Honkai, I Alone Save Everything

As for the subsequent interrogation of Welt, that matter should be left to Theresa, the leader of the Far East Branch.

Immediately after, Ming Yu returned to Mei and Bronya's side. He first picked up Mei, letting her lean against a tree near the beach for a while.

The purple-haired girl still had her eyes closed, breathing quietly.

Hmm... Mei took the drug Bronya gave her, so she probably won't be able to wake up for a while...

If Bronya hadn't done this, he wouldn't have had to do anything in this incident at all. After all, that artificial First Herrscher couldn't possibly be a match for Mei's Herrscher sister inside her.

—In the story he's currently experiencing, Mei didn't install a bomb in her heart to detect Honkai energy levels like in the original timeline. So, if needed, the other self within her could completely unleash all her power.

The reason for this is probably that they avoided the fight between Aunt Himeko and Mei's Herrscher sister in Changkong City. Therefore, Theresa and the others didn't plan to use a bomb to prevent the Third Herrscher's rampage.

Next is Bronya...

Ming Yu ran back and picked up the unconscious silver-haired girl.

Compared to Mei, the petite Bronya was much lighter. Holding her felt as light as holding a ball of cotton.

After arranging for the girl to lean against the tree trunk, Ming Yu was about to get up when a small hand suddenly tugged at his sleeve.

"Hm?"

Ming Yu turned his head and saw Bronya staring intently at him with her gray eyes.

"Bronya, you're awake."

Ming Yu said with a low chuckle.

She didn't drink the drug with the safety effect, she just fell unconscious after being attacked. It's normal that she wouldn't fall into a deep sleep like Mei.

Given Bronya's constitution, this amount of time should be enough for her to recover from her unconsciousness.

"..."

Bronya's lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something.

But all her words ultimately turned into a single thank you:

"...Thank you."

She almost made an irreversible mistake.

"It's nothing. Saving lost girls is my duty."

Ming Yu said playfully when he saw she had regained her senses.

"Ming Yu, you..."

Bronya said hesitantly.

In her opinion, this boy who entered St. Freya Academy with the three of them was quite a mysterious existence.

Initially, when she first saw him in Changkong City, he seemed like an ordinary person.

After entering St. Freya Academy with the three of them, the strength he displayed when fighting with Class Monitor Fu Hua wasn't much beyond her own.

And now, he had defeated that guy who called himself Joyce, against whom her attacks were completely ineffective.

He must have hidden his identity... For example, maybe he's like me, a "spy" sent into Schicksal by some mysterious organization?

Bronya felt this guess had a high probability of being correct.

Perhaps that mysterious donkey-eared woman who approached me in Changkong City came from the same organization as Ming Yu.

Thinking of this, Bronya decided to cut to the chase and asked directly:

"Ming Yu, are you and that donkey-eared woman... from the same organization?"

"Donkey-eared?"

Ming Yu was stunned at first, then he thought about it. If one didn't look closely, Yae Sakura's fox ears could indeed be mistaken for something else...

He nodded without hiding anything and said, "You can think of it that way."

Having an organization that doesn't exist would make Bronya feel more at ease.

As expected, the silver-haired girl pursed her lips slightly and asked in a low voice, "Do... do you really have a way to find Seele?"

"I said earlier, saving lost girls is my duty, so I will help you find Seele."

Ming Yu replied with a smile.

In a sense, that girl who drifted into the Sea of Quanta is indeed a genuinely lost girl.

"I won't tell Theresa and the others about you drugging Mei this time, but in return, I need you to make a choice. I need you to completely betray Cocolia."

"...Bronya understands."

The silver-haired girl nodded slightly.

She was willing to do anything to find Seele.

It was Cocolia, whom she had always respected, who had made Seele disappear from this world. But if she was just deceiving herself into working for her with lies...

She naturally had no need to continue obeying Cocolia's orders.

"Ming Yu! Mei! Bronya!"

A cheerful voice suddenly came from the direction of the woods. It was Kiana, arriving with Fu Hua and the others.

"Phew… Alright, let's head back first."

Ming Yu extended his hand to the silver-haired girl sitting on the ground.

After a slight hesitation, Bronya placed her hand on his, using his strength to stand up with difficulty.

Chapter 52: The Sudden Co-habitation Incident

The next day.

Due to the impact of the Anti-Entropy invasion incident, the students who were affected or involved were given a short break by Theresa for recuperation and rest.

As for Ming Yu, who had defeated the invader Welt, he naturally spent a day accompanying the headmistress through the process of interrogating Welt and explaining the events.

Of course, this time, Welt was the only captured invader.

Or rather, the true invader was only him. After all, his mission was to capture the Third Herrscher alive.

The invaders who infiltrated the underground area of the Central Cathedral, as Ming Yu recalled, were Cocolia and Dr. Einstein. However, they didn't invade in person but used special means to infiltrate remotely.

