Want to know the truth? Want to understand the crisis the world currently faces?
These are the words of the man who carries the weight of the world's name, after assessing Haxxor's character, assessing the most enticing question to say to her.
If there are geniuses among the common folk who perceive the presence of Honkai and begin to investigate Anti Entropy and Schicksal to some extent, they are generally eventually recruited by Schicksal or Anti Entropy.
Judging from Bronie's reaction, it seems she knows a great deal, and her response to Honkai appears significant.
Could it be that she is still a child deeply scarred by the Honkai?
At sixteen, during the time when the Second Herrscher was causing trouble, Bronie was likely around five years old.
Five is an age to remember things, so what shadows might Bronie have from her childhood?
"This matter cannot be discussed in public, and please, don't get too excited. If you want to know the truth, come with me."
But at this moment, Bronie appeared very calm, even leaning back on the sofa without the previous excitement.
"It's simply shifting the blame for some man-made disasters onto Honkai, and then redirecting the conflict towards Honkai, isn't it? Humans have always enjoyed doing this, even Kallen Kaslana's death was the same."
As Pardo thought, Honkai might create some absurd disasters, such as the Black Death or the invasion of Honkai beasts.
But the first Honkai Eruption was born during the Second World War.
Can Honkai brainwash people into war maniacs?
The second eruption goes without saying, it was almost caused by Otto himself, and the future third one was jumpstarted by Cocolia, and the fourth one in New Zealand was an unintentional cooperation between Cocolia and Otto.
As for the fifth one, it is officially considered to be caused by Prometheus.
"I do not deny that there were many artificial factors in the previous Eruptions. Just as when you were making the Civilization game, you were carefully investigating history, I have also investigated a lot of history. And I also found that the development of Honkai is closely related to human activities, even the Black Death, it was also Schicksal of that time period wanting to use Honkai to find a way to eternal life."
"So what else is there to say now? Do you expect me to solve the Honkai? I am invincible in terms of information, but information is ultimately information. Turning it into reality is the most difficult thing. As I said before, speak up and be honest. You make a request, I give a price, or you give a price, and I consider whether to accept the commission."
"I just want to find like-minded companions to fight against Honkai and solve the crises that may come in the future."
In the early plot of HI3rd, Cocolia caused trouble, tarnishing the reputation of the entire Anti Entropy.
In a way, Anti-Entropy cannot fully be trusted.
"Uh-huh, I see, but I have my own way to deal with Honkai."
"How much do you... know about Honkai?"
Hearing Bronie's arrogant words, Welt felt that Bronie seemed to be a bit temperamental.
She doesn't want too much interaction with himself? With Anti-Entropy? Or something else?
Judging from Haxxor's attack on Tesla, Bronie's hacking skills are indeed amazing. Even the firewall that even Schicksal cannot break through, she can invade and take over the system with just a glance.
But Honkai is not an electronic system.
"How much do I know? In the vast sea of quanta, there are countless bubbles of worlds. Except for the traces of time left by this world, there is no Honkai in other worlds. At the same time, it should be noted that there is no Honkai on the imaginary tree."
Bronie suddenly projected a hard-light screen, which startled Welt. This sudden high-tech made Welt once again confirm that Bronie was a genius that comes once in a millennium.
"The imaginary tree?"
"It's just a universally existing and recognized theory in the universe. After all, there are always some people in this world who have some special abilities, right? My ability just happens to be able to extract some information from the sea of quanta."
Originally, the first Herrscher, who bore the name of the world, wanted to give a good lesson to the genius girl in front of him through the meaning contained in his own name.
But what's the result?
Now it seems that Bronie is starting to teach himself!
"No, I should say that it's not just the sea of quanta. Outside of our real world, there is another dimension called I call, "The backyard", which can be compared to a language system that makes up software of our real world. Under such high-density information, all matter will be squeezed and then annihilated, but I can intercept some information from it."
Well, things are getting a bit fantasy-like now.
If Bronie had started talking about Aeons from the beginning, Welt would probably have found it even more fantastical.
But for Welt's sake, Bronie didn't mention it so soon.
"Oh? So the so-called theory of the imaginary tree is found from here? How do you ensure that this information is true, and not some kind of setting from a novel? And what does this have to do with Honkai?"
For some reason, there was no one paying attention to this side in the store at all, but Welt still felt a bit worried that discussing these things with Bronie might cause unnecessary trouble for passersby.
