How much time has passed since she fell into the Sea of Quanta after the failure of Experiment X-10?
According to the numbers she counted in her heart, about half a year had passed.
But for Seele, who had been in the Sea of Quanta all this time, this half-year felt far too long.
It was so long that she had almost forgotten her past, her name, and the reason she came here.
If she hadn't relied on everything recorded in her diary to maintain her sense of self, the girl named Seele Vollerei might have already forgotten who she was by now.
But today, this despairing routine was broken by the appearance of a man.
Just as Seele was on the verge of despair and forgetting everything again today, that man appeared before her eyes.
The man before her appeared inside the Sea of Quanta in a posture like someone 'failing at a dog paddle and about to drown,' looking around frantically.
It's... it's another person!
I finally see someone else!
Seele intended to rush over just like that, but she was suddenly stopped by the other 'self' in her heart.
[Wait.]
Another me?
What's wrong?
[Are you an idiot! We don't know this guy's background yet. If you rush up foolishly now and he turns out to be a bad guy, wouldn't that be terrible?]
You're right... but we have no way of identifying if he's a good person or not, do we?
[Hehe, leave this to me—alright, hand over control of the body to me.]
Oh... Another me, don't do anything reckless.
Recalling how her other self had tortured Sin Mal back then, Seele added with a hint of unease.
Even if he isn't a good person, as long as he doesn't provoke us...
[Ah, you idiot, why so much nonsense... Fine, fine, I'll listen to you.]
After gaining control of the body, Dark Seele maneuvered the body to slowly approach the man in front of her.
During these few dozen seconds, the man's posture finally changed from 'failing at a dog paddle and about to drown' to 'a drowning fish.' It looked comical no matter how you looked at it.
Heh, being comical is good.
Although she didn't know how he entered the Sea of Quanta, if they wanted to get out now, they definitely had to use everything available.
Let me make good use of this man. After squeezing him dry of his value...
[A! Noth! Er! Me! This gentleman hasn't provoked us, how can you have such excessive thoughts!]
Idiot, look at this person. His tattered clothes are stained with blood. Do you think someone dressed like this can be a good person?
[Ugh... he indeed doesn't look like one.]
Think about it again. Doesn't this appearance look like he's in a state of mutual destruction after just fighting someone?
[A little bit.]
Exactly. For a guy who doesn't look like a good person at first glance, do you have anything else to say about me using him?
[But using others is wrong...]
Idiot!
The ones trapped right now are us!
If we want to get out, we have to use everything we can—tell me, do you want to see your Bronya Onee-chan and Mother Cocolia or not?
[...I do.]
Then that settles it.
Stop with the nonsense and just watch me operate.
After finishing the exchange with 'herself,' Dark Seele put on a timid expression and attempted to approach the man.
Based on her understanding of males, they usually had no resistance to a pitiful little girl like Seele.
Hmm, if the assets on her chest were a bit bigger, the lethality of such a little girl against males would double.
If the little girl was even prettier, this lethality could stack even higher.
And Seele's body met almost all the requirements Dark Seele mentioned.
A pitiful expression, a fair and exquisite face like a porcelain doll, plus those oversized assets on her chest that were at least a D-cup.
Hehehe, I don't believe any man can resist this under these circumstances...
"That red-eyed brat over there, I personally suggest you stay away from me."
After adjusting his posture, Aaron looked at the red-eyed girl in front of him and took a step back with immense disgust.
"If you want to talk to me, let the normal brat come out. Talking to you, I'm afraid you'll pull out giant claws and backstab me at the drop of a hat."
?
??
???
Wait, who is this guy?!
I haven't even used that armament in front of Seele. How does he know I have that kind of combat armament?
Moreover, this guy knows about me and Seele... Damn, was our intelligence exposed from the start?
The matters between Seele and me should only be known to the two of us.
Who on earth leaked our information to this man?
[Another me, what do we do? He seems to have discovered our thoughts.]
[I told you not to approach him with bad intentions. Is our situation a bit precarious now...]
Calm down, Seele. This guy knows our secret, but so what?
We arrived in the Sea of Quanta before him. In other words, this is actually more our home turf.
Look at this guy's sorry state now. He can't even stand steadily. Even if he knows our intel, it's useless.
[No, I think you might be looking down on him a bit too much.]
[This gentleman... I can feel that the energy intensity on him is much stronger than the Titan mechs Mother Cocolia sent to beat us up back then.]
Stronger than Titans, that's all...
