"Ahem, you two, stop it..."
Bronya coughed lightly, her face flushing red from what Ryn and Seele were saying.
"Since you're awake, let me give you a quick rundown of the situation.
Mei's attack rendered many of ME Corp's plans useless, but fortunately, we managed to salvage one production line, so it wasn't a total loss..."
"So where are we now? Why are we all on a train...?"
Penglaiji Ryn pointed around the train car. Through the window, she could see many more people still boarding.
"Although we wiped out all the Honkai Creatures in Nagazora City a few days ago, that doesn't mean we're safe.
The base has been exposed. Raiden Mei could attack us at any moment. We have to move to a safe place before that happens."
Ryn explained to Penglaiji Ryn. Ryn had also seen her dream, so according to what Kiana said, Raiden Mei could attack them again at any time.
Mei couldn't defeat Ryn; that much was certain. But if Mei were to launch a sneak attack, Ryn would surely be fine, but everyone in the Fire Moth would be in danger.
"Is that so... By the way, I saw Kiana. She's woken up!"
Penglaiji Ryn briefly recounted what she had seen in her dream to the others present.
"Kiana in the dream has awakened... and before that, you dreamt of Big Sis Mei in Homu Park..." Bronya pondered for a moment, feeling that things weren't that simple.
"Although your memories haven't returned, you often see these incredible visions. Is this some kind of precognitive ability? You dreamed of Big Sis Mei, and then Big Sis Mei appeared... This time you dreamed of Kiana, so will Kiana appear too?"
"Shh, shh, shh... Big Sis Bronya, don't say such things..." Seele gently covered Bronya's mouth with her small hand.
Only Ryn could stand against Herrscher Mei. If Herrscher Kiana were to appear as well, they would all be completely doomed.
Although the Fire Moth's ultimate goal was to kill Kiana, they all knew their own strengths and weaknesses...
In fact, apart from a very small number of people who could look Kiana in the eye, most would probably be annihilated by the Honkai energy leaking from her body before they even saw her...
"Sorry, I was being a jinx. But we must prepare for the worst... You guys get some rest first. I'm going to discuss the base relocation with Himeko."
"Hehehe, well then, you two siblings can chat. I won't disturb you anymore!"
Seele waved goodbye to Ryn and his sister with a smile, then chased after Bronya, leaving with her.
After Bronya and Seele were out of sight, Penglaiji Ryn whispered to Ryn.
"Actually, there's something I didn't tell them... Brother, Kiana said this world is a false world created by me..."
"Mm... I had my suspicions before, but now I can be certain."
Ryn nodded. It was just a guess before, but after Mei drained all the Honkai energy from Nagazora City, resulting in Penglaiji Ryn's weak collapse, Ryn was almost sure.
Not only was this world created by Penglaiji Ryn, but everything in this world was intricately linked to her.
Ryn didn't know what had happened to the Penglaiji Ryn in the real world to cause this place to appear. But if something were to happen to the Penglaiji Ryn in this world, it was certain that the real one wouldn't be in a good state either.
This was Penglaiji Ryn's mental world, or perhaps her Stigmata, her soul world... but for the soul of an entire world to exist within a single person's soul, this was a first for Ryn...
"Then... Brother, are you real?"
Penglaiji Ryn looked at Ryn, her eyes full of hope. She saw Ryn as her family, the person she trusted most. If Ryn was also just a product of her imagination, Penglaiji Ryn would probably go insane.
"?" Ryn blinked, then reached out and patted Penglaiji Ryn's little head.
"Are you sure your head wasn't injured? Or has the dreaming made you unable to distinguish reality? Didn't I tell you long ago that I'm not from this world, that I came here by accident? Of course I'm real!"
"Heehee... I just wanted to ask~" Penglaiji Ryn chuckled, covering her head as she sat on the bed. "But... Brother, if Bronya and the others found out they weren't real, how do you think they'd react...?"
"They wouldn't react any differently. They would still be themselves."
Ryn stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the people in the darkness moving supplies, transferring things from the base onto the train.
Sweating, crying, laughing. What did it matter if they weren't real humans? Weren't they still living beings?
"You shouldn't be thinking about how they would react, but how we will react...
Haven't you noticed? Once you learned they weren't real... you've started to care less about them, even becoming indifferent to the meaning of their lives.
You seemed rather unmoved by Bronya and Seele's concern..."
"..." Penglaiji Ryn pulled the blanket up, covering her pale face. "Sorry, can you leave me alone for a bit?"
"Mm... If you created this world, then you must understand the meaning of their existence... because you created them too..."
Ryn closed the door, leaving time and space for Penglaiji Ryn to think things through.
The people of this world reflected Penglaiji Ryn's will. Whatever her subconscious was like, the people of this world would develop in that way...
If Penglaiji Ryn was indifferent to their lives... then they too would come to see the sacrifice of their comrades as the norm.
Ryn had once read a phrase, a terrifying one...
"We are not afraid of sacrifice; we are afraid of becoming accustomed to sacrifice."
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A squad member found a broken half of a golden spear and handed it to Bronya.
The moment Bronya saw the broken spear, she recognized it as the Oath of Judah.
"The Oath of Judah... It seems Principal Theresa isn't far from here."
"Only Principal Theresa can use this weapon... Principal Theresa is still alive! I'll take an investigation team to find her right now!" Seele was eager to assemble the troops and search for traces of Theresa.
"Why look for that traitor? She has already given up the fight and abandoned us," Himeko said, standing aside and looking coldly at the excited Seele.