Chapter 55: The Reflection of the Soul in Art

"I'm back!"

Elysia walked over, carrying a pink longbow that matched her attire, wearing her familiar radiant smile. It was like she could maintain this optimistic demeanor at all times.

Siegfried inquired, "When are we going to search for clues about the Honkai?"

"Looks like you're all ready?" Elysia confirmed immediately, "Let's go now—Pardo? Are you coming with us?"

Pardofelis shook her head vigorously, "No no no, I'm just an ordinary merchant. I'm not going to do anything dangerous like this."

Seeing the cat-eared hooded girl's resolute attitude, Elysia shrugged and, along with Luo Lin, Siegfried, and "Fu Hua," walked out of the research institute towards the place where the clue had disappeared earlier that morning.

Luo Lin, observing the gradually familiar surroundings, quickly realized they were heading towards the location where Siegfried had shattered the illusion with a shot during the previous cycle.

Before long, Elysia halted in her tracks, pointing to a crossroads ahead, "This is where I found the trace of the Honkai energy disappearing. Mr. Siegfried, do you sense anything?"

"Not at the moment," Siegfried replied. He wasn't the type to have keen perception. He had initially planned to look for subtle signs of erosion caused by the Honkai energy, but now it was daytime, and the streets were bustling with people. Even if there were such traces, they wouldn't be easy to find now.

Luo Lin, comparing the surroundings to what she remembered from the previous cycle's battle, vaguely found the direction and began to walk forward slowly.

Elysia and Siegfried exchanged a glance and followed behind Luo Lin.

As for the Herrscher, she trailed behind the group, also feeling that the scenery here was very familiar. This sudden déjà vu left Senti feeling a bit puzzled.

Luo Lin tried to recall everything that happened during the previous cycle. Luckily, her memory was good, and she was lucky. Soon, she found a window and an alley that matched her memory.

—The place where she taught Kiana Kaslana gun fighting techniques last time was here.

Kiana also realized this. She touched the pistol hidden under her clothes and smiled.

Seeing the smiles on Luo Lin and Kiana's faces, Siegfried became puzzled.

"Oh right, Siegfried, do you remember to teach Kiana how to use Kaslana's gun fighting techniques? Last time, I taught Kiana some basics, but when it comes to gun fighting techniques, your family's research is more thorough."

"...Alright." The white-haired man suddenly realized that after leaving Kiana in Europe back then, the white-haired girl had not received complete and systematic education since then, neither in combat nor in knowledge.

Kiana had no stable foothold. She worked and saved money for traveling while searching for her missing biological father. Along the way, she learned by trial and error, relying on the basic Kaslana gun fighting techniques and the back-and-forth with various Honkai beasts...

"Kiana, come, let Dad show you a few tricks..."

"Okay okay!"

Kiana ran over eagerly, ready to learn from Siegfried.

Luo Lin shook her head and continued to move forward according to her impressions. After a few minutes, she arrived at the target location.

"I feel it, it's this wave of Honkai energy fluctuations!"

Elysia clapped her hands, satisfied. "To find clues from such a distance is really impressive, Lady Cecilia! Alright, I'll inform Dr. Mobius to find a way to evacuate everyone around here..."

Siegfried couldn't help but complain, "Aren't you a research institute? How do you have this kind of power?"

"Oh, don't worry about these details."

On the other side, the Herrscher stared at a certain spot on the ground, her fingers unconsciously tapping—exactly where Siegfried had blasted with the Shamash. She saw everything.

Instinctively, Senti took out the Fenghuang Down. It trembled, emitting light, seemingly attracted by something.

Then, the Honkai energy and quantum energy surged in the Fenghuang Down, easily suppressed by the Herrscher, but her curiosity couldn't be suppressed either.

"What exactly is in there...?"

Senti rubbed the surface of the feather, looking around, seeing no one paying attention to her. So, she cautiously injected her Honkai energy into the Divine Key.

