Where Was the Promised Third Honkai?!!

Fu Li had only been joking to ease the tense atmosphere. The little one before him was the Ural Silver Wolf, a legendary mercenary raised by a military organization since childhood. Give her a pair of stockings, and she could strangle thirteen soldiers in a row—the SuperStockings Killer. If his brain had really gone soft from lust, he probably would not even know how he died.

"What if I refuse to give up protecting Raiden Mei?"

He steered the conversation back on track.

"If you persist in your delusion, all of you will die."

Staring into Fu Li's eyes, Bronya said, "Right now, Cocolia Mom—Executor Cocolia—is only unable to mobilize all the troops under her command for certain reasons. Once the time is right, not only Raiden Mei, but all of you who shelter her will perish beneath the boundless artillery fire used to kill hundred-meter-class Honkai Beasts!"

She spoke unhurriedly, because that was simply an established fact.

The only reason Cocolia could do nothing to them for the time being was that her deliberate triggering of the Third Honkai had been far too shocking, earning the Reformists' silence and the Conservatives' punishment.

Once she regained control, Fu Li and Kiana—those two little nobodies who had ruined her plans—would be nothing. Under the all-around assault of an aerospace carrier battle group, even Schicksal's S-rank Valkyries would have to consider whether they could escape.

Yet contrary to Bronya's expectations, Fu Li was not moved by her threat. Instead, he asked in an incredulous tone, "What did you just call Cocolia? Did you add 'Mom' after her name?!"

"...No, I did not."

The girl fell silent for a moment before flatly denying it.

"It was real?! Oh, my Luo Tianyi..."

As everyone knew, a person's denial was half-confirmation.

This was truly a shocking revelation for foreign friends.

Question One: Would a normal person constantly use "My mom is XXX" as a catchphrase?

Answer: No.

Li Qiming, who had shouted, "My dad is Li Gang," went off to work a sewing machine for six years. His father was also transferred from his original position to parts unknown.

Question Two: Would a girl who had infiltrated St. Freya Academy as an Anti-Entropy spy openly announce her true identity to everyone?

Answer: No.

If a spy could not even keep her own identity secret, then she already had one foot in the abyss of death.

Question Three: Faced with Fu Li, a survivor of the Third Honkai, would Bronya, as an accomplice to Cocolia's heinous act of deliberately triggering the Third Honkai, tell him the entire truth even if he knew nothing about it?

Answer: Perhaps.

The girl who had become the Herrscher of Truth and completely untangled her emotional knots might have gathered the courage to face everything. Unfortunately, Fu Li from the previous timeline had not held on until then.

All of the above combined to create the current shocking revelation for foreign friends.

Fortunately, Fu Li had seen plenty through countless battles, and he recovered from the shock of discovering someone's mother soon enough.

"I see. That explains all the equipment on you."

Sitting cross-legged on the floor and looking Bronya in the eye, he propped his cheek up with one hand and muttered, "The good daughter of the leader of Anti-Entropy's Reformists—"

"We are not related by blood."

The girl emphasized.

"She is still your daughter."

Fu Li said.

Bronya did not refute him this time. She forced her petite body upright and leaned against the coffee table, her expression calm. "Now you know how much trouble you have caused, right? Bronya still says the same thing: as long as you hand over Raiden Mei, Bronya can decide to let you leave."

Fu Li did not answer immediately. Instead, he asked, "How important are you in your mother's eyes?"

"Very important."

The little girl answered earnestly. She had never doubted Cocolia Mom's love for her.

"Important enough that if we really hand Mei over, but she still insists on attacking us, you could persuade her to stop?"

"..."

The girl wanted to say yes, but after considering Cocolia's always-overbearing personality, she could only remain silent.

There was precedent for this. Seele, who had vanished in the X-10 experiment at the beginning of the year, was the best proof.

Cocolia truly regarded everyone at the orphanage as her own daughters. However, to her, Bronya and the others were also soldiers destined for the front lines.

Love soldiers like children, use soldiers like mud. That was a necessary prerequisite for becoming a qualified commander.

Her heartfelt affection for the girls in ordinary times would never prevent her from abandoning them cleanly and decisively during war.

Because the two were not contradictory.

Looking at the girl who had fallen silent, Fu Li shrugged.

Giving up Mei was, of course, impossible. He would never give her up in this lifetime.

He was merely trying to persuade Bronya to stand down from another angle. Judging by her reaction, there seemed to be an unexpected bonus?

"It seems Cocolia's place in your heart is complicated too."

He clapped his hands, and his inner thoughts slipped out unconsciously. "Though that makes sense. That woman's reputation was never very good—no, rather than saying it was not very good, it was utterly terrible."

Leaders with radical styles were only welcomed among young people. Cocolia, as a Slav, was filled to the bone with a desire to expand territory.

Other countries and organizations hated such an unpredictable factor who could stir up war at any moment.

Besides, she would be thrown into prison two years later. Even though he knew the possibility was slim, Fu Li still tried to make Bronya change her mind and settle down with a promising catch like him.

"..."

Casting a sidelong glance at Fu Li, who kept feeding her bad things about Cocolia Mom, Bronya—the gamer girl known as Alloy Gear Wolf Tooth—suddenly recalled a dark joke she had seen online:

The joke came from a Fate/Zero fanfiction. In it, the protagonist, a transmigrator, used the glory of the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets, Britain's current status as one of the five permanent members, and how well Britain was doing now to persuade Saber to give up her obsession with choosing a king again.

