"What's the situation in that star system?"
"The Honkai energy is confined to Izumo—it's probably due to some kind of rule. There's been no leakage whatsoever. That's why the concentration of Honkai energy on Izumo keeps getting more and more... absurd."
Kiana thought for a moment before finally settling on the word "absurd" to describe Izumo's current state. After all, Planet-class Honkai Beasts had already been born there.
If that wasn't absurd, what was?
"An invisible confinement?"
That, too, was something worth noting—and studying.
Kiana always had a way of bringing Ruan Mei unexpected surprises and delights.
But two forces locked in a stalemate?
Ruan Mei reached out again, this time lifting Kiana's chin slightly and tilting her head to observe what she wanted to confirm.
"That planet's current state resembles your body's condition quite a bit."
After a moment of thought, Ruan Mei said, "When there's time, take me to that planet. I want to see it myself."
"To Izumo? Sure. If you want to go, I can go with you anytime."
Kiana agreed without hesitation.
After all, Jyahnar was still waiting for her on Izumo. She'd have to return there a few more times sooner or later.
And the remnants of the Stigmata Worlds left behind after the Honkai Eruption—those, too, needed Ruan Mei's insight and guidance.
"Tell me everything that happened afterward—in detail," Ruan Mei said as she withdrew her hand, her tone softening. "Especially the origin of that consciousness residing within you."
"Everything since I left Kasbelina-VIII?"
"Preferably everything."
She needed to hear the full story before she could make any accurate assessments. And besides, she was genuinely curious about what had happened to Kiana afterward.
During her downtime, her thoughts had wandered—wondering what kinds of things Kiana might have encountered after leaving.
The sea of stars was vast, and signals weren't available everywhere. The idea of maintaining constant communication, no matter where or when, was pure fantasy. Even setting aside technological limits, there were far too many uncontrollable cosmic factors.
And Euphorion was near Nihility.
The signal there...
Ruan Mei had known there would be a loss of contact.
After their last parting, they hadn't communicated through terminals again. The distance was simply too great; even sending a single message would take an unknown amount of time to reach.
"Let me think... where should I start... Ah, got it. Not long after you left, I made plans with Robin to travel together. She came with me to Euphorion in search of Izumo."
Ruan Mei glanced at Kiana but didn't interrupt, listening quietly.
"We managed to get our hands on a ship and traveled for a while. When we finally arrived at Euphorion, it took us more time to locate Izumo—and the friend I was looking for."
"We found Izumo in the end, but the Honkai concentration there was unbelievably high. The entire planet was crawling with Honkai creatures. When I came into contact with that kind of density, I ended up getting marks of corrosion myself."
Kiana raised her hand again to show Ruan Mei. "Once these scars fade, the next time I go back to Izumo, I shouldn't be affected anymore."
"And there, I..."
Kiana hesitated slightly as she looked at Ruan Mei. When it came to Jyahnar, there was a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes.
A Planet-class Honkai Beast.
That kind of existence would no doubt captivate someone like Ruan Mei.
But why was she hesitating?
Ruan Mei didn't press, but inwardly, she knew—Kiana's hesitation came from a lack of trust.
Realizing this, even someone as composed and detached as Ruan Mei couldn't help but frown slightly.
Until now, Kiana had never refused any of her requests, no matter how unusual. And for that reason, Ruan Mei rarely refused Kiana anything in return.
It had been, in her mind, a simple exchange.
Fair and balanced.
At first, she'd found it somewhat unsettling—not because she disliked it, but because it was unfamiliar. Yet over time, she had grown used to Kiana's noisy presence.
Kiana, once as blank as a sheet of paper when Ruan Mei first found her, had trusted her completely.
And like a frog in warming water, Ruan Mei had unconsciously begun to think of Kiana as hers.
But in this moment, she remembered—Kiana wasn't hers.
All of that had been an illusion born of lost memories.
But now, she remembered.
Ruan Mei rarely wasted time on trivial thoughts. When she'd learned back on Kasbelina-VIII that Kiana had regained her memories, she hadn't cared much.
But now that it stood before her eyes, she couldn't ignore it—she had to think. What would change now that Kiana remembered everything?
Kiana was someone deeply attached to her past.
Which meant she would leave.
She herself was probably nothing more than a brief episode in Kiana's life—an accidental encounter along her path.
This time, Ruan Mei truly frowned.
After losing her family, she had poured all her focus into the pursuit of knowledge—until the gaze of Nous fell upon her.
