But having taken the first step, the subsequent progress would surely accelerate...
--------------------------------
Einstein and Tesla showed joy on their faces.
The Sea of Quanta had always been a "forbidden zone" that humanity could not step into.
It was not that human talent could not reach it, but rather that once touched, how could it be utilized?
Geniuses like Schrödinger, once entering the Sea of Quanta, never returned.
Later, Cocolia's actions directly sent her own daughter into the Sea of Quanta, never to meet again.
The intelligence about the Sea of Quanta Project was actually provided by her in hopes of pulling Seele out of it.
In any case, achieving success in the Sea of Quanta was undoubtedly yet another great advance for humanity.
Who knew how many years it would take to completely defeat the Honkai.
"Seele Vollerei, that's the name, right? I ran into her."
The moment Herta opened her mouth, the three were stunned.
"You found her? Then why didn't she come back with you?" Tesla asked in confusion, glancing behind Herta, wanting to see if that little girl was hiding.
"Her condition, her body has completely transformed into a quantum state. Even if I brought her out, we wouldn't see her, and something bad might even happen."
Herta explained.
"Quantum state, huh. Similar to Schrödinger's condition. In that case, it's not surprising." Einstein nodded slightly, realizing.
Unfortunately, that small child had to endure such an environment. Einstein felt regret in her heart.
She did not know exactly what was in the Sea of Quanta, but she understood that its environment must be different from the real world.
For a child, loneliness and strangeness alone were enough to crush them, things even adults could not bear. How could such a small child survive in that kind of environment?
"So, Miss Herta, how goes your investigation into our hypothesis?" Welt asked in a deep voice.
Looking at Welt, Herta answered.
"I did indeed see that big guy in the Sea of Quanta."
"As expected! That guy really did come from the Sea of Quanta." Tesla's expression was excited, nothing thrilled a scholar more than having their hypothesis confirmed.
Seeing Tesla so happy, Herta's doubts were not dispelled.
'Is Godzilla really a creature of the Sea of Quanta?'
According to the theory she had heard from that Archbishop, the Sea of Quanta was an existence that could interact with the Imaginary Tree.
For such an existence to give birth to something as powerful as Godzilla was reasonable… right?
But for some reason, Herta kept her suspicions.
Perhaps this was the common flaw of geniuses. They always looked at things with doubt and the desire to explore.
And with Herta's eyes, she could see that Godzilla was not in a normal quantum state.
Along the way, they had also encountered some quantum shadows, but those shadows only attacked her and Seele, while completely ignoring Godzilla.
One had to know that Seele was also in a quantum state, and even she couldn't avoid them.
Recalling Godzilla's unmatched environmental adaptability, Herta narrowed her eyes, keenly sensing something wrong.
Very, very wrong.
"That girl Bronya is the child Cocolia sent to St. Freya. As far as I know, she and Seele are close. Cocolia also said that if we could reunite them, in this matter, Miss Herta, we'll need your effort. Anti-Entropy will give full support to the research."
Welt's gaze was firm, completely disregarding how much funding the project would consume.
Although profound research into the Sea of Quanta would reward Anti-Entropy with unimaginable benefits, Welt truly wanted to bring that child back.
This was precisely one of the reasons Anti-Entropy was founded!
"Heh, no other help needed. Just don't get in my way." Herta waved her hand indifferently.
Those so-called devices were merely functional in her eyes.
Even though she hadn't studied the Sea of Quanta before, with her genius, as long as she understood a certain structure, building something better than those devices was no problem.
The only issue was raw materials, and though costly, with Anti-Entropy's financial support it wasn't a problem.
Especially since Cocolia, a big spender, had been eating and lodging for free, Anti-Entropy wasn't lacking funds for the time being.
...
Meanwhile, after a brief tremor, inside the Sea of Quanta.
Key of Infinity · Cosmic Juggernaut.
Through this Divine Key that observed countless worlds, Su at this moment felt a bead of cold sweat… for as a fusion warrior, he wouldn't feel such a thing, at least not without external influence.
He widened his eyes in shock.
"…Monster." After a long silence, Su slowly uttered.
In the Previous Era, as fusion warriors fighting for humanity's tomorrow, they had often been called monsters by those who saw them fight.
Indeed, the term carried many meanings. Aside from a few, most used it as praise.
Since the fall of the Previous Era, Su had observed the world, rarely speaking, let alone calling anyone except Kevin such a thing again.
But now, he was saying it again, though not about himself.
