[BONUS CHAPTER] Chapter 83 – Second-Hand Preparation

"The bridge just detected an intense Honkai energy surge. What in the world are you doing?"

Urgent footsteps echoed as a red-haired woman in a sharp uniform strode in through the door.

Even without seeing the expression on her face, the anxiety in her voice and movements was impossible to miss.

"What… is this?" Seeing the two girl transformed, Himeko Murata's eyes widened in confusion.

She lifted her gaze, curiosity written all over her face.

"Sirin… or Kiana?" The young lady's white hair now cascaded down her back, and the combined presence of two souls disrupted her original aura.

Honestly, if she hadn't seen the transformation with her own eyes, even Mei probably wouldn't have been able to tell who it was.

"It's W!"

Though C.C. was a bit disappointed she couldn't transform herself, gaining a white-haired, red-eyed partner was still more than worth it.

Her excitement rose again, undeterred.

Of course, the real reason was that the W form didn't offer much practical help for her right now.

Let's not forget—she still had a Fusion ability she'd never even tried to use.

She wasn't sure how deep the resonance needed to be to trigger it, but C.C. had a strong feeling that the Fusion would be far more powerful than any Kamen Rider W transformation.

Plus, that whole knight's heart nonsense was just… well, it was enough to drive anyone crazy.

"Is that a Valkyrie battlesuit?"

The elegant maid approached, long legs clad in sheer black stockings, her soft, melodic voice betraying no hint of her own surprise.

But in those wine-red eyes, a sharp glint of intrigue briefly flickered.

From the Honkai energy reaction she'd just detected, it was clear that this unfamiliar armor might be on par with her own Argent Knight: Artemis…

Maybe it even surpassed it!

Of course, Rita couldn't help but chuckle at how ridiculous that idea sounded.

After all, that was a Godslayer Battlesuit!

One of Schicksal's most advanced weapons.

Even the Overseer herself needed the Key of Blank excavated from the ruins of the previous civilization to create the Godslayer Battlesuit.

By any normal logic, even an S-rank Valkyrie would need months of training to master its power.

How could something stronger than the Godslayer Battlesuit suddenly appear in Nagami's hands?

"Well, you could think of it that way."

Seeing that both Himeko and Rita had been drawn by the Honkai surge, Nagami replied calmly.

This situation clearly wasn't suited for testing the W form any further—or rather, the transformation itself had been a misstep from the start.

But Nagami had been too caught up in the excitement to consider that.

Still, no harm done.

With a flick of his wrist, the young lady's battle suit dissolved into shimmering light, the twin-driver device returning to Nagami's hand.

Any item above a certain star rating in the gacha pool had binding protocols.

Even if Nagami couldn't use the transformation device himself, he still held its ownership.

If someone else met the transformation requirements, they could use it freely—unless Nagami decided to forcibly reclaim it, which he could do at any moment.

The only way to permanently transfer ownership was to send it as a red envelope gift through the chat group.

Oh, and if the owner died, the ownership would vanish.

The bodysuit faded away, and the heiress Kiana's white clothes, reappeared in its place.

"Ah—!"

The sudden disappearance of that power caught her off guard, but she knew this wasn't the right time to question Nagami.

So she merely turned to face him, silently gazing at the transformation device in his hand.

That power just now—if combined with her own's might, it would be enough to defeat the Third Herrscher she'd faced before!

So… could this really be something Nagami had pulled from the gacha pool?

Given her intelligence and the newness of the chat group's gacha system, it didn't take her long to piece together where the transformation device had come from.

"Mmm…"

A soft murmur drifted up as the little tuna curled in C.C.'s arms fluttered her long lashes and slowly opened her clear blue eyes.

There was still a hint of confusion and blankness within them.

"Quantum transmission technology?"

Watching the device vanish and reappear in Nagami's hand, Himeko's expression grew especially serious, her tone filled with uncertainty.

Her thoughts tangled together in confusion—it was an outcome she'd never even considered.

Rita felt the same.

Normally, her Argent Knight: Artemis armor used quantum transmission for long-distance deployment.

She wasn't exactly a technological amateur, so seeing Nagami pull off something like this was truly shocking.

