"This is the master of the refrigerator? Even if she isn't a Valkyrie, she still has the Moon Soul Armor."
Watching Bronie and Rita engaged in battle ahead, Daniel Davis muttered under his breath. After finishing her work at Raven's Nest and wandering the city in pursuit of the other keys, Bronie had attracted the attention of Gray Snake, and that's when she encountered Rita.
Although Bronie was merely being used as a pawn, she was not without her own ideas—just as she had deliberately mentioned the key to Snake Eyes while knowing that a listening device had been planted on her.
Under normal circumstances, once Snake Eyes heard that she possessed the key from Shencheng Technology, they would have surely come for her. That was her plan. One must admit, it was a clever idea with a well-laid plan, though perhaps a bit presumptuous given her age. That's how she ended up being nothing more than a tool, with every move arranged from start to finish.
It wasn't just the arrangement of the three major forces of Tianqiu City—it also involved Yaoye Xia and those behind him. The likely goal was to send Bronie aboard the Hubbilian, but it seemed that this time their plan was on the verge of failing.
"You all really treat her like a tool," Daniel Davis remarked, as he watched Bronie clutching the key taken from Rita while hastily dodging the advancing henchmen of Snake Eyes. He then appeared directly beside Rita.
"How could she be just a tool? Miss Bronie has indeed achieved her own goals," Rita replied coolly, showing no change in expression at Daniel Davis's sudden arrival—no wonder she was the leader of Snake Eyes.
"You're impressive. Honestly, I'm very curious: after meeting the other you, what will happen?"
Looking at Rita—now neatly stowed away her Moon Soul Armor and exuding the perfect maid-like demeanor—Daniel Davis found himself wondering what would occur if she were to meet the Rita of Destiny.
In fact, Daniel Davis realized he was even more excited about that prospect than he was about witnessing two Bronies or two Fuhuas meet. From what he had seen so far, the differences between the two Bronies were significant; the same went for the Fuhuas.
But with Rita, it was probably only a matter of power—their personalities were far too similar. As for the difference in strength, there was nothing that could be done about it. After all, this world was merely a world bubble, an incomplete world. Aside from other differences, the amount of Honkai energy contained within them was simply not on the same level.
"The other me... I must admit, I'm also quite curious," Rita said with a perfectly timed smile before continuing, "Daniel Davis, what you requested has been prepared."
"Now you all seem more alike."
Unlike before when she addressed him as "sir," she now called him "Daniel Davis, my lord." Of course, that was merely a polite form of address; if he truly regarded himself as a lord, he'd be a fool.
"Is there anything you wish to ask?" she inquired.
"Daniel Davis, this isn't the place for conversation. Why don't we move somewhere more private?"
"Agreed."
Soon after, the two boarded a nearby helicopter.
"Is this what they call blending into the crowd?"
Looking at the maid café below, Daniel Davis was at a loss for words. Who would believe that the illustrious leader of Snake Eyes actually ran a maid café?
"That's a good question about this world's situation."
After Rita personally brewed a pot of coffee and served it, she began to ask questions.
"First, there's something I must mention: there are some things I'm not entirely clear about, and they may not be entirely accurate. Outside Tianqiu City is nothing but wasteland, and also, the world does have an end—because it's a world bubble," Daniel Davis explained, sharing what he knew about world bubbles.
"World bubbles will eventually perish."
At the mention of this, Rita's brows furrowed—a look he hadn't seen on her before. It was understandable, though, since this was a matter of the world's very survival. As someone who lived in this world, and as the leader of Snake Eyes—the enforcer of order in Tianqiu City and one of its three major forces—she couldn't help but be concerned.
"I think you have nothing to worry about. Although world bubbles will perish, unless some special circumstances occur, the process will take at least a thousand years, perhaps even ten thousand. Worrying about it now is simply needless anxiety."
The disappearance of an entire world was no trivial matter.
"What do you mean by 'special circumstances'?"
Despite Daniel Davis's assurances, Rita remained deeply concerned—after all, he had mentioned that there were indeed special circumstances.
"Special circumstances refer to Honkai intervention. As leader of Snake Eyes, you should be familiar with Honkai Beasts, right?"
"What are Honkai Beasts? Are they monsters like these?"
