Raiden Mei: So This Is a Lostbelt, After All?

Svalbard.

This is the only area on Earth where the Northern Lights can be seen during the day. In the timeline that Satou Yunona was familiar with, the entire archipelago would be plunged into a long polar night from November to February of the following year. At that time, tourists from all over the world would come here to enjoy the beautiful scenery together.

After leaving the [Moon Worship Palace], the three followed Su Muxi's guidance and arrived at this place located in the Arctic Ocean.

This frigid sea is surrounded by land, making it almost semi-enclosed. It connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the Norwegian Sea, the Greenland Sea, and Baffin Bay, and to the Pacific Ocean through the narrow Bering Strait. Along the way, you can still see signal towers rising and falling.

Over the course of seven hundred years, that Your Excellency had brought the entire world under his control. Even in the remote borderlands far from the Shenzhou, his spies were present. The Mayfly Rune trails floating in the atmosphere and various airspaces were enough to identify the permission and information of any passerby.

Beyond the main urban area, the highest combat power, including armies and constructs scattered throughout the world, remains countless.

Even with the micro-management achieved through the combined powers of various Herrscher, there were still near misses, but fortunately, most of the incidents were resolved without serious consequences.

During this process, Kiana's abilities as the Herrscher of the Void played a significant role, and despite numerous setbacks, the group successfully boarded a cruise ship bound for the Arctic Ocean.

In the past, people who wanted to fully experience the scenery of the Arctic Ocean would choose to travel by cruise ship.

Because there are no roads connecting the settlements on the islands, locals use snowmobiles and boats for transportation in winter and summer, respectively.

However, with the rapid development of technology, the availability of airships, transport ships, and various types of aerial vehicles that do not require consideration of low temperatures has led to a wider range of choices.

Although cruise ships can serve as a means of transportation to various islands and are essentially mobile hotels and restaurants, avoiding a lot of travel, they are still relatively rigid compared to other forms of sightseeing.

For the few who knew that the Sea of Quanta lay in the Arctic Ocean, joining a cruise ship that regularly traveled through the Arctic Ocean and interspersed various tourist attractions was not the best option.

For example, today, they had no choice but to comply with the cruise ship's decision to dock in Svalbard, and were huddled in a red wooden cabin, sitting on three separate sofas by the crackling fireplace, looking at the bubbling hot pot in the middle, speechless with each other.

Unfortunately, other methods are more troublesome and easier to expose, while cruise ships, which are a product of history, have fewer security measures, making them like a retro relic that allows a few people to easily blend in.

After all... due to the existence of crystals, even the use of consciousness power has become a taboo.

No one knows whether the crystal will sense other wavelengths and transmit them directly to the Black Tower, eventually reaching the [Dragon Court], which would be tantamount to directly exposing the target location.

If they want to turn the tide, they cannot give up the Sea of Quanta hidden beneath the Arctic Ocean.

Therefore, being extremely careful is the only option.

The white-haired girl watched intently as the delicious cheese melted in her bowl with the heat of the fire. She placed the fish ball from her chopsticks into it, rolling it thoroughly until it was coated with an enticing pale yellow color.

A hint of delight appeared on her delicate face. Under the watchful eyes of Bronya and Satou Yunona as they gazed at the warrior, she unhesitatingly popped the food into her mouth, letting the fragrant taste fill her nostrils.

The texture and flavor of the fish balls are covered with a generous amount of cheese, creating a subtle and delightful taste.

But it's clear that Kiana finds this sweet flavor quite palatable.

Satou Yunona didn't need to observe the other person's expression; she understood this from her knowledge of her friend. Looking at the girl's face illuminated by the lamplight, she smiled and said:

"The taste of Kaslana's house?"

Kiana finished chewing the sweet taste in her mouth, then took two sips of the Coca-Cola on the table. Her rosy lips, fragrant with cheese, held an irresistible allure. She placed the bowl and chopsticks back on the table, wrapped the blanket around herself again, curled up on the sofa with only her head peeking out, and replied:

"Yes, whatever you eat, roll it in cheese and it tastes like Kaslana."

Bronya took a bite of the lamb roll and let out a sigh that sounded very much like that of an elder:

"Kiana, if you keep eating like this, you'll easily gain weight as you get older."

Kiana's expression became somewhat subtle upon hearing this.

She glanced at the gray-haired beauty's firm breasts, the orange light highlighting their rounded contours. Her gaze continued downwards, where her abdomen, contrasting sharply with the breasts, was flat and slender.

Since becoming friends with Bronya after she grew up, the girl has had strong doubts from time to time. She has always had a good body proportion since childhood, but she is not envious of it.

But, does this seem right?

This person wasn't even a third the size they are now when they were 17.

Even if ten years have passed, theoretically she should have long since passed puberty, so it's hard to believe she would have developed such an S-shaped, devilish figure.

Kiana even suspected that Bronya might have cheated using the Herrscher of Reason's powers; theoretically, this power, capable of creating a physical body, shouldn't be unable to accomplish such a thing.

