"Fu Hua, done."
"Senti, appeared unexpectedly, already subdued…"
"Griseo, retrieved, soft, fragrant…"
"Six Disciples of Taixuan, currently in class…"
On the top bridge of the Eternal Snowfall, Setsuna crossed off one task after another on the holographic interface.
At first, he thought the Saga of the Shattered Swords world would come to a close after resolving the affairs of Mount Taixuan and Kallen.
Unexpectedly, due to some accidents and deeper explorations, he had to stay a while longer.
"Looks like everything here is basically done?"
Setsuna checked the list—everyone that could be brought back was now on the Eternal Snowfall or the space station.
Anything they could find had already been gathered.
Even if the Research Division lacked something, with Sophons and the Angeloids helping, they could easily sort it out.
"You really do know this world inside and out…"
Fu Hua leaned against him, watching as he recorded item after item in his memo, her expression tinged with surprise.
"Of course."
Setsuna glanced at several reports from the research departments.
The Life Sciences Department was still advancing the MANTIS Project and Chimera Project.
They were matching the DNA of their companions with that of cultivated Honkai Beasts, attempting to create MANTIS unique to the Starsea Empire.
They were also experimenting with mixing multiple Emperor-class Honkai Beasts with Chiyou's DNA to see if they could create a super flashy Vipralopa-class Honkai Beast.
With Dr. Mei's data as reference, the progress moved forward in an orderly fashion.
All that was required was time.
As for projects like building the Astral Express, reverse-engineering the Divine Keys, or observing the Tree and Sea—those were more difficult, so any results would depend on chance.
"When are we going back fifty thousand years?"
Fu Hua leaned softly against his shoulder from behind.
Her bluish-gray hair cascaded down, a pleasant fragrance wafting from her nose.
"Mm… are you in a hurry?"
Setsuna pinched her cheek.
"Not really… just, I feel like many companions from the Previous Era would really like you."
Fu Hua thought for a moment.
"You and your companions are interesting. Elysia would definitely like you."
"You used Dr. Mei's research to help defeat the Honkai. Mei, Vill-V, and Mobius would definitely be interested in the Starsea Empire's technology."
"When she sees all your researchers are little girls, Mei will probably be shocked."
Her gaze carried both nostalgia and hope.
She had once thought those departed companions could never be seen again, but before the absurd time-travel technology of the Starsea Empire—
Future saving past became reality.
Fu Hua could hardly wait to bring Setsuna back, to destroy the Honkai, save her companions—
And proudly announce to everyone that she had such an excellent… partner.
"Oh? You want me to go back and flirt with other girls that much?"
Setsuna tilted his head up with a grin.
"I also quite like Elysia, actually, mm."
"Hey!??"
Fu Hua squeezed his cheeks tightly, putting a bit of strength into her grip.
"Playboy!!!"
"So that's what you were thinking?!"
"I've always dared to face my own heart and desires directly."
Setsuna answered honestly.
So honestly that Fu Hua didn't know how to scold him.
"You, you… sigh, fine, as long as you're happy. Just don't forget me."
The immortal let out a sigh.
When she learned Setsuna was surrounded by countless girls, she had felt a little dejected.
But being able to receive even a share of his feelings, she was already content.
After all, in fifty-four thousand years, no man had ever accomplished the miracle Setsuna did for her—
Traversing time and space, regardless of cost or reward, just to help her.
"I'll say it again: I treat everyone equally, whether human, Spirit, dragon maiden, or shipgirl."
"With the Eternal Silver… no, with the Eternal Snowfall here."
Setsuna gently stroked Fu Hua's cheek.
In his eyes, she was just a serious, meticulous girl who didn't talk much. Only in front of others was she the immortal.
"Hmph."
Fu Hua gave a soft snort, gently brushing away Setsuna's hand that had slipped into her robes.
"Tonight. Your energy is really something."
"Of course, did you think the two Wisdom Cubes and the Allspark were fake?"
Setsuna pulled her into his arms.
"As usual… the past few days you can have me all to yourself. But tonight, Tohru and Mio will join us too."
"Ah???"
The pure immortal looked as though she had just heard something outrageous, her pupils trembling violently.
"Wait a minute—what do you mean Tohru and Mio together?!"
"Literal meaning. I want to take care of your body, but alone it doesn't feel enough, mm."
"..."
By accident, Fu Hua had just learned of a very strange tradition.
