People are constantly meeting and constantly parting.
...
Brushing the raindrops from her eyelashes, Bianka leaned against her lance which was planted in the ground. Without her armor, she looked more slender; her close-fitting clothes and high ponytail made her look more like a typical sixteen-year-old girl.
Bianka organized the information she had gathered since entering the World Bubble. She wasn't the intellectual type, and many people described her as being too "straight-headed," so she didn't force herself to deduce the whole truth, only to organize the facts.
Currently, there were four types of people in the World Bubble: Lin, Einstein, and the ELF were one group, arriving via the Star Gate. Rita was another, possessing a "ship" that could freely traverse the Sea of Quanta. Bianka herself was a solo traveler—her reason for being able to move in the Sea of Quanta was a separate matter.
Notably, there might be one more person in this bubble: the "cloaked man" Lin mentioned, an extremely dangerous individual.
How strange. Such a small World Bubble with nothing special about it—why did it attract so many extraordinary people?
And the Star Gate... it gave Bianka a very odd feeling, though she couldn't put her finger on what was special about the seemingly broken device. As an intuitive type, she could only sense some unexplainable traces.
"Time to eat."
"Mm, okay."
After responding instinctively, she let out an "Eh?" and looked up, seeing Lin sitting by a set-up pot, poking at the fire with a wooden stick.
When did this guy...
But before she could figure it out, Lin lifted the lid of the pot, and a rich aroma of spices hit her nose. Bianka stared blankly at the pot of appetizing red food. Without realizing it, her mouth began to water, and she swallowed hard.
Come to think of it, she hadn't eaten for almost a day. Normally, Rita would prepare healthy, delicious meals after her training. She would also taste high-calorie foods just to make Rita happy, though she would increase her training afterward to maintain her figure...
As the "number one," aside from talent, the effort she put in behind the scenes was never small. And this spicy vegetarian hotpot Lin made, even without meat, definitely wasn't low in calories.
"...Are you going to eat or not?" Lin held up a bowl, glancing sideways at Bianka who was still leaning against her lance.
"I... am not eating." Bianka gritted her teeth and turned her head away. It wasn't that she wasn't hungry, but Lin "illustrious track record" made her want to deny him any chance to suck up to her. Besides, could anything he made be better than Rita cooking?
Slurp...
To her surprise, Lin simply stopped paying attention to her and started eating the hot vegetarian hotpot with great relish. He hadn't tasted good food in too long; maybe... maybe it was okay to indulge a little?
Bianka turned her head away, not wanting to see him eating so happily.
Only... could that jerk stop smacking his lips? Is he a child? Is it necessary to chew needle mushrooms so loudly? And he has to say "Ah" after swallowing... why doesn't he just write a speech about how delicious it is?
Bianka complained about Lin in her head, closed her eyes, and entered meditation. She sank her consciousness into a certain place in her body to communicate with a "thing."
The situation in the Sea of Quanta really required relying on the Holy Sword...
Slurp...
"..."
Slurp...
"..."
Why did the sound of eating feel closer? Was it an illusion from being too hungry?
Slurp...
It was right by her ear, like someone was eating face-to-face...
It wasn't just "like." Bianka opened her eyes and glared at Lin, who was eating right in front of her. He was casually observing Bianka fair skin, seemingly thinking about something.
"Have you seen enough?" Bianka frowned slightly and asked coldly. Eating while watching—was she a side dish for his meal?
Lin was thinking about something else. He felt some unusual energy fluctuations in Bianka body, similar to the Pseudo-Herrscher Core in his own.
Why... does it feel so familiar...
Hearing her words, Lin hand paused for a second, then he began eating even more vigorously. Bianka pulled out her lance to move elsewhere, but as soon as she took a step, Lin followed.
She shot him a sharp look, and Lin stopped in his tracks. Just as she tried to continue, he moved forward again in sync.
Bianka stopped and glared at him. Lin picked up a fresh mushroom dripping with sauce with his chopsticks: "Want some?"
"No."
"I think it's delicious."
"What does that have to do with whether I eat it or not?"
"Nothing, but I have to tell you it's delicious."
"..."
Bianka quickened her pace, fleeing to a further distance. It seemed she planned to return only after Lin finished eating. Lin watched her walk away, chewing his food with a cold expression, lost in thought.
...
The drizzle continued as Bianka straight legs stepped through puddles, walking quickly through the ruins of Atra.
Fragments of Mu—a continent that truly existed in the world but sank due to the Houkai, now existing here as a World Bubble.
Speaking of which, Lin and the others arrived here via the Star Gate. Was it a coincidence? Why would the Star Gate of the Mu civilization teleport them here...
Bianka shook her head and walked into one of the buildings in the ruins covered in ivy. She tore away the vegetation blocking her path and entered.
"Why does this place look so well-preserved?"
She observed the interior layout. According to the Overseer, the Previous Era was at least 50,000 years ago. Even if time flowed differently in the Sea of Quanta, 50,000 years should have resulted in a different sight. This place looked like it had only been abandoned for a few years.
Also, Einstein seemed very familiar with Mu. In her own world, there was also a Dr. Einstein, but their stances were different. Bianka couldn't yet conclude what kind of person the other Einstein was, let alone talk about research on Mu.
After confirming things, Bianka headed toward the Star Gate. She had been very curious last time...
Step.
Her foot stepped on a stack of damaged documents. Bianka bent down to pick them up, and with a casual flip, she found something of interest.
A roster.
It seemed to be a personnel roster for a research institute; she could vaguely see the words "Tenth Branch."
Was the script the same? It was expected, though. Most things in the Current Era came from the Previous Era; culture might be one of them.
She couldn't possibly know the people, but she could see a common characteristic among all these names.
None of them had surnames.
Bianka thoughts surged. She began searching near some damaged machines.