Muttering discontentedly, Dark Seele had to admit she couldn't really do anything to this guy.
Originally, according to her plan, she didn't need to consider fighting this man head-on.
After all, normally speaking, this man would easily be deceived by her appearance without knowing her background, and then be hoodwinked by her into becoming her tool to escape the Sea of Quanta.
But now, this trick wouldn't work.
The man who knew their secrets definitely wouldn't be fooled by the demeanor she was feigning right now.
No choice, let's change methods.
"Um, excuse me, sir..."
Looking at the energy wrapping around Aaron, Dark Seele spoke very politely.
"Actually, I personally bear no malice toward you. She is rather shy with strangers, so there's nothing wrong with me communicating with you in this situation, right?"
"Ah, so annoying. That fellow Bronya asked me to come in, but she didn't tell me I had to deal with these things."
After proactively throwing out that name, Aaron began to observe the change in the girl's expression.
And sure enough, after he spoke that name, the originally timid Seele actively seized control of the body and asked Aaron urgently.
"Do you know Bronya Onee-chan?!"
"Oh, she's working under me right now. Fishing you out counts as the salary I'm paying her."
[Seele, calm down! Don't just hear Bronya's name and rush up like a homeless puppy seeing a doghouse!]
[Calm down! Calm down! He just casually said a name and made up a story. No one can prove what he said is true!]
But, besides Mother Cocolia, only Bronya Onee-chan knows Seele is in the Sea of Quanta.
[Sigh... besides them, the researchers present back then also know about this.]
[No one can be sure if he got the intel from those people. At least until we confirm specific news, please calm down for me.]
[I understand your desire to see your family, but what if he's using your feelings and using Bronya's name to hook you?]
But, Another me, even if you say that... I don't feel I have anything worth others deceiving like this.
I'm just an ordinary little girl. Do you think a regular kidnapper would rush into the Sea of Quanta to traffic a minor?
Even I think that's too ridiculous...
[That's true... my foot! Have you realized your value!]
[Put your cute appearance aside for a moment. The key lies in the Stigmata! People with Stigmata are rare to begin with, and our Stigmata strength is much greater than ordinary natural Stigmata.]
[If he came for your Stigmata and you follow him foolishly now—when you get tricked away and have your Stigmata dug out, I'd like to see where you go to cry.]
Another me, I realized that from just now, you seem to constantly not want me to approach this gentleman.
Did you sense something, is that why you're so resistant to him?
Sensed something?
Yes, my disgust for this man is excessive.
Originally, him coming here... I'd think of a way to use it and let it pass...
I see, I understand.
The reason I don't like this guy is because of the energy fluctuations he unconsciously emits.
This fluctuation, different from Honkai energy, gives me a feeling of 'he can dominate me at will as long as he wants.'
It is precisely because of this annoying feeling that I feel we should stay far away from this guy!
"Uh, um, are you two done chatting?"
Watching the girl's expression shift constantly, Aaron spoke helplessly.
"Everything I said is true."
Don't believe it! Bad guys all say that!
"What benefit would I get from lying to you?"
Plenty of benefits! You stand right there!
"But... Seele still wants to see Bronya Onee-chan."
Taking a step toward Aaron, Seele said helplessly to the other self in her heart.
I'm sorry, Another me.
Seele, you idiot, stop right there!
Just as Dark Seele prepared to seize control of the body, she suddenly saw the man's expression change.
Subsequently, after the man tackled Seele to the ground, the scenery around the three of them suddenly shifted.
"Eh... Aaaaaaaaaah!!!!"
Being suddenly tackled by a strange male, Seele, with her shy personality, quite naturally let out a scream immediately.
See, I told you... No!
Dark Seele, who intended to seize this opportunity to mock Seele, grabbed control the moment Seele was shy, but then suddenly sensed something wrong with the situation.
Setting aside the sudden change in scenery, the key was—she smelled blood.
This wasn't the faint smell of blood the man emitted when they first met.
This smell of blood was suddenly coming from this man.
He's injured?
Seeing some wounds caused by shockwaves appear on Aaron's body, Dark Seele stared at the man before her in immense astonishment and reached a conclusion.
He tackled Seele just now not because he was feeling lustful, but to protect us?
No, put the moving stuff aside first.
We've been wandering here for half a year and never met anyone else.
How come the moment this man appears today, we get attacked?
Is it a coincidence?
Or is it... we are the victims who got dragged into this, hey!
