Chapter 63 - Story

After parting ways with the two Little Vitas whose memories had been partially deleted by Moriarty, Jun An, Fu Hua, Vita, along with Accumulation (Orange) and Harmony (Cyan), headed towards the actual city of Froth.

"Speaking of which, does anyone know where Moriarty is?"

Jun An looked at Vita. "Let me be clear first, my abilities aren't really suited for finding projections like Moriarty. After all, Sa's power permeates all of Froth."

From the storyline perspective, Moriarty's existence was also similar to a projection. However, unlike Fu Hua, whose projection originated from Su, Moriarty, as an exhibit, had his projection sourced from Sa.

And since Sa's traces were everywhere on Froth, Jun An couldn't find him even if he tried.

Jun An looked at the two small city agents. "Little Cyan, Little Orange, do you have a way?"

Harmony Vita (Cyan) nodded. "Yes, leave this to Sister Orange and me. After all, no one knows this city better than us."

Accumulation (Orange) also nodded and asked, "But after we find Moriarty, can everyone return to normal? Red and Blue... something seems wrong with them. We just discussed Sister Fu Hua's matter two days ago, but it's like it never happened for them."

"I'm not too sure about that. Let's ask the Captain."

Vita looked at Jun An. "Omnipotent Captain, do you have any way to restore the other Little Vitas' memories? You can just add the price to my tab."

Vita remembered Jun An possessed abilities related to consciousness.

"I don't know, but we can try."

Jun An said, "Of course, you'll need to bring me one of the Vitas with amnesia to examine. After all, even a clever housewife can't cook without rice."

"Wow, are you actually omniscient and omnipotent?"

Vita had only asked casually, not expecting it might actually work. "So, what's the price for waking up one Little Vita this time? Don't worry, I'm a good big sister. For my dear little sisters, I'll pay any price~."

"Well, let's see the difficulty first."

Jun An shrugged. "We don't even know if they can be saved yet."

Watching the two repeatedly mention "price," Fu Hua couldn't help but ask, "May I ask something? What exactly is this price you keep talking about? Captain, what are you planning to make Vita do for you?"

Fu Hua looked seriously at the two. At this moment, she felt a strong sense of crisis, feeling deep down that this matter wasn't so simple.

Vita: "Of course, it's..."

"Some hard labor. You don't need to worry about it."

Jun An cut Vita off. "Anyway, to prevent Little Orange and Little Cyan from meeting misfortune, Fu Hua, you should stick with them. Judging from the current situation, they might also be Moriarty's targets."

Fu Hua frowned and asked, "Then what are you and Vita going to do, Captain?"

"Look for a way to find Sa."

Jun An said, "Vita, after all, is the shed skin left behind before Sa's spiritual ascension. With her around, perhaps we can find a breakthrough."

"Sa... that name again."

Fu Hua pressed further, "So who exactly is Sa?"

"The creator god of this world, and also its destroyer."

Vita couldn't help but sigh. "At the same time, She might also be the culprit who killed the Captain several years ago. So, you two have quite the blood feud, don't you think?"

Vita was smart, after all. She naturally knew Jun An wouldn't have come here just because she swayed her hips well or clamped down tightly.

Jun An's purpose here was already obvious. It was just that Jun An possessed the ability and foundation, while Vita did not.

And in the contest between Sa and the Captain, Vita would naturally choose the Captain's side.

After spending these few days together, besides the factor of power, Vita had another reason: the Captain was truly amazing.

"She attacked the Captain?"

Fu Hua's anger instantly flared. Although she had been unconscious from buying time for everyone and didn't witness the event, it didn't lessen her fury. "But why? As far as I know, Earth's history has never had any direct connection with Sa."

"Yeah, I didn't quite understand at first either, but now I think I roughly get it."

Vita looked at Jun An. "On one hand, it might have been to prevent your god from ascending. On the other hand, perhaps it was fear of the unknown that the Captain represented."

"Imagine this: you possess eyes that see all and power that is nearly omnipotent. Although you have a great enemy, It never pays attention to you, acting like a machine."

