In the corridor, Fuli and Kiana maintained a subtle, unspoken silence. Their footsteps were a bit erratic as they headed toward ME Corp, both clearly trying to leave the fleeting, awkward tension of their earlier moment behind them.
Before long, the familiar alloy automatic doors slid open. Fuli and Kiana stepped into the futuristic, high-tech laboratory, one after the other.
"I called you two over mainly to discuss what we talked about earlier: exactly how we're going to spend the points we earned from the Luminary Wardance."
Mei was seated gracefully in a sleek, aerodynamic office chair in the central command area, her long, pantyhose-clad legs elegantly crossed. Hearing them enter, she barely lifted her eyes, giving the duo a passing glance before returning her focus to the cascading streams of data on her holographic screen.
Seeing this, the boy and girl exchanged a look of pure relief.
Fuli, who regularly backstabbed his master Jingliu, wasn't too bothered. Kiana, however, couldn't help but groan internally, complaining about how the "purple lightning dragon" had ruined her good time yet again.
"Kiana."
The elegant voice wasn't loud, but it rang clearly in the girl's ears.
"Yes!" Kiana's heels snapped together. She stood ramrod straight, a drop of cold sweat rolling down her forehead. She was panicking.
When it came to fearing Mei, Fuli and Kiana were cut from the exact same cloth. Of course, neither of them would ever admit to it; they vehemently insisted it was purely a matter of "respect and trust."
"Don't just stand there like a statue. Come take a look at your Gen 4 Valkyrie Battlesuit."
Mei tapped her finger against the glowing screen, and a highly detailed holographic projection blossomed in the center of the lab.
Regarding the points they had accumulated during the Luminary Wardance, the Hyperion crew had held a meeting and unanimously decided to hand the vast majority of them over to Mei to manage.
'I will absolutely not hand my paycheck over to the wife!' was a sentiment Fuli simply couldn't bring himself to utter, especially after seeing how much this girl had broken her back carrying this family.
Not to mention, Mei had voluntarily given up the chance to participate in the Wardance herself. Everything in the prize shop had a clear price tag, and no one was worried about the wealthy heiress of ME Corp getting scammed.
If they had left the points to the rest of the crew—a bunch of financial disasters waiting to happen—they would have blown it all on random garbage. Only Mei had the logistical foresight to spend every single point where it mattered most, maximizing their combat potential.
Furthermore, the girl had made it crystal clear: after deducting the necessary expenses for the Hyperion's upkeep and her research budgets, the remaining points would be strictly used for individual crew upgrades. Not a single point would be embezzled for private use.
For instance, the holographic model now floating in front of Kiana was a complete set of baseline blueprints for Schicksal's Gen 4 Valkyrie Battlesuit, the White Knight - Moonbeam. It had cost a massive chunk of their points to redeem.
Since Schicksal was one of the primary sponsors of the Luminary Wardance, they had indeed added Valkyrie Battlesuits to the prize pool. However, almost all of them were Gen 3 mass-production models with heavily stripped-down functionalities.
The fact that Kiana was able to exchange points for a Gen 4 prototype—even if it was just the blueprint—was first thanks to the absurd amount of points they had accumulated, and second, thanks to Theresa's steadfast support behind the scenes.
Naturally, the latter accounted for 99% of the credit. Don't ask; the Future Overseer had deep pockets.
Using the White Knight - Moonbeam framework as a foundation, Mei had integrated cutting-edge Previous Era technology from the Herrscher of Thunder's Archives of Erudition.
Combining this with her own genius, she had tailor-made a heavily upgraded Gen 4 Battlesuit perfectly suited to Kiana's combat style.
As for whether spending all their points early would affect their final ranking in the Wardance? The organizers had surprisingly been reasonable for once: rankings were based on the total accumulated points over the course of the event, not the current holding balance. Spending it all in one go wasn't an issue.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!"
The moment she heard it was her own new battlesuit, Kiana threw her nervousness out the window.
"Let me see!" She practically skipped over to the hologram like a happy little lark, her eyes instantly captivated by the gorgeous, elegant design.
In the projection, a white, dress-style battlesuit accented with pale-purple flowing lines hovered quietly. The fabric looked like satin woven from moonlight. Blooming blue roses adorned the shoulders, while a transparent, ethereal sash wrapped lightly around the waist, highlighting a graceful and lithe figure.
Over-the-knee socks emphasized an enticing absolute territory, and countless fractured, pale-purple energy crystals drifted slowly around the suit, blending with a hazy halo at its back to create a breathtakingly dreamy image.
"The 4th-Gen Godsbane Battlesuit... Chronos - Light Chaser..."
