Ishiu planned to take turns caring for Bronya, so he and Seele had to be separated. After all, they were the only reliable ones at the Orphanage. The other children were either too young or, like Rosaliya, not exactly reassuring.
So, in order to care for Bronya better, this arrangement was necessary. Even if Rosaliya was unreliable, he could still keep an eye on her. The same went for Seele and Liliya.
After hearing Ishiu's explanation, the children from the Orphanage left the hospital one after another, leaving only Ishiu and Rosaliya behind.
"Bronya, aren't you bored lying in bed? How about Rosaliya performs a stage play for you?" Seeing Ishiu peeling an apple beside Bronya's bed, Rosaliya, who had nothing to do, eagerly made the suggestion.
Discharged
Rosaliya was a girl who loved to dream. Like all girls her age, she had one defining trait: she dreamed of becoming a yangko star!
Ahem, wrong flavor. It should have been an idol.
For that dream, she and Liliya had always worked hard, rehearsing plays and the like. Whenever the Orphanage held an event, they never hid their desire to perform. They always had to be the first ones on stage.
That was why she suggested putting on a stage play now.
"A stage play? You're by yourself. Liliya isn't here, so how are you going to perform?" Bronya asked doubtfully.
"Isn't Ishiu here too?" Rosaliya said with a grin, patting Ishiu on the shoulder.
"Hey, I don't know how to perform in a stage play. I don't even know the lines. I could be a wooden post, but acting? Forget it." Ishiu hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands. He had no interest in playing that sort of childish game with Rosaliya. It was way too embarrassing.
"Come on, come on. Just think of it as playing with me. You're the one who separated Liliya and me. Now you're all I've got left. If I don't ask you, should I ask Bronya?" Rosaliya pouted, tugging at Ishiu's arm.
"That wouldn't be bad either. You could have Bronya play Sleeping Beauty." Ishiu raised an eyebrow and teased.
"She plays Sleeping Beauty, and you play the prince?" Rosaliya blinked and giggled.
At that, Ishiu instinctively looked at Bronya. She was half-reclining on the bed, her upper body slightly raised as she took small bites of the apple he had fed her.
Although Bronya was wearing a hospital gown, her complexion slightly pale because of her illness, and had no makeup whatsoever, her charm had not diminished in the slightest. Instead, she had the delicate air of a sickly beauty.
Ishiu recalled the plot of Sleeping Beauty and instinctively looked toward Bronya's lips.
Little Pudding's mouth was small, her thin lips carrying an unhealthy pallor. But because she had drunk water earlier, they were faintly moist, like freshly made pudding—soft and bouncy, making people unable to resist wanting a taste.
"What are you looking at?" Bronya's voice suddenly snapped Ishiu out of his daze. Seeing the slight embarrassment and anger on her face, along with the faint blush blooming across her cheeks, he awkwardly scratched his head.
"N-Nothing."
Damn, had it been so long since he'd touched a woman that he was actually attracted to this Little Pudding...? Oh, right, he was still a virgin. He had never touched a woman in the first place. Then it was fine.
Bronya raised her right hand to cover her cheek and turned her head away, as if she was... embarrassed?
"Ishiu, come with me. Just do one performance." Rosaliya launched a cutesy, coquettish offensive, hugging Ishiu's arm and shaking it nonstop.
"Uh... fine, fine. Just one performance. Don't blame me if I can't remember the lines." Unable to withstand Rosaliya's coquettish attack, Ishiu could only agree to her request.
"Mm-hmm, I knew Ishiu was the best! Once I become a big idol, you'll be my very first fan!"
And so, under Rosaliya's direction, Ishiu performed an unbelievably clichéd stage play with her. He played the male lead, while Rosaliya played the female lead. There was no need to describe the plot. Ishiu guessed the girl had read it in some romance novel. It was as melodramatic as could be, as stomach-churning as could be, the kind that left people too exhausted to even criticize it.
Yet Bronya watched with great interest, letting out silvery laughter from time to time. It was only because of that that Ishiu endured the embarrassment and stuck it out until the stage play was over.
Meanwhile, things were anything but peaceful at Cocolia Orphanage.
After Seele and the others returned, they told all the children the truth about Bronya falling down the stairs, causing everyone to express their anger toward An.
They had thought An would never appear at the Orphanage again, but unexpectedly, Cocolia brought her back and had An apologize to everyone.
No one knew what Cocolia had said to her. Although it was obvious that An had no intention of apologizing, she ultimately yielded.
Then, faced with the children's doubts, Cocolia spent a great deal of effort persuading them before they reluctantly accepted An's apology and stopped insisting that she be driven away.
They thought the matter had passed just like that, but no one knew that Seele quietly entered An's room that night.
No one knew what they said to each other.
