"ORA ORA!"
"MUDA MUDA!"
People who succeed always possess one specific virtue: focus.
Even though Fuli and Mei had separated, Kiana and Kallen were still going at it, trading blows and verbal jabs.
It wasn't until Mei, having adjusted her mindset, flicked the teaching pointer in her hand—creating a crackling bili-bili sound in the air—that the fear of the "Dr. MEI face" embedded in the Kaslana genes compelled the two white-haired dumplings to stop their bickering and kneel obediently before the girl.
Miss Mei nodded elegantly, her slender fingers tapping in the void to pull up several holographic screens.
Displayed on them were textbooks for various subjects at St. Freya Academy. She clearly intended to tutor her best friend as promised in the previous chapter.
Wisdom and Intelligence are fundamentally different. Wisdom is an advanced creative thinking ability possessed by the physiological and psychological organs of life; it includes the perception, memory, understanding, analysis, judgment, and sublimation of nature and humanity. It shares similarities with the "Metaphysical Way." Intelligence, on the other hand, is a "Physical Tool"—a part of the organism, merely a skill and a parameter.
The Kaslana family's ancestral intuition—the instinctual reading of the surrounding environment at all times—caused their computational power to be occupied by the Void. What was occupied here was intelligence, not wisdom.
Mei believed that as long as she taught with dedication, Kiana would surely be able to break the fate of becoming an emanator of the History Fictionologists, and transform back into a positive talent useful to the Hyperion and society.
She was wrong.
"What is so hard to understand?"
"What! Is! So! Hard! To! Understand!!"
"WHAT! IS! SO! HARD! TO! UNDERSTAND!!!"
"I asked you how a Valkyrie should respond when suddenly falling into an oxygen-free environment, and you answered, 'How despairing must a person feel after just holding their breath?' Also, what do you mean 'The Triangular Trade discovered the value of humanity'? You ate the Renaissance lesson I taught ten minutes ago along with your steamed buns and pickles?!"
A maiden's blush surpasses all things.
"I-If it weren't for the Triangular Trade, how would Lao Da (The Boss/Kobe) have had the chance to shine in the NBA? Didn't that just demonstrate his value..."
Kiana shrank her neck, thinking to herself that this textbook had quite the awareness of intellectual property rights—her brain couldn't steal a single thing from it.
"Sigh, Lao Da. Sigh."
Fuli sat by the window, sighing and moaning.
Every time he missed Kobe, he would look up at the white clouds in the sky. Those are the cotton planted by the matte-black cotton harvesting machine God gave us!
After shifting his gaze back, he secretly thought that Teacher Mei looked good in everything today, but the lack of a leg ring (garter) was a bit of a buzzkill.
But it didn't matter; the bloody bite mark from his mouth on Mei's thigh could serve as a leg ring!
Bronya, who had been watching the whole time, delivered a violent critique at this moment: "Idiot Kiana is deliberately posting outrageous takes to troll for replies. When a bunch of people respond to you, you set your phone to vibration mode and put it there to censored."
"It's not that deep! Really not that deep!"
When it came to studying, Kallen could truly empathize.
The Kaslanas have always been in a race with knowledge, but knowledge has never caught up to their pace. This matter is also recorded in the Apocrypha of Schicksal.
"Sigh."
Life is hard; Mei sighed.
If you want to make a proud person bow their head before you, shatter their worldview using the thing they are best at.
Kiana did it.
It would be one thing if this guy just didn't try, but the problem was she would scratch her head, list out a pile of formulas, and finally calculate that 2 + 1 = 1.
A person can do anything when pushed to the limit, except math problems.
"Let's continue."
Taking a deep breath to suppress her rising anger, Mei flicked the pointer, her gaze quickly switching back to its usual coolness.
If you fall, pick yourself up right there. The young and vigorous master of Massive Electric Corp simply didn't believe in this curse!
"Hey, um, Mei."
Fuli scratched his cheek and spoke up, "Have you ever heard of the Curse of Knowledge?"
