Hide-and-Seek

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why don't you kill me?" Bronya asked in a detached voice, as if... no, it should be said that she didn't care about her own life at all.

Perhaps it's because the aftershocks of the second Honkai in Siberia haven't subsided. In Siberia, which should be peaceful in the normal world... or rather, there are still chaotic elements in Russia. In chaotic areas, child soldiers are just a kind of expendable resource.

"That's a question you're asking... Do I need a reason not to kill you?"

Liu Bai was very dissatisfied with Bronya's indifferent attitude towards him, which allowed her to do as she pleased.

"But if you insist on a reason, Cocolia will tell you she doesn't kill children, while I... I'll just pin you down on my lap, spank you, and then severely correct this aspect of your personality," Liu Bai said, quite displeased.

"... Then will you be my master?" Bronya felt like she had finally understood something.

Speaking of which, Bronya doesn't seem to have the habit of using the third person pronoun yet... Could she have picked up this habit in the orphanage?

"Master? What on earth has been implanted in your brain... Forget about 'master,' being called that by a little loli like you only makes me feel guilty. This kind of address should be used by a maid... Sorry, I digress. Speaking of addresses, you can start calling me 'brother' like this child does."

"...elder brother?"

Bronya's compatibility +20%

"Yes, that works. Isn't this a great start?" Liu Bai pointed to Seele behind him.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't you say hello to your future... no, I should say your current younger sister?"

"... Bronya." Bronya's gaze slowly shifted from Liu Bai the timid girl behind him.

Younger sister?

I don't quite understand... It's not that I don't know what it means, but this word is a bit too extravagant for Bronya.

And of course, there's... my older brother.

"Bronya Zaychek, and you?"

"Hiel, Seele Vollerei."

After saying that, Seele hid behind Liu Bai again.

"You're too shy, Seele?" Liu Bai patted Seele's little head from behind with a helpless expression.

"Waaah..."

"... Acting cute is forbidden—this sentence sounds so outdated."

Liu Bai made a self-deprecating remark, "Also, my name is Liu Bai. Although it's not a very important thing, it's still better to remember it. I think this name is still somewhat prestigious—just take it as me bragging."

"...Hmm." Bronya nodded gently.

"By the way, do you still want that sniper rifle?" Liu Bai pointed to the sniper rifle that Bronya was still holding. Compared to before, Bronya was holding it much more casually. "Even though it's out of bullets, it still looks a bit strange, doesn't it?"

"... It's no use."

After a brief moment of thought, Bronya handed over the sniper rifle.

For a moment, the feeling of emptiness in her hands... or rather, in her body, made Bronya feel somewhat uneasy.

She couldn't find a single weapon on her body, something unimaginable for her in the past.

"Sister Bronya, please wait a moment!"

Suddenly, Seele mustered her courage and stepped forward. She then pushed open the door and ran out, only to return shortly afterward.

"Here you go! Sister Bronya!"

Seele was holding a HOMU doll that was about the same size as her.

"This is..." Bronya looked at the ugly-cute yellow rabbit doll in Seele's hand with some confusion.

"This, this is..."

However, Seele's courage seemed to have run out all at once, and she became hesitant and stammering again.

"HOMU, a mascot that kids tend to like? But it's not limited to kids; it might also be quite popular with forty-year-old women." Liu Bai said with a hint of malice—though the target of his malice wasn't around.

"Well done, Seele."

"It's all thanks to Brother Alliance Leader." Seele lowered her head shyly.

"?"

Liu Bai didn't understand the relationship between them.

"Although I'm very shy, I will try my best to change!"

Seele mustered her courage again and said that only after hearing this did Liu Bai understand. So Seele mustered her courage because he had told her before that she was shy.

This child is really trying way too hard...

"So, how was the chat?"

At this moment, Cocolia finally returned with the food.

Cocolia's food was simple: a large loaf of bread and a bowl of hot borscht—a classic Eastern European dish, and there was no question of it not pleasing to Bronya's taste.

"Fine."

Liu Bai patted Seele's little head, "Seele is really... um... the pride of the orphanage."

"... Thank you for the praise, Alliance Leader. Seele has always been very easy for me to take care of."

Cocolia's initial thought was, "This assessment is quite subtle."

This makes it sound like the other kids are all stupid... But thinking about how those kids behaved before, well, even if Liu Bai really meant it that way, Cocolia felt she couldn't refute it.

Then, Cocolia looked at Bronya.

"By the way, Bronya, are you aware of your current situation?"

"... I know, the orphanage."

"That's good." Cocolia seemed quite used to dealing with these young soldiers. "From now on, you can call me Mother, and you don't need to think about the battlefield anymore..."

Cocolia suddenly noticed the sniper rifle in Liu Bai's hand and immediately understood.

"... It seems I don't need to say anything more."

"Mother?" Bronya tilted her head and pointed at Liu Bai. "Brother?"

