I have a long way to go like this, I have to get used to it as soon as possible...
Li Mo comforted himself. The situation forced him to accept it silently.
"You're clearly happy about it too~"
"N-no, I'm not!"
"But I'm very happy, and I'm enjoying it."
"That's good."
"You've exposed yourself."
"..."
Li Mo took large mouthfuls, enduring the humiliation and eating the food from the spoon. Shigure Kira propped her cheek with one hand, her other hand more than capable of feeding Li Mo. With a glint in her eyes, she propped her phone against the wall, the camera aimed directly at Li Mo's face.
"Hey, that's going too far."
"If you don't like it, then forget it."
With that, Shigure Kira reached out to take the phone down, but Li Mo stopped her in time.
"Forget it, just film it. I'm not particularly against it, as long as you don't show it to anyone else. No one."
"Hehe, okay, little~ master"
Shigure Kira's eyes curved into a smile, and she continued to devote herself to the work of feeding-play...
Three years later—
Li Mo was seven years old. Although his body was still weak, because he didn't lack nutrition, his body developed even faster than his original body. Bound by his promise, Li Mo continued to stay at Cocolia's Orphanage, waiting for the plot to unfold.
In three years, the shabby, ancient mansion had been transformed into a modern building, at least most of the floors and rooms were. Only a few rooms and parts remained in their original state. There was no need to renovate; the original was fine.
The garden wasn't tended to. In Li Mo's words: "I don't go out usually, and it's too tiring for you to trim the weeds and leaves alone. It costs a lot of money to hire someone to take care of such a large garden. It's better to wait for Cocolia to send a few children to be laborers later. It can also help them build up their physique."
That's right, Li Mo really planned it this way. Education had to start from a young age, to make them deeply feel the power of labor, strengthen their bodies, and not be weaklings.
As a maid, Shigure Kira diligently took care of Li Mo for three years, until the news of the Second Honkai Eruption came from Siberia. In the past three years, Shigure Kira had always kept in touch with her former teammates.
Although the Snow Wolf squad didn't understand why Shigure Kira chose to become a child's maid, they still respected her and gave her enough support. They would send her red envelopes every New Year and holiday, but Li Mo had the living expenses Cocolia gave him, so he wasn't short of money. Shigure Kira's teammates were very enthusiastic.
Several times, Shigure Kira almost failed to stop a red-haired woman from breaking into their home. Li Mo could imagine that if he was held by the neck and buried in her chest, he would probably faint in embarrassment not long after.
The Second Honkai Eruption... Li Mo lowered his head and fell into deep thought.
In Shigure Kira's world, the Second Great Honkai Eruption did not take Cecilia's life. Instead, she was placed under house arrest in Schicksal. At that time, the news released by Otto was that Cecilia had died. The truth was only released when the time was right.
But Li Mo remembered very clearly that the Second Honkai Eruption in the original story was not so gentle. Apart from the deaths of tens of thousands of people—
The Snow Wolf squad was almost completely wiped out.
Captain Cecilia Schariac (Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie) 「KIA」
Members:
Patrick Highsmith (Genius) 「KIA」
Cheng Lixue (Frost Sword) 「KIA」
Salome Jokanaan (The Washer) 「KIA」
Shub-Niggurath (Spawn of Chaos) 「KIA」
Shigure Kira (Soaring Prominence) 「Survived」
The reason Shigure Kira was able to survive was because she was taken to a bubble universe by a higher microorganism. According to Shigure Kira's own words in the original story, the Shigure Kira known as Soaring Prominence had died. The one who survived was Sugary Starburst.
In other words, in countless world lines—
Apart from Anti-Entropy and Otto, everyone else died in the Second Great Honkai Eruption, their bones buried in the cold, windy Siberia, forgotten. Shigure Kira must be very worried about her teammates, even if they were just their parallel world counterparts.
