The iron-gray cliffs blocked out the sky on both sides, gathering everything into a heavy, somber grayness.
No people, no sounds.
As far as the eye could see, there was only desolation.
"…"
Silently gazing at the scene before her, Seele even thought she had arrived at some kind of ruin.
Rather than being on the Moon.
Although she had originally believed everything Little Kong said was true, this lifeless vista inevitably made one feel sorrowful.
On the other side of the Moon, the enormous blue planet reflected clear, water-like light.
That blue was incredibly kind, incredibly familiar, and precisely because it was so familiar, it evoked an emotion bordering on fear~.
Especially when it was covered by those ominous runes.
Seeing this scene, even the viewers outside the screen couldn't help but subconsciously hold their breath.
The massive azure home planet, actually covered in indescribable patterns like an ordinary sphere?
If one were standing on the surface of the home planet, what a shocking sight would that be?
The Moon… the Stigmata Project…
Perhaps only at this moment could many viewers truly realize the weight behind these words.
Of course, in the story, Seele had known this from the very beginning.
She even clearly remembered Einstein once saying.
The people of the Previous Era had once set foot on the Moon and intercepted the Herrscher of the End there at that time.
If this place was a ruin left over from that era.
Then the organization that arranged for Little Kong to camp here was undoubtedly World Serpent, acting independently from both Anti-Entropy and Schicksal!
And this deduction was enough to explain why she had dreamed of that man who seemed to be Kevin.
"What exactly does all this mean?"
Before Seele could think further, a strange energy fluctuation rapidly approached the girl from the side.
Seele was startled: "Sure enough, there are enemies!"
The next moment, bizarrely shaped monsters—Quantum Shadows—appeared one after another.
But as the saying goes, Seele was no longer the child who liked to hide in the toy box.
Wearing Valkyrie armor and wielding a massive scythe that completely mismatched her image.
She dispatched these suddenly appearing monsters with almost no effort.
Whether it was the special effects, the combat, or the contrast between the timid girl and the huge scythe.
It all left the viewers watching with rapt attention.
After dealing with the monsters, Seele couldn't help but think: "Strange, these monsters are exactly the same as the enemies I encountered in the Sea of Quanta."
"But from other aspects… this is clearly the Moon?"
"If Bronya onee-chan were here too, she would definitely figure out the truth behind the problem very quickly, right?"
"Bronya onee-chan, where could you be right now?"
"…"
After a moment of silence, Seele quickly shook her head.
"No, thinking about these things now won't help the current situation. The two Valkyries Little Kong mentioned earlier—who exactly are they?"
"Blonde and black hair… very peculiar clothes…"
"Could it be…"
As if realizing something, Seele hurriedly began searching through the ruins.
And she saw quite a few monster remains along the way.
"These monsters… have they lost their activity?"
Pursing her lips, Seele approached the monsters in an attempt to find some clues.
Upon close inspection, the remains of these monsters all seemed to have been destroyed by cold weapons.
At the very least, it confirmed traces left by human combat.
Just as Seele was about to continue searching for clues, one monster that should have been dead suddenly trembled.
Immediately after, it came back to life and unhesitatingly launched an attack on Seele.
It couldn't be said to be completely useless, only that it posed no threat whatsoever.
Its only function was probably to let the viewers enjoy Seele's heroic figure in battle once more.
After that, Seele searched for a long time. Just when she was starting to feel a bit dejected, a voice suddenly rang out.
"Hey, Seele, we're over here!"
The voice sounded somewhat familiar. Seele instinctively looked around but couldn't find the source.
"…Seele, did you hear that? Seele?"
Feeling more and more that the voice was familiar, Seele subconsciously looked up and finally saw the familiar figures.
Just as Little Kong had said—one with blonde hair, one with black hair.
The latter, Li Sushang, smiled and said: "They say even those separated by vast oceans may meet again someday…"
"But meeting like this is truly a case of 'no coincidence, no story.'"
Durandal beside her also waved her hand and said with a light smile: "Long time no see, Seele."
