Inside a dimly lit room.
The moment Xia Yu raised her hand, Bronya—who was standing by—deftly grabbed a decorative katana from the family's living room and slammed it down, sheath and all. With a sickening crack, she broke the man's leg.
Xia Yu turned to look at her. Bronya quickly withdrew the blade and looked back with a face full of forced innocence. Her expressionless face trying to squeeze out an emotion was, frankly, a bit amusing.
Xia Yu signaled with her eyes for her to continue.
"Remember, this is merely a fraction of the interest—a punishment for your daughter's actions at the academy," Bronya turned toward the wailing man, her voice cold. "Someone will come to collect the rest of the debt you owe. This is the fate of traitors!"
She played the part well. Aside from her 147cm stature, she looked every bit the professional underworld enforcer.
The man sprawled on the floor didn't dare make a sound. He was terrified that a single word might provoke the monster in front of him into finishing him off. As for where they came from? Looking at that indifferent woman whose face was practically a carbon copy of Raiden Ryoma's daughter, the answer was obvious: this was the price of betrayal.
But as a mid-level manager at ME Corp, he had never heard that the big boss, Raiden Ryoma, had ties to the underworld. Takahashi Daisuke couldn't wrap his head around it, but that didn't stop him from playing the coward.
"I won't do it again! I promise!" he wailed. "It was... it was the newcomers who forced us!"
"Bronya," Xia Yu said flatly to her little sidekick.
Understanding the cue, Bronya immediately stepped forward and broke his other leg.
"Let's go, it's getting late," Xia Yu nodded with satisfaction and turned to leave. Bronya followed closely, leaving Takahashi Daisuke alone to howl in the house.
Only after they were gone did he tremblingly reach for his phone to call emergency services.
I won't let you get away with this! After hanging up, he felt the agonizing pain in his legs and roared internally with a twisted face: I absolutely will not let you get away with this!
Raiden Ryoma is in prison; what Raiden family? The people behind the scenes can topple ten billion dollars in capital on a whim—what is a bunch of mobsters compared to that? Just you wait until I report this... There are actually survivors left in the Raiden family?
★ ★ ★
As he plotted his revenge, silence hung between the two walking outside.
After a long while, Bronya finally asked, "Are you not worried they will retaliate? Why not just end it once and for all?"
In her view, if you were going to do this, you should do it thoroughly. Sinking them into Tokyo Bay would be much more efficient. What was the point of just breaking two legs? Today, she had followed this woman to the homes of every student who had bullied Raiden Mei. It was either a broken arm or a broken leg for every household.
"I have to leave some work for her father," Xia Yu shook her head, speaking indifferently. "His daughter was bullied; don't you think he has fire in his heart?"
"If I do everything, wouldn't that make Raiden Ryoma look like a failure of a father?"
"...Understood," Bronya nodded, though she could detect the dissatisfaction in the woman's voice regarding Raiden Ryoma.
Is she blaming him for failing to protect Raiden Mei?
According to this person, she had been in the Sea of Quanta the whole time and even protected Seele, only leaving now to safeguard Raiden Mei... If this was true, the person before her was unimaginably powerful. One does not simply walk out of the Sea of Quanta whenever they wish.
"Can Bronya ask about Seele..." Bronya hesitated for two seconds. "In the Sea of Quanta... is she really going hungry and cold?"
"She manages," Xia Yu said noncommittally. "She's a soft little white flower. What kind of great feats did you expect her to achieve in the volatile World Bubbles of the Sea? She barely maintains a subsistence living, occasionally going hungry when she drifts into other worlds."
"This..." Bronya felt a sharp pang of heartache.
"What, you don't blame me?" Xia Yu stopped and glanced at her. "I clearly knew her situation, yet I didn't lend a hand, letting her suffer so much hardship."
"No, Bronya will not blame you," Bronya lowered her head. "You must have... your own reasons for doing so."
"You're quite open-minded," Xia Yu retracted her gaze. "Seele... she is too kind. Without her protection, Seele would have been devoured by those dangers long ago."
'Blind protection doesn't bring growth; it only causes a greenhouse flower to wither quickly once it leaves its familiar environment. If she were a child living in an era of peace, she would only encounter minor life setbacks, but she isn't. That is the peril-filled Sea of Quanta.'
Xia Yu said calmly: "So, I only cast my gaze upon her. The Serpent feels the same way."
"Furthermore, regarding Mei, I have always maintained this approach. I don't know what you people are plotting, but I must say, you are truly foolish. I smell the scent of the Serpent in this city. Plotting with a Serpent, heh."
"Please, what exactly is the Serpent?" Bronya's pupils contracted. She had never heard her mother mention such a person, but her mother was indeed hiding things from her...
"Why don't you go back and ask your superior?" Xia Yu turned to her. "By the way, according to what Seele said, shouldn't you be growing up and studying in the orphanage? Why are you out here living this precarious life?"
"...For Seele," Bronya lowered her head sadly. "Bronya wants to find her and bring her back."
"With just you?" Xia Yu sneered. "You can't even find which way the gates to the Sea of Quanta open."
"But Bronya will work hard," Bronya clenched her fists. Though her face remained paralyzed, a spark of determination flashed in her eyes. "One day, Bronya will bring Seele back!"
It seemed only topics involving Seele could evoke such obvious emotion from her.
"But right now, you can't even figure out the Serpent's existence, yet you're foolishly working for them," Xia Yu's lips curled slightly. "Did you know? That experiment... what was it called? X-10, right? That technology apparently came from the Serpent."
