Cultivating in Honkai!

It did not take long before the car we were riding went off road. Siberia's most notable feature is Lake Baikal. In Winter, like now, its water surface turns into ice. Its surroundings are also covered with snow.

If it was my previous world, the snow would have begun melting. It's a real hassle to drive in such conditions.

Due to the honkai, however, winter takes up most of Siberia's climate. That's how badly the honkai messed with its ecosystem.

Hence, the people living in this semi-closed region experienced lower quality of life. 

Most crops can't be properly grown in winter. There will be greater demand for energy to warm up houses. Most huntable animals are not present in such an area, either.

This was with the efforts of cleaning up Siberia and handling its aftermath for more than a decade.

It formed a huge disparity from the world I used to know. We went to Siberia back then and visited Lake Baikal, too.

I sighed.

I looked at Kiana beside me. Her head unknowingly leaned on my shoulder.

Yup, she's asleep.

My gaze went to Bronya. She is playing with a handheld console. She's not as sweaty as I thought she would be.

Two months…

That's how long she's been taken by Cocolia. It's natural she hasn't learned much about computers.

"Ha…"

I yawned. The [Xinhai Wuji Heart Sutra] gives a feeling of clarity every time I finish a puzzle. But, it wears off. As soon as it does, mental fatigue follows next. It is negligible after one or two puzzles, though it stacks like crazy once I reach ten.

That's the reason why I can't spam it like the [Toushen Manual].

I want to sleep…

*****

"...ke up…"

"Hm..?"

I opened my eyes. A brief dizziness and blurred vision greeted me. It disappeared in the next second. 

I looked around and saw Kiana tapping my shoulder. The car stopped moving and the opposite car down is open. I can't see Bronya nor the other two guys with us.

"We're here."

"Um…"

I nodded and followed her outside the car. Within its open trunk are several silver cases. The luggages containing our clothes are gone… along with the other weapons.

Kiana bought three guns from that store. I bought two swords. One of them has a small honkai reactor while the other one has none.

From the case's markings, I can see it is the damaged one; the very same jian I used to kill zombies.

"They told us we needed to store the honkai weapons we bought elsewhere. They only left us with this."

"It's fine." I replied. "She can be trusted."

Before the X-10 experiment, Cocolia was trusted enough by Welt. The only concern is her mental state—whether she is crazy now or not.

At the very least, I can rest assured she won't be as crazy and brainless as the in-game version now. X-10 will fully kick off next year at latest.

I hung the weapon case on my shoulder. With that, I saw the entire orphanage Cocolia built. It is no less smaller than a mansion. 

Its architecture is mostly modern. My father has a unique taste and wanted a medieval-like design. Cocolia's orphanage is the opposite of that.

"Four months…"

"We'll find a way to get your father's location from her." I reassured the dazed Kiana. "She's not as persistent as your handler."

"...Thanks."

I smiled as a response. I didn't care if it was ugly or not.

Before the Second Herrscher's reawakening, I am determined to create small cracks. Mainly, improving her own strength through immortal cultivation. The stronger her mind becomes, the less Sirin can interfere with her.

It's something prevalent all throughout the game chapters.

As they say, once the small cracks grow bigger, even a dam can explode.

"If I need to take on that role…"

I shook my head and preoccupied myself with other things. The mansion is not overwhelmingly large. Although, it is more than enough to house dozens of kids.

We did not walk much when we saw Bronya waiting in front of the staircase.

I could not shake off the strange feeling of looking down on her. My height grew taller, nearly the same as Kiana's. She should be around 155 centimeters. 

Bronya is like, what?

145 centimeters?

Just then, Bronya met my gaze. I did not see any visible changes on her face.

"Follow me upstairs."

Neither Kiana nor I spoke to Bronya. An awkward atmosphere permeated between us. I can't just act all too familiar with Bronya. The snacks I gave to her are enough as a greeting.

We went up a total of three floors. There are fewer rooms compared to the first and second floors. It must be a storeroom of sorts. Either that or offices.

Bronya opened the door and led us inside. She did not speak and simply closed the door behind. 

The elegant woman sitting across the desk greeted us. She gave off an even stronger vibe (i.e., charisma) than in the video call.

"We finally met in person."

Cocolia greeted us.

"Tell me more about my old man."

Kiana went straight to the point. The virtual meeting earlier this morning was lacking. All Cocolia said was that Siegfried's absence has something to do with certain things. She did not elaborate further.

Cocolia seemed unfazed by Kiana's abrupt changes.

"You must know the honkai. You already encountered those monsters."

She started talking about honkai's nature. It led to her explanation of the 'world powers' responsible for dealing with honkai beasts and zombies.

"Aren't you curious? Why can these huge monsters be dealt with silently?"

"Because of my old man?" 

Partly, she's correct.

Despite his one-armed state, Anti-Entropy has resources to make him a new bionic arm. With Shamash, he can easily deal with emperor-class honkai beasts. Siegfried possessed the strength of deadbeat dads, as courtesy to Vergil who took his son's arm.

Comparing the two made me realize the irony.

One lost his arm for his daughter; the other took his son's arm.

I swiftly led Kiana back to Cocolia's explanation.

"It means that someone else is dealing with them."

"That's right." 

Cocolia shifted her gaze on me. Her affirmation came soon after.

"There are many organizations dedicated to fighting the honkai. Your father's previous affiliation is one of them."

Schicksal.

Her story-telling started to reach the more interesting part.