Do You Want to Touch Me?

Her experience dealing with Honkai taught her not to get involved with something she couldn't understand—especially if there was no profit to be made.

"That's more like it. I'm Reanna's boss."

In a way, Reanna is Liu Bai's personal body.

It must be said that Otto's masterpiece is truly useful.

"This joke is not funny at all..." Cocolia said with a cold laugh, maintaining her confrontational stance. "Our Alliance Leader of Anti-Entropy is Lady Nancy — Nancy Thomas Alva Edison."

After saying that, Cocolia even recalled the events with great seriousness, so as not to be misled in any way.

"..."

Seeing Cocolia's wary demeanor, Liu Bai felt that he and Cocolia were unlikely to be able to reason with each other.

Did you bring a communicator?

"... I brought it."

Cocolia felt a little silly for negotiating with a white camouflage cloth...

"Turn on your communication device and find Reanna... or Nancy will do too, no, you can find any high-ranking official."

"..."

Cocolia sensed something was off.

Why does this feel a little... strange?

After hesitating for a moment, Cocolia decided to take out her communicator.

After all, she didn't want the negotiations to break down when faced with some unknown thing, and she wasn't prepared to bear the unknown consequences without any preparation.

Soon, Cocolia contacted her boss, Reanna.

"Is there something you need, Cocolia?"

Reanna's voice came through the communicator very quickly.

"Um... Lady Reanna, how should I put it..."

Cocolia glanced at the white cloth twisted into a human shape in front of her, unsure of what to say, but since things had come to this, Cocolia could only steel herself.

"Lady Reanna, I have a piece of white cloth that I wish to present to you."

"... Huh?" As expected, a puzzled voice came from the Reanna, "Um... Cocolia you repeat that?"

"No need to repeat myself, it's me."

Liu Bai sighed and floated to the center of the communicator's view, blocking Cocolia's face.

"Alliance Leader?" Reanna was only slightly taken aback, then her face lit up with surprise. "You're back?"

"I guess so, although it's only temporary."

Do you have any orders?

"Not at the moment, but if you're free, you can lend me your body for a while."

"I see... I understand. Should I report your matter to Miss Nancy?"

Although she usually calls her Alliance Leader Nancy, now that Liu Bai has returned, she naturally changes her address back to Miss. Reanna has always been very strict about this.

"You handle it as you see fit. I'm just verifying my identity. I won't bother you anymore."

"Yes, Lord Alliance Leader."

Liu Bai then hung up the communication device and turned to look at Cocolia was already showing some signs of dementia.

"Now do you believe me? I, the first Alliance Leader, Liu Bai, send the money!"

"..."

With Reanna's strong testimony, Cocolia lowered her guard, but she became quite upset.

"The first Alliance Leader was a piece of white cloth or something..."

"No, strictly speaking, I am a ghost, but I've possessed Bai Bu—want to see me possessing your military uniform?" Liu Bai corrected him sternly.

"... I dare not trouble the Alliance Leader."

Cocolia felt that the ghost concept was barely acceptable.

And let's forget about the idea of someone possessing our underwear.

"So, is your next step to go back to the orphanage with me?"

"Yes, due to certain restrictions, I can't be too far away from this child for the time being."

The white cloth pointed to Bronya, who was being held under Cocolia's arm.

"In that case, please follow me."

When it comes to serious matters Cocolia, as a soldier, is quite decisive and efficient. She then invited Liu Bai into her car—and incidentally collected the dog tags of the other people she had killed.

Although these tags are jokingly referred to as dog tags by the soldiers, Cocolia still collects them out of habit.

"Lord Alliance Leader, were you watching the whole process of me knocking that child unconscious?"

"Yeah, why stop her? Are we going to let her go back and strangle people with stockings?"

For a helpless young soldier like Bronya, Cocolia's orphanage was indeed the best place to go.

That's why Liu Bai watched as Bronya was taken down by Cocolia.

"Stockings...that Ural Silver Wolf?" Cocolia glanced at Bronya lying in the back seat with interest, but then her expression turned slightly indignant.

"Tsk, those guys, it's amazing they could do such a thing, and it's amazing this girl could assassinate thirteen people and escape unscathed."

"That's just how the world is..." Liu Bai shrugged. "But speaking of which, this child's name is Bronya Zaychek."

"...Zajczek?"

The name Bronya didn't elicit any reaction from Cocolia, but the surname Zaychek brought a look of reminiscence to Cocolia eyes.

"Colonel Alexei's daughter... I never imagined she would end up as a child soldier."

Colonel Alexei was the superior officer who imprisoned Cocolia after she discovered him selling military supplies and Cocolia turned on her.

For Cocolia, it was a thing of the past twelve years ago, but there was no resentment on Cocolia face—she was past the age of being full of passion back then.

