CHIH 391-400 (Patreon)

Was planning on finishing tonight, but damn, Snow Salt Holy City Arc + Sa is a pain in the ass as there is no content related to it as a summary anywhere. Oh and the usual Bronie games. Anyways, this guaranteed it to be 70 chapters instead of 100.

[Chapter 391: The Hidden Danger Discovered in Advance]

Prometheus gave a perfect score without hesitation, but unfortunately, Shigure Kira did not appear to approve of the result.

In a sense, Kyuusyou's actions were almost unrelated to those of an idol, at least not to what she knew idols did.

What Prometheus wanted was an Ambassador for Cultural Prosperity, a position that could enrich the spiritual mind of the residents of Salt Snow Holy City.

And Kyuusyou's actions, even leading everyone to learn square dancing, truly fulfilled Prometheus's requirements.

Learning dance and singing greatly stimulated everyone's interest in singing and dancing rather than simply idolizing a particular person.

In essence, they were indeed somewhat different from idols. Kyuusyou's focus was on teaching, while Shigure Kira expected worship.

Of course, everyone had not forgotten their reason for coming here to participate in the assessment.

Upon seeing the examiners giving the scores, Shigure Kira's initial frustration vanished, replaced by renewed aggression.

"It's you! That stinky woman's lapdog! I knew it was you all along!"

She had heard from Vita that the messengers had only recently arrived, bringing with them the professional selection tournament, along with Assity.

This thing that's so distinctly different from the Holy City's style was very likely the person she had encountered in Salt Snow Holy City.

The woman who had tainted Lady Cecilia with her words, actions, and attire.

"Prometheus, I didn't expect the assistant behind the Gray Serpent to be you?" Seele stepped forward, clearly recognizing her.

Unfortunately, Susannah was filled with questions.

There was no battle on the moon and Prometheus was entirely Bronie's doing.

No one knew of her existence, nor what role she played in the fight against the Honkai.

Bronie, however, did not want Prometheus's deeds to be forgotten, so she told Seele and the children of the Golden Courtyard about the Thirteen Flamechasers.

It was like a bedtime story.

Interestingly, in her description of Prometheus, Bronie made a point of commenting that the God of the Earth, being lazy, created Prometheus, who looked remarkably similar to herself and Bronya.

So, upon seeing Prometheus and noticing the obvious mechanical structure at her joints, she immediately recognized her.

“It depends on how you define the so-called 'Gray Serpent's assistants.' After all, wanting to obtain physical bodies and dragging Nagazora City into the Sea of Quanta were decisions that specific Gray Serpent made unilaterally. We were merely going with the flow and extracting the results we wanted from their plan.”

“Are you justifying your actions? What about the other Seele and Sirin?” Kyuusyou asked.

“Do not rush. This Bubble World is indeed very abnormal, but precisely because of that, we need something to sort out the current situation.”

Prometheus then began to recount her invitation from Misteln to search for aberrant Stigmata individuals in the Sea of Quanta, and then to arrange their futures and prevent some potentially disastrous events.

Initially, Prometheus refused.

After all, what was Misteln?

This woman likes to look for trouble.

Was researching the truth of the Honkai more important than exploring the truth of the world with Dr. Mei?

As a result, Dr. Mei simply pushed Prometheus out, saying there was a dangerous enemy in the Sea of Quanta and she needed to cooperate with Misteln to investigate.

Also, she was told not to disturb her date with Kevin.

This completely bewildered Prometheus.

With the Honkai gone, Dr. Mei had shed her previous cold and ruthless scientist persona, seemingly transforming into a teenage girl.

In her words, the fundamental reason for maintaining absolute rationality stemmed from emotion. Now there was no need to maintain absolute rationality, so she was simply letting loose.

The old Prometheus did not understand this.

However, Prometheus's current physical capabilities, along with the data stored over time, fully supported her understanding of emotions.

So she felt a little jealous.

These two sweet lovers!

After leaving a couple of heartfelt blessings, Prometheus grumbled and went on her business trip to the Sea of Quanta with Misteln.

Later, Dr. Mei revealed that Bronie had actually supported this trip.

This act of support is quite intriguing.

After all, whether it is Schicksal, World Serpent, or Anti-Entropy, they would all be keeping a close eye on this AI that was once the Will of Honkai and they would never let it leave easily.

And this time, it directly received Bronie's authorization; it is hard to understand what Bronie is trying to do.

She recounted her experiences and the reason for coming to the Sea of Quanta.

"So it was Sister Bronie who supported your cooperation with Hare-nee...?"

Seele was greatly shocked, never expecting so many twists and turns to be involved.

So, the Stigmata...

"Bronie? The one who tricked the entire Earth and the Honkai? I suddenly have a bad feeling."

Having been impacted by the new concept idol by Houraiji, Shigure Kira, who had not fully recovered, immediately sensed the extraordinary nature of this journey.

Would someone who received a direct blessing from some great being have a plan that was merely for fun?

“Bronie does like to joke around, but the results are usually very good. So your original goal was the Stigmata, right?”

“…That is right, but please let Misteln explain the specifics to you. I think she is the one who formulated the plan and has the most say.”

“Do not push everything onto Misteln! I do not believe you did not play a role in this!”

“Prometheus does not know anything~ But one thing is certain: Misteln and I have never had any contact with the other you. The reason you two separated is entirely due to the special rules and structure of the current Bubble World.”

“You have already explained everything… It is like we are threatening you!”

Kyuusyou could not help but complain, but Prometheus silently looked away, her face full of perfunctory attitude.

What made her so perfunctory?

It was Misteln’s damned sense of ritual.

She loved telling riddles and keeping everyone in suspense. Throughout her travels, she had done all sorts of inexplicable things, often getting herself into trouble.

So, a little revenge in this matter would not be a big deal, right?

"But why...?"

"Sirin?"

Hearing this name, Shigure Kira's lips twitched.

She finally understood why Kiana had been so hesitant to mention her other self's name.

So something happened after the Second Eruption?

"Strictly speaking, the Herrscher core being intruded severely affected Sirin. So, when Bronie filled the void in Sirin's consciousness, she used Dr. Mobius's Stigmata technology to some extent. In a sense, defining her as a different Stigmata is not wrong."

Having received Prometheus's answer, following Kyuusyou's gaze toward the tower, Seele closed her eyes again.

She still could not sense the presence of her other self.

After this abrupt disconnection, loneliness and solitude lingered in Seele's heart, refusing to dissipate. She had never imagined what it would feel like for her other self to suddenly leave.

Growing up alongside her since childhood, always protecting her, encouraging her, and giving her courage.

Helping her understand what she truly wanted.

Therefore, when her other self disappeared, Seele realized just how important she was to her.

No matter what, she had to find Seele!

“Special rules....the Sage has contacted her, the structure of the Bubble World is special? Sister Bronie said that some Bubble Worlds are structured like sandwiches, while others are like Möbius strips, so the possibility of multiple worlds existing within a single Bubble World exists… In other words—”

“The afterlife… Indeed, the Tower is the greatest enemy…”

Kyuusyou continued Seele's words, and Shigure Kira was even more shocked by Kyuusyou's judgment.

Yes, Kyuusyou had mentioned this a long time ago, and this morning, she had even expressed her various conjectures.

“Then what is the price?” Shigure Kira asked.

At this moment, Vita's expression also turned grim.

"The price?"

Prometheus was completely taken aback; the  clueless Shigure Kira had actually considered this.

"Yes, Kyuusyou told me this morning that if the Sage of the Tower truly possesses the ability to bring people into the afterlife, then what is the price? Why would she protect everyone? How does this rule operate, and how does it profit?"

"Your analysis has truly opened my eyes, showing me different perspectives. As you described, the special rules of each Bubble World exist solely to maintain its own existence. Once a wish is fulfilled, the price is quietly paid—something neither Misteln nor I considered."

As the saying goes, even the wisest can make a mistake. Prometheus, in her company with Misteln, had become complacent.

Such a simple and obvious thing, yet after becoming the Sage of the Tower through a Saintly Stigmata, it all became so natural.

Her will, her wishes, the responsibilities she wanted to bear, and her desire for everyone to have a better life.

That might be one reason.

But what about before that?

Do the Sages of the Tower exist?

Should the afterlife also exist?

After figuring this out, Prometheus sensed something extremely insidious existing within this Bubble World, something neither she nor anyone else had noticed.

Except for Kyuusyou.

“Let us burn the afterlife to ashes!”

Seeing Kyuusyou’s unusual excitement, Prometheus began to doubt her own judgment again.

“Speaking of which, I once heard Sister Bronie say that the Sea of Quanta is the easiest place for ghosts to appear. Through memory-related data and the Ether, a data entity almost identical to the original body is born—that is something like a ghost.”

Seele spoke, clearly connecting many things.

Just from the word “cost,” one can analyze many problems.

“So, from the perspective of that God of the Earth, the fundamental substance that forms ghosts is the Ether in the Sea of Quanta?”

Prometheus asked.

“That is right! Sister Bronie said that the Memokeepers of the Garden of Recollection specialize in salvaging Ether data from destroyed worlds, preserving and reproducing it. The Remembrance will use these memories as blueprints to bring about rebirth when the world ends.”

“That is truly an incredible discovery. So, Seele, what you really want to ask about is the origin of this Ether?”

Prometheus also looked at Seele with newfound respect. Such a young girl, yet she possessed knowledge beyond the reach of ordinary people and could even apply it flexibly in missions.

This was clearly an extraordinary talent.

“There must be an unknown disordered Ether in the Sea of Quanta, transforming this disorder into order that requires the residents of Salt Snow Holy City! And the one who benefits from this is naturally the Sage of the Tower…”

“No, the Sage of the Tower did not gain any benefit, except for certain privileges within the Tower. I can guarantee that!”

Prometheus immediately analyzed this point as well. When Seele stated her deduction, she immediately shared her observations.

Based on her assessment, there might not be enough time for guessing games now; the immediate priority should be resolving the issues of the Tower Sage and the special rules of this Bubble World.

Prometheus had initially thought this was just a simple plan to rescue an alien Stigmata, along with a plan to liberate Seele and Sirin.

But now, a much larger and more familiar malice shrouded this Bubble World.

“So where did the energy go?”

Vita, listening from the side, was speechless.

She had not expected their knowledge to be so extensive; they had only just begun their search, and they had already analyzed so many problems in just one day.

Was the time enough?

Also, where had Kiana gone?

“That is also a problem I just figured out. Where did the energy go? This matter has become a higher priority than inviting Miss Seele to the Tower, so everyone should prepare for battle. MCV should also begin producing equipment related to Sea of Quanta.”

“Then, should we blow up the Tower?”

Kyuusyou's question also surprised Prometheus.

She immediately understood Kyuusyou's words.

Since the Tower was the opponent's means of gathering energy, destroying it would fundamentally prevent them from achieving their goal.

"The Tower is involved in too many matters concerning Salt Snow Holy City. Without the Tower, they will lose their light and embark on a path of slow death. I will consider trying other methods to resolve this, but before that, I request that Miss Seele come to the Tower to meet the Tower Sage. Only after meeting her will you understand what preparations we have been making."

=====================================================

[Chapter 392: Similar Yet Different]

When Prometheus realized the existence of an invisible enemy in this world, she recalled how the previous civilization had just come into contact with the Honkai.

The disasters brought by the Honkai were also insidious and difficult to track.

Moreover, they were linked to certain phenomena or even rules.

Once she realized this, Misteln's so-called sense of ritual no longer mattered; everything was based on efficiency.

When Prometheus suggested taking Seele to the tower to contact the Sage of the High Tower, Seele didn't refuse.

Because she could also sense Prometheus's urgency and the unusual nature of this world.

And what did Kyuusyou notice about all this?

Seele had some different thoughts. She initially wanted to refuse Prometheus's invitation, but in the end, she agreed.

At least she still had many companions around her.

There was Susannah, Kyuusyou, and Vita, right?

As for Kiana?

Perhaps Kiana, as the Herrscher of the Void, had discovered some anomaly in the structure of this Bubble World and went to investigate alone.

Kiana had handled many Honkai disasters and was highly experienced. Her sudden departure must have had a deeper reason, right?

However, from the moment Kiana woke up until Kyuusyou successfully spread square dancing in Salt Snow Holy City, Kiana had been chasing a figure.

That familiar blond figure.

Logically, that person should already be dead.

But what if he had cooperated with Bronie and didn't experience the ending Bronie predicted?

Even with only a one-in-a-thousand chance, Kiana wouldn't let that person go.

"Don't run!"

"I won't run if you don't chase me!"

"I won't chase you if you don't run!"

Logically, Kiana, as the Herrscher of the Void, should have been extremely powerful in both chasing and escaping. However, her opponent clearly knew Kiana's capabilities and the tricks used during the escape only made Kiana stomp her feet in anger.

"So, one of us has to bleed, right? Or are you planning to disregard the lives of everyone in this world?"

The best way to deal with Kaslana's tactics is through righteousness or by using the lives of others.

Clearly, Kiana fell for that.

"It really was you, Otto! What on earth did you do to the people you seduced in this world?!"

Their chase finally ended. Otto, with his long blond hair, stopped slightly exhausted and patted his knees to catch his breath before answering.

"Before I answer your question, answer mine first: Has Kallen been resurrected?"

"You don't know what you did… I see, you're not him…"

Kiana's voice betrayed disappointment after realizing this.