"This is..."
Looking at this mechanized room, Aaron exhaled a deep breath of turbid air.
Then, while using healing Magecraft to treat the injuries on his body, he began to survey the surrounding environment... Forget it, no need to survey. This is the Fire Moth bubble universe Seele encountered in the original work.
If he remembered correctly, inside this bubble universe, Seele met the Previous Era Fusion Warrior Sakura and experienced the tragedy brought by the Twelfth Herrscher of the Previous Era with her.
Oh, Kevin's doing.
Higokumaru really has a jinxed mouth.
And thinking back now, Kevin and Su really live up to being best friends; they both like to torment people in this way.
Locking me inside a bubble universe... what on earth does he want?
"Um, this... how should I address you?"
"Aaron."
"Mr. Aaron, first I must thank you for saving us. But right now, I highly suspect we've been dragged into some troublesome matters by you."
After speaking grumpily, Dark Seele's eyes suddenly began to flash with some inexplicable light.
"As the culprit who dragged us in, don't you think you should take responsibility?"
"Save it. Don't come at me with moral kidnapping."
Taking out spare clothes from his storage space and putting them on, Aaron replied grumpily.
"If you hadn't been standing there foolishly while questioning me, would I have needed to take a blast to save you?"
"It's one thing not to repay kindness, but trying to rake me over the coals... do you know this behavior is excessive?"
"Enough!"
Seele, regaining control of the body, shouted at both Aaron and the other self inside her.
"No! Fighting!"
Another me, no matter what, he saved us. Saving a life is a great favor.
Let's say less at a time like this. You've been questioning him since the start, but this gentleman hasn't done anything bad from start to finish.
[You idiot, waiting until he prepares to do bad things will be too late for us to plan!]
Then at that time... we'll deal with it?
We were originally ghosts floating in the Sea of Quanta. Now that someone has come out saying he'll take us out, it's really not good for you to keep a straight face and target him like this.
[Fine, fine, fine. I can't be bothered to manage you. If this guy reveals his true colors later and plays with you in eighteen different positions, see if I don't laugh you to death in your heart.]
Okay, I know.
[You still don't take it to heart? Fine, this time I really can't be bothered.]
[Seeing a wild man for just a few minutes and you're already siding with an outsider. You... Hah, forget it, I won't say anymore. Waiting to watch the show, waiting to watch the show.]
Hearing the words from her other self, Seele smiled embarrassedly.
Hehehe, anyway, you'll definitely still help me when the time comes.
[Save it! I'm not getting involved this time!]
I know you are worried about me. Thank you, Another me.
[It's too late for sweet talk now!]
Anyway, I'll go communicate with Mr. Aaron first.
[Go, go, go. I'm not your mother; I can't control a silly girl like you.]
After finishing the exchange with her other self, Seele looked at Aaron, whose expression had suddenly turned a bit gloomy.
"Um, Mr. Aaron?"
"Seele, if possible, stay away from me first."
"...Ugh, Another me won't come out to disturb you for the time being."
"No, that's not what I mean."
At this moment, Seele suddenly felt an incredibly terrifying energy fluctuation from Aaron's body.
Although this energy fluctuation wasn't directed at her, the problem was—even the aftershocks were too terrifying!
"Mr. A-A-A-Aaron, what do you intend to do?!"
"Leave this damn place."
From just now, Aaron felt a sudden sense of displeasure rising in his heart.
In all fairness, Su wasn't a bad person, and Kevin definitely wasn't a bad person.
Even if Kevin intended to execute Project Stigma, Aaron didn't think this man who wanted to defeat the Honkai was bad.
But the problem was, their behavior was really a bit uncomfortable.
When Su fought and communicated with Aaron earlier, he intended to test Aaron—it's just that he failed on the spot due to the characteristics of the Power of Dominance.
At the time, because Su was relatively amiable, Aaron didn't say much.
But this time, Kevin threw out this bubble universe, wanting Aaron and Seele to experience the despairing scenes he faced back then. Aaron felt a bit annoyed.
Kevin's intention was to let the young man he favored possess and consolidate the determination to fight the Honkai.
But in Aaron's eyes, Kevin and Su's actions were like someone suddenly throwing an exam paper at him while he was walking down the street, demanding Aaron finish it before leaving.
To be honest, this behavior really made Aaron very unhappy.
No wonder Bianka gave Su a hard punch when breaking through the illusion back then.
