Honkai, why do you only throw me into high-level battles?

Welt's reconnection with Tesla and Einstein was thanks to Theresa's impulsive decision to take the Hyperion to Shanghai City after the battle, declaring a day off for everyone.

The students had cheered, scattering throughout the city.

Kiana, claiming to know a great restaurant, had dragged Mei off for a celebratory meal.

Theresa, after everyone had left, had dragged Himeko, who'd been planning to restock her dwindling alcohol supply, to a comic book store, claiming two people were more efficient than one.

The Japanese Branch was… different.

Welt, claiming illness, had remained on board, using the opportunity to contact Anti-Entropy, searching for his missing partners.

Fu Hua stood guard outside his door, ensuring he didn't do anything… reckless. Her presence was perfectly normal. A diligent student, staying behind to look after a sick teacher, while everyone else enjoyed their day off. Perfectly reasonable.

A Schicksal spy, protecting the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy… I'm becoming quite the… multi-faceted individual, she thought wryly. I'm getting used to this role…

She wasn't eavesdropping. She was simply… preoccupied with her own thoughts, wondering what was happening at Schicksal HQ, how Lin Wei was being treated.

She worried about him, fearing the worst, but she couldn't do anything. She had to remain silent.

Otto's rediscovery of Lin Wei, his mistaken belief that he was Welt, had put her in a precarious position. If she showed any interest in the matter, Otto would become suspicious, jeopardizing her mission, all her sacrifices, all her efforts, wasted.

I'm trapped… she thought, sighing, looking at the ceiling.

The door opened, and Welt stepped out, his expression grim.

Fu Hua glanced at him, then, seeing no sign of hostility, turned and left without a word. She wasn't interested in Anti-Entropy's internal affairs, especially if they involved classified information. Her role was to observe, not interfere.

"So many of our comrades are gone now. Without their guidance, Anti-Entropy… it's… changing," Welt said, his voice heavy with sadness, echoing the scientists' sentiments.

The founding members, those who had fought alongside him, were fading, their positions filled by newcomers with different agendas, different priorities.

It was an inevitable consequence of their decentralized structure, a necessary adaptation for survival under Schicksal's constant pressure. Unless he, the Sovereign, became a dictator like Otto, crushing all dissent.

But then… would it still be Anti-Entropy? He couldn't bring himself to consider such a betrayal of their ideals.

"What would… Lin Wei do?" he asked, turning to Fu Hua, thinking of the man who had saved Manila, a stranger he felt a strange kinship with.

"I don't know. It's been over a year. He's changed. He was so weak back then, he couldn't even… lift a child. He needed my help with everything," Fu Hua replied after a moment of thought, shaking her head.

"But some things… haven't changed. If he'd had this power back then, he would have done the same thing in Nagazora…" Some things were ingrained in a person's nature, their core values, unchanging.

Welt waited patiently.

"I only observed him for a day. It's difficult to say for certain," she continued, her voice filled with a hint of regret.

"He's… a complicated man. Sometimes a poet, sometimes a madman, sometimes a child. Difficult to understand, difficult to judge." But seeing his hopeful expression, she couldn't simply dismiss his question.

She thought hard, then said, "But one thing is certain. He wouldn't shirk his responsibility." She fell silent.

Welt took a deep breath, nodding at her. He turned and went back into his room. "Thank you."

Fu Hua was right. He was the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy. This was his responsibility. He couldn't rely on others.

......

The battle was over, the world slowly recovering, the wounds healing, the losses being assessed. A period of quiet rebuilding.

Time passed, but Lin Wei was unaware of its passage.

He was dreaming, a long, endless dream, a lifetime of fleeting images, one replacing another, fading, forgotten, leaving no trace.

But he remembered the previous dream, pulling a roast chicken-shaped tree from the ground, stuffing it into a coffee machine, turning it into a chocolate-flavored ice cream.

Such illogical, impossible things were commonplace in dreams.

He remembered it so clearly because, just as he was about to taste the strange ice cream, someone had snatched it from his hand, then sat on a nearby vine, happily devouring it.

"Elysia, aren't you being a little… too active in my dream?" he asked, turning to the pink-haired girl, a sense of bewildered annoyance in his voice. Being robbed in his own dream? And this wasn't the first time.

"Hee hee, doesn't that just mean Elysia is… special, even in your dreams? ♪" She looked exactly like her Elysian Realm counterpart, her long legs dangling as she swung back and forth on the vine. "Such a beautiful place… even Elysia in a dream can't resist exploring it, can she?"

"Be my guest," he replied dryly. This was… too real.

Help! Elysia escaped from the Elysian Realm! he thought, then asked, "How are you even here?"

"As a figment of your imagination, a shadow in your dream. Is that so strange?" she asked, blinking innocently.

"Is it? Do shadows usually steal ice cream from their dreamers?" he retorted.

"Hmm, you have a point!" She nodded thoughtfully, then puffed out her cheeks, her voice indignant. "You think Elysia is a mischievous girl? That's slander! You have to apologize!"

He stared at her, speechless. Seriously? Gaslighting me in my own dream?

"Pfft… hahaha!" She burst out laughing. "Your face! It's priceless!" She mimicked his bewildered expression, then continued laughing, her laughter like wind chimes.

He felt this Elysia was… more… vibrant than the one in the Elysian Realm.

"Why so quiet? What are you thinking about?" she asked, seeing his silence.

"Nothing," he replied, shaking his head, a faint smile playing on his lips. "You seem… more confident, more… relaxed, than the Elysia I met in the Elysian Realm." The Elysia in the Elysian Realm had always seemed… fragile, like her crystal flowers.

Elysia paused, studying him, then smiled, her smile bright and cheerful. "You really understand me, don't you?" Perhaps, after that grand masquerade, even Elysia had grown, had become… more complete.

"Why are you here?" he asked, doubting he could have summoned her so easily. Mei had practically screamed herself hoarse trying to reach her.

"Some birds are not meant to be caged. Their spirits are too wild, their feathers too bright, their songs too sweet. They will break free, singing in the forests, soaring in the sunlight, painting the sky with their vibrant colors…" she said, smiling. "Such pure, radiant will… how could I not respond?"

"This is your response?" He pointed at the half-eaten ice cream. "Could you at least… pause your… consumption while delivering such a moving speech?"

"You're worse than Kevin! Such a killjoy!" she grumbled, licking the ice cream. "You'll never win a girl's heart like this, you know!"

"What was that crystal flower, anyway?" he asked, ignoring her teasing. "You couldn't have done this without it, could you?" If it were that easy to reach Elysia, Kevin would be having tea with her every night. Oh, right, Kevin doesn't dream. Never mind…

"A gift, a blessing, a memento… it depends on your interpretation. ♪" She smiled. "A little mystery keeps things interesting, don't you think?"

He winced. Still playing riddles, even outside the Elysian Realm?

"And this is your dream. When you wake up, you'll forget everything, including me," she continued, her smile unwavering, her voice gentle. "So, even if I told you, it wouldn't matter, would it?"

He felt a pang of… disappointment, a strange sense of loss.