Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

Chapter 185 Eye of the Abyss, Activated!

Seeing the Eye of the Abyss open, the Honkai Beasts on the seabed began to stir, heading towards the Eye of the Abyss as if they wanted to turn off the device.

It was at this moment that Theresa understood why Einstein and the others needed support, but with the current intensity of the attack, Himeko Murata and Bronya alone could easily withstand it, right? So why did they call her back?

Theresa conveyed her questions to Einstein, and with Einstein's explanation, she learned that the Honkai Beast riot triggered by the previous experiment was far greater than usual. In order to quell the riot, even the children with combat abilities in the Cocolia Orphanage were mobilized.

Several children were injured as a result, and Theresa was sent back to provide support to prevent further accidents. However, Einstein pointed out that this should have already been discussed in the previous meeting, so why was Theresa asking again?

Theresa could only laugh awkwardly at this; she couldn't very well say that she had been distracted because she was preoccupied with Kiana.

Even if Theresa hadn't said anything, Himeko Murata could guess what Theresa was thinking, but she didn't point it out. After all, they had been friends for so many years, so she just pretended not to notice some harmless little things.

Moreover, with Theresa's addition, clearing out these Honkai beast hordes became much easier, and in no time, the group had eliminated all the Honkai beasts in the surrounding area.

However, this caused great distress to the captain hiding in the shadows, because they cleared the area so quickly that the captain didn't have a chance to sneak into the Eye of the Abyss amidst the chaos. Gray Serpent clearly realized this as well. Seeing that Theresa was about to lead the team into the Sea of ​​Quanta to search for the so-called Gem of Desire, Gray Serpent realized she had to do something for the captain.

So he emerged from the shadows in an extremely conspicuous manner, and the appearance of the gray snake instantly drew everyone's attention to him.

"Grey Serpent?!" Theresa exclaimed in surprise. "Weren't you already dead?!"

“Ms. Theresa, it is very impolite to curse others like that. Didn’t your grandfather teach you that?”

"But I saw Rita do this to you with my own eyes..."

"Ah... if that's the case, then it's not wrong, but I think I should have said back then that snakes are everywhere, and even if 'I' was dead back then, it doesn't prevent 'I' from appearing in front of you now, does it?"

"What exactly is going on with Theresa?" Himeko Murata asked, puzzled.

“I don’t know either!” Theresa replied, sweating profusely. “I did see Rita cut his head off with my own eyes. Even if he was a highly modified person, it’s impossible for him to come back to life after his head was cut off!”

“Unfortunately, his situation may not be what you guessed, Ms. Theresa.” Einstein’s words came through the earpiece. “I used the scanning system inside Abyss City to scan his body and found that he is not a human whose body has been highly modified, but a real android.”

“An android?” Theresa repeated instinctively.

"Heh! Examining people's bodies without their consent, is Anti-Entropy such an unreasonable organization?"

"It's a pity we don't have the habit of reasoning with the enemy."

Einstein's words came over the radio, and Gray Snake looked up at the control room in the distance before speaking.

"Enemies? Does that mean Kiana, who has now joined Snake, is also your enemy?"

Kiana is different from you!

"Different? How so? Miss Kiana has now joined Snake and is my colleague. Is there any difference?"

"You must have used some despicable means to force her to join!"

"No, no, no! That sounds too harsh. You should know that my initial target was only that man who called himself the captain of the Hyperion. He was the one who persuaded Kiana to join World Serpent with him."

"what?!"

Those present exclaimed in surprise. Seeing Gray Snake just reveal himself like that, the captain couldn't help but cover his head. Now he didn't know whether he should go out and explain or stay here and continue to watch Gray Snake's performance.

"Besides, now that he's here, wouldn't it be more appropriate to look for him instead of me?"

Well! Now we don't even have the chance to watch the show from the shadows!

The captain emerged from his hiding place with a complicated expression. Seeing Theresa, Himeko, and Bronya looking at him with hostility, the captain felt a pang of unease.

"It's been a long time since we've seen each other!"

"Don't act like we've known each other for ages. Why did you make Kiana join World Serpent?"