At first glance, it did not seem like much.

But think about it carefully.

The native people of England had been bullied into what state by the Anglo-Saxons? Were you sure saying that to her was not just pouring oil on the fire?

The current Bronya was Saber, while Fu Li was the transmigrator protagonist written by that genius author.

Or rather, Bronya was the fire right now, while Fu Li was the whole pot of oil desperately being poured onto it.

The X-10 experiment accident had severely damaged the girl's emotional circuits, leaving her unable to convey the anger surging within her through facial expressions.

With a blank expression, she said, "Bronya is not interested in Cocolia Mom's reputation. You perverted lolicon can shut up already!!!"

No matter what, Cocolia had rescued Bronya from the terrifying organization that had raised her.

For that reason alone, as long as Cocolia did not betray her, Bronya would always follow behind her.

Fu Li choked after being snapped at. Seeing the girl's eyes nearly spitting fire, he realized that he had been a little too hasty.

Bronya was still so tiny even two years later, so Fu Li had subconsciously always cast her in the role of his own little sister.

Anyone with a younger sister knew that even if everyone schemed against each other every day and turned the household upside down, they still did not want her to suffer any hardship outside.

He coughed lightly and raised both hands in a French military salute to indicate surrender. "I get the feeling you would not answer even if I asked questions about Mei."

"That is correct."

"Then what about Cocolia?"

Fu Li asked, "The Executor came personally. What exactly are you doing?"

"Guess."

"You little duckhead really will not budge, huh."

"That depends on the person."

"Heh! Are you doing stand-up comedy now or what?"

"Who told you to look so much like a clown?"

"Personal attacks are not okay!"

"You were the one who talked badly about Cocolia Mom first!"

"By 'talked badly,' do you mean listing everything she has done?"

"...Verbal interrogation is useless. You can torture Bronya instead."

"I could never bear to."

With the upper hand, Fu Li snorted and rose to his feet, walking toward the stairs leading to the basement.

Bronya could not help asking, "What are you going to do?"

"Changing interrogators. I am too kind to be ruthless during an interrogation, so I need someone with no sense of restraint."

Fu Li waved his hand, but suddenly turned back halfway there.

With ill intentions, he took out his phone and played a video in front of Bronya.

"Before that, I will torture you mentally for a bit~"

Then he turned around and vanished in a flash.

At first, Bronya did not understand what he meant until a face appeared on the screen.

"Hello, producers across the nation. I am Ai Kun, an individual trainee with two and a half years of training. I like singing, dancing, rap, and basketball."

Middle-parted hair, suspenders.

One side of the body turned, chest thrust forward.

But the other side was unusually flat.

Androgynous.

"Music!"

They snapped their fingers and flung their jacket aside.

An incomprehensible little tune began playing. They caught a basketball thrown over by someone else and gave Bronya outside the screen a wicked smile.

"Chicken, you are so beautiful~ Oh, Baby! Chicken, you are so beautiful~ You walking toward me make my heart stir!"

Guh, just kill me!

Bronya, whose body was fixed in place by the Shadow Blade, watched in despair as the individual trainee on the screen occasionally blew her affectionate kisses. Even when she closed her eyes, that enchanting dance continued looping endlessly in her mind.

This torment of both mind and body was far more hardcore than saying a few bad things about Cocolia.

Of course, Fu Li would never admit that. In his view, what girl would not like a big boy who could sing, dance, rap, and play basketball? Heh.

Leaving Bronya alone to appreciate Ai Kun Boy, Fu Li walked down the stairs. Due to the dampness of underground floors, many people turned such spaces into entertainment venues for pleasure.

The detached house where they were staying was no exception. As soon as Fu Li came downstairs, he saw Kiana holding a guitar, singing and talking at the same time, acting unbearably flashy.

"...Mei, you need to know that Shenzhou has an old saying: when sisters work together, their strength can cut through chicken!"

With a blank expression, he walked behind the girl and grabbed the conspicuous ahoge on top of her head. "Ms. Kiana, can we please stop butchering the famous sayings of my great Shenzhou when there is nothing better to do?"

"How am I butchering it? Why do I not know about that?"

Kiana pulled out her ahoge and gave a couple of smug hums, still hugging that electric guitar and going la la la.

This girl was fairly skilled, but she had a bad habit when playing guitar: while sitting, she liked to use the inward curve of the guitar's waist to support her chest.

According to her, it was more comfortable that way and did not dig into her. In theory, it was indeed quite consistent with ergonomics, but—

In any case, Fu Li was not losing out from the feast for his eyes.

"Your eyeballs are about to fall in!"

"If your posture were even slightly more normal, I would not be so unable to resist temptation."

"You cannot control your own eyes, and you blame me?"

Kiana ignored him and continued in the same pose and rhythm as before. "So A Li's mouth is like shredded ginger mixed with potatoes. You never know when it will suddenly blow up on you!"

When men got together, they would definitely judge women. When women got together, they would definitely complain about men.

While Fu Li had been away, the girls had clearly been using him as a topic and going all out.

Unlike Kiana, who had the same impression as ordinary passersby, and Mei, who practically wanted to eat his flesh raw, Fu Li alone among the trio had clearly shown goodwill toward Bronya.

It was quite in line with market rules for Kiana to use that point to persuade Mei to calm down.

Still, understanding was one thing. Faced with the girl's slander—though there really was none—Fu Li could not help firing back. "You are definitely smearing me because you do not know me well enough."