"..."

Cocolia suddenly gave Liu Bai a strange look.

Liu Bai shook the white cloth covering him. "Cocolia, is there a problem?"

"No!"

Upon hearing Liu Bai's businesslike tone, Cocolia immediately gave a military salute.

"Very well, you're dead if you try to take advantage of me."

"...I understand." Cocolia nodded. "I can understand your feelings, after all, Professor Planck is just as sensitive in this regard."

In terms of age, Einstein, Tesla, and Edison, all born in the 1930s, are old enough to be her grandmothers. Planck, born in the 1920s, is even older, not to mention her own boss Reanna has served for nearly 200 years...

"... You have a surprisingly lot of strange experiences."

Liu Bai's expression suddenly turned strange.

"...It's probably because there are more elders in Anti-Entropy." Cocolia sighed as well.

Now that Edison, Joyce, and Reanna are alive, the Anti-Entropy military and political systems are completely separated, so there's no conflict anymore; Cocolia and Einstein even have a pretty good relationship.

Well, after all, Cocolia is still counting on those researchers for new weapons and mechs—who wouldn't like having new weapons and mechs in a couple of days without any logistical issues?

The only thing that's a little unreliable is that Dr. Tesla sometimes makes some really strange things and sends them to her for testing.

Cocolia accepted all those things as "the love of an elder," and she even modified some of the less dangerous ones and gave them to the children to play with.

"They... they really have it tough." Liu Bai patted Cocolia's shoulder with great sympathy.

No, you, who are from the same era as those elders or even earlier, have absolutely no right to sympathize with me.

Moreover, he was the first Alliance Leader, and even more so, a ghost, which doubled the pressure on me!

—Although Cocolia really wanted to say that, she was professionally trained and knew very well what kind of complaints were appropriate and what kind were inappropriate.

However, just like Einstein and the others, Cocolia is very tolerant of Liu Bai, who has no idea about his own age—although this tolerance is more based on their still youthful appearance.

In short, Cocolia knew she didn't have the courage to call her boss or the scientists in the logistics department "old lady."

So when Cocolia heard Liu Bai's equally young voice, Cocolia readily accepted it.

"Speaking of which, do you want to adopt this child?" Cocolia asked Liu Bai, looking at Bronya.

Although as a soldier she shouldn't overthink things, she couldn't just ignore such a sensitive matter—though Cocolia was clearly overthinking it.

"Adoption? Forget about it for me. You can't expect me to force a child to adopt her just because I want her to call me brother, can you? Seele, what did you call me?" Liu Bai patted Seele's head.

"Alliance Leader Brother..." Although Seele was a little confused, as a good girl, she called him that when Liu Bai told her to.

"Although I think I heard that nickname in the hallway after I left... you're really popular with the kids."

Cocolia couldn't help but facepalm at this situation.

Although it's a very normal thing, it's really messed up when it happens to your boss whose age is unknown—whether from the perspective of age or popularity.

"Relax, let's just talk our own thing. I'm not some tyrant, I wouldn't order Reanna to hang you outside."

"..." Are you trying to reassure me or are you subtly threatening me?

"In short, everyone should speak their own language. Bronya, you don't need to look at it anymore. Just call her by the names we told you."

"... Okay, I understand."

"Actually, never mind."

Liu Bai really wanted to say that it would be fine to adopt well-behaved children like Seele and Bronya, but that would be a bit shameless, since it was someone else's orphanage, and Seele also had feelings for Cocolia.

"Do you have any instructions?" Cocolia looked at Liu Bai, who seemed hesitant to speak, with a puzzled expression.

"A suggestion... how about buying her a new HOMU doll?"

Liu Bai pointed to Xiao Seele, who had just shared the doll.

Chapter 149 Hide and Seek

Bronya, why are you staring at me again?

After Seele and Cocolia left, Liu Bai noticed that Bronya was staring at him again.

Is there something on this piece of cloth?

"No."

This time Bronya answered very readily, "But what should I do now?"

A look of confusion appeared on Bronya's face.

"... Where did you come from, Violet?"

Liu Bai immediately saw what was wrong with Bronya. But the problem was this problem...

"But since we've come up with this topic... why don't we get to know our future family members?"

"Future family members?"

Bronya tilted her head as she hugged the HOMU doll.

"You don't think Seele is the only child in the orphanage, do you?" Liu Bai casually tossed the sniper rifle into the corner and said to Bronya, "Besides you, there are quite a few children here—of course, Seele is probably the most well-behaved one."

Are they all like me?

"Well... it's probably not quite the same."

This was a difficult question for Liu Bai to answer—although in reality, most of the children in this orphanage were in rather dire circumstances.

... After all, they've already gone to an orphanage.

However, Liu Bai really couldn't offer any specific comments on this matter.

"Instead of asking me, it's more direct to try communicating with them. How about it? Want to go?"

"...Um."