Page 6

Page 6

"Cheer up! Sora!"

"The pulse is very weak. Prepare to give artificial respiration. Move aside. It's cold."

"How come you like to give people nicknames just like Paimon! Damn it, I've learned battlefield first aid, don't mess around, you should unbutton your clothes and press your chest first!!"

"I, I'm just a little dizzy, please stop messing around or you'll really kill me—" Kong begged them in a hoarse voice as if he had drunk ten kilograms of aged vinegar to be gentler, but to little avail.

At the position of Kong's chest, a half-glowing sphere blocked Eula's first aid steps, making her a little overwhelmed.

"...We seem to have lost the power to make decisions." On the other side, Kafka looked at Eula who was fiddling with the air and said with some distress.

Before the Silver Wolf teleported over, Elio said that in the future he saw, Kafka might have the opportunity to make a decision that would have a great impact on the future, but it depends on whether the "other party" is willing to cooperate.

Now that I think about it, the word "the other party" should not refer to the young man lying on the ground, but the girls who were at a loss what to do with the star core that was half-embedded in his chest.

"? Who are you?"

As the Star Core Hunter approached quietly, Eula and Fat Snake turned around at the same time and looked at the two dangerous people who appeared in the middle of the corridor at some point.

"I'm just a passerby who ran here following the light."

Silver Wolf looked quite troubled:

"Wow... the star core was absorbed by that guy...? No, it looks like he has some indigestion. Hey (whispering) Kafka, I haven't heard that there is a part of the mission that requires us to perform a laparotomy to remove the core." Faced with the overly vigilant gaze, Silver Wolf could only speak in a low voice.

"No, look carefully, this might be the scenario that Elio mentioned, that Qiong will be reborn with a new body." Kafka did not react to the hostility of the two girls in front of her:

"The star core has not been completely integrated into the other party's body. It is related to the fact that our data has not been fully input. We just need to complete the remaining data."

"Hey, what's wrong with you two? Did you make Sora pass out? Get this thing out of his chest!"

Eula didn't dare to pull out the ball of light casually. If it weren't for the fact that Kong looked "peaceful" when he fainted, and if she hadn't had sharp hearing, she would have pointed her sword at the two "strangely dressed" women who suddenly appeared and heard that they might have the means to deal with the ball of light.

"Oh, this thing is so funny jumping around, it's like the doctor's weakness is exposed~"

It sounded like a joke, but Holhaiya's eyes straightened slightly and became quite aggressive:

"But no matter how cute it is, exposing your heart is still very dangerous, don't you think?"

"…I have a way to cure this symptom, provided you are willing to let me get close to him."

Kafka sensed a very strong malice from Holhaiya, as if a giant snake would lower its head and bite her body off in the next second.

But for Qiong, she had to take a gamble, or in other words, for the sake of the future, she had to take the risk of getting close to him:

"The star core can coexist with him. Our procedures can ensure that the fusion process is harmless, but if it drags on, it's hard to say."

"Star core?"

"You don't know about the star core? Then just think of it as a powerful source of energy. Only people with special physiques can withstand its energy and take it for themselves." Seeing that the atmosphere was becoming more and more terrifying, Silver Wolf lazily helped Kafka explain.

"Let me make it clear first. We can't be blamed for its escape. It was this guy's body that attracted the star core. Should we say it's bad luck or luck? Anyway, you can't deal with the star core. Do you want us to take over? We will ensure that the patient's mental state and health are stable."

"Haha, that sounds like something those sanctimonious guys from Rhine Life would say—"

"... Let them come over, Holhaiya, they should be responsible for... 'after-sales service'." In fact, Kong, who had not yet completely fainted, was afraid that Feishe would really turn away the after-sales staff, so he used all his strength to utter these words.

"Let them deal with this sphere..."

Upon hearing this, Youla took a step ahead of Horhaiya, put the greatsword under her armpit, stepped back slightly, and with a gloomy face, gave Kafka a relatively safe distance.

