The Infinite Journey of a Certain Flame

"What's going on? Why am I so dizzy? Mei, Bronya, do you remember what happened just now?"

Kiana, your hand!

"Oh, sorry! Um, Bronya. What are you pressing on my head with? It feels so soft and comfortable."

The three, reunited after a long separation, lay intertwined in a rather awkward position. If there were any outsiders present at this moment, they would likely lament how morally depraved the world had become, that such a thing could be done in broad daylight in the middle of nowhere.

Of course, at this moment, Gan Yu was the only outsider present.

Meanwhile, the poor little Qilin was sitting on Kiana's navel, its eyes glazed over and it was unconscious.

The most ridiculous thing is that Kiana was so busy taking care of Mei and Bronya that she didn't even realize she was sitting on someone else.

However, this excessive behavior was quickly brought to a halt, but not because the person involved finally realized anything.

Instead...

"Hey! I've been watching you for a while now. Didn't you realize you were sitting on someone's stomach?!" Little Xilin's impatient muttering brought the three of them back to their senses.

"what?!"

Upon hearing this, the three close friends came to their senses and discovered that in this vast wilderness, there was a lovely girl with horns on her head, lying on the ground, seemingly half-asleep.

And at this very moment, Kiana, the culprit who brought everyone here, is rudely sitting on someone's stomach with her legs spread apart as if...

"Kiana!!!"

Because the position was so indecent, Mei, who considered herself the rightful wife, pounced on Kiana and pinned her to the ground, only then letting out a sigh of relief as if she had held onto something most precious.

"You two..."

Watching her two friends' intimate gestures, the calm and collected Bronya pondered for a moment, then carefully considered and pondered deeply. Finally...

He slowly drew his gun and pointed it at Gan Yu, who was lying motionless on the ground...

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

Because this action was so dangerous, Sirin, who had originally intended to criticize Kiana and Mei, immediately turned her head away and stomped her foot in frustration.

He began to regret his decision, wondering why he had agreed to his master's whimsical idea.

They brought in a group of people who shouldn't have been here at all.

Isn't this just making trouble out of nothing?

However, the mistake has already been made. There's no way to undo it now.

Therefore, the best course of action is to find a way to keep an eye on these girls and prevent them from causing trouble.

With this in mind, Sirin flew to Bronya's side, intending to teach this murderous guy a lesson.

Surprisingly, the other party withdrew their gun almost without hesitation...

It was aimed at itself?

"Hey! You...you...you..."

With a gun pointed at her, Celine realized she was in grave danger, so she put her hands in front of her face and shook her head to avoid being directly in front of the gun.

However, the other party seemed determined to oppose her, and the gun barrels were basically following her every move.

Under these circumstances, Sirin finally realized that they were coming for her people.

So she gave up struggling and asked, head drooping:

"what happened?"

"Explain why Kiana, Mei, and I are here. What have you done?"

Bronya spoke in a normal tone, as if she were simply stating something so ordinary that it couldn't be more so.

However, beneath this seemingly casual tone of asking what to eat for dinner lies a deadly intent.

Xilin knew very well that if she said the wrong thing, this vigilant guy in front of her would pull the trigger without hesitation.

At that time...

"Cough, cough cough cough!" A sudden, soft cough broke the awkward atmosphere.

The attention of the three people and the puppet was instantly drawn to the sound, and they looked at the half-immortal girl who slowly sat up with a puzzled expression.

After a brief hesitation, she touched the back of her head and gave a sweet smile.

"Am I dreaming, Miss Kiana? They are all...?"

Gan Yu's gaze fell on Mei and Kiana, then she looked bewildered, making everyone realize they needed to say something. Otherwise, the girl would likely just remain confused.

But... she didn't yell or scream? And she even knew Kiana's name?

Mei squinted at the strange girl with horns on her head in front of her, and felt a strange sense of crisis.

Do they know each other? What's their relationship like? Is it something more intimate?

Strangely enough, the usually calm and collected Captain Mei inexplicably became confused after encountering her old friend Kiana. At this moment, she should have been pondering her location, just like Bronya.

However, with just a soft exclamation, she put this very important matter aside and began to think about the relationship between Gan Yu and Kiana.

Finally, after careful consideration, Mei slowly stepped forward and gave Gan Yu a 'kind' smile:

"Hello, I'm Mei. Kiana and I are very good friends. As for the woman holding the gun, that's Bronya. She's our comrade and currently the captain of the Schicksal vs. Honkai squad. We don't know what's going on here either."

Mei responded first, pulling Gan Yu up from the ground as she spoke. To show goodwill, she even reached out to brush the dust off Gan Yu's back. However, the moment she touched Gan Yu's buttocks, Gan Yu shuddered as if she had been electrocuted, and then her face showed obvious reluctance.