Shigure Kira was hugging Li Mo on the sofa, as usual, occasionally playing games. Because her phone vibrated, she quickly took it out, wanting to casually reply to the message and continue watching TV, but she paused for too long.
Shigure Kira was completely unguarded. Li Mo leaned his head over and saw the information about the Second Honkai Eruption.
"The captain and the others have entered Siberia, preparing to fight the instigator of the Second Honkai Eruption: the Herrscher of the Void..."
"Do you want to go?" Li Mo asked softly.
Shigure Kira was stunned and nodded, "I know I can't go. I've been through it once. The intensity of the Second Honkai Eruption is far beyond what an A-rank Valkyrie can handle, even for the Snow Wolf squad... Only Lady Cecilia can handle it with ease."
"But Lady Cecilia has to deal with the Herrscher of the Void and has no spare energy to support others. If I'm not there..."
"Sorry, I was just saying. The most important thing now is to ensure our safety and deal with the source of the Bizarre here. Otherwise, saving more people would be useless."
Li Mo: "...By the way, doesn't your Snow Wolf squad get together once a year for a party, like a class reunion?"
Shigure Kira: "Yes, on that day every year, everyone in the Snow Wolf squad would get together to celebrate. But... that was a long time ago. In my world, everyone in the Snow Wolf squad except for Lady Cecilia and myself died at the hands of the Honkai beasts summoned by the Herrscher of the Void."
Li Mo reached out and held a strand of Shigure Kira's ice-blue hair between his fingers, "This part of history doesn't seem to be well-known."
During his time studying at St. Freya, Li Mo had read almost all the important books available to the public. The deeds of the Snow Wolf squad were only mentioned in two short sentences. History is like that. Two insignificant sentences summarized several talented people who had reached the pinnacle in their respective fields.
"If you want to go, then go. It's okay."
"Huh? But..."
"If choices were just about weighing the pros and cons, I wouldn't have had the chance to save you. That kind of choice is just a helpless compromise."
Li Mo said with a smile, giving Shigure Kira an affirmative look.
"Don't worry, you're not alone this time. I can help you a lot."
"Schicksal doesn't have many A-rank Valkyries right now. You were able to sneak into Schicksal last year, which means your identity information hasn't been deleted from the system."
"With the identity of an A-rank Valkyrie, Otto should still be able to see me. Although it might be a bit dangerous for me, you'll be much safer with his assistance. I think I can persuade him."
"You also have the experience and memories of the Second Great Honkai Eruption. Surviving shouldn't be too difficult."
Shigure Kira was slightly stunned. She carefully considered the feasibility of Li Mo's plan. If the Overseer could provide support, they would be much safer. But could Li Mo persuade Overseer Otto? Shigure Kira was skeptical.
"You... can you?" Shigure Kira sized up Li Mo's weak and frail appearance, expressing her deep suspicion.
"Of course I can, but before that, I need to verify one thing."
"What is it?"
"Please bring Fu Hua from this world here and try to see if Fenghuang Down can see my memories. In the past, the memories that Fenghuang Down could see of me were just a mess of distorted and disordered, irregular memory fragments. But now I'm not sure. If Fenghuang Down can see my complete memories, then my chances of facing Otto are almost zero."
Trying to trick Otto with information about Kallen and the future, Li Mo thought there was nothing more foolish than that. It was like two carnivorous beasts in nature, one strong and one weak. The weaker one actively exposes the food in its territory, which is no different from sending itself to its death.
From this, it can be seen that when Otto finds out his backer is Cocolia and he has no powerful abilities himself, he would probably be hypnotized on the spot with the mimicry of Fenghuang Down. Negotiations must be handled with extreme caution.
"Fu Hua? I remember there was such a person. Average figure, average appearance, average ability... she actually has a Divine Key?"
"Alright, I'll trick her into coming here for you tomorrow."
Shigure Kira clenched her fists and said with confidence. As for whether Fu Hua really had such a thing, Shigure Kira didn't care at all. She trusted Li Mo's judgment.