The so-called Curse of Knowledge is that once a person understands a certain piece of knowledge, it is very difficult for them to think and understand others from the perspective of not possessing that knowledge.
Because switching between the two different states of [Unknown] and [Known] is truly difficult.
The state set of the brain is the power set of stored information. According to Cantor's Theorem, any set is inferior to its power set. Simply put, a human cannot correctly simulate their past self; a person cannot backup their own states from different periods.
Mei was exactly like this.
Possessing the MEI neural network, she could read, record, and understand the various technologies of the Previous Era within the Herrscher of Reason's archive at super-speed. This behavior vastly broadened the girl's knowledge base.
In exchange, as she walked further down the path of the Massive Electric Corp's leader, she gradually forgot how ordinary people viewed the world.
It wasn't just Mei; even in the real world, creatures like academic geniuses generally weren't very good at teaching ordinary people.
Many young genius PhDs would go home every day and be angered to death by their own bratty kids.
"Ah, this..."
As the center of the topic, Kiana looked left and right, suddenly feeling that the atmosphere in the house wasn't quite right.
She felt as if she were currently the dumb eldest daughter of the family. The tolerant father was Fuli, the strict mother was Mei, Kallen was the understanding big sister from next door who dropped by, and Bronya was the sharp-tongued youngest sister with excellent grades.
However, this wouldn't do!
No matter what, Kiana wanted to sit at the adults' table with Fuli and Mei!
"If only some scene conducive to this young lady's performance would occur," the girl muttered softly.
For example, a Maybach suddenly crashing through the front gate, drifting wildly right in front of her with a super cool tail-flick. A heroic red-haired sister opens the car door and shouts, "Kiana, what are you waiting for? Come save the world with me, stop dilly-dallying! There is a lion hiding in your eyes; we can't do it without you!"
Then she could smile faintly under the stunned gazes of Ah Li, Mei, and the others, stating that the Hyperion is a whole unit—inviting me means inviting all of us.
[ Warning! Warning! Monster detected! Monster detected! ]
The holographic screens in front of them suddenly flashed violently three times. Dark red, crack-like textures spread from the edges toward the center, like bulletproof glass shattered by brute force. Fluorescent particles with data stream afterimages seeped through the gaps in the cracks.
The warning trembled at a high frequency of 5 times per second. Every edge of the warning triangle split into dozens of ghost images, and a liquid red light effect resembling ruptured blood vessels swam between the strokes of the text.
Except for Kallen, the other three instantly focused their eyes on Kiana, who was halfway through her mumbling. The suspicion in their eyes seemed to say everything and nothing at the same time.
"No, it's not me!"
The girl panicked. Sure, she was a little bit of a lucky European Emperor usually, but a sudden accident to save her from an awkward situation...
Surely, it has nothing to do with this young lady, right? Kiana thought guiltily.
"Forget about that for now."
Fuli stood up and sprinted toward the door. "Kallen!"
"Klein Bottle structure rupture detected. The spatial security system in the area of the Well of Fuli has been breached by foreign objects. Energy peak 500~800, Threat Level B+!"
Kallen's solemn voice echoed in everyone's ears. "Cat-cakes have been arranged to form a mobile defense squad to establish a multi-layered three-dimensional defense array, coordinating with fixed firepower fortifications in the area to intercept first!"
"That's impossible!"
Bronya levitated and quickly flew toward Mount Taixuan. "That is the absolute center of the Hyperion. How could enemies bypass detection and appear directly there?"
Data flowed through Mei's eyes. "Ordinary enemies naturally can't. But if they come from Imaginary Space or the Sea of Quanta, it makes sense."
On the Honkai side, there has always been a theory known as the [Origin of the Imaginary Tree]. Simply put, numerous worlds, large and small, grow on the branches and leaves of a great tree, while the tree's root system is the Sea of Quanta.
The Imaginary Tree draws energy from the Sea of Quanta to nurture one new world after another. After these worlds are destroyed, they fall back into the Sea of Quanta, are worn down, swallowed, and turned back into energy—waxing and waning in an endless cycle.
