Chen Ran accompanied Bronya in silence for an entire night.
He didn't know what the girl was thinking after learning of her betrayal, nor could he comfort this girl who once served the Silver Wolf of the Urals.
Even though Wendy had brought back two servings of ice cream, one purple sweet potato pudding and the other blueberry, Bronya didn't want any.
She just stared blankly as the sky changed from dark to light.
Wendy and Raiden Mei had gone back; at this time, they needed more energy.
Chen Ran was worried that Bronya might do something unnecessary, so he stayed here to keep watch.
However, he wouldn't torture himself.
The boy propped up Raiden Mei's latest advanced gaming console, regardless of whether the girl agreed or not, plugged it into the TV, and started playing with the controller.
While Bronya sat in silence for the entire night, he played the game.
"Ah, I'm so tired. Bronya, do you want to play?"
Chen Ran invited the girl.
Bronya looked at the screen and nodded.
When Wendy and Raiden Mei arrived the next day, they saw this scene:
Chen Ran had unknowingly fallen asleep, his head resting on Bronya's shoulder.
Meanwhile, Bronya, expressionless, held Chen Ran's controller, challenging higher game scores.
Although Bronya still appeared expressionless, the dark circles under her eyes revealed that she hadn't rested at all throughout the night.
Raiden Mei couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time: "You two didn't play games all night, did you?"
Wendy blinked, a hint of envy in her eyes.
She wanted to play too.
To be honest, this completely overturned Raiden Mei's expectations.
In Chen Ran's words, whether it was Schicksal or Anti-Entropy, both were frontline organizations fighting against Honkai. These two organizations had advanced technology and personnel, gathering the world's top talents.
For example, Wendy, who would get a stomachache from eating ice cream without restraint.
For example, Bronya, who had spent the entire night playing games with Chen Ran.
Indeed, if the world relied on the girl to be saved, it would be doomed.
As Raiden Mei was lost in thought, she saw Wendy somehow find another controller and start playing online under Bronya's guidance.
Raiden Mei shook her head with a smile, helping Chen Ran onto the sofa.
"I'll go outside to buy some breakfast."
Now, she wasn't the big Miss of the Raiden family, so there were no dedicated staff to deliver breakfast. But she wasn't the Herrscher of Food either, so she couldn't cook.
Just as she opened her mouth, Wendy alertly said, "No, it's dangerous if no one protects you."
"What should we do then?"
Wendy looked reluctantly at the gaming console and said, "I'll go with you."
It was clear that she was very unwilling to say this.
"Really, you're acting like a child," Raiden Mei said with a smile, "No need to trouble yourself; there should still be some ingredients at home. I'll try to cook myself."
Wendy sighed in relief.
Great, she wouldn't have to endure the pain of not playing games.
…
…
"Prepare salt, lemon, soy sauce, shrimp, and other ingredients. Clean the mushrooms, asparagus, and bell peppers with water, then cut them with a knife."
"Remove the shrimp heads and shells, take out the shrimp veins, and make some cuts on the shrimp meat to shape it. … Ah!"
Raiden Mei cried out in pain as her finger was cut.
The wound wasn't deep, but the blood flowing out was quite alarming.
"Cooking isn't done like this, big Miss."
Chen Ran had somehow appeared at the kitchen door. Seeing Raiden Mei's finger, he said, "You should treat the wound first; it would be troublesome if you get tetanus."
Raiden Mei instinctively retorted, "My kitchen knives are very clean."
"But you just used them to cut vegetables."
He brought over some alcohol and a band-aid from somewhere.
As the alcohol was poured, Raiden Mei instinctively gasped.
Tears welled up in her eyes: "It hurts."
"Does Hokushin's swordsmanship also fear pain?"
Chen Ran teased her while helping to treat her wound.
Mei turned her face away and huffed, "Why don't you try it? You'll know how it feels."
Chen Ran recalled his memories from the ocean branch.
He shivered involuntarily: "I think I'll pass."
Raiden Mei looked at Chen Ran, her eyes filled with complexity.
From childhood to now, apart from her father, she had never been so intimately close to any other male.
She suppressed her unusual thoughts and asked, "What about Bronya? How do you plan to handle her?"
