Saintess Kallen shifted her gaze away from Misfortune and finally looked at the white-haired girl beside her.
She had seen recorded images of the Divine Emperor—he looked almost identical to the person before her.
The only difference was their eyes. One had golden pupils, the other red.
"Are you Kiana?"
Saintess Kallen knew this was most likely a counterpart, yet she still felt a flicker of tension in her heart.
The protagonist of the Honkai world: Kiana Kaslana.
"You're asking the obvious." Red-Eyed Kiana tilted her head. "Do I not look like Kiana?"
"No, you do." Saintess Kallen slowly shook her head, her gaze drifting away from the crimson eyes. "It's just... your temperament is completely different from what I imagined."
Red-Eyed Kiana's lips curved slightly, utterly unconcerned. "That's normal. Even counterparts can turn out differently for all sorts of reasons."
Her eyes swept over everyone present, her tone carrying a faint, careless sentiment. "Fate is truly fascinating! To run into so many familiar faces here."
Before her words had fully fallen, she had already stopped in front of Hua. Raising her pale finger, she lightly tapped Hua's chest a few times.
Hua's brows knit together. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing." Red-Eyed Kiana withdrew her finger, her voice lazy. "Just curious whether your chest muscles are firm."
Hua: "..."
Shigure Kira hurried forward, grabbing Red-Eyed Kiana's arm and bowing apologetically toward Hua. "Sorry, sorry. She's always like this. Please don't take it to heart."
"It's fine." Hua waved her hand, though the look she gave Red-Eyed Kiana carried a trace of scrutiny.
"You must be Fu Hua, the Divine Immortal of Shenzhou from a parallel world, right?" Shigure Kira turned to Hua. "In my world, you and I are comrades. Oh, right—where's Senti? Why isn't she here?"
"Who is Senti?" Hua looked puzzled. She had no memory of such a name.
"Your and Ji Xuanyuan's daughter!" Shigure Kira said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Hua, who had only recently recovered most of her past memories, froze abruptly. Shock filled her eyes. "My daughter with Ji Xuanyuan? In your world... am I male?"
"No, no, you're female!" Shigure Kira waved her hands quickly.
"Then is it Ji Xuanyuan?"
"No, she's female too. It's just... a bit complicated. Anyway, you two have a biological daughter, that's what matters."
Hua fell silent, her mind plunging into brief chaos.
So this is a parallel world? As expected, no matter how absurd something sounds, it can happen somewhere.
On the other side of the bridge, Mobius was circling Misfortune, examining her closely. "Residual power from higher-dimensional spacetime... You've encountered a higher-dimensional being from this universe."
"Mm."
Misfortune nodded, offering no further explanation.
Mobius did not press. If the other party had not made a move, then it was not an enemy. There was no need to invite trouble.
She had seen too many self-important humans who loved provoking unknown existences, only to end up reduced to ashes.
The tides of these years had long since taught her to follow her instincts. She had gradually come to understand that the length of life—or whether one could achieve immortality—was never truly within her control. What was meant to fade would fade. It was better to let nature take its course.
She turned toward Red-Eyed Kiana and raised a brow. "Why are you here?"
"Because of your precious granddaughter." Red-Eyed Kiana clicked her tongue, sounding faintly exasperated. "There wasn't a single soul left at the academy. Not even a clone. The principal was worried something had happened to her, so she sent us to check things out."
Her gaze swept across Red Queen and Wesker, then fell on Kevin, Su, Melin, and the others. "What exactly are you all up to?"
"Opening up a new world, gathering data, planning to return fifty thousand years to the past and save the Previous Era," Mobius replied casually, as if discussing something utterly ordinary.
"The Previous Era?" Red-Eyed Kiana let out a scoff. "If it was destroyed, then it was destroyed. Why bother saving it?"
Su's brows furrowed slightly. "What do you mean by that?"
"Because the script of saving the world is outdated." Red-Eyed Kiana shrugged, her tone tinged with irreverence. "Audiences nowadays prefer revenge, destruction, and the whole 'I don't eat beef' kind of homeland hero setting."
Su looked confused. "I don't quite understand what you mean."
"She means it literally," Mobius interjected, glancing at Su. "With your intelligence, you must have already thought it through. You just refuse to admit it."
She turned to Saintess Kallen. "Let me ask you a question. Suppose you possessed the strongest power in the world. One day, the son of humanity's highest leader killed Yae Sakura. What would you do? I'll give you two choices. One—capture him and hand him over to humanity for judgment. Two—capture him and torture him to death."
Saintess Kallen did not hesitate. "I would choose the first."
"Very much in line with your saintly nature." Red-Eyed Kiana gave a light laugh, though her tone carried undisguised disapproval. "But unfortunately, you're wrong."
Kallen looked puzzled. "?"
"The key isn't whether there's a trial," Mobius said. "It's whether you can successfully exact revenge. As the strongest in the world, you should be the one who sets the rules."
"Handing the son of humanity's highest leader back to humanity would, at most, result in the execution of a scapegoat. Your Yae Sakura would have died for nothing."
"The correct course of action is to make him pay the most painful price possible," Red-Eyed Kiana continued. "Torture him until he begs for death but cannot die. At the same time, strike first and eliminate his powerful parents to prevent future retaliation. That's how you minimize unnecessary casualties."
"As for anyone who dares to stop you, just kill them all."
"That's the ending they want to see," Mobius added.
Kevin stood to the side, thoughtful.
He could not help recalling the high-ranking officials of the Previous Era—those who continued internal strife and dragged others down even after the Honkai descended.
Melin chimed in, "You'd have to handle it cleanly and decisively. No matter which path you choose, once mortal enmity is formed, they'll use every resource and ounce of power to target you—just to ease their own minds."
Saintess Kallen fell silent.
She had once taken a drug that enhanced her intelligence. During that period, she had resolved many of the confusions that once troubled her. Even though the effects had long since faded, the memories and insights remained.
She had to admit that while resolving problems through force might not be the optimal solution, it was undoubtedly the fastest and most effective.
"Hey, don't corrupt her!" Shigure Kira hurried to smooth things over.
"Relax." Mobius smiled meaningfully. "She descends from Mei's created bloodline. Given her personality and abilities in the later stages, the safeguards written into her genes are stable enough."
Kevin: "..."
Red Queen, who had remained silent the entire time, finally spoke, her voice cutting through the discussion on the bridge.
"Enough small talk. It's time to discuss proper matters."