March 22, 2017 – Outskirts of Tianqiong City.
Just like yesterday, Kiana was training in her dreams with Fu Hua’s help.
Time moved differently here—an hour of training in the dreamscape might only equate to a minute in the real world. Even though it was all happening in a dream, the muscle memory built up through repeated practice would persist even after waking, giving the trainee significant improvement.
But today, Kiana could clearly tell that something about the Fu Hua before her felt different.
“Class monitor… did something happen?”
Fu Hua looked down at her own body, which flickered in and out like a poor internet connection. After a moment of thought, she came to a conclusion.
“Kiana, the way I exist right now is by storing my consciousness within a single feather of Fenghuang Down. If my body is flickering like this… it means someone is using Fenghuang Down and recalling the feathers.”
“The reason each feather of Fenghuang Down can exist in the first place is that Fenghuang Down itself continuously supplies them with energy. As storage vessels for consciousness, they consume energy every moment they exist. When the wielder of Fenghuang Down wants to recall a feather, they will inevitably cut off its energy supply. So the end result is… the memories or consciousness within that feather will disappear completely…”
Kiana’s heart tightened:
“Then Class Monitor, doesn’t that mean you’re…”
Fu Hua smiled calmly:
“Don’t worry, Kiana. At least until you’re fully capable of suppressing the Herrscher’s consciousness on your own, I won’t disappear. But… to make sure I can still help you when it really counts, I’ll be entering a temporary hibernation over the next few days.”
“Mm… so like… power-saving mode?”
“You could think of it that way. Kiana, your mastery of the Taixu Sword Qi still isn’t quite there yet. Since I won’t be able to guide you in person, I suggest you make a trip to Mount Taixu. I lived there for a very long time. Although my memories of that period are incomplete now, I vaguely recall that I should have left something behind there.”
Kiana scratched her head:
“Mount Taixu… I remember… it’s in the eastern part of Shenzhou, right? But Tianqiong City, where we are now, is in the southwest. Even though Schicksal headquarters is in chaos right now, if I tried to make my way to Mount Taixu on foot from Tianqiong City… I’d probably get spotted by Schicksal before I even got there.”
“That’s why you’ll need someone else’s help. Both Anti-Entropy and World Serpent have branches in major cities across Shenzhou. If you don’t go out of your way to stay hidden, it shouldn’t be too hard for them to notice you. The final choice is yours.”
Kiana thought for a moment:
“I caused such a big scene in Tianqiong City before—Otto probably left eyes and ears there, so I can’t go back…”
“Sigh… I really am… still so good at causing trouble for others…”
A bitter smile crossed Kiana’s face as her figure faded into the night.
March 29 – Haeyuan City.
Tesla burst into the room in a flurry.
“Alright, I understand. Ryoma, thank you for your hard work. Keep observing and report back to me if anything new comes up…”
Inside the room, Welt Yang had just finished his communication when he saw Tesla’s excited expression.
“What’s going on, Tesla?”
“We’ve got news about Kiana—and she reached out to us first. We should seize this opportunity immediately… Oh, and judging by your face, whatever Ryoma told you just now must be pretty important too.”
After a moment of thought, Welt looked at Tesla:
“It looks like we’ll need to gather everyone again…”
A while later, in the conference room of Haeyuan City, Einstein, Tesla, Welt Yang, Bronya, Seele, and Cocolia were all assembled once more.
“Mr. Welt… is there news about Sister Mei?”
Welt nodded gently:
“Not just Mei—there’s news about Kiana as well. Everyone, please stay calm. Let’s have Einstein go over the recent intel we’ve gathered one by one.”
Einstein looked around the room and spoke slowly:
“Since we arrived at Haeyuan City, the three most important pieces of news are as follows:
First, regarding Mei’s whereabouts. After Bronya and Seele safely returned to the intrinsic world, we continued monitoring the Sea of Quanta. That’s when we discovered the message left by Miss Enoxia. Miss Mei is safe and sound—it’s just that Miss Enoxia apparently proposed some condition that led her to join World Serpent.”
“World Serpent, huh… But if Enoxia is involved, even though we don’t know what her goal is, at least Sister Mei’s safety shouldn’t be a concern.”
“Indeed. Although Miss Enoxia’s position has always been unclear, she’s been more of an ally than an enemy. After all, the Herrscher of Corruption’s authority is far too terrifying for Anti-Entropy, whose main combat force consists of mechs. If she wanted to oppose us, there’d be no need for her to go through such roundabout means.”
“Second, just a short while ago, Dr. Tesla received word that Kiana had proactively contacted our Anti-Entropy branch in Shenzhou. She needs our help now. According to the local personnel, Kiana was cautious and didn’t specify her exact purpose.”
“Even that idiot Kiana… after going through something like that, she’d change a lot too…”
“Third, Raiden Ryoma sent word that he’s confirmed the location where Reina is being held. We’ve instructed him to hold position for now.”
Reina —in this timeline, after the large-scale Honkai eruption in Nagazora City in 2014, she was a Judgement-class Honkai beast born from Raiden Mei. During the battle at Schicksal headquarters a few dozen days ago, she faced off against Fu Hua and fell into a hallucination caused by Fenghuang Down. After coming to her senses, she unfortunately ran into Durandal. Following a brief exchange, she was captured alive before Himeko could unleash her full-powered strike against the Herrscher of Ice.
After the Schicksal headquarters battle concluded, Otto had her transferred. While Anti-Entropy was searching for Kiana in Tianqiong City, Raiden Ryoma had been investigating Reina’s whereabouts, and he’d finally made progress.
Bronya recalled the time she spent with Mei, Kiana, and Reina back at St. Freya Academy. Although she hadn’t spent much time with Reina, she understood that as a companion Honkai beast, Reina’s attitude toward her depended entirely on her relationship with Mei—but at the very least, Bronya didn’t dislike her.
From a rational standpoint, if they could rescue Reina, her combat strength as a Judgement-class Honkai beast would definitely prove useful. And if she remained in Otto’s hands, he would most likely use her as a hostage when the time came, to further his own hidden agenda.
“So, to sum it up, our next step is to split up. Let’s discuss the personnel arrangements for each team.”
After some discussion, Theresa and Bronya—who were more familiar with Kiana—would take the Hyperion to rendezvous with her. Welt Yang, along with Tesla and Einstein, would link up with Raiden Ryoma. Cocolia and her children would stay behind to guard Haeyuan City.
Two hours later, the fully inspected Hyperion lifted off from Haeyuan City’s spaceport and soared back into the sky…