"That's not something I can decide."
Chen Ran casually replied, "You should know, I'm just a worker; there are people above me who make the decisions."
After treating Raiden Mei's wound, he began to handle the ingredients.
Raiden Mei couldn't help but ask, "Will she die?"
"Do you care?"
"She's a pitiful person too."
Although Raiden Mei didn't know Bronya's experiences, seeing her lifeless eyes from last night made Mei feel a pang of heartache.
She understood what those eyes represented; it was the collapse of faith.
In comparison, Raiden Mei felt that Bronya's previous obstruction of them seemed trivial.
Chen Ran skillfully handled the dishes and said lightly, "Don't worry, she won't die."
"Schicksal will consider Wendy's feelings; Wendy gets along well with Bronya."
At this time, there hadn't been the Gem of Desire injection experiment at the ocean branch. Although Wendy hadn't passed the A-level Valkyrie assessment yet, she was already hailed as Schicksal's future fourth S-level Valkyrie.
It was only now that Chen Ran understood how terrifying the privileges of an S-level Valkyrie in Schicksal were.
Schicksal's largest Valkyrie squad, Immortal Blades, had over three hundred members, divided into six teams, each equipped with technical, logistical, weapon maintenance, and intelligence personnel, all serving Durandal.
Even Rita herself was in Immortal Blades because of Durandal.
Now, Wendy's displayed talent, while slightly inferior to Durandal, was still impressive.
This meant that any reasonable suggestion made by Wendy would receive a respectful response from Schicksal.
However, for Schicksal itself, Bronya was of no importance at all.
In this situation, having Bronya join Schicksal wouldn't be a problem at all.
Raiden Mei didn't know this, but upon hearing Chen Ran's words, she felt a bit relieved.
She watched the boy start pouring oil into the pot and couldn't help but say, "Then… can I join Schicksal?"
"Of course, where else would you go?"
Chen Ran sprinkled some salt and began stir-frying the ingredients.
The sizzling sound of oil and the moisture from the vegetables began to fill the air, and the enticing aroma made Raiden Mei frown.
She lived in the extreme east and was used to eating light dishes.
She wasn't accustomed to Chen Ran's heavy oil and salt.
Chen Ran noticed her discomfort.
He smiled and said, "Training in Schicksal is very physically demanding, so oil and salt are actually essential. Although eating too much might not be healthy, at least it keeps you from being hungry."
"Speaking of which, since you're considering joining Schicksal, you shouldn't worry about health."
Raiden Mei somewhat tactfully said, "I hadn't thought about that; it's just… it seems like you're burning it a bit."
Chen Ran: "…"
As the unappetizing dishes came out one after another, the four of them began to enjoy the food at the table.
To say they enjoyed it wouldn't be accurate; it was more like a simple meal.
Raiden Mei tactfully expressed, "I'll handle the cooking from now on; I'll try my best to do well."
Although she had never cooked before, she knew that the Shenzhou-style stir-fried dishes didn't suit her taste.
Mei even placed a cup of plain water in front of her, needing to wash off the oil before each bite. It was still morning, and her stomach couldn't handle greasy dishes.
Chen Ran didn't mind Raiden Mei's picky nature.
After all, she was a big Miss; being picky was to be expected.
As long as Wendy was happily eating on the side, that was enough.
Generally speaking, if the amount of oil in the dishes was sufficient, it wouldn't be easy to make them taste bad. Of course, more oil didn't necessarily mean they would taste good, but at least they were passable.
Wendy wasn't picky about Chen Ran's cooking.
This wasn't because the extreme east branch lacked delicious food, but because she was easily satisfied.
On the side, Bronya seemed to have ignited her competitive spirit and began to compete with Wendy over who could eat more.
Seeing this, Chen Ran couldn't help but smile.
They were still just kids.
…
…
After finishing her meal, Bronya showed obvious signs of fatigue.
Eating such oily dishes indeed made one drowsy. Not to mention that the staple food in the extreme east was rice; with high blood sugar, the effect was no different from sleeping pills.
She had already stayed up all night, and she appeared listless.
The girl's eyes were hazy, while Wendy took her back to the original room and arranged for her to sleep.
