"The world isn't peaceful?" Kiana muttered, taking a mouthful of rice. "Are you talking about the Honkai? I think it's just so-so; I was already fighting it in Siberia when I was twelve."
"Then do you know why vast areas of Siberia remain no-man's-lands to this day?" Xia Yu asked in return. "Is it because the Russians don't want to develop that land?"
"In that great catastrophe in the year 2000, fewer than a hundred civilians in Siberia survived. In the end, if Miss Cecilia hadn't sacrificed herself, more than half of Asia would have been reduced to a wasteland!"
"Wait, why have I never heard of something this big?" Raiden Mei asked in shock. "And that Sea of Quanta from before... are Yakuza families playing at such a high level nowadays?"
She didn't understand, but she was deeply shaken.
"Because these things have been hidden away," Xia Yu shook her head upon hearing this, then looked at Kiana. "Wait, Mei's expression is one thing because Raiden Ryoma never taught her this common knowledge, but why do you, a Kaslana, have such a shocked expression?"
"I'm an outcast, an outcast," Kiana hurriedly laughed it off. "No one has ever told me about these things."
"True, those over in Europe are used to acting inhuman," Xia Yu didn't expose her, nodding solemnly instead. "Lady Cecilia... even if we were from different factions, I have nothing but admiration for a person as noble as her. She was a true Hero."
"She clearly could have been saved, but the European side directly launched Honkai Fission Bombs for a carpet-bombing strike... Hah."
At this point, she casually mentioned: "Speaking of which, the reason your target Siegfried defected from Schicksal is likely related to this incident."
"Why?" Hearing Siegfried's name, Kiana asked subconsciously, "Was it because he was disheartened?"
"It was hatred," Xia Yu frowned and looked at her. "They were truly willing to use such ruthless methods just to test Siegfried. You don't even know about this?"
An inexplicable sense of panic gripped Kiana. "Wh... what thing?"
"Cecilia was Siegfried's wife," Xia Yu nodded and said. "During that catastrophe back then, the two of them, husband and wife, were deployed together."
Wife...
Wife...
Which means... Mom?
Hearing this, Kiana stood frozen on the spot.
My... Mom?
She had once asked her old man why she didn't have a mother, and he always remained silent.
She never expected to hear about her mother here...
I...
A massive Sense of Nihility surrounded Kiana, and her body began to tremble.
Xia Yu, meanwhile, stared intently at her eyes.
A flicker of unstable Golden Light flashed and vanished.
"Though I don't know what's wrong," seeing this, Xia Yu reached out, pulled her over, and held her in her arms. "Looking at you, you must feel very wronged."
"Be good, it's all in the past. I'm here."
Raiden Mei, standing to the side, was dumbfounded.
What was going on? For Kiana to look like this... could her background also be...
Thinking of this, and then thinking of herself, she couldn't hold it together either and silently lowered her head.
Xia Yu reached out and pulled her in as well.
Looking at the two girls sobbing in her arms, Xia Yu sighed and began to reflect—had she gone too far?
But some things... they had to face eventually. One had the Second Herrscher inside her, and the other had the Gem of Conquest...
Xia Yu always felt that preparing them to step onto the battlefield was better than saying nothing under the banner of "it's for your own good," only to push children who had no preparation at all into the fray when the time came.
She was also prepared: if Sirin took over the body, she would directly use the power of an Emanator to suppress her. Absorbing whose Honkai Energy was still absorbing energy, after all. If the Herrscher of Thunder wouldn't come, using the Herrscher of the Void first wouldn't make a difference.
But for some reason, the latter didn't show its head.
She thought she had hidden herself quite well...
After a long time, the emotions of the two gradually calmed down.
"Aunt," Raiden Mei wiped her eyes and asked, "Does my father's situation... have something to do with my body?"
"Yes, of course," Xia Yu nodded and looked at Kiana. "You saw it too, right? That strength of hers that exceeds ordinary people."
Raiden Mei recalled Kiana smashing a desk with a single bat in the classroom and nodded involuntarily.
"That is the innate power of the Kaslana family," Xia Yu explained. "People like us are always different from ordinary people."
"But this difference isn't always a good thing. For example, you, Mei."
Xia Yu sighed and said, "You are a Natural Stigmatic. It would be fine if the Stigmata awakened at fifteen or sixteen, but you awakened too early!"
"How can a toddler withstand the power of a Stigmata? To save your life, Raiden Ryoma took a treasure without authorization and implanted it into your body. It likely requires regular maintenance."