The disappointment stemmed from missing the opportunity to beat up the other person herself.

No, not necessarily.

Maybe the other person was just acting.

"Kallen Kaslana was appointed an S-rank Valkyrie by Professor Theresa, tasked with promoting Honkai and educating the public about Schicksal's history. After her resurrection, she learned of your actions and has been trying to atone for your sins, although none of us believe she's done anything wrong."

"Yes, Kallen is that kind of person. So, to your question, my answer is that I've never done anything wrong in this world. On the contrary, I've been trying to save it. Now it's my turn to ask a question."

A question and an answer.

Both sides were seeing who could extract more information.

This relatively fair dialogue relied entirely on their abilities.

Kiana glanced at a pixelated bracelet in Otto's hand, immediately recognizing it as Bronie's technology.

"Ask away."

"Kallen's resurrection, he did it himself, right?"

"Bronie said he did it himself."

Seeing Otto's relieved smile, Kiana felt incredibly awkward.

The Otto before her was indeed the Otto she remembered, but he was clearly different from the Otto she knew who had died.

Just in terms of demeanor, there was a slight resemblance to that guy who made her want to punch him—a subtle difference in how he behaved.

Of course, only a tiny bit.

"So, Otto, it's my turn to ask questions now, right?"

"Have you decided what you want to ask?"

Otto didn't seem to be planning to back out.

"What exactly is your current situation?"

"Are you asking about my physical condition? Or do you think I'm some kind of backup plan left behind by the Otto over there to be resurrected? Unfortunately, my answer might disappoint you and even anger you. After all, I am a quantum shadow of the Otto over there who, by chance, gained a physical body, possessing his memories, emotions, and will. But I can assure you, I am completely not him."

Kiana racked her brain trying to understand Otto's words, finally recalling what her sister Bronie had taught her before.

After death, consciousness and emotions can resonate with the Sea of Quanta, eventually forming a shadow-like entity within it.

But what follows will shape her into a completely different person.

Similar yet different.

"I'll reserve my answer for now. Do you have any questions?"

Any questions?

Otto thought for a moment. His only concern was Kallen. Now that Kallen had a new future, a story that shouldn't have ended had a chance to continue.

Hearing this news, Otto was already very satisfied.

So Otto finally smiled and replied, "Nothing else. I told you to carefully consider the questions you want to ask. It seems your emotions have clouded your judgment. But I'll still give you a hint."

Upon hearing Otto say there were no questions, Kiana became incredibly anxious and even started to activate her Honkai energy to prepare to attack.

Seeing the situation was getting out of hand, Otto quickly offered some information that might interest Kiana.

Seeing Kiana listening attentively, Otto knew that this child was still as innocent as before.

Of course, there was also a considerable sense of growth in her.

Otto, having spent considerable time with Kiana during her school years as Medea, understood her better than anyone. Kiana also possessed traits similar to Kallen's.

This was good and something Otto appreciated.

“Countless Bubble Worlds exist within the Sea of Quanta, but among those within the solar system, especially those near Earth, civilizations prematurely self-destruct for various reasons. Salt Snow Holy City will face the same fate.”

“What did you say!?”

“There is something like the Cocoon of Finality in the Sea of Quanta, constantly spreading Honkai-like disasters within various Bubble Worlds and causing them to be harvested as energy. I am not the enemy, but rather someone seeking revenge. After all, my birth is closely linked to it. So, Miss Kiana, would you be willing to let me go?”

She hadn't expected such a being to exist in the Sea of Quanta.

Bronie had said that the Sea of Quanta was like the universe. It was full of infinite possibilities and that anything that happened wouldn't be surprising.

Even so, Kiana still found this news unbelievable.

An existence similar to the Cocoon of Finality?

Constantly destroying civilizations within Bubble Worlds and then harvesting them as some kind of energy for its own use?

This was the worst possible scenario. Everyone within a Bubble World was a living, breathing being.

“I’ll be watching you! And Otto, were you impersonating Medea?”

Otto had assumed Bronie would keep this a secret.

And Otto had never intended to reveal it.

So when Kiana asked this question, Otto couldn’t hide his surprise.

This unexpected question caught Otto completely off guard.

Seeing Otto’s expression, Kiana smiled with satisfaction.

"What? You actually made that expression? Are you feeling guilty for deceiving me? Or ashamed of cross-dressing? Or perhaps do you even have a heart for such things?"

The kind of beauty that Medea believed in must exist, and Otto believed in it too. But his actions made it impossible to see any genuine belief in the beauty and greatness of humanity.

Only madness.

No, the Otto before her was different. Kaslana's intuition constantly reminded Kiana that the Otto before her was no longer the Otto from her world.

"I admit that after Kallen's death, the emptiness within me eroded my soul, driving me to madness. But as you can see, Kallen has been resurrected."

Yes, Kallen had been resurrected.

Otto traded his life for the result he wanted.

Leaving behind a mess for everyone.

Perhaps it was as he said; the real Otto was dead. The one before her now was the Avenger, inheriting Otto's memories and residing in the Sea of Quanta.

"You'd better not show up in front of me too often, or I might just punch you."

Hearing Kiana say this, Otto happily opened his arms.

"Of course, I won't do anything irrational before I've achieved my revenge. I understand you hate me, but I think we'll still have plenty of opportunities to cooperate. After all, isn't our common goal the same—to save this world?"

Right?

Kiana had originally come here to find someone.

Forget it. She couldn't be bothered to talk to him about this. Otherwise, revealing her weakness would only give him a chance to manipulate her again.

Otto's words were deceitful. He seemed to be telling the truth now, but he hadn't stated many things directly. Perhaps there was some important information hidden within.

Remaining vigilant, Kiana stayed silent and turned to leave.

Otto also felt hungry at this moment. Kiana had indeed grown quite a bit. Was this thanks to him or to Bronie?

He didn't know.

But that Herrscher of Flamescion cloak was really cool…

Kiana turned around to find Seele and the others to meet up.

However, after leaving a message to go to the tower, Seele didn't wait for Kiana and went straight ahead.

....

For the residents of Salt Snow City, the tower was a very sacred place, and for some reason, it was not to be approached lightly.

Therefore, going to the tower was quite a novelty for Vita.

"To be honest, I think these guys are pretty strange. From a distance, I thought they were all legs from the neck down."

Kyuusyou pointed to the divine messengers cleaning up the quantum shadows not far away. To be honest, the appearance of these divine messengers was indeed a bit strange, with an inexplicable sense of distortion.

Art is all about subjective feelings, and Kyuusyou's comment made Prometheus take a slightly longer look at the divine messengers' figures.

"The unusual feeling you're referring to must be something inherent to the Sage of the High Tower, a being of a different kind of Stigmata. I must say, your perception is incredibly sharp. Do you usually work in the arts?"

"I want to become a game producer like Bronie!"

This was a wish that had always been in Kyuusyou's heart.

Prometheus nodded after hearing this.

"The games made by Haxxor Bunny are indeed full of artistry, whether it's the music, the plot, or even the game rules themselves."

"Robots can understand art?" Shigure Kira found it a bit unbelievable.

"Bronie mentioned it. There's a mechanical genius in the Genius Society of the universe. He's a monarch, a gentleman, very emotional, and he can even write poetry!"

Seele explained, which caught Prometheus's attention.

"I never imagined that intellitrons in the greater universe could develop to this extent. It seems I'll need to actively explore their development process in the future. However, now is not the time to discuss these things. The Sage of the High Tower believes she has a way to solve the current Bubble World problem. Therefore, what you will face next is a test set up by the Sage of the High Tower."

"Is now the time to do these things? Haven't you exchanged the latest information with the Sage of the High Tower." Shigure Kira couldn't help but complain.

Why so many roundabout ways to meet such an important figure? Did the Sage of the High Tower think he had everything under control?

"Oh, isn't this quite interesting? When the Great Demon King deals with heroes, he always sends his Four Heavenly Kings to become experience points for the heroes. So, since the Sage of the High Tower wants to solidify his identity as the Great Demon King, can't we just go all out when we make our move?"

Kyuusyou's words were naturally meant for the Sage of the High Tower's ears.

If they're going to play, they'll play to the end. Don't say they can't afford to play if they lose.

After all, once victorious, she would definitely use those Valkyrie shoes to give that Sage of the High Tower a good kick in the butt.

Whether the threat actually worked or not, Misteln descended from the tower and stood before the group.

"All right, let's simplify the Sage of the High Tower's assessment process. I will prepare three types of enemies for you. Please make sure to demonstrate your abilities well so that the Sage of the High Tower can better understand you."

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[Chapter 393: Dual-Line Operation, Blitzkrieg against Phosphorus]

"Let's simplify the essence of this matter. Who still believes in the afterlife?"

Having left Kiana, Otto finally had the opportunity to cause trouble.

Vita had been in contact with him all along. Otto naturally knew that there was something wrong with Kyuusyou, and through Vita, information about Kyuusyou had indeed reached Otto's ears.

He instantly understood what this Sa relied on to draw energy.

Wishes seem ethereal and intangible, but in this Sea of Quanta full of infinite possibilities, nothing is impossible.

Otto walked in the plaza.

As the recently arrived blond doctor in Salt Snow Holy City, Otto was quite famous there. When he opened his arms and spoke in the square, everyone was curious to see what he was going to do.

But he began by raising a topic so disrespectful to everyone's beliefs.

"Hey! Doctor Rakshasa! What do you mean by this!? Aren't you worried about not being able to reach the afterlife after death?"

"Then do you want to go?"

As he spoke, Otto suddenly produced a longsword from nowhere, the tip pointing directly at a man whose name he did not know.

"Doctor Rakshasa, aren't you afraid of the Sage's wrath?"

"The divine messenger is coming soon and will send you to the afterlife!"

"Get out of Salt Snow Holy City! Our pure land of the afterlife cannot accommodate you!"

Otto knew that the masses were blind in every world.

Ignorant and blind, they believed only what they wanted to believe, considering the truth only when real problems arose in their own lives.

Therefore, Otto's answer was...

With a single stroke, he cleaved the so-called divine messenger in two.

"Have you all considered this? Everything has a price. Leaving aside whether an afterlife truly exists, what benefit would the Sage of the High Tower gain from doing this?"

Placing a god in the position of a mortal is a kind of linguistic trap.

But the root of this trap is actually the Sage of the High Tower herself.

After all, she frequently appears before you, often interfering in the lives of everyone in Salt Snow Holy City. Recently, the divine messenger has brought many things that no one can understand.

"I hope you can all understand what the Sage can gain from our deaths. Perhaps the so-called afterlife is not a paradise, but endless labor, serving the Sage tirelessly day and night."

"Work after death?"

Some believed it.

Otto's goal was achieved.

The news quickly spread. The sight of the puppet divine messenger being cleaved in two by Otto's sword chilled countless people to the bone.

What would happen if that sword struck their own heads?

No one truly wanted to die so soon, so panic quickly spread. People's hopes wavered, and the foundation of Sa's power in this world was disrupted.

Originally, this was just an insignificant Bubble World among countless others for Sa. However, having never failed before, how could Sa not react when she sensed that the Bubble World's structure had been tampered with?

Unnoticed, Sa began to search for her spies within the Bubble World of Salt Snow Holy City.

She then discovered that there were far too many things in Salt Snow Holy City that did not belong to this Bubble World.

But when Sa's gaze fell upon this Bubble World...

Far away on the edge of the solar system, in the city called Phosphorus, the light on Kosma's lamp, which always carried something resembling a power battery from Apex Legends, suddenly lit up.

"The time has come!"

Kosma, Ellie, and Fu Hua's trio, posing as travelers, had arrived in Phosphorus. They told the city's administrators that their reason for being there was to search for their missing companion.

With the help of the various Vitas, they gradually learned about the situation in Phosphorus.

However, since arriving in Phosphorus, Kosma had been focused on a strange device Bronie had given him.

It was said that once they arrived in Phosphorus, the device would activate immediately if its indicator light lit up.

Unfortunately, everyone waited a whole day. Even though Ellie had already built relationships with the seven Vitas, the device showed no signs of activity.

Originally, Kosma thought something had gone wrong and was prepared to temporarily set the mission aside to investigate Phosphorus on his own.

But he had not expected the device to take so long to activate.

Activation meant finding Griseo.

Finding Griseo meant the mission was nearing its final battle.

But Kosma felt as though he was practically sightseeing; where was the final battle or the enemy?

No, perhaps it was related to the Honkai Beasts that had recently appeared in Phosphorus?

"Now that it can be activated, why are you hesitating, Kosma?" Fu Hua asked while looking at him.

Kosma answered honestly.

"I'm worried this thing might harm Phosphorus. It looks like a bomb. I don't know Bronie, so..."

Although he had synchronized his memories from the sim in the Elysian Realm, Kosma did not have much trust in Bronie.

Ellie replied helplessly, "There's nothing we can do about it. Bronie has such a twisted sense of humor. Maybe she knew about Phosphorus from the beginning and wanted to play a joke on everyone. But Bronie respects life very much, so there's no need to worry about her harming innocent people."

Hearing Ellie's words, Kosma did not hesitate any longer.

The moment the device was activated, a huge canopy enveloped the entire Phosphorus. The phenomenon lasted only a moment before everything returned to normal.

Kosma breathed a sigh of relief, but many questions remained.

What exactly happened?

