Honkai Impact: Grandma Pine Sparrow is still chasing me!

Chapter 289 Daylight Will Eventually Come

After Bai Ji recovered from the shock of the "snake turning into a human," this wealthy young master Bai immediately offered what Song Que considered a very generous compensation on behalf of the Lamp: from now on, all reasonable daily expenses for Qiong Song Que and Kiana would be covered by the Lamp organization, which meant that the group would no longer have to fight the Shadow Monsters to earn money—the implication being that they were paying Qiong to stop, right? Perhaps worried that this wasn't enough sincerity, Bai Ji was also willing to provide a Bai family mansion in his personal name for the three of them to live in.

It would be a lie to say that Song Que wasn't tempted. She had just cried for half a day, all because she wanted to squeeze some money out of Deng. Although she had been doing alright these past few days and had even managed to eat her fill every day, who would complain about having too much money?

Song Que really wanted to accept the compensation. Bai Ji's offer had exceeded her expectations: not only could she stay in the big house on Amber Street for a while, but he would also cover her daily expenses? Her biggest wish was just to give Deng a few days' worth of meal tickets—that way, at least she wouldn't have to do anything and wouldn't have to worry about food and clothing for a while, right?

If we give them a little more, we can even help the little devils on Amber Street with their food... That's great, absolutely great!

"Oh, oh dear! Bai Zhu, we actually already figured it out."

Having just wiped away her tears and emerged from the shock of "rice cakes turning into people," Song Que, with a serious expression, began spouting nonsense in front of the three of them, making delicate gestures with her fingers.

"Actually, I did a divination last night, and today is very auspicious! I initially thought I had made a mistake, but it really is very auspicious, very auspicious!"

Anyone could see that the serious-looking Song Que was putting on an act for Bai Ji—perhaps Song Que thought Bai Ji was very rich and wanted to take advantage of him a few more times in the future.

Song Que suppressed her laughter. She felt that now was the best time to expand the "spoils" brought by the Qiong. If she could squeeze a few more coins out of Young Master Bai, she could live a much more comfortable life than before, even if she didn't make any business recently!

So, Qiong is truly my lucky star, my great benefactor!

"good luck……"

Qiong felt both angry and amused. How could Song Que be so easily willing to accept? Logically speaking, even if he didn't say he wouldn't bow down for five pecks of rice and refuse the sugar-coated bullets, he should at least try to negotiate a little more and ask for more compensation for his emotional distress.

"Sorry, we don't want it."

Qiong, having imagined the blonde woman's face, decisively rejected Bai Ji's proposal.

"what?"

Song Que's thigh twitched slightly, and then in the instant his composure crumbled, he regained his "masterful demeanor," which had vanished the moment he started deliberately crying and wailing—but so what? Maintaining his persona at certain times and admitting defeat and playing dead when necessary was Song Que's survival wisdom in the world, or rather, his ability to assess the situation.

Seeing that Qiong did not agree, Bai Ji immediately spoke up.

"This is just a small token of our appreciation, Master. We hope you won't refuse... Or perhaps you think this compensation is insufficient?"

Bai Ji didn't intend to accept Qiong's offer on the first try—we can talk, we can talk!

Seeing Bai Ji's seemingly room for compromise, Song Que's eyes lit up instantly. Impressive! Being capable makes all the difference. If it were her, she would definitely have stopped while she was ahead and then tried to fool a few more people...

Baiji felt that Songque was now looking at him like he was a lamb to the slaughter, and at the same time, she was frantically winking at Qiong, as if to say, "A fool wouldn't take advantage of such a bargain..."

Okay, today's going to be a big financial drain. But if we can reach an agreement, it'll all be worth it.

"Mr. Baiji, it's not a matter of whether the compensation is enough or not, it's that the Lamp Organization has a problem!"

Yes, he almost orchestrated a natural selection process using the invisible hand of Hassan, but after such an event, shouldn't the Lamp Organization have come to him to chat and consider recruiting him, instead of threatening and forcing him to be physically eliminated?

