[Daily Mission: Defeat one A-rank difficulty enemy in the Memorial Arena. Reward: Minor increase to Honkai Energy Resistance, Honkai Energy Output, Skill Point: 1.]
The reward description was concise: basically, an increase to the Honkai Energy cap and attack power cap.
Jun An immediately headed to the Memorial Arena according to the system's daily mission and started the battle, selecting an A-rank difficulty Ganesha.
Ganesha was large and thick-skinned, the type of Emperor Class Honkai Beast with exceptionally tough hide but no particularly special abilities. As long as one's stats reached a certain threshold and could inflict effective damage, it was an easy fight.
Jun An held the Xuanyuan Sword and employed the essence of the Edge of Taixuan. This essence was primarily used to achieve a state of mutual understanding with the Xuanyuan Sword, allowing it to change form into the weapon the user was most proficient with.
For instance, Fu Hua was best with gauntlets, while Jun An was most accustomed to greatswords.
Ganesha charged ferociously towards Jun An. Jun An didn't meet it head-on, instead swiftly dodging to reacquaint himself with combat after such a long time. A year had indeed made his movements somewhat rusty.
Jun An continuously exploited Ganesha's recovery lag to chip away at its health. Once familiarized, immediately after one of its charges, Jun An directly hacked off one of its hind legs.
After repeatedly weakening its mobility in this manner, he plunged the sword straight into its head, causing Ganesha to finally breathe its last.
[Mission Complete. Honkai Energy Resistance increased, Honkai Energy Output increased, Skill Point +1.]
Jun An felt the changes in his body – practically none. Although he was sure he'd received the rewards, they were as stingy as ever.
[Please use the skill point.]
Instantly, the system displayed a skill point interface showing several basic stats: Physical Resistance, Honkai Energy Resistance, Recovery Power, Honkai Energy Output...
——Save it.
Jun An made the choice without hesitation. After all, a single skill point wouldn't change much. Better to save them up and allocate them based on need later.
"Captain, well done."
Himeko walked over from the side, unable to resist praising him. "But it's clear you've weakened considerably. How does it feel to be weaker?"
Jun An gave a helpless smile. "With just this level of strength, I feel like I can only bully some small fry at best. It seems I can't beat anyone significant."
Jun An's current strength was probably enough to fight the Judgement Class Benares to a draw. However, Judgement Class threats were only fit for clearing mobs in the grand final battle.
"Whoa, you already possess such power at this age? Truly remarkable."
Yalina, the doctor who had examined Jun An two days prior, walked over, her eyes carrying a hint of shock and praise. "Looks like you might really become a heroic figure like the Captain of the Hyperion in the future."
"Yalina? What are you doing here?"
It was Yalina who had informed Himeko yesterday that Theresa was acting strangely, picking up a child and treating him like the Captain.
Yalina replied, "I'm a Combat Medic, not just a doctor. When I don't have missions, I still need to maintain basic physical fitness through training."
A Combat Medic's job on the battlefield required more than just the skill to treat people like livestock to save them; they also needed the ability to ensure their own survival and drag comrades off the battlefield, similar to the members of the cooking squad.
It could be said that if she wanted to, she could be a Valkyrie.
Yalina exchanged a few pleasantries with Himeko, then looked at Jun An. "Ah, you really did rescue this little guy. I thought the next time I saw him, he'd look completely squeezed dry (from work, she means). Good to see you're alright."
Jun An just awkwardly turned his face away. Yesterday, they had repeatedly drained the pond to catch the fish; throughout the night, they hadn't known to save up some ammunition for him.
Himeko also sensed Jun An's awkwardness and coughed twice. "Yalina, he is the Captain himself. Theresa was right. He came back to life."
So, squeezing him a bit should be fine.
"...Don't kid me, I'm a doctor! A Combat Medic with dual master's degrees in Biology and Honkai Studies! Even that Captain said the dead cannot be resurrected. That's the truth!"
Yalina naturally didn't believe Himeko's nonsense. "If he's real, I'll tear up both my diplomas and swallow them whole!"
Himeko frowned, looking at Jun An with disbelief, and asked in a low voice, "Hey, did you really say that to Yalina?"
One had to remember, Jun An hadn't just resurrected the Second Herrscher who had been dead for over a decade; he had even brought back people who couldn't be more dead, like Cecilia and Cheng Lixue. For him to say such a thing, not even a dog would believe it.
"Well, the technology to resurrect the dead can't exactly be made public," Jun An said with a helpless look. "Nobody wants another Otto running around, right?"
The two toughest bosses Jun An had ever faced were Kevin, who possessed maximum combat power and single-mindedly sought death to protect the only hope of the past, and Otto, who possessed maximum intelligence and status.
