It was a peaceful night. Since his two adoptive mothers had eaten their fill in the afternoon, they didn't torment Jun An further during the evening.
The next morning when he woke up, Jun An discovered that Himeko and Theresa, who had been using him as a hug pillow, were already gone. Checking the time, it was around 7:50 AM – he had woken up early.
Of course, this was relative to his schedule back on Earth. When enjoying life in his original world, Jun An wouldn't wake up so early. Now that he was back in the Honkai world, Jun An hadn't yet adjusted away from his previous routine.
Jun An yawned and got out of bed. Just as he left the room, he saw Himeko making breakfast and Theresa busy with official duties at her computer.
"Captain, it's rare to see you wake up so late," Himeko greeted Jun An while stir-frying some vegetables. "It used to always be you making breakfast for the two of us, while Theresa slept until she woke up naturally. Now, quickly wash your face and try my cooking."
"Mm." Jun An nodded.
In the very beginning, it was indeed Jun An who prepared breakfast for Himeko and Theresa. Back then, Himeko had just started her job and had the schedule of a complete wreck, usually settling for a cup of instant noodles for breakfast.
Theresa, meanwhile, relied on her robust Fusion Soldier physique, surviving on bitter melon juice and bread – no one in the entire Far East Branch had more stamina than her.
After enduring a period of bitter melon juice and instant noodles, Jun An had no choice but to shoulder the heavy burden of household chores. Otherwise, he felt he would eventually be killed by the dietary habits of these two powerhouses.
Later, after Jun An became the Captain of the Hyperion, besides chores, he also had to help Theresa and Himeko share the workload of the Far East Branch and St. Freya Academy, becoming a pure work machine.
This situation only changed when Jun An went to Nagazora City and brought the Housewife Mei back to the Far East Branch. Only then could Jun An focus entirely on work and grinding levels.
Jun An quickly washed up, then sat down at the dining table with Theresa and Himeko. Today's breakfast was stir-fried water spinach and salmon.
"Speaking of which, when will the blankets, bed, and computer you guys ordered online for me arrive?" Jun An asked about his bed during breakfast. Himeko and the others hadn't bought those large items for him yesterday; after all, Jun An knew they were hard to move and didn't fuss about it.
But just when he was about to order them online himself, Himeko and Theresa both said they had already ordered them for him, and they would arrive after some time. Jun An's room already had a wardrobe, bookshelf, mini-fridge, and whatnot; all that was missing now was a bed.
"Er... just wait a bit longer, no rush, no rush," Theresa mumbled, lowering her head to shovel rice while simultaneously sending a message to Himeko on her phone.
[World's Cutest]: See, I told you! The Captain really wants to sleep in a separate room from us!
[Far East Branch's Most Beautiful Teacher]: The Captain is a grown boy, after all. Of course, he needs some private space.
[World's Cutest]: But didn't we give him a room? He actually wants a bed too!
[Far East Branch's Most Beautiful Teacher]: If a room doesn't have a bed, isn't it just a storage closet?
[World's Cutest]: It's only the second day! I told you he's naturally rebellious! If he dares to ask for a bed and sleep separately today, tomorrow he'll be able to shut himself in his room!
[World's Cutest]: If he can shut himself in tomorrow, the day after he won't pay the public grain! The day after that, he'll waste the public grain on tissues! And the day after that, he'll give the public grain that belongs to us to someone else!
[World's Cutest]: ( •̀_•́ 💢)! Himeko! This is a very serious matter! This is cheating!
[Far East Branch's Most Beautiful Teacher]: Σq|ﾟДﾟ|p WHOA!! Good point!
[World's Cutest]: Right? Sleeping in our bed is perfectly fine! Why does he need his own bed! So wicked! Such evil thoughts must be nipped in the bud!
[Far East Branch's Most Beautiful Teacher]: But I have one more question. In my situation, does this count as cheating too? The mistress is actually me?!
[World's Cutest]: I personally approved you. You count as a dowry maid, so it's different.
[Far East Branch's Most Beautiful Teacher]: Do you believe I'll call Amber and Durandal right now to have them drag you back?
Himeko held up her phone threateningly, and Theresa immediately yielded, typing furiously on her phone: I surrender! I surrender! We're both the main wives, alright!
