Quite Advanced, Yet More 3 - (Honkai Star Rail, SI)

The bridge was staffed with numerous researchers, technicians and engineers. Some were usually assigned to the place, but a majority of them had been brought there as the Station's attack was still ongoing.

As we approached the lead astronomer in charge of the directing for the current affairs at the station, I heard her talk about 'ten consecutive waves of attacks' from the Anti-Matter Legion. Considering the numbers we just faced, I would say that the scope of aggression from hostile monsters had drastically increased when compared to those I dealt with in Teyvat.

By the time we got close enough, the young-looking astronomer turned around to greet us. The girl had red-pink hair, a soft shade of that combination which clashed suavely with her pale blue eyes.

"Oh, you managed to get them here, Himeko. I am glad to see that you are all well and..." She briefly paused at looking Stelle, but then appeared surprised to see me. "Oh my, I didn't expect for you to be out in a situation like this one."

I frowned. "Beg your pardon?"

She tensed up, looking away for a moment. "Oh-Oh right. I am Asta, the Lead Astronomer of the Herta Space Station. You are... John Bukharin, yes?"

There was a hint of surprise flashing across all faces, but I was actually the most perplexed by this good guess.

"That is my name, yes."

"Apologies for the abrupt surprise. All I can say is that Lady Herta found books on you on the Shield Planet which orbit your... well, your DNA was found."

I hummed. "I suppose I'll have to wait for this 'Lady Herta' to be back to get more info on this, yes?"

"Yes, but she is on their way back to the Station," Asta assured, smiling appeasingly. "Alas, the situation is quite precarious. So, I would suggest for you to join the Express for the time being and-"

Right as she was uttering those words, red holograms showing exclamation marks appeared behind her and we all turned to see that a large entity that shared some similarities with the low-tier humanoids we faced was currently trying to smack its way through the Station's shield.

"A-A Doomsday Beast? So the reports were correct..."

"We need to go back to the Express at once," Himeko muttered, taking the lead and- "John, if you could keep an eye for Stelle."

I offered a surprised look as I eyed the equally confused girl. "Sure?"

I wasn't sure why this focus on the gray-haired girl, but we were off to trek it to the 'railway'. And once we were out of the bridge, the stroll through the warzone resumed. This time, with Himeko helping us. Her drone was incredibly effective in scorching through the unlucky sobs she crossed sights with, making quick work of the humanoids trying to rush at us.

It was during this intense walk that I slowly realized what was up: the Anti-Matter Legion was putting extra focus on Stelle for some reasons. And thus I could see why I had to put some more attention on the girl. It got so much blatant that there was this kind of intense focus on her, that I was soon pulling Stelle away from random attacks from behind.

The girl was surprised at first, but kind of rolled with it and-

"Thanks dad." She would say after a while, getting an amused look from Himeko at that remark.

"Oh my. I didn't know there was already such a bond between you two."

"Is John that old?" Dan Heng inquired, and Himeko hummed thoughtfully.

"I believe so."

"I am here, you both," I pointed out, rolling my eyes. "Youths, always speaking behind old people."

"I would never..." March said, then faltering for a moment before looking away and... huffing. "D-Dad."

I beamed. "You may call me that, sugarcube~!"

Another child in my adopted family. I see nothing wrong with this, but I have a feeling I may have to give Stelle a talk about 'sharing familial love is fine' after this is all over. And it looked like it was going to be the case as we turned the corner to find the docking area.

But...

No train.

"Shouldn't the Express be there already?" March asked, but Himeko was oddly quiet as we approached.

Once we got close enough, I saw something approaching through the large window in front of us. Rapid, massive, and quite hostile. I recognized it on the spot, and yet it was Himeko that spoke up first.

"Brace for impact!"

Despite some preparation, the sudden arrival of the very beast that we had seen breaking through the shields by Asta's post almost had our footing lost upon its landing. The large boss roared viciously, and I felt its composition was by far the most baffling existence I had ever laid my eyes upon.

That's the Doomsday Beast, huh?

Its claws had a different blend of two elements each, and the 'core shield' was sustaining itself with some of those 'conceptual power' I perceived a while back. Everyone was already moving to limit the actions taken by the hands, with Stelle herself rushing to the core to slam it with her baseball bat.

For about twenty minutes, this all felt pretty steamlined: wrecking the arms and core allowed for the body to be exposed. And any attack handled a lot of damage on the beast. We managed to bring it down twice at a reasonable pace but... the Doomsday Beast was not a 'tutorial boss' by any means. Even as we brought it down twice, the beast got up for more punishment. And while Himeko and I were able to keep up just fine, I could see that Dan Heng, March and Stelle were having issues.

The beast also decided to pick up the pace itself by charging a powerful beam of energy and unleashing it on us. I was about to move and fish up the three younger members of the group when I realized that Stelle had moved to stand between March and the beam.

I felt dread at the sight but I was unable to catch up to her as it impacted on the gray-haired girl. Much to my surprise, however, a bluish shield projected out of Stelle and pushed back on the Doomsday Beast's attack, Stelle was clearly struggling, but some golden destructive energy started to channel within her before.

"AH!"

A loud scream came out barreling out of her throat, the girl's shield suddenly rushing forward and wrecking the boss upon impact. While this was indeed fortuitous, it was clear that Stelle didn't have any control over that reaction as the golden energy was now making her twitch in pain when-

A familiar man came along through the barrier and tapped his cane on Stelle's forehead, disrupting the escalation.

Short brown hair with a few white locks, glasses, a cane and- and a face I think I have seen before somewhere.

Did I met this guy before? Teyvat? No. Not Teyvat. Where?

Still, the man soon landed in front of us while I caught Stelle in my arms, the girl having gone unconscious after this experience.

"Mr. Yang!" March called, and I knew it was aimed at the newcomer.

"Apologies for the delay," The brunet remarked as the Express finally tracked on the dock. "We had a few complications and... hm."

He noticed me, and I spotted a glint of familiarity.

So, I wasn't the only one thinking we had met before, huh?

AN

I will prolly take a break from this one as I think the next chapter may contain some spoilery-topics from Quite Primitive Yet Advanced. Will see if I have to use some details or not.