In any case, the next day, everyone saw An walking with a limp, her face covered in bruises as if someone had beaten her viciously. Her leg had nearly been broken.
After that, whenever An saw Seele, she would silently take a detour...
She had thought she was crazy enough, but she never expected someone even crazier than her!
A month later, Bronya's injuries had mostly healed. Aside from being unable to walk, she was basically fine. Cocolia handled her discharge procedures and bought her a wheelchair.
When Bronya returned to the Orphanage, the children even held a party to celebrate her discharge. Ishiu made a three-layer cake, making the little brats cheer with excitement.
Life at the Orphanage seemed to have returned to peace, but a new storm had already arrived without a sound.
"You said an experiment?"
Ishiu stepped down from the treadmill, took the towel Seele handed him, and wiped away his sweat as he asked in confusion.
"Mm. Mom said she was going to conduct an experiment involving Honkai Energy." Seele's expression was complicated, as if it was difficult for her to speak.
"Honkai Energy?" Ishiu let out a breath in confusion. "It's just an experiment, isn't it? It's not the first time Mom has done one. What's there to talk about?"
"But..." Seele opened her mouth, hesitated for a long time, then finally said quietly, "The people for this experiment are going to be selected from among us..."
"What did you say?" Ishiu froze, thinking he had misheard. But Seele's expression did not look like she was joking, and she was not the kind of child who would make such a joke.
"That can't be possible, right? Honkai Energy experiments are so dangerous. How could Mom bear to let you do them?"
It had been said before that Honkai Energy was an extremely dangerous form of energy. Only people with special constitutions from birth, like Bronya and Seele, could resist and manipulate Honkai Energy to a certain extent.
If ordinary people came into contact with Honkai Energy, there was only one outcome.
They would become Zombies.
Honkai Experiment
Therefore, experiments involving Honkai Energy were also incomparably dangerous.
Ishiu knew of the organization Cocolia belonged to, called Anti-Entropy. It was one of the foremost organizations in the world fighting Honkai, with influence beyond what ordinary people could imagine. Cocolia's status within Anti-Entropy did not seem low, so Ishiu was not surprised that she conducted experiments involving Honkai Energy. But selecting the experimental subjects from the children at the Orphanage was something he could not understand.
He did not believe Cocolia was unaware of the dangers of Honkai Energy experiments. But if she truly chose to do this...
Ishiu pressed his lips together and headed outside.
Cocolia happened to be at the Orphanage today. He was going to find her and get an explanation.
Ishiu arrived in the hall, with Seele following closely behind. Cocolia was currently talking with a group of children in the hall. Bright smiles hung on their faces, and the atmosphere was warm and cozy.
"Ishiu, Seele, you're here. Come taste the snacks Mom brought today. They were made by a very famous master. If it weren't for my connections, they wouldn't have agreed to make them." Seeing Ishiu and Seele approach, Cocolia immediately beckoned to them with a cheerful smile.
Ishiu walked over and said seriously, "Mom, I have something to ask you."
Perhaps Ishiu's serious expression and Seele's timid demeanor made Cocolia understand something. The smile on her face gradually faded.
"Alright. I know you have a lot of questions. I shouldn't have told you about this in the first place..." Cocolia sighed, explained a few things to the children, then led Ishiu and Seele to her room.
Cocolia had her own room at the Orphanage. Although she rarely came to stay there, children cleaned it for her every day, so it was still neat and tidy.
The three entered the room. Cocolia locked the door behind them, then sat down heavily on the bed and looked at Ishiu. "Alright, ask away."
"Mom, I heard you're going to have Seele and the others participate in a Honkai Energy experiment?"
Ishiu did not beat around the bush with Cocolia. There was no need for so many twists and turns between them. They could just say whatever they wanted to say.
"Yes." Cocolia took out a pack of cigarettes, removed a slim cigarette, and put it in her mouth. "Seele told you, didn't she? Honestly, I specifically told her not to tell you... But never mind. Since you already know, I'll tell you plainly. Yes, I'm going to have them participate in the X-10 experiment."
Ishiu frowned, stepped forward, and snatched the cigarette from Cocolia's mouth. "Smoke less. Your work pressure is already high enough. Don't ruin your health too."
Cocolia was briefly stunned, then laughed. "You little brat, now you're trying to manage me?"
Though her words sounded like a rebuke, there was not the slightest hint of blame in her tone. Instead, she seemed quite happy. She obediently tucked the cigarette pack back into her pocket.
"Can I ask why you're making them do this experiment? You should understand the danger of Honkai Energy better than I do, right?" Ishiu asked in a low voice.
"That's right. I understand it very well." Cocolia nodded and looked at Seele, her gaze filled with complicated emotions.
After a long while, she sighed and said, "It is precisely because of the danger of Honkai Energy that I have no choice but to conduct this experiment. It concerns the future fate of Seele, Bronya, and the others."
