Honkai, Kiana's Way of Survival

Kaino had an epiphany.

"Yes, we come from the same world. I, who have been watching you from time to time, can be absolutely certain of that."

As Su spoke, he waved his left hand, and a screen appeared, showing a video of himself and his family escaping on a plane with K423.

"This is the evidence."

"..."

I know you're trying to prove something to me, but do you have to rub it in like this?

Watching Kiana get shot down on the screen, himself disappearing in a pool of blood, and Siegfried holding K423 with eyes about to burst, Kaino gritted his teeth, trying to control his emotions.

Calm down, calm down first. I need his help right now; I can't attack him.

The video camera followed Kiana closely as she fell from a height of several thousand meters, about to crash into the ground.

Calm down my ass!

Kaino silently pulled out the Judgement of Shamash.

I'll beat him half to death first, and then heal him later anyway.

"Calm down, I just want to tell you what happened afterward, not to provoke you."

Noticing Kaino's movements, Su quickly explained.

The scene on the screen quickly changed, showing a brown-haired Valkyrie in a maid outfit carrying the severely injured Kiana and running frantically towards Schicksal's transport ship.

"Your sister didn't die. She was taken back by Schicksal's Valkyries and raised to adulthood. Consider this news my apology for offending you just now."

Kaino stared blankly at the scene on the screen, stunned by the news, completely in disbelief.

He had always thought Kiana was dead.

"You're not lying to me?"

Kaino hesitated, put away the Judgement of Shamash, and cautiously confirmed with Su.

"Kiana fell from a height of several thousand meters without any protection, and she was only nine years old at the time."

"That's why I said your family was already attracting attention."

Su said helplessly.

He could naturally understand the disbelief in Kaino's heart. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he probably wouldn't have believed it either.

You have to know that many fusion warriors can't even do that.

Kaino chuckled foolishly.

"That's great."

"Of course, even if you go back and look for her directly, she won't recognize you. That disaster wasn't without its effects on her. She lost all her past memories. And Schicksal's Archbishop concealed the news of your sister's survival from the world and gave her a new name and a new life."

Su gave Kaino a heads-up, lest he find his sister and realize she didn't recognize him, and he'd be completely dumbfounded.

"...No, it doesn't matter. It's enough that she's alive."

Kaino shook his head, exhaled, and relaxed completely.

Although it was a pity that Kiana had lost her previous memories, it was enough that she was still alive.

"Thank you, I apologize for my previous rudeness."

Kaino gave Su a deep bow, a courtesy that even his cheap master, Cheng Ling霜, had never enjoyed.

But he knew that whether it was giving him the power to stabilize the bubble world or telling him about his sister, it didn't bring any real benefits to the other party.

All of this was just the other party's act of kindness.

Such a person naturally deserved his gratitude.

"There's no need to thank me. Although it's not my own world, everyone except for a few is willing to lend a hand to save a world from destruction."

Su smiled and shook his head, helping Kaino up, while holding his right hand in front of Kaino.

A leaf flickering with a faint green light was floating in his palm.

Kaino was puzzled, "This is?"

"This is the purpose of your trip."

Su waved his hand gently, and the leaf instantly shattered and turned into a stream of light, pouring into Kaino's body.

Kaino didn't resist the power, letting it flow through his body.

What puzzled Kaino was that his body didn't seem to change in any way.

"It doesn't seem to feel like anything?"

"It's normal not to feel anything. It won't work until you invert that bubble world into your body."

The other party's words almost scared Kaino.

"Invert the bubble world?"

"Didn't they explain it to you? Then ask them when you get back."

Su shrugged, a slight, relaxed smile on his face.

"Don't worry, my power will remain in your body for about a week. But you also need to speed things up; Kevin in your world can only hold on for three more days at most. Oh, right, here are the coordinates of our world."

A complex pattern appeared on the screen beside Su.

"I understand, thank you."

Kaino took a deep breath and nodded solemnly.

"Then... can you tell me Kiana's current name?"

"Bianca, Bianca Ataegina. Don't worry about her safety; she's far more capable than you imagine."

"Mm."

Kaino nodded, activating his authority and leaving the area.

Watching Kaino disappear, Su's smile slowly faded. He sighed softly and continued walking towards the pool.

His steps were steady, but his mood was far from calm.

"Kevin."

Staring at the empty, shallow pool, Su's voice was filled with melancholy and relief.

"I saw him."

Chapter 43: The Tree, the Sea, and the World

Unlike when he went to Sumeru Acarya, Kaino's return to Mount Taixu was smooth sailing. Almost the instant his authority was activated, he arrived at Mount Taixu.

...Just how strong was that defense system Su set up?

I should have analyzed it before coming back.

"How did it go?"

Seeing Kaino return, Fu Hua, who was sitting and chatting with the Azure Chronicle, immediately stood up and asked.

"Everything went well. Maybe it's because you people from the Previous Era are all easy to talk to? Anyway, that Su was very nice and friendly."

Kaino glanced at the setting sun and turned to look at the Azure Chronicle.

