After hoisting the brat into his hand, Aaron began to organize what he had done over the past two days.
*To think only two days have passed... it feels like it's been ages.*
*The Herrscher of Thunder's persona has been beaten back for now, but I don't know if she'll go crazy again.*
*Yuno's persona was beaten back, and even if she goes crazy, Anti-Entropy can handle it.*
*And Higokumaru has settled down for the time being.*
*Now, what to do next... is obviously to take a break!*
*I cleared two dungeons and haven't stopped to rest much since fighting my way to Nagazora City.*
*If I don't find a place to rest properly now, I feel like I'm going to die of exhaustion.*
*As for other troubles... forget it, I still have to sort out the troubles I'll face next.*
*First is this Bronya.*
*Although I gave her a stab with Jizo Mitama so she can't cause trouble, that old hag Cocolia will still come looking.*
*Undeniably, she does value this daughter of hers.*
*Before the plan required sacrificing Bronya, Cocolia would inevitably care about the girl's safety and start investigating intelligence.*
*In that case, my identity being exposed because of this brat... Sigh, hasn't this become a matter of time?*
*Schicksal doesn't have this lead for now, but thinking about the plot, Otto one hundred percent has at least one high-level spy planted with Cocolia.*
*Otherwise, there's no way to explain how, during the Moon Shadow arc, Otto knew immediately that Cocolia was preparing to be a massive bomber in Singapore after she contacted that old man, Dr. Magi.*
*So whatever intelligence Cocolia can find, Otto will sooner or later find through his spy.*
*So troublesome!*
Looking at the girl with disdain, Aaron considered whether to dump this brat on the roadside later and be done with it.
*But considering I made an agreement with her... let's take it one step at a time.*
*It's not a bad thing for that guy Cocolia to know her daughter is in my hands.*
*If it lures her to send people to trouble me, or even find a place to surround me, that would actually be a good thing.*
*Leaving her be is just leaving a disaster waiting to happen. If I can resolve this disaster early, I can save a lot of effort later.*
*As for Otto...*
*Forget it, because of Kiana, I'll have to lane against him sooner or later.*
*If that guy finds me early and prepares to make a move... Hmm, before he becomes a [False God], that old bastard shouldn't pull any weird stunts for the time being.*
*No, that old bastard might not even move against me; instead, he'll consider making me a part of his plan.*
*I'm thinking too shallow.*
*What Otto needs is a Herrscher who 'can control the Herrscher powers but possesses a human heart.'*
*In his plan, Kiana needs companions.*
*And now...*
[What's wrong? Why not continue deducing?]
*I don't need you to remind me there are no enemies around right now.*
[Hah? Don't you know very well why this System popped up?]
*Whatever. Looks like Otto won't move against me under normal circumstances.*
[Dodging the topic, huh.]
*Although that old bastard occasionally flips his car, his operations are normal most of the time.*
[Ignoring this System already? Your mouth is truly harder than anyone else's.]
*Currently, it seems that old bastard will mainly adopt an approach of trying to rope me in.*
*After all, the power I've displayed so far hasn't reached the point where [he cannot control it].*
*Really troublesome.*
*With my insufficient IQ, this is all I can deduce.*
*Oh, and World Serpent.*
*That one is even more heavyweight. And as long as Gray Serpent doesn't let Jackal mess around, plus Kevin's combat power when he returns in the future...*
*I definitely won't agree to World Serpent's Project Stigma, so what do I do?*
*Pretend to agree with their plan and find a chance to backstab Kevin—I definitely can't do that. I'm not an actor.*
*Fooling a little girl is one thing, but Kevin is a high-IQ top student with a theoretical age of over fifty thousand years and an actual age of several thousand. I definitely can't fool him.*
Aaron, having thought through and analyzed the problems, discovered an incomparably sorrowful fact.
In terms of resources, he certainly couldn't compare to those two future enemies. In terms of IQ...
If he really thought those two old foxes were easy to fool, then his brain must be cramping.
[Oh, dear Tester 233, this System senses that your desire for survival has suddenly become inexplicably stronger—I thought you didn't want to rest and wanted to run a dungeon that badly?]
*Motherf... if I don't think of a way to get stronger in this situation, what else can I do?*
*Three years. The Finality is coming in three more years.*
*And my laning phase against Otto and Kevin might not even wait three years. What am I supposed to do?*
[But it is impossible for this System to open a new dungeon for you immediately.]
*Although I didn't plan to kill my way into a new dungeon right away, I still want to know the reason—why?*
[Your powers are too mixed. You haven't even understood the essence of some of the powers you extracted. Under these circumstances, if this System continues to let you go to new dungeons... er, not to mention whether you'll get beaten up, it's not good for your future in the long run.]
[Besides—transmigrating to a world and clearing two dungeons in two days. While this is indeed a result caused by this System collecting your personal thoughts, to some extent, this matter started because of you.]
[You are too anxious, Tester 233. I've seen this mentality in many testers, but you're really the only one who gets this anxious.]
*...Is it that exaggerated?*
[Does this System have any benefit in lying to you? There's no one as anxious as you; several have driven themselves to death in the end. A person who hasn't sorted out their powers and adjusted their mindset cannot be considered a true powerhouse, no matter how strong their power is.]
[And the current you needs time to sort out your powers and adjust your mindset. Think carefully about what to do during this period.]
[This System gets along reasonably well with you and doesn't want to find Tester 234 to continue testing the system for the time being.]
*...Is it that serious?*
[Nonsense. Counting fully, adding your time in the dungeon and the real world, it's only been three months since you gained your second life.]
[Three months, and you actually want to solve all the big problems in this world... This System really doesn't know whether to praise your kind heart or say you are a bit senseless.]
