Honkai, but Spirit Simulator

"No way it's fine! My latest floating robot—! You're paying for that—!"

To be blown up by the Abyss White Flower, as a robot, it should be able to die without regrets...

Lab 42

"Goldie, bring me my Flame Sword."

"Uh, F-Flame Sword?" Reanna was a little confused.

"Tesla must be talking about the welding torch."

The brown-haired kid said cautiously.

"Sorry, this idiot of mine can't speak human language when she gets agitated."

"Hey! Bird's nest head! Who are you calling an idiot?"

"Besides the non-failure Tesla, who else could it be?" Einstein said with a light smile.

"Ugh..."

"I-I'm really sorry, I didn't expect it to be a robot."

Reanna looked apologetic. "I'll compensate you."

"...Forget it, how did you even manage to do that? You broke every single wire." Tesla waved her hand.

After that, the two people's topic turned to the Abyss White Flower's creation ability and the definition of life.

"It can only repair the damage of living things? There is no absolute boundary between inorganic and organic."

"Looking at it from another angle, aren't people just machines with self-awareness? Think about our organs, cells, mitochondria, neurotransmitters... which one doesn't execute commands according to external conditions?"

Tesla threw a bunch of combo punches, leaving Reanna a little confused.

She was just a Valkyrie, not a biologist.

However, the others didn't pay much attention to Tesla's side, but looked at the brown-haired kid in the lab.

—Joachim Nokianvitanen.

The future Welt Yang, still a kid who likes to come to the lab to mooch toys.

Although young, he already had three parts of his father's Finnish frivolity.

At this time, Joachim was unexpectedly chatting with Welt.

"Those two get along pretty well."

Liu Bai floated in the air.

"I think those two look like father and son."

"What are you talking about?" Einstein didn't take Liu Bai's evaluation seriously. "However, going through the procedures might be quite interesting... well, although Joachim definitely wouldn't want to be Welt's successor."

"..."

What reverse poison milk.

In the future, Joachim really did inherit Welt's mantle.

"Oh right, speaking of Finns..."

Liu Bai suddenly thought of something.

"Ein, go check the mailbox. If we're counting the time right, it should be today."

"Mailbox?"

Einstein nodded, said hello, and walked out the door to check the mailbox in front of the door, which was mostly empty.

—Inside was a scroll box and a letter.

"This is..."

"Didn't I share a room with Edison before? I told her that the Dead Sea Scrolls had been tampered with."

In this way, the fact that the Dead Sea Scrolls had been tampered with was known to the scientists in the Lab 42 circle.

"She sent the scrolls back, which means they've already started research, and what we have to do is..."

"Find the tampered location, right?"

Chapter 44: Hasty Fu Hua and Two People Whose Talks Broke Down

[You and Einstein began to repair the Dead Sea Scrolls]

[Destiny Valkyrie Reanna Brigantia had no intention of monitoring you, so she left the next day]

[The rest of the month was quite boring]

[With your ability to possess a pen, the tampered places on the Dead Sea Scrolls were quickly repaired. For most of the remaining time, you were dating the two scientists around you, and comforting Welt, who occasionally had nightmares]

[At the end of the holiday, Lab 42 received a flyer for a beach vacation—shouldn't no one want to go to the beach in winter?]

[Okay, well, low-season vacations are 70% off]

[As everyone knows, a woman's resistance to discounts is equivalent to a man's resistance to Gundam.]

[Thus, even though it seemed objectively idiotic, the vacation proposal still passed unanimously at Lab 42.]

[At the resort, you meet the landlady—Margarita Aiete, a mature woman with wine-red hair.]

[But at the same time, she is also Planck's ace female special agent—she subtly reveals her identity to the two scientists.]

[The holiday resort doesn't have many employees, which saves you some tips.]

[In the lobby on the first floor, you meet someone you didn't expect.]

...?

Liu Bai glanced around in confusion. Who?

Soon, Liu Bai noticed a gaze, and the source of that gaze.

A beautiful black-haired woman wearing a gray-white trench coat, dressed neatly and cleanly.

