Great Minds Think Alike

Raiden Mei looked Gwen over from head to toe. Seeing nothing unusual in his expression, she finally asked,

"Looks like this mission went fairly smoothly?"

Raiden Mei and Kiana had always refrained from asking too much about Gwen's missions, lest they involve classified information and put him in an awkward position. At most, they would ask whether he had been hurt.

"There was a small accident, but thankfully, everything was resolved smoothly."

Gwen answered casually, took the menu Kiana handed him, and asked,

"Have you finished ordering?"

"Not yet. It may be a little simple, but it still counts as a welcome-back dinner for you. Of course, we had to wait until you arrived before starting the feast."

Hearing Gwen's words, Raiden Mei's face broke into a warmer smile as she looked at him with bright eyes.

Beside Raiden Mei, Kiana also spoke with a grin.

"Hurry up already. We trained all afternoon, and I'm starving."

"Alright, alright, I'll order now. We can't let our Kiana starve herself stupid."

Gwen said with a smile.

"You're dead!"

Kiana puffed out her cheeks and raised her little fist. If the table had not been so wide, she probably would have punched Gwen right in the head.

After finishing dinner amid laughter and banter, the three returned to Gwen's home.

Kiana needed tutoring in her academic subjects—

During those years in the Russian countryside, Kiana had not received a normal education. So although her brain's hardware was actually quite impressive, there was still plenty she needed to catch up on.

Raiden Mei trained her control. Whether she wanted to use her authority to master electromagnetism, one of the universe's four fundamental forces, or directly wield the power of her authority, this was an unavoidable step for her.

However, besides training her control, Raiden Mei was also studying academic subjects—

Control alone was far from enough if she wanted to fully unleash the power of electromagnetism.

As for Gwen, he trained both his control and his own psychic energy.

When the time reached ten-thirty at night, Raiden Mei prepared to leave, but Gwen stopped her.

"Mei, there's something I think I should tell you."

"Hmm?"

Raiden Mei blinked, looking puzzled as she wondered what Gwen wanted to say.

"Yesterday's mission took me to Changkong City. Another Honkai eruption occurred there. Centered on Senba Academy, more than half of Changkong City fell."

Gwen spoke slowly as he looked into Mei's bright eyes, now filled with worry.

"..."

Upon hearing this news, Raiden Mei let out a slight sigh of relief—

Her first reaction had been that something had happened to her father again.

Only after hearing that Raiden Ryoma was not involved did Raiden Mei unconsciously relax.

However, Changkong City had suffered another disaster, and Senba Academy had been at the center of the Honkai eruption. Though that place had left Raiden Mei with many unhappy memories, it had still carried part of her life. Her years in Changkong City had occupied nearly half her life.

Now that she had heard this news, she could not feel completely at ease.

Seeing that Mei's emotions were still stable and that she had not become as agitated as he had feared, Gwen sighed in relief. He gently took her small hand, which did not know where to rest, and softly said,

"Mei..."

Before Gwen could finish, however, Raiden Mei gently shook her head.

"Gwen, don't worry. I'm fine."

The Honkai-related history and theory she had studied during this time, those figures that nearly crushed one's breath just by appearing on paper, had given Mei a clear understanding of what a catastrophe Honkai was for this world.

Therefore, although hearing that her hometown had once again suffered under Honkai left Raiden Mei momentarily dazed, with her only family member unharmed and herself a Herrscher, she quickly recovered. She clasped Gwen's hand in return.

"I already understand what Honkai is. I know how terrifying that power truly is, making this already imperfect world even more plagued by disaster.

"But precisely because of that, we should work even harder. For ourselves, for those around us, and for... all the beautiful things in this world."

"Mm."

Meeting Raiden Mei's light purple eyes, Gwen vaguely sensed lightning flickering within them. He smiled and nodded, pleased by her maturity.

Seeing Mei slowly close her watery eyes, lean forward slightly, and tighten her little hand around his, Gwen understood. With a sigh in his heart that she was still just a young girl, he was about to lower his head when Kiana's voice suddenly came from the side.

"Hehe, just as expected of Mei. You really can say such sensible things."

Gwen immediately felt Mei's grip tighten considerably, while her body froze in an instant. Looking toward the sound, he saw the white-haired little ball with her long hair loose, clinging to the doorframe and grinning at them. Kiana had apparently come out after overhearing their conversation.

When she saw Gwen looking at her, Kiana stopped clinging to the doorway. She skipped over and placed her little hand atop their clasped hands.

"Let's work hard together for all the beautiful things in this world!"

As if she had inherited the dim-witted part of a certain dull goose's genes, Kiana looked utterly airheaded to Gwen at that moment.

"Pfft..."

In Gwen's mind, Alicia, who had been quietly watching the show, looked at Kiana's smile, then at Raiden Mei beside her, whose long lashes were trembling constantly and whose emotions were clearly in turmoil. She was so amused that she burst out laughing.

Kindred Spirits

Although the rare perfect atmosphere had been ruined by Kiana, Raiden Mei still cared about her image before Gwen. She did not electrocute the white-haired little ball until her fur stood on end in a fit of anger. She merely smiled and echoed a few words, then said good night and left amid the confused gaze of the white-haired little ball, who somehow felt a chill run down her spine.

"Alright, Kiana. Get to bed early. We have to get up early for morning training tomorrow."

Gwen gave Kiana, who had gradually lowered her guard during this time together and was beginning to develop into the grasshopper he remembered in daily life, a meaningful look. After giving her the reminder, he sent the baffled white-haired little ball back to her room before returning to his own.