She had intentionally avoided forming attachments with others. She had stopped trusting, because without trust, there could be no betrayal—and likewise, she would not betray anyone herself.
So then... did she trust Kiana?
"I encountered a Planet-class Honkai Beast."
Kiana finally said it. Though Jyahnar had claimed to be her companion Honkai Beast, what mattered more to her was the person who had been with her for over a year—Ruan Mei.
Besides, it wasn't something that needed to be hidden.
Her hesitation had only been over one thing—if Ruan Mei decided to do something extreme toward Jyahnar, would they end up fighting?
And if they did... how would she stop it?
"She called herself my companion Honkai Beast, but I have no memory of her. If what she said is true, it must've happened during the time I was unconscious."
"I learned a lot from her—found out that my friend is still alive, and that the Stigmata Worlds exist."
Ruan Mei nodded silently, signaling that she was listening.
"That consciousness you sensed within me—it's the Stigmata consciousness. She's a friend, a comrade from Izumo."
"Before the Honkai Eruption, the Honkai concentration on Izumo had already been very high. To help more people survive in such conditions, I gave many of them what I called Stigmata. The Stigmata granted strong Honkai resistance—and the ability to wield Honkai energy."
"At first, it was only meant to help people adapt to the energy. But after the Eruption, many of the Stigmata bearers who died left behind special crystalline remnants—the Stigmata Crystals."
"The power of the Stigmata reacted with their lingering consciousness, creating one Stigmata World after another. And even after death, they continued to 'live' within those worlds—as Stigmata consciousnesses."
"An interesting phenomenon."
Ruan Mei quickly saw through what Kiana was thinking and asked, "You brought her Stigmata consciousness here deliberately—hoping I'd do something, didn't you?"
Before Kiana could answer, her expression already gave it away. She scratched her head awkwardly and admitted with a sheepish smile, "Well, you are the most amazing person I know, Ruan. You're the only one I could think of who might be able to help."
Ruan Mei made a quiet sound of acknowledgment, her expression calm, her tone steady as ever. "No rush. Keep going—tell me the rest."
"After that, I went to the Stigmata World to confirm that the Stigmata consciousness was indeed my old friend."
By some twist of fate, her consciousness had been preserved.
Though rare, in a universe this vast, Ruan Mei had heard of similar occurrences before.
But Stigmata...
That was something Kiana had never mentioned to her before.
She had been amnesiac back then, knowing nothing. Everything about the Honkai's nature, about Nihility—all of it had been Ruan Mei's discoveries, later shared with Kiana.
"That place isn't suitable for long stays. After saying goodbye to Jyahnar, I left Izumo again, bringing my friend's Stigmata with me."
"Robin was hit by stray fire back on Kasbelina-VIII. When her brother found out, he insisted she return home, so after we left Euphorion, we went our separate ways—she returned alone to Penacony."
Kiana coughed lightly, looking a bit embarrassed as she recalled how much money she'd spent.
Although Ruan Mei had clearly said that money was her rightful payment, Kiana had barely touched it before. Here with Ruan Mei, on this secluded planet, there hadn't been many places that required using credits at all.
"So, uh... after confirming from Jyahnar that my friend was still alive—and knowing she'd likely left Euphorion—I went ahead and posted a missing-person notice through the IPC."
Through the Interastral Peace Corporation?
Ruan Mei immediately thought of the alert message she'd received from the corporation a while ago. So it had been Kiana—she'd put the entire one hundred million credits up as a bounty.
"That person—Acheron?"
She remembered it well. Kiana had asked about her back on Kasbelina-VIII.
It seemed Kiana truly cared deeply for her.
Cared deeply—meaning they must have been close.
So if Kiana found Acheron... would she leave with her?
The thought lingered in Ruan Mei's mind.
"Mm, her real name is Raiden Mei. I'm not sure what she goes by now."
Thinking of Mei—still missing—Kiana sighed. She wondered if there had been any updates from the IPC. She'd have to pull out her terminal later to check.
Raiden Mei?
Another name Ruan Mei didn't recognize.
"After that, I followed the return route as planned. But while passing through a certain starfield, I ran into the Yaoqing Xianzhou fleet—they were hunting Abominations of Abundance. My ship got attacked twice and was completely wrecked. I was furious, so I jumped down to fight those things myself... and ended up wasting several more days."
"...The Xianzhou were hunting Abominations?"
Ruan Mei fell silent for a moment. Kiana really did seem to stumble into an absurd number of unexpected events.
Hearing that, Kiana pouted slightly, her tone turning a bit indignant. "Yeah. I didn't even plan on getting involved, but those Borisin just had to provoke me."
