Bai Ming spared a sliver of attention to sense the abilities she had just gained as the Herrscher of Finality.
The power set was incredibly comprehensive—basically a little bit of everything.
But then again...
Among these authorities, some could be linked to the Paths and Aeons here, while others looked completely unrelated no matter how you viewed them.
Bai Ming's understanding wasn't quite deep enough yet. For now, she chalked it up to the fact that they belonged to two entirely different Imaginary systems.
If she had to put it simply, the Path System was obviously more idealistic, more abstract.
Meanwhile, the rules behind Herrschers and Honkai were more grounded and objective.
As for which was better or worse, that was hard to say. In the end, it still came down to raw output.
Still, with Finality's abilities, handcrafting a projection of a Core of Reason wasn't much of a problem, but if she wanted that core to run on something other than Honkai Energy, that would take quite a bit of work.
She could study it slowly later.
Meanwhile...
Bai Ming sat in her chair and looked at Kiana, who was completely absorbed in her game. After thinking for a moment, she asked,
"Kiana, where are you planning to go next?"
They had already visited so many places. There were still many left unseen, of course, but Kiana surely had a grasp of the general state of things by now.
It wasn't like Bai Ming couldn't keep accompanying her, but Kiana didn't seem like the type who absolutely needed company.
Before, Bai Ming had followed her so enthusiastically because she wanted to farm emotional points and, incidentally, cuddle up with the heroine of Honkai Impact 3rd.
Now that the character card had expired, and after thirty whole days of thoroughly enjoying that privilege...
There was naturally no real need to keep following Kiana around.
Besides, the body she had left Kiana with was extremely powerful.
No need to worry about her running into danger.
Kiana looked up at Bai Ming, thought for a moment, then asked, "Well... if I keep wandering around here long-term like this, are you sure that's okay?"
"No problem."
Bai Ming blinked. What problem could there be?
She had already sealed Kiana's consciousness tight with her own power. Any other Aeon who saw her would know Kiana was under Bai Ming's protection.
Who would randomly come looking to provoke her?
The most suspicious one, Aha, actually knew the truth and wouldn't mess around and even if someone really did act recklessly, she'd already prepared contingencies.
Seeing how certain Bai Ming was, Kiana finally relaxed quite a bit.
"Oh. Then... I want to go to the Astral Express. What do you think?"
"Then go. You already got your ticket, and now you're still asking?"
Right after saying that, Bai Ming suddenly froze, then stared seriously at Kiana.
"Oh right. Go if you want, but don't forget—the Mei on that train is my person. You perverted yuri freak better keep yourself in check."
"Hey! Slander! That's pure slander! Do I look like that kind of person?!"
Kiana instantly exploded.
Say anything else and she'd let it slide, but accusing her of being some degenerate yuri maniac, and suspecting she'd target someone else's partner—
That was an insult to her character!
"'I want to drink Mei's juice'—now, who was it that said that? Hard to say."
"Th-that was when I was young and ignorant! Things from puberty don't count as being perverted! School-age stuff is—"
What followed was a flood of rambling excuses—this wasn't perversion, it was just adolescent curiosity, and so on.
For a moment, the room was overflowing with laughter.
Kiana was so embarrassed she was about to overheat again.
Where the hell had this girl even learned such nonsense?
Actually, she'd been curious about that for a long time.
This was clearly their first meeting, and logically it should've been the first time either of them even knew the other's world existed.
Yet Bai Ming acted like she knew Kiana extremely well.
She even knew about things that happened on Earth, and events at St. Freya.
Sure, Welt came from Earth, but he didn't study at St. Freya. How could he possibly know that many details?
Thankfully, Mei really was gentle.
She could even tolerate Kiana's unbelievably cringe remarks from back then. Some of those old memories—even grown-up Kiana cringed when she recalled them.
Back then, she really had been a wild kid roaming everywhere, saying whatever came to mind.
"Anyway, just know your limits. Otherwise I'll fly to the moon and report you to your Mei, Bronya, Theresa, and your sister all at once!"
"Are you even on my side?! And you'd go that far just to snitch?!"
Kiana stared in shock, but Bai Ming only gave a light snort.
"Business is business."
"Geh—"
Kiana stuck her tongue out hard at Bai Ming.
This girl was the worst!
"Oh right. I promised earlier I'd send some gifts to your side. I'll deliver them directly later, so be ready to receive them."
Kiana snorted, crossed her arms, and glared at Bai Ming.
"Then are you coming to the Solar System?"
"Not this time, probably. But if I have time later, I'll definitely go take a look."
She had told Herta before that once the timing was right, she'd let Herta research Honkai-related things.
Now the system had directly rewarded her with the full power set of Finality.