This description easily forms a concrete image in one's mind. However, in reality, whether it's the Tree or the Sea, the spaces are actually overlapped.
If we use coordinate axes as an example, the Imaginary Tree is the X, Y, and Z axes, while the Sea of Quanta is the blank space encompassing the whole thing.
And the Proper World, the star sector where Earth is located, is the point where the X, Y, and Z axes intersect.
The three parties are essentially in a relationship of mutual containment. As long as one has the ability, anyone can invade another place through a certain point within.
The most well-known example is Schicksal's dimensional traversal device, the [GNUS].
Back then, Bianka (Durandal) and Rita used it to travel to a First-Class Planetary Bubble World inside the solar system, embarking on a bizarre adventure to collect seven holy sword gems and thwart a villain's conspiracy.
Fuli, moving forward, speculated, "Do those invading monsters also possess space-traversing abilities similar to the GNUS?"
"No."
A string of data flashed through Mei's eyes again. "In a sense, we 'invited the fire onto ourselves.'"
"How so?"
Beside Fuli, Kiana leaped up and flew around the corner. The White Comet (Godsbane Prototype) Battlesuit manifested on her exquisite, curvy body, balancing coolness and charm.
"The Well of Fuli isn't a perpetual motion machine that creates energy out of thin air. It is essentially a super-large energy focusing device."
Kallen's phantom floated around them. "Since it focuses energy, it must 'open a hole' in the space-time dimension to absorb external energy."
The Well of Fuli possessed the basic characteristic of drawing energy from the boundless darkness outside the world. In the Honkai Universe, "the boundless darkness outside the world" refers only to Imaginary Space and the Sea of Quanta.
Mei added, "The absorption of energy has made the space-time barrier near the Well of Fuli fragile. The powerful energy naturally attracts monsters wandering on the outside of the world. These monsters pass through the riddled space and descend upon Mount Taixuan, where the Well of Fuli is located."
"Project Bunny!"
Bronya called out, and the heroic and loyal steel knight took the lead, its lance prying open the gate leading to Mount Taixuan.
"Mo!"
"Ya!"
Under the flying artillery fire constructed by the united efforts of the military-helmeted Cat-cakes, numerous grotesquely shaped mysterious lifeforms came into view.
The speed of those monsters was exaggeratedly fast. In appearance, they looked somewhat like wolves, with burning eyes and protruding jaws. Their outlines shifted constantly, as if all the evil in the world was reshaping them at every moment, making their destructive power appear even more terrifying.
"Horned Space-Time Hounds. Sure enough, it's these guys who are particularly sensitive to space-time fluctuations!"
As the saying goes, even if you haven't eaten pork, haven't you seen a pig run?
Fuli, who had heard of this group in his previous playthrough, immediately summoned the Yingying Sword to blast away the nearest monsters, preventing these invaders from polluting the Hyperion's most precious energy source.
He spoke quickly, "Conventional physical attacks are ineffective against the Hounds. Their weakness is injecting Honkai energy into their bodies to break their original space-time structure. Also, watch out for angles below 120 degrees; the Hounds possess spatial abilities to teleport there!"
"Received! Project Bunny, Hailstorm!"
"Now, the Time of Judgment!"
Receiving his hint, Bronya, who summoned a pulse machine gun, and Kiana, holding the Guardians of the Moon dual pistols, attacked from left and right. The former was responsible for suppression, the latter for killing, rapidly eliminating the invaders, which currently totaled twelve.
Mei and Kallen took the opportunity to repair the loopholes, spending a full three hours to temporarily seal the final space-time rift.
After the battle, Kiana supported her body with her baseball bat like a hoe. Sweatdrops hung precariously on her eyelashes, sliding down her hair tips, her damp bangs sticking to her forehead.
Hearing the method of dealing with the space-time rift, she was very surprised. "W-Why only temporarily seal it?"
Just seeing her state, one could understand how hard the girl had worked in the previous battle.
