Chapter 165: Hey! I'm Going to Use a Magical Little Gadget on You All!
Stelle had seen them. The kiss.
For a split second, a blush of embarrassment crept up her neck. She pretended she hadn't seen a thing, that nothing had happened at all. She continued to chat and laugh with them for a few more minutes before happily making her way back to the Astral Express.
"Himeko... do you think there's something wrong with me?"
Stelle sank onto the sofa beside Himeko, her voice small, a mixture of confusion and sorrow clouding her features. She was a good kid. She knew that thinking this way was wrong, but she couldn't stop the hollow, uncomfortable ache that had taken root in her heart.
"There's nothing wrong with liking someone, and there's certainly nothing wrong with not wanting to hurt your friends." Himeko reached out, her fingers gently stroking Stelle's silver hair. "But you can't just pretend nothing happened and bottle it all up inside. You just need a little time to adjust."
Himeko patted her own lap, a silent invitation. Stelle accepted, resting her head on the offered lap pillow.
Purr... hum...
The gentle, rhythmic sound of Himeko humming a soft tune filled the quiet parlor. Cradled in that warmth, Stelle's tense shoulders relaxed, and she drifted off to sleep with surprising speed.
---
"Adaptability, huh?"
"It seems the model still needs some adjustments."
Rekka scribbled furiously on a sheet of paper, his pen flying across the surface in a flurry of arcane symbols and complex equations.
"Honestly, this is already more than good enough," Welt said, gazing at his own palm as if seeing the raw power thrumming within it.
"It's far from it," Rekka countered without even looking up from his calculations. "The current limit only reaches the scope of destroying a solar system. That's too small. It can be improved further. Although your power as the Herrscher of Reason has reached its theoretical limit, creating a stage for you that approaches the Herrscher of Truth isn't difficult."
Welt felt a genuine chill crawl up his spine.
"Theoretically speaking," Rekka mused, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper that grew more and more excited with each word, "if I were to create an entity similar to the Cocoon of Finality, but on a galactic scale... and let it test the entire galaxy... No, no, no, how about this instead..."
He leaned back, his eyes unfocused as he recited a chillingly familiar line. "[Submit. We do not need submission. Since you cannot understand our long-cherished wish, then be destroyed.]"
Rekka's grin widened. "No, wait... I might summon something nasty from Guns Girl Z if I go down that route." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Although, the beauties in Honkai Gakuen 2 are definitely worth taking a risk for, one could say."
"You had better not," Welt interjected, his voice sharp and steady, cutting through Rekka's fanatical spiral. "Do not pursue power so excessively. Some powers, even if they are theoretically achievable, are best left in the theoretical stage forever. The price is often something we cannot afford."
Hearing Welt's stern warning, Rekka blinked, and the dangerously manic gleam in his eyes subsided. Only then did Welt's hand, which had been gripping his cane so tightly his knuckles were white, slowly relax. He let out a long, silent breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Even in a situation like this, Welt managed to maintain a clear head.
"I know," Rekka said, his tone returning to normal. "That's why I stop myself from pursuing the most dangerous considerations."
Besides, he thought, Polka is watching from behind. Thank you, Lord of Silence.
Setting aside those heart-stoppingly dangerous ideas, Welt, as a senior, truly did appreciate Rekka. He saw many rare and brilliant qualities in the young man. Besides, Rekka could be considered a fellow countryman of sorts, a half-hometown connection in the vastness of space. Most of the time, Welt's stern attitude was simply a reaction to Rekka's penchant for acting like a complete menace, prompting "Old Yang" to deliver some "loving education" with his cane. It was definitely not because he himself had been infected by Rekka's particular brand of weirdness.
That unconstrained creativity, that courage to leap far outside the box of conventional thinking... Welt shook his head slightly, a private, bittersweet thought crossing his mind. He could always see the shadows of old friends in Rekka—those same eyes, shimmering with the light of seeking knowledge and the desire to change the world. It was precisely because of this that he felt compelled to educate Rekka with his cane, time and time again.
