At Su's words, Ming Yu's heart stirred.
He had already obtained a ticket into the Sea of Quanta, but finding Seele within that nearly infinite sea would still be an extraordinarily difficult task.
If Su could offer him some help in that regard, he would be deeply grateful.
So he sincerely said,
"Please, Senior Su, teach me."
"No need to be so formal... these are merely some lessons from experience."
Next, Su taught Ming Yu several techniques for traveling through the Sea of Quanta.
Having long used the Chariot of Sanctus to observe parallel worlds and World Bubbles, he truly qualified as an expert in this field. He had also personally entered the Sea of Quanta before.
It could be said that, now that they were within the Seed of Sumeru, they were already inside the Sea of Quanta.
How to travel more safely through the Sea of Quanta, how to mark the coordinates of World Bubbles, how to avoid the quantum shadows wandering through the sea whenever possible—Su taught Ming Yu all this essential knowledge without holding anything back.
"Thank you for your help, Senior Su."
A moment later, Ming Yu rose to his feet.
He looked down at the time on his wristwatch. It was about time for him to leave.
"I'll send you out of the Seed of Sumeru."
Su raised a hand, and a portal leading to London appeared before Ming Yu.
Looking through the portal, the battle by the Thames River still seemed to be raging fiercely.
"...Until we meet again."
Ming Yu nodded. After one final look at the gray-haired man leaning against the ancient tree, he turned and stepped into the portal.
Naturally, the instant he returned to reality, he activated Time Reversal.
—His original plan had been to use Time Reversal and return to before the operation began after obtaining the Chariot of Sanctus projection, truly keeping himself out of the whole affair. Encountering Su could only be considered a minor interlude.
That way, in Rita Rossweisse's eyes, he would have done nothing at all. Yet in the erased timeline, he had already accomplished his goal and obtained the Chariot of Sanctus projection.
To Rita Rossweisse, he would merely have taken a trip through Europe. No matter how Otto investigated the rest, he would find no results or information.
As for the real Chariot of Sanctus, it could remain properly sealed until this autumn, when Otto could send his own people to fight World Serpent for it.
After Ming Yu left, the sage unusually opened his eyes, rose to his feet, and walked to a certain place. His violet-red gaze settled upon a World Bubble.
It was... the World Bubble that sealed away his closest friend.
The white-haired figure was still silently standing before a cherry blossom tree. That tall back looked incomparably lonely and desolate.
Looking at that white-haired figure, Su muttered to himself,
"Kevin, I have already glimpsed the path to defeating Honkai. Within this year, Miss Bianka will come here. I will entrust the Chariot of Sanctus to her, then journey to the world after death in search of more truths."
This was a future he had foreseen long ago.
—But the sudden visitor named Ming Yu was not part of that vision.
Nor did the fact that he had broken the Chariot of Sanctus's seal at this moment, causing this Second Divine Key to reappear ahead of schedule, belong to the future Su had seen.
From a rational perspective, he should have eliminated this variable to ensure the world line proceeded toward the future he had glimpsed.
With his abilities, erasing a person's mind would have been effortless.
Yet he did not do so. Instead, he had even offered that young man some help.
"My friend, if it had been you, you would certainly have chosen to eliminate this unstable factor... After all, in your heart, ensuring that Honkai could be defeated mattered more than anything else."
Su sighed softly and raised his head before continuing,
"But I do not wish to do that. Though he may interfere with the future I saw, the people of this era should still decide their own fates. Perhaps he can find a different, better path. After all, he... is quite special."
Blindly imposing the will of the Previous Era upon the people of this generation was not a good choice.
Fifteen hundred years ago, this was precisely why Su and his closest friend Kevin had fallen into disagreement, ultimately forcing them to turn their blades against one another.
The fate of this generation should still be left to the people of this generation. The answer he had found would, for now, merely serve as a reference for them.
Su closed his eyes once more and sat down against the ancient tree.
He had never used mind-reading to understand the unusual nature of that young man, but by observing the changes in the world line, he could still infer many things.
This was the wisdom of a sage.
"...I hope that young man who retraces time can find the best path among countless futures."
The Great Honkai of Manila
Schicksal Headquarters, dormitory.
After ending her brief vacation in London, Durandal had returned to headquarters and continued her grueling daily training.
After completing her daily basic training, she happened to receive a mission notice ordering her to South Africa for a combat operation.
For an S-Rank Valkyrie at the pinnacle like her, back-to-back missions were already a common occurrence. She did not resent them. Rather, being able to truly protect civilians from Honkai made her feel fulfilled.
Without taking much time to rest, the girl immediately returned to her dormitory, packed up briefly, and prepared to depart.
"Lady Durandal, are you preparing to leave on a mission?"
Just as she was about to set off, Rita Rossweisse appeared in her room.
The dark-gold-haired girl was currently dressed in an everyday maid uniform, looking as though she truly were nothing more than an ordinary maid.
Durandal nodded and said,
"Yes. Amber informed me that there is an emergency in South Africa. I'll go deal with it."
"There is a letter for you. Please read it before you depart."
Rita Rossweisse took a letter from her bosom and handed it to her.
"...A letter?"
The blonde girl paused slightly before accepting the letter from Rita Rossweisse.
Elegant handwriting covered the envelope, clearly written by some young girl.