Hearing this, Raiden Mei thought of the physical exams she had to undergo every year and nodded.
"But the funds required for such a project are astronomical, and the organization... it's impossible they would approve such a plan for his daughter, so he could only carry it out in secret."
Mainly, they couldn't approve the implantation of the Gem of Conquest; the money was a secondary issue...
Xia Yu shrugged helplessly. "At first, I also thought he was framed. I was ready to settle you in and then go demand an explanation. But after checking your body... sigh, I understand his difficulties."
"So... that's how it is?" Raiden Mei lost all her strength upon hearing this.
She had always thought her father was framed, but the truth was actually like this. It was for her sake that her father risked everything to do such a thing...
As a daughter, she could not harbor any resentment toward her father.
But... but...
Raiden Mei's heart was in a mess.
"Don't worry, you still have me," Xia Yu patted her head. "It's just a few billion dollars. I'll pay it back for him. At most, he'll just serve a few years in prison; it's no big deal."
"Sister Acheron, you're that rich?" Kiana, who had already composed herself, leaned over and asked.
"I don't have money," Xia Yu smiled. "But I'm very good at making it."
For example, splitting Mars in half with one strike and then grabbing a random rock to sell to Schicksal—would they dare not pay?
Just a joke.
"I see," Kiana felt a sense of loss. "Money is good to have in the future."
"Don't worry, you won't be left out," Xia Yu casually pulled out a piece of Terrapin Gold from Terra. "This will be our living expenses for these few days."
"But regarding Raiden Ryoma's matter, I still need to investigate thoroughly. I have a feeling the person who sent him to prison might have more than just that goal," she said with a frown. "If it were just an investigation into embezzlement, there would be no need to signal others to bully Mei."
"I think she has other hidden motives."
"Bronya, where did you go today?"
At the ME Corp headquarters, Cocolia looked at her daughter who had returned alone and frowned. "Why couldn't you be contacted?"
Even as she said this, she had known Bronya's whereabouts all along. She even knew about her following someone who looked very similar to Raiden Mei and breaking the limbs of many people across the city.
"Bronya went out with a snake," Bronya was very clever. She knew she wouldn't get answers if she asked directly, so she simply used her words to bait Cocolia-mama.
"What? A snake?!" Hearing this, Cocolia stood up instantly and walked quickly to Bronya, nervously checking her up and down. "You met a snake? You weren't hurt, were you?"
"The snake told Bronya many things," Bronya stared fixedly at Cocolia.
So... the snake really existed.
Then, was it Seele...
"Back then, the data for that X-10 Experiment came from them. Seele falling into the Sea of Quanta was also because of them," Bronya stared deathly into Cocolia's eyes, not missing a single emotion, and said: "Including now, Seele is in the hands of the snake."
"What? The snake actually..." Cocolia's face turned pale instantly. Black Snake had never told her this!
The two had many collaborations, from the X-10 Experiment to the current experiment regarding the Great Honkai in Nagazora City, but she had always thought that experiment back then was an accident...
So it wasn't an accident; it was Gray Serpent wanting to take the opportunity to seize her daughter to manipulate her?
But if that were the case, why had he never... No, wait!
She suddenly looked down at Bronya. "Bronya, you're lying, aren't you? He has no reason to bypass me to contact you!"
"...Mama," seeing this, Bronya already had the answer in her heart. "You really are collaborating with the snake."
"You don't understand, Bronya," Cocolia said in panic as she saw the unfamiliar look in her daughter's eyes. "To save Seele..."
"But Seele is in the snake's hands right now!" Bronya jerked her hand away from Cocolia's grasp. "Cocolia-mama, why don't you think this is a conspiracy?"
"Seele is in the Sea of Quanta; she must rely on the snake's protection to survive! Bronya can tell that you didn't know this news, right?"
"Why did the snake you collaborate with never tell you this! Mama, wake up!"
Hearing this, Cocolia stared blankly at the daughter who was showing anger. Since her emotional circuits were damaged, this was the first time she had heard an inflection in her tone.
To express anger toward her.
"Give me some time... Bronya," Cocolia turned away in pain. "You go out first; I need to be alone."
"Bronya doesn't want to lose anyone else, Cocolia-mama," Bronya left only that sentence before turning to leave.
And Cocolia, after her daughter closed the door, angrily connected to Gray Serpent's communication.
"My dear ally, has something happened with the experiment..." Gray Serpent on the other end had just started speaking when Cocolia angrily interrupted him.
"You sent someone to contact my daughter, didn't you!"