Moreover, Alexei himself had already died in the Honkai Beast attack during the Second Honkai.

"Back then, I was on the run with her mother, Alexandra... Well, actually, I had no choice but to hijack her car at gunpoint... Later, I was rescued by Lady Reanna, and I thought she would be able to live a peaceful life after that, but now it seems..."

Bronya became a child soldier, so it goes without saying what happened to her mother.

If there hadn't been a second Honkai, the feud between her and Alexei might have evolved into a storyline like The Shawshank Redemption.

However, the Second Honkai 3rd brought all of this to an end. Moreover, twelve years have passed since then, and Cocolia's mind is filled with memories.

"In that case, this child can be considered the son of an old friend."

Chapter 147 You Want to Touch Me?

"Arrive."

Cocolia stopped the car in front of the orphanage, opened the car door and spoke to Liu Bai.

At the same time, he didn't forget to pick up Bronya was still unconscious in the back seat.

... It wouldn't be accurate to say she was in a coma; Bronya was more like she was in a deep sleep.

A deep sleep after being extremely tired.

"I thought you would tuck her under your arm and bring her out."

Liu Bai looked at Cocolia, who was holding Bronya, with surprise—but he wondered Cocolia could understand the surprised look in Bai Bai's eyes.

"... Why would you have this idea?"

"The height difference between you two, plus your personality."

Liu Bai spoke very frankly.

A mature woman in military uniform carrying a comatose little girl doesn't look out of place at all, does it?

"I am still very tolerant of children."

Cocolia sighed. Along the way, she had roughly learned that this "former" Alliance Leader did not give off a strong sense of pressure like the current Miss Nancy; in fact, quite the opposite, she did not show any airs of Alliance Leader at all.

In Liu Bai's own words, "I am just a mascot used to hold the entire Anti-Entropy together."

... This is an effect that cannot be overshadowed by simply calling it a mascot.

"My Alliance Leader, please follow me."

Because she was holding Bronya in her arms, Cocolia could only nod to Liu Bai. At the same time, Liu Bai didn't forget to bring the sniper rifle that Bronya had been holding earlier.

Although theoretically this thing is both unnecessary and dangerous, Liu Bai's ample experience in taking care of children tells him that Bronya might need it after she wakes up.

"Mother!"

Cocolia was welcomed by the children as soon as she stepped into the orphanage.

Yes, Cocolia was a pretty good mother during this period.

There are quite a few children in the orphanage, which has been open for 12 years. In addition to the familiar faces from the story, there are also many other children here.

"You're back? Is this your new sister?"

The children curiously gathered around Cocolia, looking at Bronya who was being held by Cocolia.

"Hmm... She's your older sister in terms of age."

Cocolia chuckled, "But as you can see, she needs to rest now."

"Oh--!"

The children seemed quite familiar with this kind of thing, and obediently and naturally made way for Cocolia.

Then... they saw Liu Bai.

"The White Cloth Monster!"

"A white-clothed monster with a gun!"

"Waaaaah!"

Although it's not very nice to say it like this, compared to Cocolia, Liu Bai, who is now possessing Bai Bu, is more likely to attract the children's interest.

Moreover, because of their youthful fearlessness, these children showed no fear whatsoever towards Liu Bai, whom ordinary people could not understand. Instead, they abandoned Cocolia and excitedly and noisily surrounded Liu Bai.

"Stop--"

Seeing this, Cocolia wanted to stop the group of children, but before she could finish speaking, Liu Bai raised his hand to stop her, signaling her to continue walking forward.

Since there's a 50-meter teleportation range, it's impossible for him to be truly stuck by these kids. So rather than letting Cocolia spend time scolding them, it's better to let her continue moving forward.

Aren't you afraid of me?

Liu Bai manipulated the white cloth to make a ferocious gesture.

"Hey! White Cloth Monster! Take this punch!"

... These brats are really bold.

However, after looking around, Liu Bai noticed that the children in the orphanage were mostly girls.

The one who said "Take this punch" to him was a tomboyish little girl with bright pink and purple hair.

Apricot Mar.

She was a popular character in Honkai Impact 2, but became a minor character in the Honkai Impact 3rd timeline. Well, you could even say she was a minor character in the villain's role. She was somewhat jealous and had a bit of a bratty personality.

However, in the future, she played a minor role in Theresa's Schicksal Invasion Operation without even showing her face. After the Schicksal War ended, she took on the important task of taking care of the children in the orphanage in place of Cocolia.

Of course, he's still a jealous and mischievous kid now, but his future looks promising.

However, Liu Bai's gaze was drawn to a somewhat timid little girl outside the crowd.

Seele Vollerei.

How should I put it... this girl was the only one with an expression on her face that said, "Isn't it a bad idea to touch such a strange thing so casually?"

Liu Bai found it quite interesting and waved lightly to greet Seele.