"It was sent by a friend of yours," Rita Rossweisse said politely.
In this day and age, few people still used such an outdated method as letters to contact others.
The extreme convenience of email and various messaging apps had long caused most people to abandon handwritten correspondence.
Thus, Durandal easily guessed who had sent this letter.
"...I understand. I'll read it on the way."
Taking the envelope from Rita Rossweisse, the blonde girl rushed out of the dormitory without stopping and arrived beneath the blue sky.
Then, she activated her armor's flight system and shot into the heavens like a blue meteor.
—Her Bright Knight: Moonbeam was the crystallization of Schicksal's latest technology, the most advanced armor currently in existence. Its high-speed mobility allowed her to reach anywhere in the world within hours, and its maximum flying speed far surpassed that of ordinary aerial battleships.
During the flight, she opened the envelope in her hand and took out the letter inside.
Sure enough, it was a letter from her friend.
The sender was a girl around her age. Like Durandal, she had not chosen to attend St. Freya Academy, instead receiving training at Schicksal Headquarters as she grew up.
Because they had grown up together, they had naturally come to know one another and become friends.
The girl came from one of Schicksal's three great families and possessed considerable talent in controlling Honkai energy. At only sixteen, she had already reached the level of an A-Rank Valkyrie.
The signature read—
Anna Schariac.
Over the next few days, Ming Yu, having reversed time, leisurely enjoyed his European vacation just as planned.
After parting with the two S-Rank Valkyries in London, he gradually noticed quite a few gazes watching him in other cities as well.
But that was fine. If Otto wanted to watch, then he could watch to his heart's content. Ming Yu had done nothing anyway; he was simply enjoying his vacation in comfort.
While he was enjoying himself, Schicksal Overseer Otto might well have been sitting in his command room, utterly puzzled.
Once he returned to St. Freya Academy, he planned to find an opportunity to enter the Sea of Quanta and take a look around first.
After a long flight, Ming Yu arrived at his transfer airport.
He had not managed to buy a direct ticket back to the Far East, only one requiring a layover in Southeast Asia.
And this was the capital of the Philippines.
The Philippine capital was a city named Manila. It was also the country's largest port, with a permanent population of over twelve million—a truly prosperous metropolis.
Dragging his suitcase through the airport transfer passage, Ming Yu admired the scenery outside the window when an emergency communication suddenly came through on his Schicksal terminal.
He opened the terminal to check it. It was not a contact message from the Far East Branch, but an emergency summons issued by Schicksal Headquarters:
Emergency Mission Notice: A large-scale Honkai incident has occurred in Manila, Philippines. The situation is urgent. All nearby Valkyries, please form teams and proceed to provide support immediately! Repeating...
The message abruptly cut off after that, becoming inaudible.
—The excessive Honkai energy had temporarily disrupted his communication device as well.
Special summons like this were only issued in response to large-scale sudden Honkai incidents.
In principle, Schicksal stationed Valkyrie squads in every city under its jurisdiction to handle ordinary, small-scale Honkai incidents. For instance, the squad currently stationed in Manila, Philippines, was a Valkyrie team called Snow Lotus.
But when facing a large-scale Honkai incident, the strength of a single squad was obviously insufficient for an effective response. Handling the disaster and rescuing civilians required coordinating large numbers of personnel from nearby branches.
If the disaster's affected area was too extensive for a single branch's manpower, support would be requested from other branches, while elite forces would be dispatched from headquarters to assist.
That was why, on the original timeline, the Herrscher of Wind incident at the Oceania Branch required support from the Far East Branch—because the Honkai disaster brought by the Herrscher of Wind had nearly paralyzed the entire Oceania Branch, leaving it incapable of handling the situation.
"..."
Almost at the same moment, Ming Yu heard the roars of monsters and the sounds of civilians fleeing in all directions.
Looking up, he could already see many Honkai Beasts invading the airport. They scattered through the terminal, biting and attacking the civilians inside.
He had no need to keep listening for messages from Schicksal Headquarters. He had already witnessed the outbreak of this Honkai incident with his own eyes.
At this moment, it was just like that time.
In a daze, he seemed to have returned to the moment he had first crossed over into Changkong City. Everything felt so familiar.
Only now, he was no longer the powerless boy he had been back then.
Taking a deep breath, Ming Yu set down his luggage and charged toward the Honkai Beasts without hesitation.
Now, in the face of disaster, he could still do something.
Anna Schariac
In a corner of the airport, a little girl clutched the clothes of her mother behind her as Dead Soldiers gradually closed in around her. She cried helplessly,
"Mom... save me..."
She did not know what had happened and could only instinctively seek help from her mother.
For a young child to seek help from her parents was an innate instinct, one shared by every living creature.
But the moment Honkai erupted, her mother had already lost all signs of life. Only a cold corpse remained, unable to offer her any protection.
The little girl curled up in the corner, trembling. Just as a Dead Soldier's claws were about to touch her skin, a spiritual spear suddenly pierced through its chest. The power attached to it swiftly extinguished the Dead Soldier's life, and it collapsed limply onto the ground.
All she saw behind the fallen Dead Soldier was a kind-looking older brother.
Ming Yu then pointed toward a certain direction in the airport and said to her gently,
"Little one, I'll take you over there. It's safe over there."
Before you continue