"Seele, Seele..."
How long have I been asleep?
Amidst the calls, the consciousness of the girl slumbering at the bottom of the Sea of Quanta gradually awakened.
In the Sea of Quanta, there are no reference points to judge time.
Although the abundant energy here can maintain bodily functions, psychological damage is unavoidable.
Once, at NASA in the United States, there was an experiment to prove time. A person was confined to a sealed cave, provided with all necessary supplies, books, a computer that didn't display time, and no internet connection.
The experiment, initially planned for seven months, lasted only four months before the subject's psyche could no longer bear it.
And what about Seele's environment?
She didn't have such favorable conditions. In the depths of this Sea of Quanta, there was only endless darkness. All she possessed was the diary she treasured, and her other self.
She would often maintain her existence by reading her old diaries and conversing with her other self, or she would enter slumber to pass the time, waiting for the day her promised older sister would come to rescue her.
Hope was what kept this young girl going until now.
And when she woke up from a slumber, just like any other time, she saw someone she had never seen in the Sea of Quanta before.
It was also the person who had just called out to her.
"You're awake, Seele. My name is Takatsuki, and Bronya asked me to come save you.
As he spoke, Seele saw the young man in front of her take out a photo. It showed the person in front of her, her familiar older sister Bronya, and some unfamiliar people in a group photo.
These people... they don't look like they're from the orphanage. They must be Bronya's new friends.
Shifting her attention from the photo to the young man in front of her, the young man was a few years older than her. Although he had a cheerful smile, his clothes were tattered?
And there were some bloodstains in places?
However, there were no wounds on the body exposed through the torn clothes, nor any sign of pain in his brows. He didn't seem injured.
"Um, Takatsuki-nii, your clothes?
The young but intelligent Seele looked at the person in front of her and made the judgment that she could temporarily trust him. After all, in a place like this, she had nothing to be deceived about, and no one would specially come here to save her just to deceive her, right?
"Ah, this? It's nothing. The Sea of Quanta is too vast. I encountered many monster attacks along the way."
Takatsuki glanced at his clothes and replied indifferently.
But... this was a lie!
And at the same time, a voice suddenly appeared in Seele's heart: "He's lying!"
[Seele? Why do you say he's lying?]
This voice was Seele's other personality, and her only friend who stayed with her at the bottom of the Sea of Quanta.
"Because... this guy is very strong, how could he be hurt by those monsters!"
Her other self's tone paused, but Seele quickly noticed it.
[Seele, how do you know Big Brother's strength?]
"Anyway, I just know, and even if he gets hurt, it's nothing, he'll recover quickly!"
After speaking, Seele felt her other self quickly retreat to the depths of her inner space.
"..."
My other self wouldn't lie to me, but my other self should also be seeing Takatsuki-nii for the first time, just like me.
Seele carefully scrutinized Takatsuki in front of her.
"What's wrong, Seele? Is there still a problem?"
My other self didn't reject him, just said he was lying, and Seele knew his strength and recovery speed.
Moreover, the bloodstains on his clothes didn't look like they were from a long time ago...
Little Seele, the great detective, immediately figured out where Takatsuki was lying and also guessed why her other self had a somewhat negative attitude towards Takatsuki but didn't reject him, only saying he was lying
After all, she found no injuries on his body.
"Big Brother, thank you for finding Seele."
Seele, understanding what had happened, felt the unfamiliar young man in front of her become closer. Not to mention, he was also Bronya's friend, someone who would venture alone into the depths of the Sea of Quanta because a friend needed help.
"But Seele can't leave here. Does Big Brother have a way to solve this?"
Seele's body had entered a quantum state due to the experiment, and no World Bubble could support her. Even if she entered a World Bubble, she would instantly pass through it and sink to the bottom again.
It was like a solid iron block that could never float on ordinary water.
"I've already thought about this, Seele. Your body became quantumized because too much Honkai Energy was injected into it. Now, these energies still exist within your body. If that's the case, we just need to extract the Honkai Energy from your body."
Cocolia and the others also wanted to use a similar method, but it was easier said than done. To extract Honkai Energy from the human body without harm, only a Herrscher Core could achieve that.
But Takatsuki doesn't need that!
Love Train is specifically for this purpose.
"Then what should Seele do?"
Takatsuki extended his hand: "Just hold my hand. I have an ability that allows me to absorb energy through physical contact."
This was also a lie.
Love Train's ability is much stronger than this, but Seele can't see the Stand, so it's not really lying.
Seele didn't ask much, she reached out and held Takatsuki's hand, saying in a soft, weak voice, "Then I'll leave it to Takatsuki-nii.
"Leave it to me."
Although surprised that Seele trusted him so easily, upon reflection, in this environment, she might have seen him as her only lifeline, and Veliona was also protecting Seele in this way, wasn't she?
Putting away the photo, Takatsuki recalled the scene when he first arrived, where the red-eyed Veliona attacked him like a startled cat.
He couldn't retaliate, only endure her attacks. Only after he showed proof did Veliona stop attacking, hide inside Seele's body, and awaken Seele to talk to him.
Holding Seele's delicate, boneless little hand, Heaven's Stairway appeared beside the two.
As Takatsuki expected, Seele couldn't see Heaven's Stairway.
Under his ability, a bond connected the two, and the Honkai Energy from Seele's body flowed into Takatsuki's body along the bond.
And feeling the information fed back by Heaven's Stairway, Takatsuki's expression turned bitter...