Chapter 531 In the Sea: Kill Them All

Chapter 5: In the Sea: Kill Them All

"Huahua——"

The running water was freezing cold, but both Bronya and Seele were just washing the dishes without saying a word.

After all, this level of coldness was unbearable for others, but for a child who grew up in the Siberian wilderness, it was just a slight numbness in the fingertips.

"Seele. Come here. That... I'm sorry to bother you to clean up these, Miss Bronya. I have something to say to Seele."

Bronya put down the rag, turned her head, first glanced at Seele who bowed her head and said nothing, then glanced at Cocolia, and nodded slightly.

"I understand."

"Thank you, thank you."

Cocolia put her hands together, bowed, and then waved to Seele.

Seele raised her head, wanting to say something but stopped, but finally followed Cocolia out in silence.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Bronya shuddered, as if she had suddenly woken up from a nightmare.

But she said nothing, just picked up the rag and Wan from the wooden barrel again and started scrubbing carefully.

But... the air around her was getting colder and colder. Every time she scrubbed a bowl, Bronya would take her hands out, wipe them dry on her uniform, put them under her mouth and blow hard to warm them up, then put them in her armpits for a while, and wait until her purple fingers returned to flesh color before she continued to scrub the next one.

This continued until the fourth bowl was scrubbed, and the light and delicate footsteps sounded behind her again.

"Seele is back, you should go and rest first, this is Seele's job."

The girl's voice was as gentle as in her memory, but she lacked the familiar name, and seemed to be more... mature.

"It doesn't matter. Bronya doesn't have the habit of going to bed so early."

"Then...then..."

Seele mumbled, squatted beside Bronya, picked up one of the few bowls in the wooden barrel, and scrubbed it vigorously with a rag.

"Then...you can chat with Seele for a while. It just so happens that Cocolia's mother also has something for Seele to convey to you..."

"Okay."

Bronya's response was so brief that it seemed like she was answering the instructions of her superiors, but her words trembled, with a bit of trepidation, and it seemed like the impulse and tenderness that were forcibly suppressed together.

The water was also moving softly. No, the water itself did not contain anyone's will, but Seele's stroking movements were so gentle that the water was also like this.

After washing the last bowl silently, Seele carefully stacked all the wooden bowls together, wrung out the used rags, spread them flat on the table, and then wiped her hands with another dry rag.

They had agreed to "chat" with each other, but until they finished all this, Seele didn't speak, and neither did Bronya.

Both of them were waiting for something, a long and futile wait.

Waiting for the other to speak first.

"That... Seele..."

"That... Sister Bronya..."

Both of them turned their heads and spoke at the same time, and were stunned at the same time, tilted their heads at the same time, pursed their lips, and then didn't say anything.

Bronya slowly raised her hand, as if she wanted to touch Seele, but stopped in mid-air, a little hesitant.

Yes, what can a "Sister Bronya" mean?

Maybe there is also a Bronya in this world, otherwise how could Seele...

Hmm?

Bronya's eyes widened, she found that she seemed to be caught in some kind of gain and loss, so that she became extremely stupid -

If, if Seele in front of her was just an illusion of the world bubble, and she didn't know the real Bronya at all, shouldn't she greet her like a normal acquaintance?

Isn't Seele's reaction now exactly the same as Bronya's?

So, so... so!

The Seele in front of me must be...

"Seele..."

"Sister Bronya!"

The cold palms pressed together, Seele tightly grasped Bronya's right hand that was suspended in mid-air, and pulled it to her knees.

"Sister Bronya, you... are..."

Although she was brave enough, at this moment, Seele's voice still trembled.

"Ah."

Bronya responded, swallowed hard, and then hugged Seele when she was caught off guard.

"Seele..."

Accompanied by the white steam, the same trembling voice came out.

"I finally found you."

Seele didn't know how to answer, but just hugged Bronya back, using the strength of her arms to prove her existence to Bronya.

