong spoke.

--------------

Qiong found herself on a vast, boundless land, with nothing around her.

"Well, where is this?"

"Sora! Awoo~"

"Nana?"

Qiong looked back and heard the roar of the little dragon. On the horizon, a small black dragon with golden eyes was flying towards him, followed closely by endless shadows and...

Leiera flies even faster than Nana.

He saw a dragon, and disaster followed.

【Dan——】

"No, you're still chasing me?!"

The moment Qiong saw Leiera, she turned and ran without hesitation, but before she could take two steps, the ground suddenly cracked open, and Qiong fell into the endless abyss, the mad god's sinister laughter still echoing in her ears.

"Help! Uncle Yang! Vita! Kiana! Anyone will help—"

……

"Why aren't you awake yet?"

"Uuuuuuu..."

The darkness before him receded like a tide, and Qiong felt his consciousness being pulled back little by little from the abyss. The first thing he felt was his numb arm.

"Brother... if you sleep any longer you'll miss dinner..."

"Little Star?"

Qiong struggled to open his heavy eyelids, his blurry vision gradually clearing. Before him lay a gray-haired girl playing with a phone that appeared out of nowhere, nestled beside him. When Qiong's voice rang out, the girl immediately dropped her phone and looked up, her golden eyes instantly lighting up with surprise.

"Brother! You're awake!"

Xing cried out and tried to rush into Qiong's arms, wanting to wrap her arms tightly around her silly brother's neck—but she didn't succeed because one of her hands was handcuffed by a silver bracelet.

"Xiaoxing, what's wrong with you...?"

"Thank goodness... Thank goodness... Brother, I'm so glad you're alright..."

"Uh... I'm fine now..."

Qiong looked at the other end of the super long handcuffs, where the strongest Valkyrie of Destiny was sitting quietly reading a book—it looked like a cookbook.

"Qiong, you're awake?"

Upon seeing the victim awaken, the strongest Valkyrie of Destiny approached, but before Durandal could get close, the wary Star intercepted her three steps away.

"Durandal, stay away from him!"

Durandal gave an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, I know it's my fault, but I still want to..."

“Xiao Xing, be polite! So, can someone tell me what happened? I remember I was just…”

Yulandel remained silent, but instead drew circles on the book with her finger.

"Well, that's a long story..."

--------------

When Sora swallowed two large chunks of tough, burnt beef—a mixture of burnt, strange, and unidentified pungent odors—he felt a churning in his stomach. Out of "gratitude" to the maid, he showered the beef with praise that even Rita found exaggerated. Then, at his insistence, Rita reluctantly ate the two large chunks. Smiling, Rita immediately refused Durandal's request to eat with her after swallowing the beef and tried to feed Sora instead. Sora, who didn't refuse, ate some and immediately tried to feed him instead… This back-and-forth, with the two smiling menacingly at Durandal, repeated itself three times until they both collapsed, convulsing, foaming at the mouth.

Thinking that Sora and Rita had suddenly fallen ill, Durandal immediately tried to help them up and give them first aid. However, just as Durandal was about to give Sora artificial respiration, Hoshi, feeling that running away was not very honorable, came back with a baseball bat.

"What...what did you do to my brother?!"

From Xing's perspective, it was pretty much like Durandal was hugging her older brother and Rita and having a good time—for some reason, she always felt that if something like this happened, she would lose Qiong forever.

So, everything that followed fell into place: fueled by anger and fear towards Rita and Durandal, Xing shouted, "Rules are meant to be broken!" and smashed her gleaming baseball bat at the unarmed Valkyrie of Destiny—only to be subdued by three elbow strikes from the super-dumb goose, watching helplessly as her brother and maid were subjected to the whims of someone and subsequently vomited unconsciously...

After that, Durandal barely managed to explain to Hoshino, who was furious and wanted to fight her to the death, what "artificial respiration" meant and called the doctor to continue treatment. Once Hoshino calmed down, she immediately began to think about another question: Why did Sora and Rita collapse together?

Xing reasonably attributed the cause to the charcoal-black braised beef brought by the suspect, Rita Rossweisse. However, the suspect could not be interrogated at this time, and the suspect's teammates vehemently denied that the braised beef was poisoned. Even Durandal ate the same amount of braised beef in front of Xing and was still unharmed.

Logically, this speculation should have been put aside. The doctor who came later said that Qiong and Rita had not rested well in the past few days, were mentally stressed, and had been in a fierce battle before, as well as some kind of external stimulation, which caused them to fall into a coma... But Xing refused to give up and still believed that the braised beef was poisonous. She even threatened to demolish the Destiny Headquarters if Rita was not brought to justice!