"Our world is at the end of the branches of the imaginary tree. For example, this is the solar system, pinned in the middle at the end, and this cup is the cocoon of finality."
With that, Bronie covered the empty cup with the nail.
But Welt's gaze was completely drawn to the nail.
A nail?
Coffee shops don't provide nails for customers, and daily life definitely doesn't involve carrying nails, so how did one suddenly appear in Bronie's hand?
And what is this cocoon of finality!?
The bottom of the cup seemed to vanish into data, leaving only a ceramic circle that surrounded the nail inside.
"And then, according to the rules of the cocoon of finality, it embraces human civilization, and the projection cast by the cocoon of finality forms an imaginary singularity, allowing the imaginary around it to flow in one direction, and then condensing onto a particular human, giving birth to a special individual."
New ceramics grew inside the ceramic ring, and fine lines extended to connect the entire nail.
And Welt's expression was unprecedentedly heavy.
Imaginary singularity, Bronie naturally referred to the Herrscher Core, which Welt understood very well.
From different perspectives, Bronie had a completely different view of the birth of the Herrscher.
A flood of information poured into Welt's mind all at once, and for a moment, Welt felt a bit irrational and at a loss.
Is this the truth of Honkai?
Why does Miss Bronie know about it?
"Whether your understanding of Honkai is correct is still debatable. We'll need verification from scientists on our end before we can draw a conclusion, but what I'm more interested in is your special power. Is it a creation?"
"This is a personal information. I won't just say it casually. Uh, definitely not."
Bronie didn't get lost in the sense of achievement when Mr. Welt was shocked, nor did she reveal all her background just because Welt was a good person.
The main reason for revealing the truth of Honkai was to let the people of Anti Entropy take a little less detour.
After all the changes she had made to the plot, she had to do something to help everyone take fewer detours to solve Honkai, right?
"I represent Anti Entropy and extend a cooperation invitation to Haxxor. Your abilities are very impressive, and I can confirm that this is not the power of Honkai. Let's walk together on the path of fighting Honkai. Having one more person is also having one more strength, isn't it?"
Haxxor couldn't be seen as just an ordinary genius or as someone who is alone anymore.
It's quite evident that Bronie probably has some organization behind her.
Although he investigated Bronie's gaming company through Anti Entropy's channels, he couldn't find anything. But this further indicates that the girl in front of him may very well have an organization behind her as well, one that is also fighting against Honkai, and their research on Honkai may even be ahead of Anti Entropy's.
"Cooperation is certainly not a problem. Or perhaps I really do need the help of Anti Entropy's scientists. Recently, I've been conducting an experiment, one related to memory and consciousness."
"Oh? Tell me more about it? How does this relate to fighting Honkai?"
Welt looked around nervously, but still, no one seemed to be paying attention to them.
Bronie is so bold, discussing these matters in this public place. Isn't she afraid of causing some serious consequences?
But Bronie doesn't trust him, which is quite normal.
Building trust is a very lengthy process, but you have to take the first step, right?
And more importantly, Bronie showed her sincerity, initiating the initial contact attempt with Anti Entropy.
Watching Bronie adjust the panel, Welt felt that her abilities were indeed different from the others, but also very similar to him.
No wonder there was a feeling of looking in the mirror while studying the game.
"I have a handful of dust emitting a faint light. Through the subtle particles, remnants of civilization's information can be seen. This comes from the records left by the information repository that records the material world. And this handful of dust is like a seed. Watering it might make it bloom and bear fruit, revealing even more memories."
"What are you talking about? Dust carries memories? This..."
Then Welt was a bit speechless.
Clearly, Bronie's hands were empty just now, but now it seems like something appeared!?
"It's just a little trick using the Quantum energy along with my own abilities. However, the memories of a civilization manifest as dust. When combined with a bit of ether, it can create a harmless meme, well... maybe harmless?"
"A meme? Is this physical information? Still, Without substance? But I can see it now, touch it, and I'm absolutely sure it's in your hands. Why do you call it a meme?"
"Because in the absence of infecting others' consciousness, memes do not exist themselves. The technology of the Garden of Recollection, I accidentally discovered it. But... it has indeed moved forward on the path, albeit by a millimeter. Have you heard of memetic entities? Casting aside their own flesh, they traverse the universe in the form of pure memes. But don't worry, I haven't met anyone from the real Garden of Recollection. This thing is just like a small screw in the steam age for them."
"Spreading through memory, not knowing, It does not exist but exist?"
Old Yang.exe stopped.