But this kind of question is hard to say out loud no matter how you think about it. The higher a person's emotional intelligence, the more concerns they have in this situation. If it were her a few years ago, she might have just asked directly, but now she simply can't do that.

Perhaps this is a common worry that comes with growing up.

Kiana suppressed her inner thoughts and replied without any worry:

"Just exercise more."

Suddenly, something occurred to her, and she began to have terrible fantasies. Her previously relaxed expression instantly froze.

"Wait, Bronya, you're not saying this because I've gotten fat since I grew up, are you?"

Upon hearing this, Satou Yunona blinked. While eating her rice noodles in a slow, deliberate manner like a small animal, she looked at Bronya expectantly, wanting to hear the gossip that followed.

In the girl's memory, Kiana was always very slender, with a waist so slim that one would want to hold her and rub it with their fingertips.

The size of her breasts is just right, about the size you can barely hold in one hand. A little weight and softness ooze out from between your fingers, very youthful. Her legs are also great in proportion, long and smooth. I've played with them before when we showered together, so I'm quite curious to see what they'll feel like after she gets fatter.

Etc.

Satou Yunona suddenly recalled their reaction at the Little Cat Spin Bar, and then connected it to their past intimate moments together, causing her mind to fall into a strange state of confusion.

Oh no, what should I do!

The thought that her friend might be a lesbian made her feel uneasy, no matter how she tried to embellish the memories. Memories of bathing together seemed to be shrouded in pink bubbles, making them extremely eerie.

Am I actually acting strangely too?

I just didn't notice it myself?

The little girl began to fall into subtle self-doubt, even abandoning her thoughts of watching the melon, and foolishly ate the rice noodles in her bowl, her feelings incredibly complicated.

I am straight, I am gay...

She kept these strange questions to herself, ignoring the fleeting micro-expressions on Bronya's face.

Bronya smiled and replied calmly:

"Kiana, even after growing up, is still pretty much the same as she is now; she hasn't changed much at all."

Kiana breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, but also felt a sense of unease.

Everyone has certain expectations and imaginations about themselves when they grow up.

While no change is a good thing, it's also a disappointing outcome.

However... this shows that I haven't deviated from the path I've been on.

That's enough.

Thinking this to herself, the girl smiled faintly and replied softly:

"Oh, okay? Then I'll eat as much as I want, since I won't get fat anyway."

She ate her beef balls and complained:

"As expected, even wearing Bronya's specially made diving suit, I still feel incredibly cold without using Honkai Energy."

Bronya tossed a piece of firewood into the fireplace, turned on more electricity to the brazier under the table, and whispered:

"That Your Excellency has planted a large number of mayfly nanoparticles in the sea to sense Honkai Energy. Once activated, they will be reported to the database for screening. I cannot guarantee whether Heavy Cannon Rabbit's hacking and concealment will be effective, nor can I guarantee the effectiveness of Yuno's powers. If they fail, they may completely expose our target."

"Our only advantage right now is that the other side is unaware that there is a Lostbelt phenomenon here that creates Sea of Quanta."

"Although the chances are slim, we might as well give it a try."

Satou Yunona snapped out of her daze and, to cover up her unease, actively participated in the conversation:

"Ahem, although I can't use my powers directly anymore, I've been using the Timeline to observe things these past few days and I've found a few gaps where people would never be able to detect the use of powers, which has greatly increased my work efficiency and narrowed down the scope to Svalbard."

Kiana swallowed the beef in her mouth, perked up, and said seriously:

"Let's work even harder these next two days and try to find the Class President's memory as soon as possible."

Bronya placed a dumpling in her bowl and comforted her:

"We're just mortals without Honkai Energy, so it's better to stick to the original duration. Otherwise, wouldn't it be terrible if we caught a fever or a cold before the big battle?"

She looked at the girl's still slightly damp white hair and her frostbitten nose, and said gently:

"Yuno's powers can only slightly alleviate this condition; they cannot cure it."

Take your time.

Kiana felt very uncomfortable with the gentle, older sister version of Bronya, so when she heard this concern, she only responded with a snort through her nose and then ate her meal in silence.

These supplies were taken from the ship's warehouses with serial numbers pointing backwards. According to the self-inspection system of this retro facility, it might not be discovered for about a month. By then, everything will have settled down, so there will be no problem.

The three of them traveled roughly through all areas of the Arctic Ocean along the cruise ship. To prevent the supposed Sea of Quanta hidden in the World Bubble from being in the deep sea, they had to rely on the facilities created by the Herrscher of Reason's Herrscher Authority to monitor it.

In this process, they are linked through undetectable conscious powers, sharing the sensations of the feathers, thus forming a triangular area that is constantly widening and expanding, judging whether Sea of Quanta exists in the deep sea.

Kiana, from the perspective of the Herrscher of the Void, can also perceive the differences between the World Bubble and the surrounding space, serving as a step in filling in any gaps.

Under such circumstances of hiding and concealment, exploring the entire Arctic Ocean would be virtually impossible without the feathers' ability to sense Sea of Quanta locations.

However, after a week-long screening, the three were narrowed down to the current archipelago region.

