"Don't question her." The store manager sighed, "She's probably doubting her life right now."
"..." Herrscher of Thunder, Mei Yi of Raiden, said with a bitter face, "Um, Manager, what do you think we should do in this situation?"
Mei, the Herrscher of Lightning, Raiden, who vowed to wipe out all enemies after joining the World Serpent, was rarely cowardly. Knowing that she most likely would not be able to solve the problem, she finally chose to ask for help from the most reliable person in the hall.
"What else can we do? Anyway, we have one more reason for you to trick Kiana from your world here." The young store manager also had a worried look on his face. If it was a life form from the world bubble, even if the soul dissipated, he would have a way to forcibly retrieve the dissipated soul. But the situation in the original world was different. If the Himeko from the original world still had consciousness before entering this cafe, it would be fine. But before the Himeko on his side picked up the tattered body of the Himeko from the original world, she had already transferred her soul away... In this situation, even the store manager could do nothing.
At this moment, Dr. Tesla, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up: "From what you said, Ji Zi's soul was transferred into the Plague Gem by herself?"
"That's about it." The young store manager said, "What do you want to ask?"
"Then why don't you go and get the Plague Gem back? Since Ji Zi from your side can pick up Ji Zi from our intrinsic world, it should also mean that the Plague Gem that is stranded in the same imaginary space as her body can also be found by her, right?" Dr. Tesla asked puzzled.
"If it's anything else, it can be recovered...but the Herrscher Core is a little special," said the store manager.
"Special? What's so special?" Dr. Tesla was stunned.
"You, Anti-Entropy, have a Herrscher and several Herrscher cores. You should have conducted relatively detailed research on the Herrscher. The essence of that thing is a 'fixed point' released by the Cocoon in the Intrinsic World. It has a strong uniqueness. I don't know how Ji Zi in my store found Ji Zi in the Intrinsic World, but... unfortunately, if it is the Plague Gem, it will not reappear in the Quantum Sea after being picked up by the Thousand Herrschers."
As he was talking, the store manager himself became a little puzzled: "After all... Logically speaking, the Jizi of the Eigenworld shouldn't be hit by the Hyperion active in the Quantum Sea... Jizi, how did you meet yourself in the Eigenworld?"
Chapter 4 Firefly Danger (k)
"I don't know." The young Ji Zi spread her hands, and a trace of resentment suddenly flashed in her eyes. "You don't expect a commoner like me who was born in a bubble world to be able to see at a glance what I hit during my voyage? I didn't even have time to finish reading the operating manual of the Hyperion you made."
"Well... well, it does seem a bit hasty to let you sail out without any preparation." The store manager scratched his head guiltily, then stood up. "Then I'll go to Hyperion to check out the situation there. Does anyone want to follow?"
"Eh? Can we come along too?" Herrscher of Lightning Mei was stunned for a moment, "Doesn't this cafe separate everyone's worlds?"
"The specific location of this cafe is at the singularity of the quantum sea. It just separates the world in the normal dimension where you originally lived." said the manager.
"That is to say, although we cannot interfere with each other's world, we can reach the same quantum ocean?" asked Dr. Tesla.
"The Quantum Sea itself is a plane extended by the contents of different worlds that overflow into the gaps between worlds. Theoretically, as long as you can enter the Quantum Sea, then even if you don't go through my cafe, you actually have the opportunity to enter each other's world. It's just that your worlds are all directly controlled and recorded by the 'Cocoon', so there is no way to interfere with each other." The manager said lightly, "But there is no such restriction in my sea area. Even if there was originally, I can remove that restriction."
"Can Cocoon even do this?" Herrscher of Thunder, Raiden Mei frowned.
"Of course, I am of the same level as Cocoon. In a sense, what I can do in the Quantum Ocean is the same as what Cocoon can do in your intrinsic world." The store manager nodded slightly and said earnestly, "It's just that compared to me, the Cocoon that dominates your world is a more unreasonable thing."
"... Let's not talk about this anymore. If you want to catch up, just follow me."
After saying that, the manager opened the door of the cafe and walked out on his own.
The people in the hall looked at each other, and the few people from 2017 followed immediately.
After hesitating for a moment, Bronya in 2013 followed.
Although the "self" from the future has told her most of the information she knows about Xier, apart from that, even the "self" three years later cannot say how much she knows about the Quantum Sea.