The one who raised the question was Bronya; indeed, this was the first time she and the captain had met in this world.

The captain looked at Bronya, whose body was still growing, and a hint of nostalgia appeared in his eyes, which he quickly concealed.

"To you, or rather to all of you, I'm just a stranger you've met once or twice, but to me, you're all good friends I know well. Please believe me on this point: I would never harm Kiana!"

Faced with the captain's somewhat irrelevant answers, Himeko Murata appeared much calmer than the two who were already clearly hostile towards each other.

"Captain... you're going to be called that for now. What exactly do you mean by that? Do you really...?"

Himeko didn't make her point clear, but she felt that the other person should understand what she was trying to say. Sure enough, after hearing Himeko's words, the captain could only manage a wry smile.

"I think you should have an answer now as to where I come from and why I feel so familiar with you. I'm so happy to see you alive, Himeko."

"..."

Himeko Murata fell silent; the captain's words undoubtedly confirmed their previous suspicions.

This man who calls himself the captain of the Hyperion is probably from another similar world, but whether it's a parallel world or a bubble world is unknown.

But since he mentioned that Himeko is still alive, does that mean that Himeko in his world is already...?

Theresa was terrified by her own conjecture, because given the circumstances at the time, if the captain hadn't gone out to fight in Himeko's place, Himeko might have really died then!

Himeko Murata on the other side had obviously thought of this as well, but from her knowing look, it was clear that she had probably already realized that if no captain had come to replace her, she would have faced certain death.

However, she had long been mentally prepared for this; in fact, she was prepared to die on the battlefield from the day she became a Valkyrie.

However, these are not the key issues now. The key issue is why they are here in the first place?

Before Himeko could even ask a question, the captain interrupted, "Himeko, are you wondering why we're here?"

"!"

From Himeko Murata's shocked expression, it was clear that the Captain had guessed correctly. However, given the tacit understanding that had developed between the Captain and Himeko over the years, it wasn't difficult to guess. So, the Captain began to explain.

"Actually, we are here for only one purpose, which is to use the Eye of the Abyss to pull that person back from the Sea of ​​Quanta."

"That one?"

"That person has many titles: the first and strongest fusion warrior of the previous civilization, the user of the Judgment of Heavenly Fire, and the originator of the Kaslana family, Kevin Kaslana."

"Why did you bring him back? And if what you're saying is true, shouldn't he have died long ago?"

"Heh! That person's lifespan is beyond your imagination," the gray serpent said. "The fusion warriors of the previous civilization all possessed long lifespans, let alone that strongest fusion warrior. If he hadn't been betrayed by his friend thousands of years ago, this world would have already developed according to the serpent's will!"

"What do you mean?"

"Project Stigmata," the captain said calmly.

"?"

"The so-called Stigmata Project is to avert the destruction of civilization by awakening Stigmata among the people of the current civilization. You probably already know how to carry it out from Rita."

"So, the experiment Rita mentioned in Sky City was the execution plan for Project Stigmata?"

Einstein immediately grasped the key point in the captain's words, and the captain nodded in agreement without hesitation. After all, the Stigmata Project currently being implemented by World Serpent was indeed this version of the plan. As for the final version to be implemented, the captain felt that they didn't need to know at the moment, so he didn't mention it. In any case, for them, the ultimate goal was to stop Kevin from implementing the Stigmata Project, so knowing sooner or later made no difference.

Most importantly, now that they know, how can they still watch the twisted plot unfold? For some reason, the captain feels like he's changed, becoming like that big-nosed uncle he followed in his past life, enjoying watching twisted plots to provide him with pleasure.

So every captain ends up as a ship's henchman?

The captain thought sadly, but this feeling doesn't seem so bad?

"Do you know how many people would sacrifice their lives if that plan were implemented?"

"Of course I know, otherwise why would I agree to join World Serpent, and not only that, but I also brought Kiana along? Wasn't it all so they would cancel that experiment?"

"So what's next? You stop it this time, but what about next time? You and Kiana can't keep stopping them forever, can you?"

“Indeed,” the captain affirmed Theresa’s words, “but Theresa, do you have any other better options?”