Facing Otto, that deceased grandfather-figure, Jun An had developed something akin to PTSD.
Therefore, the resurrection of Cecilia and the others was publicly announced as them merely having been asleep. Sirin's case was explained by claiming she wasn't the same person as the original Second Herrscher Sirin, an explanation Sirin herself agreed to.
So, apart from those with relatively close relationships, basically, no one knew the truth about the so-called resurrection.
This put Himeko in a bit of a difficult position. But she was one of the old guard on the Hyperion, having been there since Theresa picked the Captain up from the snow, through the defection from Schicksal, the space battles, and everything else.
It could be said her tenure on the Hyperion was longer than Jun An's; she had even performed surgery on him several times. So, Himeko didn't really want to keep Yalina in the dark, but alas, Yalina refused to believe it herself.
Himeko rather wanted to see her personally tear up her dual master's degree certificates and then eat them.
However, before Himeko could think of a countermeasure, Yalina's expression froze, a hint of disbelief dawning on her face. "Himeko, did you just call him... Captain?"
Himeko nodded. "Yeah, what's wrong?"
But Yalina looked exceptionally weary. "Didn't I ask you to persuade Theresa? How did you end up falling for it too!"
She had hoped Himeko would be somewhat rational, using her friendship with Theresa to wake her up, to help Theresa move on from the grief of losing the Captain sooner. She never expected Himeko to be turned to the other side instead!
"Wake up, Director Himeko!" Yalina shook Himeko, saying, "This little guy is just a child! Living like the Hyperion's Captain is truly no life for a human. It's the Post-Honkai era now, please stop tormenting children, okay?"
The fact that Jun An used to end up in the intensive care unit every few days was practically common knowledge. If it weren't for the Abyss Flower keeping him barely alive, he probably would have died eight or nine times already.
More importantly, there was the heavy workload, which clearly wasn't meant for a human being.
"I... When did I torment him?" Himeko couldn't help but avert her gaze guiltily. Didn't I just team up with Theresa to squeeze him a few extra times? We're still short of double digits by one or two! It's not like we treated him like a stud!
"Ahem, anyway, without evidence, Director Himeko can sue you for false accusation!" Himeko said with a straight face, though inwardly she was panicking.
"..."
However, Yalina's expression froze, a flicker of fear appearing in her eyes. It seemed she had misunderstood something.
It's over. The local snake and the strong dragon have joined forces! One uses force to coerce, the other uses authority to silence. A mere Combat Medic from the Far East Branch like me is no match for them!
Apart from turning near-corpses back into living people, I can't do anything else! I can't play these games at all!
Faced with power and strength, she felt completely helpless at this moment.
Yalina immediately looked like she was about to cry. "I understand. I won't say such things again. Please don't fire me! I have an eighty-year-old mother at home and a three-month-old kitten! The whole family depends on my salary."
"Wait, that's not what I meant!" Himeko felt she had definitely misunderstood something. "I didn't say I was going to fire you!"
"That's good."
However, after indicating she wouldn't oppose Himeko, the Combat Medic merely breathed a sigh of relief and then looked at Jun An.
She rummaged through her bag, took out a bottle of medicine, and placed it in Jun An's hand, her eyes showing a hint of pity as she looked at him.
"Little guy, this is the stimulant the former Captain often used. If the workload really gets too much, you can use it. If things get really bad... I also have a full bottle of sleeping pills here with no emetic effect, you can just use... sigh."
Yalina sighed helplessly and patted his shoulder. "Although the life of the future former Captain isn't fit for a human, I hope you believe that there is still light in this world!"
After saying this bunch of nonsensical things, she shouldered her medical kit and left.
Himeko shouted after her, "Remember to tell the others, the Captain is back! The one I squeezed really is the Captain!"
But the Combat Medic only ran faster.
Jun An held the stimulant he used to take frequently when he was overwhelmed with work, feeling puzzled. "So, does this mean she believes it now?"
"I don't know. Anyway, she didn't eat her diplomas." Himeko shrugged helplessly. "Alright, Captain, your daily Memorial Arena training is done. What do you want to do next?"
Jun An used his sword intent from Edge of Taixuan to transform the Xuanyuan Sword into a bracelet for easy carrying. "Let's go check out the Hyperion first. That was the plan anyway."
Jun An remembered that the Hyperion had undergone further upgrades based on its space carrier foundation later on. He was quite curious about what the Hyperion looked like now.
"Hmm, there are too many people in the command room. Maybe we should go to the office first?" Himeko suddenly suggested. "Or the deck, as long as we turn off the surveillance..."
"Wait, can we maybe not start 'driving'?" Jun An felt a little apprehensive. "We only started dating yesterday. Does it have to be so stimulating already?"
Himeko glanced at Jun An. "Hm, you're right. Let's start with the office then."