Tears flowed from the corners of their eyes, but the two girls, who would not even be considered high school students in peacetime, held back their tears. Let the tears flow silently. As long as they didn't make any sound, they might not be so sad.

Perhaps that was being strong.

After a long time, the two reluctantly separated, mainly because they were too excited all of a sudden. The two children hugged each other so tightly that they felt breathless and dizzy for a while.

Bronya gasped, her mind racing.

The Seele in front of her was indeed the real Seele. Mikael had fulfilled what he had said to her outside. But... would the real Mikael be so kind?

No, no, let’s think about it again. That Mikael claimed to be Mikael No. 2. Judging from the actual results, it was Mikael No. 2 who had been staying with Xier in the Quantum Sea, and he... he was a certain person in the past. Mikael's freeze-frame in this time period, he seemed to be fighting against Honkai at that time, so he did have a reason to do such a "good thing".

But this cannot deny the possibility that the Mikael who brought him here is Mikael No. 1. Personality can be disguised. It may be difficult for a person to imitate his future self, but it cannot be said that it is not difficult for a person to imitate his past self. At least it is much simpler.

After all... that man once pretended to be so gentle and deceived Mei, Kiana, Xi'er, and Bronya herself.

Facing such a cunning man, Bronya felt that she had to prepare for the worst.

It's even possible that Xi'er in front of her is also...

"Crack!"

Bronya patted her head hard to make this terrible thought disappear immediately.

But instead of disappearing, the suspicion only intensified.

Bronya knew exactly what her weaknesses were. From a subjective emotional point of view, of course she will selectively believe that the Xi'er in front of her is Xi'er, but in Mikael's eyes, this may be her weakness. By using this weakness, she may be able to do what he wants to do. …

"Xie'er, before Bronya came here, she met Rosalia and Lilia. Do you remember them two?"

"Rosalia and Lilia!"

Xi'er covered her mouth and breathed softly.

"Of course Xi'er remembers it, but aren't they with Cocolia's mother? Could it be..."

"Well, a lot of things happened after you left. The principal and others also fought against Cocolia's mother. Forget it, let's not talk about these spoilers. Do you still remember the box in the orphanage before? We were taken away by Mikael and didn’t have much chance to go back to the orphanage to sort out our things. They told Bronya that they had kept the box for you and they could return it to you this time.”

Bronya stared into Xi'er's eyes, not daring to blink.

Xi'er was a little confused at first, seeming to be thinking about what kind of box it was. Just a second later, her face suddenly turned rosy, and her eyes evaded because of embarrassment, so that she did not notice Bronya's abnormality at all.

"That...that...that's just an empty box. Actually, it's not, no, no...it doesn't need to be so troublesome."

Bronya laughed, Bronya laughed from the bottom of her heart.

Even if Mikael wanted to "forge" a Xi'er, he would only have the memory of when he met Mikael. It would be impossible to know what box Xi'er used to hide in every time he was bullied.

Therefore, there is no doubt that the Xi'er in front of her is indeed the Xi'er she is familiar with.

Bronya held Xi'er's hand tightly, expressing her joy at seeing her again after a long separation, but also silently apologizing for her doubts just now.

But her smile quickly disappeared again.

"Xie'er, listen to Bronya. During the time you disappeared, very...very unbelievable things happened outside."

"Sister Bronya, Xier is mentally prepared."

"Did...your other personality tell you?"

"Ah...Sister Bronya, how do you know..."

Bronya held her big head and said helplessly:

"You two are too obvious. I'm afraid not only Bronya, but also the principal, Himeko, and Sister Mei can see it. The only one who can't notice it is probably Kiana, the idiot."

"ah……"

"But that's not important."

Bronya pressed Xier's shoulders hard.

"Xie'er, what Bronya is going to say next may...may have a big impact on you. Especially, Bronya knows that the other you probably has a very close relationship with Mikael, but …”

"Sister Bronya, it's brother Mikael, what happened to him...?"

