books44 Chapter 191 Reunion? But it doesn't seem pleasant.
Chapter 191 Reunion? But it doesn't seem pleasant.
While the claim was to extract more intelligence, Tesla actually didn't get much information from empty promises.
She only learned from Kong that the guy she called "teacher" had gathered the people here, and even the adults in those nests were rescued bit by bit from the ruins of Changkong City by that teacher.
The reason why they didn't just take them away directly was because the teacher didn't have a way to take everyone away at once, and even if they did, where they would live would become another problem.
Although governments would surely take in refugees like themselves once they identified themselves, the teacher couldn't fully trust the government for some reason, so the matter was put on hold.
So she planned to buy a deserted island in an unknown country to settle the people in the nest there, and this was even completed not long ago.
Just when everything was going smoothly, the Great Collapse broke out. At that time, that person happened to be in the nest visiting the child. Thanks to her desperate protection, the nest was not destroyed by the Honkai beast tide.
But a piece of bad news still came from afar: the small island that she had devoted most of her life to had sunk forever in this great collapse.
Kong still remembers her teacher pacing around the room, muttering that everything was fine, then collapsing to the ground, rolling around and wailing, and finally running out of the room like a madman, shouting loudly at the sea.
"No matter the cost, humanity will surely defeat the Honkai."
At the same time, Mei, who was bringing people back, overheard this hilarious scene. Of course, Mei was accompanied by the teacher she had mentioned in the video—Raven.
"I remember we agreed not to tell anyone about this!"
The raven's resentful cry made Sora realize that the person they were talking about had returned.
"Ah! It's the teacher!"
As she spoke, Kong ran over happily, and Raven gently hugged her and stroked her hair.
Seeing this, Tesla realized that he no longer needed to guess who the teacher he was talking about was. Raven's full name was Natasha Ciora, and she was also a member of World Serpent. This also explained why the captain knew about this place, since this was the territory of World Serpent's executives.
As for why Tesla knew Raven, it was because Mei and Rita had met her during their investigation in Sky City.
It's said that Rita hates her to the core, and Mei's first impression of her wasn't good either. It's just unexpected that someone like her would take in these people and children in Changkong City. Is it out of kindness? Or is there some other reason?
Tesla hesitated to speak about these issues because there were children present, and Raven realized that it wasn't appropriate to discuss them with Sora there, so she asked Raven to leave first.
Seeing that Kong had left, Tesla turned his gaze to Raven, who looked somewhat displeased, and asked, "Is there something special about these children? Otherwise, even if they distrust governments, it's still much better than being in this dangerous place. Don't tell us those kinds of lies meant to fool children."
"That's true. I don't know how much you've learned from the captain, but what I want to say is that these children are all incompletely awakened Stigmata. At this stage, they can only survive in places with relatively high Honkai energy concentrations. Otherwise, the unstable Stigmata could very well take their lives."
"Are the incomplete awakeners of the Stigmata, meaning they are all people whose awakening process was interrupted for unknown reasons halfway through?"
"You could say that's how it works. That's what Jackal told me back then, so I could better understand the situation."
"So, these children are all experimental subjects of your World Serpent?"
"How could that be! Don't think of me as that Jackal guy!" Raven quickly retorted. "I only took in these children out of personal compassion. In fact, many of the adults here were people I asked to come and help take care of these children by using my connections in the World Serpent. Do you know how much effort I put in to prevent these children from becoming test subjects and to bring these people here!"
"Who knows? You can know a person's face but not their heart. How can we know if what you say is just a facade?"
"Think what you want, it's none of my business."
"Let's put those aside for now. The important thing is, what about Kiana?" Mei voiced her question.
"She's outside with the children right now. You can go out if you want to find her."
Upon hearing Raven's words, Mei was overjoyed and immediately went out. Although it had only been a few months since she last saw Raven, it felt like an eternity.
What were Mei's feelings at that moment? She herself didn't know. Kiana's dazzling silver hair in the sunlight was like bright moonlight in the dark night.
Mei covered her mouth and carefully moved towards Kiana, fearing it was just her imagination until her fingertips touched that familiar warmth, which put her at ease.
She suddenly pulled the person in front of her into her arms, while Kiana was at a loss, not knowing where to put her hands. She hesitated to hug him, and ended up standing there awkwardly.
Seeing this, the children nearby wisely left, leaving the place to the two of them. After a long while, Mei finally calmed down, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and let go of his hand.
Kiana, it's been a long time!
"Yeah, it's been a long time, Mei."
Mei noticed that Kiana had matured a lot in the few months she hadn't seen her, becoming much more composed than the lively and impulsive girl she remembered.
"You've had a tough time these past few months," Mei said with concern. "Kiana, don't join World Serpent. It's not too late to quit now. Let's go home... okay?"
“Home…” Kiana repeated, “Yes, home is where Mei and everyone else are.”
"That's right, so..."
"So I'm sorry, now is not the time to go home," Kiana interrupted Mei. "Don't rush to persuade me, can you let me finish what I have to say?"
Looking at Kiana's pleading face, Mei hesitated, her mouth agape, unsure of what to say, and finally fell silent.
Kiana continued, "Listen to me, the World Serpent's Stigmata Project is not as simple as we imagine. The reason I joined World Serpent at first might have really been because of the captain's persuasion, but after this period of investigation, I found that there seem to be different versions of the Stigmata Project within World Serpent. They have been distributed to individual officers who are suitable to carry them out. In order to figure out these things, I think it is necessary for me to continue to infiltrate World Serpent."
"But wouldn't it be better to leave these to professional spies to infiltrate? Why... why do you have to do it yourself?" Mei choked up.
