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

"So you're in such a rush to carve out pieces from him just to experiment if you can synthesize Soulium yourself?" Tesla, holding a skewer of grilled meat in one hand and beer in the other, nudged Zeke's head with her elbow, asking bluntly.

Zeke subtly moved away.

"Indeed, Dr. Tesla. Also, please mind your appearance."

"What's wrong with my image?! Welt, tell me—what part of my makeup isn't perfect?"

Welt handed over some freshly grilled meat to Tesla and silently studied her for a moment before sighing.

"Ahh..."

"Hey! What was that sigh about?!"

"I suspect Yang simply didn't want to hurt your pride, Dr. Tesla," Einstein calmly explained from beside them.

"What do you mean, mophead?!"

"Dr. Tesla, more importantly, let's focus on the matter at hand. I never realized there were such secrets behind Soulium. No wonder its properties seem almost miraculous. Despite years of effort, even you couldn't develop a substitute material of comparable quality."

Einstein's words instantly made Tesla forget about her appearance issue as she jumped up indignantly:

"That genius hasn't even started yet! It's just Soulium; sooner or later, I'll create something even stronger. Just keep your eyes peeled!"

"Yes, yes, Dr. Tesla, your intellect is unparalleled. I have no doubt you will achieve it."

"Now that's more like it..." Tesla responded, her pigtails twitching as she unconsciously swung her skewered meat towards Einstein.

"Just how long do we have to wait?" Einstein coolly added.

Tesla's braids shot up indignantly, and with the skewer still in hand, she instinctively jerked towards Einstein.

"What did you say?!"

"Smack!"

The grilled meat flew off the iron skewer, striking Einstein squarely on the forehead before landing on her pristine white clothing, leaving a noticeable greasy stain.

Zeke and Welt were speechless.

Tesla froze, momentarily stunned. (´・ω・`)

After a brief silence, without changing her posture, Einstein calmly commanded:

"Eins, activate Destruction Mode. Target: Tesla."

"As ordered, Doctor."

The spherical blue robot hovering behind Einstein, its electronic expression instantly transformed from a goofy smile to a menacing shark-like grin.

Simultaneously, countless autonomous combat sub-units armed with guns emerged from all directions, their numerous barrels zeroing in on the now terrified Tesla.

"Wait, wait! Calm down, mophead... I mean, Einstein! It wasn't intentional! Honestly, it wasn't!"

The heartless robots paid no heed to Tesla's pleas for mercy, unleashing several laser beams.

"Zap! Zap! Zap!"

"Yeeek—"

"Ahhhh, Welt, save me!"

After enduring the initial attack with his mechanical glove's defense, Tesla scrambled behind Welt, hiding his petite frame completely under the tall man's bulk. Only his fearful eyes peeked out from the side, guiltily glancing at Einstein.

Welt glanced at Tesla clinging onto him, then looked at the stern-faced Einstein, sighed, and shook his head.

"Stop this nonsense," he said, exasperated yet resigned. He gently patted Tesla on the head before walking towards Einstein, a warm, damp towel appearing in his hand.

"Don't move, let me clean you up."

"...Okay."

Welt bent down in front of Einstein, removing the fallen grilled meat from her clothes, and tenderly wiped the grease from her forehead. His gestures flowed with natural gentleness.

Einstein tilted her head slightly and closed her eyes. As Welt gently wiped away the grime, her expression gradually softened, hinting at a faint, gentle smile.

"Burp! Burp! Burp!"

Witnessing this scene, Tesla mechanically took several gulps of beer, feeling distinctly uneasy.

"All clean now... Tesla, come apologize to Einstein right away."

"...No way. It's all fine now anyway!"

"Tesla!"

"You dare raise your voice at me?!" With one hand on her hip and the other pointing at Welt with her beer mug, Tesla looked fiercely indignant.

Welt's expression crumbled, rolling his eyes as he said softly, "I didn't raise my voice..."

"Yes, you did!"

"I genuinely didn't."

"Don't try to wriggle out of it! If I say you did, then you did!"

As she spoke, Tesla approached Welt, unceremoniously poking the First Herrscher's sturdy chest with an unbearably arrogant demeanor—yet somehow, she always managed to leave him helpless.

Feeling utterly drained, Welt was pondering how to pacify this little imp when Ein's cool voice chimed from behind them.

"Step aside, Yang. Some people won't learn unless they face consequences. It seems I must personally conduct Dr. Tesla's long-overdue lesson in etiquette."

"Oh ho! You think I'm actually scared of you?! Arise, Arahato!"

"Bam!"

The colossal robot descended from the sky, wielding a massive cannon in one hand and drawing its red giant sword with the other. Its narrow eye-like sensors glowed red, signaling combat mode activation.

The colossal robot faced off against the swarm of autonomous machines; blue-haired Einstein confronted red-haired Tesla, and tensions mounted.

At the center of it all, Welt looked utterly bewildered—Wait, why is everyone about to fight?!

By now, Zeke had quietly retreated outside the courtyard to watch alongside everyone else.

"See what happens when you mishandle matters of the heart?" Cocolia said pointedly. "Take note for your own future—think things through more carefully."

Zeke looked at her, puzzled. "What are you implying?"

"I mean, handle these girls' affairs properly or else! If anything goes wrong with them, I'll make sure you're the first one to pay!"

"I don't know what's on your mind, but rest assured, I won't let them face unnecessary danger."

"What part of that did you hear?! Seriously!" Cocolia snapped, exasperated.

Bronya patted Cocolia's back and, after soothing her down, added, "Mother Cocolia means: no indecisiveness, no harems allowed!" She crossed her arms in emphatic disapproval.

Cocolia silently gave her a thumbs-up.

Zeke watched them both, tilting his head in confusion.

"From a rational perspective, no matter how beautiful, women are merely composed of the same proteins and tissues as anyone else. Engaging with the opposite sex offers no tangible benefits beyond genetic inheritance, while the cost involves wasting significant time and energy, potentially even harming one's health—let's be honest here. Wouldn't it be better to dedicate that time to advancing scientific research rather than dealing with troublesome women? Pursuing relationships for legacy continuation is somewhat understandable. But those who can't settle for just one, do they truly value their time and life so little?"

Cocolia remained silent.

Bronya also kept quiet.

"Why are you both suddenly speechless?" Zeke furrowed his brow, puzzled.

Cocolia gazed at the moon, smiling softly. "No reason. Just amazed by your profound insights."

However, Bronya's lips curled slightly upward as she quipped, "Zeke, what a dimwit."

Zeke blinked, bewildered.