"I…!"

"Although Kiana and I can't stop them from carrying out the Stigmata Project forever, we can help them make the least sacrifice. The Theresa Honkai is cruel, allowing a few to survive and preserve the flame of civilization. Isn't that better than humanity dying out and civilization perishing?"

"Did you say these things to Kiana when you were trying to persuade her?"

The captain didn't answer, because these were all things he'd thought of on the spur of the moment; how could he have told Kiana about them? But Theresa didn't know this, and therefore, she seized upon this to firmly believe that Kiana had been deceived by the man before her into joining World Serpent.

Even Himeko Murata and Bronya, who were standing nearby, were starting to believe Theresa's conclusion. Only Einstein, who had been observing from the sidelines, vaguely sensed that something was amiss.

However, Einstein's words alone were ineffective for Theresa, who was getting increasingly agitated. After being provoked by the captain, Theresa summoned the Oath of Judah and launched an attack on the captain.

Without wasting words, the captain used the Heavenly Fire Judgment to block the attack. However, at that moment, the Eye of the Abyss behind them began to become unstable, realizing that they didn't have much time left. After glancing at the Gray Serpent, the captain began to retreat.

Gray Serpent immediately understood the captain's intention, so he took out his trump card, a potion that could turn people into Honkai Beasts.

Clearly, Gray Serpent was planning to sacrifice himself to buy time for the captain. The captain first looked at Gray Serpent with respect before running towards the door created by the Eye of the Abyss without looking back.

Upon arriving at the Eye of the Abyss, the captain glanced back at the control room before resolutely walking inside. In the blink of an eye, the captain disappeared into the depths of the Eye of the Abyss. Just as everyone was about to step forward to stop him, they were stopped by the Child of Dawn, who had transformed from the Gray Serpent. However, it was too much of a stretch for one person to stop five people.

Just before the Eye of the Abyss closed, Bronya successfully broke through the Gray Serpent's defenses and disappeared inside the Eye of the Abyss.

Seeing this, Cocolia, who was far away in the control room, knelt on the ground in despair. She never imagined that just secretly letting Gray Snake and the captain in would cause her to lose another child.

Seeing this, Einstein understood how the captain and Gray Serpent had bypassed the surveillance to enter the interior of Abyss City. Considering the rapid rise of the radical faction led by Cocolia in recent years, it seemed that the World Serpent's infiltration was far deeper than she had imagined.

“Ms. Cocolia, it seems we have other things to discuss.”

On the other side, after learning that the Eye of the Abyss had closed, Gray Serpent also understood that his mission was more than half completed. The next step was to find a way to delay for a while longer. So he looked at the two girls who had undergone the modification surgery.

In my memory, the two girls were named Rosalia and Lilia, and they were children adopted by the Cocolia Orphanage. Because of the Great Honkai, the original site of the orphanage was also attacked by Honkai Beasts, and the two girls stood up to protect the children who had no fighting ability.

Ultimately, both were severely injured by the Honkai Beasts and their Honkai energy was also seriously corrupted. The only way to survive was to undergo a modification surgery. However, Anti-Entropy did not have this technology, so Cocolia found World Serpent, who was secretly cooperating with her, and obtained permission for the modification surgery in exchange for helping her infiltrate.

If I remember correctly, the factors I used on them were those of the Children of Dawn and the Children of Night, which could be combined with my current self to form Ashva.

So Gray Serpent pretended to ambush Rosalia, and just as he expected, Lilia, who possessed the Night Child factor, naturally wouldn't let Rosalia get hurt.

Thus, Lilia was absorbed, and the gray snake successfully evolved into Vasa Ashva and continued its fierce battle with Theresa and the others.

Meanwhile, on the other side, within the Sea of ​​Quanta.

Bronya slowly awoke from her coma, and the first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was a brown-haired boy in a suit who was about to help her up.

Meanwhile, the captain wandered through the Sea of ​​Quanta, searching for Kevin's whereabouts while trying to contact Kiana and the others. He then encountered the girl who was deeply loved by the sea—Seele Vollerai.