Chapter 32: Who's Asleep, Who's Awake, Whose Dream

"Mmm, my head is spinning..." Kiana pouted, leaving the uncomfortable chair she had been sitting on and walking into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water.

After downing a cold glass of water, the heavy feeling in her head eased a bit. Glancing around, she opened the refrigerator door and took out the snacks she had been craving, sneaking a quick bite before hurriedly putting the plastic bag back.

Kiana tiptoed back to the bedroom, quietly closing the door behind her and heaving a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, she hadn't been caught. Then, Kiana froze, feeling shocked by her own actions and thoughts: "Why did I sneak around like that? Clearly..."

She sat back at the table, looking at the scattered homework and textbooks in front of her, suddenly feeling restless. "Sigh, there's not much left anyway. I can copy it tomorrow morning."

Kiana threw her pen onto her notebook, stretched lazily, pushed off with her feet to spin the chair back to her bed. The fluffy white ball dove into the blanket like a diver, taking two seconds to find a comfortable position.

She hugged the blanket, almost falling asleep as soon as she closed her eyes.

I'm not even that tired... but... mmm...

"Hu..."

It felt like she had a dream, where she was like a small boat on the waves, sometimes up, sometimes down, the journey was a bit bumpy, but her excitement was aroused by this kind of stimulation.

Like the dreams everyone had when they were young, she spread her arms and flew freely in the sky.

The girl smelled the fragrance of flowers, the sweetness of chocolate, and the aroma of freshly baked bread and cookies emitting the scent of wheat.

She circled around enjoying these smells, flying slower and slower, losing momentum until she fell.

The light breeze brushed against her hair, but she didn't panic.

Someone will catch her.

...

"Mom!"

Luo Lin instinctively reached out and caught the purple-haired girl.

Sirin looked up playfully and made eye contact with the Valkyrie. "Mom, I want to eat delicious food! I want to eat the bread you made! Oh, and I also want cookies!"

"...Sure."

What's going on? Didn't I fail the mission?

Luo Lin agreed somewhat bewilderedly. She looked around: she was in a huge living room, with several comfortable-looking sofas, and a glass table in front of them filled with various fruits, dripping with water as if they had just been washed.

In the distance was a semi-open kitchen, looking familiar, Luo Lin quickly realized that the layout of this kitchen was similar to the one she lived in Nagazora, but larger in size, with more kitchenware inside, and even the refrigerator was replaced with an oversized one, obviously expensive.

Familiar music came from the TV directly opposite the sofa in the living room. Luo Lin listened and was stunned—wasn't that "A Bite of China"?

There shouldn't be a thing like that in the world of Honkai Impact 3!

"Mom?"

Sirin tilted her head in confusion, noticing her mother seemed a bit absent-minded, so she called softly.

"Good girl, Sirin, why don't you eat some fruits first, watch TV for a while, and mom will make it for you soon..."

Luo Lin also realized that it wasn't time to dawdle. She gently patted Sirin's head, placed the girl on the soft sofa, and Sirin twisted around, making the sound of air being released from the cushion.

Watching Sirin eagerly pick up a peach to munch on, Luo Lin grabbed a tissue from the box on the table and wiped the purple-haired girl's fingers and mouth. "Eat slowly, don't make a mess with the juice."

"Mmm..."

Sirin made a purring sound like a cat, her golden eyes glued to the TV program, quickly becoming completely absorbed.

Luo Lin got up and walked towards the kitchen, continuing to observe her surroundings. She realized that the layout of the entire house was similar to the one she rented in Nagazora, but there were some subtle differences.

"Fu Hua? Fu Hua, are you there?"

"I'm here..."

A head suddenly popped up from the floor, startling Luo Lin.

Fu Hua emerged from the ground, her Phoenix attire disappeared, replaced by a tight-fitting blue-black bodysuit with a dark gray short vest.

—Isn't this the attire Hua wore during the Previous Era?

Luo Lin's eyes widened, almost dropping the flour spoon. She quickly grabbed the spoon, then glanced nervously behind her. Sirin was focused on the TV show, seemingly interested in the roast pig.

Fu Hua seemed unaware of the change in her clothing style, speaking solemnly, "I was just checking on the situation with Fenghuang Down, and it seems to be a bit off..."

As she spoke, she showed Luo Lin the Fenghuang Down in her palm—almost a third of Fenghuang Down had turned into translucent blue crystals, with some force surging and eroding inside.

Luo Lin was filled with question marks, and after looking for a while, she only saw that Fenghuang Down had suffered the toxic effects of quantum power, so she asked the system, "System, what's the situation now?"

[I was just repairing Fenghuang Down, and then the quantum energy lurking inside suddenly erupted, colliding violently with the Honkai energy remaining in the God Key...]

The system continued, [When I sensed it, it was too late to stop it. The collision between Honkai energy and quantum energy continued, both energy were surging as if getting support out of thin air, the total amount was almost endless, obviously exceeding the storage limit of Fenghuang Down...]

"...Support out of thin air... If there's anyone capable of that, it should be those two..."

Luo Lin felt a phantom pain in one of her limbs, gasping for breath.

[Probably.]

The system said in a sorrowful tone, [The collision between Honkai energy and quantum energy is intensifying, almost squeezing Fenghuang Down, the carrier, to the point of explosion. They both stopped at the same time, then, centered on the Divine Key, a powerful energy fluctuation erupted, covering almost the entire Nagazora...]

[The operation of the system has also been affected by this fluctuation...]

It operated for a moment, bringing up the mission prompt box.

[Current objective: Make *% have a perfect day (*&%$^)]

[As you can see, the chronological module has also been disrupted... just like the situation we encountered during "Post-Honkai Odyssey", it's no longer a simple simulated space—it's mixed with the spirits and memories of many people, forming a huge consciousness space...]

"I knew they wouldn't bring anything good..."

Luo Lin nodded resignedly. "At least this place looks familiar, and the TV shows are... at least this place definitely has my portion of memories in it... who else has linked in?"

[Miss Fu Hua is also beside you, so she must have her share of memories...]

The system paused, [Of course, there's also the young lady in the living room...]

"You mean... that's the real Sirin!?"