She had some knowledge of the strange system in Kong's body. If the two women did something bad to Kong, they would definitely be countered... and there was no better way at the moment:

"Tell me your names."

"Kafka."

"Silver Wolf, just take it as its real name." The Star Core Hunters said indifferently.

"I am Eula Lawrence - remember your promise to keep him safe. Otherwise, I swear in the name of Lawrence that I will avenge him!"

"Hey, what's wrong with this female family member? She dared to threaten the doctor right before the patient entered the operating room?"

The Silver Wolf tutted in dissatisfaction, but saw Holhaiya gently lower her head and slowly stand up, leaving a smile that made the Silver Wolf shudder. She stood aside and gently shook her staff, not knowing what she was thinking.

"Then go ahead, Kafka. Although I really want to see how he would react if I turned Qiong into a girl, I don't think those two will allow us to do anything stupid."

"How much does he remember?"

"At least I'll remember you." For some reason, Silver Wolf's voice was a little stiff.

Kafka didn't mind Silver Wolf's little hesitation. She murmured as she moved closer to Kong, staring at his peaceful face for a long time. She supported his back and gently pushed the star core in his chest into him.

It was as if the star core had pierced their own bodies. Eula and Holhaiya also trembled, fearing that Kafka would do something dangerous.

"Time to wake up."

For a moment, Sora's face seemed to mature, his blond hair losing some of its beauty and gaining a rustic iron-grey texture, but as he opened his eyes, the familiarity that had made Kafka's heart palpitate faded, and he was still the strange, handsome boy.

Except for the fact that his body seemed to have grown a few centimeters taller and the tips of his braids were stained a little gray, Sora's body did not seem to have undergone any qualitative changes. But deep down, something had quietly changed.

"I'm sorry, but this is important to us."

After some kind of self-hypnosis, Kafka's eyes became very indifferent when she looked at Sora who had just woken up.

"Ka... Fuka?"

When Sora opened his eyes, he saw a face that was familiar to him, but it seemed that many filters had been applied to the face in his memory over time.

[The system is compatible with the star core, awakening the companion creatures of the original god system, and preparing to release the daily tasks of the remaining awakening systems. 】

[Local assistance program has been loaded, "Honkai Impact 3: Star Dome Railway System" is online. 】

"…Great, you still remember me."

As the system was being imported, the purple-haired beauty's indifference showed signs of loosening up at the call, while the silver wolf at the side showed a rather complicated expression to the waking Kong.

"...Bro...Silver Wolf? Why are you here too?" Kong looked behind Kafka with a slightly tired look, and this time he saw a relatively familiar shadow.

"Eh?" Silver Wolf's tense face suddenly relaxed, with inexplicable joy:

"It seems that I am more important than I thought?"

Kafka did not comment on this, but before she could "show concern" to the air, Eula and Holhaiya came up again, so fast that the two Star Hunters could hardly see clearly.

"Sora, are you awake? How do you feel? Are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm fine. The energy from the star core is constantly pouring in. This thing is quite interesting—"

The tip of the nose of the Vengeful Knight was almost touching Sora's forehead. Kafka, who was about to cast a spell on Sora, was pushed away. Her movements faltered, and she quickly realized that she had just lost an opportunity to influence "Qiong".

She couldn't immediately withstand the pressure from the girl with eyes as sinister as snakes and find excuses to hint at something. She would be discovered and needed to look for another opportunity.

"Kafka, according to the script, the people from the Star Train will be here soon, and we shouldn't take pictures with them." Silver Wolf urged her, as if he was disgusted by Kafka's overly tender look when she looked at Sora.

"But in Elio's script, there were no two female knights protecting the prince." Kafka blinked.

"Just say it straight...you want to stay with him for a while, okay?" The silver-haired girl held her forehead slightly.

"Wait, Kafka, Silver Wolf, you haven't told me why you are here--" Kong tried to stand up straight, but his restarted body did not respond to his control immediately.

"It's for Elio's plan, and also to see you... Listen to me: besides these two girls, someone else will find you soon, so don't worry and follow them."