Well, it's just a bit of a shame about her chest.

Even without his glasses, Liu Bai still recognized her—

Fu Hua.

Oh, it seems Fu Hua is indeed around at this time.

Is she looking for Einstein or Tesla? Or Welt?

Liu Bai tilted his head, but then felt like something was off.

It feels like... Fu Hua can see him?

Liu Bai was about to say hello to confirm, but Fu Hua shifted her gaze to Einstein.

...A hallucination?

"Fu Hua, a Valkyrie directly under Destiny headquarters, and a colleague of Reanna. Reanna mentioned you to me."

Fu Hua nodded peacefully at Einstein as a greeting.

"Here, this is a small gift."

Fu Hua took out a bottle of spray from her clothes.

"?" Einstein and Tesla naturally showed puzzled expressions.

"Anti-wolf spray, also known as pepper spray—I didn't bring anything else on me that could be used as a gift, so please accept it."

"...Do you Valkyries also use anti-wolf spray?"

Tesla looked like she wanted to complain. The most common reason her weapons were rejected was "not as practical as a Valkyrie."

"That's all, goodbye. You may encounter a somewhat troublesome person today. I wish you a safe journey in the future."

Fu Hua didn't seem to have any intention of responding to Tesla's complaint, appearing and leaving in a hurry.

"How bizarre..."

Tesla looked strangely at Fu Hua's departing figure, then turned her head and found Einstein pointing the spray at her.

Tesla was immediately startled.

"Hey, hey, hey! This is pepper spray!"

"Don't worry, I won't spray it."

[Fu Hua appeared and left in a hurry, like an anonymous passerby in life.]

[But you know that things are not that simple. As the Bishop of Destiny, Otto is also in this resort at this time.]

[After dinner, Welt, Einstein, and Tesla entered the men's and women's baths respectively. After a series of mental struggles, you chose the men's bath.]

[In the men's bath, a naked, gay-looking blond man is waiting for Welt.]

Okay, Otto isn't gay, but looking at the hot spring bath with only two people right now... Alright, let's discuss heroism while soaking, shall we?

[Otto revealed his feelings to Welt—don't misunderstand, Otto simply hopes that Welt can inherit his position as Bishop.]

"To put it bluntly, I am not a qualified Bishop."

"The reason I became Bishop is entirely driven by personal desires—but that's not the point."

"The point today is that I need an heir with 'great talent.'"

"I have lived for over five hundred years... and my true self, from beginning to end, is nothing more than a... fleeting shadow called 'Saintess.'"

Otto was being surprisingly candid with this young man he was meeting for the first time, this pen pal he had only communicated with through letters.

"I think your talent far surpasses mine... This has nothing to do with intelligence."

If Welt had nodded here, the Destiny Bishop more than sixty years later might really have been Welt.

But...

"I must decline."

After Otto's long monologue, Welt got up and left the hot spring.

"...Hmm?"

"If you're really planning on persuading me to do something... next time, please don't just talk at me like that. You don't understand anything at all."

"...Did I... say something wrong?"

A hint of confusion appeared on Otto's otherwise intelligent face.

"No, you didn't actually say anything wrong."

Welt didn't seem to want to turn back at all.

"But... precisely because of that, I can't bring myself to trust you here."

"Is that so?"

Otto sighed, a hint of regret in his voice.

"Well... I hope time will give you the answer. Farewell, my friend."

[Not bad, Welt.]

"I just feel like... I don't get along with that guy. Or rather, we're not from the same world..."

Welt scratched his head with a wry smile.

[Otto... that guy seems to have conflicting values with everyone he truly values.]

That was the case with Kallen in the past, and it's the case with Welt now, and even Theresa in the future.

Although to varying degrees, Otto has shown more than usual tolerance towards Welt now and Theresa in the future.

As for the others... even Durandal and Rita in the future, they might just be "tools" in his eyes.

As for Destiny itself, it goes without saying. For Otto, Destiny's current purpose is to provide convenience for his resurrection of Kallen.