After teasing the immortal for a while,
Setsuna pulled up several holographic interfaces, bringing up the Research Division's reports.
"On to business."
"When we went to retrieve Cangxuan and Dan Zhu, the 3,000-year span burned through about sixteen thousand Wisdom Cubes in the Spiritron Transfer Device."
"According to the Engineering Department's estimates, crossing fifty thousand years will require consuming two to three hundred thousand Cubes, plus building a much larger Spiritron Transfer Device."
Shua—
On the display appeared a massive, extremely complex structure.
From the scale, it was nearly half the size of the moon. Its internal design was intricately tangled, marked with incomprehensible data and formulas.
Just looking at it made Fu Hua dizzy.
"Mm… this might be a planetary-level megastructure. If it can leap across tens of thousands of years, calling it a galactic miracle wouldn't be wrong."
"The Research Division is figuring out how to construct it. Once the blueprints are ready, it's simple—just hand it to the Bulins."
Setsuna explained.
When saving Cangxuan and Dan Zhu, it had partly been to fulfill Fu Hua's wish.
But on the other hand, the Research Division was also testing the feasibility of ultra-long time travel within the Honkai universe.
The conclusion: feasible.
It just needed overwhelming resources to create miracles.
—And the Starsea Empire never lacked resources.
Even burning up a few, or even dozens, of stars could be managed through their vassal universes.
"Oh… so that means, once this super Spiritron Transfer Device is built, we can go save the Previous Era?"
Fu Hua realized.
"Mm, it's still in the design phase now. After that, construction won't take long."
Setsuna nodded.
"But compared to going to the Previous Era, what I'm more concerned with… is going to the future."
"Oh?"
At this point, Fu Hua wasn't Fu Hua. She had no idea what would happen in the times ahead.
"There are some people 500 years later I care about. The reason we didn't fully conquer this place was to avoid over-disrupting the worldline."
Setsuna explained briefly.
"???"
"You're not only after girls from fifty thousand years ago—you're after girls from the future too?!"
Fu Hua froze for a moment, then hit the nail on the head.
"Mhm. But traveling to the future is far harder than to the past. It might involve dimensional technology…"
"Crossing time from a higher dimension, straight into the future… tch, it's a little like the Zero-Homer's vision of the idyllic era universe…"
Setsuna casually replied.
The Saga of the Shattered Swords timeline was a little awkward—he couldn't just wait five hundred years.
"You didn't deny it, you even gave an extra explanation?!"
Fu Hua slapped her forehead.
The two joked with each other for a while longer.
Setsuna began thinking about what unfinished business still remained before they left.
What tragedies could be prevented here and now.
As he pondered,
Occasionally, his gaze drifted to the window, where the moon rotated quietly in the distance.
"Oh right."
"Let's go take a look at the moon. Didn't you and Finality fight a battle there?"
...
Buzz—
A small shuttle departed from the space station, carrying Setsuna, Fu Hua, and several companions toward the moon.
As the small celestial body grew nearer, Fu Hua felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
Fifty thousand years ago, Fire Moth had fought the Herrscher of Finality here—and suffered a crushing defeat, forced into silence while awaiting a new era of civilization.
At the time, the Moonlight Throne system had been entrusted with high hopes. Yet it failed completely, the Herrscher of Finality proving far stronger than they had ever imagined.
"Ah… it was here back then…"
Fu Hua pointed to a location on the lunar surface.
Even after fifty millennia, with weathering and cosmic meteor impacts reshaping the moon's surface, she still remembered every detail of that battle.
"Mm, circle around to the far side."
Setsuna gestured. The shuttle curved along the lunar orbit, heading toward the hidden face.
Unlike Earth revolving around the sun, the moon was tidally locked by Earth's gravity.
Which meant one face always turned toward Earth. From Earth, one could never see the far side.
"Hm?"
Fu Hua had felt puzzled at first.
But as the starship skimmed low across the lunar orbit and reached the far side, her eyes froze.
The far side of the moon had fewer flat maria, most of its terrain jagged with craters.
Among them, the most striking feature was a massive structure standing inside a basin.
Part of its surface was damaged, but its architectural style carried unmistakable traces of the Previous Era.
The moment they drew near, the shuttle's sensors began blaring alarms.
"You brought us here for…?"
"This is where Dr. Mei sealed 'God.' Of course we're here to check it out—and make use of it."
Setsuna answered.