Sora gave Kafka an opportunity to use her Word Spirit, and she seized it. But just as she was about to intensify the hint, the tip of Holhaiya's tail swept over, forcing her to jump away from Sora, barely avoiding the dull sweep.

"What are you going to do with him?"

After retracting her tail, Holhaiya's smile became more "evil". It was a manifestation of her emotional excitement. As sensitive as she was, she naturally captured the mystery contained in Kafka's choice of words and sentences.

"I just want to help him forget some unhappy things... But with you guys here, I don't think my little tricks will work."

Kafka still smiled back, even though she was almost whipped away by Holhaiya's tail just now.

"My work has been completed, Miss Lawrence, and I will take my leave now. We may meet again in the future, because the person next to you is an acquaintance of ours."

"Wait, Kafka, I still have a lot of questions for you—"

Kong finally regained control of his body, and stood up to try to stop the two people who had already turned around.

"At the end of the journey, all your questions will be answered, and... hehe, we will meet again soon. Let's catch up next time."

Kafka gave him a mysterious smile. Silver Wolf tapped the portable terminal twice, grabbed Kafka's arm, and they turned into shadows and teleported to another place, not giving Sora any chance to "reminisce".

Before leaving, Silver Wolf made a "call" gesture with his other hand to the air, indicating that he would keep in touch.

"…What? Two weird guys. Kong, are you really familiar with them?" Eula and Holhaiya were confused by the riddles of the two star core hunters, as if they were outsiders.

"It's a long story, but they seem to be a little different from what I remember..." Kong scratched his head and clenched his fist. After implanting the star core and obtaining a pass to this world, his body was much tougher than before. It should have 30% of the muscle strength of a traveler, and it was still getting stronger as it adapted.

"She just gave you a psychological hint, Doctor. Do you have any symptoms of mental confusion?"

"Don't worry, any mental suggestions will be filtered out by the system."

Kong thought for a while and wanted to explain that the two girls who suddenly appeared just now might be old acquaintances of him, the "protagonist" just now. Unfortunately, he only had some fragmented memory fragments and needed the system's help to digest them.

It was true that he was very familiar with Kafka and Bronya when he was working at Hyperion, but the two just now were obviously similar, yet different.

"Do you know the concept of 'World Bubble'? No? It doesn't matter, I'm just skeptical."

Sora spoke calmly, "My movements were all planned by the local system, just like when I traveled to Terra. After waking up from the sarcophagus, my mission was to go through a series of events to help optimize the world I was in. It's a bit like...ah, in words that you can understand, Eula, I am a test program that helps Akasha iterate."

“…I still don’t quite understand.”

Eula thought she had received a good education and a good legacy, but every time Sora would scare her:

"It probably means that your next trip and experiences have already been booked for you, right?"

"Well, according to the routine, my guide should show up, just like Paimon and Amiya--"

The boy pointed to the empty corridor, but other than the white noise from the gravity damper operating, there was no sound of footsteps at the other end of the corridor.

"...Well, there are special cases. Some local systems occasionally require me to complete testing independently."

He was about to withdraw his fingers in embarrassment when he felt something hit his back.

[The energy supply of the "Original God System" has been restored by 20%, activating the guide "Paimon". ]

“Wow!! Traveler!! Finally, finally——I thought you were dead!! I thought you abandoned me——I thought you didn’t want me anymore!! Wow wow wow——”

The voice that was 70% cute and 30% mean was twisted by the crying tone to sound a bit tragic. The little white-haired "elf" lay on Kong's back, and little pearls flowed out of his eyes that reflected the starry sky like crazy, as if they were free.

"Do you know how worried I am about you--Woooaaaaaa!!"

Helpless, Sora could only take his "best friend" off his back, hold him in his arms, and comfort him in the softest tone possible: "It's okay, Paimon, I'm alive and well, right?"

Paimon's tear-stained hands randomly groped across Sora's face, as if trying to retain the memory of their time together through touch.

"I didn't abandon you, Paimon. I just had to leave for a while because of force majeure... This is what I told you about... The helpless part of traveling through time and space."