Chat Group: Starting by Swapping Bodies with Elysia?

For Su, the recent times had been perhaps more eventful than the past millennia of his experiences.

The brief reappearance of a deceased comrade—and a Herrscher who had intruded into the Sea of Quanta from the manifest world.

As always, with his eyes closed, he observed the silver-haired girl whom he had connected to Sumeru Mustard Seed.

"Bronya Zaychik…"

His countless observations made Su familiar with her. The endless possibilities made the combination of the Herrscher of Reason's power and her not a surprise—or rather, he had already anticipated the future direction, although not in detail.

But regardless, the girl before him was far too anomalous.

For some unknown reason, he could sense an extremely intimate, nostalgic feeling from her.

But even the Eye of Wisdom struggled to... no, was completely unable to see her in detail.

Although this wasn't an isolated case, Su had encountered similar beings in his countless past observations. They included a female version of himself with great malice, and their companion from the distant past had shared the same characteristic. But even now, being so close to such a person gave Su a peculiar feeling.

Likewise, [Bronya]—Jiang Qiao—was also examining the enlightened one.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't their first meeting.

But even if that encounter at Eden's concert 50,000 years ago was indeed a 'past' of the person before him, the Su of 50,000 years ago was drastically different from the enlightened one of today.

"So, what's your purpose in bringing me here, Mr. Forerunner?" The silver-haired girl casually said while gazing at the man before her.

When mentioning the words 'Forerunner,' [Bronya] enunciated them with particular emphasis.

Su didn't react to this title.

Although it was definitely a secret for the people of the Current Era, there were still ways to find out more if someone really wanted to.

"Miss Bronya, I hope—that you can leave the Sea of Quanta."

After hesitating for a moment, Su stated his intention.

As mentioned earlier—Herrschers were messengers of the imaginary, and natural enemies of the Sea of Quanta.

A Herrscher entering it would inevitably cause the Sea of Quanta to stir... Of course, that wasn't Su's concern.

Although he was compassionate, he couldn't worry about the world bubbles that had sunk into the Sea of Quanta. Besides, they wouldn't necessarily be affected.

[Bronya]s' appearance in the Sea of Quanta would have the greatest impact on his best friend.

Although their relationship had improved somewhat with the return of that old friend, Su had to do everything in his power to continue imprisoning his friend, who bore heavy responsibilities, in the Sea of Quanta, both for the sake of the innocent people of the manifest world and for MEI's request.

In the past, they had lived in peace, or rather, even Kevin himself had willingly accepted his imprisonment and hadn't put up any resistance.

But as civilization progressed, his best friend had become increasingly restless.

If everything were normal, Su was confident that, with this remaining body, he could drag Kevin until the arrival of the fated one.

However, the appearance of a Herrscher had broken this peace.

The Herrscher of Reason… no, the girl before him even possessed the core of the Herrscher of Ice. Once these two Herrscher cores fell into the hands of his best friend, it would be enough to restore him to his peak—and then, his own strength alone would no longer be enough to stop him.

Moreover…

Besides Kevin, Su knew that a troublesome being was also lurking in the Sea of Quanta.

It would be fine for himself or ordinary people. The Sea of Quanta was so vast that she wouldn't be able to find them.

But if a messenger of the imaginary was active within, it would be far too conspicuous.

"Of course—but that will be after I achieve my purpose for coming here."

"…"

Although he wanted to refuse and act more forcefully, perhaps due to the unknown feeling of intimacy, or simply because fighting her was unwise, Su hesitated and gave up on using 'force' to make her back down.

Unconsciously displaying an air of charm, [Bronya] said with a smile:

"Hmm~ If you help, maybe I can leave even sooner?"

Similar, so similar.

That familiar smile made Su feel a little dazed, as if he was seeing a former comrade again. But he dismissed it as a mere coincidence.

He sighed, "If that's the case, then let me lend you a hand."

—Trying to find a specific individual in the vast Sea of Quanta was no easy task.

Like the countless branches on the Imaginary Tree, the world bubbles that had sunk into the Sea of Quanta were also countless.

