12. The Butterfly Effect and Seeing the Bigger Picture / 13. Cocolia: "Thank Goodness, No Mother's Day Songs This Time"

Ain raised an eyebrow. Bronya's words had indeed surprised her. She looked at Bronya quietly, signaling her to continue.

"Doctor, actually, I got in touch with Seele a year ago with the help of Sister Xia Ling."

"?"

Ain really didn't expect this.

"Because not long after Sister Xia Ling entered the academy, she revealed her ability to traverse the Sea of Quantum. At that time, it was the only opportunity Bronya had to enter the Sea of Quantum."

"So, Bronya asked Sister Xia Ling for help, hoping she could gather some information about Seele. If she could find Seele, that would be even better."

"Is that so...? That makes sense. Given Xia Ling's personality, she definitely didn't reject you, right?"

"Yes, although Sister Xia Ling was still feeling a bit weak at the time, she still didn't refuse Bronya."

Bronya confirmed Ain's guess. "And, about a year ago at this time, she successfully found Seele."

"But at that time, because Sister Xia Ling's abilities were not yet mature, she was unable to bring Seele back. She could only leave behind a magical device that allowed Bronya and Seele to have a short conversation every day."

"However, that's all background information. Bronya really wants to say is..."

"Just recently, Seele told Bronya that she was in the Sea of Quantum..."

"I sensed the aura of the Herrscher Core."

Chapter Twelve: The Butterfly Effect and Global Perspective

"Herrscher Core?"

Ain's expression turned serious.

"Is it Plague Gem?"

After all, of Herrscher Core that have appeared so far, only this one is currently missing.

"No."

Bronya slowly shook her head.

"According to Seele, this core should be... the core of the Herrscher of Wind."

"Wendy?"

Ain was even more confused now.

"But Wendy should still..."

"I remember she secretly sent a message to Hyperion not long ago, asking if she needed any help."

"But at the time, Theresa didn't want to disturb her and Highmore's peaceful life, so she refused her."

"That's right, Doctor, Wendy is indeed fine." Bronya nodded. "However, the Herrscher of Wind has more than one core."

"You mean, the Fourth Divine Key?"

"Yes, this matter has been circulating on the internal network of Schicksal recently. Schicksal's Fourth Divine Key, which is the satellite that has been repairing the environment, has mysteriously disappeared recently."

"It's just that the Doctor has been busy with Kiana's affairs these past two days, so he probably hasn't noticed."

"Bronya believes that this is the root cause of the Abyssal Eye's anomaly, and the energy level of the Herrscher Core also matches the unknown energy source that Mother Cocolia mentioned."

"I understand, Bronya."

Ain patted her head. "This information is indeed very valuable, I will consider it carefully."

"Oh, right, Cocolia just told me some good news."

"During the previous Great Honkai, although the orphanage was also attacked by the Honkai, the children in the orphanage did not die because Xia Ling reminded us in advance to make contingency plans."

"However... some children were seriously injured. She didn't go into details. You can ask her, or ask your friends at the orphanage."

"I remember, their names were something like Rosalia and Lilia?"

"Okay, I understand. Thank you, Doctor."

Bronya's two "turbines" on her back nodded as her little head bobbed, and then she strode quickly into the Abyssal City.

As Bronya turned around, Ain's expression instantly turned serious.

Bronya's information was flawless, but she was unaware of one crucial detail.

Among the many radicals who had previously "surrendered" to her, several executors who were closely associated with Cocolia had privately revealed a message to her as a pledge of allegiance.

Cocolia appears to have an overly close collaboration with World Serpent.

Based on the information Bronya provided, the Fourth Divine Key is unrelated to the conflict between the two organizations, and Anti-Entropy never intended to take it down. Therefore, the only organization that would dare to do so is undoubtedly World Serpent.

So, just as the World Serpent seized the Fourth Divine Key, the Abyssal Eye erupted in chaos, immediately jeopardizing their acquisition of the humanoid machine and forcing them to divide their forces.

If you were to say that this was Theresa Ain not believe it.

If Xia Ling were here, she would probably marvel at how the plot has changed once again due to the butterfly effect.

Compared to the original work where she was slow to realize the problem, this time, because Cocolia messed up early on, Ain noticed Cocolia's problem first.

"Cocolia... I hope she doesn't have any dangerous intentions."

"However, we still need to test the waters..."

After reviewing her schedule for the day, Ain decided to deal with this matter in the evening, as she had another matter to attend to in the afternoon.

That is to remove the power limit of Theresa's Moonlight Armor and use her as the last trump card.

Previously Ain didn't want to consider this plan. After all, no one could guarantee that removing Otto's restriction on Theresa's Vishnu Gene wouldn't cause Theresa to go completely berserk and turn into a Honkai Beast.

Even if Theresa doesn't use the maximum power setting, she still risks losing her sanity if the restriction is lifted by more than 50%.

