Honkai, But Spirit Simulator

To be honest, I'm a little tempted.

[In public, not a good idea.]

"Eh... Liu Bai, don't tell me you think I'm too old, calling me 'teacher' and all..."

Planck gave a fake cry that lacked any conviction.

[I really wish you could be serious for once, Planck.]

"Compared to eating, drinking, whoring, gambling, and smoking, isn't this still a good habit?" Planck switched to a self-righteous mode in an instant. "Scientists come in all shapes and sizes, you know."

[Not at all.]

Liu Bai curled his lip.

[But speaking of which, have Edison and Destiny's headquarters really become that hostile?]

Liu Bai was referring to Planck going to headquarters to report for duty. Originally, Edison, as the de facto head, should have been the one to do it.

"It's bad. Ever since the relationship between the two became a transaction, the council at headquarters hasn't had a single good word to say about the North American Branch—probably because they can't get any benefits from it."

Planck gave a wry smile.

Saying "get benefits" was just a euphemism for exploitation.

"In short, I'm probably acting as a lubricant between the North American Branch and headquarters—and, Liu Bai, you've probably noticed it too, haven't you?"

Planck took out her notebook and started writing.

〖Known: The person who took the Soul Steel should be an ancient person from this era—namely, H.A.—who took the Soul Steel from the ruins and left clues behind.

So, can we hypothetically assume that H.A. thought it was unsafe to leave the Soul Steel there?

Even to the point of hiding it carefully and leaving hints for younger people to inherit his work?〗

If Einstein hadn't pointed the way, such a large ruin would have taken others years, or even most of their lives, to find that room.

In other words, that room wasn't simply waiting for descendants, but waiting for "clean" young people.

Faced with such a large ruin, a well-established organization would inevitably send someone with sufficient seniority, but generally speaking, such people would probably already be in their fifties or sixties, and even the youngest of their subordinates wouldn't be underage.

〖What kind of conflict of interest could drive someone to do this?〗

Needless to say, this series of arrangements was clearly aimed at a well-established organization.

So—

Which organizations in the world today are well-established and interested in Soul Steel?

[Destiny.]

〖Destiny.〗

Combined with Otto's previous attention to them... on closer inspection, it's quite chilling.

Perhaps Planck is the only one who noticed this.

Among these scientists, Planck is probably the most politically astute.

It's amazing that she can think of this and not bat an eye.

Planck put a finger to her lips.

"Alright, let's drop this topic for now."

Planck smiled at the screen in front of her.

"Come play a fun card game with me—a proper one, okay?"

[No.]

"Eh—?"

Who plays proper card games when they're being proper?

Chapter 40: Images in the Soul Steel

Londonderry

Planck got off the plane back in Vienna, so only Liu Bai, Einstein, Tesla, and Welt were left "wandering aimlessly" on the walls of Londonderry.

"...You theoretical physicists' desire for research is truly terrifying."

Tesla couldn't help but remark to Einstein after they discussed their cultural hobbies.

"I think you experimental physicists have even more destructive power."

Einstein didn't mind Tesla's comment, but then stopped.

"...It jumped."

Einstein looked down at the military-green instrument in her arms.

"Is that... a Geiger counter?" Tesla looked at her, confused by her sudden seriousness. "Is there a source of radiation nearby?"

"No... this is a Honkai energy detector that Aida modified for me a while ago."

Einstein leaned against an old-fashioned cannon on the city wall.

"Pretty stylish, don't you think?"

"Stylish? I'd rather it was a Geiger counter!"

Honkai energy is much scarier than radiation.

"Mr. Liu Bai, please."

"Below the gun barrel, there's a spot that's been repeatedly smeared with asphalt. Underneath the asphalt, the words are, 'The innocent queen is blindfolded.'"

Liu Bai said softly. Soon, Einstein found the spot Liu Bai mentioned. After scraping it off, the words were indeed as Liu Bai had said.

"The innocent queen is blindfolded..." Tesla looked at the line of words below, somewhat puzzled.

