Kiana's Past / Qin Mo's Past

Chapter 41: Kiana's Past

Kill him?

Qin Mo did not touch the two DISCs himself. Instead, he summoned his new Stand and had it retrieve them.

Even after equipping a character card with a Stand, it did not interfere with the use of his own Stand.

Looking at Pucci, who had collapsed like a vegetable and lost all awareness, Qin Mo decided to consider how to deal with him later. He turned his attention to the Stand DISC belonging to White Snake in his hand.

Should he just insert it into his own brain and use it?

Qin Mo stared at the DISC, conflicted. A person could possess multiple Stands at once, but multiple Stands placed a tremendous burden on their holder. If they could not endure it, the DISCs would be ejected.

White Snake was a terrifying Stand, especially to Qin Mo. He was not afraid of physical attacks or even death itself, but he had no way to resist mental abilities. Even with the Dog Talisman's immortality, he could still be sealed or controlled.

If he were controlled into removing the Dog Talisman himself, then it would all be over.

That was why Qin Mo had chosen the most despicable and sinister method to ambush Pucci.

Let's try equipping it...

After hesitating for only a few seconds, Qin Mo made his decision. White Snake's ability was extremely useful. As a mental-type Stand, it could make up for the weakness Qin Mo currently lacked.

Equip White Snake's DISC for me...

Qin Mo issued the command to his Stand, but unexpectedly—

This Stand, whose attributes had been low and whose ability remained unknown until now, did not obey Qin Mo's order. Instead, it raised its left arm.

Qin Mo saw something resembling a disc drive pop out from its left arm.

As he placed White Snake's DISC into it, Qin Mo watched helplessly as the DISC vanished into the nameless Stand's body.

"White Snake!!!!!!"

A mechanical voice emerged from within it. Qin Mo discovered that an icon belonging to White Snake had appeared on the Stand's left arm.

"????"

Wait!? Could it be!?

In an instant, Qin Mo thought of what his Stand's ability might be, though it still needed testing. And right now, the most suitable place to test it was...

The ossuary.

This was where Pucci and Dio had met, and where Pucci's dream had begun.

The place where Pucci had hidden the DISCs was in a corner beneath the ossuary. Qin Mo retrieved them with ease.

Looking at the stack of familiar and useless Stands in his hand, Qin Mo raised an eyebrow. "I knew there wouldn't be any powerful Stands here."

If there had been powerful ones, Dio would definitely have used them against them.

Having his Stand pick up the DISCs, Qin Mo began his first experiment on his Stand underground. The subjects of the experiment were the DISCs in his hand and Pucci, lying on the ground like a vegetable...

Three hours later...

"It can obtain a Stand's special ability by inserting its DISC, but it cannot obtain the Stand's stat panel. However, it can gain an increase in its stat panel by fully digesting the DISC, but it cannot obtain the ability."

That was the conclusion Qin Mo had reached after experimenting with the DISCs. Both methods were irreversible.

Qin Mo did not absorb the abilities on those DISCs. He merely converted them into pure power to improve his Stand's attributes. Since there were not many usable DISCs, he did not know the upper limit of how many abilities his Stand could equip.

However, he discovered that after his Stand absorbed a DISC, it did not perfectly replicate the original ability. Instead, it transformed it into a similar ability.

White Snake's original ability could dissolve the mind. It could not only create DISCs, but also create illusions that caused people's minds to collapse.

But with Qin Mo, only the ability to extract DISCs and create blank DISCs remained.

Since he had no other samples, Qin Mo could not obtain more data. But he already had an even better plan.

"If that's the case, then its potential for growth is too absurd to imagine. If it devoured The World Over Heaven, could it also gain the ability to rewrite reality?"

Qin Mo did not know, but he looked forward to it. Abilities that others needed to struggle desperately to obtain through evolution could be acquired by him step by step, like a staircase leading to heaven.

"Then your name! Will be! Heaven's Gate!!"

In the end, Qin Mo did not kill Pucci. It was not because he was softhearted; there was simply no need. After all, he was not someone who enjoyed killing.

He had Heaven's Gate create a blank false memory and implant it into Pucci's mind.

There was not much in that false memory. It only made him become a good person, honor his parents, and be a good priest. That was all.