[ilustration.png]
Even though Kiana had personally designed the aesthetic, she still stared blankly for a moment before muttering its registration codename.
Snapping out of her daze, Kiana excitedly swiped through the performance specs and skill descriptions.
Gamma particle manipulation, passive strength and defense amplification, the terrifying destructive output of the Lunar Flint Greatsword, and the hyper-perception system for analyzing enemy weak points... Every single line made the girl's heart race, her smile growing brighter by the second.
That was, until her eyes drifted to the bottom right corner of the document and landed on the astronomical manufacturing cost.
"W-w-wait! I don't have enough points for this! I'm way off!"
Kiana spun around in circles in a panic, like a paramecium trapped on a hot skillet. With only seven days left until the Wardance concluded, there was no way she could farm enough points to gather all these rare materials in time.
"Don't panic. I prepared multiple alternative plans," Mei consoled her kindly. "If we really are short on points, we can downgrade to secondary materials. The overall appearance of the battlesuit will remain the same."
"No, no, no! I want this one! I want the best one!" Kiana shook her head like a rattle-drum. She refused to give up a single one of those insanely cool features!
"Li! My sweet, wonderful Li!"
The white furball spun around and dove straight into Fuli's chest like a baby bird returning to its nest. She hugged his arm tightly, intentionally (or unintentionally) rubbing her soft, plump "frontal armor" against him.
She looked up at him, her large, sapphire-blue eyes shimmering with unshed, pitiable tears as she weaponized her cuteness to maximum effect. "I really want the new battlesuit! But I don't have enough points... Li, you're the best, right? Please help me out~"
Baby's hungry! Need points!
"Stop shaking me, stop shaking me!" Fuli cried out in inner anguish, utterly dizzy from the aggressive friction of her snow-white assets.
When did this idiot learn to use the honey trap?! This is advanced warfare! You are not the brain-empty paramecium I used to know!
Tragically, this single trick was Fuli's kryptonite. His invincible golden armor shattered, and his Stigma's effect-resistance dropped to zero.
"Alright, alright, I'll pay the difference," he surrendered.
As the absolute MVP in resolving the Living Planet incident, the Luofu had rewarded "Team Classic" with a colossal sum of points, instantly propelling them to the undeniable number one spot on the Wardance team leaderboard. Barring a catastrophe, Fuli and his crew were guaranteed the championship.
"Yay! I love you the most, Li!"
Overjoyed and forgetting herself entirely, Kiana stood on her tiptoes. Pouting her soft pink lips, she leaned in to plant a massive kiss right on the boy's mouth.
Ahem!
A loud, deliberate cough echoed from the lab entrance.
The two snapped their heads over to see Bronya leaning lazily against the doorframe, her arms crossed. Her pale gray eyes were locked onto the two of them, who were practically glued together.
Kiana ignored her. Just stick to your imouto route, you knock-off sister! Stop trying to recklessly expand your territory! Fuli, mwah—
The Big Bronya had anticipated this reaction. She brushed a strand of silver-gray hair from her forehead and spoke calmly, "Mei, you said you needed me for something?"
Oh right! Mei is still here!
Kiana finally realized she hadn't bypassed the final boss yet and violently sprang backward out of Fuli's arms. If she didn't currently need the CEO's financial backing, she absolutely would have cursed out the purple lightning dragon in her head again.
"Give me a minute. I'll get to you shortly." Mei, still organizing her data files, didn't even glance up at Bronya.
Bronya didn't mind. She sauntered over and sat herself down on the sofa, pressing right up against her "cheap older brother."
Fuli suddenly felt his pulse quicken. In her Silverwing: N-EX state, Bronya was tall and perfectly proportioned. Her waist was slender enough to wrap an arm around, and her legs—encased in sheer black pantyhose—were smooth, shapely, and exuded a deadly office-lady charm that blurred the line between youthful innocence and mature allure.
Yet, as if the heavens sought to give her ultimate power, they had paired this elegant frame with a pair of massive, perfectly rounded, breathtakingly full assets that heavily contrasted with her body type.
To make matters worse, she was wearing a classic OL outfit today. The dark, fitted blazer was deliberately left unbuttoned, making the stretched fabric of her white button-up shirt underneath painfully obvious. The heavy weight and perfect teardrop shape possessed an overwhelming presence that was impossible to ignore.
Let it be formally stated: Fuli's publicly acknowledged fetish was the Durandal archetype—the perfect balance of strength and beauty.
However, it must be noted that this aesthetic preference was violently hammered into him during his previous life, only after spending a significant amount of time being tossed around by the Strongest Valkyrie.
