"Oh my, I wonder if Su liked that gift~ Hmm, he probably will, right?"
—Undoubtedly, this wasn't mere coincidence.
While the Sea of Quanta was indeed Vita's domain, its vastness meant even she only controlled a part of it. If Su actively tried to hide, even Vita wouldn't necessarily be able to catch him.
Therefore—
Vita's appearance was naturally Jiang Qiao's handiwork.
Of course, one could also call it a happy accident. Because while carving out the shadow Bubble Universe containing Dr. MEI on the Moon, Jiang Qiao happened to detect a strange reaction from nearby Venus.
After investigating its nature, while Jiang Qiao wasn't particularly interested in beating up Vita, he operated under the principle of 'since I'm already here, I can't leave empty-handed.'
Being the considerate person he was, he smoothly gave things a little nudge. After all, look at Kevin, that popsicle who'd been frozen for millennia, finally reunited with his old flame. Leaving Su all alone and miserable seemed rather pitiful, didn't it? From a guy's perspective, Su was practically an 'over-aged bachelor'.
If he couldn't pursue Dr. MEI, then he obviously needed to find another path.
And look, didn't Vita fit the bill quite nicely~?
Mr. Jiang Qiao carefully considered this and felt it had great potential. They were isomers, after all; Su would surely have a lot in common with... well, Su's counterpart.
"Mhmm~ Sorry to keep you waiting, I'm back~"
"Ah... you're back." Elysia, currently wearing 'Jiang Qiao's' appearance, heard her own voice, paused for a second, and then smiled. Yet, that smile seemed somewhat forced.
Originally, they were supposed to go to the Sea of Quanta together; Elysia was very curious about what it looked like. But after visiting the Moon and entering that Bubble Universe, the Elysia who emerged seemed distracted and preoccupied. She even gave up on going with Jiang Qiao, opting to wait outside instead.
They were currently on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean. Though the sky was dim, from the high cliff, they could see the sea shimmering under the moonlight and the countless brilliant stars scattered across the heavens.
"...I feel like I should be angry, but for some reason, I just can't seem to muster the anger right now, Jiang Qiao..."
Seriously, in that Bubble Universe on the Moon, that MEI looked down on her so much, and Prometheus too... It was hard to imagine that little one becoming so infuriating... But thinking back, Elysia recalled that the Prometheus she had met before had already shown signs of heading in that direction.
Hearing her somewhat dejected words, the pink-haired girl didn't say anything, just quietly sat down beside the other.
"Perhaps, you could think of something more infuriating?" [Elysia] suggested gently. "Like getting all huffy~ And then, just wait and wait, and everything will pass~ Like a 'fairy's' magic spell."
"Wouldn't that be nice too?"
"..."
"It's okay," [Elysia] continued softly. "No matter what choice you ultimately make, no matter the outcome, you'll at least have me by your side, won't you?"
"..."
"...You bad Jiang Qiao!" Elysia pouted, disgruntled—and unhappily snatched her body back! Using her body to say such things to her, how infuriating!
However, lightly licking her lips, the 55kg young lady leaning on the shoulder of the person beside her felt an addictive sense of peace.
"Let me lean for just a little longer, just a bit..." Murmuring softly, the girl nestled against him closed her eyes slightly, drifting off to sleep amidst the night air and the sound of the ocean waves.
Jiang Qiao, meanwhile, just smiled and, taking advantage of the moment, started chatting in the rather inactive group chat.
Jiang Qiao: @Furina, how did things go with that Harbinger from Snezhnaya?
Furina: What Harbinger? Ah... oh, you mean that diplomat.
Furina: Honestly, I'm the Hydro Archon... Forget it.
Furina: Glad you didn't mention it earlier, mentioning it now just makes me mad!
Furina: Those Fatui idiots from Snezhnaya are practically strutting around with their noses in the air!
Jiang Qiao: Hm? The Knave shouldn't be that type, right?
Furina: That woman... I just can't bring myself to like her.
Furina: And you!
Furina: Who told you to tell Neuvillette—I can handle this myself!
Furina was fuming just thinking about it. Because of Jiang Qiao's words, when she needed Neuvillette last minute, he just refused, citing official duties, and she couldn't even argue... Leaving Furina to meet The Knave alone gave her a massive headache!
Jiang Qiao: Well, I certainly could handle it alone... Can't you?
Seeing this message, Furina puffed up her cheeks.
Furina: Who says I can't! I'm the Hydro Archon now! The real deal!
Compared to before, having reunited with Focalors to become the complete Hydro Archon Furina, she was clearly much more confident now. Facing a Fatui Harbinger wasn't terrifying enough to make her keel over anymore.
But... she was still mad! Negotiating wasn't exactly Furina's forte! Forget Furina, even Focalors wasn't good at this! Being smart didn't automatically equate to having good social skills, after all. Especially against someone like The Knave.
How could Miss Furina possibly stand up to such an aggressive, nasty woman?!
Anyway, while nothing major went wrong, and The Knave didn't push too hard, Fontaine definitely lost some face. Miss Furina silently added this debt to Jiang Qiao's tab. After all—if this guy had been here, would I have been in such a difficult spot?!
And that Neuvillette...!
While Jiang Qiao and Furina were catching up, a message full of resentment popped up in the chat—
(TL: I change the Qingque nickname)
GamblingMyLifeAway: I say, you guys... chatting so enthusiastically about official business, how about helping poor me finish my tasks?
Jiang Qiao: Huh? You're still not done? The workload wasn't even that big.
GamblingMyLifeAway: ...
