"I Am Not Raiden Mei"

Ming Yu glanced at the Honkai Beasts lying defeated on the ground, then raised his head and looked around, seemingly searching for someone.

At present, there were only a few people active in Changkong City who could defeat Honkai Beasts.

Kiana, Mei, Raven, and...

Kiana probably only had a baseball bat and a pistol on hand. As a Herrscher, Mei could not possibly be here, while Raven... did not seem capable of inflicting wounds like these.

So there was only one answer.

Within his field of vision, a silver-haired girl appeared.

Her feet did not touch the ground. Instead, she floated gently in the air, holding a Homu plushie in her arms as she quietly looked this way.

Behind her, the outline of some enormous mechanical device could vaguely be seen.

These defeated Honkai Beasts must have been her handiwork.

Ming Yu's expression grew slightly more serious.

Bronya Zaychik.

Although she would become one of the famous Three Families in the future, the successor to the Herrscher of Reason, and the renowned proof of the "8 > 50000" inequality... at this point in time, the girl was still one of Cocolia's subordinates.

Though the artificial Honkai outbreak here had not been caused by Bronya, her current mission should have been to follow Cocolia's orders and retrieve Raiden Mei. She was still affiliated with Anti-Entropy.

If he had to put it into words, the role she played here was that of a "villain."

He could not come into conflict with her here. But then again... there was no reason for Ming Yu and her to clash right now.

As far as Ming Yu knew, Bronya was not someone who killed indiscriminately.

Should he try negotiating with her?

Of course.

Even if something unexpected really happened, he could avoid that future through Time Reversal. He only needed to avoid Bronya during his next attempt.

Thinking that, Ming Yu lowered his head and looked at the mechanical watch on his wrist, memorizing the time when he encountered Bronya.

At the same time Ming Yu and Xiaokong spotted Bronya, she noticed them as well.

"Are you... survivors?"

Bronya asked in a calm voice.

At present, the X-10 experiment had damaged the emotional circuits in her brain, robbing her of the ability to perceive emotions. Her legs had also been infected by Honkai energy, forcing her to rely on a mechanical exoskeleton to move.

This state of mental and physical disability would not be healed until she became the Herrscher of Reason.

"Yes."

Ming Yu nodded.

"..."

Bronya did not respond. She merely studied Ming Yu intently with her gray eyes.

She was observing the physiques of Ming Yu and Xiaokong.

Those who had received combat training carried themselves differently from ordinary people. As someone who had been raised as a child soldier since childhood, she understood that better than anyone.

Judging from their movements and her observations, these two really were ordinary people, with nothing particularly unusual about them.

Thus, Bronya ruled out the possibility that they posed a threat.

Her most urgent task was to find Raiden Mei and retrieve her. Other matters lay outside her considerations. She could simply ignore these two survivors she had happened to encounter.

Raiden Mei... that Stigmata awakener. She had to be found so Cocolia Mama could study her and discover a way to bring Seele back...

As long as she could bring Seele back, she was willing to do anything.

The silver-haired girl thought mechanically to herself.

She no longer had emotions. The sole purpose of her life now was to bring back Seele, with whom she had grown up.

Then, Bronya's gaze fell upon the young Xiaokong beside Ming Yu, and her eyes unexpectedly softened slightly.

When it came to losing their families to the Honkai, she was no different from Raven. Both were victims of the Second Honkai Eruption.

That was why she naturally held a certain kindness toward such a young, helpless child.

Yet when Ming Yu thought of how the true culprit who had made Xiaokong and so many other children lose everything was Cocolia, the "Mama" Bronya respected so deeply, he found it somewhat ironic.

Bronya handed the Homu plushie in her arms to Xiaokong and said in a calm voice:

"This is for you."

"Eh... um, thank you, big sister."

Xiaokong accepted the Homu plushie, saying so in surprise.

Feeling the plushie's lingering warmth, the gloom brought on by the devastating upheaval she had suffered was soothed somewhat.

Naturally, she also liked this kind of soft, yellow rabbit plushie.

In the world of Honkai, these yellow Homu plushies possessed an inexplicable attraction for pretty girls. From the future Schicksal Overseer and the Herrscher of Reason to ordinary civilian girls, no one disliked Homu. It truly was universally beloved.

Of course, Ming Yu did not feel much about the plushie...

What was so cute about this yellow doll that looked so annoyingly smug?

Then Bronya pointed east and suggested to Ming Yu and Xiaokong:

"You should quickly find somewhere to take shelter. There are fewer Honkai Beasts over there."

As for herself, she still had to search for the Third Herrscher, Raiden Mei.

Because the concentration of Honkai energy in Changkong City had already reached a certain level, with high-density Honkai energy spread everywhere, Bronya had no way to use a Honkai energy detection device to locate Raiden Mei.

Although the location where Cocolia had released the Honkai energy was Chiba Academy, Bronya believed that after awakening as the Third Herrscher, the Raiden Mei she had never met would not necessarily remain obediently at Chiba Academy and wait to be captured.

Considering the Honkai phenomenon that had already spread throughout the entire city, Bronya deduced that her target was probably wandering somewhere within the city.