Their true objective wasn't to obtain anything from Schicksal's database, but to use the invasion as a guise to lure Theresa to the scene for some private dealings.

For example… a deal to resist Otto.

"Phew… Finally done."

It was evening when Ming Yu walked out of Theresa's office.

As he walked towards the dormitory, he pondered future matters.

Currently, regarding Bronya, there was an unavoidable issue that needed to be dealt with.

—Although she might have already begun to resist Cocolia psychologically and no longer intended to work for her, a bio-chip used to control Bronya's actions was still implanted in the girl's mind.

As a girl weapon created by Cocolia's Valkyrie Project, Bronya had no personal freedom when necessary.

If it were according to the original timeline, she would have had to wait until after the Wendy incident, and Bronya, not wanting to harm her companions, would have overloaded and burned the bio-chip in her head, falling into a near-death state. Only then would she have escaped Cocolia's control and begun her own life.

However, it was likely that everything in the future would not unfold according to the original timeline. Ming Yu intended to find a way to deal with the bio-chip in Bronya's head in advance.

Theoretically, with his electromagnetic control abilities, he might be able to destroy the chip in her brain without surgery. However, the risk was too great, and any slight mistake could cause irreversible damage to her brain.

Although he could use rewind to constantly adjust and try, the impact on the brain might not be immediately apparent, so it was better to choose a more stable method.

The only method he could think of at the moment was to borrow the power of Yae Sakura, or rather, Jizo Mitama.

As the king of the data layer, the authority of the Herrscher of Corruption was always quite useful in this regard. Dealing with a small bio-chip would naturally be a piece of cake.

However, that sakura-colored shrine maiden had not yet mastered the authority of corruption, and Higokumaru was also not yet subdued. He couldn't borrow its power for the time being.

Hmm, were there any other ways…

While thinking about his subsequent arrangements, Ming Yu walked back to his dormitory. Before long, he arrived at the door.

Opening the door, he heard a commotion from the living room that shouldn't have been there.

"…?"

Ming Yu looked up at the door number. Yes, he wasn't mistaken.

Then, he went to the living room and saw two unwelcome guests.

Kiana was kneeling on the floor, her eyes glued to the television screen, holding a game controller and fiercely battling enemies in the game, seemingly not noticing his arrival.

Bronya, on the other hand, was sitting on the sofa, looking thoughtfully at Yae Sakura, who had transformed into a small fox, pondering something.

The sound of stir-frying from the kitchen indicated that the last remaining purple-haired girl was also there.

Although these beautiful girls were all cute, and Ming Yu welcomed them to his dormitory, there was a more important issue at hand—

Ming Yu glanced at the three luggage boxes of various shapes and sizes piled in the corner of the living room and couldn't help but ask:

"You three… why are you in my dorm?"

Clearly, they had come prepared and didn't seem to be just visiting.

Kiana happened to lose the game and put down the controller. Hearing his question, she rolled her eyes and replied matter-of-factly:

"Because our dorm was destroyed by that invader!"

The invasion by Welt, and the fierce battle he and Bronya had in the dorm, had rendered their dorm temporarily uninhabitable.

Although Theresa had arranged for a construction team to repair it, it wouldn't be completed in a few days.

Therefore, they, who were temporarily homeless, appeared here.

"I understand the logic, so why my dorm…?"

St. Freya Academy's land area was severely disproportionate to the number of students it housed, so there were quite a few vacant dormitories. Finding an empty villa for these three girls wouldn't have been difficult.

"What, you're really unhappy about letting me stay here?"

Hearing Ming Yu's seemingly displeased tone, Kiana stood up, put her hands on her hips, and questioned him.

"It's not that I'm unwilling..."

Ming Yu coughed lightly and said, "At least give me some advance notice."

He could have at least tidied up and prepared his room... after all, Yae Sakura was also temporarily staying here.

Fortunately, judging from the harmonious scene of them and the little fox getting along, Yae Sakura's presence likely hadn't been discovered by them yet. The excuse he used last time to fool Mei about the little fox could still be used for now.

"I wanted to give you a surprise, and besides, haven't you been helping Aunt Himeko all day?"

Kiana replied, pouting.

"...Mei-nee-chan and Bronya applied to the Headmistress."

The silver-haired girl beside them finally added the real reason in a quiet tone.

Theresa had originally intended to arrange an empty new dormitory for them, but under Bronya's proactive suggestion, they ultimately decided to move here.

Mei naturally had no objections to this; in fact, she would strongly approve.

As for Bronya herself, she also had her own reasons:

His promise to find Seele was the only lifeline she had in her eyes right now.

Keeping a closer distance might be better, and perhaps she could do something, though she didn't know what she could do now.

With two out of the three voting in favor, Kiana, the remaining one, naturally agreed.

According to Theresa, moving closer would also be good for tutoring her abysmal schoolwork.

As for Aunt Himeko, she had temporarily moved in with Fu Hua.

—The reason they didn't move over together, in her words, was "to leave some private space for the young people."