Another "Me" (Part 2)

The last two are alright, although they make you want to complain, they are still considered normal among the weird ones - but what the heck is this charm enhancement for children?

At this moment, Bronya was already showing signs of barely containing her emotions.

—That expression doesn't look like you just want to touch it and be done with it, does it? You probably want to pounce on me and rub against me to your heart's content!

"... It still feels the same, even if you want to touch it..."

Upon hearing this, Bronya couldn't help but show a disappointed expression.

"... Fine, if you really want to touch me, then touch me as much as you want."

Liu Bai eventually succumbed to the girl's coquettishness.

"Thank you, brother!"

Bronya's face showed a rare look of joy, and she rushed in.

... Didn't you say you were just going to touch it?

Looking at Bronya who had thrown herself into his arms, Liu Bai showed no surprise.

... After all, he was already mentally prepared for the current situation.

"The three biggest lies in life: I'll just play once, I'll just take a bite, I'll just rub against it and not go in..."

"?"

Bronya tilted her head, somewhat confused as to why Liu Bai suddenly brought this up.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it... But speaking of which, shouldn't we get down to business?"

If it were the later-collapsed Bronya hugging him like this, it wouldn't be a problem. But being hugged like this by the current Bronya, Liu Bai always felt like he was going to be locked up in jail.

... Well, in a way, Liu Bai is actually quite hypocritical.

"It's important... Bronya understands."

Bronya's expression immediately turned serious upon hearing the words "serious business."

Yes, now is not the time to hug my brother. The most important thing is to protect the orphanage... although I really want to hug him a little longer.

Bronya expertly checked the bullets in the pistol, and after preparing herself, she took a deep breath.

"Bronya is ready, brother, please give the order."

"The word 'order' sounds too unfamiliar," Liu Bai tapped Bronya on the head. "Now, let me see..."

Liu Bai's soul ascended to heaven, flying to its maximum altitude to overlook the ground.

"... Damn it, I can't see clearly."

It was too dark, and there were some woods around the orphanage, so unless there was a big movement on the ground, Liu Bai couldn't see anything at all.

... So, indeed, a major move has taken place.

"Wait... someone's climbing over the wall from behind!"

Liu Bai switched to a private channel and loudly reminded everyone, "It's Seele's room!"

Oh, wait, is this the kidnapping of Seele?

Liu Bai quickly returned to Bronya's side.

"Go find Seele."

To make sure Bronya hadn't misheard, Liu Bai repeated it again.

"Seele?"

A look of surprise and anger flashed across Bronya's face as she silently released the safety on her pistol.

Bronya knows—where are they now?

"They're using a grappling hook to climb the wall, which is beyond my control."

Liu Bai's expression wasn't too good either. It turned out that he had actually raided the base. Reanna was really good at predicting things. "So hurry over there."

"Clear!"

Bronya quickly followed—although Seele's room was beyond Liu Bai's 50-meter interference range, it was still in an orphanage, so it wasn't too far.

Liu Bai hadn't forgotten to bring the HOMU doll along—although it wasn't as agile as his ghost form, it could be used as a meat shield to block attacks and draw fire. In case the other party went crazy and tried to kill him, Liu Bai would have a way to deal with it.

Well... this idea is a bit unfair to Bronya.

However, I believe Bronya wouldn't mind for Seele's sake.

Biu~!

Upon arriving at Seele's door, Bronya didn't hesitate and opted for the simplest and most direct method of opening it.

After a faint gunshot, Bronya pushed open the door.

"Sister Bronya? And... HOMU?"

Although the sound of "open the door" didn't wake Seele, Bronya's urgent opening of the door did wake Seele —plus, Seele is a light sleeper, and by the light from the corridor, Seele sleepily recognized Bronya.

"Seele will turn on the lights now..."

Seele rubbed her eyes and groggily turned on the light—just then, Bronya made eye contact with the figure outside.

Biu~! Snap—!

Without a second thought, Bronya fired a shot, and with the sound of shattering glass, the figure outside plummeted to the ground.

"Skull piercing..." Bronya muttered softly.

Clearly, the people outside hadn't considered the possibility that a little girl like Bronya might have a gun—it was impossible to determine how the door was opened simply by looking at it, especially considering Bronya's seemingly harmless appearance and exceptional reflexes.

With the three forces combined, Bronya instantly killed the thugs outside.

"Huh? Sister Bronya? What's wrong?"

The sound of shattering glass startled Seele, instantly bringing Seele back to her senses—but correspondingly, she didn't hear the sound of the silenced pistol.

"Nothing."

Bronya casually concealed the pistol behind her back.

In the past two months, Bronya has completely filled in the gaps in her common sense about society—it is clear that it is not appropriate for a child of Seele's age to be exposed to cruel things such as murder.

