A Late-Night Talk / Sharing Abilities

"At least in this world, I'll definitely protect it!"

Night Talk

Love Train was an ability Fani Valentine had obtained after gathering all the Saint's Corpse parts. Qin Mo felt that, much like Requiem, this ability's evolution stemmed from personal needs. Fani had wanted to make his country strong, to forever drive away everything bad and leave behind only the good.

Thus, his ability transferred misfortune and attacks elsewhere in the world, because he cared about absolutely nothing except his own country.

But Qin Mo was not that kind of person. After Heaven's Gate transformed Love Train, it became an ability suited to Qin Mo—an ability he needed, one that connected him to others.

Though its description was simple, the more plain and unadorned a description was, the more terrifying the power it contained.

Taking out Nika's Mask, Qin Mo was still using The Dark One's character card. The Dark One used his own power to draw the shadow energy from the mask and create the Shadow Legion.

But this had both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage was that the negative emotions of the Shadow Mask could not affect Qin Mo, its user. The disadvantage was that the number of Shadow Legion soldiers summoned this way had a limit—exactly one hundred.

The principle behind the Shadow Mask was to use the darkness in one's heart to summon soldiers from one's own shadow. The greater that darkness, the more soldiers could be summoned. Therefore, as long as someone possessed boundless darkness in their heart, they could theoretically summon enough soldiers to flood the entire world.

However, the forcibly extracted shadow energy had lost its ability to connect with the dark side of one's heart. It could only rely on its special nature to summon soldiers from shadows. Those shadows did not have to be Qin Mo's own; any shadow would do. But the number was capped at one hundred. Without the support of that darkness, this seemed to be the limit.

And now, Qin Mo was going to use this power in a new way.

He casually tossed Nika's Mask backward. Heaven's Gate reached out, caught it, and pressed a hand against the mask.

Qin Mo immediately felt a bond form between himself and the mask. He could freely draw power from it or pour his own power into it.

He did not know whether all people and objects worked this way, or whether it was only because he was dealing with an inanimate object.

Qin Mo sensed two kinds of power inside the mask. One was cold and evil, while the other was pure darkness.

He did not need to distinguish between them to know which one he needed. After the Shadow Mask was worn, that evil power would constantly draw out the host's dark side. But the Shadow Legion was not purely a power born of darkness.

Heaven's Gate stretched out a hand and extracted that pure darkness from Nika's Mask. Cracks immediately spread across the mask.

Nika Mask had now lost its ability to summon the Shadow Legion. It only retained the ability to awaken the darkness in its host's heart.

Qin Mo casually put it away and watched Heaven's Gate toy with the black sphere in its hand.

Although Heaven's Gate had extracted the energy, it apparently could not use it itself. In the end, it still merged into Qin Mo's body.

"Sure enough, it's enough for one hundred people..."

Feeling the energy within himself, Qin Mo silently used the shadows beneath the night outside the window, where no one could see, to summon the entire Shadow Legion. There were exactly one hundred of them.

The Shadow Legion could not die, but they could be dispersed. Once dispersed, they would turn back into shadows and needed to be summoned again near their controller.

One hundred was enough. At the very least, Qin Mo did not expect them to fight Honkai Beasts.

With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the Shadow Legion. Looking out at the night, Qin Mo thought that Love Train's power had not actually been meant for the Shadow Mask. It had merely been unlucky. This power had been prepared for Mei and Kiana. Mei was fine, but if Kiana became Herrscherized from too much Honkai Energy and the Queen awakened, he could use Love Train's power to pull over the Honkai Energy, or even the Herrscher of the Void's authority.

Knock, knock.

Along with the knocking, Kiana's voice sounded from outside. "Qin Mo, we're done washing. You can go now."

Along with Kiana's voice came Theresa's crisp roar, apparently telling Kiana to put on more clothes.

"Alright, I'll be there in a moment."

Only after the others had finished soaking did Qin Mo enter his own bathroom to wash up.

Before soaking in a hot spring, one needed to wash first. After all, hot springs were not meant for washing off dirt. To avoid contaminating the spring, they had to wash the grime off beforehand.

After spending five minutes quickly washing his entire body, Qin Mo put on a bathrobe and stepped out of his room. He saw Kiana and Bronya sitting in front of the living room television playing games, Mei sitting on the sofa behind them reading a book, and Himeko, as steady as ever, drinking beer.

"Waaah! What are you looking at?! Hurry up and go soak in the hot spring!"

Before Qin Mo could look twice, Theresa, dressed in a Homu pajama set, jumped in front of him. With her arms held high, she bounced up and down as though trying to block his view. She was utterly adorable.

