The instant those words left Kevin's lips, Vita felt a cold sweat break out. Her face, still flushed from the intense battle, instantly paled.
"Um, could I ask first... what are you to Griseo..."
"Her father is my closest comrade and friend."
Oh no. The family's come knocking.
Realizing this, Vita's heart sank with pessimism.
What could she even say?
'Oh, I tricked your Griseo into having seven kids, and I treat her Ark like my own personal lounge, coming and going as I please'?
If she said that, Vita felt the issue wouldn't just be about her humanity anymore. She might end up with just her brain being shipped off somewhere.
Thinking it over and over, Vita decided to pin the blame on Sa.
Even if she'd already been planning to rebel, the immediate situation... well, Sa had struck first.
"Griseo... is currently in good condition post-partum—ah, no! I mean, her physical condition is perfectly fine!"
Having been stuck on that strange train of thought, Vita had accidentally let the truth slip. "I regularly check her stasis pod and confirm her vitals."
"I'm aware of that." To Vita's surprise, Kevin didn't immediately suggest she go reenact Shang Yang's punishment.
(T/N: Having limbs tied to horses in 5 diff directions)
He just gave a slight, indifferent nod, his voice icy. "Continue."
Vita swallowed quietly, her voice dropping to a murmur. "On Phosphorus, my creator used the templates brought by the Ark to create the current people of Phosphorus."
"Then, using Griseo's seven colors, supplemented with the emotions she had stripped away, she cultivated seven children to act as the administrators of Phosphorus."
"Furthermore, she learned a fair amount of intel about the Third Planet through the Ark's records, but she never showed any of that to me. I only know some of the more superficial information…"
Seeing Kevin remain silent, Vita hurriedly added, "A-and... actually, I've wanted to break free from Sa's control for a long time now. The timing just never seemed right..."
"Oh?" Kevin's voice held a flicker of interest.
"You wish to oppose her? If I'm not mistaken, you were born from her wish, weren't you? In a sense, she should be considered your mother, and also your most intimate..."
Kevin suddenly stopped speaking, a question abruptly occurring to him.
"This pattern... the more I look at it, the more it resembles... Lynelle?"
Otherwise, even if Mobius created a being identical to Elysia, it shouldn't have been able to inherit the Authority of Origin so seamlessly, right?
Could it be... Is Lynelle actually Elysia's...?
Kevin temporarily set his doubts aside. Meanwhile, seemingly spurred on by his prompting, Vita grew more and more animated as she spoke.
"Yes, she is indeed my creator. This model you speak of is called a [Proxy] among us. In the early days of my existence, I truly viewed Sa as the mother I yearned for the most and wanted to earn her approval."
"But... she detests me. To her, I'm nothing more than a convenient tool."
"The efforts I've poured in have never been properly acknowledged by her... In short, I've wanted to break free from her shackles for a long time now."
"I see. Then for you, this might be a rare opportunity." Kevin stated calmly.
"Your next line wouldn't happen to be asking me to take you back to Earth, would it?"
"First of all, everything I just said is absolutely true. If you wish, I can voluntarily lower my mental defenses, allowing you to fully probe my memories."
Vita sighed softly. For her, this was already a significant concession.
After all, lowering her defenses to this extent wasn't just a matter of having all her privacy laid bare. If the other party desired it, they could essentially become another 'Sa' to her—gaining complete control over her body and mind.
Of course, saying this was essentially a gamble. After all, this white-haired man clearly possessed no psychic abilities himself.
If his companions also lacked any mental perception abilities, then Vita could buy herself a decent amount of time.
But if they did have such abilities... Vita could already see her bad ending looming.
"Secondly, I... don't particularly wish to go to Earth either."
"If you remain in the Sea of Quanta, Sa will hunt you down, won't she?"
"She won't. Love is a being driven purely by logic. The energy expenditure required to capture me far outweighs the efficiency of simply cultivating a few new Proxies." Vita shook her head.
"And besides... I can't bring myself to abandon those children."
"Oh? You care for them that deeply?"
"Well, I did raise them... Although nominally I should be their older sister, in practice... Ahem." Vita turned her head away slightly, looking a bit embarrassed.
"I see..." Kevin nodded thoughtfully.
"Then, come with me."
"Go... go where?"
Kevin's wings gave a single beat, and a gust of air swept Vita up, sending her floating along behind him.
"My mission here isn't finished yet. Dealing with you took five minutes. Now, I need to clean up the remaining tentacles Sa hasn't retracted yet."
Kevin glanced back at Vita, noting the girl's now docile appearance, and continued, "Afterwards, I'll hand you over to one of my juniors. She will decide how to deal with you."
"Whew..." A wave of relief washed over Vita.
"So, does that mean Vi-chan gets to keep her limbs for now?"
Kevin didn't reply. He simply appeared outside the world bubble in an instant, heading for the next location.
--+--
One hour later.
"Yaay, Kevin, you're back~!"
Seeing the spatial fluctuations of a teleportation appear at the world bubble's boundary, a pink-haired girl sitting on a thick, exposed root of a cherry blossom tree, swinging her alluring sheer-white-stocking-clad legs, immediately broke into a delighted expression.
"Mn. The person you wanted, I've brought her back."
Kevin waved his hand casually, and a thoroughly bound Vita, wrapped layer upon layer in Honkai energy, floated over in front of Lynelle.
"Thanks, Kevin~" the girl chirped in a sweet, grateful tone.
"This time, all of Sa's 'tentacles' that had extended a bit too far have been cleaned up by me. By a conservative estimate, she should have lost at least one-fifth of her energy reserves... But this way, I suppose there's no need for Grey Serpent to prepare a Judgment-class Honkai beast for me to eat."
"Also..." Kevin cast a sidelong glance at the trembling Vita. "She said she can voluntarily lower her mental defenses for you to examine her memories. You can handle that later."
"?!"
Vita froze for a second, then stared in shock at the smiling, lovely pink-haired girl beside her.
This harmless-looking, cute girl was actually a mental perception-type ability user?!
Oh, Vi-chan's really done for this time. Woe is me.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.