stonecrandall Page 24
Page 24
Chapter 35 Thunder Dragon Horse: This is clearly a girl! I must be overthinking it.
"Mei?!"
It was her own daughter, Raiden Mei, and beside her was a little girl with white hair.
Mei pursed her lips, looking at her father in the cell, who was dressed in dirty clothes and looked dejected, a stark contrast to his usual serious and meticulous image. Her feelings were incredibly complicated. Qi Shi remained silent, leaving the two of them space to reminisce.
The father and daughter met again after a long time, but the atmosphere was somewhat silent.
Raiden Ryoma looked at his dirty clothes with a somewhat embarrassed expression, never expecting to see his daughter under such circumstances.
He opened his mouth, but after a long pause, he only managed to utter one question.
"Mei, how have you been these past few days?"
"I'm fine, thank you for your concern, Father."
Raiden Mei responded softly, and then the father and daughter fell silent again, the atmosphere awkward.
It seems that this is how the two of them have always been; they have never had a warm conversation like father and daughter.
Raiden Ryoma was unaware of Cocolia's situation, as she had been well hidden within Anti-Entropy. Therefore, upon seeing Mei, he felt worried, embarrassed, and guilty. He was in such a state that his daughter had seen him, and as a father, he didn't know how to bring it up.
Finally, Raiden Mei broke the silence first, speaking briefly.
"Father, we've come to save you."
Raiden Ryoma was stunned. Although he had just seen several combat members being defeated, he never imagined that his gentle and dignified daughter had come to break him out of prison.
Afterwards, Raiden Mei told Raiden Ryoma about Cocolia, everything that had just happened, and the news that Schicksal was about to arrive.
Hearing these words, Raiden Ryoma's gaze went from blank to incredulous, then to uncontrollable rage, and finally to silent clenching of his fists.
With his head down, Raiden Ryoma's clenched fists turned white at the knuckles, filled with immense guilt, and he spoke in a hoarse voice.
"You suffered."
"I'm sorry, Mei, all of this is my fault as a father."
“My father is alright, that’s all in the past now, and you suffered a lot too.”
Raiden Mei responded softly, indicating that she was not seriously injured, and then, understandingly, began to comfort her father.
However, seeing her expression, Raiden Ryoma felt no better. He gritted his teeth, his heart overwhelmed by regret and self-blame. Although Mei spoke lightly, she must have suffered a lot during this time.
And so he was imprisoned without any explanation, knowing nothing about it.
As a father, he simply couldn't forgive himself; he had never felt so useless as he did today.
Thunder Dragon Horse gritted its teeth and then immediately spoke.
"Since the chosen ones are about to arrive, you should hurry up and leave with me to go to Anti-Entropy."
“Father, I don’t plan to leave.” Mei said.
"Please leave as soon as possible."
Thunder Dragon Horse's expression froze instantly, a bad premonition rising from the bottom of his heart.
Then he saw Mei speak in a firm tone.
“Anti-entropy is not suitable for me. I want to stay and become stronger. I don’t want to be as weak and powerless as before. You don’t need to worry about me. Kiana will protect me.”
She wanted to stay with Kiana.
After experiencing so much and understanding Anti-Entropy and Destiny, she realized that Kiana's side, or even the Valkyries of Destiny, were more suitable for her than Anti-Entropy, which was full of scientific research and internal strife.
Seeing Kiana display godlike power, and how the two of them had arrived in another city the moment she grabbed Kiana's hand, she knew perfectly well what she should do, and who was more suitable for her to learn from, given that she possessed a gem that seemed to be the source of disaster.
She wants to learn how to use the power within her body and become as strong as Kiana.
Goodbye, Father, and goodbye to my cowardice.
"Mea Yi..."
Looking at the determined look in her eyes, Raiden Ryoma suddenly realized that his daughter seemed to have changed.
Qi Shi raised his hand, and an invisible force sliced through it, causing the metal door of the cell to crash down with a loud bang.
Thunder Dragon Horse was released from the cell, but he looked dazed. He tried several times to open his mouth to ask the prisoner to stay, to say that he could protect his daughter just as well in Anti-Entropy, but he couldn't say the words. After a long while, he sighed, full of despair.
How can a father who has become like this have the right to say such things?
Unable to hold on, and heartbroken to the point of not being able to say yes, everything seemed to have been tacitly agreed upon. All that remained was to clench my fists in despair, and then let them fall back down.
Lightning Dragon Horse walked out of the cell, and the space distorted in the next moment. Then the three of them left the prison and appeared in an open space in a city on the edge of North America. Now all he needs to do is find a way to contact Anti-Entropy to completely get out of his current predicament.
Before parting, Raiden Mei gazed quietly at her father, as if waiting for him to say something.
Little did the father and daughter know that their reunion would be their farewell.
Raiden Ryoma knew that this parting might mean not seeing each other for a long time. At this moment, he had countless things he wanted to say, but his old-fashioned and conservative nature made it impossible for him to say them to Mei.
After opening his mouth several times, he finally managed to utter only one sentence.
"In the safe behind the bookshelf in my bedroom, there is a weapon I prepared for you. The password is your birthday."
"And... take good care of yourself."