"A machine... this provides Her some slight reassurance. After all, machines don't actively attack others and seem to regard Her as nothing."

"During this time, She can safely expand, develop, following the path of what you call the 'Cocoon of Finality'—building civilizations, destroying worlds, absorbing power, continuously developing."

"Until a variable appears. She discovers her omniscient authority can no longer detect a certain area on Earth. No matter how She tries, She can no longer use Her power to peek into even a corner of it."

"Just like that, the omniscience She relied upon failed. This can't help but make Her recall the fear of being dominated by the Abyss of Finality (Finality) back when She was still a Frothian."

"She can't help but wonder, could this be a new power of the Abyss? Has Finality discovered Her and created a power specifically to counter Her?"

"The fear of death coiled deep within Her soul makes it hard for Her even to swallow food. So, She makes the boldest decision of Her life: carefully poking Her head out from the depths of the sea, using Her 'eyes' to observe the unknown after a long time."

"And the first time She emerges, She encounters the power of the Abyss (Finality), along with the unknown She couldn't observe. The two factors She feared most converged. Adding that they had just experienced a world-shaking battle, both beings She feared were weakened to the extreme. Instinctive fear and rational thought prompted Her to attack."

"With a bang, very unfortunately, our great Captain met his end. And Sa, after that probing strike, retreated back into the sea, trembling in fear, only sending out that pitiful agent to resume work a year later."

This was also the longest period Vita got to spend with the Little Vitas.

Vita looked at everyone present and said, "Well? Do you like the story I just made up? I'm quite talented in this aspect."

Listening to Vita's version, Jun An found it indeed matched what he knew of Sa's personality quite well.

Fear. That was the most primitive driving force for the Frothian (Venusian) originally named Vita to become Sa, and proof of Her lurking in the Sea of Quanta for over two hundred million years.

And the unknown is also a form of fear.

"Sa... I see."

Fu Hua roughly understood Sa's motives now and also realized that Sa indeed had to be eliminated. "From Earth's perspective, the other party has already sent us a dangerous signal. That makes them an enemy."

In reality, Sa's motive didn't matter much. But judging from Her first reaction to Earth being "attack" rather than "communication," the other party was indeed an enemy.

Fu Hua continued asking, "Then what Little Blue and Little Red said earlier about opposing Sa, what does that mean? This world should have been created by Sa herself, right?"

"Yes, but this is just the god's experimental ground. Apart from the seven Little Vitas, everything else is just crooked branches and rotten leaves that can be pruned away, including me. It's just that I'm more useful, so I've been used until now."

Vita led Jun An and the others on a stroll through the city. Due to the Honkai Beasts, no one was out on the streets of Froth now.

"Fu Hua, you should know about Froth and Hesperus, right? That area that looks like ruins, Hesperus, that was the Froth of the previous cycle. The god created this, destroyed this."

Vita looked at the Orange Accumulation and Cyan Harmony beside her. "'The world remains constant, yet people cycle through falsehood.' That saying isn't wrong at all."

One could say that Froth imitated the process of Finality constantly destroying and rebuilding civilizations. What the result of this process was, or what the Cocoon of Finality sought to gain, perhaps even Sa herself didn't know.

All she knew was that the existence far more powerful than Her had always been fixated on this, so perhaps she too could gain something from it.

Jun An also summarized, "Our battle lines are actually unified. Vita fights for freedom, the little city agents fight to protect the city, and Earth cannot ignore this potential threat either."

"—Except for Moriarty."

Fu Hua added, "He always treats crime as art, regardless of the world's survival. He only cares if his art can be seen. He might even cause trouble for us at a critical moment."

Vita said coldly, "And in fact, Moriarty has already made a move against Red and Blue."

"Alright, then I'll entrust finding Moriarty to you all, lest he cause trouble for us later."

Jun An looked at Vita, then at the hazy giant object in the sky above. "As for me, I'll reminisce properly with Vita, and also think about how to pull Her down."