"Haxxor's Game Realm? Is this some kind of new game?"

A panel appeared in front of Ellie, like a character interface in a game. It appeared abruptly and mapped the entirety of Phosphorus.

"This... is a bit like the virtual combat system Bronie added in the Elysian Realm? A method of converting deadly battles into controlled environments?"

Hu Hua's memory had always been excellent. After synchronizing with her sim, she declared she would no longer forget anything.

Everything related to Bronie was memorized.

So that Su and Kevin would not make her repeatedly play Haxxor's games.

"Oh! I suddenly remember! Bronie's Genesis System is related to this! Griseo's location is marked on the map. Let's move!"

The map covered all of Phosphorus. Even underground areas and regions connected to the Sea of Quanta were marked.

"Strange. Why isn't the museum's location shown underground in Phosphorus?"

Fu Hua carefully examined the underground layout, surprised that even basements were visible.

Some residents' homes had basements, but Vita's museum, which should have been underground, showed no trace.

Why did Fu Hua care about Vita's museum?

Mainly because she saw a familiar face inside.

A familiar face who had died at her hands.

"The ship's wreckage is scattered everywhere. The former engine components and the bridge have been eroded by the Sea of Quanta, half remaining in the original world and half submerged within it. The surrounding space is extremely unstable." Kosma noticed the anomaly.

This could only mean that Phosphorus beneath their feet might not be a complete planet.

The capability of the one Bronie marked as an enemy was self-evident.

Kosma's palms began to sweat.

The enemy he was about to face might exceed his expectations.

"Elysia, aren't you worried?" Elysia glanced at Kosma. In response, she simply smiled and stroked the ring on her hand.

"I believe in Bronie. She is capable of creating miracles. Now that she has turned this world into a game for us, she will guide us to a way to clear it. And look here..."

Elysia pointed at the map. A red icon named "Moriarty" appeared active within Phosphorus.

Perhaps the activity of the Honkai Beasts had alerted the administrators, the Little Vitas, to the seriousness of the situation. They were using their abilities to resolve the crisis.

Some Little Vitas appeared near Moriarty.

"Moriarty actually came out? What's going on? Could there be a problem with the Phosphorus museum? The key question is, where exactly is the museum?" Fu Hua manipulated the map, shrinking it until she noticed an option labeled Sea of Quanta.

Observation across dimensions?

What exactly had Bronie created?

"Found it! The museum... it's actually a modified spaceship!?"

Only now did Fu Hua see the full structure.

Although many parts were damaged, Vill-V's technology remained reliable. Half of the main structure had sunk into the Sea of Quanta, while the other half remained between Phosphorus and it.

It was located in the forbidden zone mentioned by the little Vita.

Griseo's icon was marked there. Clearly, entering the forbidden zone was necessary to find her.

"There is even teleportation technology. The enemy behind this must be formidable."

"Now that we have a target, let's move forward. It's just unfortunate that our actions might upset Little Vita... some of them have already been marked as enemies by Bronie. What criteria did she use?" Ellie questioned.

"Hate? Doubt? Emotions can be sensed, but Bronie achieving this with such a small device is remarkable. Should she be considered part of the Genius Society?" Fu Hua held a high opinion of Bronie.

"Compared to uncovering universal truths, Bronie prefers having fun and making others smile. If she chooses not to join, that's fine. Besides, Nous has not acknowledged her yet. She simply works harder than most." Ellie understood Bronie's level well.

"Time is critical. We need to move faster." Kosma's urgency was evident.

"While moving forward, we should also clear the Honkai Beasts," Ellie said.

Ellie drew her bow and fired, easily eliminating a Honkai Beast.

However, beyond the Honkai Beasts, a more unusual creature lurked within Phosphorus.

It resembled a crystalline organism. After taking sufficient damage, it shattered and transformed into another form.

For Ellie and Fu Hua, however, it posed little challenge.

Fu Hua destroyed it in just a few strikes.

Sin simply used her staff as a blunt weapon.

Combat required technique.

"Sister Ellie, Sister Fu Hua, and Brother Kosma, what are you doing? That's a restricted area! You cannot go there!" Small Vita arrived as they approached.

Seeing their intention, she quickly stopped them.

"Righteous-chan, based on our investigation, this is the most likely place to find our companion."

"But it's extremely dangerous. If we act recklessly, we could get lost and never return. More importantly, can you even approach the restricted area?" Righteous Vita tried to stop them.

"I do not want conflict. We are certain our companion is inside the forbidden zone. Even if it means risking our lives, we will not give up." Kosma straightened his expression.

"Righteous, return and inform the others. Tell them we chose to enter despite the danger. Once we find our companion, we will also help resolve the Honkai issue, as we specialize in this."

Fu Hua's tone was firm.

It was clear they valued their companion deeply.

"Then please be careful.  Mindful sensed something was about to happen, which is why he sent me here. I did not expect it to involve the forbidden zone..." Vita said.

Honkai Beasts, outsiders, and Phosphorus's past had all converged in a single day. As an agent, Righteous Vita struggled to determine whether these events were connected.

But after spending a day together, she did not believe Ellie was a bad person.

She only felt that if Ellie and the others entered the forbidden zone, Phosphorus's future would change drastically.

She did not know whether that change would be good or bad.

=================================================

[Chapter 394: Chaos Abounds]Inside the tower of the Salt Snow Holy City,layer upon layer of the tower was arranged like a dungeon.There were traps, monsters, and even the stigmata soldiers prepared by Misteln.The fundamental purpose of these things was to allow Seele to exhibit the normal state befitting a Stigmata Awakener.The reason why heterogeneous Stigmata are called heterogeneous Stigmata lies primarily in their significant difference in form from the original Stigmata.What the Sage of the High Tower hoped for was to transform herself into a corresponding normal state.Unfortunately, the Sage of the High Tower was rather stubborn. She insisted on observing Seele's situation in her own way and failed to realize that the world was facing an extremely serious crisis.Of course, from the Sage of the High Tower's perspective, she was being rejected by the rules of this Bubble World. The afterlife and the Salt Snow Holy City worlds were showing signs of merging.If this problem wasn't resolved, the Sage of the High Tower wouldn't be able to handle other issues. Resolving the Bubble World rule issue was the top priority in her mind.Holding a slender dagger, she precisely and stylishly dispatched a Quantum Shadow, then looked at Seele, who was wielding a scythe and dancing among the monsters."When will this end? Should we just blow up the tower? MCV has already completed the air command post. Let's load the Black Hawk fighters with high-yield bombs and blast that high-ranking Sage of the High Tower down!"Kyuusyou was getting impatient. Wave after wave of monsters appeared, and they were the same old ones. Even in a grind game, you don't have to stand still and just click on monsters to fight.“Hold on a little longer… I think I just sensed the presence of 'Seele".”“So the tower really is connected to the "afterlife"?” Kyuusyou pretended to think for a moment, her words directly reminding Seele.“The afterlife? Yes! The Sage of the High Tower rarely leaves the tower. If it weren't related to the afterlife, I can't think of any reason why she wouldn't leave. But what does this mean…?”“Seele, here.” Kyuusyou felt in her coat pocket, then took out a piece of Light Salt and tossed it to Seele.“This is…?”“Salt can exorcise evil and soothe spirits. This is a common belief among the inhabitants of this Bubble World, and it's closely related to the rules of this world. Try using this to call upon the other Seele.”“How did you come up with this!?”Seele heard Kyuusyou's analysis, and her intuition told her that Kyuusyou was right. However, it was hard to imagine that the usually unreliable Kyuusyou could give such constructive advice at a crucial moment.“After all, I am the savior~”This answer left Seele somewhat speechless.This was indeed a worthwhile opportunity, so Kyuusyou became the main force in the battle, bearing the pressure from the monsters on the front lines. Seele turned around and, under Susannah's cover, began trying to find her other self through the Light Salt.When she first entered the city, she had also searched for and touched the Light Salt. The instant she touched it, she felt as if she had touched someone's hand.Perhaps the answer had been before her from the beginning, but she had mistaken it for an illusion.She closed her eyes and calmed her mind.Seele held the Light Salt and began to call out to her other self.'Seele…'[Seele!] Black Seele immediately responded.Their hearts were connected again, and Seele no longer felt alone."Please, my other self!""Although I don't know what happened, I will definitely go on a killing spree now! Hahahaha!"A hearty laugh escaped Seele's lips. At this moment, Seele's scythe had disappeared, replaced by bright red claws.Undoubtedly, this other Seele's fighting style was far too wild compared to the original Seele."Ah...ah?" Susannah had never seen anything like it.The usual Seele was always so gentle and adorable."What's wrong? Did you wet your pants?""No, no, I just think it's amazing!""Hmph, even if you praise me, I won't be happy."Although she said that, Black Seele's lips were clearly curled into a smile.With Black Seele's arrival, the entire team's combat power seemed to have increased significantly, and their speed in clearing the Quantum Shadows was much faster.In no time at all, the monsters summoned by Misteln were wiped out, and Kiana arrived at that very moment."Sorry everyone, I'm late. Did I miss something? Why does the MCV show the bomb is ready to destroy the entire Salt Snow Holy City at any moment?""After all, we need sufficient power to maintain our voice. The Sage of the High Tower is busy preparing for her own actions. We can't just do nothing, can we?"Kyuusyou's answer was utterly confident, and Kiana immediately understood that everything was arranged by Kyuusyou.Such foresight, meticulous planning, and an attitude that seemed to thrive on chaos…It reminds me of Sis Bronie."Thank you for everything, Kyuusyou. Your idea is indeed flawless. We urgently need external support to deal with potential crises. The Sage of the High Tower's matter is no longer so important. Misteln and Prometheus cannot stop us."With that, Kiana snapped her fingers, and a portal heading towards the top of the tower suddenly appeared.As for Misteln and Prometheus wanting to stop her, that was definitely impossible.The Sage of the High Tower was utterly astonished. Kiana possessed such an outrageous ability."The pointless farce is over, Demon King of the Tower. You have no idea how serious this is. Do you remember what Prometheus said?"Stepping out of the portal, Kyuusyou faced the Sage of the High Tower and began to question her.The Sage of the High Tower was silent for a moment, then asked, "All the residents at the bottom of the tower have come. Was this your preparation?"Seele looked back at the bottom of the tower.A dense crowd had gathered in the plaza in front of the tower. She had no idea what was happening."Kiana? Did you do this?""No, it was Otto...""Eh!?"Susannah and Seele were both extremely surprised.Wasn't that former Overseer of Schicksal already dead?"I’ve seen Lady Durandal’s battle records. Bronie became a god around that time, right? Along with Overseer Otto’s sacrifice, that one in Salt Snow City…”“It’s an avatar from the Sea of Quanta, born there before Otto’s death. If I’d known he would do something like this, I should have captured him and put him in the MCV!”Kiana couldn’t stand the idea of innocent civilians being dragged into major events.Clearly, Otto must have done something to cause the residents of Salt Snow City to harbor hostility towards the Sage of the High Tower.“From being revered by thousands to being despised by thousands? Then, Sage of the High Tower, has your power—no, the constraints you face—changed?” Kyuusyou asked.“You…”“Judging from your expression, it seems you’ve succeeded!” Kyuusyou smiled smugly, as if she had orchestrated everything.Kiana, however, was filled with questions, completely bewildered by what had happened."I must admit, your understanding of the Sage of the High Tower's powers is indeed more comprehensive than mine. But have you considered that when Seele reached the top, her powers were equal to mine Unfortunately, this world cannot accommodate two Sages of the High Tower; only one of us can exist. Furthermore, we must share the responsibility for the corruption of the Sage of the High Tower's powers."Once, no sages existed in this world, only legends.As life within this Bubble World grew increasingly harsh, people's faith wavered.The Sage of the High Tower before them was actually a recently born aberrant Stigmata. Upon arriving in this world and witnessing such prayers, she took responding to these prayers as her purpose.However, as an aberrant Stigmata, she could not fully control the Sage of the High Tower's powers and discovered that the balance between the two worlds within this Bubble World was gradually being disrupted.Perhaps one day, the world of the living would be swallowed by the world of the dead, and then the entire world would be destroyed.Therefore, the current Sage of the High Tower needed a new opportunity, a chance to save the world and find balance.If Seele were a Sage of the High Tower, she would certainly have a chance to find that balance.Therefore, the Sage of the High Tower shared a portion of her power with Seele, preparing to guide her step by step in using her power, and then channel her own power to realize her wish to save the world."This is not power, but metaphysical rules, or rather, constraints. It seems the tower truly is something that should be destroyed, actually capturing innocent bystanders to work for it. Well then, let's fight! It's either you die, or we die, or the entire world is dragged down with us! Since you've prepared yourself to be the Riddler, then you're probably also prepared to be misunderstood and unable to achieve the ending you desire."Faced with Kyuusyou's words, the Sage of the High Tower did not react excessively. Instead, she stood at a higher position in the plaza at the top of the tower and summoned her divine messengers.It is said that the divine messengers, one black and one white, represent the power of life and death, possessing the ability to guide the souls of the dead to the afterlife.In dealing with the Quantum Shadows, the divine messengers performed quite well."Must we fight?"Seele reluctantly drew her scythe.To be honest, she didn't want to do this either. From the few words she'd heard earlier, Seele had realized that the Sage of the High Tower might not have existed in this world originally.Seele didn't have time to ponder how Kyuusyou had discovered this. She believed that the Sage of the High Tower, who had willingly taken on this responsibility, couldn't be a bad person.Seele also sensed that after her faith turned to doubt, her power changed. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it felt like something terrible might happen if she left the tower."You can't escape! Misteln and Prometheus, I'm entrusting the rest to you."The battle was about to begin.But Prometheus had little desire to fight."Shaking the very foundations of the Bubble World's faith and causing changes in the tower's rules—I must say, your actions in resolving the Bubble World's crisis were truly precise and elegant. However, the transfer of authority of the Sage of the High Tower doesn't require our intervention. Therefore, to face potentially even worse enemies in the future, could we avoid further conflict?""Is this a plea for mercy?"Upon hearing Prometheus's words, Kyuusyou didn't rush into battle. Kiana, who had just gathered her power, immediately withdrew it.Even worse enemies?Had Prometheus discovered something?Like Otto's?"If that's how you want to interpret it, that's fine too. I'll assume you're not the kind of person who disregards the bigger picture, right? And it seems Miss Kiana and Otto have exchanged quite a bit of information. We can cooperate in information exchange to avoid encountering any insurmountable crises in the upcoming operations."While Prometheus's understanding of emotions wasn't particularly profound, her observational skills were top-notch.Especially with someone like Kiana, who is the least likely to hide anything.Kiana looked at Susannah and Kyuusyou, who shook her head.“The big picture? Whose big picture are you talking about? Your companions', or the world’s?”Judging from the fact that the Sage of the High Tower wanted to fight Seele, Kiana didn’t want to negotiate, and Kyuusyou’s attitude was even clearer: she refused to negotiate.Since that was the case, then let’s fight!Prometheus glared at Kyuusyou, who smiled and then feigned helplessness, shrugging.Faced with this situation, Prometheus could only unleash her ultimate weapon: the Wodan!This was a war machine that Dr. Tesla had only ever envisioned. When it appeared, the plaza at the top of the tower became even more lively.“Prometheus…”She and Seele were fighting peacefully, so why was there such a commotion?The Sage of the High Tower called out Prometheus’s name, meaning that if they wanted to cause trouble, they should do it somewhere farther away.Otherwise, the battle at the top of the tower would descend into chaos."This isn't something I can control, Sage of the High Tower. I warned you before that the matter of the Sage's Authority should be put aside for now, but you insisted on carrying it out. Was this the outcome you could have foreseen?"The Sage of the High Tower didn't know where things had gone wrong either.She had kept the information extremely secure, but the other party appeared to know something.The plan suddenly went awry, leaving the Sage of the High Tower completely bewildered.Now, the outcome was beyond the Sage of the High Tower's control, so in the end, she could only grit her teeth and fight Seele, hoping that the transfer of authority wouldn't encounter any problems.==================================================