"'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey,'" Einstein quickly thought of a painting. "A queen forced to the throne due to political and religious struggles, Jane Grey, reigned for only nine days. The Jane Grey in that painting is being blindfolded on the execution platform."

"Ah, I remember now, I think I heard that painting is in the National Gallery?"

"That's right, it seems we'll have to spend the night on the ship today."

The next day, London, the National Gallery.

"Oh my, isn't this Dr. Tesla and Dr. Einstein? Here for another visit?"

A stout uncle in yellow work clothes greeted them with a smile.

"Uh... are you two close?" Welt looked at Einstein in surprise.

"We just come here often."

Einstein nodded. She and Tesla had been here quite a few times when they were dating Liu Bai.

"However, we're not here for a visit this time. We're here to take away a piece of art."

"Take away... that won't do." The stout uncle's face showed a troubled expression.

"This is the document."

Einstein handed over the still-wet document in her hand.

"Hmm... this, this really is."

The stout uncle looked at the document in his hand, briefly showing a confused expression, but it soon turned into certainty.

"Please return it to me once you've confirmed it."

"Okay, okay, here you go." The stout uncle returned the document. "Which painting are the two doctors looking for?"

"'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey.'"

Einstein silently put away the document with the mental suggestion.

How could they possibly get approval from superiors for something like this?

The so-called document was just text with mental suggestions written by Liu Bai possessing a pen.

If he looked at it for a few more seconds, he'd probably notice something was wrong.

"Oh dear... that painting, ah, it was damaged a long time ago. It hasn't been repaired yet, it should be in the warehouse... I'll take you there."

The stout uncle turned around and led them to the work area in the back.

"This is the warehouse. Do you need me to wait outside?"

Due to the mental suggestion, the stout uncle's trust in Einstein and her group was much higher.

"No, we'll just go in."

After the stout uncle opened the door, Einstein pushed it open and entered.

"The innermost box, the painting is pressed under four other paintings."

Liu Bai had already scouted out the situation in the warehouse.

The suggestion only lasts for about ten minutes. Although this kind of subtle suggestion doesn't necessarily mean it will be exposed after ten minutes, the other party will definitely notice something is wrong.

If that really happened, it would be terrible.

"It stinks..." The smell of fermented oil and water mixture wafted over them—it was the smell of swill.

[The innermost box, the fifth painting, lift it with me.]

"Understood."

Liu Bai and Welt walked to the innermost box together and moved the four paintings on top.

The fifth painting—

"No! It's not damaged at all!"

Welt stared in shock at the lifelike execution scene in the painting. From the front of the painting to the signature on the back, the entire painting showed no signs of damage.

"Liu Bai, possess it."

"It's Soul Steel—the thing we're looking for."

The painting swayed and floated up, Liu Bai's voice coming from within.

"Like a protective varnish applied to the painting—what a waste. Extract it?"

"Of course."

As Einstein gave her affirmative answer, a drop of mercury-like metallic substance suddenly coalesced on the undamaged painting.

"Let's go."

With Liu Bai's help, the whole process went much smoother than expected.

"So, it's time to run away, right?"

Tesla said with interest, "Quite exciting."

"We're just strolling out in the open," Liu Bai said speechlessly as he released his possession. "We didn't do anything. Look, everything's perfectly intact."

"Tch."

The time for suggestion hadn't run out yet.

Einstein and Tesla simply explained to the large uncle outside that "the experiment was temporarily terminated" and left in a hurry.

Soon, the group returned to Lab 42 by taxi and arrived at the most confidential area of Lab 42.

"Good morning, Aida."

"Good morning, Dr. Tesla, Dr. Einstein. It seems Mr. Liu Bai is here too, oh, and the new assistant."

In front of a row of large computers, the pink-haired girl's light and shadow appeared before everyone, then paused on the screen floating in the air.

"This, this is..." Welt was surprised again.

"Calm down. Aida, analyze the data inside this Soul Steel."

Einstein handed the Soul Steel to Aida.

"...Hmm, the data in this Soul Steel doesn't need to be translated," Aida said something surprising. "One is the image data of this generation, and the other is a piece of data encrypted mathematically."