48. Gao Qi's Gift, Defying Fate.
Fate—something Gao Qi had never believed in before. He never liked entrusting his future to something so intangible and elusive.
But after experiencing several simulations, Gao Qi could no longer deny that an unseen hand of fate was plucking the strings.
His attempt to save Fu Hua from the Third Honkai Eruption ended up triggering the calamity earlier.
His effort to prevent Kiana's rampage only awakened the Herrscher of the Void sooner.
His desire to save Klein instead led Hua to become the Tenth Herrscher.
Every change Gao Qi tried to make to avert tragedy was met with the world's utmost effort to pull everything back onto its so-called "right track."
As a materialist, no matter how much he disbelieved in fate, Gao Qi had to admit that the world's corrective nature was an objective fact.
Just like now. In this simulation, Gao Qi's greatest goal was to stop the X-10 experiment and prevent the series of tragedies that would follow.
After all, the X-10 experiment was where Cocolia began her descent into madness, where Bronya lost her emotions and the use of her legs, and where Seele became a ghost drifting in the Sea of Quanta.
Though their eventual reunion was deeply moving, Gao Qi would rather spare them this unnecessary suffering.
So, Gao Qi seized the moment when Cocolia was most conflicted, just before her fall. Relying on the trust built over a year together, he successfully persuaded her to halt the experiment.
But… fate remained relentless.
In the Sea of Quanta, Bronya's body was being corroded by the Honkai energy environment she couldn't adapt to. Even though her legs weren't injured, the erosion targeted her leg nerves and the emotional center of her brain first.
Seele, being more attuned to the Sea of Quanta, began undergoing constant quantumization. Protected by Dark Seele, she wouldn't be harmed, but staying longer would make her permanently adapt to that world, never able to return to reality.
This might have been Bronya and Seele's predetermined fate—one losing her emotions and ability to walk, the other becoming a quantum ghost forever.
And what set them on this path was precisely Gao Qi's love for them, along with the kindness and resilience they had cultivated.
But… this wouldn't do.
"Grown-ups are meant to shelter others from the storm."
Bending down, Gao Qi gently kissed Bronya and Seele on their foreheads. He began tapping into the knowledge of the Sea of Quanta hidden within the Stigmata he had just learned about.
Bzzzz—
Soon, from his search within the Stigmata, Gao Qi materialized a machine from the Previous Era—Project Bunny 19C.
The massive robot was red and white, with a shield on one arm to protect Bronya and a large-caliber laser cannon on the other.
This Project Bunny was the prototype Gao Qi remembered.
"Consider this a borrowed gift for your next birthday—please protect her."
Tapping Bronya's forehead and using the Authority of Death to absorb most of the Honkai energy from her body into his own, he lightened her burden. He transferred control of Project Bunny to Bronya and patted Seele's head.
Soon, Seele's swimsuit transformed into a lovely blue-and-white dress, and an exquisite scythe was placed in her hands.
The power that required becoming a ghost in the experiment to understand was directly granted to Seele—Swallowtail Phantasm.
As for the two combat suits, let the two Seeles explore them themselves. These close-knit girls didn't need to wait four years to reunite, right?
"Wait, Dad, you're not—"
"Father, Dad! You promised to stay with me as I grow up—"
Seeing Gao Qi's actions, which felt like a final farewell, Seele and Bronya panicked. Had their desperate efforts still failed to save the person most important to them?
"No, you've done very well. If children have the freedom to act, then adults have the right to decide what they must do, right? Leave the rest to me. Don't worry, this won't be my end—trust me, okay?"
Gazing earnestly at the two girls, Gao Qi wore his usual gentle smile.
"You're the older sisters now. Take care of everyone, including Mama Cocolia and Big Sister Raven. Don't let them do anything reckless, understand?"
Seeing their father's determination, the sensible Bronya and Seele finally nodded, wiping their tears.
Then, with perfect timing, they did the same thing.
Each taking one of Gao Qi's hands, they made him bend down, stood on tiptoe, and lightly kissed his cheeks.
Though still young, Bronya and Seele had learned quite a bit from the internet. They'd even discussed Dad's relationship with Mama Cocolia and Big Sister Raven in private.
If Mama Cocolia and Big Sister Raven could be with him… why couldn't they, in a few years?
"Promise, Dad, we'll meet again!"
"Dad, you must come back to us. Seele may not say it, but she likes you too."
"I don't like it! If you die, Seele will be very sad… so live properly."