[Chapter 395: Biting the Hook]

An unprecedented chaotic battle erupted atop the tower.

On one side were the Sage of the High Tower, Prometheus, and Misteln.

On the other side was a group of heavyweight figures.

Seele, Kiana, Susannah, Shigure Kira, and Kyuusyou.

They were either promising futures or aliens, and one of them possessed hidden power.

Kiana was the most prominent figure, her flames burning atop the tower and adding a unique touch to the entire Salt Snow Holy City.

Seeing Kiana's performance, Otto seized the opportunity to shake the faith of the people of Salt Snow Holy City.

In an instant, everything descended into complete chaos.

The feigned piety was exposed in the chaos, revealing its true nature: greed.

The inhabitants of Salt Snow City wanted more and craved more. When Otto revealed the Sage's weakness, or rather, her humanity, seeds of doubt took root, and everything began to deteriorate.

In Kyuusyou's words, the peaceful Salt Snow City had welcomed Gotham's Joker, and everything within the Bubble World began to descend into chaos.

This was the scene Bronie had hoped to see.

"I lost..."

After a token struggle to show that everything was going according to plan, the Sage of the High Tower ultimately succumbed.

There was no way around it; Kiana's help to Seele made it impossible for the Sage of the High Tower's messengers to even touch her.

However, the more Seele used her power, the more the Sage of the High Tower's authority would be transferred to her, using the Stigmata on Seele as a model to balance the issues between the Country of Iron Sand and Salt Snow City.

Seeing that the Sage of the High Tower was not dead, and that the power to use the Divine Messenger had fallen into her hands, Seele calmly looked at the kneeling Sage.

"Although I've always wanted to tell you this, I always felt you wouldn't listen. The collapse of this Bubble World and the problems with the Sage of the High Tower's power weren't because of you, but because of another kind of enemy."

"Hmm?" The Sage of the High Tower looked confused by Seele's words.

Everyone had been saying something big was about to happen, and the Sage of the High Tower certainly knew that this Bubble World was about to face a major problem.

The problem was, wasn't she trying to solve it?

By transferring the Sage's power and balancing the problems between the two Bubble Worlds, wouldn't the problem be solved?

But now it seemed that Seele was telling her that everything she had done was in vain.

What a joke!

"It's a bit complicated, but simply put, Kyuusyou discovered some illogical aspects of this world, with an underlying mechanism similar to the Honkai. Prometheus must have discovered something, but unfortunately, there is no definitive conclusion yet."

"So the imbalance in this world isn't caused by me?"

Seele nodded.

Feeling the power emanating from the tower and the anger of the people below, Seele's feelings were complex.

Was this Kyuusyou's doing?

No, Kyuusyou had always been with everyone.

Was it Vita at the bottom of the tower?

Could Vita have the ability to turn faith into chaos in such a short time?

Then Seele thought of Otto, whom Kiana had mentioned earlier.

Hiss—she felt like she had missed a lot.

The Sage of the High Tower was causing trouble here, but she had confined Seele to the vicinity of the tower, preventing her from seeing the true state of affairs.

"I think we have no reason to fight each other anymore, right?"

Prometheus stopped maneuvering the Wodan and looked at Kyuusyou, for some reason sensing that she was enjoying it.

Kyuusyou glanced around, then listlessly sheathed her dagger.

"Fine. I was originally going to see how much combat capability this thing of yours could possibly have, but it seems you're not planning to do so."

"Meaningless fighting. I completely fail to understand your reasoning."

"Then let me ask you, if we really encountered an enemy similar to the Cocoon of Finality, could we handle them?"

"I must admit, I was too complacent. You're right. If it were truly an enemy of that level, even all of us combined couldn't defeat them. But why do you think everything you've guessed is completely correct?"

"I was just providing a line of thought for the investigation." Kyuusyou shrugged, seemingly not directly answering the question.

But this only alerted Prometheus.

Prometheus had always suspected many things about Kyuusyou, to the point that she felt she might not be trustworthy.

But if Kyuusyou couldn't be trusted, then who was she?

What reason did she have for appearing before everyone, and what benefit did she gain from doing all this?

She couldn't understand.

Her actions were too ambiguous, seemingly without a clear objective. All her actions seemed to be aimed at dealing with a potential enemy in others' minds.

"I've had contact with the Cocoon of Finality before, so I have some ability to deal with similar methods. I will try to contact the enemy from this angle, but I want to know who you really are."

Could someone not even twenty years old really achieve what Kyuusyou had accomplished after coming to this world?

The MCV directly manufactured weapons of mass destruction while simultaneously preparing to escape at any time.

Then, by chance, she incited the residents of Salt Snow Holy City to launch precise attacks on the enemy from their blind spots.

Prometheus didn't know exactly how Kyuusyou had done it, but with so many coincidences converging, she didn't believe it was truly a coincidence.

"Of course, it's the savior! These are the most basic qualities of a savior. Get to work. The actions against the enemy must be ruthless, but you should also be prepared for a sneak attack."

"Not planning to answer directly? But one thing is certain: you won't be our enemy. I'll be careful."

With that, Prometheus began to try using her signature skill—the ability to invade the Cocoon of Finality.

Initially, without a clear target or direction, even with this skill, Prometheus couldn't truly interfere with an enemy resembling the Cocoon of Finality.

However, through the power of the Sage of the High Tower and the alterations caused by the people's wishes, she could quickly lock onto the target.

Then, using a portion of the tower's power as a trigger, she could identify the problems within this Bubble World, trace the enemy's manipulation of its rules, and quickly find their weaknesses.

It was similar to manipulating the Cocoon of Finality from afar back then.

The only problem might be the inherent danger of doing this.

After all, the Cocoon of Finality does not cause trouble, but this enemy might possess self-awareness.

Because of Houraiji, Prometheus discovered that many steps were being skipped, directly jumping to the execution of plans and actions.

It was as if an invisible hand was controlling everything.

Skipping steps might accelerate the resolution of problems, but it also caused various other issues.

For example, Prometheus needed to travel to the area where the two Bubble Worlds merged, but after descending the tower, she faced countless residents who questioned the Sage of the High Tower.

With no other option, Prometheus could only ask Kiana to send her out of the Salt Snow Holy City, acting before things became irreversible.

Similarly, the Flamechasers team, far away in Phosphorus, had successfully entered the forbidden zone.

"I didn't expect the assistance Bronie prepared for us to be useful in a place like this. If Bronie were here, would the mission be even easier?"

Fu Hua was the first to enter the restricted area.

This was the boundary between the primordial world and the Sea of Quanta.

Gray fog shrouded the area, making it impossible to discern directions.

If it weren't for Bronie's assistance, Fu Hua wouldn't have been able to find her destination.

"Bronie said that this time we're going to completely eliminate the pests in the Sea of Quanta within the solar system. If Bronie came here personally, it would definitely alert them, so we need to lure them in. Kosma, you go that way and plant the coordinate guidance device on the ground."

Elysia explained to Fu Hua while directing Kosma.

Kosma seemed very excited, perhaps because his marker on the map was getting closer and closer to Griseo's.

"Will the power of Finality affect you, Elysia? After all, you know even Herrschers emit Honkai energy normally."

"Kosma, have you forgotten I'm a Herrscher too?"

"Ah..." Kosma was immediately ashamed, realizing he had forgotten.

Activating the guiding device, the surrounding misty environment began to improve.

Not far away, what appeared to be a control panel came into view.

"The panel shows that Phosphorus is under a privilege attack. The privileges we temporarily control over Phosphorus are gradually being lost."

Fu Hua was about to touch the control panel when a large warning sign appeared on it.

"Then we need to act quickly!"

Their actions had completely alerted the enemy. Elysia knew time was running out, so she quickly went to the control panel to examine the situation.

The control panel was a creation from the Ark.

Privilege authentication could be performed by any of the Flamechasers; Vill-V's work back then was unnecessary.

Unexpectedly, the authentication performed years ago as a memento proved useful now.

It was somewhat like a game loading screen. After the authentication was completed, the gray world became clear.

Undoubtedly, this was part of the Ark's interior.

Judging from the marks on the ground, it seemed to have been cleaned regularly.

"I'll go clean up the Quantum Shadows."

Kosma knew time was critical, so he randomly chose a direction in the corridor, the map showing that the Quantum Shadows were located in that direction.

Elysia called out to Kosma and handed him a green syringe.

"This syringe was made by Bronie and Mobius. It's for resolving issues of forced ejection from cryosleep and consciousness stagnation. It's crucial medicine for Griseo's life. If anything happens to us, we'll leave the rest to you!"

"I'll keep it safe!"

Kosma watched as Elysia produced three vials of the medicine. He knew Bronie had already considered the possibility of splitting up.

Elysia also gave Fu Hua a vial.

The progress of permission loss on the map panel was slowly increasing, and Elysia followed the map's guidance directly to the hibernation pod.

However, in the corridor, Elysia also discovered an open room.

This appeared to be Griseo's bedroom, but it showed many signs of habitation. Griseo usually enjoyed drawing, but the canvas had been left unattended in a corner of the room.

There was a notebook on the desk, and the writing was not from the previous civilization. It seems that someone from Phosphorus had borrowed Griseo's bedroom as their own.

Unfortunately, now was not the time to investigate these matters. After putting the notebook away, Elysia continued onward.

"Griseo seems to be perfectly fine."

Reaching the hibernation pod, after brushing away the dust, Fu Hua finally saw that peaceful face.

"She's grown up..." Elysia couldn't help but sigh.

"The awakening program has indeed malfunctioned. I don't know if it's due to outside interference or something on Griseo's part. Should we use the potion?" Fu Hua checked the control panel and found that the awakening program couldn't execute, even triggering various security protocols.

"Use it! Mobius and Bronie are both very reliable. Bronie has considered many aspects; the potion even saved Griseo from a severed limb. So Griseo can use the potion now."

"I understand!"

Hearing Elysia's reply, Fu Hua didn't hesitate. She punched the glass of the hibernation pod, shattering it, and injected the potion into Griseo's chest with lightning speed.

A chilling aura emanated from the hibernation pod, covering Fu Hua's arms with frost. However, this didn't stop Fu Hua's actions. She fully opened the hibernation pod, creating a large opening, and pulled Griseo out.

At this moment, Kosma, who had been outside clearing the Quantum Shadows, returned to join them.

Suddenly, a loud alarm sounded throughout the entire spaceship.

"What happened?" Kosma asked with concern, his gaze instantly drawn to the girl in Fu Hua's arms.

"The forced entry into the hibernation pod triggered the ship's alarm system, which in turn affected the city management system of Phosphorus. Bronie's map panel explains the current situation: the enemy is intensifying efforts to regain control!"