The two S-rank Valkyries of Schicksal standing together formed a stunning sight.
Seele said in pleasant surprise: "Durandal, and… Miss Li?"
Li Sushang said familiarly: "Didn't expect that, right? I stepped out on a train one moment, and the next I ended up in this Guanghan Palace."
Durandal also spoke up: "Alright, talking down from above like this feels a bit too arrogant."
"Let's come down first and talk!"
Only then did Li Sushang notice the issue—indeed, looking down wasn't great.
"Ah… right, that makes sense. But after finally meeting a companion, it's inevitable to get a little excited, isn't it?"
She tapped her head and readily said: "Got it, we'll come down right now."
With that, the two girls leaped down lightly and landed beside Seele.
Seeing Li Sushang clasp her fist with one hand, Seele quickly said: "Hello, Miss Li…"
Li Sushang laughed: "Hey, no need to be so formal."
"I'm probably a few years older than you in vain. How about you call me big sister?"
Seele was startled: "Eh? O-Okay, Sushang-jie…"
Seeing Seele so obedient, Li Sushang felt a bit embarrassed: "…Uh, I was just kidding."
"Thinking about it carefully, the time since I woke up hasn't been that long… My understanding of this era is really like a child's."
"Even if someone calls me big sister, it wouldn't really fit."
"You can just call me by my name like Durandal does, or drop the surname and call me Sushang!"
"Simple and direct, no ambiguity."
Seele said somewhat awkwardly: "Ah, okay…"
Watching the exchange between the two, the viewers outside the screen nearly died laughing.
"A few years older? Sushang has zero self-awareness about her age!"
"I'm dying—social-butterfly Sushang vs. socially-anxious Seele!"
"Durandal, why are you just watching?!"
"But gotta say, the production quality of Honkai Impact 3rd's cast is insane. Where did the dog director find so many beautiful girls!"
"…"
No matter how excited the viewers were, the plot on the screen continued.
Seele quickly got to the point: "But how did you two end up on the Moon?"
"I just woke up from sleep and somehow found myself in that place called New Atla…"
Li Sushang also said: "Probably about the same as you. I had already booked a room to stay in."
"The moment I opened the door, I suddenly popped up in this inexplicable place—straight out of a sci-fi novel plot, just like they say."
"At first I thought it was some special service from the inn—no, the hotel!"
"If Durandal hadn't found me, I might've caused some real embarrassment here."
As she spoke, Li Sushang scratched her head, looking like someone not particularly sharp.
At this point, Durandal took over: "Although I've entered and exited the Sea of Quanta before like Seele…"
"This time the experience really feels quite strange. The technology used is vastly different from Schicksal's."
"…But at least Rita, who shares the power of the holy sword with me, seems to be fine."
"That's one of the few good pieces of news for now."
Seele asked: "…Seems?"
Durandal nodded: "Yes, because I still can't contact Rita or anyone else on Earth right now."
"I'm only vaguely sensing through the holy sword that her current condition is perfectly fine."
Hearing Durandal's words, Seele couldn't help but think: "In other words… it's pretty similar to my other self's situation…"
Li Sushang sighed: "Anyway, this really is a nightmare."
The word "nightmare" seemed to trigger some keyword, and Seele quickly said:
"Speaking of nightmares, before waking up on the Moon, I did have a dream…"
With that, Seele told the two everything that had happened in the dream.
After a period of silence, Li Sushang was the first to speak: "…Kevin? Isn't that the leader of World Serpent? This definitely isn't a coincidence!"
Durandal said: "Yes, I think what Seele saw might not be a dream or a premonition."
"But rather the result of real information being accidentally projected into her subconscious during spatial transmission."
Seele also said: "The place where Kevin was in the dream really felt a lot like here."
"So in other words, he's indeed somewhere nearby?"
"If we could find him, then maybe…"
Li Sushang picked up: "Confront Kevin face-to-face?"
"I really want to say that's a bit reckless, but whatever—this idea can't be put into action anyway."
