This means the Stigmata cannot be touched.
Kiana thought for a moment and said, "Then how about this—when Ruan has time, we can ask her to take a look?"
"Ruan Mei?"
Acheron frowned. She wanted to refuse outright, but upon meeting Kiana's concerned gaze, she fell silent and swallowed her words.
"Did Mei notice the anomaly herself, or did it suddenly appear?"
Seeing Acheron's frown, Kiana immediately realized she wasn't convinced. She thought she had spoken too hastily and quickly changed the topic.
The order of events mattered.
If Acheron had discovered it on her own initiative, that meant the 'hidden layer' was passive—waiting to be found.
If left alone, it would pose no harm.
Even if decades passed, nothing would change.
But if it was the latter—
That would mean the anomaly had appeared recently, leaving them little time to think.
"The first one. After seeing the Stigmata World, I recalled the Stigmata on my body and had some related thoughts."
"The first? That's good, that's good."
Kiana let out a sigh of relief. The first case meant there was no danger and plenty of time to handle things.
Whether they chose to explore the hidden area or not didn't matter much.
"If it's the first case, then even if you ignore it, it won't affect you."
Kiana said, "To be safe, before we figure out what's inside, let's just pretend it doesn't exist."
"I see... I'll listen to you."
Acheron thought for a moment, suppressing her curiosity. She wouldn't take risks for the sake of a fleeting thought.
"Alright then, enough about the Stigmata. I'm going to find Jyahnar and talk to her about helping us."
Kiana turned over, changed into a new outfit, and dashed out of the room in a hurry, leaving behind only one sentence: "Wait for my good news!"
Acheron reached out, wanting to stop her, but Kiana was too quick. With a sigh, she withdrew her hand helplessly.
Walking briskly to the door of the room assigned to Jyahnar, Kiana knocked twice. "Jyahnar, are you up?"
The moment her words fell, the door opened from inside, revealing Jyahnar's pleasantly surprised face. "Kiana."
Her eyes shimmered with joy.
Seeing her expression, Kiana felt a bit awkward and said, "Can we talk for a bit?"
"Of course."
Jyahnar naturally wouldn't refuse—especially since Acheron wasn't by Kiana's side, making her even happier. "No matter what we talk about, or how long, it's fine."
"Then let's talk inside."
Kiana squeezed into Jyahnar's room and shut the door behind her, cutting off any sound from leaking out.
The bed looked just as neatly made as yesterday—no wrinkles at all. It seemed Jyahnar hadn't even rested.
"You didn't sleep last night?"
Noticing this, Kiana asked casually.
Jyahnar shook her head. "I don't need much rest. If danger arises, I can react immediately."
"Uh… I don't think there's any enemy on this planet capable of threatening us."
Kiana said, "You don't need to be that cautious."
"Alright."
Jyahnar looked a little disappointed.
Kiana noticed her expression, averted her eyes guiltily, and swallowed back the words of comfort that came to mind. Better not to say anything unnecessary.
Let's get to the point—if she stayed too long here, she'd have trouble explaining it to Mei later.
"About the Honkai..."
Kiana paused briefly, her tone filled with uncertainty. "Or rather, your birth—your existence. Have you ever caught a glimpse of another world?"
Jyahnar didn't have a personal Stigmata, but she was born from the Final Eruption, directly connected to it. By coincidence, not only did she look identical to the Second Herrscher, but she also shared the same classification—a Planet-class Honkai Beast.
Her appearance had to have a reason, as did her name. That was why Kiana never thought much of it before, chalking it up to coincidence.
But after Acheron mentioned that personal Stigmata contained their own Stigmata Spaces, Kiana couldn't help but wonder.
"Another world?"
Jyahnar tilted her head slightly, as if not understanding the question.
"A world where there's you, me, and Mei."
Jyahnar's eyes widened in surprise. "There's a world like that?"
She truly seemed unfamiliar with the world Kiana mentioned, her expression tinged with surprise at hearing such news for the first time.
"You haven't?"
"I have no such memories, nor have I seen anything like what you described."
Jyahnar asked, "Are you searching for this world?"
Kiana shook her head but let out a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't directly connected to the Second Herrscher, that was good enough.
As for Acheron's situation... the restrictions of an exclusive Stigmata, and that hidden Stigmata Space, likely pointed to a concealed trial.
A game...
She understood what it was now.
"There's one more thing!"
Kiana brushed off her earlier seriousness and smiled brightly. "I want to ask for your help."
Help?
Jyahnar froze for a moment, processing Kiana's words, and the joy on her face deepened. "What do you need me to do?"
