Honkai: You're telling me this difficulty is from Honkai Impact 3?!

So after all that acting, she just ended up telling the truth?

Shu narrowed his eyes slightly. His consciousness flew out again, quickly sweeping through the huge villa before returning with a hint of strangeness.

Frélle was the only human in the villa, but she hadn't been lying. Shu had indeed found her friend.

Or rather... her friends.

"Is your friend an android?" Shu asked Frélle.

A dangerous aura suddenly emanated from her. Just as Shu's expression was about to change, the dangerous aura retracted just as quickly.

Shu raised an eyebrow, looking at the astonished Frélle. He could still feel a faint hostility from her, but just by looking at her, even with his preconceived notions, he couldn't quite tell where the hostility was coming from.

"Lord Shu, how did you know?" Frélle asked, her mouth slightly agape and her eyes wide with confusion. She looked like a little girl whose thoughts had been exposed, a little surprised and a little shy.

"I saw them," Shu said bluntly. "From the moment I arrived, most of this villa has been within my line of sight."

"Wow! That's amazing!" Frélle was even more surprised. At the same time, the hostility Shu sensed faded a little.

Shu had a guess. "Are you worried that we would reject androids? Don't worry, we have a cooperative relationship with the Future City. We treat androids as equals."

When she heard "Future City," Shu clearly felt the little girl pause. The hostility began to drop rapidly, but it still hadn't completely disappeared.

It felt like he was playing a dating sim and raising affection points.

The thought came to Shu for some reason.

"Then... can I bring my friends with you?" Frélle asked, tilting her head up, her voice small and obedient.

"You can," Shu nodded.

"Phew..." Frélle let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. Shu's eyebrow twitched, and the flicker of goodwill he had just felt vanished in an instant.

She's so dramatic... Shu thought.

She only looks to be twelve or thirteen, how can she be so pretentious?

And she was good at it, her acting as polished as the white lotus villainesses in those cliché romance dramas.

If he hadn't had his preconceived notions, he might have actually been fooled.

Shu wasn't sure if his prejudice was a good thing, but at least now he could rely on his own judgment to make decisions, instead of being led by the nose.

After spending so much time with Otto and Joachim, Shu really didn't have much confidence in his own intelligence. He felt like he could be dissected and still be reporting experimental data...

Shu's expression darkened. He realized that was exactly what had happened in Otto's experiment. He had been faithfully reporting data while being studied...

Frélle carefully stood up from the floor, tested her injured leg, and found that it was really healed. She couldn't contain her shock.

Was this top-tier technology or a superpower? And... what was this MOTH he mentioned? She had never heard of it... Was a big place like the Future City really cooperating with a place like this?

Her heart full of questions, Frélle walked over to the large backpack, looked at the broken strap, and then turned to cast a helpless glance at Shu.

But she immediately remembered that Shu didn't seem to fall for that act. She immediately prepared to turn and show him her "weak but still strong" side.

Shu: "..."

Before Frélle could make a move, Shu gave the large bundle a light lift from a distance. The huge backpack floated up from the floor right in front of her.

Frélle surreptitiously swallowed again. Now she was certain that he wasn't using some high-tech gadget, but a superpower.

Wait, could it be that he doesn't fall for my act because he also has some kind of mind-reading superpower?!

Should I curse him in my mind?

Frélle cut off her self-destructive thought, turned to Shu with a grateful smile, and then raised a hand to point the way. "My friends are this way... follow me."

It was one thing for Shu to know the way, but whether she was willing to lead was another.

Shu nodded. His fingers moved in the air like a conductor's, and the large bundle floated quietly to his side, hovering about two meters off the ground.

Frélle was primarily envious of this ability. She wondered if he could make people float like that too...

Shu didn't react. He only received the feedback of her envy.

The two of them walked a long way through the magnificent palace before arriving at an elevator. After ascending for a while, the elevator moved horizontally for a distance before stopping.

The metal doors opened, and a ray of sunlight shone on Shu's face.

"Chirp—!"

The clear cry of a bird rang in Shu's ear, making him pause for a moment.

"Red Peach, don't mess around~ We have a guest." A large red bird flew over, flapping its wings, and landed on Frélle's shoulder, rubbing its fluffy head against her face.

Fresh air swirled faintly around Shu's nose as he walked out of the elevator in a daze.

All sorts of lush green plants were scattered haphazardly throughout the huge room. There were low bushes, tall giant trees, thriving ferns, and grass and moss clinging to the ground and tree roots.

Looking up, sunlight streamed down through the glass ceiling, creating patches of light on the floor.

Squirrels chased each other in the trees. A beautiful deer with a pair of priceless antlers lay by a tree, peacefully enjoying the sun.

There were also several brightly colored birds flying in the air... and a huge bear was curled up asleep in a tree hollow, with several small cubs huddled beside it.

This place was like a princess's secret base in a fairy tale, or a remnant of a lost civilization left behind in the world.

Shu's gaze finally landed on the figure in the very center of the room.

It was a dilapidated TEMPEST-class mech. It had lost its legs, and its body was covered in terrifying claw marks. The launchers at its side were torn to shreds, and its energy core was almost completely exposed, with only a thin, flimsy piece of metal serving as a patch.

It had suffered a brutal battle. Like a defeated general, it sat dejectedly on the land it had protected, becoming a part of what it had sought to defend.

"Welcome back, Miss Frélle. And welcome to you, Miss's friend and guest."