Ssss—
A piercing, loud sound came from the depths of the sea, like a snake lurking in the darkness, always ready to pounce on its prey.
But it also sounded a bit like someone slurping noodles loudly.
Welt raised his guard, cautiously advancing into the depths of the passage.
——————————————
Outside the passage connecting St. Fountain and the Sea of Quanta, various warning messages flashed around Ada.
"Signal is being interfered with, please stop the experiment immediately!" Ada had just finished speaking when she immediately received another message.
"Welt has actively cut off the signal and is rapidly reversing the transport channel. He's closing this door!"
"What's going on! Is there something about the Sea of Quanta that we don't know? Is Welt trying to stop them from passing through the channel to enter, or rather, invade the prime world?" Einstein said thoughtfully, simultaneously commanding Eins to mobilize the Titan mechs to support Welt.
"Forget about what damn invasion! If the passage closes, Joachim won't be able to come back!" Tesla raised two specially made giant fists and turned to rush into the passage to bring Welt back.
Hum—
Tesla was just about to reach the passage when it closed right before everyone's eyes...
"Damn it, divert all of St. Fountain's energy to me! Reopen the passage immediately! If Joachim doesn't come back, no one is going home!"
"This is trouble..."
In 2015... during an exploratory experiment on the Sea of Quanta conducted by Welt under St. Fountain, he fell into the Sea of Quanta, his whereabouts unknown...
The people of Anti-Entropy are united by the grand cause of fighting the Honkai, but under this cause, it is Welt who connects everyone.
The founding members of Anti-Entropy believe in the weight of the name Welt, while those who joined later believe in the man, Welt.
Although the radical faction led by Cocolia and the conservative faction led by Einstein and Tesla don't see eye to eye, they rarely argue on the matter of Welt.
Welt Yang was Cocolia's savior and guide, and also the person she respected the most. And the research on the Sea of Quanta was related to Seele, who was lost in it.
Therefore, whether it was Welt's whereabouts or the research on the Sea of Quanta, Cocolia was extremely concerned, even moving her base and subordinates over.
"Lady Cocolia, if we shift our entire focus to the Sea of Quanta, what about the situation in New Zealand..."
"Schicksal has been researching for so long with no results, and Yiselian has been poached by St. Freya High School. Besides, the gem chooses its own wielder. Even if we do get it, the result will be a useless stone.
Create some chaos and let a Herrscher be born! There are so many people in New Zealand, a vessel compatible with the gem will eventually be born."
"But Lady Cocolia, New Zealand has a population of five million... they will be wiped out just like the three million in Nagazora City..."
"But compared to the seventy-something billion people in the world, it's just a scratch, isn't it? They will contribute their value, become the nourishment for the birth of a Herrscher, and create for us a Herrscher who stands on the side of humanity."
"But our focus has shifted here... we no longer have enough forces to retrieve the Herrscher."
"Hehe... I never intended to retrieve her. A Herrscher is not an existence we can control. All I need is a Herrscher who fights for humanity. It doesn't matter whether she belongs to Schicksal or Anti-Entropy.
I am merely the villain who lit the first spark. As for whether that fire becomes the sacred fire of Prometheus or the doomsday that destroys everything, that is none of my business."
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Schicksal HQ.
Amber walked into Otto's office with a grave expression.
"Lord Overseer, at the Oceania branch, the Anti-Entropy spies are gradually withdrawing from our sight."
Otto put down his work and looked up teasingly at the intelligence report on Anti-Entropy submitted by Amber.
"Heh, so those little rats can't contain their restless hearts anymore and are preparing to cause trouble?"
"Yes, Lord Overseer. Based on their movements, they may be trying to replicate the Nagazora incident, injecting high-concentration radioactive Honkai energy and using the whole of New Zealand as a crucible to cultivate a Herrscher."
"Mm, I understand. You may leave. I have this matter under control."
"Yes."
After Amber left, Otto sat in his chair, lost in thought.
Some things were no longer necessary... If it were the original situation, Otto might not have stopped what Cocolia was about to do, and might even have fanned the flames.
After all, in the end, all the blame would fall on Cocolia, while Schicksal would gain only glory and a Herrscher.
But... Kallen was already alive.
Although Otto found it somewhat hard to accept that the sea had thrown her soul back and Ryn had then revived Kallen, such a dramatic outcome. But it was indeed the truth...
But the more this was the case, the more Otto understood what he truly wanted. What he wanted was never simply to revive Kallen...
What he wanted was to change the tragic and laughable ending from five hundred years ago.
Kallen didn't care about the sins Otto had committed in the past, and Otto didn't care what kind of life Kallen had chosen now.
Kallen might have let go, but Otto couldn't... Even though Kallen was still happily bouncing around now, he could never get over the look in her eyes back then.
[The lore of Honkai Impact 3rd from five hundred years ago was written too messily, the early plot and the late-game plot don't match up, making both Otto and Kallen seem inexplicable. If you're bored, you can check out the Legacy arc story in Honkai Gakuen 2. Kallen's character is portrayed very well and completely, and it also clarifies why Otto is in a fight to the death with the Honkai. That little look in Kallen's eyes before she died, if I were Otto, I would fight the Honkai to the end too.]
"Sigh..."
Otto shook his head and sighed, reaching out to summon the Build Summoner.
"How boring... let Kiana handle this. After all, the Gem of Serenity is also a part of her. The future belongs to them. The new era has no battleship that can carry me."
———————————————
Kukulkan was afraid that Maheśvara would lose her mind again and go looking for trouble with Ryn, so she wanted to take Maheśvara far away from him.
Maheśvara felt that since Elysia's soul was taken by who-knows-who, she would just let the Cocoon wait. And since she was already on land, she might as well witness the potential of the people of the new era!
So, Maheśvara and Kukulkan hit it off. After having Cortana sort out their identity information, the two Honkai Beasts transformed into human form and went on a trip around the world.