Just as expected.
The moment she heard the word "help," Jyahnar lit up with happiness.
But whether she'd still be smiling after Kiana explained—now that was another question.
"It's something really, really important, and only you can help me with it."
"Really, really important?"
Jyahnar blinked, her eyes shining even brighter. "Don't worry, Kiana. Whatever you ask of me, I'll make sure it's done."
"This place has already been brought under Honkai influence, right?"
"Yes."
Was she changing her mind—planning to completely assimilate this world into a Honkai realm?
Jyahnar wondered.
"So this is my territory now?"
"Of course!"
"I need to leave for a while. I want you to stay in Belobog and keep watch over the dormant Antimatter Legion scattered across the wilderness."
Kiana said it all in one breath, then looked at Jyahnar expectantly. "Can you do that for me?"
"...You're leaving, Kiana?"
Jyahnar froze. She didn't answer right away—it felt like déjà vu.
The last time they met, Kiana had also said she had something to take care of, promising to return once it was done.
And now, it was happening again. She had just reunited with Kiana yesterday, yet Kiana was saying she was leaving again—and asking her to stay behind.
"Yes. I have other things to deal with. But Belobog's situation is unstable, and those Antimatter Legion soldiers could awaken at any moment, bringing new disasters to this world. That's why I need you to watch over it. You're the only one who can contact me at any time—and the only one strong enough to keep things in order here."
Kiana's tone was sincere.
And she wasn't wrong. Jyahnar was the only one she could truly rely on.
"Guard... the humans of this planet?"
"Yes!"
Kiana's face brightened, and she nodded quickly. "I plan to let the Honkai grow naturally and collect data during the process. We can't let any enemies interfere and turn my territory into ruins."
To help Jyahnar understand—and make her care about Belobog—Kiana deliberately phrased it that way.
Jyahnar remained silent for a long while. Of course she would agree—helping Kiana was her mission. Kiana needed her now.
But part of her couldn't help feeling disappointed. If possible, she wanted to stay by Kiana's side.
In the end, reason prevailed.
With a slightly dejected nod, she said, "I understand."
Just guarding this place?
That was fine.
She could wait.
"I won't be gone for long."
"It's alright. As long as it's for you, Kiana, I'm willing to wait—no matter how long it takes."
Hearing Jyahnar's sincere words, Kiana felt a pang of guilt and rubbed her head awkwardly, silently promising herself that this would definitely be the last time.
"Uh, here—this is a phone. Normally, you can use it to contact me directly."
Kiana pulled a spare phone from her spatial storage and handed it to Jyahnar.
"Do you know how to use it?"
Jyahnar thought for a moment and shook her head. "No."
"Then I'll teach you. If you get bored, you can message me."
As she demonstrated the basic functions, Kiana explained, "If something unusual happens, tell me right away. This place can't take much damage. If the Antimatter soldiers start to awaken, you must contact me immediately—I'll come as soon as I can..."
She went on for quite a while, making sure Jyahnar understood everything about the phone. Only then did she stand up.
"Come on, I'll take you outside for a bit—show you the Antimatter soldiers that haven't reawakened yet."
She was quick to act, pulling Jyahnar along as she hurried to hand over every last instruction she could think of.
Kiana explained everything in detail.
She believed Jyahnar would remember it all.
Even if she didn't, it didn't matter—there was the phone, after all. She could always contact her.
And since she wasn't going anywhere with communication interference, there shouldn't be any problem with the signal.
Kiana stayed in Belobog for a few more days.
When everything was finally taken care of, she and Acheron left the Jarilo system together.
"Quite the mess we're leaving behind, huh..."
As a streak of light shot across the sky, a man standing on the snowfield below watched the fading meteor trail and sighed with a wry smile.
He could already foresee the trouble that awaited this planet.
...
[Ruan Mei: You've left Jarilo?]
Not long after leaving, Kiana received a message from Ruan Mei. Seeing the content, she blinked in surprise.
[Kiana: How did you know that, Ruan?]
[Ruan Mei: Tracking.]
Tracking?
Oh, right—Ruan had mentioned before that she'd installed a locator system on her.
"Talking to Ruan Mei?"
Acheron glanced at her, easily guessing from her expression. She had long accepted the situation, so there was no emotion in her tone.
"Yeah, Ruan's asking where we're going next."
[Kiana: Things in Belobog are settled now. I asked Jyahnar to watch over the Antimatter soldiers.]
[Kiana: As for me, I'm planning to return to the Ark in Izumo with Mei—and visit Sirin while we're there.]