After a moment's thought, Su exhaled softly.
"So that's what has stirred the Sea of Quanta lately?"
The Sea of Quanta was vast, even Su could not see all of it. But he was certain that colossal beast was the cause of the disturbance.
Why? Intuition.
Su trusted his intuition. That existence far stronger than Herrschers…
"…Sigh."
Before this, Su had never felt old. But now, he admitted he had aged, even if his appearance hadn't changed.
He thought of taking action, but in the end gave up.
As one who knew the strength of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, he understood clearly the quality of such power.
Thus, as a Flame-Chaser who was not suited for direct combat, what could he do?
Sighing again, Su manipulated the Cosmic Juggernaut, doing his best to conceal his existence.
He could only hope that being would not notice.
Still, since those two little girls could coexist peacefully with that being, perhaps nothing would happen.
"…Hm?"
Suddenly, Su froze, staring blankly toward the direction he had just been observing.
Where had that enormous monster gone?
All at once, a shadow fell over him. A scorching breath swept down. Accustomed to Kevin's chill, Su had to admit this freely radiating heat far exceeded even Kalpas' flames.
He lifted his head slightly, meeting a curious vertical pupil.
It carried the gleam of cold-blooded creatures, yet also the savageness inherent in it.
At that moment, Su felt his blood run backward.
...
After saying farewell to his new friend, Godzilla returned to his home in the Sea of Quanta.
At the front sat a small, cute figure. Two little white legs dangled gently, humming an unknown tune.
For the first time, she felt relief in this oppressive Sea of Quanta.
For the first time, she felt safe.
"Um, why won't you say anything?" After humming for a while, Seele asked softly.
Long ago, she had feared her other self. But after countless lonely, endless years in the Sea of Quanta, her other self had become Seele's spiritual support.
"…What do you want me to say?" After a period of silence, Seele finally heard her other self's voice again.
Hearing that familiar voice, Seele let out a long breath of relief.
Through these years spent with her inner personality, Seele had grown used to her presence. If she really disappeared, Seele truly didn't know what she would do.
"Aren't you happy?" Seele asked timidly.
"Happy? I was almost scared to death!" Inner Seele's tone was fierce, but Seele heard the fear hidden within.
For the first time, this was the first time she had ever heard her other self sound afraid.
"Um, did something happen to you? Can I help?"
"Sure. Just run far away right now."
"Eh?" Seele tilted her head, not understanding.
"As long as you can leave this place, I'll be happy." The inner Seele said these words almost through gritted teeth.
"But, why?" Seele was utterly confused. What's going on here?
Seeing her so puzzled, the inner Seele let out a heavy sigh.
"Don't you realize how terrifying that guy is?"
"You mean Mr. Godzilla?" Seele asked in confusion.
The name Godzilla was something she had learned from Sister Herta.
"Exactly! Haven't you felt how terrifying that guy is? If you keep staying by his side, you'll definitely be eaten alive! You're just his backup food!"
Seele blinked, looked at her thin little body, and said,
"But Seele isn't even as big as Mr. Godzilla's eye."
"…" The inner Seele fell silent, scratching her hair irritably in the space of consciousness.
'This idiot!'
'That's a metaphor, for heaven's sake!'
Until today, the inner Seele had never feared anything, not even when trapped in the Sea of Quanta. She could still tease and scare this little crybaby.
Though afterward, she'd always have to comfort her.
Still, her days were passable.
But today, her eyes flashed with dread as she remembered the pressure that figure radiated.
Unstoppable. Overwhelming. She had no physical body, yet in that instant she felt what it was like to truly have one.
Her heart stopped.
The frailty of a human body manifested in her.
What the hell, how could she even feel something like that? Something must be wrong.
"Mm, though I don't know why you're afraid of Mr. Godzilla, Mr. Godzilla is really nice. He even lets us live here, so we don't have to worry about running into those monsters. And there's Sister Herta, she said she'd help us go home."
Every time she thought of this, Seele's heart filled with sweetness.
Like drinking a cup of hot chocolate.
The inner Seele wanted to say more, but in the end, she didn't.
Seeing this little crybaby so happy, so expectant, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Forget it. If this little crybaby looks forward to it so much, there's no need to upset her again. She'd just start bawling and that would be a nightmare.
With a faint snort, the inner Seele said no more.
"Mr. Godzilla, you're back!" Not long after, Seele cried out in surprise.
