"Zzt—zzt—"
As Kiana and Mei walked into the darkness, the emergency light above their heads suddenly made a sound like a bad electrical connection.
Pop—
The emergency light seemed to short-circuit, letting out a small explosive sound.
"What's going on?…" Kiana was a little flustered. She was, just a little, a tiny bit, really just a tiny bit, afraid of ghosts and things like that.
"Could it be a power failure!" Mei frowned, looking at the flickering lights above. "But, in a place that has been in disrepair for so long, this should be normal~ Kiana, don't be afraid," Mei said comfortingly.
"Ha?~ I'm not scared!" Kiana said defiantly, turning her head away, her voice full of confidence. Though her legs were trembling a bit…
"Alright, we need to find Bronya quickly. Getting separated in a place like this is no joke!" Kiana said, a hint of urgency in her voice as she tried to change the subject. She hated dark places like this…
"Something's not right…" Mei crossed her arms, a sharp glint in her eyes. In that moment, she was like Conan reincarnated.
"Huh, what's with this place?…" Kiana then took in the scene of the corridor they had entered, under the dim light.
What greeted their eyes was a scene of shattered culture tanks under the dim, cold light, as if a violent distortion and explosion had once occurred here.
The scene before them could undoubtedly be described as the wreckage of a [laboratory].
After such a degree of destruction, it wouldn't be surprising to find bodies littered on the ground. But… the rust-stained, dust-covered floor was empty… In fact, it was even cleaner than the previous corridor.
"This… isn't where we just were," Kiana said gravely.
"I know…" After a long pause, Mei said helplessly. Wasn't that obvious?!
...............................
Meanwhile, on the other side…
"Sister?… Is that you, Bronya-oneechan?" she said.
"Seele… it's really you…" Bronya's beautiful eyes were fixed on the girl before her, as if afraid she would disappear if she blinked. Even though Bronya had lost her emotions and forgotten many, many things, tears still flowed unconsciously from her eyes…
"It's really Bronya-oneechan! Seele, Seele missed you so much!" The girl named Seele's eyes widened in disbelief. With a cry of surprise, she began to move, her steps slowly quickening until she was running, throwing herself like a homing bird into Bronya's slightly frail embrace.
"Bronya missed you too. Ever since you disappeared from the orphanage half a year ago… I thought I would never see you again," Bronya said, tears streaming down her face as she hugged the girl tightly. But there was no sound of sobbing; even her voice only trembled slightly. This was the price she had paid for power—'emotions'.
"Half a year… I don't know. The last thing I remember was a week ago…" Seele lifted her head from the embrace, her watery eyes looking at Bronya with confusion.
"At that time, an experiment was being conducted, and it was about to succeed… but after that, I can't remember anything," Seele said, clutching her forehead as if she couldn't recall anything.
"A week ago… could the Honkai energy here have distorted time?!" Bronya speculated, frowning.
"I don't know… it seems like something bad happened. Every time Seele tries to remember, my head hurts…" Seele said, her face somewhat pale, as if the effort of remembering was causing her head to ache again.
"It's okay. Once we get out of here, everything will be fine," Bronya said, hugging Seele's frail body again. Once they got out of here, they could live happily with Kiana, Mei, Li Xuan, and Liv again, a life with Seele…
"Bronya-oneechan…?" Seele said softly, seemingly confused.
"It's okay, Seele… Bronya is here with you," Bronya said earnestly, her hands on Seele's shoulders.
Unbeknownst to either of them, a darkness suddenly appeared behind Seele and shot into her body, merging with her.
Seele's eyes went blank for a moment, then immediately lit up again.
"Bronya is here with me, huh... Hmph... You're as naive as ever, Onee-sama~" Seele suddenly pushed Bronya, who was holding her shoulders, away. A sharp, violent voice rang out, echoing in the abandoned laboratory.
"…Hahahahaha…" The girl named Seele laughed wildly, bending over as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world.
The laughter echoed through the laboratory, filled with nutrient tubes of all sizes, traveling far, far away…
..................….
"Master, where did you go?!" Maid Liv, in her black and white maid outfit, squatted on the ground boredly, her chin in her hands as she stared in the direction Kiana and the others had gone, muttering to herself.
Pat!
Suddenly, a hand clapped onto Liv's shoulder. The spooky feeling of someone touching you in the middle of the night when no one is around… Liv experienced that thrill firsthand…
Goosebumps instantly broke out on her back. Although she was a gun-girl, Liv was still a young girl at heart! So, in her fright, Liv immediately pulled two silver Smoothbore Guns from her maid skirt and was about to aim them behind her…
"Liv, calm down…" A gentle voice sounded in Liv's ear. The guns in her hands were caught as if in an iron clamp, unable to move.
"Master?!… Liv was so rude…" Liv quickly came to her senses. She turned to face Li Xuan, who was panting slightly from the strenuous exercise, her mind so muddled that the thought "I am willing to commit seppuku to atone" even crossed it.
After all, as a maid, to have almost injured her master due to her own mistake was a violation of the maid's code.
"Well~ it's fine. It's not like you can beat me for now anyway," Li Xuan said, waving his hand nonchalantly. After all, for him, wearing the Xuanyuan Festive Garb, the possibility of Liv breaking through his shield was really low…
Although what Master said is true… why does my heart hurt so much? Liv felt wounded.
"Liv, which way did Kiana and Bronya go?" Li Xuan asked urgently.
"Hmm?… They went that way. Kiana even told me to bring you there," Liv said, somewhat confused as to why her master was in such a hurry.
"Not good. We need to go quickly. Protect Kiana and Mei later," Li Xuan instructed.
"Hmm?! Master, what happened?" Liv couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"Hmm... Someone wants to kill Bronya, and they're very strong. I'm afraid… Bronya and the others can't handle them," Li Xuan said bluntly after a moment's hesitation.
"Let's go!" Without waiting for Liv to ask any more questions, Li Xuan ran in the direction Liv pointed. Maid Liv had no choice but to follow closely behind. The master and servant pair headed into the darkness that seemed capable of swallowing everything.
(End of Chapter)