Of course, what made her work so hard wasn't just the desire to prove herself, but also to test the new moves she had obtained.
Star-Shattering Dawn (Time of Judgment): Charge up to explode instantly and leap into the high sky, then project a massive amount of weapons condensed from Honkai energy like a meteor sword rain. Or, transform directly into a brilliant star and crash down to strike the enemy. Once mastered, one can determine the direction without jumping.
Twilight Prayer: Summon a Mimicry Oath of Judah cross of customizable size for defense. It resists various physical and energy attacks, with better effects against energy attacks. Upon summoning, one can freely control the position, angle, size, and quantity based on one's own strength.
The former was obtained by Kiana through the Peerless Martial Arts Catalog, and the latter was a life-saving divine skill personally taught by Theresa.
Combined with the Sky Ripper she had comprehended earlier, Kiana had countless highlight moments, contributing more than 70% of the damage in this battle.
Because of this, Bronya's condition was much better than the panting Kiana.
Stepping her sneaker-clad foot onto the ground covered in spiderweb-like cracks, the little girl explained, "The Well of Fuli ultimately needs to continue drawing energy from outside the world. Once these entrances and exits are completely sealed, its effectiveness will be greatly discounted, if not reduced to zero."
Kiana was massaging her uncontrollably twitching calf muscles. Hearing this, her beautiful brows furrowed deeply. "But we can't face the risk of being attacked by enemies at all times, right? Mei and the others repaired it quickly just now, but otherwise, even if we were safe, the Hyperion surely couldn't withstand such intense battles constantly!"
"Actually, it can. The Hyperion isn't as fragile as you imagine. However, we indeed cannot allow these guys to invade our heartland casually."
By this time, Mei had already changed back into her lab coat and rimless glasses. She rubbed her throbbing temples. "The nun's (Theresa's) suggestion is to rely on the Cat-cakes and firepower points to establish a fixed sniper field, clearing incoming enemies 24 hours a day. The advantage of this is that it solves the immediate urgency, but the spatial barrier of Mount Taixuan will gradually tear apart during constant combat. Eventually, it will invert, causing the entire Hyperion to fall into the Sea of Quanta and be thoroughly swallowed by the surging quantum tides."
The breeze, lifted by cold and hot air, swept through the smoke-filled Mount Taixuan, blowing the messy black hair sticking to the back of Fuli's neck.
He wiped his right eye, which was blurred with double vision from sweat. "Mei, what's your solution?"
Expecting Kallen, a Kaslana, to think of a strategy was really asking too much.
"I hypothesized several plans. Currently, the method with the greatest benefit is 'containment'."
The girl pushed up her glasses. "I observed the previous battle. After all, with the Well of Fuli only having been installed for two months—a nascent state—the strongest monsters it attracts hover at C to B rank at most. The reason everyone was so bedraggled this time was mainly that we didn't anticipate the Hyperion's central zone being invaded without any warning."
Fuli was smart and quickly reacted. "You mean, create a large-scale designated space to imprison these monsters, and send people in to clear them out periodically?"
Mei nodded. "Yes. This is also an excellent method for obtaining large amounts of resources sustainably."
Just like the setting in fantasy novels where dragons are made of treasure, whether it be Honkai beasts or Zombies—even Honkai derivatives like the Sea God Serpent (comparable to Little Tang San in the industry)—their bodies contain many precious and non-renewable biological resources.
The most typical examples are the standard equipment of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. The Thunder Angel beam weapon is made by implanting the core of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast, Ramiel, inside a cross. The Devourer Cannon attaches the top-secret samples produced after the Honkai Beast Ganesha is devoured onto a remote output heavy weapon.
There are also the Chiyou Cannon and the Gale Blade, which have not yet appeared. The former's raw material is a small amount of Chiyou's remains collected by Schicksal in the Nine Realms; its performance rivals Soulium, and these remains are used to make the Pantheon series weapons. The latter is created by Anti-Entropy using its Honkai biological energy technology to extract the powerful wind-attribute biological core from the 4th Herrscher, fusing it into a specially made Honkai-adaptive alloy.