—After all, the erosion of quantum energy is not so serious now, and using the Fenghuang Down a little should be fine.

With a slight hum from the Divine Key, a deep red light appeared from the depths of the Herrscher's pupils. Her vision suddenly receded, as if turning into a third-person perspective, overlooking this illusionary city from above.

The speed of her receding vision became faster and faster. In just a few seconds, she couldn't find her position anymore, and even this city became a tiny dot that was almost invisible.

Then, as if piercing through an invisible barrier, the Herrscher's vision was shrouded in black mist, but in this mist, there was a dazzling existence.

The light pierced through the heavy black fog, making the Herrscher squint her eyes, unable to see clearly.

The figure was familiar, but... also somewhat unfamiliar.

"Is it me...?"

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A few minutes ago, in Griseo's private painting studio.

Sirin stared somewhat blankly at the walls covered in paint by the blue-haired girl. Everywhere, there were traces of the emotions and artistry poured into it. Some were already completely dry, while others still seemed freshly applied, exuding a moistness—even the ceiling bore the marks of Griseo's creativity.

If a sensitive, art-loving person were to see these works, they might be overwhelmed by the emotion and artistry contained within these "doodles," perhaps even fainting on the spot from the impact.

Unfortunately, Sirin, the country bumpkin, didn't understand much about this. Her favorite thing was actually the cartoons on TV, especially the type like "Peppa Pig," simple yet amusing...

She sighed, "Griseo, why don't you paint on paper?"

"I don't feel comfortable painting on paper," Griseo replied, sounding somewhat disheartened. "Inspiration comes quickly and changes quickly. Constantly revising and modifying is too much pressure for paper... Besides, the Institute only provides me with paper, not canvas... So I paint on the walls."

She paused, then somehow produced a stack of papers from somewhere and handed them to Sirin. "If you don't want to paint on the walls, there's paper here for you..."

"Um, about that..."

The purple-haired girl looked to Kosma for help, but the boy just silently turned his head away, murmuring, "...Do as you like, whether on paper or on the wall."

Kosma pressed a switch on the wall, and all the paint on the wall in front of Sirin was instantly cleaned, leaving behind a clean wall within a few seconds.

"You cleaned it all up?!" Sirin was greatly shocked.

"It's cleaned like this every few days. Griseo doesn't care about these things," the boy explained quietly.

At this moment, Griseo pushed a small table over from the side, filled with paint and brushes. With an expectant gaze, the blue-haired girl looked at Sirin, which made Sirin feel a little guilty.

"Let me just say, I'm not very good at painting..."

"It's okay, Sirin. I just want to play with you," Griseo reassured her.

Sirin scratched her head and looked at the spacious wall. Suddenly, a sense of boldness surged within her: "Then I'll paint on the wall!"

She picked up the palette and carefully selected colors.

"A bit of this, hmm, and a bit of this..."

Dipping the brush lightly into the paint, Sirin made the first stroke on the wall. She watched the golden mark, nodding in satisfaction.

"Next..."

Griseo kept her eyes fixed on Sirin as the purple-haired girl's initially restrained movements gradually became more unrestrained. Finally, they entered an unknown state, with Sirin filling the wall with colors, her brush dancing like it was flying.

Soon, Sirin's painting took shape.

Gold and white embraced each other, lying down steadily on a grassy field full of flowers, under a sky full of stars.

The golden figure was no longer alone, and the white figure was no longer unreachable.

The blue figure leaped around, while the gray figure guarded from a distance.

Everything was so beautiful yet seemed like a hazy shadow that could vanish at any moment.

It turned out to be a dream she never wanted to wake up from.

Understanding dawned on Griseo. She stood up, grabbing Sirin's hand as the latter stared blankly at the painting.

"Sister, don't be afraid..."

"Griseo, I don't want to wake up from this dream, I don't want to lose her..."

Closing her eyes, tears fell from Sirin's eyes.

"Mom Cecilia, Sister Kiana, and the Dad..."