After the Hyperion landed, Kiana and Bronya walked down from the boarding stairs.
Kiana observed the surrounding environment, and said doubtfully, "Strange, the class monitor's signal was clearly just here..."
At the side, Bronya was frowning as she checked the holographic map.
"From the Heavy Bunny's positioning a while ago, the class monitor should be right here, but Bronya completely can't detect the class monitor's trace, as if she disappeared into thin air."
Moreover, apart from these things, Bronya also sensed something wrong. 'Clearly, according to the map's prompt, there should be a hillside nearby, but now...'
Bronya looked at the flat land around her, tilting her head in confusion.
'Could it be that the Heavy Bunny's map system bugged?'
At this moment, Kiana's exclamation interrupted Bronya's thoughts.
Bronya looked up, and saw Kiana pointing into the distance, saying, "Over there, seems like there's something."
She followed Kiana's pointing direction to look, only to see faint red glowing dots seemingly floating in the air.
But when they got close, the red dots vanished again,
and reappeared at a farther distance.
"These light dots... seem like they're guiding us over?" Kiana guessed.
Bronya nodded slightly, "Scene where light dots guide forward, is like something that would only happen in a game."
Though they said this, the two ultimately chose to follow the light dots' guidance forward.
After passing through a forest, a dilapidated shrine ruin appeared in front of them.
The large scale of the shrine vaguely showed its past glory, but ultimately it still couldn't withstand the erosion of time,.leaving only broken walls and shattered tiles.
"This place... why does it look kind of familiar?" Kiana said doubtfully.
Bronya didn't answer; her gaze was drawn to a statue in the center of the shrine.
The statue's face was already blurred, yet it inexplicably gave a sense of intimacy, as if it was calling them to come closer.
"Bronya, do you feel like this statue looks a little familiar..."
"Mm, very strange, Bronya also has that feeling,
but clearly this is our first time coming here."
The sudden strange feeling made the two highly alert.
During the approach, a pair of pistols appeared in Kiana's hands at some unknown time, and Bronya also quietly summoned the Heavy Bunny.
However, what surprised the two was, when they walked up to the statue, nothing happened.
While they were puzzled, the statue suddenly burst out with dazzling light. Immediately after, a fiery red feather suddenly floated down from the sky.
Looking at the familiar object in front of them,
Kiana's eyes shimmered with light.
"Feather Dust?!"
She was just about to reach out to touch it,
but suddenly withdrew her hand.
———
This cautious behavior made the people in the real world feel extremely gratified. Thinking back to when they first saw Kiana, she was still a reckless girl who would blow up her own drone.
Now in a blink, she had become a Valkyrie capable of holding her own.
However, when netizens thought about the price Kiana paid for these changes, they couldn't help feeling deeply emotional.
[Sigh, every time I see this scene I just can't feel happy]
[Maybe this is the price of growth]
[It's all MiHoYo's fault!]
———
[Back to the Video.]
Looking at the Feather Dust that suddenly appeared ahead, Kiana and Bronya exchanged a glance.
They felt that what just happened seemed a bit too convenient. Clearly their original goal was to find Fu Hua's trace, but somehow they ended up here, and even found their final target Feather Dust.
Behind all this seemed to be an invisible hand pushing them forward.
But what surprised Kiana was, judging by the aura coming from the object in front of her, it was indeed very similar to the Feather Dust in her memory.
Thinking of this, Kiana subtly nodded to Bronya. Then, the two simultaneously placed their hands on the Feather Dust in front of them.
The moment the two touched the Feather Dust,
a blinding white light filled the shrine.
Next, the two felt the world spin wildly.
When the two came to their senses, they were already on a scorched land instead of that broken shrine.
The sky was dyed red by dazzling flames, and distant sounds of explosions from battle could be heard.
"Where is this?" Bronya asked doubtfully.
"Should be the memory stored inside the Feather Dust..." Kiana explained.
Just then, they heard a familiar male voice from the void.
"If back then I had been more decisive... then the disaster in Australia wouldn't have happened..."
Next, the scene flashed.
Kiana and Bronya saw a red-haired woman who looked like Himeko appear not far in front of them.
Her body was engulfed in flames, her expression full of pain and struggle.
And standing opposite the red-haired woman,
was none other than the Van they had been thinking of.
Seeing Van's arrival, the pain on the woman's face eased.
"Kill me... Van..." the red-haired woman spoke with difficulty, "Please... before I completely lose control..."
Hearing her request, Van coldly drew the sword in his hand and pointed it at her.
"Goodbye, Captain Himiko... This time, I won't make the same mistake again."
No hesitation, no pain.
Van swung his sword and shattered the red-glowing Herrscher core in Himiko's chest.
The core's shattering let Himiko regain her consciousness. She weakly looked at Van in front of her, her expression relieved.
"Thank you... Van... My squad of little ones, I'll leave them to you from now on..."
Seeing this, Kiana and Bronya exchanged a confused glance.
Because this Van's decisiveness was completely different from the one they knew.
As they were confused, the scene changed again, to a celebration banquet after the battle ended.
Some Flame-Chaser warriors surrounded Van, cheering. In the corner, Himiko's squad members sat in the shadows, expressions uncertain.
Although they had a powerful captain, allowing them to go farther in battles against the Honkai, but Van's absolute rationality on the battlefield made them hesitate.
Because none of them could guarantee that the next one to be eroded by the Honkai wouldn't be themselves.
At that time, surely he too would kill them without hesitation.
Thinking of how Captain Himiko once declared she would never abandon anyone, the squad members showed complicated expressions.
After the banquet, Van walked out from the crowd and found Fu Hua, who was hugging her knees and dazing in the corner.
"Hua."
Van reached out his hand and said cheerfully, "Himiko's final wish was for you all to join my squad. Come to me, I will protect you all."
Van's words brought Fu Hua back to her senses. She raised her head and looked at Van. Under the dazzling lights, his face was somewhat blurry.
After a while, Fu Hua stood up from the ground,
and looked at Van's increasingly unfamiliar face, saying, "Thank you for your kindness. But whether it's me or the others, we hope to continue staying in Himiko's squad."
Ignoring Van's shocked expression, Fu Hua brushed past him.
In the air, came Fu Hua's voice drifting away, "We hope to carry on her spirit..."
———
[You really got it, Fu Hua!]
[In reality, we get broken by Mama Fu Hua at age three. Didn't expect in illusions too, still get broken by Mama Fu Hua]
[This wave, we call bloodline suppression from Mom!]
[Three-year-old Van: Dad, Mom is bullying me!]
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