Qin Mo returned to the hotel alone. It was already night, but he was too excited to sleep.

A Stand with such an ability was simply too exciting. He even considered creating large numbers of Stand users, extracting their DISCs, and using them to strengthen Heaven's Gate.

But he quickly calmed down. He sought power, but he was not the sort of person who would stop at nothing.

Otherwise, what difference would there be between him and people like Dio?

Knock, knock...

Just as Qin Mo was reflecting on himself, someone knocked on his hotel room door.

"Qin Mo, are you asleep?"

It was Mei's voice.

"Mei?"

Using his Stand, he secretly looked through the peephole. It really was Mei, but at this hour?

"Is something wrong?"

In the end, Qin Mo still opened the door. Mei must have had something important to come over so late.

"Um... it's about Kiana... She's already asleep, but regarding what happened in Egypt before..."

Mei pursed her lips, clasping her hands tightly before her chest. Her heart was far from calm.

"Come in first."

Qin Mo's room was a single room. After looking around, he could not find a chair, so he could only have Mei sit on his bed.

"Although I don't know what you've been thinking, since you've come to ask, I won't hide it from you. But Kiana can't know about this yet. Mei, can you keep this secret?"

"Kiana can't know?"

Mei nodded. She had avoided Kiana and come alone precisely because Kiana seemed to have no memory of anything. She did not want Kiana to worry.

"This begins with the Second Honkai. Oh, right, the one in Chang Kong City was the Third Honkai. The Herrscher born from the Second Honkai was the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin."

Qin Mo told a story known to many people in this world who understood Honkai, while also revealing many secrets within that story that no one knew.

He could have deceived Raiden Mei with lies, or brushed her off with vague answers, but Qin Mo chose the most direct, most foolish, yet most sincere method. He revealed this unknown history without hiding anything.

Chapter 42: Qin Mo's Past

Qin Mo spoke of Sirin's background—how she became an experiment subject, became a Herrscher, triggered the Honkai, met Cecilia, and made her final wish.

Sirin's life had been a tragedy, and tragedy always resonated with people. Cecilia's involvement elevated that tragedy even further. A tragedy's ending was not necessarily tragic. This saint who had always treated others with kindness moved the Second Herrscher in the end and left hope behind for this world.

"So... Sirin and Cecilia both died..."

Tears streamed down Mei's face after hearing the story. Qin Mo wanted to pull out some tissues, only to find that the hotel had not provided any. He could only take out a handkerchief and wipe her tears.

"They both died. They died to the Honkai Energy fission bomb Otto launched. At the same time, through the Divine Key Black Abyss White Flower and her own Holy Blood, Cecilia saved nearly a hundred thousand people from Honkai Energy corruption."

"Then Cecilia was Kiana's mother? And Mr. Siegfried was the father Kiana always talked about, right?"

Qin Mo shook his head. "Kiana both is and isn't. Death is not the end, but a new beginning."

"Herrschers are special. Because of the Herrscher Core, even after they die, fragments of their consciousness may remain within it. And Otto needed the Herrscher of the Void's power for his plan."

"So, to revive the Herrscher of the Void—or rather, to obtain the Herrscher of the Void's power—Otto recovered Sirin's Herrscher Core and created clones, attempting to place the Herrscher Core into a clone's body and create a Herrscher of the Void."

"An ordinary person's clone definitely could not withstand the power of a Herrscher Core, so Otto chose someone special—a person with the bloodlines of Schicksal's two great families, even possessing Cecilia's Holy Blood. That person was Kiana Kaslana!"

Mei blinked, clearly thinking that the Kiana Qin Mo was speaking of was the Kiana she knew.

Qin Mo did not explain and continued. "But was a Herrscher Core really something that could be controlled so easily? Controlling Honkai required not only bloodline, but also the power of the mind. Nearly every clone without a true mind died."

"Only the 423rd experimental subject survived. That was K423, a vessel containing the Herrscher of the Void's Core."

"And K423's success could not be replicated, because this was not a consciousness born from the body itself, but one originating from Sirin's soul within the Herrscher Core. Before her death, Sirin had wished to truly become Cecilia's daughter. Otto's experiment made that wish come true. Thus, two consciousnesses were born within K423's body: one was the Herrscher personality that inherited all of Sirin's memories, and the other was a completely blank personality that hoped for a beautiful future."