"What time is it now? How much time has passed since I left?"

Although it didn't feel like long to him, who knows what could happen when crossing worlds?

What if he was chatting with them here, and three days had actually passed?

The Azure Chronicle floated over on its scroll.

"Half an hour. My electronic clock is very accurate; it won't be off by even a second."

"Now that you're back, we should start immediately—"

"Wait a second."

Kaino held up a hand, interrupting the Azure Chronicle.

"That Su told me we have three days, so there's no need to rush just yet. Before we start, can you explain the relevant details to me?"

"For example, what exactly do you mean by the world is about to be destroyed, why can I, who can connect to the Imaginary Space and absorb Honkai energy, help you, and..."

Kaino stared into the Azure Chronicle's eyes, his pace gradually slowing down.

"What do you mean by inverted World Bubble?"

He had wanted to ask these questions all along.

Fu Hua had forgotten the details, so Kaino couldn't get any answers.

And after awakening the Azure Chronicle, he was worried that the world would be destroyed at any moment, so Kaino had to rush to find that Su.

But now that he was sure there was still plenty of time, he naturally wanted to find out.

"I don't mean to distrust you, but to be honest, this world looks no different from any other world to me. People can still run, birds can still fly, the sun is still shining... According to Fu Hua, even Herrschers won't be born. I don't see where the crisis is."

"So I hope you can explain to me why you say this world is going to be destroyed, whether there's a way to prevent it, and what that inverted World Bubble is—in a way that I can understand."

Kaino crossed his arms, tapping his right arm with his right index finger, waiting for the Azure Chronicle's reply.

The Second Herrscher had awakened long ago, and his sister was still in Schicksal. If his world ended up in the same state, he wasn't sure if his sister would end up soaking in the so-called Sea of Quanta for 50,000 years like Kevin in this world.

And if this crisis really couldn't be prevented, he needed to know how to solve the problem from scratch. At least this time, he wouldn't let Kiana... Bianca get into danger again.

After all, she was so naive and righteous when she was young; if that Otto from Schicksal tricked her with a few words, she definitely wouldn't be able to resist.

The Azure Chronicle, sitting on its scroll, held its head in its hands, swaying back and forth, looking very distressed.

"In a way that you can understand... you're not a researcher, how am I supposed to explain so many theories to you?"

Kaino was expressionless.

In reality, he was already flipping tables in his mind.

Was it his fault that he had a low education?

"Ahem. Since you say there's still plenty of time, I'll explain it to you properly—although the more common term is the Tree-Sea Theory, I'll use fish as an example for you."

The Book of Azure Memories snapped its fingers.

"Think of the Sea of Quanta as a vast ocean, and the worlds as individual fish swimming within it."

"Those fish still connected to the Imaginary Tree are like domesticated fish, while those that have broken away are like fish that have lost their feeding source. If they can't sustain themselves, they're doomed to die."

"And a dead world is like a fish carcass in the sea, its past experiences laid bare. Such a world becomes fragmented, endlessly replaying past events—often riddled with bugs. Eventually, it's either devoured by other fish or eroded away by the sea."

"Why is that?"

Kaino frowned, puzzled.

"I could understand if everything in a world was destroyed after it died. But replaying events over and over... where does the energy come from if it's no longer being fed?"

"That's just an analogy. The world itself doesn't consume much energy to operate; it's maintaining the rules within that requires power."

The Book of Azure Memories spread its hands, sighing softly.

"You can use Herrscher powers, right? Then you should know that Herrscher powers are essentially the manipulation of certain rules. This power is supposed to be granted to Herrschers by the Imaginary Tree. It's really strange that you can obtain it through Stigmata."

"Just as the Imaginary Tree grants Herrschers the ability to control rules, it also provides the worlds hanging from it with basic operational rules—like apples falling downwards, water flowing downhill, and the periodic outbreaks of Honkai. These are all rules given to the world by the Imaginary Tree."

"As a civilization develops within a world, Honkai will erupt in that civilization's region. If they can't overcome it, that region will detach from the tree and become a bubble world."

"After a world disconnects from the tree, those rules don't disappear. Instead, they become a world's anchor point, continuing to operate, but the energy to maintain them must be paid by the world itself."

"But a world is essentially an empty shell. What can it pay with? It can't do anything. And our bubble world is the entire solar system, which is too large and energy-intensive, so we, the inhabitants of this world, have to find ways to feed it."

"Infiltrating the Sea of Quanta to supply energy to the anchor point, collecting dead worlds to feed our world—that's what those warriors led by Kevin are doing in the Sea of Quanta."

"Of course, even for Fusion Warriors, prolonged exposure to the Sea of Quanta causes irreversible damage to their bodies. Nowadays, Kevin is the only one left. If Kevin dies too, we're truly finished."

Kaino nodded, indicating understanding, but a new question arose in his mind.

"Then, according to you, why don't you just leave this world?"

"What are you thinking? Do you think everyone can connect to the Imaginary Tree with a Stigma like you?"

The Book of Azure Memories rolled its eyes dramatically.