"What's the big deal? I've been seeing this scene for days."

After soaking in the hot spring, the girls were not wearing much, only simple nightgowns. Compared to them, Theresa, the oldest one here, was dressed the most conservatively and childishly.

"Still not allowed!"

Himeko smiled as she drank at the dining table. "Alright, Theresa. Little brother Qin Mo has already been living with us for days. Relax."

"Shut up, you bombshell! You're the one dressed the most indecently here!"

Hearing Himeko's words, Theresa immediately abandoned Qin Mo and charged straight at Himeko.

Qin Mo took the opportunity to slip away.

Immersing himself in the hot spring, Qin Mo let out a long breath. Sitting in front of the computer for extended periods to type had left him quite fatigued, and a soak in the hot spring was a good way to relax.

He scooped up a handful of water and looked at it. It was completely indistinguishable from ordinary water.

But Qin Mo knew that this hot spring had been created with Nen and possessed miraculous effects.

He did not know how it worked, but he was deeply fascinated by the strange and varied abilities of Nen. After obtaining two character cards with Nen abilities, he had tried switching and sensing them. While using the character cards, he could skillfully sense and use Nen, but once he removed the cards, he could not feel it at all.

He had clearly sensed a faint shared origin while practicing Ripple, yet for some reason, he still had not awakened his own Nen ability.

Slowly submerging everything below his neck into the hot spring, Qin Mo realized that the noise inside the villa had stopped at some point. It was also very late. They had probably returned to their rooms to rest.

No room's window could see the hot spring's location. The only glass sliding door connected to the living room had been urgently fitted with curtains by Theresa because of the hot spring.

It was obvious that Theresa was quite wary of him, but that also put Qin Mo at ease. After all, he was a vigorous young man in the prime of adolescence. Seeing such tempting scenes every day would be hard to bear.

As for the hot spring, even if the others allowed Qin Mo to bathe together with them, he felt he would refuse...

"Qin Mo..."

As Qin Mo closed his eyes, a faint voice reached his ears.

Sharing Abilities

"Mei! What are you doing?"

Seeing Mei walk out from the living room, Qin Mo was initially startled. Then, when he saw the towel wrapped around her body, he immediately lowered his voice.

Oh god, if Theresa sees this, she'll definitely crack my skull open with Judas.

"Shh..."

Mei placed a finger to her lips, then quietly walked to the edge of the hot spring and entered it. Under the faint, cool light nearby, Qin Mo could see that her face was bright red. He did not know whether it was from the heat of the spring or embarrassment.

"Kiana and the others have all gone back to their rooms."

Mei added that before submerging half her face beneath the water.

What did you come here for? Qin Mo really wanted to ask that, but while he might have been a straight man, he was not completely dense.

Though she was wrapped in a towel and her entire body was submerged beneath the spring, Qin Mo could still see Mei's skin through the water. It was as smooth as congealed fat, delicate enough to break with a breath.

Since she needed to soak in the hot spring, she had tied her hair up. Her snow-white neck, like creamy jade, was equally alluring beneath the water.

"Ahem."

Seeing Mei's face grow redder under his gaze, Qin Mo coughed twice and turned his head slightly away. "It feels like it's been a long time since it was just the two of us like this."

Qin Mo did not know what had prompted Mei to do this. It definitely was not just to soak in the hot spring. Since she had not spoken, he could only start the conversation himself.

"Mm..." Despite Qin Mo's awkward attempt at conversation, Mei still replied. She slightly raised her face out of the water while keeping her body submerged. "Because Kiana is always clinging to me."

Although she said that, there was no resentment in her tone.

"That's just how Kiana is. She's clearly the most lost one herself, yet she can always bring energy to others."

"Yeah."

Looking down at the water's surface, Mei said, "Sometimes, I wonder how nice it would be if things could always stay like this, just like during that trip."

"There'll be another chance. If we go traveling again, where would you want to go?"

Thinking of the dungeon system that was currently charging, Qin Mo asked.

"Will there really be another chance...?"

Mei's voice was full of anticipation. "As long as everyone is together, anywhere is fine."

"But..."

She seemed to recall something. "Qin Mo, what do you think of Bronya?"

"Bronya?"

Hearing Mei's question, Qin Mo froze for a moment. "Which aspect do you mean?"

Mei pursed her lips, seemingly thinking about how to phrase it. Qin Mo did not rush her. After a while, Mei finally spoke. "Earlier, I heard Bronya contacting someone named Cocolia."

"And it seemed like she was reporting our situation to her..."

