Chapter 97: Dr. Ratio! Have You Really Betrayed Us!?
[Several System Hours Ago at Dewlight Pavilion
Sunday remained standing with his hands behind his back, facing away from Dr.
Ratio: "Since you've arrived as promised, learned Professor... does this mean you're willing to stand with the Family in this farce?"
"What makes you think you can win me over?"
Sunday smiled courteously: "I've heard rumors that your relationship with Mr.
Aventurine isn't harmonious. I also know you're a true scholar who values the pursuit of knowledge above all else."
To recruit Dr. Ratio, Sunday first offered his bargaining chip—handing over all research findings on the Stellaron. After brief consideration, Dr. Ratio found the offer quite appealing: "Go on then. What do you need me to do?"
Sunday wanted Aventurine's complete plan. Having agreed to the request, Dr. Ratio used his high-level corporate access to open the case—inside was topaz, not aventurine. Dr. Ratio gestured for Sunday to open the gift bag, where another emerald-green cornerstone lay within. Believing he'd deciphered Aventurine's secret, Sunday mused aloud: "So that's it... this luggage bag... hiding a cornerstone more precious than life among worthless jewelry, disguised as gifts awaiting confiscation. That does fit Mr. Aventurine's style."
"Then he'd make up some excuse to retrieve the 'gifts' while downplaying their importance. It's a gamble—one he knows well—betting everything on your single misstep."
Dr. Ratio continued the explanation.]
[March 7th]: "Dr. Ratio, have you betrayed us too?"
[Stelle]: "If I didn't know how close Dr. Ratio and Aventurine really are, even I might have been fooled."
[Qingque]: "Now we've seen two cornerstones—Emerald and Topaz—so where's the Aventurine?"
[Vill-V]: "Quite an interesting magic trick, isn't it?"
[Sparkle]: "Poor chicken-wing boy, being played like a fiddle by two IPC villains~"
[Sunday]: "Future me was truly careless—should've placed lie detection on Dr. Ratio too."
[Kafka]: "One wrong move... and the whole game is lost!"
[March 7th]: "But we still don't know where Aventurine's cornerstone is—can he really retrieve it intact?"
[Silver Wolf]: "The jinx strikes again."
[Aventurine stared at the two cornerstones by Sunday's side, his expression shifting uncertainly as he struggled for an explanation. "Thanks to your uniquely perceptive friend, I can gift your career with a complete failure."
"Ratio, you bastard..."
Betrayed by his friend, Aventurine completely lost his composure and began cursing!]
[Stelle]: "Aventurine's swearing vocabulary rivals Fu Xuan the Diviner's..."
[Qingque]: "True—even when betrayed, he just calls him a bastard."
[Kiana]: 'But don't we all know they're just acting to fool Sunday?'
[Boothill]: "Your IPC sweethearts sure know how to put on a show!"
[Murata Himeko]: "Learn from this, Theresa. Don't let people infiltrate St. Freya Academy so easily—I don't want it becoming sieve."
[Theresa]: "Huh? Me? Learn from Aventurine? No thanks—I can manage the Far East Branch just fine. Your worries are excessive, Himeko."
[Honkai Impact Welt]: "....."
[Sunday looked quite pleased with himself: "The mask slips. By the way, your lifespan has been 'temporarily' reduced to seventeen system hours. Cherish this time to savor the aftertaste of defeat."
Sunday explained that during these seventeen system hours, Aventurine couldn't leave the dreamscape—release would only come by passing Sunday's trial within the allotted time. "Succeed, and you'll join the Harmony, becoming one with countless family members; fail, and you'll face the wrath of [Infinite Retinue (Harmony's Avatar)], falling into an abyss of eternal damnation. Hence my emphasis on 'temporarily.'"
Sunday kindly reminded him. Sunday wanted Aventurine to investigate the true culprit within the Family while he purged threats from within. He then returned Aventurine's luggage bag. "One last personal question before you go."
"What now?"
Aventurine retorted. "Do you... truly wish to destroy this world with your own hands?"]
[Sampo]: "Maybe Aventurine didn't want to destroy the world at first, but after Sunday's 'guidance,' he might reconsider~"
[Huohuo]: "Sunday is terrifying!"
[Tail]: "Would it kill you to show some backbone?!"
[March 7th]: "Is Harmonious Baptism really this horrifying? If Aventurine can't find a way out in 17 system hours, will he really change from [Preservation] to [Harmony]? But does Sunday's behavior even qualify as Harmony?"
[Honkai Star Rail Welt]: "His sister's death must have made Sunday desperate—unless he's actually Penacony's mole?"
At this thought, Welt found his own speculation too absurd and chuckled.
[Stelle]: "If Sunday were really a mole, that'd be infiltrating straight to enemy leadership. That's too far-fetched even for you, Mr. Yang!"
[March 7th]: "Wait, you're seriously entertaining this? That makes zero sense!"
["Kakavasha, where were you... are you hurt?"
On the parched land beneath crimson-streaked skies, a long-haired blonde girl fretfully examined the child before her. "I got it back, sister."
Little Kakavasha smiled innocently, presenting the necklace. "You went after them?!
It's too dangerous! This is just a necklace—not food or water. We can live without it."
"But I can't live without you, little brother... please stay away from those Katicans, okay?"
Her voice trembled slightly. Aventurine boasted that he'd played games with the Katicans and would always win because they were stupid. But his sister remained terrified—this necklace was their mother's final gift to her, so Kakavasha had retrieved it to make her happy. Yet to his sister, Kakavasha was her last remaining family.... "Sister, everyone says I'm smart... but I don't understand... if every rainfall is Mother Goddess' mercy and blessing..."
"...then what sins did we commit... to be born into this world just to die?"]
[Fu Hua]: "Aventurine has incredible luck... yet even the best fortune couldn't save those he loved."
[Pardofelis]: "Luck isn't omnipotent. Given the choice, I bet he'd trade all his fortune just to keep his family alive."
[March 7th]: "This... this couldn't be related to the IPC, could it?"
Since this video began, March 7th's opinion of Penacony and the Interastral Peace Corporation—especially its Strategic Investment Department—had plummeted. Their so-called "pioneering" felt like an insult to true Trailblazing!