"This was expected... Kosma, Griseo is in your hands. Fu Hua and I will be fighting next. You must protect Griseo. Ideally, hide her and let her recover. Don't let any enemy get close to our Sleeping Beauty."

"Even if it costs me my life, I will protect her!"

Just as Kosma said this, Sa's control of Phosphorus had reached sixty percent.

Looking out from the floor-to-ceiling windows of the ship, a storm was gathering outside, as if some being was about to descend and bring about the end of the world...

Sa's gaze fell upon Phosphorus.

==================================================

[Chapter 396: Giving Her a Big Trap]

The farmland back home was flourishing, but suddenly, chaos erupted, even the serfs had run away.

This was truly unprecedented for Sa, who had existed for hundreds of millions of years.

Originally, Sa could have remained calmly in the Sea of Quanta, slowly waiting for her power and will to expand until she could easily defeat the Cocoon of Finality.

However, as her body grew larger and time passed, Sa almost forgot her past humanity. Relying on the ruthless and cold-blooded auxiliary logic of the computer, Sa gradually developed some divinity in her concepts.

Unfortunately, this power was ultimately no match for the Cocoon of Finality.

Hidden deep within the abyss of the Sea of Quanta, Sa believed she had concealed herself very well. Even the movements of the Bubble World within the Sea of Quanta were extremely subtle.

But who knew why this suddenly happened?

It all started with her agent's escape.

At first, Sa didn't care much.

After all, long ago, a consciousness named Dr. Rama had also escaped her control, even venturing beyond the solar system.

So, a clone escaping wasn't a big deal. After all, the entity knew its own greatness, and its escape was merely an act of mercy.

But shortly after, both Phosphorus and the Salt Snow Holy City suddenly encountered major problems.

When Sa looked in that direction, nothing within the Bubble World escaped her notice, from Otto's rousing speech to the suddenly appearing Sage of the High Tower, and even the travelers from Earth.

In an instant, a deluge of information flooded into Sa's mind. This vast and chaotic information listed everything these people had done since arriving in this world.

Even their thoughts were laid bare before Sa's gaze.

Then, Sa sensed a very familiar feeling.

The thought of a certain being…

Poisonous!

This familiar feeling—it was Bronie, the one who had given her a major shock in the Sea of Quanta!

The name Bronie was like a nightmare. Sa couldn't understand what Bronie had done using Ether particles, but she was certain that even a single thought could become entangled with Ether particles, becoming a highly toxic meme.

Back then, to heal herself, Sa had completely dispersed herself into countless units, then reassembled the parts unaffected by the meme.

Even using this method to eliminate the meme, she had still suffered considerable damage.

Unfortunately, Sa didn't learn her lesson, and her use of her powers to forcefully control the Bubble World remained largely unchanged.

Now, her habitual arrogance had backfired, like a child kicking a snowman without realizing there was a fire hydrant inside.

The moment she touched the Salt Snow Holy City, she realized she'd been tricked again.

And what about Phosphorus?

What would become of Phosphorus, the one she originally intended to use to create her own Venusian civilization?

After cutting herself apart at light speed to avoid the mines Bronie had planted in the Salt Snow Holy City, she focused her attention on Phosphorus.

This time, she was a little smarter, cautiously observing through other privileges.

And then?

The spaceship she'd picked up had been taken over.

Griseo had also awakened.

As for the city administrator?

Still completely bewildered, occasionally chatting with her Sea of Quanta pet named Moriarty, she was oblivious to the fact that she'd been tricked.

Everything was spiraling into chaos. The perpetually emotionally detached Su finally felt an urge to curse.

Who had she offended in the Sea of Quanta?

Could it be because of this person named Griseo?

Earth's civilization, destroyed by the Honkai 50,000 years ago, should have been used and nurtured by her. And because of that, Earth's civilization 50,000 years later dared to seek revenge?

Sa couldn't understand, but she still diligently took action, preparing to reboot Phosphorus.

As for the Earthlings who had infiltrated, she could simply destroy them!

Having figured this out, Sa immediately began controlling Phosphorus using her powers, preparing a cataclysmic flood to completely cleanse Phosphorus and then replant civilization in this world.

Sa had done this before. To accelerate the development of Phosphorus, special rules would be created within the Sea of Quanta to speed up the passage of time.

However, when Sa began to operate, she discovered that her authority was no longer in her hands!

Helpless, Sa began the struggle for authority, something she was not good at.

Fortunately, in this battle, Sa believed she still had a significant home-field advantage.

Furthermore, fearing another attack from Bronie's memetic virus, her actions were relatively conservative, and her style was consistently cowardly, focusing on a steady and methodical approach.

While this wasted some time, it also prevented future troubles. As she gradually regained authority, Sa also began a major purge of Phosphorus.

...

"Sister Elysia, Kosma, and Sister Hua... Have I arrived in the afterlife?"

Griseo's body did not disappoint her name as a Flamechaser. Not long after being injected with Mobius's potion, Griseo awoke in Fu Hua's arms.

The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was Elysia, who had long since died! Was she dead?

"Hahaha! I didn't expect Griseo to say this as the first thing she said to me. But none of us are dead! Or rather, a miracle has happened. We, who should have died, have had the chance to continue our story. So, Griseo, did you miss me?"

She had made a promise with Griseo before: in front of everyone, she would call herself Elysia "older sister," and Mobius "Grandma Mobius."

Even after so much time, Griseo still kept her promise after seeing Elysia.

That is to say, even at such a young age, Griseo still remembered everything from the past perfectly.

Elysia was very happy.

Griseo struggled out of Fu Hua's arms and then saw Kosma, who was pretending to be calm but was actually so excited that he had basically forgotten how to speak.

"I missed everyone, and Kosma..."

"Hmm..."

"You've shrunk. From now on, will you call me Griseo-neechan?"

This question completely stumped Kosma. Kosma hadn't yet reacted to Griseo's words. Griseo chuckled mischievously.

"It seems someone traveled through time and brought everyone back. Kosma's color is almost identical to how I remember, but Hua-nee and Elysia-nee, your colors have changed quite a bit."

Griseo's abilities remained highly reliable, but as she grew, she was no longer a blank slate stained with other colors; she too had developed her own colors and wouldn't be easily influenced by others.

"Many things can't be explained in a few words. The situation is quite tense right now, so Griseo, let's figure out how to deal with the enemy first."

"The enemy? My Ark… it's been misappropriated by the enemy?"

Griseo looked at the surroundings and saw Phosphorus being battered by the torrential rain outside the window and immediately understood the situation.

"Can we really handle this kind of enemy?"

"We're not the main force against them. We're bait!"

Ellie corrected her, then opened the panel, found a button to enter the second phase of the plan, and pressed it.

"We're bait? Sister Elysia, what does that mean?"

"The enemy is constantly searching for Bubble Worlds in the Sea of Quanta, transforming them into their farmland, and then extracting energy through the Bubble Worlds. They've even set their sights on Su's body. Plus, Bronie's hometown is also in the Sea of Quanta, so Bronie wants to eliminate them all at once."

Ellie knew that this being, existing for billions of years, had been constantly busy in the Sea of Quanta, destroying countless civilizations within it. This behemoth would one day pose a threat to Earth.

Therefore, if they could eliminate them in advance, Bronie would definitely not miss this opportunity.

Most importantly, they actually captured the adorable Griseo and put her in a cold hibernation pod to fend for herself.

This was what Bronie found most unbearable.

“What’s the second phase of the mission?”

Fu Hua looked at the panel. Even though her control over the mission was steadily decreasing, there was a strange feeling of an enemy’s death countdown.

It was probably the design of the progress bar that gave it that feeling.

“Analyze the pathways of Sa's power through the city administrators’ permissions within Phosphorus, follow the trail, and then have us deliver a punch.”

Ellie repeated Bronie’s words, but Fu Hua’s mind briefly went blank.

“De… deliver a punch?” Fu Hua wanted to confirm the accuracy of Ellie’s words.

“Isn’t this… just making a fool of ourselves? Or is it suicide?”

Kosma had mentally cursed Bronie countless times, but mental activity didn’t translate into verbal slurs.

So, in the end, he managed to squeeze out some sarcastic remarks.

Griseo watched from the side, amused.

"While this is certainly an exaggeration, perhaps Bronie just wants to see your surprised expressions? Simply put, we're not just bait but hooks to catch them, but the problem is, the hook has to get into their mouths first."

This is an extremely dangerous mission; the slightest mistake will plunge them into an abyss of no return.

Fu Hua fully understood the essence of Bronie's next plan. The pressure on her increased sharply, causing her to involuntarily swallow.

"I understand!" Fu Hua no longer questioned Bronie's decision but instead began preparing how to deliver a punch.

If it were the Garuda Metamorph factor within her, its powerful regenerative ability might actually allow her to deliver a punch without injury.

“There are some unusual colors at the center of the storm, very similar to the key in Elysia’s hand, so that’s the key to our target, right?”

“That’s right. This is the important tool Bronie prepared for us to reach our next target. Holding this key, we head to the center of the storm. It seems Griseo has already found the way before Bronie even guided us!”

A key inlaid with seven colors appeared on Bronie’s game panel, undoubtedly a copy of the permissions granted to Vita.

The key is to find the location of the original Sa and then open the path to Sa’s location.

“I’m just good at recognizing colors…” Griseo had even learned to be humble.

“So how do we get there? Fu Hua, I remember you can’t fly?”

“No, I can fly. As long as I activate that power within me, you know that.”

“But you’re worried that SWARA will affect you, right? So you haven’t used that power much.” Elysia knew what Fu Hua was talking about.

The Active Honkai Reaction form will transform a part of a person’s body into a non-human part.

This transformation will also affect Fu Hua’s subsequent life.

Just like Kosma beside her.

The horns on his head and the claws on his hands had caused many to reject him back then.

“I’ve never known how to face this problem alone, but now that you’re all here, and even Mobius, there’s nothing to reject. I believe in you!”

Actually, Fu Hua had already resolved this inner conflict a long time ago, but now she finally had the opportunity to use this power, and being a woman of few words, she had kept it bottled up.

“Then I will…”

“Kosma, don’t act yet, or Dr. Mei will have to work overtime again. Your body has only just recovered a little; it’s not time to go all in yet.”

Fu Hua stopped Kosma from using his AHR. Mobius had recently been considering how to deal with the excessive Honkai Beast traces on Kosma, as that state was really affecting his daily life.

The reason Ellie supported Kosma’s participation in the mission was mainly to give him a sufficiently ferocious fighting force and also to see if he could gain anything else in the Sea of Quanta.

Furthermore, Kosma's high adaptability to the Sea of Quanta grants him more options in handling unexpected situations.

At this moment, Fu Hua's hands and feet began to burn, and her originally gray hair began to blaze.

Griseo picked up her paintbrush, the paint transforming into a rainbow bridge pointing directly at the eye of the storm, while Fu Hua transformed into a phoenix, charging directly along the rainbow bridge—

"This punch is for Griseo, a pinpoint strike—"

====================================================

[Chapter 397: A Fatal Joke for Sa]

Using paint as a base, a rainbow bridge was constructed. A figure engulfed in flames charged up the rainbow bridge aboard the Frost spaceship.

Sa initially didn't care; the opponent was just a mortal who possessed some strength, someone Sa could easily deal with with a flick of her finger.

But where was Fu Hua going along the rainbow bridge?

Why could she pinpoint her home so precisely?

Wait, why did this happen?

Just as Sa was pondering what had gone wrong, Fu Hua's fist was already upon her.

This punch, while not particularly damaging, was incredibly humiliating.

Having been a god for billions of years, who in the Sea of Quanta could actually deliver such a blow?

Bronie's ability to inject herself with a memetic virus demonstrates her true genius; she has developed an unprecedented method of utilizing Ether.

Given the vastness of the universe and the changing times, the emergence of such a genius isn't impossible.

Therefore, Sa accepted that Bronie possessed talent nearly equal to her own within the Sea of Quanta.

But she was merely a nascent seed.

So, what is Fu Hua?

How could she pinpoint her so precisely from such a distance and then deliver a fatal blow?

It's like an ant suddenly eating the Gum-Gum Fruit from One Piece, blowing its own fist to an enormous size, and then striking her directly.

What information had she overlooked that led to this?

As a colossal entity within the Sea of Quanta, Sa, to some extent, possessed near-omniscience regarding the powers within the Sea of Quanta and even the Bubble Worlds.

It shouldn't be possible for her to overlook anything.

But now, things were a little different.

Unable to fathom the situation, Sa decided to personally crush this overconfident ant.

Moreover, she was determined to utterly annihilate it, leaving not a single particle behind.

Energy coalesced into a tide; the tsunami that had utterly destroyed Venus years ago could now be effortlessly unleashed by Sa.

This power was something Fu Hua was absolutely unable to resist!

As the price for a mortal offending a god, Sa was taking it seriously, though perhaps also harboring a hint of rage.

The instant Sa struck, Fu Hua instantly realized she couldn't withstand this attack.

But at that moment, Bronie's voice rang in Fu Hua's ears.

"Thanks for your trouble. I just wanted to see if this Sa still had any feelings, so I had you punch her. Now it seems she's really enraged."

"So you enjoy watching her make a fool of herself?"

"If you can't even find something to amuse yourself in life, then it's incredibly boring! And don't worry, the power of Finality is far stronger than you imagine. At least Sa right now is no match for me!"