That meant she wasn't worried about Herta researching it anymore. She'd just need to keep an eye on Herta while she worked. If anything happened, Bai Ming could immediately control the situation.
Perfect timing too—she could let Herta study it while figuring out how to make that Core of Reason.
"Alright then. I'll contact Himeko-sensei. After I spend a few more days playing around on the Luofu, I'll report to the Express."
Though she wasn't the original Himeko...
Kiana still made up her mind.
That teacher who had once protected her with her life—this time, she would be the one to protect her instead.
Trailblazing aboard the Astral Express sounded romantic, but danger always followed close behind.
Sure, everyone on the crew was elite and highly capable, but Kiana felt the train was missing one role: Someone wholly dedicated to protecting Navigator Himeko.
And she, Kiana Kaslana, would become that crucial piece!
--+--
At the same time...
On the Stellaron Hunters' side.
Bai Ming, disguised as Silverwing, had been with the Stellaron Hunters for quite a while now, but during that time, she discovered that while they did carry out missions, none of them were anything major.
And many of their actions were bafflingly meaningless.
For example, one mission required Silverwing to go to some inhabited planet, arrive at a specific place at a specific time, put on a fierce expression to intimidate someone, then leave.
That was it.
A mission with no beginning and no end.
It left her completely confused.
Impossible to understand.
Logically, she knew Elio was stirring fate and adjusting worldlines.
Emotionally, though, it just made her feel like some lunatic sleepwalking from place to place.
But this time...
Elio had finally arranged something a little more serious.
Invade Planet Screwllum.
"This script requires you to use Aether Editing to infiltrate Planet Screwllum, fight Screwllum, and make him remember you as a young hacker."
Kafka smiled as she handed over a thin sheet of paper. The script written on it was rough, but every important point was clearly explained.
Wearing Bronya's face, Bai Ming looked at the black cat who had come with Kafka.
"I understand the logic, but why does this say I need to bring back a max-level Aether Cartridge below the level of an Aeon?"
Elio meowed, then explained:
"Simply put, you're a joker card. I want to hide your strength until the very end. At other times, we need a card with enough weight to serve as a decoy. Originally, I planned for Bronya to retrieve it—but since you've joined us instead, you can make one yourself."
Silverwing frowned.
This didn't sound simple at all.
She understood the reasoning, but a max-level cartridge below an Aeon meant one more step and you'd be entering the domain of gods.
How was Silver Wolf supposed to obtain something like that?
Whether the current Silver Wolf or the original one, it was pure fantasy.
"The cartridge is one thing. First tell me—how were you planning to make Bronya get something like that?"
"Meow~ The power of Finality allows me to turn a possible future into reality and bring it to the present. Among countless worldlines, there is one where Bronya reached LV999, standing at the peak of humanity, only one step below an Aeon."
Elio yawned as he spoke.
"I had already made a deal with her. I'd bring her to the present, transfer her power to Silver Wolf, and in return she would witness the possibility she desired within the cartridge. But..."
Elio didn't finish, but the meaning was obvious.
Because of Bai Ming, Silver Wolf hadn't joined the Stellaron Hunters.
Instead, Bai Ming's disguised secondary Silverwing had taken her place.
Naturally, that agreement had been canceled.
And then...
Elio's cat face got grabbed by Silverwing.
"You bastard... You were planning to make Silver Wolf do something that dangerous? What level is she at right now? Even if she became an Emanator, she couldn't withstand the backlash of LV999!"
Lifted into the air by the face, Elio's whole cat body stretched as he helplessly explained:
"Meow—That's why it's a trump card! Besides, I already talked it over with that Silver Wolf. Her attitude might be bad, but she'd never truly hurt her past self."
"You..."
Silverwing furiously rubbed his cat head again.
She believed Elio. The things this guy did were abstract as hell, but he really didn't lie.
"In that case, don't cancel the deal. Reaching a point where there's nowhere left to go... for Silver Wolf, that probably isn't a happy thing. I can't bear to watch little Silver Wolf suffer."
"..."
Elio gave Silverwing a strange look.
Little Silver Wolf...?
By the time that Silver Wolf reached the summit, she'd probably be thousands—maybe tens of thousands—of years old.
How exactly was that "little"?
But whatever.
The other side had been angry over the canceled deal anyway.
Since Bai Ming was willing to satisfy her, Elio had no objections.
As long as he got this trump card in hand.
"Then get ready, meow. We'll switch to a planet that can survive being torn apart, and I'll bring her over."
If Silver Wolf had been the one to face her, the other party would surely show restraint and wouldn't destroy the Stellaron Hunters' base, but now that it was someone else...
That woman was not known for having a good temper.
A huge battle was practically guaranteed.
And the spaceship beneath their feet definitely wasn't sturdy enough for that.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL