"Don't move, little bunny!" Misteln's light and cheerful voice rang out, but Bronya was already drenched in cold sweat.
When had she gotten behind her? Bronya hadn't heard even the slightest sound. As a former legendary assassin, she had been snuck up on and had a hand pressed to the back of her head without noticing.
"But I, Bronya, am no pushover either!" Behind Misteln, the red-and-white Project Bunny de-quantized and appeared at Misteln's back.
The cannon barrels glowing with red and orange light had already finished charging. All that was left was for Bronya to give the order, and the cannon would fire from the barrels.
"Who exactly has caught whom this time? Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, Miss Stranger." Bronya drew a dagger from the knife sheath on her leg, turned around, and pressed it against Misteln's swan-like, snow-white neck.
"Little bunny, don't celebrate victory too early!" Even with Bronya's cold, gleaming dagger pressed against her neck, Misteln showed not the slightest panic.
"What?" Bronya suddenly felt her body go out of control, as if countless pincer-like things had restrained her limbs.
Misteln smiled. Several Seeds of Reason immediately materialized from the void and grabbed Bronya's four limbs.
"Guh…" Bronya made the sound of a female knight. She was truly out of options now. She never expected Cocolia to have such a monster under her command. She couldn't resist at all.
So why did Cocolia need someone like Walt and her own insignificant combat power when she had a person like this?
Although Bronya knew Cocolia possessed astonishing wisdom, she hadn't expected to capsize like this. One could say that the legends of future defeats had already shown their first signs.
Although Bronya had a poker face, Misteln could still read what she was thinking from her subtle expressions.
Suddenly, Misteln felt like teasing this little one again. Perhaps this was simply the nature of women who liked to tease their best friend's children.
Although this was Misteln's first time meeting Bronya, the more she looked at her, the more she liked her. Unconsciously, her playful side emerged.
"Little bunny, do you think you can still run away after being caught by me?" Misteln patted Bronya's soft, bouncy cheek and said with delight.
"Bronya's name is Bronya, not little bunny." No kidding — she was the Silver Wolf of the Urals, not some little bunny.
"Eh? But I remember very clearly that Bronya means 'little rabbit'…"
Misteln's retort left Bronya speechless. Indeed, in Russian, Bronya meant little rabbit.
"Bronya will not submit. Just kill me!" If she couldn't see Seele, then she might as well die. Bronya had thought it through — if she were captured and taken back, she would probably be fitted with a biochip by Cocolia and controlled forever.
Bronya didn't want to be treated as a weapon and controlled again. That kind of feeling was worse than death. She had clearly promised Seele that she would become a good person…
Even if she might never see Seele again, at least she knew Seele had already been saved. That person named Shun could barely be considered a good person.
Moreover, he was very strong. Seele should be safe following him, so Bronya could more or less feel at ease. The only regret was… she never got to go see the sea with Seele.
"Sorry, little bunny. Someone asked me to bring you to see him, so I'm afraid I can't grant your wish." Misteln rudely ruffled Bronya's smooth gray hair.
She grabbed Bronya, and in an instant brought her to Shun's location. Bronya was still dazed by the wind when she suddenly found herself in an unfamiliar place.
Raising her head, she saw Shun with one arm severed, being supported by Theresa.
Where the hell had she been taken? Was this still Cocolia's headquarters? Bronya looked left and right but didn't see any sign of Cocolia. Her head was already spinning.
"Little bunny, I never said I was on Cocolia's side!" Misteln could barely hold back her laughter anymore. Teasing her best friend's child really brought her too much joy.
"Shun, she is…" Bronya looked at the smiling Misteln with a complicated expression and decided to stay away from her.
"Misteln, my friend. Bronya, did something happen between you two?" Seeing their reactions, Shun guessed that something unpleasant must have happened to Bronya.
"This woman… never mind." Bronya didn't explode. She understood her own position clearly — she was just a dispensable person. It seemed the other party had known Shun for much longer than she had.
Her complaints probably wouldn't get any positive feedback. Rather than that, she might as well play dead and say nothing.
"Sigh, Misteln, you should apologize properly to Bronya." Shun waved his hand helplessly.
He figured Misteln and Bronya had some connection, so she suddenly got playful and teased Bronya.
"Alright, alright, little bunny. I didn't mean it!" Misteln apologized with very little sincerity.
"Misteln, you still have other things you want to say to Bronya, right? Stop teasing her and just tell her directly." Shun couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to help Bronya save some face.
"What does she want to say to Bronya?" Bronya was certain she had never seen this person in her life.
Whether it was when she was adopted by Uncle Maxim, when she was a child soldier in the army, or when she was in the orphanage under Cocolia.
"Fine, fine. Since Shun has already said so… Bronya, do you know your mother?"
"My… mother?" Since she could remember, Bronya had always been raised by Uncle Maxim.
Uncle Maxim was her father Alexei's comrade-in-arms. He had mentioned her mother to her before, saying she was a great mother, but Bronya truly had no impression of her at all.
"That's right. Your mother, Alexandra — a great mother. She was my friend."
"Alexandra… this is the first time I've heard her name. What did she look like?" Bronya suddenly calmed down. A strange emotion lingered in her heart.
Misteln thought for a moment and said, "She looked exactly like you." That was no exaggeration — Bronya looked like a smaller version of Alexandra, and Alexandra looked like a larger version of Bronya.
"You might not believe it if I just say that, so how about this?" Misteln spread out one hand. Using her spiritual power, she recreated Alexandra's smiling face, which appeared in the air.
"This is… Bronya's mom?" Bronya reached her hand forward, passing through Alexandra's smile and grasping only empty air.