Unfortunately, although she had searched the city for Raiden Mei for quite some time, she had found nothing.

Ming Yu lowered his head and glanced at the mechanical watch on his wrist, making a decision.

Nearly fifty minutes had passed since leaving that little house and encountering Bronya here. The limit of his reversal was almost upon him.

In other words, he needed to establish a new "save point."

On the other routes, he had also failed to find Raven within an hour. Hmm... it was better to choose this route after all.

He finalized his current encounter with Bronya as reality, then recorded the present moment once more as the origin point for reversal.

Next, he would "split into two groups." On one side, he would follow the original plan and take Xiaokong to search for Raven's safe shelter. On the other, he would try following Bronya to search for Raiden Mei and see what exactly would happen.

"I'm Not Raiden Mei"

While Bronya and Ming Yu were still talking, an unlucky Assault-class Honkai Beast happened to wander nearby.

It sensed the presence of humans and charged toward the three of them at full speed.

At the sight of the monster, Xiaokong fearfully hid behind Ming Yu. Bronya, however, did not even raise her head as she controlled Project Bunny and casually fired a laser.

With a miserable cry, the Assault-class Honkai Beast fell to the ground and could no longer rise.

It was indeed quite unlucky for that Honkai Beast, but for Ming Yu, it was a gift from heaven.

—He had been worrying over how to find an excuse to bring up Raiden Mei with Bronya.

Although he guessed Bronya was most likely searching for Raiden Mei, abruptly mentioning her name for no reason would easily arouse Bronya's suspicions.

So he had to make up an excuse.

He had witnessed her formidable strength firsthand, so he wanted to ask her for help with something... That would probably work.

Taking a quiet breath, Ming Yu put on a slightly delighted expression and asked the silver-haired girl before him:

"Um, may I ask... were all the Honkai Beasts here defeated by you?"

Bronya nodded silently, then rose to leave.

"I have a friend. Something strange seems to have happened to her, and she has fallen into some kind of danger... I'm very worried about her and want to see her again. Could I ask you to help me?"

Ming Yu pleaded in an extremely sincere tone.

"..."

Bronya had intended to refuse, since she still had a rather important mission to carry out.

But when her gray eyes met Ming Yu's utterly sincere gaze, as well as the weak, pitiful, and helpless Xiaokong beside him, she changed her answer.

"...Who is she, and where is she?"

If it was not too far away, it would not hurt to lend a hand.

Besides, she could not find Raiden Mei's location anyway. Going anywhere was the same.

There was also a chance she might encounter Raiden Mei along the way.

The only order Cocolia Mama had given her was to retrieve Raiden Mei. As for everything else, she could act according to her own wishes.

Seeing that Bronya had not refused, Ming Yu cast out the bait to lure her in.

"She is a student at Chiba Academy and also my friend. Her name is Raiden Mei."

"...!"

For an instant, Ming Yu seemed to see a glimmer flash through the petite girl's eyes.

For Bronya, finding Raiden Mei was an extremely important matter.

The sooner she found and retrieved Raiden Mei, the more likely she was to avoid interference from Schicksal.

—Schicksal's Far East Branch could send Valkyries to subdue the Herrscher at any time. She had to act as soon as possible.

"When I escaped, she was still at Chiba Academy... She should still be there now, right?"

Ming Yu said uncertainly.

After Cocolia's release of Honkai energy had caused the Third Herrscher's power to fully awaken, that girl had not left Chiba Academy to wreak havoc throughout the city.

Quite the opposite. She had chosen to remain inside Chiba Academy, preventing her existence from affecting a wider area and causing even greater destruction.

In other words, the Honkai Beast invasion currently occurring throughout Changkong City was merely an aftershock of her awakening power.

If the Herrscher of Thunder had truly intended to cause widespread destruction, Changkong City would probably have already been reduced entirely to ruins. He would never have had the chance to struggle for survival here.

Well, of course, if he had guessed wrong and the Herrscher of Thunder was not at Chiba Academy for some reason, then he could simply use reversal to erase this future and search for Mei again.

"...Bronya agrees. Bronya will take you to find her."

The girl said quietly.

Thanks to her peculiar verbal habit, Ming Yu was spared the need to pretend to ask her name.

He truly did not know what the situation at Chiba Academy was like now. For example, whether Kiana had already found Raiden Mei and begun "communicating through combat."

If he made it in time, joining the Three Families and entering St. Freya Academy with them might be a viable choice.

Whether it worked or not, gaining more information and intelligence now, leaving himself more viable options, and having more paths available could never be a bad thing.

Ming Yu alone could only reach a limited area. He needed to latch onto Bronya and see the wider world.

Since he possessed the ability to reverse time, he should make the best possible use of it.

"...However, Bronya cannot guarantee your safety. Your friend is probably in a bad situation."

Bronya added immediately afterward.

Her mission was to find and retrieve the Third Herrscher. Considering the influence that existence had currently displayed in Changkong City, a fierce battle was very likely to break out the moment they met.

She herself did not matter. She had long since cast life and death aside. But in her eyes, Ming Yu was merely an ordinary person, and he would likely find it difficult to survive a battle of that magnitude.

"You don't need to worry about that. Um... I have to see her."