[Ruan Mei: Understood.]
"Do you want to stop by Herta's Space Station first?"
Acheron suggested.
"Now? To find Ruan?"
Kiana blinked in mild surprise, her gaze meeting Acheron's violet eyes.
"Let's go see Sirin first."
She did miss Ruan Mei, but right now, Ruan was busy. Dropping in might only disturb her and Herta's work.
She'd wait until the Simulated Universe experiments wound down, then visit Ruan properly.
[Kiana: When you finish your current work, let me know—I'll come to the station to see you.]
[Ruan Mei: Alright.]
The conversation ended there. Kiana pocketed her phone and turned back to Acheron. "We're not far from where Sirin said she'd be, right?"
With power on the level of an Emanator, one could freely cross the barriers between galaxies—traveling interstellar distances without needing the Star Rail.
Both Kiana and Acheron possessed such strength.
"Shouldn't be far," Acheron replied casually. Her sense of direction was still as unreliable as ever—if she traveled alone, she'd probably get lost in space.
"Did Sirin mention where the Ark's next destination was?"
Kiana asked curiously, "I forgot to ask her."
"I think it was... the Luofu Xianzhou."
Acheron thought for a moment before recalling the message Sirin had sent her a few days ago.
The Ark's next destination was the Luofu Xianzhou, one of the ships within the Xianzhou Alliance. Sirin had mentioned wanting to attempt a trade with them.
"Where?"
Kiana snapped her head up, her face filled with disbelief.
"If I remember correctly, it's the Luofu Xianzhou," Acheron replied.
Acheron suddenly remembered she was still carrying a mission—to find a Galaxy Ranger. Could there be any clues on the Luofu?
"The Ark's next stop is the Luofu?"
"Why do you sound so surprised?"
"That's the Xianzhou we're talking about."
Kiana couldn't exactly say it out loud, but in the game, Belobog's next stop was the Luofu Xianzhou.
"I've dealt with the Cloud Knights of the Yaoqing Xianzhou before, but I was in a hurry back then, so I didn't visit."
She scratched her cheek awkwardly, recalling the fox-eared general she'd met on that battlefield—and the squinty-eyed fox doctor who had stood beside her.
"Can't believe I missed Yaoqing, and now we're heading for Luofu instead."
Kiana sighed with mixed emotion.
...
Meanwhile, aboard the Ark.
The Edict Edge of Sky provided thrust and energy for hyperspace jumps—one of the reasons the Ark could travel safely and swiftly across the stars.
"All the data is ready, but Sirin, are you sure Luofu's Artisanship Commission will really agree to a technical exchange with us?"
A tall woman with a sleek, curvaceous figure stood beside Sirin. Her silver-gray hair was tied in a ponytail, and her face was calm and serious.
She frowned, tapping her finger on the table as she held a report, clearly skeptical about the idea.
"It's worth trying, at least."
Sirin looked more mature than before—who knew what she had been busy with lately?
"...Without external support, and with only what we currently have, even if we gain access to their technology, it might take ten or twenty years to develop a prototype."
"Funding... tch, damn that Welt."
Sirin's composure broke the moment she thought of an old companion. Frowning, she grumbled again about the same man she'd cursed many times before. "If that guy had just left the Edict Edge of Truth on the Ark, half our problems would already be solved!"
"Even if it were here, no one would be able to use it."
The woman—Bronya—sighed helplessly. She truly didn't understand how Sirin could still hold a grudge after all this time.
Was it just a habit by now?
"Why not? I think you could handle it better than him. Your compatibility with the Edict Edge of Truth is definitely higher, Bronya!"
"Let's drop the empty talk and focus on the real problems first, alright?"
Bronya flipped through the report in her hand, then looked up thoughtfully. "You mentioned that Raiden Mei was returning to the Ark, didn't you?"
Bronya—wielder of the Edict Edge of Fate, and Seele's older sister—had left Izumo with the Ark before the Final Eruption and Nihility's collision.
A couple of years ago, she and Seele had both departed from the Ark, only to return recently because of Sirin's new proposal.
Every Izumo native knew one thing: Izumo was gone for good. The universe was vast, but nowhere truly felt like home.
Recently, Sirin had proposed transforming the Ark into a "New Izumo," much like the Xianzhou. The idea had gained widespread support—and piqued Bronya's curiosity enough to bring her back to the Ark, taking over the project directly from Sirin.
Only after taking charge did she realize—
That this so-called "plan" consisted of nothing but a vague beginning and no follow-through.
Bronya had been silent for a long time after discovering that.