Raiden Mei pondered: "So you did it on purpose?"
"Did what on purpose?"
"You actually don't know how to handle Bronya, so you wanted to keep her in a state of fatigue, allowing her to relax and create an illusion of home."
She paused and said, "I'm starting to believe you're a biology expert."
She didn't understand the specific theories, but in terms of position, they should be enemies with Bronya.
But it seemed that Bronya now was nothing like an enemy; she resembled a lovable doll.
Chen Ran was speechless and shook his head: "I wouldn't put my mind to that."
"There's no need."
The high-calorie dishes he made were simply what he knew how to cook.
Once Bronya realized she had been betrayed, Chen Ran had already given up on calculating and controlling her.
After all, the advantage of being a prophet in the plot allowed him to be this reckless.
If even this girl could be influenced by Mei, he didn't believe that after doing so much, Bronya wouldn't be moved.
The fact that he could fall asleep leaning on Bronya already spoke volumes.
On the other side, Wendy had drawn the curtains in Bronya's room and tucked the girl in with a blanket.
Right now, she couldn't leave; after all, Bronya was still an enemy, and there was a possibility of escape.
So, she could only watch as Bronya slowly drifted into sleep.
At first, the girl was watching with great interest, but now she was starting to feel a bit bored.
Her personality was inherently restless, and soon her gaze fell on the game console.
"If I play for a while, it should be fine, right?"
The girl blinked her eyes and decisively picked up the game console.
Just as she turned it on, she saw Chen Ran walk in.
She instinctively hid it behind her: "I wasn't trying to slack off."
Chen Ran smiled: "Are you learning this from Theresa?"
When Theresa was caught slacking, she would also cover her ears and steal a bell.
Wendy blinked, realizing she couldn't hide anymore, and her face instinctively flushed.
But upon hearing the name 'Theresa', she curiously asked, "Chen Ran, are you very familiar with Teacher Theresa?"
"After all, we're colleagues. I wouldn't say we're close, but I've heard the name, haven't I?"
He blinked: "Shall we go together?"
"Oh, I'm fine with that, but don't you have to keep an eye on Raiden Mei?" Wendy couldn't help but say.
Today's Mei didn't need to go to Senba Academy.
Chen Ran tugged at the corner of his mouth and said, "That's not necessary because Kiana is here too."
Sure enough, Wendy heard a familiar voice: "Wow, it's a new game! I want to play too!"
…
…
When Bronya woke up, she found her room filled with people.
Wendy and Kiana were sitting in front of the game console, intensely playing a game.
Raiden Mei was beside them, asking Chen Ran questions about Schicksal and Anti-Entropy.
Even though they were all in the same room, they were deliberately keeping their voices low, trying not to make noise so that Bronya could sleep peacefully.
She had a dream.
The content of the dream was already a bit hazy, but in the dream, she and they had become comrades, all standing on the front lines against the Honkai.
Similarly, her comrades included many more people, including Seele and the Anti-Entropy doctors she had only met once.
Schicksal and Anti-Entropy had put aside their grudges, and everyone was fighting for a better future.
In that dream, she inherited the Herrscher Core and the will of the Anti-Entropy Alliance Leader.
But when she woke up, all of that became vague.
Her eyes held a hint of contemplation.
The girl began to wonder if what she was doing now was truly the right thing.
If Seele knew, would she agree? Or would she see her as a monster again?
The girl's gaze slightly lowered, and she finally made up her mind.
"Bronya knows where the Honkai Energy reactor is located."
…
…
Meanwhile.
Senba Academy.
Today was a holiday for the academy, but the principal of Senba Academy was anxious and uneasy.
He was hosting a new board member.
The woman in front of him, named Cocolia, had already taken control of all the assets of ME Corp, including shares in Senba Academy.
"This place is nice."
She commented.
The principal nodded and bowed: "It is my honor to satisfy the board member; I will do even better and provide the board with impressive financial reports."
Cocolia's lips curled into a smile: "That's not necessary."
"Let's get started."
A gunshot rang out, breaking the silence of the academy.
Cocolia put away the gun as if nothing had happened.
And the principal had already collapsed in a pool of blood.
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