Godzilla, who had just gone out for some unknown reason, had returned and was now lying down on a luxurious, gigantic bed that fit his body.
Yes, this was one of those world bubbles in the Sea of Quanta.
The Sea of Quanta was vast and boundless, filled with world bubbles like countless stars.
Though fragile, some of them contained many interesting things...
If not for their fragility, unable to contain him, Godzilla had once thought of using a world bubble as a home.
'Unfortunately… why are you all so useless!!'
His vertical pupils focused on the soft little figure before him.
His tail silently reached out, hooked her collar, and lifted her up.
The soft little dumpling flailed helplessly in the air.
With a shake, Godzilla's eyes filled with disdain.
'Malnourished.'
But there was nothing to be done now. Seele in her quantum state couldn't possibly replenish her nutrition.
From Godzilla's perspective, though he couldn't define beauty or ugliness for all creatures, one thing he was certain of,
Plumper is always better. Just like him.
Dangling in the air, Seele went from confusion at first to letting go and treating it like a game.
Inner/Black Seele just snorted in disdain.
...
Reality, Jarilo-VI.
Fu Xuan and the other two regained control of their bodies.
"Yo, you're awake. Where's Herta?"
Serval, who had been staying next to Godzilla, smiled and greeted them when she saw the three wake up. But when she noticed Herta still lying there stiff, she was puzzled.
Earlier, Herta had woken once, saying she needed to prepare something for Xueyi.
Now they were awake, but Herta was still asleep.
'What, did you plan shifts?'
"Lady Herta still has some private matters to attend to. As for me, as the Master Diviner of Luofu, I cannot delay my duties. I must return to Luofu as soon as possible."
Fu Xuan explained.
Hearing this, Serval's eyes lit up, and she said happily, "Does that mean Xueyi's illness is cured?!"
Whether it was resurrection or restoration, in Serval's eyes, it counted as being healed.
After all, could anyone truly return from the dead?
Perhaps, but not on a level mortals like her could touch.
"Mm, mm?" Xueyi nodded slightly, about to answer, but then suddenly froze.
"What's wrong, sister?" Yanqing's face tightened with worry, fearing her body was acting up again.
After all, this body of Xueyi's had been built by Herta through her knowledge to house her soul.
Though flawless in theory, reality still needed to be tested.
"No, I feel good… in fact, I feel like I'm getting even better." Glancing at Serval, Xueyi hesitated, but finally spoke the truth.
Not because she feared Serval's thoughts or gossip, just instinct as a judge.
"I feel like my soul is merging with this body." Xueyi said truthfully.
"What!" Hearing this, Fu Xuan, who had been thinking something must be wrong, immediately sat bolt upright.
Why speculate? The person herself was right here!
"Let me see." She examined carefully, her face grave.
After a quick check, Fu Xuan asked solemnly,
"How do you feel now?"
"I feel the obstruction in this body disappearing, my whole being becoming lighter."
Xueyi answered.
Hanya's expression grew excited.
"Doesn't this mean sister will truly return to life soon?"
No wonder Hanya was so moved.
In the Honkai world, she had traveled around with her sister, experiencing different lands. Even when meeting realities through Godzilla's dreams, those were true worlds with true bodies.
But after returning through Godzilla's dream, everything would revert.
Even if Herta's research was flawless, her sister only had a fragile body.
The soul was still the same soul. And with her sister's reckless disregard for this puppet body, who knew when it might break.
So hearing that her soul was merging with her body, of course she was overwhelmed with relief.
...
But this change in Xueyi wasn't accidental.
When her body was a puppet and her soul remained itself, even Godzilla's power could only turn it into some Godzilla-like existence… provided he didn't mess around.
But when Herta created a body molded by Godzilla's dream, one capable of housing Xueyi's soul,
Everything changed.
A body that could house a soul, and a soul suited for that body.
Yet since the body was merely a technological construct, the soul couldn't fully merge.
But near Godzilla, the soul stirred, life began to glow.
Before, it wasn't of any concern. But now…
...
"Incredible, truly incredible." Fu Xuan muttered, eyes blazing.
Xueyi's soul was really fusing with this body.
But it defied all logic! Herta's creation was only meant to contain the soul. Yet Xueyi's soul carried the blessings of the Aeon of Abundance!
No matter how remarkable this body, it was still just a puppet.
To fully merge? Impossible, just a dream.
And yet, here it was, unfolding before her eyes. Enough to shatter the worldview of even a person such as her who had seen many things!