Deep down, his most primal, instinctual preference was, without a shadow of a doubt, the absolute pinnacle of pure-yet-seductive charm: Silverwing Bronya.
"Hmph~"
Noticing her older brother's seemingly casual but noticeably lingering gaze, the corners of Bronya's lips ticked up. She tilted her body, leaning seemingly randomly against his shoulder, bringing with her the pleasant scent of her shampoo.
That's what you get for constantly making cutting-board jokes about me in the past! Look how the tables have turned! I'm going to make you suffer!
Well, to be fair, Fuli didn't constantly mock her in the past. He knew where to draw the line to avoid totally crushing his little sister's self-esteem.
But it couldn't be helped. The duck held grudges.
However, before the two could escalate their silent battle, Mei finished sorting her files. She stood up from her chair and walked over with measured, confident steps.
"Come here for a second. Take a look at the materials I plan to redeem with the points."
With a gentle tug, she pulled her boyfriend right off the sofa, spinning around to lead him back to the desk. Bronya, losing her support, flopped sideways onto the cushions, baring her teeth at Mei's retreating back.
"Oh, sure!" Fuli didn't overthink it. Since he had promised to compensate Mei, he was mentally prepared to spend money like water.
HISSS—!
But the moment he saw the bottom line of that painfully long receipt, his heart seized in genuine agony.
"T-this..." Fuli pointed a trembling finger at the total, then looked up at Mei's elegantly beautiful yet utterly merciless face, filled with grief and indignation. "You based this order entirely on my total point balance, didn't you?!"
I'm being wrung dry! (Tragic)
"Hah! Not just yours. I included the points from that demi (god) humanoid woman named Castorice!" Mei sneered, her gaze cold enough to freeze hell over. "That's right. The same woman you gifted the energy-conversion 'ring' I made specifically for you!"
Castorice was gentle and thin-skinned. There was no way she would accept a priceless artifact like the energy conversion ring for free.
After the Phantylia incident was resolved, she had immediately declared that all the points she earned during the Wardance would be entirely at Fuli's disposal. Furthermore, she promised to prepare a formal "thank-you gift" in a couple of days.
Fuli had happily agreed. With Phantylia defeated, even split four ways, Team Classic's haul was worth far more than a single A-Rank item. He had even told her she didn't need to get him a gift, but Castorice was adamant.
As for Mei's side of things...
The ring she painstakingly crafted for her boyfriend had been casually re-gifted to another woman—and placed squarely on her ring finger, no less!
Our dear Miss Mei had been so angry she practically cried. Boohoo, how pitiful.
The fact that she hadn't subjected this unfaithful scoundrel to immediate electroshock therapy was a testament to her rational restraint as a scientist—and the fact that she loved him too much to actually fry him.
But as compensation, Mei demanded absolute control over the points Castorice had transferred to Fuli.
I'm going to spend your points dry! Take that, you purple-haired homewrecker!
What? You don't think that's ruthless enough? Cut Miss Raiden some slack; she's already suffered enough indignity.
As for the items Mei wanted, Fuli skimmed the list. The vast majority were research consumables, encrypted data, and essential supplies for the Hyperion. Next were specialized resources to test and perfect his Yuan-Shen Mode. The rest, however, were bizarre.
Mindstones, Ether Crystals, Crystal Roses...
The names were flashy and completely random.
"Mei?" he asked, genuinely curious.
It wasn't just him. Kiana and Bronya, who had leaned in to witness the CEO's insane spending spree, were equally baffled.
Anticipating their confusion, Mei tossed over a separate file.
[Ether Supercomputer: AI Nexus]
By using nodes mimicking the "feathers" of Fenghuang Down as a core, and taking the era's most advanced Soulium computers as a blueprint, Mei had simulated and constructed a new, permanent intelligence nexus within her own brain.
These new AI Nexuses were larger and vastly more efficient than their prototypes. More importantly, they possessed the actual intelligence to make judgments, rather than merely receiving commands and outputting results.
Every time a new AI Nexus was constructed, it would instantly integrate with the existing ones, forming a cohesive whole and providing astronomical, network-level processing power.
Furthermore, a backup of the user's consciousness was stored within these nexuses. As long as the nexuses weren't wiped out simultaneously, she could theoretically regenerate by swapping bodies.
"This sounds... suspiciously like Otto's Soulium clone network," Fuli rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "If you actually pull this off, am I going to walk out the door and see five different Meis doing research in five different labs at the same time?"
