Honkai Impact 3rd: The Girl Who Chases the Flame

"...I was knocked unconscious by Kevin, and when I woke up I was locked in that room with five chains."

Melutina frowned.

“Each set of Anubis Chains corresponds to a cage. They will put sinners into their own cages, and the Anubis Chains will, like living beings, autonomously fix the prisoners in that area.”

Aponia continued.

"Doesn't it fit the personality of that 'great magician'? The whole process is like an escape magic trick."

"Even someone with a psycho-sensory ability like you doesn't know how they got in?"

Melutina asked in surprise.

“Velvie knows I’m going to be locked up here… She claims to be the greatest magician of the Twilight Era, do you think she wouldn’t consider that?”

Aponia smiled slightly, as if it were none of her business.

"...Alright, putting personality aside for now, if Vilvie considers herself second in skill, then no one in the world would dare to claim to be first."

Melutina had long understood that this was a prison that even Velvi herself couldn't escape, but she didn't expect that Aponia would be completely helpless against it.

No, it should be said that she hadn't even seriously considered how to get out.

"Qianjie was once taken out by Alicia... How did she manage that?"

Melutina asked again.

"At least Qianjie himself was unconscious when he left. Unlike you, he did not break free of the chains, so it was easy to make him lose consciousness."

As for how Alicia got him out... my dear Melutina, it was a strange magic trick, like entering a box and then disappearing.

This was Velvi's specialty, an escape magic technique she used to construct the deepest part of the tunnel. Alicia was merely following instructions; she herself might not even know what the mechanism was.

As Aponia spoke, she seemed to become quite happy.

"Isn't that what magic is all about? It's right under your nose, yet you can't see through its secrets."

"...What about brute force dismantling?"

Melutina raised an eyebrow.

"My dear Melutina, are you trying to bring back the dark side of humanity?"

Aponia had an indifferent expression on her face.

"If you want... I'm not unable to agree."

"Okay, I was just kidding."

Melutina rubbed her forehead, wondering if she could beat up Verviel after she got back and then blame it on Qianjie.

"actually……"

Aponia suddenly said,

"Have you considered the possibility of someone attempting a prison break?"

"...Breakout from prison?"

Melutina was slightly taken aback.

"This is the deepest part of the prison; how can we possibly break in?"

"A design drawing is sufficient."

"Don't joke around, how could Velvi possibly... give away the design... the design drawings..."

As she was speaking, Melutina's tone suddenly softened, and she finally couldn't help but cover her face.

"Okay, she's perfectly capable of doing it."

"Vilvie is still the same Wilvie, and Alicia is still the same Alicia... What's there to worry about?"

Aponia smiled.

"Oh, by the way, I baked some cookies, do you want some?"

…………

The deepest part of the near sea

"Hmm... Do you think someone will come to rescue us?"

Alicia lay sprawled on a wooden board, her hand supporting her chin, completely unladylike.

"Alicia, you haven't forgotten, we're here to rescue people, have you?"

Beside her sat Sakura, who looked like she was about to cry.

"...A prison break encountering a sea disaster? What kind of joke is that?"

No matter what, it was impossible to squat on the wooden board, so Qianjie reluctantly maintained the lying position.

"Let me see……"

Alicia used a telescope she pulled out from somewhere to estimate the distance between them and the distant island.

"I can barely see a black dot... Hmm, should I swim over?"

"..."

"..."

Qianjie and Ying both fell silent.

"...Let's go."

Finally, Sakura sighed, got up, and jumped into the water.

"Humph."

Qianjie snorted coldly, exerted force with his right foot, and leaped over Ying, landing in the water.

"Hey? You guys actually jumped? I was just kidding! Wait, wait for me! What if there's a shark?!"

On the contrary, Alicia, who made the suggestion, was stunned. She was slow to react, hesitated for a while, tidied her hair, and jumped down.

.........

Mu Continent

"...Kevin, I mean, is it possible that we could try a different store next time?"

Hua held the bowl of noodles in front of her, her expression indescribable.

"...Is this noodle shop not good? But there aren't any better-rated noodle shops around here."

Kevin paused for a moment, then began to think seriously.

"..."

No, I mean, can we please not eat noodles...?

"Alicia and I went to eat ramen the other day, but she ran away halfway through... Hmm, how about we try that?"

After careful consideration, Kevin made the suggestion.

"……it is good."

At least it's a different story.

“You just said that Alicia left halfway through? That’s quite unusual for her.”

Hua felt it was necessary to find some topics to talk about, after all, Kevin had put a lot of effort into inviting people for team building.

"...Not only her, but Qianjie and Ying have also disappeared recently."

"Them? This... must be no small matter."

Hua Wei was slightly taken aback.

"I have a general idea of ​​what's going on."

Kevin calmly picked up his chopsticks and said.

"Does... Dr. Mei know about this?"

Although Hua didn't fully understand, she keenly sensed that Alicia and the others had gone to do something against the rules.

"do not know."

"...You didn't know? Shouldn't their situation be reported?"

Hua was stunned for a moment. Qianjie and Ying, shouldn't we have raised an alarm if we couldn't contact them for even a day?

"That's how it is in theory."

Kevin nodded.

"...But what's the reality?"

Sure enough, Kevin is still Kevin; he won't say a word unless you ask.

"I didn't report it."

Kevin said calmly.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Dr. Mei Remains Motionless

My name is Mei, and I am a diligent scientist who chases the flame like a moth...

If I could, I would really like to say that.

In the past, I was indeed just a diligent young scientist, admiring the scientific giant Dr. Möbius, and occasionally munching on bread while browsing the web to see what kind of trouble Dr. Verviers was up to, just to relax.

I long for the day when I can be on the same stage as them, so that the scientific community will be aware of the existence of the scientist "Mei".

At least, that's what I thought back to high school.

She spends her days reading books, and occasionally tutors the boy next door, watching his sister glare at her angrily.

When I get to school, I can still bicker with that annoying but somewhat handsome guy named Kevin.

But this era will eventually drive people to their doom, won't it?

Before a natural disaster strikes, what can I, a mere student, do?