"The Borisin are indeed an unreasonable species," Ruan Mei said evenly. "Still, you did what you had to. Winning is what matters."
"I also met Feixiao—the Vanquishing General of the Yaoqing fleet. I spent a few days recovering there."
She'd stayed aboard the Yaoqing for a short while, healing from her injuries before moving on.
Before leaving, she'd even sparred with Feixiao.
As for the outcome—well, it wasn't even close. Feixiao had won easily.
In terms of skill and experience, Kiana thought Mei would've been the better match. Kiana herself had always relied more on brute strength than refined technique.
But Mei's swordsmanship... that had reached perfection long ago.
"Why did you need to recover?" Ruan Mei asked, puzzled. "Did you encounter an Emanator of Abundance?"
The generals of the Xianzhou were hunters of Emanators. While Ruan Mei didn't know Kiana's exact limits, she could make an educated guess—based on what she'd seen before, Kiana's strength should have been more than enough to hold her own.
Aside from an Emanator, Ruan Mei couldn't imagine any Denizen of Abundance capable of seriously injuring her.
Kiana hesitated, lowering her gaze, her eyes dimming as a trace of weariness crossed her face.
It was the first time Ruan Mei had ever seen that expression on her.
Even when Kiana had first woken up, memoryless and lost, she'd never looked so defeated.
Something had happened on that battlefield.
Had Kiana... suffered a setback?
"I didn't use either the Honkai's or Nihility's power."
Her voice was low.
"What happened?"
"Ruan... I... almost lost control."
Lost control?
Ruan Mei immediately took her hand and checked her vital signs once again—but the results were the same as before.
She didn't think Kiana was joking. Turning serious, she stood up, switched off the radio that had been playing faintly in the background, and said, "Let me examine you."
She led Kiana into the laboratory.
Kiana, unusually quiet, said little and obediently followed her in.
Physical examinations were nothing new. Kiana was thoroughly familiar with the entire process—she lay down on the examination table without Ruan Mei having to say a word.
Ruan Mei remained silent throughout.
Not until the process was complete did she finally speak.
"Your physical resilience—or rather, your very life level—is still evolving. And your Honkai energy activity... is seven times what it was during the last check."
The result genuinely surprised her.
Earlier, in her quick scan, she'd noticed Kiana's Honkai activity had intensified, but she hadn't taken the time to quantify it.
Seven times.
That number... was astonishing.
"Seven times?"
Kiana instinctively touched her eyes. This was her condition after resting.
Remembering what had happened on the battlefield, she grew even more dejected, unsure what to say.
"Contact with such high concentrations of Honkai energy must have accelerated your body's restoration process," Ruan Mei analyzed. "It likely catalyzed your ongoing transformation."
Seeing her mood sink, she added softly, "Tell me about the Stigmata. What exactly do you want me to help you with?"
The Stigmata World?
Right—Yae Sakura and the Stigmata.
Kiana lifted her head again, her tone brightening slightly with a spark of wild hope. "The Honkai can distort reality, right? And the Stigmata World is still intact. So I was thinking—what if we could revive the entire Stigmata World? Turn it... into reality?"
If that could be done, Izumo could be restored.
Not the original Izumo—but something close.
To turn illusion into reality?
That was... quite the challenge.
Could the power of the Honkai truly achieve that?
Kiana's idea was bold—absurdly so. But Ruan Mei couldn't deny her own curiosity. Could such a thing be made possible?
It was worth trying.
A true genius never feared the impossible.
"We can try."
"I knew you'd say yes, Ruan!" Kiana's face lit up with pure joy the moment she heard the words.
"I want to see the limits of the Honkai, too," Ruan Mei added, though her expression softened when she noticed the lack of Kiana's usual bright smile. After a moment's silence, she said quietly, "Go get some rest."
"Rest?" Kiana blinked. "But I'm not tired."
She'd already braced herself to stay in the lab long-term, certain that Ruan Mei would start working immediately. Her plan was to assist her whenever needed.
"You look like you've been carrying too much weight—and it's been some time since you properly rested. Everything else can wait. Listen to me—go sleep for a while."
She's... worried about me.
Realizing that, Kiana's spirits lifted a little. Almost instinctively, she pushed her luck just like she always did.
"Then... will you stay with me, Ruan?"
Of course she would ask that.
Ruan Mei nodded slightly. "Alright."
After all, the research had already been on hold for several days. One more day wouldn't matter.
Before fully diving into the next round of experiments, a day of proper rest was, in truth, necessary.