Uh... I don't think I released the power of a Herrscher just now, did I?

Feeling she had offended someone, Mei could only laugh awkwardly, then looked apologetically at Gan Yu and continued speaking.

"But rest assured, we have no hostile intentions. We are just a group of lost people who have somehow ended up here."

"Oh? I see. I thought..."

Seeing the beautiful, black-haired girl in front of him being so polite, and with the added protection of being Kiana's friend, Gan Yu immediately felt relieved and revealed a look of sudden realization.

"Since you're Kiana's friend, then you're my friend too. By the way, are you here for the Lantern Festival?"

"The Lantern Festival? What's that?"

Upon hearing the words of the half-immortal girl, the three asked in unison.

If you were to ask why Kiana was also curious, the reason would be... that she was also completely unfamiliar with this concept.

I've only heard about it from snippets of conversation among the people of Liyue; to truly understand it, I'll probably have to delve deeper into the subject.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce the Lantern Festival first, cough cough..."

Seeing the three looking puzzled, Gan Yu blinked her big eyes and slowly explained what the Lantern Festival was with a slightly apologetic expression.

"Oh, so that's what the festival is like? It sounds very lively. It would be so much fun if everyone got together."

As Kiana spoke, she took the hands of her two friends, giving off an air of "Spend the New Year with me this year, no one can leave."

Caught off guard, Mei and Bronya exchanged a glance before silently turning their attention to the most suspicious person present.

Xilin...

Why are you looking at me?

Sensing their 'friendly' gazes, the little guy fearlessly hid behind Gan Yu, displaying an expression that said, "I'm innocent, don't even think about questioning me." Mei and Bronya gritted their teeth, almost ready to grab him.

Perhaps feeling their intense gazes, Gan Yu smiled helplessly, then reached out and scratched Xilin's armpit as if teasing a cat.

"By the way, since you're here for the Lantern Festival, why don't you come back to Liyue Harbor with me in a few days? As travelers entering from outside the country, there are a lot of procedures to complete. If you could come back with me, it would be a great help. It would make processing the documents much more efficient."

After learning about Kiana and the others' goals, Gan Yu did not use his position for personal gain when extending the invitation.

“Great! We came here to participate in the Lantern Festival anyway. It would be wonderful if Gan Yu could lead the way! I wish we could celebrate together.”

Kiana's eyes lit up with excitement as she received help once again.

She really liked this cute and innocent girl. Besides, as a cultivator who had followed Zhongli in countless battles, her understanding of Liyue Harbor was second only to Zhongli's. With such a seasoned local 'guide' leading the way, what was there to worry about?

Now that the other party has brought this up on their own initiative, it's an unexpected and wonderful surprise.

And so, the trip to the Lantern Festival was decided.

However, just as Gan Yu was politely signaling Mei, Bronya, and the others to follow, Sirin suddenly grabbed Kiana's ponytail.

"what happened?"

Seeing that this guy didn't seem to realize that a companion had been forgotten on this trip, Sirin covered her forehead and said impatiently:

"There's something else from your hometown. You forgot to take it! If you don't keep it, the Sustainer might descend and fight you to the death!"

"Huh??? What is that? It's so scary!"

"The void holds all things."

Out with the old, in with the new, an unforgettable Lantern Festival (Liyue New Year): Chapter Two - The Pre-Civilization Supercomputer About to Be Captured

The First Key of God, the Void Treasury.

Technological products with self-awareness.

The core and microelectronic information are inscribed with the ultimate mission of "saving humanity from the clutches of destruction".

Therefore, it cannot love humanity, nor can it hate humanity. This kind of constraint, which can be described as a shackle, means that for it, fighting against the Honkai is merely a mission.

Rather than due to one's own will or other reasons.

Its goal is pure: to simply expel the Honkai. One could even say it's willing to sacrifice everything for this goal. This aligns with the obsession of its previous collaborator, Archbishop Otto. However, unlike him...

Archbishop Otto was not acting out of obsession, or perhaps he simply had different priorities.

Because of these slight deviations, this supercomputer's overall capabilities cannot compare to those of its collaborators.

This meant that for him, the mission was merely a task, and there was no way to identify with or compromise on it.

So here's the question: what if the world today no longer experiences collapse?

How will its program determine this?

If a steadfast believer loses the faith they uphold, what will be the ultimate consequence of the collapse of their belief?

Even the parties involved are unaware of this.

On the shallow sandbar of a small island in the river, a crab emerged from the sand. It was enormous, five or six times the size of an ordinary crab, and looked as robust as a stray dog. However, what was even more intriguing than its size was the crab's sharply defined body.