Seele was puzzled: "…Eh?"
Durandal explained at this point: "Before meeting you, we had already split up to do some exploration nearby."
"Although it's obvious that Little Kong's teacher and uncle are definitely World Serpent people…"
Li Sushang chimed in again: "But unfortunately, aside from some weird-looking rocks and a nonsensical broken bridge."
"We haven't even seen a single scale from World Serpent."
"And the path leading to the other side of the mountain is blocked by some strange power."
"No—it should be said there was never a path to begin with. Even if I tried flying on my sword, I couldn't get over."
Durandal couldn't help but chuckle lightly upon hearing this: "If you really flew out into the vacuum, things would actually become even more troublesome, right?"
"Though with your strength, you wouldn't have any issues for a short while… but not being able to speak or transmit sound is still very inconvenient."
Li Sushang suddenly realized: "Ah… that's right."
"Oh yeah, some shows online mentioned that normally, there's no air on the Moon at all."
"Sigh, anyway, aside from linking up with Seele, we haven't gained much in this half-day here."
Durandal said: "Sometimes, no gains might also be a kind of gain."
"In my view… our current situation at least shows that World Serpent has plenty of leeway regarding the status quo."
"No matter who gets sent to New Atla, they don't care and have no intention of restricting our freedom."
"This in turn also indicates that whatever allowed World Serpent to achieve this state must possess extraordinary authority."
"And it was meticulously prepared—since that's the case, certain scattered testimonies are indeed credible."
"Our encounter is indeed directly related to the Stigmata Project."
Seele spoke up at this point: "I remember, the Stigmata Project was something Snake said back in the Sea Abyss Eye that he wanted to achieve."
Durandal nodded: "Yes, Seele must have learned a bit about it back then."
Li Sushang asked in confusion: "But according to what you two are saying… isn't something a bit off?"
"Rakshasa told me before that the result of the Stigmata Project is to leave behind Stigmata Awakened like me, while eliminating ordinary people, right?"
"Even if everyone we met in that shelter was like that, what about Earth?"
"Durandal, didn't you say that based on your perception, at least Rita's condition shows no abnormalities?"
"I remember, she really is an ordinary person in that sense, right?"
Durandal gave an "mm": "I think, from an outsider's perspective, this itself might explain."
"The true nature of the Stigmata Project differs quite a bit from the versions we've heard through the grapevine."
"…After all, if we flip it around and say World Serpent cooked up some new secret plan."
"That would seem far too absurd."
As soon as these words came out, the group chat immediately had viewers starting to meme.
"Snake: Fifteen versions, I fucking revised it fifteen times!"
"Fam, who understands the pain of evolving and revising fifteen versions!"
"Are you guys trying to make me laugh so you can inherit my monthly ticket? Snake is truly miserable!"
"No, why did it suddenly turn to Snake?"
"…"
At the company.
To be honest, when Mobius saw the group chat content, she actually felt some resonance.
Although she held great power in the company and didn't need to prepare fifteen-version proposals for anyone.
But thinking about how the people in the company kept increasing without her noticing, Mobius felt her vision darken.
And unfortunately, neither Hessian nor Elysia was someone who could actually manage things.
"Ow, why'd you hit me?!"
Rubbing his head, Hessian looked at Mobius and asked.
Mobius glanced sideways at someone, arms crossed: "Vent my anger. Got a problem?"
Hessian said righteously: "None!"
Don't be fooled by how he single-handedly created Honkai Impact 3rd and even had plans for some second-rate TV drama on the agenda.
But what came with it was Mobius's increasingly busy workload.
Not to mention Elysia adding chaos in the process, pulling all sorts of people into the company.
Just a couple days ago she even dragged in some little gray-haired girl—no idea what was wrong with her, but she was actually interested in the trash can.
And there was that mahjong-obsessed little girl, the complete opposite of Klein.
It couldn't be called slacking—she had fully turned slacking into instinct.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Mobius twisted the soft flesh on someone's waist again.
====
HSR is near.