For them, the Quantum Sea, an abnormal plane located in the cracks of the world, still has too many unknowns and mysteries.
If you want to find Seele in her world, it won't work just by relying on information from the future.
First of all, no one can guarantee that after she enters this cafe, her future trajectory will be the same as that of Bronya from 2017.
Secondly, she didn't have the patience to continue waiting quietly in the Benzheng world for more than three years even though she knew how to find Xier.
...Although Bronya in 2013 knew that the hope of getting a response to her request was very slim, if possible, she still wanted to enter the Quantum Sea immediately after today and embark on the journey to find Seele.
And entering the quantum sea was obviously not something she could accomplish alone.
If... I can catch up with my sister named Ji Zi and travel in the quantum sea together, my hope of finding Xier would be greater than doing nothing now.
Theresa in 2013 hesitated for a while, but finally decided not to follow. Instead, she stayed in the cafe quite consciously, taking care of the unconscious Himeko and Kiana who still hadn't woken up.
She believed that three years from now, she would be able to handle Ji Zi's affairs in their world.
Compared to worrying about Himeko three years later, the more important thing for Theresa in 2013 was to prevent the people in her world from repeating their mistakes.
Theresa, who came from 2013, has sufficient confidence in this regard.
In 2013, Rita had a sad face and sighed helplessly deep in her heart.
——On the other side, the Hyperion driven by Himeko from Canghai City.
After walking out of the coffee shop, the people following the manager couldn't help but reveal a look of surprise.
"Although I had a hunch when I heard the name, this is really... almost exactly the same as our Hyperion." Theresa, the current commander and captain of the Hyperion in 2017, couldn't help but exclaimed in admiration.
"They just look similar." For some reason, the store manager's expression was a little sad. He looked around the empty corridor filled with various electronic equipment. There was a look of nostalgia in his eyes, as if he had met an old friend again, and also a hint of fear of the past.
The Hyperion was certainly the vessel that allowed him to survive and travel during the time he served as captain, but to be honest, his feelings about this ship are still very complicated.
Thinking back to the time when he had just become the captain of Hyperion, he was like a headless fly, wandering in the quantum ocean for hundreds of years without encountering a single living person, and he couldn't even see a hair of the world bubble. He was alone in the empty and deserted ship, and he had no idea how many times he had a mental breakdown and how many times he had cut his neck, but in the next second he opened and closed his eyes and was back on Hyperion's treatment table. Now when he recalled the situation at that time... he would never want to go through it again.
If the underlying rules of the Quantum Sea had not been modified by him, and the gaps between world bubbles were not so exaggerated that it would take Hyperion hundreds of years to sail, he would not have so easily allowed Ji Zi from Canghai City to embark on a journey to explore the Quantum Sea.
After a brief sigh, the store manager waved behind him and said, "Follow me."
Everyone who walked out of the cafe looked at each other, took a deep breath, and followed the manager's footsteps silently.
The store manager walked quickly. The door of the cafe was set up at the entrance of a cabin for the crew members stationed on the ship. Outside the door was a white passage. As the current captain of another Hyperion, Theresa from 2017 quickly recognized their final destination from the store manager's walking route.
"You're taking us to the bridge?" Theresa couldn't help but ask.
"Well, let's go to the bridge first to see what's going on outside." The store manager nodded. "From the situation of Jizi... Jizi from the Eigenworld just entering the cafe, she should have been picked up by Jizi from our side not long ago. With Hyperion's intelligence, when it detected the abnormal situation, it should have taken emergency braking measures in the first time and anchored its hull at the site where the abnormality occurred. You know better than me where Jizi from your world disappeared. That is an imaginary space constructed by the Herrscher of the Void. Under normal circumstances, Jizi who failed to leave the imaginary space should not be able to meet Hyperion sailing in the quantum sea. However, theoretically speaking... the possibility is not zero."
Tesla responded immediately: "What you want to say is... quantum layer infiltration?"
"Yes, in essence, the imaginary space is actually a kind of parallel space. Of course, there will be a gap between it and the normal dimensional space. The ability of the Herrscher of the Void is to ignore that gap and forcibly open the gates of the spaces on both sides." The store manager nodded. "On the other hand, when the artificially created imaginary space falls into a state of collapse due to the loss of the person who maintains the power of the Herrscher, or when the output power of the Herrscher's power is insufficient, the 'gate' connecting the two spaces will also weaken to the point where the two worlds cannot be fully connected. At this stage, the half-open space crack will allow the spaces on both sides to be invaded by the quantum sea at the same time, and then the quantum layer will be infiltrated."
