Honkai Diary: Start With Picking Up A White-Haired Treasure

Late at night.

Zeke opened his eyes.

He had mastered the ability to clear his mind of distractions before sleep, optimizing his body for rapid and restful slumber.

However, this heightened control over his physical state also made him exceptionally attuned to external stimuli, causing even minor disturbances to rouse him easily.

Like now—this audacious white-haired fluffball sneaking under the covers and clinging to his arm. How could he possibly not wake up?

Zeke looked down, meeting a pair of glistening, blinking eyes.

"Kian...a!"

"Don't make me leave; I'm feeling a bit uneasy."

His low, emphatic rebuke softened into gentle concern amidst her pleading expression. Zeke asked gently,

"...Where does it hurt?"

"I can't really describe it—it just feels uncomfortable."

Zeke sighed, turned on his side, and wrapped his arms around Kiana.

"Is it because you're remembering what happened earlier today?"

"Hmm... I feel like I've forgotten something incredibly important, about my mom, but I can't remember anything at all. Zeke, do you have any medicine for memory loss?" Kiana asked with unease and anticipation.

"You don't have amnesia..." Zeke refrained from saying this aloud, knowing it would be difficult to explain further.

Instead, he simply replied, "There's no such medicine."

"Oh... Yeah, if there was, that stinky old man probably would've given it to me ages ago." Feeling disheartened, Kiana nestled closer to Zeke within his embrace, inhaling his scent.

This closeness brought her comfort.

Zeke could only hold her, gently patting her back as he reassured her, "Once you grow up, you'll remember everything."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. You must believe in yourself and your mother; how could a mere case of amnesia break the bond between you two?"

"Hehe, Zeke, you're so quirky sometimes." For some inexplicable reason, Kiana suddenly found humor in his words and cheered up instantly.

Women's hearts, they say, are as unfathomable as the depths of the ocean, and it seemed Kiana was no exception.

Zeke rolled his eyes.

"How is it strange?"

"Why would bonds be defeated by amnesia...? That's what makes it odd!"

Kiana, nestled in Zeke's embrace, stifled a giggle.

Indeed, Zeke typically approached issues from a rational perspective. Hearing such overtly sentimental words coming from him was indeed peculiar.

However, he didn't expect Kiana to pick up on this nuance.

Then, Zeke gently pinched her plump little bottom.

"Enough chatter, time for sleep."

"Oh, okay. Goodnight, then," Kiana replied, quickly settling back into Zeke's arms with serene breathing.

Just as Zeke was about to drift off again, he rolled his eyes once more.

Behind him, another small, soft body with a faint milky scent stealthily snuggled close—it was Sin.

Realizing that whether it's one or two, the effort to manage remains the same, Zeke decided not to shoo her away and simply said:

"Get some rest."

"Mm-hmm!" Sin nodded lightly.

Although she wasn't directly embraced, just being able to cuddle close to Zeke made Sin feel the world warm and brighten around her.

The next morning, during breakfast time.

Today's meal ingredients were high-quality goods procured by worker bees at Zeke's request.

Why live frugally when resources abound? Besides, as long as it isn't wasteful, increased consumption stimulates the market economy—a valuable contribution indeed.

This thought crossed the mind of a boy gently massaging his waist and neck, with faint dark circles under his eyes and a slightly grim expression.

What he wouldn't admit was that while both ordinary and delicious food brought joy to the white-haired ball of fluff, there was still a noticeable difference in her smiles before and after eating—though not for her sake, absolutely not.

"Zeke, &*EUR×#???"

"Swallow first, then talk!"

"Zeke, what's wrong? Is your back hurting?"

"It's all your fault! You kept me tossing and turning all night!"

"But I felt really comfortable..." murmured the white-haired girl, indicating she had slept soundly.

With a scowl, Zeke pinched her chubby little cheek. Only heaven knows why Kiana's tiny feet would be pressed against his face upon waking up—what kind of sleeping posture is that?

A pervert might have gotten aroused by those soft, round, and tender little feet, perhaps even wanting to lick them. Unfortunately, Zeke was perfectly normal; all he could think was, "WTF."

Kiana blinked innocently, genuinely unaware of her sleeping habits.

"Clank!"

However, Cocolia's fork and knife clattered to the table.

She had already noticed this morning that the trio emerged from the same room.

Now, observing Zeke's exhausted appearance—almost as if overworked—and Kiana's cheeks seemingly more flushed than usual, Cocolia gasped again—wait, why did I say "again"?

"Ding-dong!"

A response from Dr. Tesla came through the communication device:

Tell that kid his little tricks won't fool me. Want to see Siegfried? Let that idiot come find them himself.