Xi'er seemed to want to say something else, but finally covered her mouth again.

Perhaps, she had already realized something - from the fragments of words she heard from her other self and her past brother Mikael every time she woke up.

"Mikael, he..."

Bronya took a deep breath and bit her teeth lightly.

"Mikael betrayed us."

"..."

Xi'er's pupils shrank slightly, but she didn't make any sound.

So, Bronya continued speaking boldly:

"He...he kidnapped Sister Mei and Kiana, and turned Kiana into the Herrscher of the Sky. Now Kiana is missing, and Sister Mei doesn't even know whether she is alive or dead..."

"..."

"..."

"ha?"

This was the first and only syllable that Xi'er uttered after letting go of her biting lower lip.

Xi'er's eyes gradually became blurred. Bronya had seen this scene before. This was often a sign of Xi'er's personality reversal. However, everything seemed to be stuck in this moment. Xi'er made no further movements, and there was no second move. When the two personalities appeared, Bronya didn't understand what was happening, so she had to sit and wait.

"哐——"

The door was pushed open roughly, Bronya turned her head following the sound, and stood with Kevin standing at the door. Half of her body stepped into the light in the room, and the other half of her body was hidden in the restaurant that lost the light.

His eyes swept over Xi'er, but didn't stop.

"Bronya, there are new orders from headquarters."

"What?"

Bronya stood up hesitantly. She didn't know the rules of the Fire Moths. But whether it was the rules of the mercenaries, the rules of Cocolia, or the rules of Saint Freya, it was not a good thing for the headquarters to directly give orders to the team on a mission outside.

"The situation is a little... unexpected. Let your brother tell you."

"Okay."

Bronya stood up and looked at Seele, who was still in an unknown state and had not recovered, with some reluctance.

She leaned over, got close to Seele, and reminded softly:

"Seele, I'll be back soon."

She followed Kevin out of the kitchen neatly and turned around to close the door.

The restaurant outside the kitchen was no longer noisy half an hour ago. The children were taken back to the dormitory in the backyard by Cocolia. Candles were very expensive, so the candlelight could not be lit forever. Only the moonlight from the window coated everything it could touch with a thin silver edge.

Kevin brought Bronya to the yard, still leaning against the door frame of the restaurant, and nodded to Mikael who was standing upright in the yard, as if urging Bronya to hurry up. Apart from that, he made no sound or movement, but just lowered his head, as if brewing some special emotions.

"What happened? Bronya heard that there was an order from the headquarters."

Bronya did not notice Kevin's expression. Of course, even if she noticed it, she did not have the time and mood to understand it.

She just took two quick steps to Mikael, but before she got close, she smelled a strong smell of alcohol.

"It's not a big deal."

Mikael slammed the wine into his stomach.

"I reported the situation to the headquarters. You should have seen it just now. Those children are undoubtedly suffering from Honkai disease. I also measured the Honkai energy reaction. Our mission target should be here. If there is any difference from what we expected, it is that Cocolia does not seem to know about Honkai disease. Otherwise, she should avoid outsiders seeing these children."

"Then what?"

Bronya pretended to be worried and did not want to talk nonsense with Mikael.

Mikael shrugged and said:

"The higher-ups gave instructions on our report. What else could it be?"

"What instructions?"

Bronya frowned and asked.

She did not understand why Mikael had to split a sentence into several parts. If it was to whet people's appetite, it was unnecessary and a bit bad.

"Hmm..."

Mikael covered his mouth and pondered for a while, then gently placed his hand on Bronya's shoulder.

"The meaning above is quite simple, let's just follow the normal process."

"So, the normal process is..."

"Kill all these Honkai patients and bring the bodies back."

"...Huh?"

Bronya opened her mouth and uttered a broken syllable, exactly the same as Seele just now.