"Look at yourself. You understand nothing, yet you're working like a fool for them."
"Please, what exactly is the Serpent?" Bronya asked again. "Does it have ill intentions toward Seele?"
"Ill intentions? No, quite the opposite," Xia Yu shook her head. "Even if our positions differ and I am destined to face him with a blade in the future, I must admire that man's persistence and character. He protects Seele out of pure goodwill; you needn't worry about him harming her. But if the day comes when the Serpent finds a way back to this world, he will surely throw every chip in his hand to buy that chance."
"...Is Seele among his chips?" Bronya's voice trembled.
"Let me give you a piece of advice: unless you have two or three Herrscher-level combatants in your hand, don't even think about opening that door," Xia Yu told her. "Otherwise... heh."
"Two or three Herrschers..." Bronya was utterly silenced. Was this unknown Serpent truly that terrifying?
"Bronya has one last question," she said after a long silence. "The energy burst in space last night..."
"That was me," Xia Yu admitted readily. "Just stretching my limbs a bit, that's all."
Just stretching? From last night until now, the leaders of major global organizations probably hadn't slept. Schicksal and Anti-Entropy branches everywhere were on high alert, guarding against an unknown attack... and this was just a stretch?
"Fine, that's enough," Xia Yu stopped. "I'm going back. As for you... go back and do some research. Don't let people sell you off while you're still helping them count the money! Also, do not tell anyone about my existence, or you know the consequences."
When Bronya looked up, there was no trace of her left.
Is she lying to Bronya?
Up until now, Bronya didn't even know her name. But she had revealed so much information... things only she and Seele knew. She was so powerful... did she even need to lie to me? Telling me this much was probably for Seele's sake.
Why didn't someone so powerful crush Mother Cocolia's plan immediately? Right, she said it—blind protection doesn't bring growth. Does she want to temper Raiden Mei?
Bronya's mind was a mess, but she walked firmly toward the ME Corp headquarters. True or false, she would know by asking Mother Cocolia whether the Serpent existed and where the X-10 technology originated.
If it was true... then... Bronya didn't dare think further.
★ ★ ★
On a distant rooftop, Xia Yu watched the girl's stumbling silhouette and sighed.
When she discovered the true nature of this world, she had formed a plan. Acheron was powerful, but that power came with a price. She desperately needed a normalized, powerful combat force as a safety net.
Furina's Vision development was nowhere in sight, so she had to focus on the Tarnished. The most basic way to make her powerful was the Elden Ring.
To be blunt, Xia Yu had her eye on the inexhaustible supply of Honkai energy.
The Elden Ring had already proven through testing that it accepted all forms of energy. It could eat Originium and electricity, but those were too slow to replenish. She didn't dare let it feed directly on Acheron's Nihility power for fear of something going wrong—Acheron wasn't just any Pathstrider; given her unique position, her power might be drawn directly from IX.
Thus, the infinite Honkai energy in the Imaginary Space was much more convenient. To siphon that energy, she needed a window. In this city, Raiden Mei was undoubtedly the best choice.
She wasn't claiming to be an aunt for nothing. When the time comes, I'll just take a few sips through your port. Just a few sips. Solving the Massive Honkai Eruption for you will be your payment.
She was sure Raiden Mei would be grateful in the future.
Thinking this, she hurried back toward Kiana's rental. Inside, Kiana and Raiden Mei were staring at each other.
"Kiana," Raiden Mei said diplomatically, "it's already dark..."
The implication was: Where is this aunt you mentioned?
"Maybe she got held up by something," Kiana laughed nervously. "Sister Acheron is actually very reliable..."
She felt guilty even saying it, having only known the woman for less than twenty-four hours.
"And what you said... the grievances between our two families..." Mei couldn't hold it back anymore.
What do you mean, a Raiden ancestor and your European Kaslana ancestor had a love-hate relationship, where the Kaslana was unrequited, and it ended in a blood feud? What do you mean my Raiden family is a Yakuza clan and yours is a Mafia family? And that you, a Kaslana, were discarded by your family and forced to seek refuge with my so-called aunt?
This whole explanation had left Raiden Mei completely bewildered. My family has a criminal background? Why didn't I know? The Raiden family isn't even some great clan; we're barely a few people.
Honestly, if Kiana hadn't shown off by smashing two solid wood desks with a baseball bat in class, Mei would have thought this was another prank. She knew the quality of Chiba Academy's furniture; it was heavy and solid. It wasn't something a person could just shatter with a bat.
Coupled with the trust built by Kiana descending like a prince to rescue her from that nightmare school, she had stayed until now. But the stories this girl told were too bizarre. And she really didn't have an aunt!
Just then, Kiana's stomach let out a mournful growl.
"...Can you cook?" Kiana asked with a serious expression, looking at her stomach and then at Mei.
"A little, I suppose," Mei said guiltily.
The current "Cook of the Valkyries" had not yet evolved to her St. Freya state. Before this, she was a pampered lady. She had only started figuring things out herself after Raiden Ryoma was imprisoned. The results were... well, edible.
"Let's go out to eat then," Kiana said, though she was worried about her lack of money. For Mei's sake, she'd risk it. If worst came to worst, she'd run a bit further and "borrow" from some local delinquents!
She gritted her teeth and pulled Mei toward the door. Just as she was about to open it, the door opened on its own.
Raiden Mei looked up and saw a very familiar person standing at the entrance, staring fixedly at her. At that moment, she finally understood why Kiana was so certain she had an aunt.