That punch was indeed thrown to break the illusion after seeing a flaw, but it's hard to say if there was any thought of venting anger in it.
So facing Kevin's method of suddenly throwing an exam paper, Aaron's thought was...
F_ck it, I quit.
It's just a bubble universe meant to be discarded after use anyway, so why should I care about all this?
Humanity's fate should indeed be mastered by oneself!
Inside the Sea of Quanta, Kevin's eyes suddenly widened.
"This young man, what on earth does he intend to do?!"
Kevin, who intended to use the tragic state of this bubble universe to firm up this young man's determination to fight the Honkai, vaguely felt the situation was slipping out of his control.
Meanwhile, in the outside world, Otto, who had already sent people to search for the Key of the Void and K423, suddenly received a communication from his subordinates.
"Huh? What did you say? The observation station suddenly found that a star exploded on the spot?"
"...Will it affect our Schicksal operations? Not much impact... Fine, continue observing. Notify me immediately if there are problems."
After cutting the communication with his subordinate, Otto fell into deep thought.
Strange things happened one after another today, and a star exploding... this matter could be big or small.
Although his subordinates stated they currently couldn't see any impact this star would have on Earth, considering his miserable encounter today of [Treasure right in front of eyes then all flew away], Otto felt it was better to pay attention to such eerie events.
Inside the Sea of Quanta, Aaron, preparing to tear up the 'exam paper,' suddenly felt something shatter.
Magnetic Field Rotation 249,999...
Magnetic Field Rotation 250,000...
Magnetic Field Rotation 260,000...
Magnetic Field Rotation 300,000!
The ultimate Magnetic Field Rotation power, which had been stuck at 249,999 Horsepower, suddenly broke through to the new peak realm of 300,000 Horsepower at this moment.
And not just the Horsepower of Magnetic Field Rotation, even his Perfect Realm began to soar incessantly at this moment.
"I see... So this is the feeling of Star Breaker?"
Aaron, having reached the Star Breaker realm, felt his fused power surging wildly, and condensed the power onto his right fist.
"Mr. Aa-Aaron, what exactly do you intend to—"
"Stand firm."
Using the Magnetic Field power, also at 300,000 Horsepower, to form a Magnetic Field Sky Lock to protect Seele, Aaron activated a Spirit Command at this moment.
[Spirit Command: Valor, Activate!]
"Magnetic Field Rotation 300,000 Horsepower—"
After condensing the power, Aaron, instantly entering Honkai Beast form via the [Lion Never Perishes] secret art, blasted this fist directly into the ground of the bubble universe.
"Whale-Slaying Tyrant Fist!"
After the Whale-Slaying Tyrant Fist's characteristic of hardening the target from the outside toward the inside and then shattering it like ceramic from the inside activated, this fragile bubble universe actually trembled because of this punch.
Under Kevin's incredulous gaze...
This fragile bubble universe actually began to shatter gradually because of Aaron's incredibly terrifying punch.
Amidst the shattering bubble universe, Aaron protected the shaken girl with his body while looking toward the world outside the bubble universe.
Although their gazes didn't meet, Kevin knew the other party was actually looking at him.
He had already sensed the existence of the [Serpent], and this look... Heh, obviously a provocation.
How wonderful.
It is truly wonderful that there is still such a person in this world who chooses to fight the Honkai.
Kevin felt no dissatisfaction because the other party destroyed the bubble universe he released.
At this moment, in his eyes, there was only a powerful Honkai warrior named Aaron.
And at this moment, Kevin even spawned the idea of recruiting him.
If such a person of high ideals could join World Serpent, his confidence in executing Project Stigma and dueling Finality would increase somewhat.
Moreover, he is also a descendant of Adam...
Strange, since when did the Kaslana clan have genes for black hair?
Let it be. There's no need to care too much about these minor details.
Show some sincerity and appear proactively.
With such thoughts, Kevin actively appeared before Aaron.
"Ah, willing to come out? Makes sense. As the Top of the thirteen Flame-Chasers, a hiding style of action doesn't suit you to begin with, Kevin."
"It seems you know much more than I imagined, Aaron."
Facing Aaron's slightly provocative words, Kevin didn't mind the other party's resistance.
In all fairness, the other party indeed had the right to express dissatisfaction with Kevin.
After all, if positions were swapped and someone threw a bubble universe at him to forcibly drag him in, he would also be very unhappy.
Rather, the fact that the other party only used 'slightly provocative' words showed he was already restraining his temper.
