Bronya is conflicted.
Shi Tian managed to come up with an "answer" within a month. He had already accepted Kiana as his "girlfriend". Such a response shocked Bronya, though it wasn't too far from expectations.
Needless to say, Shi Tian wanted to properly "reject" Seele.
Bronya was against this at first. She had a good talk with Shi Tian the moment she heard it.
"The Bronya disagrees. You can choose both Seele and Kiana."
"...Kuk..!"
He choked on his drinks. He looked over to the serious Bronya.
"Where did this suggestion come from..?" He asked.
"I came across numerous men with multiple women. They are treated as playthings to feel pleasure. You are a hundred times better than them."
Facing the silver-haired loli who advocated for the harem route, Shi Tian ultimately rejected it. The thought of wanting one did pass his mind, but a lot of things stopped him from doing so.
Kiana's possessiveness and his beliefs are the biggest contributors.
"No. I can't do it."
"..."
Just like that, although it was "painful", Bronya helped Shi Tian find the perfect opportunity to reject Seele. That was the second best answer they could come up with.
Bronya will be responsible for setting up the ideal scenario. Shi Tian will carry it out. That was the plan…
Buzz-!
…until now.
A second later, Bronya reappeared inside their room. The strong spatial distortions did not escape her eyes.
"Seele..?"
A quick sweep of her spiritual consciousness revealed no one inside. The next second, Shi Tian appeared beside her.
"Did you see…"
"Nyet."
He looked around for a while and 'saw' the familiar light-blue distortions. It appeared when Su transported him from the Sea of Quanta to the real world.
One girl immediately came to his mind.
"...It's Seele."
"Please elaborate." Bronya replied.
"She has a Natural Stigma. I told you about this before."
"Da."
"Once activated to its fullest extent, it can recreate matter itself."
Seele's Natural Stigma is a result of both a Herrscher Authority and the Sea of Quanta's favoritism.
Mobius pushed for the creation of a man-made Natural Stigma. It came from the Herrscher Stigma of the Previous Era's Sixth Herrscher.
It is made to contain the Sixth Herrscher's Authority. Later on, the Natural Stigma, along with its Stigma Space, was thrown off to the Sea of Quanta for it to survive the Final Herrscher's attack on Earth.
It was successfully kept within the Sea of Quanta for fifty thousand years. During that time, it mutated to suit the Sea of Quanta's characteristics. As such, the Natural Stigma was no longer limited to the authority over biological life and death. Matter can be created by harnessing the Sea's power.
Such a strong ability needs to be handled by a strong body, lest it will collapse.
'Foundation Establishment is the equivalent of S Rank Valkyries. There's no reason for Seele's body to collapse like before…'
In the game, Seele was forcefully pulled into the Sea of Quanta due to her physical body's collapse. Had she not been pulled into the Sea, only death awaited her.
It serves to reason that the peak Foundation Establishment physical body suffices.
'...unless the Sea itself is attracted to her..!' He recalled several dangerous entities. 'If she meets Kevin..!'
Shi Tian acted quickly.
"Call me if Kiana returns. I will head to Mister Yang."
"Understood."
The two immediately fulfilled their due responsibilities.
*****
Damn it.
Sea of Quanta…
I need Kiana to deal with it. The problem is, she shut herself inside the imaginary space. There are usually manual passageways to enter even without consent. It's just that she can lock it as long as she wants.
The chaotic mess we made yesterday came back to bite me.
I went to the next best option—The Deep. I contacted Tesla and explained what happened with Seele. She went on hold for a while.
Buzz-!
A voice came from the intercoms in my right ear.
"I gave you the relevant authority. You can remotely activate it now."
"Thanks, Doctor Tesla."
"What happened with you and Kiana? She should be able to enter the Sea of Quanta…"
"Some things happened."
"Don't tell me…"
That judgemental stare seeped through my earphones.
"That's not it. It's hard to explain."
"...You will be on your own once you enter the Sea. Communication devices will stop working once you are inside the Sea. You might get lost, so remember The Deep's unique fluctuations."
"Got it. I know the relevant knowledge about it."
"I will inform Welt and Einstein about this. I have a feeling this is a big problem…"
It is.
Seele going straight into the Sea of Quanta is one of the worst possibilities to happen. There is a huge chance Kevin might encounter her. I don't know about Sa and her bunch of tarot club underlings… but there's a chance I will face them too.
…
I am partly to blame.
I kept waiting for Seele to confess. That way, her rejection will be lighter. I pushed her to this state..!
Zoom-!
Splash-!
My flight did not stop once I entered the ocean. Aside from the shockwave I caused, I can breathe as usual. I didn't get wet, either. Using spiritual consciousness to reject ordinary water is a simple trick.
It did not take five minutes to arrive in Anti-Entropy's underwater base. My figure teleported to the inside of the glass dome.
Several human staff members saw my arrival. They did not react drastically to my appearance.
My figure kept on teleporting until I reached the strange 'monolith-esque' structure. It has a mix of steel and stone, with a bunch of lines running on their bodies. A sleek control pad could be seen attached to it. The language it uses is foreign to me. It is like the Latin alphabet, but much more complex.
My spiritual consciousness infiltrated it. Then, according to Tesla's instructions, I began to flick some switches within its control pad.
Two minutes later, it worked.
Hum-!
Buzz-!
The familiar pillar of dark blue light emerged from the Eye of the Deep. It is essentially a pathway to the Sea of Quanta. I timed it to close after ten seconds, lest I want some strange quantum monsters to invade.
Sou-!
I did not hesitate to rush towards it.
The environment changed to nothing but dark blue once I got inside. The familiar sense of rejection appeared. It is very evident the Sea does not want me.
Nonetheless, I resisted this subtle rejection.
Bam-!
I looked back and saw a huge marble door close. It only appeared after I entered.
The Sea of Quanta's randomness works exactly like this.
Hum-!
Numerous new sights appeared in my vision. Some of them are schools, cafeterias, forests, and oases…
Without a stable Ether Anchor, Bubble Worlds fall to the Sea of Quanta before disintegrating into nothingness.
As expected, some of the Bubble Worlds I saw with my spiritual consciousness are on the verge of collapse. Some that did not have any Ether Anchors were destroyed within a minute or two.
Now…
How should I look for Seele?