As Qin Mo spoke, Mei's expression began to change. She started to realize that everything Qin Mo had been talking about was related to Kiana, because she had already experienced the Herrscher of the Void's power.

"After Siegfried and Kiana Kaslana learned of Otto's experiment, combined with Otto's betrayal that caused Cecilia's death, they became dissatisfied with him. The two contacted Theresa, Otto's granddaughter, and together they infiltrated the laboratory, snatched K423 away, and fled Schicksal."

"During their escape, although Theresa drew the enemy's fire and bought them time, the three of them were still shot down. Kiana Kaslana was struck in the head and fell from the aircraft."

Mei let out a startled cry. "Then..."

She did not know what to call her, but she still called her Kiana. "Then did that Kiana die?"

Qin Mo shook his head. "She is still alive, but that is another story. Siegfried thought she was dead."

"Burdened by guilt over his late wife and remorse for causing his own daughter's death, Siegfried remained depressed for a long time. K423 had also lost her memories during that incident and only believed that Siegfried was her father. You can hear the details from Kiana herself later. In any case, K423 eventually earned Siegfried's recognition. But that idiot, even though he knew K423 and his daughter were two different people and never treated her as a substitute for his daughter, still gave K423 the name Kiana Kaslana. That is the Kiana you know now."

"Kiana carried Sirin's Herrscher personality within her, and Siegfried was the person who had left Sirin with a massive psychological trauma during the Second Honkai. Therefore, whenever she was with Siegfried, the Herrscher personality became extremely restless, until one day, it completely erupted."

"Siegfried sacrificed an arm to drive back the Herrscher personality. He also realized that as long as he remained beside Kiana, she would remain unstable. The newly born personality was naturally no match for the Herrscher personality filled with negative emotions. So he said goodbye to Kiana and made her live alone, while he followed behind her all along, protecting her from afar."

"So Mr. Siegfried, whom Kiana has been searching for, is in Chang Kong City!?"

Mei realized it instantly. Seeing Qin Mo nod, she fell silent. She did not know how to judge Siegfried's actions. If he loved Kiana, then why had he left her alone without saying anything, sending her on a hopeless journey to find her father?

But if he did not love her, then he had sacrificed an arm for Kiana and followed her through years of wandering.

Still, after learning about Kiana's background, Mei felt more reassured about her situation. She had originally thought Qin Mo only knew a little, but she had not expected him to know so much. Moreover, Qin Mo was not worried at all and looked completely confident, as though he had made plans long ago.

It simply was not time yet.

But...

"Qin Mo, I've actually wanted to ask for a while... You seem to know a great deal. Did you really return from the future?"

This was the doubt that had always lingered in Mei's heart, and now, through Kiana's matter, she finally asked it.

Qin Mo's breath caught as he looked into Mei's eyes.

How was he supposed to answer?

This was a death question!

Should he deceive her? Or tell the truth?

What lies brought in the end would still be lies. One lie required more lies to cover it up.

Taking a deep breath, Qin Mo finally made his decision.

"To people in the present, I suppose I did return from the future."

"In the original future, I was not involved in any of these events. At most, I was a powerless observer."

"I don't know why I came here, but since fate has given me this opportunity, I want to change everything."

He did not reveal everything directly, instead choosing an ambiguous answer.

However, Mei did not press further. She only asked, "Then in the future Qin Mo knows... was it a tragedy?"

Was it a tragedy? I don't know!

When Qin Mo transmigrated, Honkai Impact 3rd had not ended yet. Besides, he was not some Honkai scholar who had studied its plot in detail. Still, he had heard that the ending of Honkai Impact 2nd involved restarting the world, and many people speculated that Honkai Impact 3rd would probably have a similar ending.

And then there was all the suffering it kept dishing out...

"I don't know that much."

The plot skipped ahead, and the ending had not been released.

"Although everyone encountered many sorrowful things along the way and said goodbye to many people."

MiHoYo had been ruthlessly handing out tragedy.

"Everyone still held onto their beliefs, wanting to turn this imperfect story into the outcome we hoped for."

"And that is why I came."