"So you're saying even if I killed myself right now, a long time might have already passed in the other world?"
Lynelle drew a sharp breath.
She'd originally thought she could slack off a bit longer here with Herta. After all, once she returned to the Honkai side, she'd probably be testing the limits of her vitality like an earthworm. But now it seemed…
If only a few days had passed over there, it would be fine. But what if a whole decade had gone by by the time she returned? Wouldn't that mean she'd failed to change anything at all!?
"Don't fret… While I have no proof, I believe the one who granted you this ability likely wouldn't let you miss too many major events."
Herta rubbed her temples and took off her tall, pointed hat, placing it to the side.
"The Xianzhou has an old saying: 'Sharpening the axe won't delay the task of cutting firewood.' So, my personal advice is to wait until you understand your own situation better before returning to the world in your dreams… Of course, if you insist on going back now, I can send you on your way painlessly."
"Then I'd better figure things out clearly before going back."
Almost without hesitation, Lynelle chose to follow Herta's advice.
'Yeah, right, like I could possibly be smarter than Herta? Just trust in Madam Herta's wisdom and be done with it.'
"Good. Then, first, let me explain what I've observed regarding your condition from my perspective…"
Herta cleared her throat and, using the screen beside her, began explaining her analysis of Lynelle's abilities.
However, while things were peaceful and quiet for Lynelle over here, on the other side…
"So… that's it?"
"Yep, that's it. Now we just wait for that unlucky fat pig director at Babylon Labs to finish his surgery and issue the handover orders."
At the top of Babylon Tower, the Siberian branch squad, having just responded to the distress call from Babylon, had completed all requests from their allied division.
"But…"
The young Valkyrie quietly poked her captain. "Is it really okay to lock that girl up with a corpse? Her eyes look completely dead already."
"Don't indulge your pointless sympathy. Just follow orders."
The captain of the Siberian branch was a seasoned veteran who had worked for Schicksal for years. She had carried out this kind of cleanup operation dozens of times in her career.
"Although our Valkyrie branches are nominally parallel units to the labs, in terms of actual authority, the research departments completely outrank us…"
The captain glanced around, then lowered her voice. "In fact, for many experiments, the test subjects might be 'volunteer' Valkyries."
"Huh?"
"In short… for this kind of work, don't overthink it. Just treat yourself like a machine."
The captain glanced back at the Honkai energy isolation cell, where a purple-haired girl sat silently, clutching the corpse of a pink-haired girl, and sighed softly. "Otherwise… someday, you might be the one in there."
"I… I understand…"
The young Valkyrie shrank back. "So, when will the handover be done? That girl glanced at me earlier, it gave me goosebumps… her eyes were really scary…"
"Should be soon."
The captain checked her watch. "It's just limb reattachment surgery. Estimating the time, with Schicksal's technology, for a full recovery, we'll probably only need to wait a few more hours at most."
"Whew, that's good…"
The young Valkyrie let out a sigh of relief.
However, what she didn't know was that Sirin inside the cell was already beginning to act strangely.
"Why… why hasn't she revived yet?"
In a corner of the cell, Sirin held Lynelle's icy-cold body tightly in her arms, not caring that her own clothes were slowly being stained red with Lynelle's blood.
While Sirin didn't know much about Lynelle's abilities, she was almost completely familiar with the revival timing simply from exposure, due to how often Lynelle had died.
In the past, when Lynelle died during experiments, she would usually revive in less than an hour. Even when her body was excessively damaged, it never took longer than two hours.
But this time, after a high-power hand cannon had nearly blown a huge hole in her chest, not only had Lynelle's body not woken up within the usual two hours, but the wound on her chest hadn't healed either.
However, Sirin didn't know that the reason Lynelle's body usually recovered so quickly was because Lynelle typically survived for less than a second after arriving in the Star Rail world.
Since Lynelle was forced to switch worlds upon death, the Honkai side had to immediately begin bodily repairs.
But now… because Lynelle had no intention of switching worlds at all, her body remained in this 'open-hearted' state.
"The time should be just about up…"
"No, Sirin, you have to believe in Lynelle. Wait a little longer, maybe she'll recover if you just wait a bit more…"
Sirin bit her lip tightly. A faint, metallic sweetness was already spreading in her mouth, but she didn't notice her already-bitten lip at all.
Looking at Lynelle's peaceful expression, so like usual, she repeatedly tried to convince herself that Lynelle just needed more time to heal because the injuries were more severe this time.
But… as time passed, more and more unease began to spread in her heart.
And she also completely failed to notice that, beneath her blood-stained clothes, faint, flickering purple lines were gradually beginning to appear under her skin.
--+--
"I see… As expected of Madam Herta!"
"Just Herta is fine. No need for extra titles."
Herta twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "I don't like people adding random titles for me, unless I came up with them myself. Previously, those guys in the Intelligentsia Guild, to distinguish between me and my puppet bodies, wanted to add an entry for my main body called 'The One and Only Herta'."
"And then, I directly changed that entry to 'The Herta'."
"Okay, The Herta."
Lynelle readily complied.
"Don't mess around, there aren't any other bodies here."
Herta's wand floated up on its own and lightly tapped Lynelle on the head with a crisp tap.
Earlier, she had told Lynelle everything about her observations of Lynelle's ability, including some mechanisms she had deduced and the possible principles behind it.
Lynelle had also satisfied her greatly by providing a lot of special information that only Lynelle herself could see.
For example, she learned that Lynelle called this ability a 'System,' and that the System was an entity she could communicate with directly.
Hah…
Herta would bet her gray stockings that this so-called 'System' was definitely the being who granted Lynelle her abilities, or at the very least, someone who could project their consciousness to Lynelle's side anytime, just like how she controlled the little Hertas.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.