The Flame-Chasers finished their preparations, and Koji directly used the [Blessing of Space] to lock onto the current location of grown-up Griseo.
For ultra-long-distance teleportation like this, preparing the Thousand Realms One Cruise would be very troublesome, but Koji's blessing activated instantly.
At the crash site of the Ark, the Flame-Chasers observed the surrounding environment.
The climate here was quite suitable for human life. Project Ark had been meant to search for a second home where humanity could survive. It counted as a form of escape plan, and the temperature and air here were both very suitable for humans to live in.
"Hua, when you see Griseo later, don't let it hit you too hard," Koji reminded her.
"Hm?"
Hua looked at Koji in confusion, not understanding why he would say that.
Koji only smiled without explaining. Once you saw it with your own eyes, you would understand exactly what he meant.
At the same time, in another space, that bad woman Vita was watching the Flame-Chasers. The expression on her face shifted slightly.
The Ark's records contained a small amount of information on these people. In a sense, they were the guardians of the Griseo who was sleeping there. She had not expected that, one day, these people would actually come looking for her.
Parents coming to avenge their own child—there was absolutely nothing wrong with that kind of operation.
Sigh. An unexpected change had occurred. Next, she could only adapt to the situation as it developed. After all, there were many people among them who were not easy to mess with. The presence of that white-haired man was especially overwhelming. He simply did not feel like a human being.
Suddenly, she noticed Koji turning his head.
That direction was exactly where she was.
Their eyes met, and a meaningful smile appeared on Koji's face.
"Oh my, have I been discovered?"
Vita froze slightly and muttered to herself.
It was definitely not a coincidence. He had seen her, and that was why he showed that kind of smile.
What was strange was that she could not sense how strong Koji was at all. In her perception, he was just like an ordinary person.
Koji had indeed sensed Vita, that fun-seeking troublemaker, but he did not pay it any mind. After all, this lady was not thoroughly bad. Like Sparkle, she was more the type who enjoyed stirring up amusing situations.
The Ark had been built by Vill-V, so entering the Ark was as easy as entering one's own home. It could not have been simpler. None of the mechanisms inside would block their way.
"By the way, the Ark is this huge, so why is Griseo the only one here, drifting above the sea of stars? Isn't that way too boring and lonely?" Lumine asked.
"…"
Kosma fell silent.
If he had not wanted to take part in the final battle, then the one executing Project Ark should have been him.
"There were too few people," Mobius said helplessly. "Before the battle against Finality, we only had a small number of Fusion warriors left."
Because of the Tragedy of Binding caused by the Herrscher of Binding, only these few Fusion warriors remained. Each of them had been assigned a corresponding plan and had to fulfill their own duties. There had been no extra manpower at all.
The person carrying out Project Ark had to be a Fusion warrior. Ordinary humans could not endure such an endlessly long span of time. They truly had not been able to find anyone else to act as Griseo's traveling companion.
As for why they did not modify more Fusion warriors after the Herrscher of Binding—by that time, there were already very few people left. Those who could survive the Fusion warrior surgery were few and far between.
In short, by the final days of the Previous Era, humanity's remaining combat strength had been far too scarce. After the Herrscher of Binding ended, the Herrscher of Corruption had then nuked the remaining three cities.
"If we had not truly lacked people, none of us would have wanted little Griseo to set off alone on such a lonely interstellar voyage," Eden sighed softly.
Kosma remained silent. His heart was filled with guilt. This should have been something he did.
"Kosma, you don't need to make that expression," little Griseo comforted him.
She was Griseo herself, so she understood very well why her younger self would have made the decision that forced Kosma away from carrying out Project Ark.
"I know," Kosma nodded.
After they entered the room where the cryopod had been placed, everyone saw the paint scattered across the floor and smiled knowingly.
This was indeed very much Griseo's style.
It seemed that no matter how many years had passed, Griseo was still Griseo. However, during that endlessly long journey, Griseo could only rely on painting to pass the time. That could not help but make their hearts ache.
Hua: "…"
Unlike little Griseo, this grown-up Griseo had an excellent figure. Her chest was no longer flat.
Hua had already seen Fu Hua. Fifty thousand years had passed, and her figure had not changed at all. Yet Griseo had secretly obtained such a good figure.
"Dr. Mobius, why is this?" Hua said faintly.
"Why is what?"
Mobius still had heartfelt joy on her face. Then she followed Hua's gaze and looked over.
"This…"
She understood what Hua was confused about.
She had never researched the development of Fusion warriors' bodies in that regard. After all, what they needed were warriors who could fight the Honkai, not figures.
So, she had no way to explain this matter to Hua.
It was very possible that this was Hua's own problem and had nothing to do with Fusion warriors.
Seeing Hua's resentful look, Mobius strongly held back her laughter. She lightly pinched Hua's small chin, looking at that expression with an amused chuckle.
"Hua, in theory, Fusion warriors can still develop. However, compared to ordinary people, their development time is much longer."
"Then why did I…?"
What Hua wanted to talk about was Fu Hua fifty thousand years later, whose figure had not shown the slightest rise or fall.
Originally, she had not cared about it much. But after seeing little Griseo become grown-up Griseo, her heart instantly became unbalanced.
They were both Fusion warriors. Tens of thousands of years had passed for both of them. This difference was a little too big.
Could it be that the reason she could not have that kind of figure was actually her own problem?
"It may be due to genetic differences."
The corner of Mobius's mouth twitched. Perhaps Hua had been born with that kind of figure, so even after becoming a Fusion warrior, she still could not continue developing.
After hearing that, Hua also understood what was going on and crouched in the corner, drawing circles on the ground.
Elysia and the others all showed expressions that were both amused and helpless. They really did not know how to comfort her. What were they supposed to say? That small was cute too?
Little Griseo looked at grown-up Griseo, her eyes shining brightly as she murmured:
"Mama…"
From her grown-up self, she saw Blanca's shadow.
Mobius fell silent and sighed softly.
Whether one liked it or not, she really was Blanca's daughter. Her appearance carried Blanca's grace. A nostalgic expression surfaced on Mobius's face.
Thinking of Blanca made her think of that guy Hen. A perfectly capable assistant had ended up being carried off by a wolf. Fortunately, Klein had replaced her afterward. Otherwise, if Mobius had to rely on those two useless slackers, Dan Zhu and Cang Xuan, she would have been driven insane.
The more she thought about it, the more irritated she became. She immediately glared furiously at Dan Zhu and Cang Xuan in the distance.
The grown-up Griseo had matured a lot and had become even more beautiful.
However, somehow, Griseo still felt cuter when she was little.
(End of Chapter)
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