Bronie snapped her fingers. The world around them instantly turned gray.

"This is... how can time be stopped?"

It's somewhat like time stopping, but it doesn't quite seem like it.

"Yes, time is very difficult to stop, but I can definitely achieve something similar to time stopping, and from different angles."

But since she has already done this much, why not just kill her instantly?

Fu Hua felt that Bronie's actions were somewhat unnecessary, but Bronie chuckled.

"Don't think my actions are superfluous. Actually, I don't want her to have a chance to escape. I'm looking for their escape route."

As for the memetic virus, Sa had, of course, successfully dealt with it.

But the other side certainly hadn't expected that she would dare to plant a Trojan virus within her.

It appeared to be normal code, but upon receiving certain special key information, or after a certain point in time, the virus would immediately erupt.

Conventional disinfection methods were truly ineffective in preventing it.

Therefore, Sa's body and permissions had long been thoroughly infiltrated by Bronie. However, Sa had existed for billions of years and possessed an immense amount of data, which Bronie couldn't digest entirely, so she could only target the core.

For example, she had the memory data of all the Venusians, predicting Sa's response from a civilizational perspective.

"So everything's resolved?"

"Have you forgotten that your current body is actually a quantum projection? Even if you die here, there won't be any problems. At most, it'll just be like having a very real nightmare, feeling like you really died once."

For Fu Hua, this is a piece of cake, isn't it?

After all, Fu Hua has experienced many near-death situations.

Understanding Bronie's implication, Fu Hua replied.

"I will maintain the most basic reverence for life. Even if I know it's an illusion, if it feels absolutely real to me, I would never do anything to disregard my own life."

"Yeah, Senti calls you an old timer every day. She had a lot of fun in Salt Snow Holy City this time."

"I'll give her a good talking-to when I get back."

Although she didn't know how much fun Senti had in Salt Snow Holy City, it seem like she was doing something naughty.

She would find out when she got back, and then give her a proper talking-to.

Bronie's only response was one word:

"Okay, be happy."

"Things are almost done. Poor Sa is about to become a nice lump of meat. I'll handle things properly afterward. Take the message back and congratulate Ellie. Griseo will probably have to stay in Phosphorus for a while longer until Earth develops a suitable spacecraft.

Having casually decided Sa's future, Bronie opened a portal. Behind that portal, of course, was Griseo's location.

"You must be extremely careful. Don't use your full strength even when hunting a rabbit."

"I know~ I'm not the kind of person who makes fun of myself!"

With that, she sent Fu Hua out. Time in the world resumed its flow.

"Long time no see, Sa. Have you been thinking about me lately?"

To make herself recognized, Bronie deliberately dressed up a bit, returning to her outfit from the Dead by Daylight Bubble World.

That mature, sophisticated aura, coupled with sexy black stockings and a confident demeanor, made it seem like nothing could faze Bronie.

"It's you."

Was all the recent trouble solely because of this girl before her?

"I've already seized Finality. Do you know why I want to get rid of you?"

The first sentence brought back the shock to Su's mind.

After that, she began to question Bronie's questions.

"Why?"

"Because you angered me. Griseo is so cute, why did you capture her and freeze her in that cold hibernation pod?"

"Just... because of that?"

She couldn't understand her thought process.

She couldn't understand what she was thinking.

If she were an ordinary person, her thoughts and ideas would be laid bare before her.

But now she couldn't read Bronie's mind.

"That's right, so with your contempt for ordinary people and your incomprehension, die!"

Bronie raised her thumb and forefinger, making a shooting gesture.

Now face to face with Su, Su couldn't escape Bronie's attack.

The moment she saw Bronie, all means of escape were completely blocked. Sa now realized that the area she was in wasn't her original base, nor was it somewhere in the Sea of Quanta.

It was the main world at the edge of the solar system!

A world inescapable, covered by the imaginary tidal field!

"Bang—"

Sa's heart skipped a beat at Bronie's words.

But nothing happened.

"Oops I almost forgot to load the bullet"

Wait, the gesture she made with her fingers actually had a loading function!?

Sa's mind raced, especially when faced with Bronie's death threat; at that moment, she felt an unprecedented fear.

For billions of years, Sa had always been extremely cautious, and the root of this caution stemmed from her fear of the Honkai.

Even after countless years, the fear hadn't simply vanished; instead, it had gradually become ingrained in Sa's bones, masked by vast amounts of information and data, and then pretended to be forgotten.

Unfortunately, after facing a real death threat, all the hidden fear resurfaced.

Bronie pulled out a pistol, opened the magazine, and loaded a bullet.

Wait, this really is a bullet!? Could this thing pose a threat to her?

Confusion arose again in Sa's mind.

But Bronie's shot at the nearby meteorite made her realize something.

That is, if a bullet's speed could be accelerated to near the speed of light, no one could withstand such an attack.

Moreover, this attack wasn't just about the speed of light; the energy fluctuations in that instant undoubtedly gave the impression of imaginary energy at the edge of the solar system.

Bronie wasn't attacking the nearby meteorite, but the meteorite itself.

The shot was the appearance.

The actual destruction was only because the "past" had been directly attacked.

Cause and effect reversed!

Hiss—impossible to defeat!

This kind of enemy is impossible to defeat no matter how you look at it!

Why does the opponent possess such immense power?

Why can the opponent control Finality?

And why... why is she targeting her like this?

"Hahahaha! You've never been a god, just a cowardly mortal! Realize that, and think about how many people in the Sea of Quanta have suffered because of you!"

"So you want to represent them and punish me? Then where do you place yourself?"

"A game developer just for fun, here to find some material and amusement. Your dead self is far more valuable to me than your living self. Let's play a round?"

Bronie reloaded and fired again.

This time, the bullet pierced the other's heart.

Sa's eyes were fixed on Bronie, as if asking why she hadn't rotated the magazine. After all, they had said "a round"; wasn't this like playing Russian roulette?

But now, Sa only felt death drawing ever closer, and she had no chance to respond.

Bronie lowered her gun.

"Destroying you? What does it have to do with you? Ultimately, there's only one reason for your death: I just don't like you."

Then, Bronie's figure gradually grew larger, or rather, the world surrounded by Bronie shrank continuously.

The once imposing corpse of Sa was reduced to the size of a fist, lying quietly in Bronie's palm.

A special imaginary energy field completely enveloped that area, shrinking it into a tiny world.

Like a snow globe.

"Dr. Mei, look at my masterpiece! Hehe, super interesting, right?"

"If you mean a once-great being returning to a blob, then it's certainly a good performance. If you mean manipulating imaginary numbers in such a chaotic and intuitive way to achieve this effect, then without a doubt you are indeed rubbing the Erudition's geniuses into the ground and mocking them."

Well, regardless of how one interprets Bronie's actions, there's no doubt that Bronie is on a Path of Elation.

Finding amusement in everything, seeking the most essential smile in nihilism, Bronie is becoming increasingly outrageous.

"Oh, what bad intentions could I possibly have? I just wanted to see your reaction. After all, once a phenomenon occurs, it can definitely be reproduced and its underlying principles understood, right?"

"Are you reminding me that the mysteries within the Aeons confuse the concept of truth, so the experiments in the Sea of Quanta are always inaccurate?"

"Why do you always interpret my words the opposite... Never mind, whatever makes you happy. In short, Griseo is physically very healthy. She might need some companionship from friends to recover psychologically. Otherwise, there's nothing wrong. It's just that the development of Phosphorus might need some adjustments. I'm too lazy to deal with these things; you can do whatever you want. I've recently come up with ideas for a new game!"

All right.

Perhaps Bronie focused on a game is the safest Bronie.

Once Bronie starts thinking about dealing with someone, whether friend or foe, they'll likely suffer quite a bit.

Dr. Mei has never felt that pursuing the truth of the universe could be so exhausting.

Imaginary energy field?

Shrinking the world?

Transforming existence into a tiny snow globe?

What kind of divine intervention is this?!

What should the essence of this world be?

Dr. Mei felt a wave of absurdity, but quickly regained her composure and turned her gaze to the Herta doll beside her.

The cosmic communication technology obtained from the doll could be put to use, ensuring near-zero-delay communication within the solar system—that was excellent news.

From now on, let them prepare a cosmic stage for Miss Eden, so her songs can bring a small shock to this nascent civilization.

---

[Chapter 398: Bronie’s New Game]

"Alright, Prometheus, your mission is complete."

"Hmm? Houraiji Nine Heavens... no, this voice should be Miss Bronie."

Looking at Nine Heavens’ appearance yet hearing Bronie’s voice, Prometheus instantly understood what had happened.

"The cleanup in Salt Snow Holy City is now your responsibility and Seele’s. With MCV, getting this Bubble World to develop shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve already dealt with Sa. I stirred up chaos in Salt Snow Holy City to distract them, then gave them a little surprise. After that, Sa was trapped like a turtle in a jar."

When Bronie arrived before Prometheus, Sa had already been completely dealt with.

No wonder Prometheus felt that although she had found traces of Sa’s actions against this Bubble World, she couldn’t find her true form.

That true form was directly killed by Bronie.

So, what was her reason for coming here?

"It seems you’re having doubts about your role in this operation?"

"Yes. You’ve been holding back far too much information. I’ve considered many possibilities, but I can’t be certain."

"It’s all common hacking techniques: arousing curiosity, prompting contact, triggering a virus, and planting a Trojan." Bronie pointed to Prometheus, then added, "You’re naturally capable of carrying massive amounts of data, and your resistance to memes is extremely strong, making you the perfect carrier for my Trojan virus."

"If it fails..."

"I’ll temporarily freeze you using the laws of imaginary numbers. While I’m familiar with the Sea of Quanta, I have almost no research on imaginary numbers, so your safety is guaranteed."

Bronie wasn’t the type to casually gamble with someone’s life.

Besides, Bronie didn’t like gambling. She only acted on any plan when she was absolutely certain of its success.

Hearing Bronie’s explanation, Prometheus’s expression softened slightly.

After all, having one’s life gambled with would upset anyone.

While Prometheus lacked a deep understanding of emotions, she couldn’t truly be heartless.

So initially, seeing Bronie scheme even against artificial intelligence inevitably angered her.

But now, it seems everything was under Bronie’s control.

The deed was done, and frankly, further investigation was pointless. It would only serve as a warning to Bronie against these kinds of actions.

But if she were to actually issue a warning...

Consider who she would be talking to.

The god of humanity, a being who walks the Path of Elation. Who knows when Bronie might suddenly Retaliate, making her part of Bronie’s amusement?

To be honest, Prometheus was still afraid of Masked Fools, because sometimes these people truly blur their moral boundaries when seeking amusement.

Then she would be the one to suffer.

"Alright, what’s done is done. Further investigation is pointless. So all we need to do now is properly clean up this Bubble World, and then we can leave, right?"

"No rush. Earth civilization will begin developing the Sea of Quanta. As you know, Ether can be readily converted into most of the resources we need. If we can utilize it effectively, then the only scarce resources left will be population and land."

These things might sound cold, but Bronie at least left some room for maneuver instead of directly condemning the residents of Salt Snow Holy City.

Perhaps Durandal would even consider connecting these Bubble Worlds to the Imaginary Tree.

Then everyone would be neighbors.

"Is this considered colonization?"

"At least it’s not as miserable as what the Native Americans went through. We’re just starting with education, gaining legal legitimacy from the Sage of the High Tower, and preserving sufficient cultural heritage. Of course, if you want to tie them down with loans and jobs, I don’t mind."

"What’s the difference between this and slavery?"

"Perhaps you should ask those people from Anti-Entropy. After all, that’s their forte—and of course, the World Serpent."

Bronie’s words left Prometheus speechless.

At least in the Previous Era, under the pressure of Honkai, Earth’s civilization hadn’t reached such an absurd point. Perhaps it was because this civilization was so well protected.

It was time to consider a more advanced system to solve this problem. Prometheus wasn’t sure if she could find the right path and offer a reasonable suggestion.

The current social system was indeed a major problem.

"What’s Kyuusyou going to do next with the Valkyrie squad?"

"Go home, of course. Tell them Bronie secretly watched their assessment and was very satisfied with their performance. The only problem is their lack of martial virtue. I even built the MCV bombers myself."

Martial virtue, huh?

But possessing the power to overturn a chessboard is certainly a valid point. Prometheus couldn’t really argue with that. She could only say that girls are indeed less driven by power than boys.

Bronie, on the other hand, acted like a boy with a fear of insufficient firepower, inexplicably brimming with martial virtue.

Orbital laser cannons, missile silos, even quantum tsunami generators—looking at the row of construction barriers, Prometheus was truly ashamed.

As for what the residents of Salt Snow Holy City would do if they knew about this?

As long as they didn’t know, these things didn’t exist. Even if they did know, anyone with a modicum of intelligence would keep quiet.

If they wanted to rebel, they could simply pack up and leave. They would immediately realize that their current conveniences were all thanks to the Valkyries of Schicksal.

While this was cruel, from another perspective, Bronie hadn’t arbitrarily decided their future. She had brought them a better life and more possibilities for their future.

Although most of these possibilities were given to them by Bronie.

"I really don’t know how someone as awful as you could raise such a gentle and lovely girl like Seele. I’ll pass on your message, but I won’t relay her reaction."

