Chapter 331: Interlude – Secret Weapon
Kiana "Tuna" Kaslana, female, 19 years old. An absolutely top-tier white-haired beauty, and recently, she's taken a liking to instant noodles.
"Slurp——"
Inside a high-tech black elevator spacious enough to accommodate a Titan mech, several electronic screens hovered midair. At the same time, the scent of beef-flavored instant noodles began to waft through the air.
"You're stuffing yourself with junk food just because Sigurd isn't around, huh? Mei's been complaining to Bronya about you lately."
A pair of porcelain-smooth, slender legs stomped impatiently on the floor. Bronya wore a white hoodie with a blue cat-eared hood pulled over her head. Her expression was deadpan, her eyes full of distaste as she fanned the air in front of her nose.
Kiana blinked. Still slurping her noodles, she replied, "Don't blame me! It's your fault! Last time Sirin got some fresh air, someone fed her instant noodles—I don't know who! Now she conjures noodles all the time in the mental space and won't even share! She pretends she didn't eat any and won't let me touch hers. It's driving me nuts! Mm, this flavor's not bad. I should grab another box later!"
"Basically, you're just greedy. Typical Kiana. I'm telling Sigurd."
Sin Mal blinked as she wrapped her arms around Bronya from behind, poking her head over her shoulder with a wicked grin. She revealed a set of sharp little teeth—actually, they were only slightly pointier than normal. Like tiny tiger fangs. Not ugly at all, in fact kind of cute in contrast to her delicate princess dress.
Kiana rolled her eyes.
"Sharp teeth and a sharp tongue. With your snark, why not become a stand-up comedian?"
"Better than being a brainless animal like you!"
The two locked eyes and stared each other down, like one big and one small angry bird.
"Hmph!" ×2
Finally, they both huffed and turned away, ending the standoff.
Kiana resumed slurping her noodles. She glanced at Bronya—cool outfit, cool expression, everything about her screamed cool—and asked, "So, where are we going? I didn't even know there was such a deep elevator under the base!"
"It's about time. Bronya's taking you to see one of Sigurd's secret weapons. Best to mentally prepare yourself."
"Secret weapon? What's so interesting about that? Sig's got tons of secrets. Going through all of them would take forever."
"Just say whether you're coming or not."
"If it's fun, sure, I'm in! If it's boring, forget it. I've almost finished my noodles, but I'm not full yet."
"This was supposed to be a secret only Bronya knew. Sounds like you're not interested. That's fine—Bronya will just take Sin Mal to see it."
Just then, the descending elevator came to a sudden halt. Bronya crossed her arms, with Sin Mal still clinging to her back. Two pairs of clear, bright eyes turned simultaneously toward Kiana.
Sin Mal even wore a "please go home" kind of expression, full of disdain.
If Kiana left, that meant she and Bronya would get their own little two-person world. Just the two of them, off to see Sigurd's secret weapon—that was double the fun!
"Gulp gulp gulp—BUURP!"
Kiana downed the rest of the soup and let out a loud burp. Then she tossed the bowl into a swirling mini-space vortex beside her.
With hands on her hips, she declared, "Alright, I'm coming! Can't have the two of you knowing something about Sig that I don't! Don't forget, I'm Sig number one!"
"But Bronya was the first one… to do it with Sigurd."
"You picking a fight, huh!?"
"Anyway, we're here. Let's go."
Bronya ignored Kiana's sudden burst of rage, raising her delicate, pale hand and snapping her fingers.
Snap!
The metallic walls of the elevator retracted with a sharp sound and vanished.
The three of them now stood on an endlessly vast crimson plain.
"…Huh?"
Kiana lifted her foot and stomped a few times on the gem-like, translucent red ground.
The sound that came back was a heavy, solid thunk thunk.
"This ground's actually kinda pretty… Maybe I should ask Sig to put some of this in my room. But where's the secret weapon? I don't see anything! It's just a huge floor and an even bigger ceiling, right?"
"What we're standing on is the weapon," Bronya said plainly.
"…Oh… huh???"
Kiana and Sin Mal tilted their heads at the same time, confusion written all over their faces.
Bronya patted the white arms wrapped around her from behind, signaling for Sin Mal to let go.
She turned to face them, and a subtle smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
"You two can try attacking the ground."
The confusion on Kiana and Sin Mal's faces only deepened.
But Sin Mal wasn't the type to say no to Bronya. If Bronya asked, she'd do it. So, a sturdy spear materialized in her hand, and she drove it forcefully into the ground.
BOOM!!
A violent burst of air exploded outward.
Kiana and Sin Mal immediately crouched down, pressing their faces close to the impact spot.
But the result was… a completely smooth surface. Not a scratch.
"Tss! It's that tough?"
Kiana exclaimed in awe, crouching even lower to run her hand across the ruby-like surface. Not a single blemish or crack.
She tapped the ground with her knuckles, then exchanged a baffled look with Sin Mal.
It was definitely hard—insanely hard, even. But how was this endless floor supposed to be a weapon? Were they supposed to rip it up and chuck it at people?
Well… even if it was just used like that, with how massive and durable it was, it'd still be terrifying.
But Bronya, still smiling, added calmly:
"That's just the eye."
"?" ×2
"Bronya means… the thing we're standing on is just one eye of the secret weapon."
"???" ×2
. . . . . .
A little while later, the trio returned to the surface base.
As they walked down a wide corridor, Kiana and Sin Mal both had dazed looks on their faces.
"Bronya… you're seriously not joking, right? If that thing gets deployed, the base—no, the entire continent—could collapse!"
Kiana swallowed hard.
Bronya walked ahead, glancing sideways at her.
"Are you doubting Sigurd's intelligence, or Sigurd's technology?"
"…Okay, fine, you got me there. But still, something that big—how do you even control it?"
"With consciousness."
"Nani? Wait, you mean there's a copy of Sig's consciousness inside that thing? So I can just go chat with him whenever I want?"
Kiana suddenly lit up in excitement.
Sin Mal wore the same eager, hopeful expression.
Bronya shrugged, spreading her hands.
"If that were possible, Bronya would've moved in by now and won't tell any of you about it. What's inside is only a quantum-scale fragment, somewhere between existence and non-existence. Sigurd is very cautious when it comes to splitting his consciousness—that was also Ms. Fu Hua's suggestion."
"Oh… but something that small definitely wouldn't be enough, right?"
"Which is why there's a dedicated conversion system in place—to amplify operational commands and defend against mental interference. Theoretically, Sigurd should be able to control the entire thing as naturally as his own limbs."
"(⊙o⊙) Huh?"
"To be specific… it's based on something from the Previous Era, called the Elysian Realm—"
Woop-woop-woop!!!
Suddenly, the hallway was bathed in red light.
A sharp alarm cut off Bronya's explanation mid-sentence.
All three girls stopped in unison. They exchanged glances—then without a word, took off down the corridor together, disappearing around the corner.
<+>
Tn: If you want to see more chapter of this story, please go to my Patreon[1], just for $5 each month, you can read till the latest chapter.
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 399: Operation[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/honkai-strijder-145129735[3]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/collection/95348?view=condensed[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/95348?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/honkai-strijder-145129735
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/honkai-strijder-145129735
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/95348?view=condensed