If relying on her own strength alone, even as the Herrscher of Truth, possessing enough power to ignore most of the dangers in the Sea of Quanta, Jiang Qiao would still need to spend a considerable amount of time to find the lost Seele.

After all, the power of the Herrschers was not in the same system as the Sea of Quanta, and in this place, Jiang Qiao's most proficient 'authority manipulation' was greatly restricted.

The original Bronya could easily find Seele because Seele herself had already worked hard to explore the Sea of Quanta for two years, climbing the tower for two years, and with Kevin's help, she didn't lose her way in the sea. On top of that, there was a little luck, and…

A bright blue butterfly landed on [Bronya]s' finger—that was the reliance that allowed Bronya to find Blue Wendy, the 'thread' left between them during the experiment.

But with the time being two years earlier, when Blue Wendy was still swimming naked in the sea, even with that thread, finding her wouldn't be easy.

Fortunately—Su was still alive.

Although his Project VALUKA was mainly focused on observing the branches on the Imaginary Tree, and searching for 'failures' that had fallen into the sea was unnecessary, that didn't mean that he couldn't observe the Sea of Quanta.

With the help of his Sumeru Mustard Seed, and with the connection of that 'thread,' the search for Seele was undoubtedly fast-forwarded.

Soon—they found the world bubble where Seele was.

But, upon seeing that world bubble, [Bronya]s' eyebrows twitched slightly.

…

Sea of Quanta, a certain world bubble.

"The other me...what world have we arrived in?" Standing on the vast expanse of white snow, the snow that covered her thighs made the girl sink into it. Blue Wendy—Seele—looked around with a confused expression.

To return to Bronya-nee, she had been working hard with the help of her other self, trying to walk through one world bubble after another by 'climbing the world bubbles'. There was no definite concept of time in the Sea of Quanta, so she didn't know how long it had been, but she simply persisted based on her desire to see Bronya-nee.

This snow-covered world wasn't unfamiliar to Seele, but… looking at the figures covered in snow and ice that she could occasionally see nearby—without a doubt, those were the bodies of people. She could see the 'Schicksal' logo on their bodies.

Although she wasn't unfamiliar with seeing the dead, such a chilling scene still made Seele feel frightened. She shrunk her shoulders and carefully moved forward.

"I'm not sure, but… it seems to be a battlefield."

In her mind, a different—the voice of Black Seele—sounded, also filled with confusion and a hint of caution.

Even though she knew nothing about the current situation, one thing was certain—battlefields always meant danger.

"Battlefield… I have a bad feeling… Let's get out of this world quickly…"

"I'm afraid we can't for now…"

"I can't sense the weak point of this world bubble." Black Seele's voice was filled with a hint of impatience and annoyance.

"Eh—?"

Hearing those words, Seele's little face stiffened.

The reason why they could 'climb the tower' like this was because her other self was sensitive to the weak points of the world bubbles—if she couldn't sense it… wouldn't it mean that they couldn't leave this world bubble at all?

"Don't panic… Maybe this world is just too big, or maybe the weak point is well hidden… Anyway, let's take a look around… Be careful!"

Black Seele, who was very sensitive to danger, warned loudly—she had even subconsciously planned to take the initiative.

"Nai go kyou—!"

The source of the danger, a Striker-class Honkai beast that was fast and ambushed using the snow as cover, was kicked away by a huge metal cat paw that suddenly appeared in midair. The girl's energetic voice then rang in Seele's ears.

The red in her eyes receded like a tide, yet she still looked at the white-haired pigtail girl with caution, who had landed next to her, wearing a 'tight suit' that revealed a metallic texture—the basic Valkyrie battlesuit, Valkyrie Ranger.

"Are you alright?" A gentler voice sounded next to her, followed by a purple-haired girl in pinkish-red metal tight-fitting armor—the basic Valkyrie battlesuit, Crimson Impulse.

Raiden Mei and… Kiana Kaslana.

"Ah… I'm fine."

"It's strange, how would a normal girl appear on the battlefield?"