"Maybe when you turned on the light, the current accidentally flowed through the glass, causing it to shatter? I was startled too."

Bronya offered a rather lame excuse—after all, Bronya had never thought of making excuses before, and quick wit was not Bronya forte.

Liu Bai silently covered his face... Seele is at least the same age as you, okay? Do you really think you can fool Seele like an idiot?

Is that so?

Seele wasn't stupid, so she naturally showed a strange expression when faced with such a lame excuse.

"That's right, Seele, your brother can be my witness."

Feeling overwhelmed, Bronya decisively brought up Liu Bai.

Don't come looking for me! I can't explain this kind of thing either!

"Um... yes, I can testify."

Despite his inner turmoil, Liu Bai silently possessed the HOMU doll, hoping to use his charm to make Seele ignore or believe the matter.

"Although such things are rare, if it's an electrical leak or something, it's not impossible... well, it's not impossible for such things to happen."

Liu Bai found this excuse utterly unconvincing.

"It's a real pity that we couldn't take a picture to commemorate this, since this is a very meaningful research project."

Liu Bai abandoned his dignity as a scientist and read aloud.

"... Since the Alliance Leader has said so, then it must be true."

Seele reluctantly believed Bronya and Liu Bai's lies.

"By the way, what brings Sister Bronya to Seele so late?"

"He said, 'I can't sleep, so I wanted to chat with you, Seele.'"

Liu Bai switched to the private chat channel and gave instructions.

Don't you dare cause me any more trouble.

"... I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to chat with you, Seele." Bronya, even though she didn't have a chip in her brain, still spoke in a robotic, monotonous voice.

"Is that so?"

This reason was obviously much better than the nonsensical one Bronya had made up before, Seele immediately smiled.

"Yes... let's read a storybook together."

Liu Bai started, and the rest was easy for Bronya. Reading stories was something Seele was very familiar with.

"Could Brother Alliance Leader read this to Seele and Sister Bronya?"

Seele looked at Liu Bai with hopeful eyes—a look that was hard to resist.

"...All right."

Reading storybooks is not a difficult task for Liu Bai. As for the gang of thugs... he can leave them to Reanna.

"Brother Alliance Leader, can I lie down next to you?" Seele patted her bed. "Seele is on the left, Sister Bronya is on the right, and Brother Alliance Leader is in the middle."

"... I always feel like I'm teetering on the edge of going to jail."

Liu Bai sighed slightly, but since things had come to this point, he could only do as Seele said.

So, Liu Bai was surrounded by two little girls, one on her left and one on her right... or rather, both little girls were hugging her.

Liu Bai opened the storybook. "Let me tell you this story. Once upon a time, there was a little bear..."

Knock knock knock

Someone knocked softly three times from outside.

"Hmm..."

Bronya's eyelids twitched slightly, but she did not wake up.

"Reanna, is it resolved?"

Liu Bai tucked the two little girls in, then tiptoed out, manipulating the doll's body— Liu Bai could only communicate with others while in possession mode.

"Resolved?"

"All resolved... It was a mercenary group. Someone paid them three million dollars to kidnap Seele because they said Seele possessed a secret that could change the world—it probably refers to the Stigmata, but it's certain that this has nothing to do with Schicksal."

If that bishop wanted to take action, he wouldn't send mercenaries, who are just toys, over there.

If Otto makes a move, she's likely going to take on an entire squad of Valkyrie.

Reanna had to admit that her former boss was incompetent, but if he really wanted to, he would at least strike where it hurt, if not with absolute force.

"It should be other small organizations that have some knowledge of Honkai. There are quite a few of these in the world. Their influence is deeply entrenched, and they are arrogant and ignorant of their own limitations. Cocolia just ask her to sweep them up while she's out there."

"Just do as you say."

Liu Bai was speechless at this result, but then he thought of something interesting.

"By the way, if you have nothing else to do, you can continue to investigate further and sort out the complexities."

Liu Bai always felt that if you really traced all those small organizations that Reanna mentioned, maybe two or three of them could end up being linked to the World Serpent.

After all, Gray Serpent is very experienced in dealing with shell companies and the like—after all, Gray Serpent has been doing this kind of thing Previous Era.

However, given the cleanliness of the Gray Serpent, Anti-Entropy might not be able to catch its tail.

Meanwhile, Seele, lying in bed, opened her eyes with a slightly painful expression.

(You understand, right? Seele, how could glass possibly break because of such a lame excuse as an electrical leak?)

A voice, identical to her own but with a completely different tone, echoed in Seele's mind.

(With a single shot, the person outside the window died cleanly and efficiently—maybe they fell to their death downstairs.)

The devilish voice spoke in a flippant tone.

(At that moment... you were excited, weren't you? Unbeknownst to your older brother and sister, excitement welled up inside you.)