Qingque, sporting huge dark circles under her eyes, was slumped over her desk. Seeing that message, flames practically shot out of her eyes. This guy, how dare he say that!
Three months' worth of work! A whole three months! Although much of it wasn't complicated, the sheer volume was overwhelming! Plus, as the acting Grand Diviner, she also had to oversee the Divination Commission's operations... This job was simply inhuman!
Originally, Qingque had hoped for escape—because Fu Xuan was an impatient mother hen type. Once she had recovered enough, she started frequenting the Divination Commission again.
Qingque thought she could finally pass the blame this awful position back—let the capable do more work, Grand Diviner, please enjoy this position yourself, this little sparrow can't handle it.
But... under Bailu's strict supervision and Jing Yuan's high-intensity PUA (persuasion/manipulation)... or perhaps sensing Qingque's true intentions, the usually dutiful Fu Xuan just decided to start slacking off.
You know what? After working hard for so many years, suddenly having free time to rest actually felt pretty good. No wonder this little sparrow is so obsessed with slacking off—Fu Xuan mused, occasionally strolling through Starskiff Haven, experiencing local life, and playing a few rounds of Celestial Jade with Jing Yuan.
However, according to the law of conservation of happiness... when one person is happy, another must be unhappy. Following this principle, Qingque, who longed to play a few rounds of Celestial Jade, undoubtedly became the target of this happiness transfer.
Now, she hadn't set foot in Starskiff Haven for nearly a week.
If she could, Qingque truly wished she could take that Jiang guy down with her. You damn mutt! I'll take you down with me!
But unfortunately, she only had time to think about it. If it weren't for occasionally reading the chatter in the group chat, Qingque felt that with this workload, she'd probably end up in a vegetative state soon.
I'm suffering so much, yet you, the culprit, are enjoying yourself so freely! Just seeing Jiang Qiao idling in the chat made Miss Qingque feel like ants were crawling all over her.
---||---
Australia.
During the previous Great Honkai Eruption in New Zealand, thanks to Gray Serpent's actions, a smaller Honkai Eruption had already occurred here.
Of course, Oceania was already a hotspot for minor Honkai Eruptions; otherwise, there wouldn't be a need to establish an Oceania Branch specifically.
But this time was different. A large area of Australia was now covered by a pitch-black sphere. Many fractured pieces of land and floating earth could be seen, as if torn apart by some terrifying force.
"Was all this done by the Herrscher?" On the SELENE hovering over northern Australia, Kiana frowned, looking down at the devastation below.
"Correct," Dr. Einstein confirmed, relaying intelligence. "Based on the destruction patterns and analysis of that outer layer, this is undoubtedly related to the Ninth Herrscher recorded in the Previous Era, the Herrscher of Rock.
According to records, the Previous Era's Herrscher of Rock was capable of sinking an entire continent. And this black sphere should undoubtedly be the manifestation of the Star of Eden's power as a Herrscher."
Welt, however, looked grave. "Bronya, Kiana, this enemy is very strong. Don't let your guard down." Although he was the Herrscher of Reason, Welt was undoubtedly very skilled in using the powers of the Herrscher of Rock.
In some ways, he might even be better at using the Herrscher of Rock's powers than the Authority of Reason itself. That was precisely why seeing this obvious display of the Herrscher of Rock's abilities put him on high alert.
After all, he had used this power to ambush countless enemies back in the day.
"No problem, Bronya can hardly wait." Bronya, however, clearly didn't heed his words, staring excitedly at Australia below.
Although Seele had mostly been rescued, Bronya's win-loss record remained a sore spot. Constantly suffering defeats was unacceptable for the highly competitive MetalGearBronya—Does this Bronya have no face to lose?! Back in the day, Bronya was the renowned Silver Wolf of the Urals.
Becoming the stronger Herrscher of Reason only to repeatedly fail? Was that even logical?
Facing a Herrscher as an opponent was clearly the perfect opportunity to redeem herself. And Bronya was extremely confident about it. Not only was she incredibly strong, having fully mastered the powers of the Herrscher of Reason—Bronya was confident she wouldn't lose even to that Jiang Qiao guy.
No, scratch that, she had definitely surpassed him! After all, Bronya had already mastered the power; as the owner of this body, there was no reason for Bronya to be weaker than Jiang Qiao, who was just a temporary user.
Most importantly—the skill Bronya currently had the deepest understanding of was constructing the Star of Eden, learned from Welt. It could be said that, just like Welt, she now had profound insights into using the Ninth Divine Key.
Since this Bronya is already so skilled with the Ninth Divine Key, why would I be afraid of some Herrscher of Rock? It's just manipulating gravity! Who can't do that!
This matchup is perfect, it's my specialty! This was clearly a guaranteed win handed to her; how could this Bronya refuse?
"Idiot Kiana, want to bet who takes down the new Herrscher first?"
"...Is that really a good idea?" Hearing Bronya's challenge, Kiana didn't nod but hesitated. Normally, the white-haired girl wouldn't tolerate Bronya's provocation. A Herrscher speedrun challenge? Does this young lady look like someone who'd back down? Heaven first, Earth second, this young lady third—that was Kiana's style.
But now, faced with Bronya celebrating before the match even started, while Kiana was tempted to compete, she felt it was a bit too arrogant, too reckless. What if they messed up? Wouldn't that be incredibly embarrassing?
Losing face was one thing, but they were facing a Herrscher; was it really okay to approach this so carelessly?
Bronya, however, just sniffed dismissively. "Hmph, then just let Bronya protect you!"