"Probably just a civilian who didn't have time to evacuate… Anyway, let's take her to a safe place first." At Mei's suggestion, the white-haired dango girl muttered softly, "But the battle is about to begin…"

"It took us a lot of effort to break through from the outer perimeter. If we go back out now…"

"That's true… In that case, can you stick with us? We will protect you." After hesitating for a moment, Mei looked at Seele.

"Okay…"

Although she had matured through many worlds, and wasn't as naive, Seele, who was kind at heart, still couldn't refuse others' goodwill. Although Black Seele found it strange, she still chose to comply and act with them.

From their words, Seele also learned that this was the battlefield of the battle against the Second Herrscher in the Siberian snowfields. The Second Herrscher was currently absorbing the Honkai energy from the Honkai reactors and using the dimensional rifts to summon large Honkai armies. The Schicksal forces to which Kiana and Mei belonged were conducting a general attack on the Herrscher of the Void.

"The Second Herrscher…"

Seele was actually very familiar with the Siberian snowfields—she had heard Bronya-nee say that Bronya-nee was from the Siberian snowfields and had been there for a long time. As for the Second Herrscher…

Although she was indeed born after the Second Honkai Eruption, unfortunately, Cocolia hadn't told them about Anti-Entropy or the Major Honkai Eruptions. To the current Seele, it was a foreign term.

And Black Seele, although still wary of the people in this world, made a guess based on the information she had obtained:

"Perhaps… the so-called dimensional rifts are the weak points of this world."

Although the knowledge stored in the Stigmata didn't mention dimensional rifts, since they could summon Honkai beasts from another place, it must be a spatial teleportation node.

"That makes sense… But how do we approach it…"

"Boom—!"

A deafening roar interrupted her thoughts. Looking up, she saw metal Titan mechs entering the battlefield, crushing the Honkai beasts with overwhelming force.

Following that, a man with brown hair and glasses appeared.

According to what Kiana and Mei said, he seemed to be the leader of Anti-Entropy—Welt.

"Such strange people…"

"He's dangerous, stay away from him." Black Seele's perception of malice was more sensitive, and she immediately noticed the gloom hidden in the eyes of the man named Welt.

And this warning was soon proven correct.

Although he had indeed helped them as an ally.

Once the Second Herrscher, the purple-haired girl, was defeated, that man turned his guns on them.

The Titan mechs he controlled directly turned their fire on the Schicksal Valkyrie units. The sudden change in firepower caused heavy losses to the Valkyrie units, and the Siberian snow was stained with blood.

"This guy…"

Black Seele, filled with wariness, stared at the man floating in the air—the Titans around them were gradually closing in. Although Kiana and Mei were doing their best to clear the mechs, they were like swarms of locusts.

Even if they were destroyed, they would reappear again.

"…Looks like, we can only go this far."

Seele's voice was filled with helplessness.

She wasn't afraid of death, because due to the experiments, it was difficult for her to 'die' in the Sea of Quanta in the true sense of the word.

Even if her life was in danger, she would enter an 'unobservable' state at the critical moment.

But these 'life-saving' measures came at a price.

Once she entered an unobservable state in the Sea of Quanta, she would have to return to the room without a door again.

It was dark there, and scary… There was nothing there.

If it weren't for her other self accompanying her, that indescribable feeling of loneliness.

It was truly worse than death…

Seele didn't know if she could endure that kind of torment again.

But…

Thinking of Bronya-nee's voice and smile, she mustered the courage in her heart.

But closing her eyes, she didn't face the anticipated silence.

What rang in her ears was only that incredibly familiar voice, filled with baby formula:

"Ride on!"

Hearing this voice, Seele felt as if she was dreaming. She opened her eyes abruptly and looked toward the sky—

Buzz—an electrical sound flashed as a honeycomb-like shield covered and surrounded the area where Seele was located.

Then, covering the entire sky, a swarm of floating cannons, with a headache-inducing combination of blue and white, that looked incredibly sci-fi, began to fire.

The barrage of floating cannons wiped out hundreds upon thousands of Titans in an instant, leaving behind only the shattered frames of the mechs that turned into specks of blue light as they disappeared.

"Bronya-nee!"