"I have no interest in creating clones." Mei shook her head, a very subtle, sharp smile blooming on her face. "Besides, if I did make them, it's not like Yuan would be able to handle it, right?"
"Huh?" Kiana blinked her large eyes, her brain entirely failing to process the innuendo.
The "siblings," however, understood instantly. Bronya rolled her eyes to the ceiling.
Fuli merely scoffed. "Mere Meis! Even if a hundred of you came at me at once, I, Fuli, would handle it flawlessly!"
Domain Expansion, activate!
Watch me sync the sensory inputs of all your clones. Defeat one, defeat them all!
"But yeah, let's definitely not make clones." He quickly backpedaled, his expression turning serious. "It'd be a nightmare if we ran into a situation where we couldn't tell who the original was."
He absolutely did not want to deal with the headache of multiple versions of the same person from different eras, alternate personalities, clones with original souls, clones with original memories, personalities that switched when putting on glasses, or eighty-plus different body doubles running around.
He wasn't an FGO player; his head would literally explode.
Having finalized Fuli and Kiana's budget, Mei finally turned her attention to Bronya, who had been waiting quietly.
"Bronya, there's been a development regarding the continuous monitoring of that specific frequency band in the Sea of Quanta."
Her tone grew solemn. "I've captured an extremely faint anomaly. However, its signal homology matches the core signature of Project Bunny by 98.3%. If my analysis is correct..."
"It's Seele!!!"
Bronya shot up from the sofa, an unbelievable, radiant light erupting in her eyes. Her voice trembled with overwhelming emotion. "It's Seele, isn't it?!"
Ever since she boarded the Hyperion, Bronya had secretly been begging Mei to use the ship's advanced sensors to search for any trace of Seele.
It was true that Fuli was a Regressor, but he was completely useless when it came to this. First, he hadn't joined St. Freya in his previous life; he had only heard rumors later that the little girl successfully returned. Second, the Sea of Quanta was simply too vast.
Many people wondered: if factions like Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and the Taixuan Front were all operating in the Sea of Quanta, why hadn't World Serpent rescued their sealed leader, Kevin, and restored the glory of the Fire-Moth?
The reality was that if the solar system were the Sea of Quanta, the current major factions were, at best, puttering around between the Earth and the Moon. They had barely stepped out of the tutorial zone.
And where was Kevin sealed?
The Kuiper Belt, or perhaps even further.
To put it into perspective: if the Sun (the largest object in the system) were scaled down to the 8-meter-radius sphere atop the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Kuiper Belt would still be 110 kilometers away.
And it wasn't just a matter of extreme distance. The inherent dangers, spatial-temporal chaos, and bizarre roaming civilizations increased exponentially the further out one went.
Because of this, even now, Fuli found it utterly miraculous that Seele had managed to return on her own in his past life.
Was that girl the Sea of Quanta's favorite daughter? She soaked in there for years without a scratch and somehow found her way home. Did she have plot armor tattooed on her soul?
Jokes aside, Fuli immediately pulled the violently trembling Bronya into his arms, patting her back to soothe her while shooting Mei an inquiring look.
"Don't do anything rash. It's only a preliminary signal. Pinpointing the exact coordinates and establishing a stable dimensional channel will take time."
Anticipating this exact reaction—which was why she saved the explosive news for last—Mei offered a rare warning. "I estimate the preparations will only be complete after the Wardance officially ends. We will move out together then."
"B-but..." Bronya bit her lower lip, her fingernails digging deep into her palms.
Feeling the warm, comforting aura of the boy holding her, she took several deep breaths. Forcing herself to calm down, she patted Fuli's arm to signal him to let go, then bowed deeply to Mei. "I understand. I'm leaving it in your hands once again."
Mei accepted her gratitude and continued, "Then, regarding your combat strength enhancement plan."
Although Bronya hated to admit it, the harsh reality was that even ignoring an 8-year-old freak with a 6500HW adaptability rating like Fuli, both Mei and Kiana possessed talents far beyond hers. She was, ultimately, just a survivor of the X-10 Experiment.
This was glaringly obvious in their growth rates. While she was far stronger now than she had been wallowing in St. Freya in the previous timeline, Bronya was currently stuck at the absolute ceiling of A-Rank.
In her desperation, she had even tried to master the Eminence technique, which didn't suit her at all.
"To be frank, in my opinion, your over-fixation on a massively destructive finishing move is not the optimal path for you right now," Mei said earnestly. "A powerful ultimate attack should be a trump card used in critical moments. If you put the cart before the horse and place all your hopes on a single skill, it's incredibly easy to fall into a vicious cycle: chasing a stronger attack, neglecting your foundational stats, and ending up as a glass cannon."