Qiong frowned slightly, still carrying a baseball bat on her shoulder, displaying a very tough demeanor.

"Have you ever thought about what the Lamp Organization would do if you discovered a way to end or control the Shadow Disaster?"

"You regard Brother Baiji as a hero?"

Kiana made a timely appearance to show her support.

"Wrong, wrong, wrong! Utterly wrong!"

Qiong cleared his throat and pointed to their shadows.

"What's that saying again? An organization's reputation often depends on its adversaries. If a single operating light can drive someone to exterminate it, I don't even want to think about what these people will do when the sun rises and people no longer need the lights!"

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward. They had been discussing how to compensate the group, but Qiong's lead led to the question: "Would the lamp be unwilling to eliminate the Shadow Disaster because it wants to protect its vested interests?"

Bai Ji couldn't deny the unpredictability of human nature. If we really reason from this perspective, could the powerful and influential Lantern Organization in Langqiu really only manage to snatch a single page of the Star Ring? Did they deliberately withhold a portion after reading it themselves?

Thinking about this, Bai Ji became a little irritated. He could understand if the lamp's abilities were lacking, but deliberately going easy on him… Considering the difficulty of this mission, would they bring back some "piece of the Star Ring" to appease him?

Just then, Kiana pressed her chest against Sora's back.

"Qiong, I think we can accept that compensation for now, as an apology from them! Besides, it's Teacher Bai, not just anyone, and didn't you want Song Que to move out a long time ago..."

"Nian Gao, you really are the smartest snake I've ever seen!"

Kiana was a little surprised. Wasn't it just to save time by not using Honkai Energy for concealment? And they didn't even turn on team voice chat... Luckily, nothing important was said, otherwise...

Kiana clenched the feather in her hand, a smile on her face that was completely different from her usual demeanor.

"Songque, I was speaking so softly, how did you hear me? What did you hear?"

"Compensation! Compensation!"

Pine Sparrow, who didn't really care whether the light was white or black, didn't participate in the group's discussion, but when Kiana mentioned "compensation," Pine Sparrow immediately realized that Kiana supported him and then immediately agreed.

"Nian Gao is right, we won't lose out by accepting it. Whether it's a bad person or a good person, shouldn't we accept it first? Just agree, okay?"

If it weren't for the height difference, Qiong had reason to believe that Song Que would have grabbed his hand and swayed it back and forth, then blinked her green eyes and coaxed him into accepting her...

"No, can't you have any shame? We're not going to starve to death."

The sparrow stopped speaking, but simply clasped its hands together and gazed pitifully at the sky.

Given all this, what else can Qiong do?

As Qiong nodded, Song Que almost jumped up excitedly: From now on, we're going to experience the life of the rich! Even though it's just reimbursement... we should be able to eat our fill of Ming Ji's dim sum, right?

Kiana chuckled to herself, but Sora couldn't figure out what the End Worm was up to—why use Cecilia's image? They could have used Big Mei or Big Duck as a disguise!

"Master White Art, do you think the Shadow Calamity will be completely ended?"

After a long silence, Bai Ji suddenly spoke up and asked a question.

Qiong pondered for a moment. It wasn't appropriate to say directly that their civilization would be destroyed by the Shadow Disaster, but it also wasn't suitable to give unfounded confidence.

"Will do."

"Oh, how do you know?"

"Because I believe that no matter how long the night is, the day will eventually come."

Although this darkness may last for a billion years.

"Will daylight eventually come...?"

Seeing Qiong's certainty, Bai Ji suddenly felt a surge of joy. If it were anyone else, he would have taken it as encouragement, but this was a genuine master! He must have some confidence in saying that, right?

Bai Ji suddenly wondered if Qiong and the snake might be representatives of God. After all, what if the one in the tower took pity on people and sent messengers to walk the earth to help them…

He doesn't expect divine help, but what if it were true? Then he would make offerings to the gods every day!

"By the way, there's something I feel I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

Qiong and Kiana exchanged a glance.

"Actually, we are aliens."

"From the third planet!"

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One more chapter, that's about it...

I'll start paying off my debts next week!