Especially since Theresa had just lost Xia Ling, her emotions were very unstable, and lifting the restrictions was not a wise move.

However, before heading to Abyssal City, Theresa came to see her specifically, asking her to help lift the restrictions, and claiming that she no longer had any mental health issues.

Ain wasn't stupid enough to miss the mood; she could naturally tell that Theresa's mood seemed to have improved a lot since she returned from Changkong City.

Although she had her own suspicions, she chose not to ask and instead silently agreed to Theresa's request.

After all, Ain always placed the utmost trust in her companions.

After adjusting Theresa's armor, it was already close to midnight.

The restrictions personally set by Otto still took her a lot of effort.

After handing the armor to Theresa, Ain hesitated for a moment before making a request to Theresa.

A moment later, Ain appeared at the control center of the Abyssal Eye.

If my speculation is true, then Cocolia or Gray Serpent must have tampered with this place.

"Sechs bypasses the internal system of Abyssal City, calls a backdoor to perform a self-check on the main control system, extracts the task logs from the past week, and compares them."

Ain activated the small robot she carried with her and began checking the system.

For a system as massive as the Abyssal Eye, inspections often take a lot of time. Ain wasn't idle either; she left the control center and headed towards the logistics center of Abyssal City, intending to verify it from another angle.

However, they hadn't even been gone a short while...

Suddenly, a muffled static interrupted the recording of sechs in my ear.

"Cocolia, you've been discovered..."

Ain's eyes sharpened, and she quickly took over the operation of sechs.

"Command transmission interrupted... unable to perform operation. Has sechs been captured?"

"We need to move to a safe location immediately, then contact Theresa..."

Ain immediately hid in the shadows by the roadside and followed a security passage reserved for internal personnel to an empty warehouse.

Ain opened the communication and quickly selected Theresa's profile picture.

But...

A pistol slowly emerged from the shadows and was aimed at Ain, whose back was turned to the gun barrel.

"Being cautious is a valuable quality, and knowing when to stay in a safe place is also a wise move."

"However, Ain Lingmeng Liu Ba 4 Jiuwu Ba Ling Si Mingwu Stan, you made a mistake."

"Caution is a virtue of scientists, not of spies."

Bang--

A gunshot rang out.

However, Ain, who should have collapsed, slowly turned around.

The bullet aimed at her was cleaved in two by a sharp spirit blade.

"You're right, Mr. Gray Serpent."

"However, you underestimated the caution that belongs to scientists."

—— Qi Lingpa [l iu——————

Chapter Thirteen Cocolia: Great, this time I don't have to listen to Mother's Day songs!

"Yae Sakura..."

A faint red light flickered in the mechanical eyes of the Gray Serpent.

"So that's why the Gray Serpent that invaded the Hyperion earlier directly disconnected from the Gray Serpent network?"

Yae Sakura pointed her blue spirit sword diagonally at the Gray Serpent, wary of his next move.

"I thought you came to the control center simply because of your natural wariness of Cocolia. It seems your real purpose isn't to gather intelligence, but to verify it..."

The Gray Serpent's voice drifted out, carrying a strange resentment towards its incompetent teammates.

"Alas, it is highly likely that the plan here will not be able to be completed."

"Fortunately, the Herrscher Core has already been thrown into the Abyss, and you cannot stop the Honored Master's return."

"You can save your harsh words for when you interrogate Yinglingqi/? is Wujiu SibaQun? As for your Honored Master, he probably won't be seeing you again."

Ain continued sending the communication she hadn't finished earlier, and said coldly.

"Don't worry, even after something like this happened, I didn't intend to live on."

A strangely colored potion appeared in the Gray Serpent's hand.

"Finally, let me verify the results of the Jackal experiment."

Before she could finish speaking, the potion bottle was instantly split in two by Yae Sakura. Having inherited Xia Ling's true skills, Yae Sakura naturally wouldn't give her opponent any time to transform.

However, the bottle being cut did not cause the medicine to spill out; the Gray Serpent had already completed the injection the moment it took out the medicine.

In an instant, the Gray Serpent's body began to expand and mutate, then quickly transformed into a giant Honkai Beast.

"?"

A hint of doubt appeared on Yae Sakura's face. After all, transforming directly from a human into Honkai Beast was still a bit too avant-garde for someone from ancient times like her.

However, this did not stop her from cutting the thing in half.

"It's a pity... the other Gray Serpent died at your hands long ago, unable to become Emperor-class Honkai Beast and test the true power of this potion. What a shame."

The giant Honkai Beast shook its head, seemingly not quite used to its new body.

"It can still maintain its self-awareness?"

Almost instantly, Ain- in thought of the two children at the Cocolia Orphanage.

"I see, they are exactly the same breed... Those two children must be your clinical trial subjects."