Honkai Impact: The Dream Keeper

On the bridge of the Hyperion, far out at sea from Sky City—

"That's roughly how it went. We failed... and in the end, we couldn't find Kiana's whereabouts," Theresa said.

"The only gain was saving this little girl," Zhang Qing said quietly, wearing his spirit rider armor.

"Hmph! He was thinking of self-destruction before, what's the difference between saving him and not saving him?" Long Qiao said, biting into a carrot.

“Uh… don’t blame yourself, Ms. Theresa. After all, you escaped safely from Rita’s clutches… and even brought back the humanoid machine, our last hope,” Dr. Einstein said.

"Damn, just thinking about this makes me angry! If Rita hadn't run away so fast, I would have defeated her in a few minutes!" Long Qiao said.

"So today's MVP is indeed Qiao Ge again," Yunshan said.

"necessary."

"Hmm? Is it that wretched woman again? Next time I see her, I must tie her up, stuff her into a silver bullet, and shoot her!" Dr. Tesla said.

"Second, second!"

"Alright, Qiao, stop getting involved and listen to me," Bronya said, patting Long Qiao's head.

"........."

"Dr. Tesla, you too, please refrain from making loud noises during working hours," Einstein said.

"Alright, back to the main topic. After inspection, the humanoid machine's data has been formatted. She is currently in hibernation mode, and all functions have been shut down. I'm trying to see if I can recover the data and find any clues about Kiana," Einstein said again.

“The formatting erased the data in the quantum computing engine… but fortunately, a part of her brain still belongs to the human. I can use memory awakening to make her human brain recall the data she has read, but it may be necessary to build a completely new personality system for the humanoid machine…”

"The quantum computing engine in her mind possesses astonishing computational power, and the principles it uses are completely different from the technologies of anti-entropy or destiny. Is this... the work of the 'World Serpent'?"

"The World Serpent?" Zhang Qing asked in confusion.

“The World Serpent is, according to the Destiny Archives, a secret organization that specializes in manufacturing all sorts of bizarre Honkai energy weapons,” Theresa explained.

"However, they have rarely acted openly over the years."

“There are rumors that… World Serpent has been experimenting with various human modification studies. They claim that humanity has stopped evolving for too long and wants to bring about a completely new revolution, allowing humans and the Honkai to coexist. Sigh… Seeing this child, I’m starting to believe that all of this isn’t just a legend,” Tesla said.

“Besides the Bishop of Destiny, have you ever seen such a madman?” Tesla asked.

"...It seems there aren't any more..."

"Don't we have one right in front of us? Even though she doesn't do human experiments," Einstein said.

“Hey! The Tunguska incident was just a failure! I’ve already reflected on it!…” Tesla said.

"The recovery has failed again. The data was erased too thoroughly. I may need to try a different approach, Ms. Theresa. I'd like to test it using Hyperion's processing system," Einstein said.

“I understand, um... the password is teriteri, please don’t look at me like that,” Theresa said angrily.

Just as everyone was adjusting the humanoid machine, the computer screen suddenly emitted a sound: "An encrypted signal is attempting to communicate."

"Which bastard?" Long Qiao shouted angrily.

"Notification permitted!"

"Received Dr. Einstein."

Suddenly, a blonde woman appeared on the big screen.

"It's been a long time, Dr. Einstein," Einstein said.

"Cocolia?!"

"Bronya, my sweetheart. I'm so glad to see you're safe and sound..."

"Get the hell out of here! You dare call Bronya 'Little Cutie'?" Long Qiao roared.

Bronya stood quietly beside Long Qiao, looking down at the familiar yet unfamiliar face before her, saying nothing, but her small hands tightly gripping Long Qiao's collar.

"It seems Bronya has found her place too. Well, how is everyone doing?" Cocolia asked.

"Thank you for your concern, everything is going well," Einstein said.

“The Herrscher of the Void has descended once again, plunging the entire world into catastrophe. I think, as a member of Anti-Entropy, it’s time for me to do something,” Cocolia said.

“Ms. Cocolia, let’s get straight to the point and state your purpose,” Einstein said.

"I know you are all searching for the Herrscher of the Void all over the world, but Schicksal's every move is ahead of us. Of course, this is unavoidable, after all, Anti-Entropy has limited resources, and just keeping up with Schicksal's pace is already very difficult..."

“Moreover, gaining the upper hand in a confrontation is even more difficult. My experience as a soldier tells me that if we continue in this stalemate, we will be utterly defeated sooner or later,” Cocolia said.

"So...you've come to persuade us to give up the search for Kiana?!" Long Qiao said, her eyes narrowed.

"No, it's not about giving up. We should establish a firm foothold where destiny is too busy to attend to anything else, and then open up new battlefields, making destiny follow our lead..."

"I forgot to tell you, Kiana is no longer the Herrscher of the Void, and Sirin is helping out at St. Freya Academy now," Long Qiao said with a sneer.

"Oh? They've already broken up?"

"Heh... Looks like your intelligence isn't very good, Cocolia..."