This thing is already beyond Welt's understanding.
Plus, his ability to harness the power of the Herrscher is limited, being not the original First Herrscher, and he doesn't have the ability to analyze everything by just touching it. Seeing through the light dust is undoubtly beyond his capability.
So in his eyes, it's just a bunch of weird dust emitting light.
"The description and the method of spreading, is oral information. And you deliberately pause during pronunciation and then use your ability to mimic a special waveform. That's the true form of a meme!"
"But... covert enough, and deadly enough, right? This is the research I want to pursue now, transforming digitized memories into memes, and then transplanting them onto the flesh, achieving a transformation from memetic entity to a biological entity."
Is this resurrection?
Or is it creation?
"I understand now, but I have a question for you. Who exactly do you want to use this on? Or rather, do you want to resurrect someone?"
Bronie slowly looked out the window, as if on the other side of the sky outside the window, there was someone she missed.
"Elysia, in the common language of the Mu, meant "Paradise". Eden, Kalpas, Su, Hua, Sakura, Griseo, Kevin, Pardi, Kosmo, Aponia, Mobius, and Vill-V. They are the final MANTIS Soldiers' memory replicas who survived the last confrontation with Honkai in the previous civilization, and they are also the last sparks of resistance against Honkai. This information is a sign of sincerity."
Research definitely requires funding.
Bronie entrusted the research to Anti Entropy, to be honest, Bronie didn't really expect Anti Entropy to help her bypass the research process in one fell swoop.
But it's still helpful in some way, isn't it?
Welt looked at the USB drive Bronie sent, carefully saving it.
"What was the original name of the Key of the Ninth God, the Star of Eden?"
Once again confirming the authenticity of Bronie's information.
"Starry Harmony, and Miss Eden was also involved in the composition of the music in the Elden Ring."
This heavyweight information shocked Welt even more.
Starry Harmony, Welt also knew about it, but he didn't expect Miss Eden to have a hand in Elden Ring!?
Digital life...
Resurrection...
So that's it.
"Do you want to resurrect them again and then make them fight against Honkai?"
"No, that's not it. I just feel that lifeforms existing in life doesn't need to be strictly defined. They can also pursue their own meaning of existence and the beauty of the world. Honkai and these other things, there's always a way to solve it. After all, as long as we know the essence of Honkai, then we have enough time to solve it. The difference is how many will die or not due to it."
What a good kid.
The man bearing the name of the world praised Bronie highly in his heart.
And on the path of resisting Honkai, there was one more like-minded partner.
Although this mysterious partner has many secrets, her belief in pursuing beauty can be felt through her eyes.
When talking about the so-called Thirteen Flamechasers, there was a gentle smile in her smile.
"I understand your thoughts. Anti Entropy welcomes you joining. But the information you've given me is too important, so for a long time to come, we'll need to sift through and verify this information. You know, in the process of scientific research, having a clear direction can save years of wandering."
"Yeah, I understand."
Until Kevin finally stepped forward to reveal the information about the Cocoon of Finality, Anti Entropy had not realized the full extent of Honkai.
So Bronie was very clear about the importance of the information she provided.
"Take the light dust away, consider it research material. As long as it's memory, they can exist, and they might even touch the essence of the soul."
Welt carefully created a box and put the light dust in it.
Then he looked at Bronie again, but Bronie had her hands in her pockets, looking ready to leave.
"Remember to open a better server. My game is definitely going to be a hit, so there better not be any server lag issues."
Now Welt remembered that he actually came to talk about game.
"Um, can we talk about Titan's design? I'm very interested in the Titan you designed."
"Hmm? Titan... let's talk about the design online. This isn't a topic that can be finished in a few words. I have to go back now. The kids at the orphanage are waiting for me."
Watching Bronie's confident figure leave, Welt couldn't help but feel that he was indeed getting old.
He no longer had that fiery temperament
But Bronie, it seems like everything is under her control, or maybe she doesn't care much about the information she holds in her hands and is holding even more explosive information?
He completely forgot to ask why Bronie robbed Tesla and where Cocolia went.
Welt focused all his attention on the USB drive Bronie gave him.
Inside were the design blueprints of Void Archive, along with notes highlighting the back door inside the Void Archive.
This was the carefully prepared gift from Bronie to Mr. Otto.
Hoping it would come in handy one day.
Want to read advanced chapters? go to my patréon for up to the current available chapters: Chapter 221.
patréon.com/PorterOfSomething