After washing up, it was nearly eleven by the time Gwen lay down on his bed.

This time, before Alicia could speak, Gwen called out first.

"Alicia?"

"Hmm?

"I've always been here~?"

As expected, Alicia answered him, though there was a trace of exhaustion in her voice—

After adapting for some time, Gwen and Alicia had also figured out some of Alicia's current condition—

Compared to the second-ranked Flame-Chaser, who had once been able to fight continuously for three days without getting sleepy, Alicia was now quite frail and weak. She needed nearly half of every day to rest. It was not that she automatically shut down when the time came, and she could force herself to continue, but she would need to make up for it later with extra sleep.

"What do you think about the story Otto told me today, Aili?"

Lying on his back with his hands beneath his head, Gwen asked softly in his mind.

"Hmm... Otto's story..."

After thinking for a moment, Alicia slowly replied,

"Although I really dislike the ending, I like the people in the story.

"Whether it was Kallen, who always upheld her ideals, or Otto, who was willing to commit grave mistakes for the one he loved.

"There was a shining light of humanity in both of them."

She paused, allowing Gwen to take in her words before continuing.

"If you're asking whether it was true...

"Otto may not have told every detail of what happened back then, but I could feel the emotions in his words. His admiration and love for Kallen, as well as his contempt and hatred for himself, were all genuine."

"Mm...

"Looks like great minds think alike."

Gwen nodded lightly and smiled.

"Hmm?

"That phrase isn't really suitable here, you know~?"

Alicia's smiling voice rang out.

"Then... our hearts beat as one?"

Gwen replied offhandedly.

"Mm-hm?"

This time, Alicia gave a soft hum, then smiled.

"That works. After all, the fact that I appeared here means our hearts beat as one..."

Gwen was not surprised by Alicia's explanation. A faint smile appeared on his face as he softly said,

"Then good night, Miss Alicia, whose heart beats as one with mine."

"Good night. Sweet dreams, Gwen, whose heart beats as one with mine."

Alicia replied with a smile.

Amid the familiar melody, Gwen slowly drifted into sleep, searching in his dreams for that dreamlike, beautiful girl...

During the next morning's training, Raiden Mei accidentally made two mistakes, causing the white-haired little ball sparring with her to suffer quite a bit. Yet faced with Raiden Mei's apologetic smile, Kiana could not voice her grievances and could only swallow them down.

Gwen could see the reason behind Raiden Mei's "mistakes," but he did not expose her. He simply smiled as he watched the white-haired little ball get shocked.

Only when Raiden Mei's "mistakes" seemed to be growing increasingly severe did Gwen finally step in to stop their sparring match and take Kiana's place.

Under Gwen's "careful guidance," Raiden Mei improved rapidly, and those tiny "mistakes" quickly disappeared, much to the delight of the white-haired little ball watching nearby...

However, the three's schedule still failed to proceed normally that day—

Bronya had been discharged from the hospital.

After accepting Gwen's conditions, Bronya had swiftly been taken to Schicksal's medical department for examination.

However, Bronya's injuries were not simple external wounds, and the chip in her brain was not something that could be casually replaced like a bandage.

Based on the small amount of information Bronya provided, Schicksal's researchers spent some time creating a replacement. After the surgery, she rested for a while longer and was only permitted to leave the hospital today.

When Gwen and the other two met Bronya at the medical center, the silver-gray-haired girl floated silently in the ward. Her hair was styled into twin spiral ponytails, and she lifted her expressionless little face, silver-gray eyes fixed on the three of them.

"Bronya is ready."

Upon seeing Gwen, a somewhat unnatural smile appeared on Bronya's impassive little face as she spoke.

"Mr. Gwen, please issue your orders."

"Has your emotional deficiency been cured?"

Gwen raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"No."

Bronya shook her head.

"Bronya's new chip includes an emotion simulation function, allowing Bronya to display some emotional expression. However, Bronya still cannot control it very well."

She paused as she spoke, seemingly worried Gwen would dislike her because of it, then added,

"However, this does not affect Bronya's combat ability.

"With Heavy Cannon Rabbit, Bronya's combat effectiveness is absolutely guaranteed. Without emotions interfering, Bronya can remain absolutely calm."

"Mm, I still have confidence in your abilities."

Gwen nodded and offered a smile of reassurance.

Before becoming the Herrscher of Reason, Bronya had suffered setback after setback. Even after becoming the Herrscher of Reason, her newbie protection period vanished almost as quickly as Orb's Triple, and she soon continued suffering setbacks, even becoming a joke in the mouths of the Thousand-Man Herrscher.

But if one looked closely, one would find that everyone who had defeated Bronya had been using cheats.

Among ordinary people, Bronya's specialized abilities were still at the very top.

Don't really think the duckling who kept taking losses all the way to the finale had no tricks up her sleeve...

After introducing Bronya to Raiden Mei and Kiana, Gwen had finally assembled the trio and officially begun his Honkai Impact 3rd journey...

Ahem... Although in the original future, the future trio would become the pseudo-trio, they were still three rookies now. Even Bronya, who had originally been the brains of the group, had not received a complete, systematic education. Due to her early experiences, Cocolia had later only used her as a vanguard.

Especially when it came to systematic Honkai-related knowledge. Even Cocolia herself had her shortcomings in that area, so Bronya also needed tutoring.

And so, Kiana, who had initially been delighted to have found someone to share her misery with, soon experienced an overwhelming intellectual crushing—