"So, if I'm not mistaken, this Hyperion should have accidentally entered the imaginary space that was about to collapse after the imaginary space constructed by the Herrscher of the Void was about to collapse, following the cracks opened by quantum infiltration."
The moment the words fell, a slight shock struck everyone's feet.
Before they knew it, the slowly rising elevator had brought them to the door of the bridge.
The store manager walked out of the elevator and looked at the scene outside the porthole with a serious expression. As he thought, the scenery outside the porthole was an artificial space that was about to collapse. Suspended in the air was a monochrome Hyperion that was slowly disintegrating from the outside. Both sides of the porthole showed images of the side of the hull. A shrinking black crack was stuck on the hull of the Hyperion, making it stop at the bottom of this imaginary space and unable to move.
"Is this the final battlefield between Himeko and the Herrscher of the Sky?" Theresa whispered.
The other people standing in the elevator showed solemn expressions, and Kiana's eyes were even more painful. Just like the Herrscher of the Void's consciousness could always feel the situation in the outside world, even during the time when her body was taken away, Kiana could still sense everything that happened in the outside world through this body. This imaginary space was not only the final battlefield where the respected teacher summoned back the consciousness of his students, but also the crime scene where she watched "herself" kill the teacher.
Although no one would impose this crime on Kiana, it is impossible for Kiana to exonerate herself in any way.
The store manager took a deep breath and disappeared from everyone's sight in a flash. Then, they saw the store manager's flying figure through the porthole of the bridge.
Kiana clenched her hands, her palms were full of sweat from nervousness, and she prayed desperately in her heart, hoping that the "soul" that left Teacher Himeko would not leave immediately. But soon, the store manager who returned to the bridge told her the ending silently with a heavy face, which made her heart rise.
"..." Theresa bit her lip, "Didn't...didn't you find it?"
"Yes." The store manager nodded heavily. "Just as I thought, after the Herrscher of the Thousands in a certain world picked up the Plague Gem, there was no trace of the Plague Gem left in this artificial imaginary space."
"The Herrscher of a Thousand... Has the Herrscher of a Thousand been born at this time?" The Herrscher of Lightning, Raiden Mei, frowned.
"I don't know whether the Herrscher of the Thousand was born in this world, but in many cases, the order of time is not important. For the imaginary space and the quantum sea, which are in different dimensions from the real world, the order of cause and effect is more important." The store manager shook his head, "Because, in a world dominated by the 'cocoon', the so-called time itself is something that can be rewritten."
"As for Himeko in the original world, after her battle with the Herrscher of the Void, in the time recorded by the Cocoon, Himeko from that point onwards will be... and will only be in the same state. In other words, except for the world where Theresa was three years ago, where even the third collapse did not occur, for the people in the world after 2017, there is only one outcome for Himeko. From this perspective, the people in all of your worlds can regard the empty shell that the Himeko in my store found as the 'Infinite Tower Himeko' in your own world."
"Compared to the situation of Himeko Wuliangta, the situation of the Plague Gem is a little more troublesome, because the Plague Gem itself was released by the Cocoon. For things that originally belonged to it, the control of the Cocoon is even stronger than that of the Earth that it targeted later. Therefore, unlike the situation of Himeko in 2013, where there was a way to change the result as long as the corresponding event had not been experienced, regardless of whether the Thousand Herrscher of your world was born or not, as long as the Plague Gem was picked up by the Thousand Herrscher during the time recorded by the Cocoon, then we will not be able to find the Plague Gem first in this imaginary space."
“The Herrscher of the Thousand…” Kiana gritted her teeth and silently added this name to the list of enemies that must be defeated in her mind. A strong desire to fight burned fiercely. “In other words, as long as I can defeat the Herrscher of the Thousand and take back the Plague Gem, I can save Teacher Himeko, right?”
"Besides defeating the Herrscher of a Thousands, there is another way." The store manager said with a strange look on his face.
"What method?" Kiana asked quickly.
The store manager pointed at the Herrscher of Lightning, Mei Raiden, and said, "I told her before that she should trick Kiana from her world into coming to my cafe."