*How should I put it... I'm just resolving threats in advance.*
[Save it. What is the probability of Cocolia's Titans and Otto's Honkai Fission Bomb finding you right now?]
*Also, I don't believe that out of the previous 232 testers, I'm the only one like this.*
[How should I put it... being prepared for danger in times of peace is really no problem, but your situation is just short of fearing that Sirin will suddenly wake up while you're dreaming and stab you immediately.]
*What kind of metaphor is that? And why would Sirin be able to stab me immediately if she woke up? Why would she be so close to me?*
[Pretend. Keep pretending. This System is too lazy to waste words with you. When you've sorted out your powers to a certain extent, we'll talk about the next dungeon then.]
*Tch, got it.*
Taking out Shambhala, Aaron immediately activated the ability of this Teigu.
Come to think of it, since obtaining the Power of Dominance and thoroughly dominating the soul fragments of the Danger Beasts remaining in these Teigu, it felt like the mental energy consumption of these Teigu had dropped significantly.
Sure enough, looking at someone else's expression versus making others look at your expression is different, huh?
After being teleported to Soukai City, Aaron peeked around slightly.
*Hmm, only a few hours have passed since I parted ways with Siegfried.*
*It's not dawn yet. In this situation, my condition isn't conspicuous.*
*Not conspicuous is good. Not conspicuous makes things easy.*
Seeing a taxi about to pass in front of him, Aaron immediately pulled Bronya up, held her petite body in his arms, and shouted to the taxi driver.
"Hey driver! Stop here!"
"...Young man, you need a ride?"
Glancing at Aaron and Bronya in his arms, the driver in front of Aaron frowned slightly.
"Where to?"
"Uhm... a nearby hospital, I guess. This friend of mine just got injured and needs some medical attention."
Listening to the lie Aaron casually wove, the taxi driver spoke without a word.
"Get in."
"Alright—sigh, good person."
Seeing the driver's action, Aaron actively activated the hypnotic magecraft he had prepared long ago, directly hypnotizing the driver before him.
"Seeing something wrong, instead of driving away, you prepared to call the police directly. Truly a good person."
"Hmm, where were you going again? A nearby hospital?"
At this moment, the hypnotized driver had already abandoned the thought of 'call the police immediately upon seeing a suspicious person' and started chatting with the customer before him as usual.
"Young man, bring your friend in first. It's strange to say, but when I just changed shifts yesterday, there was another girl carrying another unconscious girl who also said she wanted to go to the hospital."
"And what's even stranger is, her friend was unconscious, but she insisted on going to a small clinic... Heh, that little girl looked well-dressed. How could she not think that a big hospital would be more convenient for treating her friend's illness?"
"...Driver, those two little girls you mentioned, did they have white and black hair?"
"That's right. Acquaintances of yours?"
*F**k, ridiculous. Is it really such a coincidence???*
Holding Bronya, Aaron never expected he would actually encounter the taxi Kiana had taken at a time like this.
For a coincidence to reach this level, it felt a bit absurd.
"Driving from yesterday to today... Driver, you're fatigue driving."
"Heh, I rested in between. Besides, in our line of work, we're used to it."
*Sigh, everyone is under pressure. It's not easy for anyone.*
In the following ten minutes or so, Aaron chatted idly with the driver before reaching the destination.
Before getting off, he left a few bills on the seat, left the taxi, and lifted the effect of the hypnotic magecraft.
*I was still thinking about whether to look for Kiana, but now...*
*Forget it, Sirin might wake up at any time. I better keep an eye on things for now.*
..................
Kiana had a dream.
In the dream, her eyes turned golden.
And the 'her' in the dream was holding a greatsword and fighting... Raiden Mei?
*Uhm, strange, would I fight Mei?*
*No, that's not right. There's a strange guy on Mei.*
*That guy with the violent eyes is obviously not the same person as Mei.*
*Right, it's her. She possessed Mei!*
*No wonder I'm fighting 'Mei'.*
*But it feels a bit wrong.*
*Why have my eyes turned golden?*
*And Mei's eyes... ah, wait, they haven't changed color?*
*Is this Mei herself?*
*That's even stranger. If Mei hasn't had her body control seized by that guy, why would I fight Mei?*
*Mei is my most important friend. How could I think of hurting her?*
*Wait, Mei being seized by a strange thing... if in that situation...*
[Friend? No, she is our other half.]
*This voice... who is it?!*
[Who? Hehe, are you actively forgetting, or remembering and then avoiding it?]
*Actively forgetting? Remembering?*
*I don't know what you're talking about!*
[Don't you know very well?]
[Just now you already thought of it. The situation of Raiden Mei having control seized might not only happen to her. As for what follows, why don't you dare to continue thinking?]
*Wasn't it you who interrupted me!*
[Heh, alright. Then now, you can continue thinking.]
.........
[Why stop thinking? I said it, you already know the answer, don't you?]
[But I have to tell you one thing. It's not that someone seized Raiden Mei's body control.]
[She is also a side of Raiden Mei, just a side you don't usually see.]
*You... what exactly are you trying to say!*
In the final moments of the dream, Kiana saw 'herself' use the Rebellion greatsword in her hand to slay Raiden Mei, then charge directly at Aaron, who had just arrived at the scene.
And in the next instant, as if sensing her existence, the other party suddenly looked at Kiana's body.
The 'self' staring at her slowly opened her mouth.
Just as that self intended to say something, Kiana was suddenly shaken awake.
"Kiana? Kiana! Wake up!"
After slowly opening her eyes, Kiana saw someone who shouldn't have been there.
Before her eyes...
Aaron, whom she had been separated from for less than a day, slowly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her wake up.
..............