"Of course, besides that reason, I have another reason why I need to stay inside World Serpent." Kiana said with a wry smile, "The consciousness of the Herrscher of the Void has not completely died out. My current condition relies on a new medicine that World Serpent developed specifically for me. Moreover, my body is getting worse and worse due to the erosion of the Herrscher's core. I have lost my sense of touch and pain. According to Jackal, my sense of taste will also disappear soon."
"Then why did you come here in the first place! To let that jackal heal you!"
"That's because I had a reason to come."
"What reason?"
Kiana hesitated, unsure whether she should speak or not. Just as she was wavering, the captain appeared, along with Kevin, who had returned from Africa.
"Because this is related to whether her body can recover," Kevin said.
"real?!"
Mei was overjoyed, but Kevin's words ruthlessly shattered her illusion the next second.
"But her purpose in coming here was not to heal her body."
"Why...why?" Mei asked, her lips pale and trembling.
"..."
Kevin remained silent. Whether it was because the sight of Mei's resemblance to her stirred his emotions or for some other reason, Kevin refused to answer Mei's question. In the end, it was only when the captain saw that Mei was about to lose control that he told her the truth.
It turns out that because Kiana's Herrscher core was activated, she is now constantly absorbing Honkai energy from the air to modify her body. However, because Kiana instinctively rejects the fact that she has become a Herrscher, this modification eventually turns into corruption.
If it were only the Second Herrscher Core and the Tranquil Gem, Kiana's resistance would be able to withstand it. However, Kiana now possesses three Herrscher Cores, including the Conqueror Gem, which is far beyond Kiana's limits.
In addition, before joining the World Serpent and having her body treated, Kiana was pushing her body to its limits almost every day while dealing with the Honkai-related events in Sky City.
This has led to Kiana's body becoming increasingly vulnerable, and even now, with the help of World Serpent and effective treatment, it only slows down the rate of decay. Saving Kiana is simple: just remove one of the gems from her body.
However, Kiana's body no longer allows her to undergo the core removal surgery, so there is only one solution facing Kiana: to make Mei a Herrscher again.
Only in this way will the Conquest Gem within Kiana's body naturally dissipate as Mei becomes a Herrscher and condenses the Herrscher core, because only one container can exist to hold the same authority.
Mei is a Herrscher chosen by the Honkai, and the Imaginary Singularity has long been imprinted within her. No matter how Mei tries to escape, she will eventually become a Herrscher. The Honkai energy accumulation in Changkong City this time is actually Honkai energy prepared by the Honkai so that Mei can become a Herrscher again.
Why was it in Changkong City instead of Tianqiong City where Mei was at the time? This is because Changkong City was where Mei first became a Herrscher, and it was also the starting point of everything for them. The Honkai that broke out in Changkong City successfully opened a channel connecting to the imaginary space, allowing Mei to be chosen as a Herrscher.
The passage still exists, only it was forced to close because it lost its function, but the Honkai energy within it has actually been present and has been accumulating. The reason it was observed this time is because the Honkai energy inside had reached the point of overflowing, so Kevin chose to cooperate with Schicksal, using the core of his Second Divine Key and Schicksal's Second Divine Key to artificially open the passage and guide the Honkai energy out.
Otherwise, we can only wait for the Honkai energy to completely burst out and break through the closed "door," at which point the impact will be far more than just Changkong City.
Of course, Mei could choose not to become a Herrscher, but the price would be that Kiana would have to absorb the Honkai energy originally prepared for Mei. The result is predictable: being completely controlled by the Herrscher's consciousness would be the least of her worries; the most likely outcome would be that Kiana's body would be completely reduced to ashes due to the inability to withstand the massive amount of Honkai energy.
At that point, Kevin will have no choice but to absorb the remaining Honkai energy. Kevin will then fully recover his strength, and the world will completely lose its chance to fight against the Stigmata Project.
To be honest, Mei couldn't accept either outcome, especially the idea of Kiana sacrificing herself again to save her own life. Mei absolutely wouldn't allow that!
So Mei agreed without a second thought, which immediately alarmed Kiana. She had already prepared herself to sacrifice herself so that Mei wouldn't become a Herrscher again.
After all, no one can guarantee that Mei will be able to regain her human consciousness this time. Her own body is already failing. Rather than gambling that Mei will not be devoured by the Herrscher consciousness, it is better to let her make the most of her remaining strength. Mei only needs to focus on guarding the beast tide and waiting for things to end.
Upon hearing this, Mei was instantly enraged. What she least wanted to see was Kiana disregarding her own safety and helping others. Kiana's behavior had undoubtedly crossed Mei's line.
"You've always been like this! Even when you're on the verge of collapse, you insist on hiding your injuries and secretly enduring the pain. Do you even know how I feel?!"
Mei finally snapped, leaving Kiana speechless as she watched Mei become hysterical with anger.
She knew she had stepped on a landmine, and if she didn't apologize quickly, the two of them might never be able to go back to how they were before.
"I... but I just wanted to save you..."
Oh no! Kiana realized she had said the wrong thing the instant the words left her mouth, but words spoken are like water spilled on the ground. Before Kiana could even apologize, Mei, who had lost her temper, was already in front of Kiana.
"Snapped!"
A crisp slap rang out, and Kiana touched her slapped face blankly, looking at Mei with a bewildered expression.
His expression seemed to say, "Why did you hit me?", which made Mei furious.
"Just keep living with your idiotic ideals, you moron!"
After saying that, Mei left without looking back, followed by Kevin. Kiana was left standing there, stunned, until the captain came over and gently patted her shoulder, at which point Kiana began to react.
"Captain, I misspoke! I clearly... clearly didn't mean to say that! I... um!"
Finally, Kiana broke down and buried her face in the captain's arms, crying. Seeing this, the captain didn't say anything, but just silently let Kiana cry in his arms.
And so, Kiana's cries echoed across the open space for a long, long time...