"If I remember correctly, Kiana from her world has inherited the power of the Plague Gem. Although, in the process of inheriting the power... it seems that the remaining consciousness of Himeko in the Plague Gem was burned. However, Fu Hua should know it best. Even if the consciousness is burned, there must be some residue left inside. As long as I can trick Kiana from that world into my cafe and use those residues, I should be able to try to restore Himeko's complete consciousness."
"so……"
Everyone in the cafe focused their attention on the embarrassed Herrscher of Lightning, Raiden Mei, and spoke at the same time:
“…Please?”
"Uh... I'll try my best?" The Herrscher of Lightning, Raiden Mei, said in a complicated tone.
Chapter 4: Case Record (k)
From a certain perspective, fooling people is actually a technical job.
In particular, at the time when Mei, the Herrscher of Lightning, was at home, it was not easy to gain the full trust of Kiana, who had been betrayed several times.
Cats are quite vengeful creatures, and Qi Maomao is no exception.
However, at this moment, no one present had even the slightest doubt that the Herrscher of Lightning, Raiden Mei, would bring Kiana from her world to the cafe.
This even includes Kiana herself from 2017.
Kiana walked up to the Herrscher of Lightning, Raiden Mei, with a serious expression. Facing the "Raiden Mei" who made her feel a little strange after only a few months, but was still quite familiar in essence, she immediately expressed her trust: "It's okay, Mei, although I don't know exactly what you have suffered in the next few months, but I believe that Kiana over there will definitely still have complete trust in you."
Then, she immediately forgave the fact that "Kiana was deceived by Raiden Mei" on behalf of herself in another world: "Don't worry, I swear in the name of Kiana, I in that world will never blame you."
"..." Seeing Kiana in 2017 selling out "herself" from another world without hesitation, the Herrscher of Lightning, Raiden Mei and the Raiden Mei from Sky City twitched their eyes at the same time.
It's not that they don't believe Kiana's words. After all, no matter which world Kiana is from, she must have a strong respect and regret for her teacher who saved her life. The two Raiden Mei from different time and space also believe that as long as they know afterwards that everything the Herrscher of Lightning, Raiden Mei did was to save teacher Himeko's life, then no matter what was done to them, Kiana will definitely forgive them from the bottom of her heart in the end.
To be honest, if this cafe was not so magical that it would be difficult to convince anyone in a short period of time if she told them about it, Mei, the Herrscher of Lightning, Raiden, would not even think that she needed to use deceptive means to trick Kiana from her own world. After all, as long as she knew there was a way to save Himeko Inoue and the price of that method was acceptable, then Kiana would definitely choose to try it.
Unfortunately, there is no if in this world.
Even if she told Kiana on her side the truth about this cafe, Mei, the Herrscher of Lightning, Raiden, didn't think that Kiana on her side would be able to immediately believe all this bizarre stuff in such a short time.
"Anyway, even if we really want to trick Kiana from her world into coming to my cafe, it's not something that can be accomplished today." The store manager waved his hand and slowly walked towards the elevator with the door open. "It's getting late today. The body of Ji Zi from the original world will be temporarily placed in my cafe. You don't need to worry too much."
He paused, then looked at the girl Jizi beside him: "Jizi, do you want me to help you get Hyperion out? Or should we just leave it stuck here?"
"Let's just stay here for a while. After what happened, I won't be in the mood to continue on the road anytime soon." The girl, Jizi, sighed, "What time is it now?"
"It's almost four o'clock." The manager said casually.
"No wonder I feel a little hungry..." The girl Jizi muttered softly, "I'd better have dinner in your store."
"Okay, I'll prepare it for you later." The store manager nodded, then turned his gaze to the people who followed him all the way to the bridge, "How about you, who wants to stay for dinner? The cafe has a few guests to be entertained tonight. If anyone wants to stay, I have to report to Rita in advance."
"Why did you ask us if we wanted to stay when you had guests to entertain?" Theresa in 2017 tilted her head in confusion.
"They didn't book my entire cafe, so entertaining a table of guests won't affect my normal business." The manager said, "I just wanted to estimate how much food I need to prepare in advance, so I asked Rita and Mei. Of course, the choice of whether to stay is up to you."
"..." Theresa in 2017 thought about it, and finally shook her head, "Forget it, Hyperion... I mean the Hyperion in our world is still waiting for us to return. Although they didn't take Kiana away, as their commander, I still have to go back as soon as possible to let everyone know that I am safe."
After finishing speaking, Theresa turned her gaze towards Bronya and Dr. Tesla on her side: "What about you two? Bronya, Dr. Tesla, do you want to stay with Kiana and Mei?"
