Since Kukulkan and Maheśvara were left in the Sea of Quanta, Cortana was probably there too...
Ryn returned to the space where they had all been before, searching to see if Cortana was still here.
Hopefully, Cortana hadn't turned into a one-way balloon like Maheśvara and Kukulkan.
When Ryn arrived, he didn't even need to get close to see the motionless Cortana, who was probably dead.
"You dead? If you're dead, I'm going to melt you down and remake you."
Ryn kicked Cortana with his foot to check if she was dead.
Cortana's soul was bound to him; as long as he wasn't dead, she wouldn't die either. At most, her physical body would die, making her unable to touch the real world.
"Ugh... *You're* the one who's dead...!"
Cortana rubbed her eyes and sat up from the ground. She looked around, glanced behind Ryn a few times, and, not seeing Kiana and the others, asked in confusion.
"How come it's just us left? Where is everyone else?"
Ryn: "..."
He'd almost forgotten that Cortana had been knocked out by Sirin. Her memory was probably still stuck at the point when everyone was about to eat, and she knew nothing of what happened afterward.
Ryn spread his hands, looking at Cortana with an expression that said, *I'm the only one who still loves you*.
"They all left. I'm the only one who stayed here waiting for you to wake up. Oh! No need to thank me too much. Although I know you're probably so moved you want to cry, it's what I, as your master, should do."
Cortana rolled her eyes speechlessly, then gave Ryn two middle fingers and mouthed a couple of simple, direct adjectives at him.
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On the way back with Cortana, Ryn briefly explained that they had returned to the prime world and also told her about Kukulkan and Maheśvara's situation.
After hearing about Kukulkan and Maheśvara, Cortana grew both nervous and excited, patting herself all over to see if she had also undergone some kind of super-evolution.
"Stop touching yourself. I already checked your body; nothing has changed. At most, you had a good night's sleep, so your physical functions are in better shape."
"That's it? That can't be right! I'm practically your companion beast, Ryn. I should have basked in the glow of your sea's blessing no less than Kukulkan and the others! Why hasn't anything happened to me?!"
"Because you're useless, Cortana."
"No! I can't accept this! I want a super-evolution too, to become a super-duper-ultra-mega-beast! Big is good, good is big!"
"Just plug your own chip into a planetary warship, and won't you be as big as a planet? Why is a chip thinking so much? If you want to evolve, go home and buy some parts to assemble yourself."
"Ah, this... but I don't know how!"
"Then go find Yiselian. Didn't she recently discover a super-ancient civilization's ruins in Antarctica and bring back a sleeping artificial intelligence from it?
That thing has a history of over a hundred thousand years. The scientific knowledge it contains far surpasses that of the modern era and known previous civilizations. Have Yiselian install some of its mechanisms into you and see what happens."
"Femirins, you mean? I look down on that little brat. I'd rather use Ai-chan's tech!"
Cortana puffed out her chest and said with a serious face.
That artificial idiot Femirins that Yiselian brought back from the ancient ruins in Antarctica was a total gamer brat. No matter how you looked at it, she was a discarded failure.
"Fine, suit yourself. Don't come crying to me later~
Ryn just smiled at Cortana's choice.
The fact that Femirins existed in this world was indeed a bit shocking to Ryn, but also somewhat expected.
Because Yiselian went to Antarctica and found the ancient ruins entirely because Ryn had given her the address and told her to go digging.
But what Ryn was thinking was that the Yiselian he saw in the Fire Moth, the one from "Honkai Impact 2nd," had awakened her Stigmata naturally after entering that Mobius Labs.
So Ryn had Yiselian go to the Mobius Labs in Antarctica to try her luck. What if she awakened her Stigmata too? Then human technology could leap forward by n centuries.
Planetary orbital defense systems, civilization transplantation experiments, interstellar travel and relocation, and so on...
Then he'd starve Yiselian for a few days and arrange for Sin Mal to watch her constantly, not letting her rest until the work was done.
That way, in less than half a month, with the help of her Stigmata, Yiselian could complete a series of nearly impossible feats.
Unfortunately, Yiselian didn't awaken her Stigmata...
And not only did she not awaken her Stigmata, but by awakening and taking Femirins, she caused the Mobius Labs to initiate its self-destruct sequence, and all data about the pre-Previous Era civilization was completely wiped out in the torrent of time.
And Femirins... just like Ai Hyperion, lost all her memories and data after being rebooted. She only vaguely remembered some promise with someone to play games together.
Theresa already had a headache with the electricity-stealing, fun-loving Ai-chan. Now, a big "Ai-chan," Femirins, had arrived.
The only saving grace was that Femirins didn't steal electricity like Ai-chan. Otherwise, Theresa would have stormed into Yiselian's lab sooner or later to give Yiselian and Femirins a good talking-to.
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Ryn modified his connection with Cortana, using some Sea of Quanta abilities within their normal link to establish something like a quantum entanglement effect.
This way, even if Ryn was in the Sea of Quanta and not the prime world, Cortana could still contact him.
After finishing, Ryn opened the passage between the Sea of Quanta and the prime world for Cortana to go back.
"Huh? Just me? Aren't you going, Ryn?"
"You go first. I still have things to do, but if all goes well, I should be back soon. Cortana, go back to the prime world and help me greet the others, and also have Mei take care of Kika today."
"Alright. You be careful, don't just disappear again like last time."
"Mm."
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After Cortana returned to the prime world, she first connected to the data network to check the time.
"One day? Time in the Sea of Quanta is so chaotic... I slept for one night, Kukulkan and the others experienced half a month, and only one day passed in the prime world?"
"Whatever, that's not important. First, I need to carry out Ryn's instructions."
Cortana connected to the electronic devices at home, preparing to tell Mei to give Kika special care today.
But when she saw the image on the monitor, Cortana was instantly stunned.
"Wait, Mei, why are you holding a knife? To chop Kika?! Huh?"