"Although you still seem angry, never mind. I’ll have Dr. Mei prepare some different styles of dresses for you as compensation. I’m going home to work on my game. This time, Sa has gathered a lot of information, bringing me a lot of game material."

Kyuusyou’s figure gradually faded from Prometheus’s sight. In this special space connected to Sa, nothing in the Bubble World escaped Prometheus’s eyes.

But looking at her own achievements, compared to Bronie’s, they seemed insignificant.

For some reason, as an AI life form, Prometheus felt a surge of competitiveness.

Perhaps instead of pondering the meaning of her existence, she should first set herself a small goal.

Seeing that Prometheus seemed to have a clearer objective, no longer constantly searching for the meaning of life like Misteln, Bronie contentedly focused her attention on the moon.

"Ellie, I’m home."

The first thing Bronie did upon returning home was take off her black stockings.

She had been busy for several days and hadn’t had time to kiss Ellie.

Lately, Bronie felt her "Elysia element" was severely depleted. If this continued, something unpleasant might happen.

"Bronie, you’ve had a tough time. I’m still dealing with the aftermath of Phosphorus with Griseo. After a massive rainstorm and a Honkai outbreak, Phosphorus is in a state of utter ruin. And you’d never guess what’s in Phosphorus’s museum."

"Moriarty? Hmm, the system panel sent me a scan log. This guy has become hostile toward you. Aren’t you thinking of getting rid of him?"

"He’s still an individual—an Otto Soul Steel clone that awakened self-awareness. Strictly speaking, he should be considered a life form, right? After all, Earth’s laws have recently started revising those related to artificial intelligence."

Speaking of which, Dr. Mobius is the most active promoter of this law, probably wanting to provide Klein with a more comfortable living environment.

According to Ellie, they didn’t kill Moriarty but instead locked him up.

“Moriarty’s words are very persuasive. He always manages to convey some unpleasant ideas. Evil people have their own fates to settle. I think if we hand him over to that Otto, he might be able to correct his personality.”

“It’s decided.” Ellie thought this was like a good idea, so she decided on Moriarty’s future.

“But speaking of which—”

“Any new discoveries this time?”

“Sa has existed for billions of years, collecting a lot of data. Many Bubble Worlds are related to Earth, and many are related to Mars. This has given me a lot of inspiration.”

“Oh? Inspiration for making a game?”

“That’s right.”

“What kind of game?”

Unexpectedly, Bronie was thinking about making games again.

Ellie couldn’t help but feel excited.

Bronie then gently straddled Ellie’s legs, moistening them with her own fluids.

"If you satisfy me, I’ll tell you."

"Then I’ll have to use my tools."

"I’ve been holding back for days. Even if you use tools, you might not be able to completely satisfy me."

No longer reserved, the two, now fully accepting of each other, engaged in a fierce exchange.

Until the morning of the second day in the lunar system.

"I almost forgot to ask you about the game."

"That’s true. In the records of Sa, the development of countless civilizations in the Sea of Quanta has a certain upper limit, and this upper limit is largely related to the upper limit of the existence of civilizations in the main world."

After a night of indulgence, the two woke up refreshed the next day. Only then did Ellie remember the topic they had discussed at the beginning.

As for Griseo—

Let Fu Hua take care of her for now. She has experience with children.

"So you drew some inspiration from this?"

"Yes. Some thoughts about the future social structure of our Earth civilization. The universe is vast. Different civilizations have different situations, and our Earth must also show its own unique style."

"What kind of game would it be? It wouldn’t be like the ‘Civilization’ game, would it? Or are you planning to make a ‘Civilization’ series game with a universe as its background, Bronie?"

"That sounds like a good game, but cramming massive amounts of text and settings into the game will only make it bloated and boring. So we need something more humorous and dramatic to spark discussion."

"For example, what would happen after Germany’s victory in World War II?"

"Ellie, are you a genius? This is very close to what I’m thinking. Creating an extreme social structure will spark more discussion, and by stitching together the flaws of different governments on Earth, you’ll more or less feel the shadow of your own country’s government."

"So our protagonist will be fighting against that kind of enemy?"

"No. Our protagonist will become a member of that government and an expendable resource in the war, with their death determined by the player—a ridiculous and meaningless act: like a friendly fire."

Soon, Bronie projected the game’s concept art directly onto the screen.

Super cool armor, a cape fluttering in the wind, a mask obscuring the face yet giving off a heroic aura.

Imposing, at least in appearance.

Giant insects swarming behind them—this image is hard to reconcile with what Bronie had previously described.

"This looks like Titanfall. The enemy is a swarm of bugs?"

"Bugs have always existed in the universe—countless bugs everywhere—but that’s not the point. It’s the background of the whole game. You’ll understand what I mean when I make an in-game recruitment brochure."

Bronie spoke while preparing to start making a CG video.

Not wanting to interrupt Bronie’s enthusiasm, Elysia got out of bed and kissed Bronie’s cheek.

"I’ll go to the cafeteria to get you breakfast."

"Okay. It’ll be almost finished by the time you get back. Looking forward to your return."

"Of course~"

====================================================

[Chapter 399: The Recruitment Animation of Super Earth]

[Super Earth Ministry of Truth: Please abide by the following patriotic service announcement.

Lack of concentration will be considered treason.

Thank you for your cooperation.]

While waiting for Ellie to bring back breakfast, Bronie had already finished the animated CG.

And this was the opening scene—a complete shock.

Lack of concentration can be considered treason?

How can it be so domineering and outrageous?

It seems Bronie is really getting more and more unrestrained.

[Super Earth, our home.

Prosperity, Liberty, Democracy.

Our way of life.]

After a brief appearance of the Super Earth logo, like a news report, the animation officially began.

A beautiful, azure planet—clearly, this is Earth as seen from space.

On this beautiful planet, there exists a seemingly harmonious and peaceful community.

Neighborhood relations are amicable, and even armed patrols on the street are welcomed.

The camera gradually focuses on a family.

The man, seemingly returning home from work, prepares to greet his family.

[But freedom doesn't come free.]

Suddenly, a giant insect appears beside the family, and the man's face changes drastically. It happens so suddenly that he can only watch helplessly as his wife and children are slaughtered by the insect, their blood splattering everywhere.

[No, sweet liberty! No—]

The scene freezes.

The word "Invasion" appears on the frozen frame, and the man, annihilated by the insect, appears on the screen.

[Looks familiar? Scenes like this are happening all over the galaxy right now! You could be next!]

"This is so absurd!"

Ellie couldn't help but complain. Putting aside why insects would suddenly appear in this peaceful town, why was this man calling out the name of liberty instead of his wife and children after the incident?

[That is, unless you can make the most important decision of your life.]

The man snapped his fingers, and his clothes instantly transformed into a jet-black combat suit. Even his hair was shaved into a buzz cut, and the image behind him changed to the flag of Super Earth.

[Prove to yourself that you have the strength and the courage to be free!

Join Helldivers! Become part of an elite peacekeeping force!]

"A recruitment ad… is this appropriate?" Ellie couldn't help but complain again.

But she could also appreciate the dark humor and satire.

[See exotic new life forms.]

In the scene, Helldivers, armed with powerful weapons, participated in the battle against the insects on the ground.

One Helldiver even took out an anti-tank rocket launcher and launched an attack on a giant insect.

The giant worm's green blood splattered everywhere, staining the Helldiver's jet-black armor green.

[And spread managed democracy throughout the galaxy.

Come on! Brothers, become a hero! Become a legend! Become Helldivers!]

Four Helldivers, standing on the worm's corpse and holding the Super Earth flag, created a scene that stirred the blood.

It almost made you want to join the ranks of the Helldivers.

But the preceding content was a bit too…

“You dared to criticize the Super Earth Ministry of Truth's propaganda video? You've been marked a traitor! Please accept your punishment. Tonight, I want to see a cat-and-dog war! You'll be the cat!”

“Damn! Bronie, if I watched it seriously, will I be punished for stepping through the door with my left foot first?”

“Hehe, not necessarily, but you can feel it, right? The social environment of Super Earth.”

If all of this were true, it made Ellie feel a little discomfort.

Thankfully, none of this was real.

"But what is the Ministry of Truth?"

"The Ministry of Truth, of course, is for spreading truth! They release relevant video content based on reality and propaganda needs, or rewrite historical documents, newspapers, or literary works. The Ministry of Truth doesn't actually speak the truth; it creates truth to deceive the people."

The irony was quite strong, but Ellie could sense the blatant lies inherent in Super Earth as portrayed by Bronie.

Isn't it quite similar to the governments of some countries in real life?

"Actually, it's a reference to the Ministry of Truth in the novel 1984. Isn't that amazing?"

"An old novel? Looks like I haven't read enough literature about this civilization. But reading novels is really boring—"

Ellie is more easily attracted to beautiful things, and the charm of literature is more subtle and not easily seen, so it is easily overlooked in this information age.

Bronie understood this sentiment.

"So game developers occasionally bring these things out again and put them back in front of everyone, don't they?"

"That's true!" Ellie agreed with Bronie's words, realizing for the first time that this civilization's history had produced similar works depicting an extremely terrifying totalitarian society.

Living in such a society must be incredibly oppressive, right?

Perhaps the people there wouldn't even realize the meaning of everything they did, or what so-called freedom and democracy really meant.

Under the brainwashing of the Ministry of Truth, is living a relatively good life truly happiness?

"I must say, bringing these things out, Bronie, you've really made me start thinking about the future of human society."

"Hehe, exaggerating some originally sharp issues always prompts people to think. It's like putting a black dot on a white sheet of paper—it's so easy to attract attention. And don't you think it's funny?"

Then Bronie gradually depicted the world of Super Earth.

And the enemies Super Earth promoted.

The Terminids and Automatons.

So far, only these two exist, but the background setting doesn't seem so terrifying. The Automatons are merely the lowest strata of life on Super Earth. Some are workers who were modified after suffering workplace injuries, while others are veterans who lost parts of their bodies in war.

After experiencing injustice and neglect, they fled to planets on the edge of the galaxy, where they gradually expanded their influence.

Because of the many terrible things they suffered in their early years, their actions became increasingly extreme, and they became obsessed with using technology to modify their bodies in pursuit of a higher realm of existence.

The Terminids, on the other hand, are simply a species that has evolved over millions of years, emerging through natural selection.

Super Earth publicly claims that the Terminids are a tremendous threat, like a plague, and must be eradicated before they spread to other worlds.

In reality, these Terminids are very different from mindless, reproduction-driven insects. They possess intelligence, engage in productive work, and coexist harmoniously with nature.

Super Earth discovered that the corpses of these Terminids can be used to create an element called 710, providing energy for Super Earth.

After the overwhelming victory of the Terminids over Super Earth, they are described as rare and requiring humanitarian protection. Then they are allowed to multiply on planets to exploit the 710 element.

In reality, if you reverse 710, it becomes OIL.

The main point is the ambivalent relationship between the US military and oil.

Therefore, the entire worldview of Helldivers is primarily satirical and humorous, provoking thought while providing plenty of laughs.

It subtly influences people's thinking, prompting them to consider right and wrong, as well as questions about the future of humanity.

"I didn't expect you to think of such a world... It's quite bizarre, considering everyone knows such a society is practically impossible."

"Is it really impossible?" Bronie countered.

"You... wouldn't do that, right?"

Ellie thought of Bronie; if it were her, perhaps she really could go to such lengths.

For example, one could directly utilize the powers of the Herrscher of Sentience to establish the foundation of such a society in the early stages, and then continuously manipulate the subconscious of the entire society under strict surveillance.

Furthermore, by utilizing the abilities of the Herrscher of Dominance, one could further adjust everyone's thoughts.

If it were Bronie, as the Herrscher of Finality, perhaps she could truly do it.

"This kind of world is too boring. Of course, I could deliberately fund some people who want to rebel to stage a scene of the left hand fighting the right, but this way of pursuing entertainment is too low-class and too boring, so I definitely wouldn't do it. Besides, you wouldn't want to see such an unpleasant world, right?"

This kind of world might be entertaining in a game, but if it became reality, probably no one would really like it.

"You're definitely not the kind of person who would do such a thing~"

Ellie nodded, realizing she had worried too much.

Who told Bronie to scare her like that?

Her small fist gently punched Bronie's chest but was firmly caught by her ample bosom.

At this moment, Ellie savored Bronie's softness and asked, "You're not using a child's body this time? Are you ready?"

"Ready? Ready for what?"

"The child's umm, you know!"

"Ahem, Ellie, you know me. I haven't fully mastered the power of the Cocoon of Finality yet. It's not the right time. But look, I'm trying my best to adapt, aren't I? Trying to maintain an adult form and constantly conditioning my body."

As she spoke, Bronie pulled down half of her thigh-high stockings, revealing the marks of Honkai energy corrosion still visible on her legs, like a body paint application.

"Hmph, you're really putting in the effort on fooling me!"

After creating the recruitment propaganda video, the next step was naturally to start making the game.

Sometimes Bronie would wonder if the managed democracy in Helldivers would appear in a planetary civilization managed by the Interastral Peace Corporation.

After all, the members of the Interastral Peace Corporation were all so loyal. The higher the rank, the greater their loyalty to the company.

This would allow the IPC to cultivate a large number of loyal talents, rapidly expanding its sphere of influence to achieve its goal of controlling most civilizations in the galaxy.

But after careful consideration, it didn't seem as outrageous as depicted in the game.