"True." Fuli wholeheartedly agreed. In his previous life, he had become overly obsessed with the Eminence Sword Soul technique, neglecting his physical foundation.
Ultimately, he had been caught by the Herrscher of Dominance. (Insert several hundred thousand words of omitted suffering here).
"What should I do?" Bronya asked, her mindset readjusted and back to business.
"We need to conduct another deep physiological enhancement, using the X-10 Experiment as a baseline."
Mei summoned the Holy Sword Joyeuse and handed Bronya another list of materials.
As a piece of loot Fuli had recovered from Genghis Khan's tomb, Joyeuse was fundamentally an experimental Divine Key-adjacent weapon created by the Previous Era. As the sister sword to the Holy Sword Durandal, it possessed the unique ability to restructure fundamental particles.
However, its effectiveness relied entirely on the user's imagination, knowledge, and technical expertise. Aboard the Hyperion, only Mei could maximize its potential.
The list contained the critical materials Bronya needed to redeem for the secondary enhancement experiment.
According to the supercomputer's simulations, as long as the modification was successful, it would completely unlock Bronya's dormant potential, bridge the talent gap, and push her straight into the Critical Class.
The only downside was—
"The entire modification and optimization process... requires two full months of continuous work?" Bronya looked up, a rare look of pleading in her eyes. "Can we make it faster?"
"Of course we can." Mei, having predicted this as well, snapped her fingers. "Yuan, assist."
Fuli, naturally, wouldn't refuse. "What do you need?"
"The First Rated Power of the Jizo Mitama. The ability you call the 'Star Holy Path'."
Mei laid out the plan calmly. "It possesses the highest tier of lifeform-interference properties. If we pair that with my specialized guidance techniques and Joyeuse's restructuring capabilities, we can theoretically compress the two-month modification time into less than three hours."
Hisss—! "Seriously?!" Fuli hesitated.
He had joked in the past about using Jizo Mitama on his little sister, but anyone who knew him well knew that unless absolutely necessary, he would never actively deploy that bizarre, "instant R-18 territory" godly power.
Back when he had faced a disguised, highly suspicious Robin, he had tested her twice to confirm she was a genuine threat before even considering a partial activation. The effects of that power were, quite literally, guaranteed to leave any woman gasping.
Mei shot him a sideways glance and casually added, "Once the modification is complete, Bronya's physical form will be permanently stabilized in her mature state. She will no longer revert to her younger body due to energy fluctuations or emotional distress."
"Say no more! When do we start?! I'm ready anytime!" Fuli immediately rolled up his sleeves, looking profoundly righteous, like a martyr ready to lay down his life for the greater good.
Bronya: (ᗜ˰ᗜ)
"Bro."
"Yeah?"
"Creep."
"Hey, you know I've always been this way." Fuli waved his hand dismissively, purposely making an exaggerated, smug face that successfully coaxed a soft giggle out of the heavy-hearted girl.
Bronya knew exactly what he was doing. Her cheap older brother was just playing the fool to help her relax.
Mei was the same. She knew perfectly well that a Bronya stabilized in her mature form would see a massive spike in "competitiveness" and likely become a formidable rival for Fuli's affections. Yet, Mei had provided the absolute best enhancement plan without holding back a single thing.
Bronya's gaze drifted to the sofa. Kiana, who had just been excitedly babbling about her battlesuit, had somehow collapsed into the soft cushions and fallen fast asleep.
She was still muttering words like "Chronos" and "Godsbane Battlesuit," a faint trail of drool glistening at the corner of her mouth.
This girl...
Bronya withdrew her gaze, a fond smile touching her lips. She lifted her head, looking at Mei with unwavering determination.
"I'll do it."
Seele had been waiting alone in the Sea of Quanta for so long. How could she delay things for another two months just to avoid a slightly embarrassing procedure?
Besides, the one wielding Jizo Mitama was Fuli. Even if her cheap older brother did take the opportunity to do something completely out of line... she would just write it off as him "losing focus" while channeling his power.
After all, if this guy actually had malicious intentions toward her, she probably would have been "eaten" a long time ago...
At that thought, a complicated emotion tinged with a strange, faint resentment rippled through Bronya's heart.
And so, for the next three hours, in the deepest enhancement laboratory of ME Corp—
"Hoo... ohhh... ahhhh!!!!!"
Intermittent, indescribable sounds echoed off the walls—the bizarre, irrepressible cries of a young woman being pushed to her absolute physical limits.
The scene inside was a total wreck. And the one getting thoroughly wrecked was none other than Metal Gear Bronya.
Heh~