Before the Final Battle, Dr. Mei, with her incomplete understanding of Honkai and "Truth," had built this colossal structure on the moon's far side to seal away "God"—the power of Finality.
She had hoped to use the Moonlight Throne system to confine the Honkai entirely to the moon.
But even running at 200% overload until it burned out, it only managed to deplete about 30% of the Herrscher of Finality's energy.
That energy seeped into the lunar soil.
According to the original plot—
Centuries later, in the Current Era, during the Second Eruption, Sirin would fly to the moon.
Here she would meet "God," the Will of the Honkai, and accept its power to become the five-core Herrscher, leaving Earth in tears.
Naturally, Setsuna had no intention of leaving this for Sirin.
The inhuman experiments of Babylon Lab should never have existed.
So, the lunar inheritance—he intended to take it all.
Click—
The moment they set foot on the surface, Fu Hua frowned.
She bent down, scooping up a pinch of lunar soil—tainted with a familiar power.
Honkai energy.
Hoo—
Setsuna also felt a surge of immense energy.
As a Herrscher himself, he felt a strange affinity with the power of Finality.
They made their way deeper into the ruins, broken and ancient devices scattered everywhere.
Passing through several collapsed structures, they reached what resembled a shrine.
At its center, upon a high platform, floated a golden star.
It radiated a dim glow, large in size, most of it shrouded by stone pillars, as though sealed deliberately.
"What is this…?"
Neither Fu Hua nor Senti had ever seen such a thing.
"This is part of the seal on 'God.'"
Setsuna gazed at the star.
It was this that had drawn Sirin by the mysterious voice, prompting her to touch it—whereupon she encountered the Will of the Honkai.
And from it, she gained four Herrscher cores.
He figured he should give it a try as well.
Shua—
He reached out and pressed against it.
Instantly, his vision turned pure white.
His consciousness slipped into a boundless white space.
And there, not far away—
Setsuna saw a figure seated upon a throne, a faceless, formless human.
It rested its chin on one hand, legs crossed, looking down at him.
Its face had no features, only a smooth, glowing surface like an energy body.
"The Will of the Honkai?"
Setsuna stepped forward a few paces.
This was the literal "god" of the Honkai world.
But the Will of the Honkai could not alter the world's rules, nor could it directly descend into the human realm.
It had even been partially sealed by Dr. Mei's schemes.
Far from an omnipotent god.
"…"
The Will of the Honkai before him gave no reply, nor did it transform as it had when Sirin encountered it.
It simply stood there, locked in silent confrontation with Setsuna.
"Hey? No reaction?"
Setsuna recalled that the Will of the Honkai usually spoke directly into people's minds, able to read their thoughts.
When a question arose in one's heart, it would answer.
Very godlike in style.
Unfortunately, his body was different—an Allspark and Cube hybrid. Perhaps the Will of the Honkai couldn't comprehend him.
After several minutes—
A strange voice finally rang out:
"Who are you? Why are you here?"
"I'm the Commander of the Starsea Empire…"
"?"
Before he could finish—
Bang—
His vision blurred, his consciousness expelled.
He returned to the ruins.
"How was it? What happened?"
"When you touched it, you just stood there in a daze. I called you but you didn't answer…"
Fu Hua asked with concern.
"Uh… the Will of the Honkai doesn't seem willing to give me its power."
"Damn."
Setsuna glanced around, shook his head, and clicked his tongue.
Sirin had gained its favor due to her intense hatred of humanity and desire for power.
As for him…
The Will of the Honkai probably saw him as a war criminal.
"Should I try?"
Senti raised her hand.
"Forget it. You're already the double agent among Herrschers. Facing the Will of the Honkai directly isn't a good idea."
Setsuna thought it over.
"Then what now? Leaving it here feels like a waste…"
Senti scratched her head.
"That's simple. If it won't give, I'll just take it myself."
Setsuna coughed, then waved his hand.
Clatter—
The shuttle hatches opened, releasing thousands of Angeloids and a troop of Bulins with tools in hand.
"Clear the lunar ruins. Build an outpost here."
"Take this thing away for research, extract the Honkai energy from it, and best case—forge me a few Herrscher cores."
"Understood!"
The Angeloids and Bulins quickly began construction on the lunar surface.
"Alright, done. The rest will be handled by Grey and the Research Division."
Setsuna clapped his hands.
"Let's go home!!!"
"..."
Fu Hua and Senti were left dumbfounded.
If it won't give—just take it.
Very well. That was indeed their Commander.
—
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