This was one of the reasons Mei didn't want to completely block the spatial channel. High-level resources that could be obtained continuously while sitting at home, with the only cost being running over to clean up every once in a while—no matter how you looked at it, it was like a pie falling from the sky.
If things really went south, she could also have the small red dragon napping on her wrist intervene. Due to its relationship with the Herrscher of Thunder, it was inconvenient for that thing to appear openly in front of the world, but striking hard within one's own home was definitely not a problem.
"Sounds good. Let's do that then. How about we call it Superstring Dimension?"
As soon as Fuli finished speaking, he saw a look of difficulty on Mei's face.
Feeling it had been a long time since he saw such an expression, the boy asked curiously, "Is there a problem?"
He had already planned it out. He would set the Superstring Dimension into five levels: Forbidden, Sinful, Agony, Redlotus, and Nirvana. He would arrange enemies of different combat power for each level, constructing a practical combat training mechanism unique to the Hyperion.
Then, based on the combat mode, divide it into Forgotten Hall (Comprehensive), Apocalyptic Shadow (Single Target), and Pure Fiction (AOE/Group). When free, they could invite acquaintances like Bianka, Himeko, and Theresa, as well as the trainee Valkyries of St. Freya and members of the Immortal Blades. It would serve as training for them while also helping Hyperion clear out enemy threats, allowing the Well of Fuli to grow healthily and strongly.
At worst, he'd split the harvest 10/90—painfully giving them 10% of the profits while he wronged himself by taking only 90%.
"There is."
The girl answered bluntly, "First, establishing the Superstring Dimension—that's a mouthful, let's just call it the Abyss. Establishing the Abyss, a multi-layered large-scale independent space capable of containing numerous monsters, will inevitably consume a massive amount of resources. That isn't a problem for now; Hyperion is currently quite wealthy. But we don't currently have the most critical material: [Imaginary Branch/Leaf]."
—Imaginary Branch/Leaf: A precious material refined using the [Source Matter] of a damaged rare large-scale Bubble Universe as raw material. It is rich in extremely pure energy. If fused with a designated space, it can drastically reinforce the space itself.
Kiana raised her hand. "Should I ask Auntie?"
"Useless."
Mei shook her head. "This material is so rare that even in super-large organizations, it's considered 'priceless with no market.' Even if it appears occasionally, it's traded via barter. No one would be foolish enough to exchange it for man-made currency like US dollars or Crystals."
What she didn't say was that the last time this item appeared, it was in the hands of Cocolia, the leader of Anti-Entropy's radical faction, and all signs indicated that she had no intention of using it yet.
Bronya obviously knew about this too.
She fell silent for a moment, her grayish eyes scanning the ruin-filled Mount Taixuan.
—You can't just love your country only when you win.
That famous quote from the President of the United States flashed through her mind. Recalling the leisurely life on the Hyperion over these past few months, the girl gritted her teeth and raised her small hand.
The screen flickered, and the long-unseen Yuya appeared on the other side.
"Captain Bronya!"
She looked very excited, obviously a massive lolico—scratch that—obviously missing the angel Bronya who had run away from home for a long time.
But before Yuya could say a second sentence, Fuli's hand reached over and—snap—cut off the call between the two.
Bronya looked up blankly.
"Why beg them? It's not like our Hyperion doesn't have Imaginary Branch/Leaf."
Teasing laughter rang out cheerfully like flowing water, dispersing the gloom in the girl's heart.
The Trio looked simultaneously to see Fuli holding a tree branch the thickness of a pinky finger, radiating a colorful white light.
One-time System Mall Item Exchange Voucher (B), a product of the last ten-pull.
This item could be exchanged for a prop or material in the System Mall not exceeding Rank A. As luck would have it, the mall refreshed over the last two days contained a few hundred grams of Imaginary Branch/Leaf.
Considering Kiana's "European Emperor" (lucky) attribute, plus the fact that the lottery was only a day ago... in a sense, was this development inevitable?
...