"Alright, alright, then it's time to discuss the matter of the new members coming to the house at six o'clock in the afternoon."
Li Mo took out a letter sent by Cocolia. In the past three years, Cocolia's position in the army had not risen much. On the contrary, the number of orphans she adopted had increased, so the living expenses she could provide Li Mo were naturally not much.
Fortunately, with Shigure Kira around, the red envelopes given to her by the Snow Wolf squad alone were enough for them to live a carefree life for several months.
The content of the letter was concise. In the afternoon, she would send seven young children, with their identity information on it. The oldest was five, and the youngest was three.
Li Mo didn't remember the names of the other six, only the one he remembered—Sin Mal. That foul-mouthed brat.
In the original plot, she had always bullied the well-behaved and weak Seele and injured Bronya. Isn't this a typical personality with a lack of presence? She likes to find her presence, right?
"When Cocolia leaves, we'll bully her hard. Follow my command." Li Mo pointed to Sin's photo in the envelope.
"Huh?" Shigure Kira made a confused cat sound.
"Just do as I say. Don't worry about so much."
"Oh."
Shigure Kira nodded and immediately asked, "Is it okay to cripple her?"
Li Mo: "...It's just bullying, to prevent her from not knowing her place in the family. I have to establish my status as the boss. This person, seeing my sickly appearance, will definitely have the idea of 'usurping the throne'."
Shigure Kira: "How do you know?"
Li Mo: "I saw it in other parallel worlds."
"She used to be a noble. Arrogant personality, loves to show off, and is very proud of her family. Sarcastic, tsundere. Likes to hurt people she's jealous of and doesn't like others to refute her actions. A bit childish and can't stand being provoked. This kind of brat, if you don't teach her a lesson seriously and make her develop a psychological shadow, the following days will not be peaceful."
Li Mo pointed out the problem with one sentence. If there were no accidents, Cocolia would join Anti-Entropy because of the Second Great Honkai Eruption. At that time, important characters like Seele and Bronya would join. Would the source of the Bizarre be among them?
Li Mo couldn't be sure, but counting the time, it shouldn't take long.
"Li Mo is so smart~~! So small and cute~ Can I have a kiss?"
"Thump!"
Li Mo was pushed down on the sofa, both his wrists held by one of Shigure Kira's hands. Shigure Kira rubbed her cheeks back and forth on Li Mo's soft and smooth skin.
Li Mo habitually spread his hands and closed his eyes with a look of despair.
❤! ❤! ❤! ❤! ❤!
After a storm, Li Mo got a brief moment of respite. He was treated like a cat again. But clearly, Kira was his cat. How did things turn upside down, with the cat starting to pet the person?
"Little master, I... I want..."
Shigure Kira's soft and sweet voice made Li Mo's heart flutter. Forget it, forget it. They had done more intimate things anyway. He didn't care about one or two more times... As long as she was happy. As long as she saved him some face in front of outsiders, he didn't care what they did in private.
❤! ❤! ❤! ❤! ❤!
...
...
...
"Quick, quick, Cocolia is coming! Quick, tidy up the living room!"
"Hurry up, I'll stall her outside for a while. There's not much time, you hurry up!"
Li Mo was awakened from his sleep by Cocolia's phone call. He glanced at the garbage on the floor and the mess the two of them had made, and shouted at Shigure Kira to wake her up.
"Ngh... I had a good nap... wait, Cocolia is coming?"
Waking up, Shigure Kira immediately got up and began to tidy up the mess in the living room. They had played too much before. They had played all the children's games. Like pillow fights, water gun fights, and the like.
Perhaps because of his physical condition, his psychology had also returned to a childlike stage. The two of them played with great enthusiasm, and then fell asleep on the sofa, completely forgetting that Cocolia was coming.
