Proposal Rejected! (Part 2)

"Good afternoon Mei."

Bronya and Seele responded politely as well.

This is a very good start.

"By the way, speaking of this Mr. HOMU..."

Mei still cares a lot about Liu Bai is by her side.

"Me? If we follow the format of the Homu Sword Saint... I'd probably be HOMU Guardian Spirit?"

"Huh?"

A new guest arrives at the orphanage— Raiden Mei.

As the daughter of the ME Corp, Raiden Mei's extraordinary speech and temperament quickly won over the children in the orphanage, making her the new "older sister" of the orphanage.

Reanna took the comics and games back with her and began to 'study' them carefully.

That evening, Mei displayed cooking skills that put Reanna to shame, and was completely accepted by the children.

The next day, Cocolia returned from her mission and met with Mei. From your observation, their interaction seemed... alright?

The weekend passed in the blink of an eye, and Raiden Mei bid a reluctant farewell to the children at the orphanage— Raiden Ryoma, being a doting father, decisively chose to bring Mei there every weekend.

After some time, Reanna's "Young People Research Project" completely failed.

"... I don't understand, I really don't understand why young people these days like these things. Well, HOMU is alright, but Kallen Fantasy... in the end, do they really have anything to do with that Lady Kallen?" Reanna knelt on the ground, dejected.

A question that touches the soul, Reanna.

[Later, Reanna distributed all the games and comic books to the children at the orphanage... while Bronya successfully got Kallen Fantasy and showed a strong interest in the games.]

You're creating internet-addicted girls, Reanna.

"Kallen Fantasy 1, all achievements completed."

Bronya silently ejected the game disc.

"Next up, Kallen Fantasy 2."

"Bronya, at that speed..."

"Hmm? What's wrong, brother?" Bronya tilted her head. "This is a normal game speed, isn't it?"

"...Yeah?"

"Yes—Sister Reanna doesn't understand why it's so difficult to play because all the equipment is wrong and many side quests haven't been unlocked."

"... You're really quite skilled."

Bronya doesn't look like a complete novice at all right now.

Is this what they call talent?

"As expected of Sister Bronya."

"Wow, Bronya, that's amazing."

Seele and Mei, who were standing nearby, both praised it.

Although the atmosphere in the orphanage was quite good, there were still some small cliques formed when they were divided up – such as the current Seele, Bronya, Mei.

"But it's almost dinner time, Bronya, how about we play after dinner?" Mei suggested.

Now, on weekends, Mei has become the orphanage's dedicated cook—a situation that, in a sense, seems bleak.

"Okay, I understand, Mei." Bronya readily put down the controller.

"By the way, Brother Alliance Leader, I have some questions about my schoolwork lately. Could you please help me with them?"

As Mei got up to prepare the meal, Mei suddenly remembered something and asked Liu Bai very sincerely.

"Okay, there's no problem with the homework."

Looking at Mei's face, which was almost identical to Mei's, Liu Bai naturally wouldn't refuse such a request.

Liu Bai felt it was a real shame that Mei didn't pursue scientific research, but he didn't really want to force her to.

(Hey, aren't you going to make an excuse to come along? You Seele want to be by your brother's side too, don't you, Seele?)

Hearing that familiar voice in her mind, Seele was already experienced, silently opened the book and stared intently at the words on it.

She had realized that the voice in her head was that of a "bad student".

He's the kind of guy who gets sleepy as soon as he sees a book.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the story. Even if it's a horror story, the person who gets the book will fall asleep after reading a few pages.

(I'm not controlling your body, so even if you stare at me intently, I won't fall asleep!)

Seele couldn't help but complain—what does the other personality take her for?

(Pshaw! If you don't listen to advice now, you'll regret it later!)

Two years have passed in the blink of an eye. The children in the orphanage are growing up healthily, and your compatibility with Bronya is steadily improving. However, an untimely proposal has been presented to you at this moment.

"The X-10 experiment?"

Liu Bai, possessing Reanna's body, looked at Cocolia with a dark expression.

"Cocolia, do you even know what's written in your proposal?"

"I know—it's an extremely dangerous experiment." Cocolia met Liu Bai's gaze without fear. "If successful, it will grant the children subatomic and even quantum-level manipulation abilities."

"And what about failure?" Liu Bai looked coldly at Cocolia.

"... death, and most likely death as a result."

Why don't you give this proposal to Edison?

"... Lady Nancy will not agree."

Cocolia knew very well what kind of person Edison was.

"Then why do you think I'll agree?!" Liu Bai slammed his fist on the table in exasperation, Reanna's powerful physical abilities caused the desk in front of her to collapse.

Bronya, who was behind him, tugged at Liu Bai, who seemed about to explode in anger.

