Honkai: You're telling me this difficulty is from Honkai Impact 3?!

An hour or so later, Bianka was lying spread-eagled on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Strength, speed, reaction time, even combat experience... she had been completely and utterly crushed by Theresa in every single aspect.

If not for the fact that Theresa seemed to have some strange obsession with standing still, Bianka felt she might not have had a single chance to even make a move.

"How are you? Can you still get up?" Theresa hadn't really fought back the entire time. She had simply grabbed Bianka and treated her to a "Great Windmill" every time.

It had to be said, Bianka's ability to adapt was truly incredible. The first time she experienced the Great Windmill, she had to rest for a while to recover before organizing her next attack.

But after taking it two or three times, Bianka could even prepare a counterattack while still in the air.

Just like now, Bianka wasn't lying on the ground because she couldn't fight anymore, but because she didn't want to.

It was meaningless. She had used every skill she knew, even a few she had improvised on the spot. Every single one had been countered by Theresa. To keep going now would just be pure stubbornness.

Bianka accepted defeat gracefully. If she couldn't win, she couldn't win. What else was there to do?

"Of course, Lady Theresa." Seeing Theresa's outstretched hand, Bianka immediately ended her internal self-reflection, sprang up from the ground, and nodded seriously at Theresa.

"Thank you very much for the training. I've learned a great deal."

Theresa paused, scratching her head in embarrassment. "I didn't really do much... You're already very strong, Bianka..."

The members of Kallen's squad nearby all nodded in earnest agreement. They had all sparred with Theresa and Kallen before and knew just how powerful they were.

Even if Theresa was going easy on Bianka, to be able to last a full hour against her and maintain a constant rhythm of attack had already surpassed most of them!

How had they never heard of someone this strong? Was she a capable individual who had joined Fire Moth midway, like Lady Raven?

Or was she a super rookie the Bishop had found somewhere?

"She's incredible... To be this strong right after joining the squad..." one team member murmured quietly.

"I feel like her first punch would have been enough to knock me out," another chimed in.

"And there are two of these powerful rookies... Are we finally going to be phased out?" one member fretted.

"Isn't that a good thing?" someone immediately answered his worry. "The more people stronger than us, the better, right?"

"Yeah, it's a good thing. Only when strong people go to the front lines can they guarantee their own safety."

"That's right, it's a good thing. At the very least, they have to be stronger than us..."

Their discussion reached Rita's ears. Though she maintained her smile, showing no outward reaction, she was already chuckling internally.

It's truly an honor for Rita to be compared with Lady Bianka... I'm really just a maid. I don't possess such ridiculous strength...

"Rita, would you like to spar as well?" Theresa extended an invitation to Rita. Her hands were warmed up now; she felt like she could go for another round.

Rita shook her head. "No, thank you, Lady Theresa. I have already witnessed your strength."

"Oh..." Theresa retracted her gaze and began to analyze the problems in Bianka's earlier moves. Bianka listened with rapt attention, her face showing flashes of sudden understanding.

This sparring session had truly been incredibly beneficial for Bianka. After Theresa finished her explanation, Bianka was immediately eager for another round.

Theresa had no choice but to become Bianka's training partner once more.

Meanwhile, after a brief rest, Otto opened his eyes. He quickly brewed himself a packet of instant coffee, then looked in the mirror and poked at the heavy bags under his eyes before sighing.

Fire Moth was still just an empty shell, barely holding itself together. While it was a significant improvement from being a purely fictional entity, it was still teetering on the brink of collapse.

In terms of combat power and spiritual support, Shu had more or less held the line. Even though Shu had now left the base, there was still the Xuanyuan Sword he had left behind and Fu Hua, who could wield it.

When Otto was promoting Shu within Fire Moth, he didn't forget to promote the others as well. Otto had even created an alternate identity for himself to mingle with the crowd and had compiled a list titled "Most Popular Fire Moth Members."

Excluding Shu, who received the most votes, the one with the most fans wasn't Kallen, nor was it Theresa, but Fu Hua.

Was it because most of Fire Moth's current members were from Shenzhou [China], so they preferred Fu Hua?

Otto felt there might be other reasons... Could it be because Fu Hua was too "cool"?

What's that about! Kallen is plenty cool when she fights, you know! It's like watching a graceful waltz under the moonlight... ahem...

Otto was definitely not dissatisfied with this result. Absolutely not.

Everyone trusted them, which was a good thing. So far, Otto hadn't discovered anyone deliberately trying to disrupt this harmony. Everyone was working hard to contribute to Fire Moth, which was great.

But everyone's efforts were focused on combat and logistics. Otto had yet to find a single research-oriented talent to join Fire Moth.

The path of Fire Moth's development still rested on Otto's shoulders. Researching Honkai energy, developing new battlesuits and combat modules, managing Fire Moth, and adding substantive rules and content to this empty shell...

And using his alternate identity to campaign for Kallen...

Otto was genuinely starting to feel tired, especially now that Shu, his material-fabricating machine, was gone.

To catch up and reduce the backlog of experimental projects piled up on his desk, Otto often had to pull all-nighters and overwork himself. Sometimes, he worried he wouldn't even last until Shu returned with new talent.

If only Shu could poach one or two of his former colleagues from the Future city... as long as he wasn't bewitched by that succubus, Joyce...

Otto's hand suddenly trembled. He put down his coffee cup with a grave expression.

I've been careless... I was so preoccupied with worrying about Shu and Kiana's safety that I forgot about that Joyce fellow...