It wasn't like a father and daughter saying goodbye, but it seemed as if they had finally let go of their pride and expressed all the care they had kept buried in their hearts for so many years.
A genuine smile appeared on Raiden Mei's face. At this moment, the long-standing estrangement between father and daughter was finally broken.
"Yes, I understand, Father. Please take good care of yourself."
Raiden Ryoma nodded, looking as if he had aged ten years. He turned his gaze to Qi Shi, who was standing to the side with his arms crossed, looking at him and pleadingly asking for his help.
"Please take good care of Mei. You can contact me if anything happens. As a father and an executive officer of Anti-Entropy, I promise that I will do my best to help her if I can."
He could help Mei escape Cocolia's covetousness unscathed, and from the incomprehensible special power Cocolia had just displayed, he could tell that Cocolia was extremely powerful. With him protecting Mei, he didn't need to worry so much.
But why do I suddenly feel a pang of sadness, like I'm entrusting my precious daughter to another man?
As a father, Raiden Ryoma felt a sudden sense of unease. He looked at Kiana's beautiful and delicate face again and again before finally dispelling his doubts.
It's clearly a girl; I must be overthinking it.
"By the way... Father, is there any hidden underlying code in our family's mechs that I don't know about?"
Before parting, Raiden Mei finally couldn't help but ask the question she had kept hidden for so long.
Upon hearing this, Raiden Ryoma looked completely bewildered: "Huh? What code?"
Chapter 36 Investigation of the Far East Branch
After seeing her father off, Raiden Mei's eyes held a hidden emotion.
Although she was too embarrassed to shout those childish fantasies out in front of her friends, she still couldn't help but ask her father, especially after the emotional distance between father and daughter was broken and she saw her father's concern.
Raiden Mei wore a disappointed expression, her wish unfulfilled, and sighed softly.
But as expected, she wasn't from the story.
Thunder Dragon Horse painfully missed the opportunity to gain a lot of favor from his daughter.
"What, are you disappointed?"
Seeing her appearance, Qi Shi couldn't help but chuckle.
My hidden, childish thoughts were actually seen through by the other person!
Raiden Mei felt utterly ashamed and indignant, and stammered, "No, no, I, this..."
"Ugh——!"
But in the end, she covered her flushed cheeks and let out a shameful cry.
Amidst Qi Shi's laughter, an invisible spatial fluctuation occurred, and the two disappeared from the North American continent.
First, they went to the factory, picked up the two prisoners, and then went straight home.
Qi Shi did not intend to wait for the Far East Branch to appear at the factory location. Instead, he went straight home and waited for the Far East Branch to come to him after they had investigated everything. This was more convenient and less troublesome.
And not long after the four left.
In the blue sky above the factory, there seemed to be a slight discordance in the angle, but upon closer inspection, it seemed to be the same as before.
"Theresa, I have arrived at the target location."
The Hyperion, camouflaged and unnoticed, was docked in the sky. Himeko stood on the open deck, talking to Theresa, the head of the Far East branch of Schicksal, on the other side. The wind made her long, red hair sway like flames. She was beautiful and mature, and her close-fitting Valkyrie armor accentuated her tall and voluptuous figure.
Looking at the scene below, Himeko's tone carried a strange emotion.
Without hesitation, the beautiful figure clad in Valkyrie armor leaped down from a height of over thirty meters, landing on the ground and creating a gust of wind.
Standing at the target location, Himeko looked at the instrument on her arm that detects the concentration of Honkai energy, and then looked around. Her brows furrowed even deeper.
"How's it going?"
Theresa's question came through the earpiece.
"To be honest, this is very bad. This is the first time I've ever seen anything like this in my life." Himeko sighed after a moment of silence and sent a copy of the detected information back to Theresa.
"It's as peaceful as if nothing had happened here."
As she looked around, all she saw was peace and tranquility. There were no monsters, no heavy atmosphere, and only the occasional gentle breeze rustling through the air, showcasing the quiet beauty of the suburbs, far removed from the hustle and bustle.
She had seen many places ravaged by the collapse of civilization, devastated and barren for miles around—this description was not an exaggeration at all.
As a seasoned Valkyrie, she had seen all sorts of dangerous situations, but this was one she had never seen before.
On the other side, Theresa looked at the information that was transmitted back and she understood Himeko's thoughts: "But the detection of Honkai energy intensity could not possibly be wrong, Honkai did indeed erupt there."
"Yeah, that's why I said it's bad." Himeko replied with a headache, while Theresa offered concerned advice from the other side.
"Explore carefully, there may be unforeseen dangers here."
"Well, I see."
Himeko has a serious expression and gives off a reliable vibe. As the only 'mature adult' in St. Freya Academy and the most reliable person in the Far East Branch, she is like a patriarch in St. Freya Academy, full of responsibility and giving people a sense of security and reliability.
Even the Valkyrie squad she brought was only told to wait, while she came down alone to investigate the situation.
After hanging up the communication device, Himeko glanced at the motionless Honkai energy detection device again before looking back at what was in front of her.
The surroundings were very open, with a quiet moat in the distance. Finally, she focused her gaze on the more conspicuous building in the distance, which looked like a huge abandoned factory.