Penglaiji Ryn described the scene that had just appeared in her mind to everyone.
As soon as she mentioned Raiden Mei, Bronya lost control of her emotions again. She pressed Penglaiji Ryn about where in the park she had seen Mei, but when Penglaiji Ryn still couldn't answer, Bronya clenched her jaw and broke away from the main group.
"Bronya/Big Sis, where are you going?"
Ryn and Seele both grabbed Bronya. Bronya's current state was a bit like she was succumbing to her inner demons, which made everyone very worried.
"Let go of me! I'm going to find Big Sis Mei."
"No, we have a more important mission right now! Besides, this is the insects' lair, it's too dangerous to act alone!"
"The fact that Penglaiji Ryn has such a memory means she saw Big Sis Mei here, which further proves that Big Sis Mei might be somewhere here, or that there might be clues about her here…" Bronya clenched her fists, stubbornly wanting to search for traces of Mei.
"Don't be reckless. If Mei is really here, then we'll search carefully together during our investigation."
The constant persuasion and warnings from the three of them finally calmed Bronya down a bit. However, this incident ruined the joyful atmosphere the group had when they first arrived at the park.
Bronya walked ahead with her head down and a stern face. Seele followed beside her, not knowing what to do, whether to smile or not…
And Ryn and Penglaiji Ryn, who were following behind them, weren't in high spirits either.
Although the two from different worlds had different personalities and experiences, Ryn felt that the bratty Bronya definitely liked his wife Mei too. He would have to keep a close eye on Bronya when he got back.
As they walked, Penglaiji Ryn tugged on Ryn's collar. She asked with a puzzled voice.
"Big Brother, do you think… it's possible for someone's memories to be inserted into another person's mind?"
"Why do you ask that… ?"
"Because… fragments of memories often flash through my mind, just like that memory just now. It's clear that the three of us, Bronya, Mei, and I, were playing together in Homu Park, but Bronya doesn't recognize me at all.
Isn't that strange? And the feeling that memory gave me… it was like I was watching someone else's memory from a first-person perspective…"
Hearing Penglaiji Ryn's words, Ryn couldn't help but think of the time he watched Fu Hua's memories on Mount Taixu. The feeling back then was very similar to what Penglaiji Ryn was describing…
"Maybe you once watched someone's memories through some means, intentionally or unintentionally. But you watched too much, which caused your own memories to become confused.
Little sis, you must remember, you are you. Never substitute yourself for others just because you've seen too much of their memories and want to become them. If you do that, you will no longer be you, and the world will lose a person named Penglaiji Ryn."
"Oh…"
——————————————
The search of Homu Park went relatively smoothly. As expected, there were many insect-type new species here.
Following the trail of liquid left by the insects, the group soon traced them to the iconic building in Homu Park—Homu Castle.
This time, even Bronya was a little surprised. It was her first time entering this building. She hadn't expected the space inside Homu Castle to be so much larger than it appeared from the outside.
Ryn's body was relatively tough, so he floated ahead to lead the way, ready to use his Heat Vision to clear the path in case any Honkai Creatures suddenly attacked.
"It's very dark in here, and there's that strange smell unique to those insects… Everyone be careful, don't step on these…"
Squelch—
Everyone turned to look in the direction the sound came from.
Penglaiji Ryn awkwardly pulled her leg out of some unknown slime. Just as Ryn had said not to step on the slime, she had stepped on it.
But it was precisely because of this that when everyone turned to look at Penglaiji Ryn, they discovered that the ceiling directly above their path was covered in huge insect eggs.
"Hush. These should be their eggs. It looks like we've found their main camp."
Bronya said as she took out the test tubes she had gotten from Yiselian from her pocket and distributed them to everyone.
"Don't act rashly. First, let's scout out the scale of the nest and the number of Honkai Creatures. Also, before we left, Yiselian gave me these, test tubes for collecting Honkai Creature samples. You two should be very familiar with these."
"Mhm." Ryn and Penglaiji Ryn nodded, then each went to one side, gently pierced an egg, and extracted a fresh sample.
"Then let's continue. Be careful not to startle them."
"Mhm, mhm! Collect enough samples and don't get bogged down in a fight. Once we've confirmed the target, we'll go back and let the Hyperion's main cannon send them all to kingdom come with one shot."
Seele smiled and reminded Ryn and Penglaiji Ryn in a joking tone, lest the two slaughter-happy individuals decide to practice their assassination skills and not rest until everyone was dead.
So, the group began collecting samples. During this time, the act of piercing the eggs attracted the attention of the swarm, leading to several battles.
Ryn, holding the patched-up Star Sword, cleared the way for the others.
Because it was a stealth operation, Bronya, who was covering the rear, couldn't fire her gun freely. However, relying on the bayonet on her rifle, she was still a formidable fighter, exuding the aura of a master swordsman…
*Why does this sword style look more and more familiar?*
*Incredible, it's the Beichen Ittō-ryū…*
And in the middle of the group were two individuals who relied entirely on their combat instincts, Seele and Penglaiji Ryn. With a scythe and a greatsword, they displayed no fancy moves, only pure and simple brutal aesthetics.
A few hours later, the group had covered most of the castle, and Bronya had drawn a map of its structure.
Unfortunately, the number of insects here was not as large as Yiselian had predicted, possibly because most of them had participated in the last engine test and had been killed by Ryn in his frenzy.
The group also found no signs of the King Insect that Yiselian had mentioned, so they estimated that this new species was likely just a mutation of ordinary Honkai Creatures.
Just as the group was thinking that the situation wasn't very serious and preparing to return to base, Bronya stopped in her tracks and once again broke away from the main group.
"You guys go ahead. Give these reagents to Yiselian. I still have some things I want to investigate further."
"Are you looking for traces of Mei?"
"…" Bronya hesitated for a moment, then nodded firmly. "Yes."