Though Rita didn't seem to fully grasp the concept of Honkai Beasts, she reached out and activated a virtual screen. Images of various Honkai Beasts appeared.
"Not familiar with Honkai Beasts? It appears this world's civilization is somewhat lacking."
While musing to herself, Daniel Davis nodded lightly and said, "Exactly—they are Honkai Beasts."
He noted that these Honkai Beasts bore a striking resemblance to the monsters he had seen in the Quantum Sea, the only difference being their color: the ones in the Quantum Sea were black, whereas the Honkai Beasts here were predominantly white.
World bubbles will hasten their demise, Daniel Davis explained, referencing the situation when Youlandel once entered a world bubble—a world where the Honkai Wall was continuously expanding.
It seemed that this world's light curtain lacked any erosive power; otherwise, Daniel Davis might have mistaken it for a Honkai Wall. But no, it wasn't one.
At the mention of Youlandel, Daniel Davis felt a pang of emotion. That was someone who had a world bubble within them—in other words, someone who housed an entire world within.
"What exactly is Honkai?" Rita pressed on.
"As for Honkai, I'm not entirely certain of the specifics. What I do know is that Honkai is an enemy of civilization—a force that targets civilization and manifests itself through war, disease, climate disasters, and so on."
While Daniel Davis had quite a bit of conceptual knowledge about Honkai, he wasn't clear on its precise nature. Perhaps someone like the 500-year-old Greento might know more.
"Disease—so you're saying that this is caused by Honkai?" Rita observed, while on the virtual display images appeared of people with strange markings on their bodies.
"That was the case with those monsters back in the day. Yes—now they are called Honkai Beasts. Once they appeared, certain people's bodies developed these patterns, and in the end, none survived."
Back when monsters had once emerged within Tianqiu City, the three major forces had reacted swiftly and eliminated them, preventing greater chaos.
"They were likely affected by Honkai energy's corrosive power."
"I see. By the way, there's something you might not know. After those Honkai Beasts appeared and were eliminated, a little girl gained an extraordinary power—a unique power unlike any other in Tianqiu City," Rita said, then she retracted the virtual screen.
"So that's why you chose her to be this pawn," Daniel Davis deduced.
Although Rita did not name anyone directly, Daniel Davis immediately understood she was referring to Bronie—the one who could summon various weapons out of thin air, a uniqueness in this world.
"Now, tell me about the other me. I want to know: who is she?" Rita shifted the topic with a smile, not waiting for Daniel Davis to continue his previous line of questioning.
"You mean her? She's the S-Class Valkyrie of Destiny. Destiny is the largest anti-Honkai organization in that other world—a world entirely different from this world bubble. In that world, Honkai is humanity's greatest enemy."
Daniel Davis briefly explained the situation regarding Destiny and Rita's counterpart.
"You can take people out of the world bubble."
"Exactly. If you wish, I can bring you out of here."
"Since I resemble that Rita so much, may I ask: what is your relationship with her?"
"There's no relationship at all. To be precise, I know her, but she doesn't know me. Of course, I admit that I'm willing to bring you out—that's precisely the reason."
"Thank you, Daniel Davis. Here is what you requested."
Without directly answering whether he wanted to leave or not, Rita produced a hard drive and handed it over to Daniel Davis.
"You can take your time to consider it."
After accepting the hard drive, Daniel Davis immediately stood up and left.
"The energy technology is impressive, but the most formidable is the quantum transmission system."
Rita hadn't tried to fool him; she provided him with some concise technological data. The hard drive contained a wealth of information on energy, medicine, mecha, and other technologies—yet what intrigued Daniel Davis the most was the quantum transmission technology.
In the Honkai-honkai-honkai world, this technology was widely applied. Many of the Valkyries' combat armors utilized it. The Moon Soul Armor that suddenly appeared during the battle between Rita and Bronie was also based on this technology—a technology that, compared to nanotechnology, was by no means inferior. Both had their own merits.
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"Next is the final key."
After obtaining the key from Snake Eyes, as soon as daybreak came, Bronie couldn't wait to head to Taixu Men. Theresa was also pulled along, and Daniel Davis, driven by curiosity, naturally followed—there was no need to rush into studying quantum transmission technology.