"But they exited the same room this morning. The man looks drained, while the woman appears slightly redder... Oh right, sharing the bed was a third girl, my daughter."

Cocolia replied with concern, glancing at Sin—though she'd only recently met her, Sin was now her daughter, yet it seemed like Zeke might have taken advantage of her, stirring mixed emotions within Cocolia.

"Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!"

Tesla sent back multiple spluttering emojis before responding:

"She's still just a child! Hold on! I've already informed Siegfried! Keep an eye on them; how can they be so...so shameless at such young ages?!?"

Indeed, how could they be so shameless? Even I haven't dared to try that yet—how envious... No wait! How utterly disgraceful!

Cocolia sighed and put down her communicator.

"I've notified Dr. Tesla about your engagement with Kiana."

Could it not happen sooner? Given their current level of intimacy, if they didn't get engaged now, who knows when she might end up pregnant?

Judging by Kiana's completely unfazed demeanor, this likely wasn't her first time—and probably the same for Sin as well.

Cocolia shook her head; matters of the heart were beyond her control. As for their age... having delved deep into the dark world for years, she had witnessed every imaginable disgusting act. If Zeke, Kiana, and Sin willingly consented, and their bodies could handle it, Cocolia had no significant objections.

Zeke possessed Forbidden Tech, while both girls were rare Honkai Energy adaptors, mitigating concerns about their physical wellbeing.

Cocolia tried accepting this unconventional situation.

Meanwhile, just as she finished speaking:

"Pffft!" x 2

As Kiana and Sin sipped their milk simultaneously, they turned towards each other, inadvertently spraying each other's faces with white droplets.

"Cough cough cough! What?! How come I didn't know about this? Marry Zeke? No way, absolutely not!"

Kiana jumped up, her milk-stained face filled with horror and defiance, gesturing emphatically with crossed arms.

The thought of daily life post-marriage, constantly under threat of electric shocks or rubber bullets for any misstep, terrified Kiana, turning her pale—though she failed to realize that even without marriage, her life was already much the same.

Sin wiped the milk from her face and glanced at Kiana. Upon hearing her refusal, while still angry and resentful, her murderous intent somewhat diminished.

"Consider yourself lucky."

The other children quietly continued eating... well, breakfast, not gossiping. Who needs rumors when there's such delicious food right here?

Zeke calmly took another sip of his milk and nonchalantly uttered three words:

"It's a prank."

"Oh, okay then, no big deal."

Kiana wiped the milk off her face, sat back down, and resumed enjoying her meal enthusiastically.

Sin did likewise, sighing in relief and continuing to eat as if nothing had happened.

Cocolia stared, bewildered.

Wait, is everyone just so unfazed by all this?

Am I out of touch with today's youth, unable to bridge the generational gap?

Cocolia felt utterly bewildered.

Meanwhile, Zeke glanced at Cocolia's communicator lying on the table and pulled out his own phone. As he saw the sequence of numbers displayed on the screen, a glint flashed in his eyes.

'Finally, found it.'

Zeke had already infiltrated Schicksal's database multiple times, always avoiding sensitive information due to concerns about provoking Otto.

However, Anti-Entropy's central archive remained untouched by him thus far.

It wasn't because their defense was exceptionally advanced for its time; rather, accessing a system requires first locating it!

Zeke had breached systems of various Anti-Entropy-affiliated companies like Anti-Entropy Entertainment and explored every related organization's network he could find. Yet, he couldn't pinpoint the location of the true Anti-Entropy central archive, as if it were entirely disconnected from the outside world, functioning independently.

This was unsurprising given who led Anti-Entropy's technological advancements: Tesla and Einstein.

And who is Anti-Entropy's primary adversary?

Otto Apocalypse himself.

Two geniuses of their era devised evasion protocols specifically to avoid detection by another, even more terrifying genius. Finding Anti-Entropy's core central archive through conventional means would be nothing short of miraculous.

If Zeke could effortlessly locate the database storing Anti-Entropy's crucial information, Otto would have crushed them long ago.

The purpose of having Cocolia contact Tesla or Einstein wasn't solely for Siegfried; that was merely incidental. The true objective was to catch either recipient off guard and elicit an unguarded response.

Sending one message and receiving another—regardless of any security measures in place—would provide enough opportunity for Zeke to trace the communication channel and pinpoint their exact location. Then, as long as the genuine Anti-Entropy central archive wasn't completely isolated, it would fall within his grasp.

Tesla and Einstein couldn't afford to choose complete network isolation.

Only someone lacking confidence, openly admitting fear of Otto, would abandon the convenience of networks entirely, opting for absolute safety by remaining disconnected.

These two geniuses of their time were clearly not such individuals.

And the data intercepted from the phone confirmed Zeke's assessment—they hadn't misjudged their targets.