"You're… not entirely wrong."

Seeing the two of them so stunned, Nagami felt he'd made his point and nodded almost imperceptibly.

The twin-driver device disintegrated into tiny red particles and vanished.

Even without using his Alpha Stigma eye to analyze it, Nagami himself had no idea what principle was at play here.

But as the saying goes: when in doubt, blame it on quantum mechanics.

Attributing it to quantum tech was perfectly plausible.

"That really is quite surprising," Rita remarked.

She had recovered from her initial shock in an instant, the perfect, composed maid once more.

She didn't press further; after all, the other side clearly wasn't foolish enough to divulge such critical information to an outsider so easily.

Still, the fact that the forces backing Nagami had seemingly refined their quantum transmission technology to this level…

Recalling the motion he'd made when he activated the device, Rita's wine-red eyes narrowed slightly.

It was enough to send a chill down her spine.

"It seems it was just a false alarm," Nagami said lightly, with no real trace of apology in his tone as he shrugged, feigning innocence.

"I'm sorry for worrying you, Captain Himeko, Miss Rita."

"Please, there's no need for apologies," Rita replied in a gentle voice that drifted like a soft breeze across one's cheek.

"Tch. I'm going to let Theresa know what happened."

Himeko's ample chest rose and fell dramatically as she turned and started heading back to the command room.

Just before she stepped through the door, she paused and glanced back at Nagami, as if suddenly remembering something.

"Oh, by the way—the Honkai Chronicles you asked for? They're ready and in the room we prepared for you."

"Thanks~" Nagami dipped his head slightly, a faint smile curling at the corners of his lips as he spared a glance at the sleepy tuna nestled against C.C.

This was, of course, meant for the little tuna.

Though she was often teased as a single-celled organism and now even dubbed "the tuna," Kiana's intelligence was beyond question.

She had simply stopped thinking after growing too comfortable in her easy life.

There was no way the Sky Ranger Kiana would ever show up again!

But leaving her like this wasn't an option either.

Nagami couldn't always be there to hold her hand—she needed to be able to think for herself.

It was time to nurture that a bit.

And besides, there was another reason.

The essence of the Honkai was a test from the Imaginary Tree.

Judging by the way Herrschers were chosen, it was almost as if the Honkai Will itself was showing mercy.

Let's take a look at this generation's Herrschers:

Herrscher of Reason? Traitor.

Herrscher of the Void? Gone. (Traitor)

Herrscher of Thunder? Traitor.

Herrscher of Wind? Weakling. (Dead)

Herrscher of Ice? Gone.

Herrscher of Death? Unknown (most likely Seele, who would absolutely defect if it's her).

Herrscher of Fire? Traitor.

Herrscher of Sentience? Traitor.

Herrscher of Earth/Stars? Weakling. (Dead)

Herrscher of Domination? Ashes scattered by Herrscher of Flamescion's final blow.

Herrscher of Binding? Haven't come out yet.

Herrscher of Corrosion? Still Missing.

Aside from the final Herrscher of the End, that only left two of the original Twelve whose fates remained unclear: the Herrschers of Binding and Corrosion.

The rest had either died or defected.

Even if both of those last two were counted as true enemies of humanity, let's look at how many double agents there already were…

If the Honkai Will had chosen Tesla as the Third Herrscher, humanity wouldn't have survived to see the next dawn—that much Nagami was sure of.

Which meant, really, the Honkai Will had been going easy on them.

So leaving it all to Kiana aside, even though Honkai Impact 2 and 3 were part of the same multiverse, Nagami himself was an outsider.

Who could say whether the Honkai Will would raise the stakes just because of his involvement?

It was like when you're in a university exam and the person in front of you quietly shares answers, the proctor might turn a blind eye out of kindness.

But if some stranger suddenly storms in with the full answer key in hand, plops it on your desk for all to see—

No matter how much the proctor wants to let you pass, they can't just ignore that!

So it was best to have a backup plan.

There was always the possibility that this world's people would have to face the Honkai alone.

Without knowing how the Honkai Will would react, a little caution couldn't hurt.