At the Old City Tower of Taixu Men, Bronie clashed with one of its disciples, which incited Fuhua's ire. The once fearless Bronie—who had even dared to argue with Raven herself—became compliant as soon as she saw Fuhua.
Theresa, too, who nowadays prided herself on her polished public demeanor as an idol, had once been known in Taixu Men as the "Little White Devil." In fact, she was the one who initially taught Bronie her hacking skills.
"Big Sister Hua, I…"
"Drink tea."
Before Bronie could state her purpose, Fuhua raised her hand, signaling for Bronie to drink tea. Faced with Fuhua's calm gaze, Bronie swallowed her words and began drinking tea. When her tea-drinking technique proved inadequate, Fuhua chastised her, and Bronie resumed drinking.
"Alright, tea's finished. You may leave now."
These words infuriated Bronie, but before she could explode, Fuhua suppressed her outburst.
"I know your purpose. The key is part of Taixu Men's assets—why would I give it to you?"
"I…"
"If you truly want the key, there's only one possibility: a death-duel arena."
"Big Sister Hua, there's no need for that," Theresa interjected immediately upon hearing "death-duel arena," but Bronie grabbed her arm and agreed.
"How could it be otherwise? You all have been preparing for this," Fuhua stated.
On the dueling stage in the square in front of the Old City Tower, when Bronie saw who her opponent was, her expression immediately changed—because her opponent was not Fuhua, but Raven, who was akin to a foster mother to her.
Bronie was no fool. Seeing Raven fully armored, she realized that none of her actions had been hidden from Raven—otherwise, Raven would not have appeared here, nor donned all her gear.
"Alright, Bronie, if you want the key, come on up. Let me see how determined you are."
"Bronie…" Theresa watched Bronie with worry, at a loss for words.
"I'll show you," Bronie declared after a moment of silence, then leaped onto the stage. At this point, even if her opponent was Raven, she would not give up.
Facing Raven, Bronie acted with extreme caution. She deployed the same setup she had used the previous night against Rita—guns, hand grenades, and drones appeared behind her. Of course, she carried no lethal weapons; everything was either an electric shock gun or a tranquilizer.
Strictly speaking, a dueling arena wasn't an ideal battleground for Bronie, whose attacks were primarily long-range. The confined space of the arena gave Raven the opportunity to hold back. Ultimately, Raven let Bronie win by a narrow margin—Bronie managed to knock Raven down with a tranquilizer. When Raven fell, Theresa panicked for a moment, but upon realizing it was just a tranquilizer, she heaved a sigh of relief.
"The key is yours," Fuhua declared without hesitation after witnessing Bronie's victory, tossing the key to her.
With all three keys in hand, Bronie did not leave immediately. Instead, she waited until Raven had recovered, then revved up her beloved blue motorcycle and headed for the area where the light curtain core was stored.
The keys were merely keys. The light curtain core was located in an underground base in the northern part of Tianqiu City—a heavily fortified facility. Without a key, it was absolutely impossible to enter the area housing the core.
"Come out, ninja. I know you're here, but I will not hand over this core to you."
Deep underground, after obtaining the core, Bronie shouted to the surrounding area. Not long after her call, Yaoye Xia—clad in black armor—appeared.
"Hacker Rabbit, how did you know I was here?"
"This is simple. Earlier, you tried to snatch the key, which clearly showed your interest in the light curtain core. Yet, neither did I obtain the key from Snake Eyes nor from Taixu Men when you didn't show up. There's only one possibility: you planned to make your move when I secured the key. It seems you're very confident, but unfortunately, I don't have time for games."
As Bronie spoke, several smoke bombs materialized in her hand and were thrown around. She then deployed a drone to entangle Yaoye Xia while she made her escape from the underground base.
Reality isn't a game—Bronie didn't need to engage Yaoye Xia in a prolonged fight in order to get away.
"It really is a desolate place," Bronie thought as she escaped from Yaoye Xia. She immediately sped to the control center of the light curtain, activated the core, and shut down the light curtain. Initially, she felt excited, but upon seeing the state of the world beyond the light curtain, the excitement on her face instantly vanished.
Some things, seeing with one's own eyes is completely different from hearing about them. Even though Daniel Davis had previously told Bronie that beyond lay nothing but wasteland, without witnessing it firsthand, she clung to a glimmer of hope. After all, she had always lived in Tianqiu City.
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