The next moment, a slightly blushing Gao Qi teleported them out of the Sea of Quanta.
With the children gone, a quantum armor similar to that of Quantum Honkai Beasts finally covered Gao Qi's embarrassing shorts.
Soon, before him, a creature also clad in quantum armor, with a multi-segmented, drill-like body, charged at him. Though not as powerful as a Herrscher, it was no less formidable than a Judgment-class Honkai Beast.
"Really… at least let me finish my vacation with the kids."
Gao Qi clenched his newly formed gauntlet, took a deep breath, and let the Honkai energy within him overload further.
He knew that with Tonatiuh Sunshade's interference, closing the Sea of Quanta's exit was nearly impossible.
But if he fought with everything he had… success wasn't entirely out of reach!
"Urgh… AAAAAH! Don't interfere! Our battle… he… only I can kill him!"
But just as Gao Qi prepared for his final fight, the subdued dark figure nearby suddenly erupted again.
Breaking free from the golden lightning chains, it glanced back at Gao Qi, its body burning with fierce flames, and charged at the Quantum Beast, grappling with it.
Was it… telling him to close the Sea of Quanta gate first?
Gao Qi was surprised by the frenzied figure but didn't stop his work. Quantum energy began reversing, sealing the opened gate completely and trapping the Quantum Honkai Beasts inside.
"Hah, though I can't understand what you're saying, you might be an interesting person after all—"
Just before the gate closed, Gao Qi saw the dark figure finally restrained by golden lightning chains and pulled back into the distant unknown.
"Then, it's just you and me now—angry? That child who was supposed to sink alone into the Sea of Quanta… you won't get your hands on her!"
Without external support and burning through his life force, Gao Qi was nearly exhausted, but the Sea of Quanta gate still needed a final push to close.
The giant beast before him seemed to sense his impending demise and commanded other Quantum Honkai Beasts to swarm the last gap in the gate.
"Ha, you still want to drag Seele back? Tonatiuh, you're a pitiful being too. Probably the Sea of Quanta itself drove you here to eliminate me, an unstable element, and steer fate back on course?"
Facing an opponent he could no longer defeat, Gao Qi still smiled.
Without any defense, he charged at the twisted beast, colliding with it, letting its limbs tear through his body.
"But don't think you can drive me away every time. Whether it's the Honkai, the Imaginary Tree, or the Sea of Quanta—you don't want me to change too much? Well, I'll change it anyway! Damn it, if you want a fight, I'll fight you! I'll keep fighting!"
The moment he made contact with the Quantum Beast, Gao Qi used his quantumized body to initiate Collapse State Reversal. His body and the giant Quantum Beast simultaneously turned into fragile white.
"Just wait. Whether it's this civilization or the previous one, the people I want to save—I will save them. I can afford to die!"
Seeing both himself and the beast in the collapse state, Gao Qi didn't hesitate to detonate the Honkai energy within his body. Having died many times, he was all too familiar with this self-destructive process.
MANTRA—
The white Honkai Beast armor reappeared briefly before Gao Qi's power expanded again, slipping from the Mantra state into self-destruction.
The explosive force instantly destroyed both their bodies and sealed the Sea of Quanta gate shut.
There was no loud explosion. In the next moment, Gao Qi's figure and the giant Quantum Beast collapsed into a single point and vanished without a trace.
——————
After a while, another dark figure slowly emerged from the depths. Shrouded in black mist, she quietly arrived at the scene.
Behind her, a pair of bright blue butterfly wings remained unconcealed by the darkness.
"This is… how many times have we met now?"
Clasping her hands over her chest, her voice was still layered with static, but the emotion within was sincere.
"I will… keep waiting for you."
——————
[In the Sea of Quanta, you used the energy released from the collapse state after entering superposition to close the gate.]
[Your body was completely annihilated.]
[You died.]
Gao Qi opened his eyes. It wasn't dawn; the moonlight outside was beautiful.
The Schicksal outpost was unusually quiet. The Valkyries of the Immortal Blades had already left for their mission.
Gao Qi's phone buzzed with an encrypted communication.
He answered and heard a voice he'd listened to not long ago.
"Hello, Natasha—miss me already?"
Standing up, Gao Qi decided to take the initiative this time. Even in the real world, he intended to seize fate by the throat.
Note: I'm new to translating so please be kind and tell me any mistakes you all find, I will try to release a chapter a day but don't expect much
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Raw: 崩坏模拟器,你找的人是我么?