Looking at the grey-ponytail figure before her, dressed like a knight, Seele couldn't help but rub her eyes. Although there had been a tremendous change from the Bronya she remembered, she still recognized the figure at a glance, and took a step back—thinking this might be a false illusion. Then, in the next moment, she rushed toward the silver-haired girl who was smiling at her.

The solid, real feeling made Blue Wendy's eyes turn red. This feeling… this really was Bronya-nee!

Her efforts along the way had paid off at this moment. She had truly met the Bronya-nee she had been dreaming of in this world. Seele only felt a sense of unreality.

She hugged her tightly, unwilling to let go, fearing that if she did, Bronya-nee would disappear.

And the silver-haired girl simply wrapped her arms around the girl's waist, gently patting her back.

"Who exactly are you?!"

A voice filled with surprise and anger came from the sky. [Bronya] turned her head, and the figure of that Mr. Welt came into 'her' sight—it was clear that the destruction of his creations made this Herrscher furious, and there was also a hint of bewilderment.

As a Herrscher of Reason, Welt could naturally see at a glance that the floating cannons in the sky were of the same origin as his Titan mech forces—they were all a part of the Herrscher of Reason's power.

And from 'Bronya,' Welt could also sense the same power as him.

However, due to some unknown influence, even with the analytical power of the Herrscher of Reason, he couldn't see through this little girl's origins.

"Just a moment, Seele~"

[Bronya] proactively comforted Seele, who was hugging her. The girl was very sensible and released her embrace, but she still walked next to 'her' and silently held her hand—in the face of this 'miraculous' reunion, Seele was afraid that if she let go, the Bronya-nee who appeared before her would disappear.

And the silver-haired girl didn't pay any attention to it, then smiled and looked at Welt in the sky.

"Me?"

"Bronya Zaychik."

"Of course, I guess what you really want to ask is the source of this power." A metal palm of unknown material gently covered the chest of this 'promising' body, the Herrscher of Reason core emitting blue light. Clearly visible, [Bronya] smiled and looked up at the man standing in the sky, and said, "The third Herrscher of Reason, Bronya Zaychik, entrusted by the second Herrscher of Reason, Welt Yang."

"So, are you satisfied?"

Satisfied?

Of course, he was satisfied.

He was far too satisfied.

After Jiang Qiao finished her self-introduction, Welt's expression became distorted with anger, even mixed with a hint of jealousy, at a speed that was visible to the naked eye.

—In 1955, Anti-Entropy was established on this day.

But in this world, it was the day that Anti-Entropy was destroyed.

Welt Joyce, Lieserl Albert Einstein, Frederica Nikola Tesla, Emma Planck, Erwin Lyra Schrödinger…

Welt had watched them all get killed one by one by the Schicksal Valkyries, and he could only run away shamefully.

Like a terrified and weak beast.

In every night when he couldn't see the light, he would dream of that man. That man, lying in a pool of blood, entrusted his name and the Herrscher core to Welt, again and again.

Eventually, he returned, using that man's name to fulfill the promise that man made to fight for humanity.

And the 'little girl' in front of him?

Even though he didn't know what the so-called 'world bubbles' were, it didn't prevent Welt from understanding the meaning.

As a Herrscher of Reason, he was by no means the most talented one, but he was definitely not stupid.

Passed down by Welt, but never shouldering the name 'Welt.'

Compared to her, his own past life was simply a huge 'joke.'

Jealousy, anger… all kinds of negative emotions swirled, changing the originally calm appearance of this man who was already trapped in despair. He covered his face and laughed loudly, a scarlet and cold light flashing between his fingers.

He shouted loudly, "Power, destiny, ideals, when I inherited Welt's name, I also gained everything that man had."

"But, under this name, there is nothing that belongs to me. I am just playing the role of a shadow that died many years ago."

"…But, why should I play the role of a failed shadow…?"

"That's right, I killed the Herrscher of the Void and saved the world."

"I did what that man couldn't do. I have surpassed him!"

Welt paused for a moment, his gaze as cold as iron. He spread his arms wide, looking completely deranged:

"I have conquered the world."

"This is my own power, my own destiny, my own ideals..."

"This… is the real me!"