Chapter 83: A Day Trip to Welt's Candy House
[The mint candy that arrived on Earth didn't immediately seek out Ryoma Nagamitsu. Instead, it first wandered around searching for a suitable host. When it found Siegfried, he was carrying bags of groceries with little Kiana on his back, who was tugging at his hair.
The mint candy's evaluation:
"Too carefree and unreliable at first glance."
Next, it found Theresa, who was hugging a life-sized Honkai Beast plushie with childlike delight. The five-star general mint candy's verdict: "Good qualities, but unfortunately, just a kid."
The mint candy then wandered into Schicksal Headquarters, where Otto sat elegantly on the bishop's throne, sipping red wine. To the mint candy, he seemed drenched in malice: "Instinct tells me this man is absolutely unacceptable!"
Following its gut feeling, the mint candy left Schicksal behind.]
[Siegfried]:"How am I carefree and unreliable!?"
[Theresa]:"What do you mean 'just a kid'? Do I really seem like a child?"
[Kiana]:"During the Second Honkai War, Sirin treated you like a kid, and now the mint candy does too. At this point, it's not just 'seeming' like one."
[Theresa]:"When will I finally grow taller?"
[Rita]:"This version of Lady Theresa is the most adorable~"
[Stelle]:"Honestly, I kinda wanted to see the mint candy pick Otto as its host."
[Honkai · Void Archives]:"Haha, welcome, welcome!"
[Mint Candy]:"I know exactly what Otto's like now—if you want me dead, just say so!" [After failing to find a suitable host, the mint candy wandered into a laboratory where Ryoma Nagamitsu was arguing with someone. Ryoma had abandoned his family to focus on advancing spacecraft construction, but the project had been halted.
To the other person, space exploration was a waste of resources—fighting the Honkai was the priority now! Though Ryoma refused to accept this, he had no solution. Defeated, he returned home with a heavy sigh. Curious, the mint candy followed him back. Ryoma slumped at his desk. The repeated setbacks had worn even him down. In frustration, he swept all the documents off the table. "Enough... enough."
"Everyone! Everyone is standing in the way of my dream!""This is for all of humanity!"
"For the progress of civilization!""Why can't they understand?!"
"I've sacrificed everything..."
The mint candy simply watched. "A double blow—career failure and losing his family..."
"No wonder he's so desperate.""At this rate, he should give up soon."
But Ryoma quickly regained his composure. "I won't give up."
"This is my dream. I won't let anyone stop me. Whatever stands in my way, I'll eliminate it!""For all of humanity!For the entire world!For the whole universe!"
Ryoma Nagamitsu's face twisted with determination. Without delving deeper, the mint candy found his personality compatible with its own and chose to reveal itself to him, hoping he could bring change to the Sugar Race.]
[Kevin]:"This civilization made the right choice. Venturing into space without defeating the Honkai is suicide."
[Star Rail · Welt]:"The Honkai energy tides beyond the solar system are nearly impossible to breach."
[Vita]:"And within the solar system, no matter where you go, you're still within the Cocoon of Finality's reach—there's no escaping it."
[Mobius]:"Self-righteously claiming to act for humanity's sake while ignoring the actual crisis they face."
[Star Rail · Himeko]:"Humanity has never hidden its desire to explore the stars, but this obsession has gone too far."
[Star Rail · Welt]:"In my era, Earth was ready to reach for both the heavens and the depths."
[Star Rail · Void Archives]:"'Heavens' means space, and 'depths' refers to the Quantum Sea!"
[Vita]:"Civilizations thrive in the Quantum Sea too~ There are even cross-world bubble corporations (Note: Captainverse—Pastoral Tales of Captain & Captain)."
[Boothill]:"Damn IPC—those little rascals are everywhere!" [On the balcony, Ryoma Nagamitsu squinted as the mint candy opened a portal to the Candy House. "Here, you'll see all the truth you need, Teacher Welt... no—the leader of Anti-Entropy, Herrscher of Reason."
"If you try anything, I won't hold back," Welt warned. "Our abilities are far beneath yours.
Besides, we're seeking help—we wouldn't invite trouble."
Welt steeled himself. He would uncover Ryoma Nagamitsu's secrets! Stepping through the portal, Welt was startled to find himself transformed into a small gray fluffball—though his glasses stubbornly remained. Ryoma explained to the wary Welt that this was the Sugar Race's world. Upon entering, human forms shifted according to their perception here. But only appearances changed—abilities and consciousness stayed intact.
Welt tested creating a replica of Eden's Apple and found it worked normally. Only then did he lower his guard. Fascinated by this strange new world, Welt observed his surroundings so intently that even the impatient mint candy had to urge him along. The mint candy tossed a donut onto a giant cake, triggering projections of information about the Sky People around it. Though not entirely convinced, Welt couldn't ignore a potential threat to humanity and immediately agreed—to help them fight the Sky People.
Just then, it was discovered that the mint candy had brought humans into the Candy House. Excitedly, it declared they'd witness history! The elder stated that humans weren't normally allowed but let it slide this once with a warning. The Konpeito elder shared more intel and cautioned the mint candy against trusting humans too much. Soon, the three returned to Earth.]
[Star Rail · Himeko]:"Welt was born for [Trailblazing], wasn't he? His first reaction to an unknown civilization isn't fear but excitement?"
[Star Rail · Welt]:"Back then, it was my first contact with a civilization beyond Earth's. Now encountering different civilizations is just routine."
[Nicholas · Brown Sugar]:"The mint candy didn't listen to the elder and got tricked soon after, right?"
[Mint Candy]:"Hmph! I facilitated cooperation between humans and our kind!"
[Konpeito]:"Making contact with humans was truly fortunate."
Fortunate indeed—they'd originally come to Earth seeking refuge from the Sky People's pursuit. Back then, what strength could a mere Earth possibly have? But judging by these projections, Earth's future power was immense! What began as temporary shelter turned into clinging to Earth's mighty coattails.