Chapter 8: Do I Eat This Meal or Not?
Rita retracted her hand and looked at Chen Wenjin lying on the ground, lost in thought.
Although she was still smiling.
Her inner thoughts were filled with doubts.
She remembered very clearly that as the captain of the Hyperion, performing aerial somersaults was child’s play for him. He could even spar with Durandal in martial arts. When facing the hordes of Honkai beasts, he could charge at the forefront alongside the Valkyries.
But why did he faint with just a slap?
Could it be because she had prematurely allowed the Captain to join Schicksal, skipping his growth process?
Although Rita had memories from her previous life, she couldn’t recall when exactly the Captain had become strong enough to spar with Durandal. She had only met the new Captain of the Hyperion when she went to St. Freya Academy and participated in the Valkyrie exam as K423.
So she wasn’t sure if the Captain had become capable of exchanging blows with Durandal before joining Schicksal or if he had grown stronger after arriving at the Hyperion.
But at least from what she saw now, he hadn’t become the kind of Captain who could spar with Durandal.
“A Captain who hasn’t fully grown yet… huh?”
Rita looked at Chen Wenjin lying on the ground, pointing at him with a finger. Her smile grew even brighter.
A sleeping Captain, indeed.
Rita squatted down, picked up Chen Wenjin from the ground, and carried him to his room. She gently placed him on the bed, which had already been prepared since the previous night.
Rita sat down by the bedside, extended her finger, and lightly poked Chen Wenjin’s cheek.
“The Captain looks the same as when he’s asleep. Like a child.”
Rita withdrew her finger in satisfaction. She took out a syringe from somewhere and gently injected it into Chen Wenjin’s arm, drawing a small amount of blood from his body.
After finishing the blood extraction, Rita turned on the room’s sleep lamp and turned off all the other lights in the room. She stood by the bedside, looking at him for a while before silently leaving the dormitory.
In fact, when she first met Chen Wenjin yesterday, she had considered directly knocking him out and taking him away. Since she could return from the future, maybe other Valkyries could too. Of course, the chances of that were very slim; after all, not everyone’s time had been reset simultaneously.
So she didn’t directly take Chen Wenjin away but chose to let him join Schicksal in a way that would put him under her surveillance. This was not only to protect him but also to prevent other Valkyries from seeing him.
Whether it was Durandal, Theresa, or maybe even Kiana Kaslana.
As long as Captain remained in her Third Team, she could always keep track of his whereabouts. This would prevent him from coming into contact with Durandal and the others.
Even if she was the only one with the power to travel through time, she couldn’t allow Captain to meet them. Who knew what might happen if they did meet? It could lead to unnecessary complications and the sudden appearance of new enemies.
Rita stood at the dormitory door, looking at Chen Wenjin’s room for a while before turning and leaving.
…
“…”
Chen Wenjin opened his eyes and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling. Fortunately, it seemed to be his dormitory’s ceiling, not the lab’s.
So, what happened this morning?
Chen Wenjin sat up from the bed, rubbing the back of his head. That area was a bit sore, clearly indicating he had been struck.
The culprit was also very clear; it must have been Rita. Could it have been someone else? Could Rita have allowed someone to knock him out?
Chen Wenjin thought for a moment and felt that it was indeed possible. After all, he and Rita weren’t close. Unlike in other stories where he would gain high favorability with the Valkyries as soon as he arrived in the Honkai world, he had no such relationship with Rita. So why would she stop someone from knocking him out?
Rita had shown murderous intent towards him in the warehouse just now.
“It’s pretty scary. I feel like I should leave sooner.”
Chen Wenjin got out of bed and, while stretching his neck, walked towards the bathroom.
However, as soon as he reached the bathroom and unzipped his pants, he saw something.
“?”
Chen Wenjin frowned, quickly zipped up his pants, and stepped back out of the bathroom.
“Rita, you… Vice Captain, why are you here?”
What he had just seen was Rita standing in his living room. Because his mind was still a bit fuzzy, he had only realized that someone was in his dormitory’s living room after entering the bathroom.
“I thought you hadn’t had lunch yet, so I prepared some food and brought it over. Let’s have lunch together, and we can make it dinner too.”
Rita folded her hands in front of her, then opened the lids of the containers one by one, revealing the dishes she had prepared on the table.
“Mr. Chen Wenjin comes from Sky City, so his dietary habits should match those of Shenzhou. I’ve prepared some Shenzhou dishes. They should suit Mr. Chen Wenjin’s taste.”
Rita then took out a fragrant bowl of white rice from the food container on the floor, using two slender chopsticks that she spun around with her right hand, placing the rice and chopsticks on the table.
“Mr. Chen Wenjin, please enjoy your meal.”
Chen Wenjin had only had breakfast and had been asleep since noon when Rita knocked him out. Now that he smelled the delicious food, his stomach couldn’t help but growl.
But he looked at Rita’s smile and felt afraid.
What the hell is this girl doing? Knocking him out and now preparing dinner for him?
He’s scared.
Chen Wenjin’s body shrank back, and he looked at Rita, swallowing hard.
Should he eat this meal or not?