Although Kevin felt the reason for the restraint might mainly be because...
Aaron couldn't beat him, so he swallowed this anger.
"Finality is approaching. Humanity has no extra time. I hope you join World Serpent and assist me in completing the plan to save humanity."
"Ah, although my opinion on Project Stigma isn't particularly huge, at least the current me doesn't want to 'be a deserter'."
Gently touching the Stigma on Seele's chest with his right hand, Aaron spoke very indifferently.
"Don't even think about me joining World Serpent. I don't want to call you Liege, Kevin Kaslana."
"Titles don't matter... However, looking at your eyes, it seems you indeed have no such intention."
Sighing slightly, Kevin maintained that indifferent demeanor and said to Aaron.
"World Serpent welcomes your joining at any time, provided you do not become our enemy."
"Hah, we'll see when the time comes. But now, it's time to say goodbye."
"Hmm?"
Watching Aaron touch the girl's chest like a lecher, Kevin immediately realized the other party's idea.
This man is impatient to get lewd—this is obviously the wrong answer.
This man intends to use this girl's Stigma to do something. And this Stigma...
Aaron hadn't forgotten that in the original work, Seele relied on the power of the Stigma to allow her and Bronya to return to the real world from the Sea of Quanta.
Although Bronya, the cheat code to stimulate Seele's potential, wasn't here right now... knowing how Seele opened that door was enough.
When Aaron watched the animated short back then, bullet comments mentioned it was unscientific that Seele smashed open the door Kevin failed to smash for over a thousand years.
In terms of power, ten thousand Seeles added together weren't as good as Kevin, yet under this strength disparity, Seele opened the door.
This could only explain that as a subject of Experiment X-10, to some extent, she had thoroughly made the Sea of Quanta her home turf.
It was precisely because of this that she could take Bronya from the Sea of Quanta back to the real world.
Using mixed powers to forcibly stimulate the Stigma on the girl's body, then relying on this power to forcibly open the door—this was what Aaron intended to do now.
And when Kevin realized Aaron's idea, Aaron had already taken out the Revive Hourglass from his storage space.
[Revive Hourglass: Gale Mode, Activate.]
The moment the Revive Hourglass was activated, Aaron wrapped his arm around Seele's slender waist, moving the girl and himself to a relatively distant position.
Kevin, striking out hastily, naturally failed to interrupt Aaron's action.
Aaron, mobilizing his power, didn't have time to explain to the girl and directly forcibly liberated the Stigma power within her.
[Th-this kind of power is...!]
Dark Seele, sensing the Stigma power being forcibly stimulated, could no longer stay calm.
[Seele, the chance is here! Give the body to me!]
Got it, Another me!
At this moment, after their consciousnesses thoroughly blended, Dark Seele condensed a giant scythe relying on the Stigma power, and then...
"Oh, lend me this."
Before she could grip this weapon in her hands, she was directly intercepted by Aaron.
Gripping the scythe, Aaron took a deep look at Kevin in the distance.
And Kevin, realizing he could no longer stop the other party, now looked at Aaron with a few more degrees of helplessness in his eyes.
Although both parties had the same destination, the paths chosen were worlds apart.
Presumably, the moment he chose to act just now, it was destined that the next time they met, it would only be as enemies killing each other.
Magnetic Field Rotation 300,000 Horsepower—
"Whale-Slaying Tyrant Scythe!"
After using Magnetic Field Rotation to drive the scythe in his hand to slash out a strike, Aaron directly held the girl in a princess carry and jumped out of the Sea of Quanta on the spot.
And just as Kevin also prepared to seize this gap to rush out of the Sea of Quanta, the scythe left in place by Aaron suddenly gave Kevin a dangerous feeling.
Yes, the battle-hardened Kevin actually felt danger at this moment.
Because of the instinct honed on the battlefield, Kevin subconsciously chose to evade at this moment.
Subsequently, this scythe exploded with a terrifying shockwave right in front of Kevin, knocking him back several steps on the spot.
Although Kevin used a barrier formed of Honkai energy in time so he didn't suffer much damage, Kevin, having missed the best opportunity to leave the bubble universe, could no longer leave through that closed rift.
"Interesting. Did he intend to use this scythe as a bomb from the start to hinder me from leaving?"
"Knowing so much intelligence, possessing sufficient wisdom and power... Pity, he just had to choose to stand on the opposite side of the Serpent."
"If we meet in the outside world next time, I estimate it will be the moment we draw blades against each other."
........................