If we're a little luckier, we might be able to reach the gate to the Sea of Quanta in a few days.

Westminster, London, United Kingdom.

Under the bright sunshine, buildings of different styles rise and fall, with the most magnificent building displaying news from all over the world on its facade, interspersed with holographic advertisements from time to time.

Raiden Mei stood on the top floor of a shopping mall, wearing a British-style blazer that clearly outlined her good figure.

At this moment, the girl was meticulously tying up her purple hair, clearly preparing to blend into this unknown world with this inconspicuous attire.

After Su Qing'an stated that he wanted to leave the Sea of Quanta, she took him and said goodbye to Elysia the next day, and walked directly out of the World Bubble.

In theory, the girl should have landed directly in the sea that could be seen from the sacrificial site; in fact, she was prepared to rush across the layers of sea at top speed.

But the strange thing is that as soon as Raiden Mei passed through that seemingly insignificant membrane, she found herself in a dimly lit, abandoned warehouse.

Su Qing'an explained that this is because the Sea of Quanta is a remnant of a timeline. It appears to exist in a deep sea, and the outside world may be able to touch it, but in reality, it is only temporarily residing on the Proper World. Therefore, after stepping out of that barrier, one will experience a random spatial teleportation.

Assuming it's Kiana, who possesses the Herrscher of the Void, it's quite possible that she could control the teleported location herself for that brief moment.

However, everyone has their own area of expertise, Raiden Mei cannot do that.

In short, arriving directly in a city that clearly didn't look like Shenzhou was in line with our initial expectations.

The girl also followed [[Ashes]]'s instructions and kept her entire body wrapped in an electromagnetic barrier.

This is undoubtedly the right thing to do, but for someone who is unaware of just how dangerous the world is, she could easily run into trouble due to a lack of information.

She straightened the wrinkles in her suit, somewhat silently.

These clothes were taken from the downstairs warehouse, which was filled with defective products. The one I was wearing had an internal cutting error, making it unattractive and thus deemed unusable. However, it was fine as temporary clothing.

Raiden Mei gazed at the city filled with aerial cruise ships, patrol vessels, and even holographic projections from this location, finding it all rather bizarre and surreal.

2088.

This is definitely not the timeline I'm in.

Given the situation at the time, this year would likely have already witnessed several increasingly intense Honkai wars, and perhaps even been defeated or defeated once again by the Finality.

Yet this city is peaceful and developed, and even a few glances reveal a magical aura that greets you—a unique charm born from the proliferation of cutting-edge technology in every corner.

Most importantly, judging from news reports that mix Shenzhou characters with English words, the Taixu Sect, which is suspected to be developed and led by the Class President, seems to have a very high status in this world.

She was watching the news in a country outside of Shenzhou, yet she could clearly see that the local official programs were presenting trivial events and information in a tone that suggested the Taixu Sect was the true regime.

This is undoubtedly very abnormal.

Even the former Mandate of Schicksal, after acquiring vast power distributed throughout the world, never dominated the sovereignty of other countries in such a profound way. Perhaps it had some subtle interference and control, but it never openly displayed its hegemony.

But nowadays, the Taixu Sect vaguely resembles a dictatorial world.

If the one in charge of the Taixu Sect is the same one who fought against the Honkai from the last era to the very end, the Thirteen Flame-Chasers Immortal Chi Yuan who once protected the Shenzhou for five thousand years, and the Class President I know well, then it can only mean that Su Qing'an's problems have had a great impact on him.

The girl, who had many conversations with Su Qing'an in the Sea of Quanta, could roughly guess the ins and outs of the matter. Coupled with the Honkai breeding indicators reported in the news, the answer was almost self-evident.

Although it's unclear what exactly happened, the current Class President, in order to accumulate enough demon corpses for Su Qing'an to devour, seems to have imposed a dictatorship on the entire world, using rapid technological advancements to fish for Honkai, accelerating the accumulation of resources in this most extreme way.

The amount of information contained here is enormous.

Her first reaction was disbelief, but she still had to admit that the other party did indeed have the possibility of being insane.

At that moment, the news broadcast from the Faraway Building continued.

[The increasingly severe Lostbelt phenomenon has caused the Honkai Energy index, which has been drying up for hundreds of years, to rise continuously around the world. This is expected to lead to a decrease in the proportion of the Sinful Domain Anchor Point project, and the performance indicators of major farms have been updated accordingly.]

[The adaptation of "The Legend of the Immortal," which His Your Excellency has permitted, is currently in production. It's rumored that His Your Highness Su may be invited to record the theme song. Below is a preliminary list of the production team...]

[A week ago, the main city in the heart of Shenzhou experienced a series of accidents, resulting in the damage of two warships from the Shan Hai Series, and corresponding errors in the mind systems of the immortal martial arts puppets.]

[To this end, Doctor Mobius, who is in charge of the Constraint Barrier project, is convening the research department to discuss improvement plans. The following is a related video...]

Raiden Mei gazed at the familiar slender figure and light purple hair in the video, lost in thought amidst the overwhelming amount of information.

... Is this actually Lostbelt?