Theresa really didn't want to be dragged back. After all, returning to Schicksal HQ meant an absolute mountain of work. Even if she could bring Jun An along, there definitely wouldn't be much time for baby-making to try for maternity leave.
Besides, a Fusion Soldier's constitution made it very difficult to get pregnant. The road was long and arduous.
Jun An watched the constantly changing expressions on their faces while eating his salmon, asking curiously, "What are you two talking about? Do you have to chat on your phones? There are no outsiders here."
"We're talking about work! Work!" Theresa immediately explained. "Anyway, Captain, don't worry about the bed for now, you're not in a hurry anyway. It's better to have Himeko take you to the Hyperion first so everyone can get reacquainted with you! Also weapons, and the Fourth-Generation Godslayer Armor and such, Captain, you should familiarize yourself with those too!"
Jun An nodded. His appearance was different now, and the Hyperion might have recruited many new members since he was last there. His bond with them wasn't as deep, so he indeed needed Himeko to vouch for the fact that he had been resurrected.
"Then what about you, Theresa?" Himeko asked, somewhat surprised, assuming Theresa would go with them. After all, there were still many potential 'uses' to be developed on the Hyperion.
Theresa sighed helplessly. "Work, of course. I'm the Overseer of Schicksal now, after all. I'll come find you guys once I finish my tasks, and I'll also help sort out the authorization for the Fourth-Generation Godslayer Armor for you, Captain."
Theresa hadn't even finished speaking when another call came in.
"What? A collaboration? Isn't Susannah handling the promotion side? Just get Amber for the preliminary setup..."
Although remote work reduced the workload significantly, allowing her to dump things like meetings onto Amber and Nagamitsu, if she wanted uninterrupted time with the Captain, she had to finish her current tasks first.
After all, Theresa didn't want Amber suddenly calling a dozen times mid-tryst, disturbing the mood. She also needed to prevent the Captain from causing mischief while she was on calls.
Because Theresa still had work to do, Himeko, who had finished her tasks long ago, was gloriously granted the opportunity to take Jun An to the Hyperion.
"First, let's go to the Armory to get the weapon you're most comfortable with, Captain."
After breakfast, Himeko led Jun An to the Far East Branch's Armory. Although Stigmata Awakeners could take on ordinary armies bare-handed, having a suitable weapon at least meant their hands wouldn't hurt during a fight.
The Armory housed basically every type of weapon. Valkyrie weapons were generally paired with their battlesuits, so most weapons found here were likely left behind by retired Valkyries.
Therefore, Jun An's weapons were naturally among them.
Jun An looked around but didn't see his original weapon. He asked, "Himeko, where's my Replica Might of An-Utu?"
The Pseudo Might of An-Utu was created by Jun An using the power of the Herrscher of Reason, similar in nature to Bronya's consumable Star of Eden. Its regular output was decent, but its rated power could only be used once, making it a consumable. Thus, Jun An had created many copies, yet not a single one was visible in this Armory.
Could they all have been borrowed? His weapon was pretty cool, after all; it wasn't impossible they'd all been taken.
"That..." Himeko hesitated. "Anyway, Captain, you're proficient with all weapons, not just the Replica An-Utu. Why don't you try other weapons? Please don't use that weapon anymore, okay?"
As she spoke, her gaze shifted to Jun An's right arm. He had once turned his entire hand into charcoal using An-Utu to save someone. The incident remained vivid in Himeko's memory.
"Don't forget, your body is just that of a normal human now," Himeko's tone carried a hint of pleading. "Don't make Theresa and me worry again, okay?"
Let alone Jun An's body being merely human, even a Fusion Soldier might not survive unleashing the full power of An-Utu. Yet Jun An, as a human, had once forcibly wielded it, carbonizing his entire right hand and spending over a month in a medical bay just to cling to life.
Theresa had cried in front of Jun An over this incident, even reaching out to try and snatch the Divine Key from him.
With Jun An's current strength, using it might mean instant death.
"Then I'll just pick one randomly." Seeing Himeko like this, Jun An had no choice but to compromise. He glanced around casually. For now, there weren't any powerful enemies like Herrschers that absolutely required the Pseudo An-Utu for a 'refresher course'. Picking any weapon to practice and level up would suffice.
Then, he found the first weapon he had ever used, slightly dusty: the weakest Divine Key – the Xuanyuan Sword.