Perhaps the IPC's personnel did engage in brainwashing practices, but not to the near-madness of Helldivers.

Next, Bronie began developing the game, and the newly created recruitment propaganda was released under her name as the producer of Haxxor Games.

The world immediately knew that the God of Humanity was making games again.

Some cheered.

Of course, others breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, Bronie was, in a way, like death; if someone did something to displease her, they might accidentally say goodbye to this world forever.

Of course, Bronie dealt with gangsters and big capitalists—the kind of seemingly innocent bad guys.

But which capitalist doesn't have a bit of bad influence?

That's the instinct of capital.

Before everyone knew Bronie's bottom line, they were all on edge. Now that Bronie has started making a game, it's a very positive signal.

That is, Bronie doesn't want to get involved in serious outside work for now.

She has no desire for power.

The trailer for this new game gives off a very subtle feeling.

It's as if it is satirizing all the stupid and bad things governments around the world have done, like a sharp author using a pen to satirize contemporary society.

Of course, this is only the opinion of a minority.

For most gamers, the release of the trailer for the new game by Haxxor is like an early New Year's celebration for the gaming world.

Welt and Bronya, at least, didn't have so many concerns; after seeing the trailer for the new game, they immediately started contacting Bronie.

"Bronie, why didn't you call Bronya when making games?!"

"Aren't you planning to start your own business and make an official Arahato game? I was worried about interfering with your ideas, so I didn't choose to ask you... Besides, I just got back from the Sea of Quanta. I only just started to get some ideas, and I've only just created the folders! The trailers are only just finished too."

Seeing Bronya's slightly resentful look, Bronie cheerfully explained.

"Seele tattled to Bronya yesterday, saying that Bronie had infiltrated the mission again, disguised as Susannah's teammate, and turned a city upside down."

"Please, that wasn't me, it was Otto!"

"So... the appearance of Otto's Sea of Quanta clone was also within your expectations?"

"Cough, cough, how could it be expected? Actually, the Herrscher of Sentience created him, and I gave him the method to survive in the Sea of Quanta and made him spend the rest of his life atoning for the bad things he did over the past five hundred years. Salt Snow City was just a small side effect of saving the world."

"Kiana said he was too cunning, and she didn't catch him. She also didn't expect that woman named Vita was in cahoots with Otto."

Looks like Otto really got away.

Bronie thought Kiana would just give chase.

"That's a real shame."

"Kiana chased him all the way into the Sea of Quanta."

"Keep in touch with Kiana. Tell her to be careful."

"Bronya knows, of course, but she's debating whether to tell Kallen about it—whether the clone in the Sea of Quanta counts as the main Otto."

"Personally, I don't think so... but I won't stop Kiana's pursuit. Is there anything else?"

Bronie didn't care about Otto's life or death, nor did she care what kind of life Vita wanted to live, so she didn't want to waste her time on these things.

After confirming Bronie's attitude, Bronya prepared to relay it to Kiana. She then continued.

"Bronya will have a spaceship to the moon in three days. Bronya will come to Bronie's place to learn how to make games. Arahato and Helldivers both have science fiction themes, so Bronya wants to find some inspiration."

"No problem! Of course, no problem. Three days... well, I don't plan to make a very big game this time, but there will definitely be a lot of work left to do in three days. I'll go prepare a new room for you!"

===================================================

Chapter 400: The Planning of Helldiver and the Thrilling Dual-Player Battle

Eliminating the enemy is my mission; eliminating my teammates is my duty.

Helldiver is a game that focuses on fun and chaotic multiplayer cooperation, and it places significant emphasis on friendly-fire mechanics.

In this game, players will always encounter unexpected ways to die.

For example, the corpse of a Terminid killed midway through a charge may continue moving forward due to inertia, crushing and killing a teammate.

Or throwing a bombing beacon and watching helplessly as a teammate charges toward it and dies.

Or during combat, a railgun may accidentally create chain lightning that also takes down another Terminid.

Furthermore, the hilarious ragdoll system for downed characters adds even more unexpected twists to player's deaths.

This is the core selling point of the entire game.

Multiplayer co-op, combined with social interaction and the exhilarating feeling of overcoming overwhelming odds against hordes of enemies—

these elements form the core gameplay of Helldivers.

The world-building and background incorporate humor amidst the excitement, and the atmosphere is enhanced by playing as a Helldiver loyal to Super-Earth.

Scenes of charging toward insects and cyborgs while shouting for freedom and democracy can be truly exhilarating.

Of course, the epic background music further enhances the feeling of being a hero.

These immersive features and multifaceted designs combine to create an excellent game.

Bronie’s operational plan for this game is to run it as a long-term online title.

The game revolves around the war unfolding on Super-Earth, with continuous military upgrades and player actions influencing the battle situation and storyline. More enemy races will be added later.

For example, the Antimatter Legion or the even more terrifying spawning Propagation Swarm.

The Illuminate need no introduction; a new folder has been created, and they will be added in future updates along with new Illuminate equipment.

Even more humorously, when the Illuminate first appeared to Super-Earth, they were actually quite peaceful, only attempting to persuade Super-Earth to cease its war against the cyborgs and insectoids.

Then, after several updates, Bronie planned to have the official narrative proclaim that the Illuminate possessed terrifying planet-destroying weapons and were the enemy of Super-Earth.

Looking at Bronie’s outline and the game’s various settings, Bronya felt a pang of regret for coming to the moon.

“So, we players are actually the biggest villains in this game? And the Helldivers we control are just elite cannon fodder in the war?”

“Hehehe, you figured it out~”

Bronie laughed smugly upon seeing Bronya’s slightly shocked expression. This kind of setup usually surprised Bronya, a seasoned player.

After all, in many space war games, the protagonist is simply a clone who can continuously upload self-awareness and resurrect after dying.

But in Bronie’s Helldiver game, the background is incredibly brutal.

Even more absurd is the final clause in the Helldiver contracts.

Standing within fifteen meters of the contract for even one second automatically constitutes signing a Helldiver employment contract.

Even more ridiculous, when Super-Earth delivers baby clothes to civilians, Helldiver contracts are embroidered inside the linings, automatically conscripting the babies when they turn sixteen.

It is fair to say that Bronie’s design for this Super-Earth is somewhat extreme.

“But the game mode is quite interesting. Is Bronie only planning to make it PvE? Didn’t she consider including Honkai Beasts?”

“Honkai Beasts are a good suggestion, and we can consider adding them later. However, as purely human enemies, the storyline would be more monotonous and less ironic than with the Illuminate.”

“Welt will definitely cry if he sees Bronie making such a fuss about America!”

“Then I’m going to enjoy watching Old Yang’s tears!”

Bronya seemed even happier. Bronya felt her persuasion had not been very successful.

However, to some extent, Bronie’s design for this Super-Earth is indeed a topic worth discussing for players, prompting them to think about the future of contemporary society.

However, if one hopes to change anything through a game, that is unlikely to happen in the short term.

Unless Bronya can subtly guide players to think through the game, perhaps something can change.

At the very least, America’s poor pretexts for declaring war and its domineering actions should be toned down.

Bronya wondered how much of a role Welt played in this matter.

“The design of the space fleet, planetary environments, and high-difficulty environmental variables—these are all your responsibility. There’s an outline, but if you have any novel ideas, you can try adding them. If the result isn’t good, I’ll remove them.”

Bronya intended to give herself ample room to maneuver, but while holding the design book, she flipped to the support weapons section.

“What about this mech? Can Bronya participate in the design?”

“Do you want to include Arahato?”

Seeing Bronya’s expression, Bronie immediately guessed what she was thinking.

Bronya tried to explain how impressive Arahato was and how exciting Gurren Lagann was, suggesting that adding it to the battlefield would guarantee victory.

“Helldivers are consumables. Would you provide consumables with top-tier equipment? Arahato is far too advanced. Look at these reconnaissance vehicles—they are not issued frequently, so deploying Arahato does not fit the game’s design.”

Bronie pulled out a rudimentary mech, with a handgun in its left hand and rocket launchers in its right. Its cumbersome legs and heavy armor made it cheap and practical.

“It feels even worse than Anti-Entropy’s Titans…” Bronya scoffed.

“Exactly—that’s the intended effect. Of course, you can add hidden missions on certain planets. For example, the Arahato currently under development can be piloted for a limited time. This provides players with satisfaction without affecting balance.”

A difficult problem, once solved, grants a sense of accomplishment and then an opportunity to dominate.

This is a common form of positive feedback.

Hopefully, Bronya will not forget the true essence of the game.

It is not about lengthy explanations or extreme realism; it is about pure enjoyment.

Difficulty, effort, victory, and achievement.

“Every time Bronya lets Kiana play part of the game, her feedback is always very simple. Sometimes Bronya wonders whether the problem lies with the game or with Kiana.”

“Shouldn’t we consider Kiana’s special constitution?”

“I almost forgot!”

Seeing Bronya’s sudden realization, Bronie did not know what to say. She could only conclude that Kiana’s feedback was overly simplistic.

If not for the reminder, Bronya might have remained unaware.

...

Life on the moon gradually returned to normal. Ellie occasionally went to Phosphorus and Griseo to assist with construction and cultural dissemination.

The Flamechasers had all heard that Bronie possessed the ability to project everyone’s consciousness onto Phosphorus, so they lined up to visit Griseo and Phosphorus.

Griseo, however, was clearly bewildered.

She woke up to find the Herrscher of Finality as a teammate!

Her deceased teammates had also been revived by Finality!

They were now working for Bronie, and although she had not explicitly assigned tasks, everyone contributed diligently to the growth of civilization.

For example, Su worked as a doctor, writing numerous papers on treating Honkai, while Kevin acted as an instructor, training qualified Valkyries for Schicksal.

Aponia, on the other hand, was relatively free. After receiving another gentle embrace from Aponia, Griseo felt she should do something for Bronie.

Griseo then came across the games Bronie had created.

The games were filled with vibrant colors, and diverse dreams and fantasies permeated its world, leading Griseo to realize that she and Bronie shared many similarities!

Beyond the game, there were also anime and manga, which reminded Griseo of the time she drew comics for Nuwa as a child.

Thus, in her spare time while helping with Phosphorus’s development, Griseo gathered the courage to contact Bronie.

“Hey, I knew it was a strange account calling me from space. I didn’t expect it to be little Griseo. Although this is our first meeting, I had you create quite a few game designs for me in Elysian Realm!"

Bronie’s life was quite comfortable, spending free time chatting with Ellie and making games. She had not expected Griseo to contact her so soon.

Is something wrong in Phosphorus?

“Sister Bronie… you have many of Ellie’s colors, and Ellie often has your colors too…” Griseo felt a mix of emotions, yet inspired still flowed.

Ah, her damn creative urge! She absolutely can't let Bronie and Ellie find out she wants to draw doujinshi about them!

“Ellie and I have already made a lifelong promise. Once Phosphorus’s work is finished, you must attend our wedding. So, is there something you need? Why did you suddenly contact me?”

“I wanted to express my gratitude to Bronie for everything she has done.”

The Flamechasers, more or less, each expressed their thanks in their own ways.

Eden produced a vinyl record and planned to hold a concert to celebrate Bronie. Although Bronie felt awkward, she accepted the gesture.

Others expressed their gratitude differently, but the most amusing was likely Kosma.

He assembled a model of Gurren Lagann for Bronie and used his connections to recreate various tokusatsu shows from the previous civilization, giving Bronie plenty to watch.

Among the Flamechasers, only Griseo, the shy girl, remained.

“Oh? What surprise does little Griseo have for me?”

Bronie immediately became expectant.

Griseo hesitated slightly, then took out a canvas.

“Bronie’s colors are very complex. After experiencing the game, I can feel even more of the complexity within it…”

More precisely, chaos.

It felt as though many individuals were blended together.

However, after seeing Bronie, Griseo’s doubts disappeared.

Bronie carried the colors of many people, and her original colors were indistinct, like someone with a split personality.

According to Ellie’s description, Bronie had become Finality and also possessed aspects of the Herrscher of Dominance, meaning that this might be a manifestation of the power of Herrscher of Dominance?

“Throughout life, people wear different masks when facing different situations. When those situations become complex enough, people gradually take on more colors. However, the portrait you prepared for me could be a little more erotic.”

Bronie leaned closer to the screen, carefully examining the artwork Griseo presented.

Undoubtedly, this was clearly Griseo’s perception of her.

Griseo’s artwork was compelling and easily evoked empathy.

“Huh?” Griseo felt like she misheard something.

“Hehehe, sometimes a bit of seduction better showcase my physical charm. It’s a pity little Griseo  doesn't quite understand yet. I'm glad of Griseo's unique gift.”

Watching Griseo pick up her paintbrush again, Bronie began searching through files on her computer containing numerous anime production plans.

“By the way, have you seen Gurren Lagann? Have you seen Puella Magi Madoka Magica?”

Upon hearing these titles, Griseo’s expression became subtle.

“Magical girls… they can be portrayed like that… Brownie—no, Bronie—is very creative…”

“That’s thanks to Ellie. But this time, it’s not about magical girls. It’s something like Gurren Lagann. Would you be interested in participating in its production? It’s an anime full of passion and friendship; I think you will like it.”

Perhaps it would also serve as good practice for Griseo.

“The name is…”

“Kill la Kill. The story of an alien fibrous life form invading Earth…”

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