Li Mo answered the phone, calmed himself down, and said calmly to the other end of the phone, "Okay, I'll come down to pick you up right away. Luggage? It's okay, I can help carry some... is it heavy? Uh, the maid is on the fifth floor now, it will take some time to come down. I'll take this opportunity to get to know the children first. I'm already downstairs."
Li Mo pushed the door open and went out, not forgetting to close the door before leaving. This way, he could delay for a few more seconds.
Seven children surrounded Cocolia. Most of them were rather reserved and stayed close to her. It was understandable, as children are often shy around strangers and like to stay close to familiar people.
But there was one exception. Sin Mal stood in front of Cocolia, with heterochromia (left blue, right gold), shark teeth, dual-colored hair (left pink, right purple), and androgynous clothing. With her flat, undeveloped figure, it was impossible to tell if she was a boy or a girl just by looking.
"Hey, you're the Li Mo that Mama Cocolia mentioned? The boss of Cocolia's Orphanage?"
Sin stretched out her right hand and pointed her index finger at Li Mo, shouting.
Lacking respect and etiquette, a flash of displeasure crossed Li Mo's eyes, but he immediately sighed, as if he had completely let it go. This scene was very comforting in Cocolia's eyes.
But Cocolia would never have guessed what Li Mo was thinking—
You stinking brat, I'll deal with you later.
In reality, Li Mo was quite polite. He maintained an approachable smile even in the face of the rude Sin.
"Yes, your name is Sin Mal. I saw this name on the letter Aunt Cocolia sent, as well as your photo and a simple evaluation."
"Evaluation?" Sin turned to look at Cocolia, then proudly raised her neck like a swan, "It's good that you know my name. I'm not like you kids. I'm a real noble, I..."
Li Mo couldn't be bothered to listen to her inner monologue and walked straight to Cocolia.
"It's been a year since we last met. Aunt Cocolia seems much younger than before."
No matter how you praise, just praise.
"You smooth talker, but I'll accept your blessing for now. By the way, is your body better? You still look very haggard."
Li Mo didn't deny it, forcing a smile on his face, "It's okay, at least... I won't die. The maid takes good care of me."
Cocolia couldn't help but look at the big villa with a satisfied expression, not stingy with her praise, "It seems I was really lucky back then, to have hired such a good person. I originally thought she would only work for two years and then leave. I didn't expect it to be the fourth year, and she's still willing to continue. The salary I give her is enough for an ordinary person to live a carefree life for several years."
Li Mo didn't expose the truth, and casually agreed, "Maybe it's to earn more money. By the way, Aunt Cocolia, how long do you plan to stay here this time? I'll go back and arrange for her to cook now."
Under Li Mo's guidance, Shigure Kira had finally learned to cook, and she was quite good at it. But when Li Mo said he would go back and make arrangements, he was actually checking if Shigure Kira had cleaned up the mess in the living room. Cocolia was talking and walking at the same time, and he was running out of time to stall.
"In Siberia... the headquarters is launching the final judgment against Alexei. I have to participate in it..."
"Alexei has helped me a lot over the years, but unfortunately, we are on different sides. The only thing I can do is to take their daughter out of the bloodshed. This is also my promise to the Alexei couple."
"By the way, Li Mo. Her name is Bronya Zaychik. She's two years old this year. I should be able to bring her to you in less than three months. You have to take good care of her and take on the responsibility of an older brother."
Cocolia bent down. At this moment, Li Mo no longer needed her to completely squat down to look at him face to face. Although Li Mo still looked haggard, Cocolia knew what kind of wisdom and decision-making power was hidden in those deep eyes. If it weren't for the acquired damage, Cocolia would have really wanted to train him to be her successor.
"Rights and obligations go hand in hand. I have received benefits and rewards, so I will naturally assume responsibilities and obligations. Please rest assured." Li Mo said seriously and earnestly.
Cocolia was very satisfied with Li Mo's answer. He was sensible, knew his place, understood reason, and knew etiquette. These qualities in a seven-year-old child, if it weren't for that incident.