Durandal reminded Xing that arresting someone requires evidence, and the only physical evidence was whether there was something wrong with the braised beef. After Durandal tasted it and had no opinion beyond its unpleasant flavor, Xing, still undeterred, dragged along Susanna and Alvitt, who were passing by, to join the test. Trusting Durandal and Rita, and out of friendship with Xing, the two agreed to Xing's request. However, ten seconds after eating, both experienced adverse reactions: dizziness, blurred vision, and foaming at the mouth…

With irrefutable evidence, the nearby doctor administered emergency treatment to the two "heroes" who had tested the poison on themselves. Then, seeing her two friends also collapse from food poisoning, Xing went berserk, grabbing a baseball bat and yelling that she was going out to fight Rita...

Then she was stopped by Durandal, who looked guilty.

The real culprit stepped forward, and the strongest Valkyrie of Destiny confessed to all her crimes. She admitted that she cooked for Rita because Rita didn't cook, and that under the influence of Alvit and Rita, she gave the braised beef that Stan wouldn't eat to Sora in Rita's name to resolve the potential conflict between the two...

Durandal apologized for the trouble she had caused, but Star wasn't buying it: An apology? Can an apology restore the victim's health? Face the judgment of justice, you criminal!

Under Durandal's astonished gaze, Detective Sherlock Holmes transformed into Officer Star. She conjured a pair of silver bracelets from thin air, one end fastened to herself, the other to Durandal, and the bracelets could even stretch in the middle? She awaited Qiong's awakening so that Judge Qiong could judge the idiot. Knowing she was in the wrong, Durandal didn't break free, waiting to be dealt with by Qiong after she awoke.

--------------

"I'm sorry, Sora. It has nothing to do with Rita. I did it all."

With her hands clasped together, Durandal revealed an expression that Rita would definitely find adorable and want to tease.

"So brother, remember this from now on: don't eat food from unknown sources!"

With her hands on her hips, Xing was smug about solving the case of Qiong's poisoning on her own: If this happens a few more times, she'll be the big sister!

Qiong listened to their explanation, somewhat amused and exasperated. He roughly understood why he had fainted: even Durandal's cooking could keep him from collapsing, but these past few days had been European time, not Far Eastern time, and his sleep schedule was still jet-lagged. Add to that the recurring nightmares about the Mad God since arriving at Schicksal headquarters, coupled with his recent emotional ups and downs and needless worries… all these factors combined with Durandal's deadly braised beef to cause his fainting spell. Otherwise, at worst, it would have been due to eating Kiana's rice cakes…

As for Rita, her ability to withstand similar hardships is purely due to her unwavering will as an S-class Valkyrie and her love for Durandal...

"Little Star, that's enough. Durandal was just... well-intentioned. Let her go."

"But brother, they almost got you into trouble! You're more important than them! They weren't punished—"

"Be good, listen to me."

Qiong patted Xing's head, which had swelled up like a pufferfish, and then patted Durandal's shoulder.

“Miss Bianca Atagina, you did very well, don’t do it again next time…”

"I apologize again."

Durandal looked down for a moment, then lifted her head again.

"Bianca? I never expected you to call me that. It brings back so many memories..."

Xing was too ashamed to look at Qiong.

You were fooled like that? That's so lame! Even if you don't find a reason to demand hundreds of thousands in compensation for Xingqiong's losses, you could at least make her pay back the money she owes Sushana.

But Xing ultimately had no words. She just pouted and reluctantly let the silver bracelet disappear. Seeing this, Qiong's heart stopped, as if that woman was whispering in his ear again: Don't think it's over...

"If there's nothing else, shall I go see Rita? By the way, Qiong, did you just have a nightmare? Would you like me to introduce you to some of the best experts from Schicksal Headquarters?"

After exchanging pleasantries, Durandal left. Star, looking at the dazed Qiong with a face full of complaints, had a lot to say, but seeing Qiong's somewhat frightened appearance, she could only offer a word of concern in the end.

"Did you just have a nightmare? What did you see?"

The girl felt her brother scrutinize her for a good ten seconds before letting out a sigh of relief.

"It's nothing... I just saw a dragon, and disaster followed... Ha, don't worry about it! There's no dragon here, and no disaster!"

--------------

Update... Okay, I made a mistake, I'll try my best to correct it (probably).

First, correct the errors in the chapters.