Welt was certain his own adopted son had never been this mischievous. And his adopted son was a clone of Joachim, no less.
"I suggest you go do something normal people do now," Welt said, a hint of helplessness in his tone. He glanced at the Star of Eden in his hand, which Rekka had already modified beyond recognition. "Like dating, eating, or sleeping. Don't just hole up in here all day calculating how to destroy the galaxy."
He had a growing suspicion that by the time he returned home, he would have been upgraded to the point where he could single-handedly take on the Herrscher of Finality.
The atmosphere in the room finally returned to a normal temperature, no longer hovering at a freezing point that felt seconds away from triggering an apocalypse.
"Uncle Yang is right." Rekka rubbed his hands together, his usual, slightly flighty demeanor returning. "I'll simplify these blueprints in a bit and make some small gadgets that are more relevant to daily life."
Welt looked at Rekka's sincere face, which practically had the words "turning over a new leaf" written all over it. The gaze behind his lenses, however, remained seventy percent suspicious and thirty percent vigilant.
Taking Welt's advice, Rekka went out for a stroll. He rubbed his chin, his gaze sweeping over the rows of neatly arranged snack stalls lining the street.
Thump-thump-thump-thump...
The sound of light but extremely fast footsteps echoed from a nearby alley. Rekka's instincts flared, and he subconsciously shifted half a step to the side.
The next second, a petite figure shot out from the depths of the alley like a cannonball, missing him by a hair's breadth. If that impact had connected, even Rekka would have likely been laid out flat.
The little girl, clearly not paying attention, tumbled and fell directly to the ground. She looked to be about seven or eight years old, dressed in an exquisite, wide-sleeved robe with complex water patterns embroidered on the fabric.
"Hiss... Oww, that really hurt this young lady..."
Bailu clutched her forehead and looked up, her large, clear eyes welling with tears. They were filled with grievance, but when she saw Rekka's completely unfamiliar face, a flash of vigilance quickly replaced the pain.
She scrambled up from the ground, dusted off her bottom, and lifted her chin, forcing herself into what she clearly thought was a very fierce posture. "You, you, you! Who are you! Don't you have eyes when you walk? This road is so wide, why did you have to block the intersection? Are you intentionally trying to get this young lady to—"
Before she could finish her tirade, a chaotic clatter of footsteps erupted from the alley, accompanied by several urgent shouts. "Lady Dragon Girl! Lady Dragon Girl—!"
The little girl panicked. Before she could bolt, she saw her pursuers emerging. In a flash, Rekka reached out and activated a small, cube-like device.
This was a force field cube he had designed before. In essence, it operated on a principle somewhat similar to an anti-meme.
An anti-meme is an idea or entity that is self-shielding, self-hiding, and hinders its own propagation. The closer you get to it, the more you forget it; the more you try to describe it, the more language fails. It exists, but you cannot effectively think about, record, or discuss it. A classic example: you finish reading a file, and the next second you forget the content, remembering only that you seemed to have read something important.
And the force field created by Rekka was a cognitive shield that targeted all forms of life, organic and inorganic.
Honestly, Rekka thought to himself, my abilities are just as ridiculous as Stelle's.
Stelle's abilities: Enhancing her baseball bat and greatsword.
Not yet acquired: Hypnotic-like psychological suggestion (via Clockie), time stop, and a cheering stick that might leak electricity.
Seriously, what kind of game are we even playing?
Bailu only felt a slight blur pass before her eyes, as if a thin, invisible veil had brushed across her vision. She subconsciously blinked. When she looked around again, everything seemed perfectly normal.
Rekka held up a single finger to his lips, tilted his head slightly, and his gaze fell on the group of people now chasing out from the alley.
"Lady Dragon Girl couldn't have run far! She must still be nearby!" one of them yelled, and the group quickly scattered to search.
"Hello!"
The person in the lead stopped directly in front of Bailu and Rekka, his expression deadly serious.
"Have you," he asked, looking right past the little girl at his feet, "seen a girl with horns on her head and a tail on her back?"
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