"... Phew, I really want Reanna to talk to you now."

Because of Bronya, Liu Bai barely managed to suppress the anger on his face.

Tell me your reasoning.

"To equip children with the skills to survive in this world," Cocolia replied without hesitation.

"We, Anti-Entropy, are not so poor that we can't even support a few children—let alone a few, we can support hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands. Anti-Entropy -Anti-Entropy is not so poor that we can't afford to eat!"

"Alliance Leader, do you really think they can survive safely in this world under your protection?"

Cocolia said expressionlessly, "The answer is impossible. Just as Lady Reanna told me before, the Honkai is a ruthless and unreasonable existence. There is no such thing as absolute safety in the world for the Honkai."

"..."

"You are much more realistic than Miss Nancy. The X-10 experiment was to find a way to get children used to Honkai Energy... Even if it fails, it can help us to understand Honkai Energy further."

Cocolia's face showed an indescribable expression.

"Any progress in the fight against the Honkai comes with sacrifice."

"Perhaps." Liu Bai twitched the corner of his mouth. "But you're wrong about one thing—I'm not as realistic Nancy at all."

Liu Bai revealed a slightly sarcastic smile.

"I'm much greedier than Nancy. I'm the kind of idiot whose mind is always 'I want it all'."

"...I see."

Having already understood the outcome, Cocolia bowed, then turned and left, without even glancing at the proposal placed on the collapsed table.

However, before leaving, Liu Bai called out to Cocolia.

"Cocolia... why did you build this orphanage?"

"To take in children displaced by the Honkai and war."

"... and then put them into experiments with extremely high mortality rates?"

"... No, I will not force them to participate in experiments, and if it is simply a matter of sacrifice, I obviously have a better way than establishing an orphanage."

Cocolia chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"I apologize for disturbing the Alliance Leader with my foolish proposal."

"..."

After Cocolia left, Liu Bai rubbed his forehead in distress.

"Elder brother?"

Bronya walked over to Liu Bai with concern.

Bronya, did you understand?

"...Um."

She understood their conversation, so... she was actually able to understand them.

"Brother, I think..."

"No, you don't need to explain. Cocolia is right about one thing—it's definitely better for her to send the proposal to me than to Nancy."

Liu Bai looked displeased at the proposal on the collapsed table.

Although when I watched the story in my previous life, I only felt that Cocolia was heartless and cold-hearted, and didn't care about the lives of children.

But now... Liu Bai understands it a little bit—no, to be honest, Liu Bai doesn't want to understand this kind of thing at all.

This is similar to an ancient general assigning the most dangerous mission to his own son.

As Cocolia herself said, if it were simply a matter of sacrifice, she had plenty of good ways to do it. After all, in some places, human life is cheaper than grass, and in such cases, no matter how much sacrifice is required, it would never be the orphanage's turn.

Child soldiers like Bronya's predecessors, beggars and hooligans from various regions—these are all perfect victims. If Cocolia were to harden her heart, she could have as many test subjects as she wanted.

"Bronya, tear up this document and throw it in the fire."

Liu Bai was a little tired; he hadn't expected the X-10 proposal to be brought up again.

At the same time, Liu Bai also drafted a document to remove Cocolia Orphanage.

Cocolia is no longer suitable to be the dean; it's time for her to calm down.

The idea of "necessary sacrifices" is not appropriate to be used now.

"By the way, tell Mei not to come anytime soon. She should focus on finishing high school and taking the college entrance exam first."

Although theoretically the X-10 experiment was stopped, Cocolia no longer had a major reason to trigger the Third Honkai Eruption, fate is a truly unpredictable thing.

More importantly, Liu Bai has realized that Cocolia is willing to make certain sacrifices in order to Honkai and fight against Honkai.

"Reanna, you can actually understand Cocolia, right?"

After exiting the possessed state, Liu Bai said with some emotion.

"But understanding doesn't mean agreeing. Cocolia should indeed be removed from her position as dean."

Reanna glanced at the document that Liu Bai had just finished writing.

"It's not the children's turn to sacrifice themselves yet. Even if someone has to pave the way with their corpses, it should be us paving the way for the children, not the other way around—after all, we adults aren't all dead yet."

"Those who have served in the military for two hundred years see things more clearly."

"... Hearing such words from you is really not a compliment at all, but I'll accept it as one anyway."

Reanna smiled helplessly, then put away Liu Bai's documents and turned to leave.

Needless to say, she has to deliver these documents herself.

"Bronya, let's go. It's time to come up with a reason."

"Reason?" Bronya tilted her head.

"I mean, how do we get Seele and the others to accept Cocolia stepping down as dean?"