Bronya in 2017 pondered for a moment and said, "Then Bronya will stay here. After all, this is a rare opportunity. Before leaving this cafe, Bronya wants to ask Mei and Kiana what they have been experiencing during this period."
"I'd better go back with you." Dr. Tesla gently lowered his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "I want to go back as soon as possible to discuss the matter about this cafe with Chicken Coop Head."
Seeing that the visitors from Sky City had already decided whether to stay or go, the store manager turned his attention to the Herrscher of Lightning, Raiden Mei and 2013 Bronya: "What about you two, do you want to stay?"
The Herrscher of Thunder, Raiden Mei nodded and said, "I'd be very grateful if you don't accept my offer. If your store is short of staff, I can help you out."
The store manager waved his hand but didn't refuse directly: "We'll see when the time comes. What about you, Bronya?"
Bronya in 2013 was stunned for a moment: "Can Bronya stay too?"
"I own the store. You can afford to eat here. There is no reason for me to chase customers away, right?" said the store manager.
“So I have to pay…” Theresa in 2017 said speechlessly.
"What's the matter? You, the commander-in-chief of the Far East branch, still want to eat a free meal?" The store manager rolled his eyes. "It's fine if I didn't get any benefit after working for you for a long time, but I have to earn the meal fee, right? The prices in my store are already very reasonable, okay?"
"No, that's not what I meant." Theresa in 2017 shook her head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "I just think that with your abilities, isn't it a bit of a waste of talent to just open a coffee shop? Someone as capable as you doesn't look like someone who would be short of money."
The store manager was alert immediately: "No, my wife and I are running a good store, don't even think about pulling me back to be a captain. You deducted all my wages and used them to buy Homunculus comics... I still have to do the dirtiest and most tiring work, sweeping the decks all the time, and I can't even have a peaceful time during vacation... When everyone has vacation and can have a good rest, you still let me go alone to destroy the Anti-Entropy's mechas... Hehe... It's all tears to talk too much. Why didn't I wake up and switch to Anti-Entropy earlier... At least they guarantee career assignment after retirement... They can even assign jobs to Fortune 500 companies... World Snake is not bad either, at least the salary they offer is enough. I was stupid back then and insisted on my fate..."
By the end of his speech, the store manager seemed to have entered a mysterious state where he was oblivious to the people around him. He kept mumbling to himself, and his voice sounded full of sorrow and tears.
Listening to the store manager's resentful mumbling and somewhat creepy laughter, everyone in the hall looked at Theresa's face suspiciously. Kiana even showed an expression of defending the store manager: "Aunt, even if you are the commander and the dean of Saint Freya, you can't exploit others like this. Look at you, you have forced others to want to switch jobs to Anti-Entropy. After all, they are captains. Isn't it a bit insulting to arrange for them to sweep the deck?"
"Are you kidding?! When have I ever exploited anyone?!" Theresa was stunned. Feeling the stinging gazes nearby, she instinctively wanted to refute this unfounded accusation with righteous words immediately, but for some reason, she heard an extremely strange sense of reality from the manager's constant mumbling, as if these things were indeed something she could do. So she could only put on a vain face and stiffen her neck and shout: "Slander! This is pure slander! I, I, I, I am the current captain! How could I let the captain of Hyperion go to sweep the deck?! As for overtime... I don't deny that in an emergency, Tianming will use overtime to occupy holiday time, but we are a military organization! How can the army not be deployed on holidays! What's more, our overtime pay is given according to the highest standards! How could we deduct other people's wages casually!!"
"Yoho?" Tesla laughed. "Theresa, I didn't expect that you actually used your subordinates' wages to buy Homo comics?"
“I—is this the point???!” Theresa almost vomited blood.
"It's okay. Even if you don't welcome him, we at Anti-Entropy do. I never thought he would want to switch to Anti-Entropy." Tesla ignored Theresa's madness and patted the store manager on the shoulder with a smile. "Hey, store manager, do you still plan to change jobs? How much salary did Tianming offer you? I'll give you five times!"
The manager who was mumbling to himself froze, a look of horror on his young face: "You still want to get five times the salary that Theresa deducted from me?"
"????" Tesla was stunned. "You have to pay for your job at Tianming? Damn it! What a shame!"
"Listen to me! When have I ever deducted your salary?!" Theresa was almost going crazy.