"Bronya was secretly contacting Cocolia and got discovered?"

Qin Mo laughed. That made sense. She had originally communicated through a chip in her brain, but after they destroyed it, she could only contact her through external means. The chances of being discovered were high.

"Don't worry, Mei. Bronya was deceived too. She isn't a bad person."

Qin Mo felt that he spent every day spoiling the plot for Mei. He had thought it over carefully and realized that telling her the truth directly was better than trying to brush her off.

"Bronya was once a mercenary struggling to survive, known as the Ural Silver Wolf. During an assassination mission targeting Cocolia, she was captured by Cocolia and taken into her orphanage. There were many other orphans Cocolia had adopted there, all victims of Honkai. They all called Cocolia Mother."

"At the orphanage, Bronya met a girl named Seele and became friends with her. Their relationship..."

Qin Mo thought for a moment before saying, "It was probably like yours and Kiana's."

"Cocolia is a strange and contradictory person. She loves the children, but she is also filled with ambition. She wanted to defeat the Honkai through experiments, and Bronya was the subject of those experiments."

"Like you, Seele was born with a Stigmata. After learning about Cocolia's experiment, she showed Cocolia her Stigmata and asked to take Bronya's place. The result was that the experiment failed. Seele's body turned quantum and fell into the Quantum Sea—the place outside this world."

"To see Seele again, Bronya voluntarily joined the experiment. She entered the Quantum Sea and found Seele. Bronya originally wanted to stay there with her, but Seele did not want Bronya to make such a sacrifice. Using her own power, Seele sent Bronya out, combining the power in her Stigmata with the Quantum Sea's power to create Heavy Tank Bunny 19C and give it to Bronya."

"Bronya promised Seele that she would definitely rescue her. But after the experiment, Bronya's emotional circuits were damaged, and her legs lost their ability to move. That was how she was when we first met her."

"Cocolia triggered the Third Honkai and hid it from Bronya. She deceived Bronya by saying that as long as she brought back the Gem of Conquest, Seele could be saved."

Qin Mo finally shook his head. "Cocolia's lie was full of holes, yet Bronya believed it completely. Perhaps she merely wanted that one remaining hope to be real."

"So that's why you..."

Mei remembered Qin Mo telling them about the Quantum Sea in front of Bronya. Qin Mo nodded. "That's right. I wanted her to stop placing her hopes on that woman. Originally, the three of you were meant to become friends who could rely on each other. After Cocolia used the chip to control Bronya several times and make her hurt you, Bronya burned the chip herself and completely severed ties with her. She also rescued Seele through her own strength. I only want to speed up that process now."

"I was wrong to blame Bronya. I never expected that she..."

Mei submerged her face in the water again, apparently blaming herself for having just suspected Bronya.

"It's not your fault, Mei. Right now, she really does still want to carry out Cocolia's mission. Bronya has no mother, and she never had a normal childhood. If you want to make it up to her, then show her more care."

"Mm, I will."

Seeing Mei still looking guilty, Qin Mo moved over from the other end of the hot spring.

"I just obtained an interesting power today. It's very suitable for running errands, doing chores, cleaning, and things like that. The villa is so large now, so I'll share some with you."

Mei did not refuse when Qin Mo approached. "What kind of power?"

"Give me your hand."

Qin Mo took Mei's outstretched left hand. A pink bond appeared between them, and a black substance entered Mei's body through it.

"This is called the Shadow Legion."

Before Mei could ask, Qin Mo explained on his own. Then he summoned a ninja soldier beneath a distant shadow, startling Mei so much that she instantly submerged her whole body in the water.

"Haha, don't worry. They have no consciousness of their own. The Shadow Legion is a collection of shadow energy and can be summoned through shadows. What I just gave you was the energy of ten ninja soldiers. Since they are shadows themselves and move quickly, they can even pass through gaps that ordinary people can't."

As Qin Mo spoke, the Shadow Legion soldier darted up a tree, then slipped into a gap beneath the villa's outer wall.

"They're different from Stands. They can only understand simple commands."

"So they were the ones cleaning the rooms back then?"

Mei poked her head out, watching the ninja soldier demonstrate its abilities as she suddenly thought of something.

"That's right. But I don't want to expose this in front of Himeko and Theresa, so remember to keep it secret for me. Be careful when using them too. Others can't see Stands, but everyone can see the Shadow Legion."

Mei nodded. Shared secrets always brought people closer together.

"By the way, what is this?"

The faint pink bond remained even after the Shadow Legion's power had been transferred. Unless Qin Mo took it back himself, it would not disappear. At most, it would simply fade from sight.