"What do you mean?"
"It's very simple. You should know what happens if ordinary people come into contact with Honkai Energy, right?"
"They become Zombies."
"Right. But Bronya and the others are different. They were born with constitutions that can resist Honkai Energy, and they can use and manipulate that power to a certain extent." Cocolia stared steadily at Ishiu. "But do you know this? Everything has a limit. Just as a stretched spring will snap and an overflowing cup cannot hold any more water... Bronya and the others are the same."
"Antibodies have limits too. As Honkai Energy continues to invade and change them, one day their bodies will no longer be able to endure it. That is why the X-10 experiment is meant to find a way to resist Honkai Energy invasion."
"B-But there's no need to make Seele and the others participate in the experiment, is there? Can't you find someone else?" Ishiu said through gritted teeth.
He had to admit that he had never been a good person. It was like the trolley problem: a train was traveling along the tracks, with five people tied up ahead of it. On another track, there was one person tied down. You held the lever that could change the train's route. What would you choose?
Save the five people and sacrifice one?
Or save one person and sacrifice five?
Ishiu did not know what others would choose, but he knew that if someone he cared about was among them, he would choose that side without hesitation. No matter how many people died on the other side, it had nothing to do with him.
As long as the people he cared about were safe, that was enough.
So, since this experiment had to be done, Ishiu naturally wanted someone else to do it instead of letting the children from the Orphanage take part.
Hearing Ishiu's words, Cocolia immediately revealed a bitter smile. "Ishiu, do you think there are many people in this world with constitutions capable of resisting Honkai Energy?"
"You should know about an organization called Schicksal, right? They gather girls in this world who possess constitutions that can resist Honkai Energy, then implant them with Artificial Stigmata to grant them powerful strength. But the cost is that those children's lifespans are drastically shortened, and every battle brings them closer to death."
"So there are really very few people like that. And within Anti-Entropy, Bronya has the highest adaptability to Honkai Energy. That was why my original plan was to have her participate in the experiment."
"Then... if the experiment fails, will Sister Bronya... die?" Seele asked, her face filled with worry.
"Don't worry. Bronya has the highest adaptability to Honkai Energy. Even if the experiment fails, she'll be fine. And we'll gain more relevant data, allowing us to make further progress."
Cocolia looked at Seele, and her voice could not help softening. "Seele, Bronya was willing to participate in this experiment so that everyone could survive. I hope you won't let her efforts go to waste."
"...If that's the case, then let me participate in this experiment." Seele lowered her head. After remaining silent for a long time, she suddenly raised it and spoke with a serious expression.
Seele Taking Off Her Clothes
Cocolia frowned and said gravely, "Seele, don't you understand yet? I already told you, Bronya is the most suitable candidate for the experiment. Even if it fails, she can survive. But you... your adaptability to Honkai Energy is far lower than hers. If it's you, then..."
Cocolia did not say the rest, but the meaning was already perfectly clear.
Ishiu pressed his lips together tightly. He wanted to say something, but when the words reached his mouth, he could not utter a single one.
Because he had no standing to speak.
Cocolia was conducting the experiment so Bronya and the others could live better, so she could plan for their future.
And Bronya chose to accept the experiment so Seele and the others could survive.
Ishiu had neither adaptability to Honkai Energy nor the ability to stop this experiment, so he truly had nothing to say.
A deep sense of powerlessness surged into Ishiu's heart. Even though he had trained the Seven Nights Assassination Technique bestowed by the system to perfection, he still could not do anything now.
Honkai...
Only now did Ishiu truly understand what those two words meant.
—Disaster.
Seele bit her lip, suddenly turned around, and began taking off her clothes.
"S-Seele? W-What are you doing?"
"Wait, Seele. H-How about I step outside first? You and Ishiu can take your time?"
Ishiu and Cocolia were dumbfounded by the sudden scene. Seele had always given people the impression of being a well-behaved and pure child, yet she was suddenly taking off her clothes in front of them. The shock was no less than a nuclear explosion.
"M-Mom, it's not what you think..." Seele explained in embarrassment and panic. She had already removed her upper clothes, leaving only a close-fitting camisole. Although they could only see her back and not the sight at the front, Ishiu still found her fair, jade-like back almost too beautiful to bear.
Then Seele turned around. She clutched the clothes pressed against her chest tightly, revealing only the area above her cleavage.
"This is... a Stigmata?!" Cocolia's pupils suddenly contracted. Unlike Ishiu, she immediately noticed the abnormality on Seele's chest.
Between the faintly rising and falling peaks, a mysterious pattern was faintly imprinted. Cocolia could clearly sense weak energy fluctuations radiating from it. Unless she was mistaken, this was absolutely the legendary Stigmata!
A Stigmata was an extremely special kind of power. Its existence could no longer be described merely as rare.
Before you continue