Back to regular programming, also, this volume by the author was recommended to be skipped, I mean when i reread it again, i can understand why. You'd be asking questions like:
"Why they didn't ask?"
But we aint skippin this.
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In the expanse of the Sea of Quanta, Luo Lin was utilizing the previously used body, The Vermillion Knight - Eclipse.
Her heavily injured original form was safely stowed within the system Team Interface, which can only be released once it finished recuperating.
The sudden appearance of the spatial rift earlier had caught Luo Lin off guard.
She had to prioritize her own survival for now.
As for explaining the disappearance of the Vermillion Knight - Eclipse in the blink of an eye to Ragnar and Siegfried, well, she couldn't even think about it for now..
Currently, she was attempting to control her direction of movement inside the vast Sea of Quanta. The specific method was...
Swimming.
Yes, swimming using both hands and feet.
"So, the Will of Honkai meant 'guiding oneself forward with thoughts' was like this..."
Moving in the gravity-free Sea of Quanta was quite difficult. Previously, Luo Lin had been spinning like a gyroscope in space around for a while, nearly making herself dizzy.
Later, she gradually understood that to move here, she needed firm determination.
Moreover, in the absence of reference points, she had to believe that she was truly moving.
Luo Lin ultimately chose swimming, a method that utilized both hands and feet, while also constantly thinking, to solve the problem of moving in the Sea of Quanta.
Looking around, the girl discovered that the Sea of Quanta was not as pitch-black as she had previously thought. It was similar to the vast expanse of the universe but rather had a faint blue light shining—the same as those quantum shadows.
Luo Lin could see some dots of light floating past her disappearing quickly without a trace, while others grew larger and larger, before suddenly disappearing in front of her.
"Wasn't it said that one could see the Imaginary Tree and Bubble Worlds from the Sea of Quanta, but why can i only see a vast space of nothing but flickering lights?"
[If the host possesses Quantum characters similar to "Seele" or "Fallen Rosemary," or uses Stigmata related to the Sea of Quanta, the host can then see the "real" Sea of Quanta.]
In other words, Luo Lin was only seeing a part of the Sea of Quanta. Due to various reasons—human eyes were only mere human eyes, the brain was only a human brain, coupled with lacking of the corresponding knowledge—she couldn't understand what the Sea of Quanta truly was, and could only see scenes similar to the vast expanse of outer space limited her own perception and knowledge.
"Its so desolate... and it feels so cold around here..."
In reality, when ordinary organisms fell into the Sea of Quanta, they would soon be assimilated into the sea with their molecular body breaking apart due to their inability to adapt to the environment here, essentially a disguised form of death.
However, the system on Luo Lin's body claimed to be able to help the girl resist the erosion of the Sea of Quanta.
With this protection in mind, she could move around freely here.
Now, the girl began to contemplate another urgent problem.
—How would she get back?
After a few seconds, Luo Lin gave up thinking.
"System, save me!"
[The host can use the Open World module to temporarily open a miniature shelter in the Sea of Quanta.]
With the calm voice of the system, a system panel appeared, visible only to Luo Lin. This time, the panel was translucent gold, seemingly because the Sea of Quanta was glowing blue everywhere, making the previous blue panel difficult to see clearly.
Luo Lin tapped the newly appeared [Open World] icon and saw several options pop up in front of her:
[Sakura Samsara (Unavailable)], [Schicksal Headquarters (Unavailable)], [Post Honkai Oddysey(Available)].
"Why can i only select Post Honkai Oddysey?!"
[Because the map of the Post Honkai Oddysey is smaller and consumes less energy from the system in the Sea of Quanta—meaning it consumes fewer crystals.]
"What?! It still requires my crystals?! Let me see... oh, it only requires 100 crystals, isn't that a small amount?"
[100 crystals per day.]
"...I might as well float in the Sea of Quanta randomly then."
So many crystals, it's really a matter of life and death.
[However, the existence suspected to be the 'Honkai God' previously mentioned that the host has already attracted the attention of the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta. If the host floats around in the Sea of Quanta without protection for far too long, the risk is too great.]
[After activating the Open World, the host can complete the tasks in the Open World to obtain crystal rewards, and the system can also scan the surrounding environment to find a way home for the host.]
Luo Lin fell silent for a while, muttering, "Let me see what this Open World looks like," and then tapped on it with her finger.
The girl felt a soft light emanating from where she pressed, and then these lights condensed into substance in front of her, forming a sparkling and translucent, soap-bubble-like thing.
"Could this be a Bubble World?" Luo Lin was shocked. "System, are you really this powerful?"
The Bubble World is a type of existence different from Parallel Worlds. Its scale is smaller, and its stability is not as good as Parallel Worlds.
Humans can even create Bubble Worlds through technological means. Compared to "leaves (parallel worlds)" that can stably exist on the Imaginary Tree, Bubble Worlds may be more like fragile symbiotic mushrooms that rely on the Imaginary Tree for symbiosis and resist the Sea of Quanta's assimilation.
Sometimes it can last for hundreds or thousands of years, and it may even collapse and vanish in the instant during its creation.
Compared with parallel worlds on the Imaginary Tree, it is like a phantom, unreal but real...
Perhaps this is why it is called "Bubble World."
[In a sense, this is indeed a Bubble World—however, it is only used as a medium for you to enter the "Open World," similar to a door. The true Open World, hidden in higher dimensions like the system space you dream of, is concealed at a higher latitude.]
"Hmm... forget it, I don't understand. Anyway, now I can only rely on you System to help me. What else can I do besides fully trusting you?"
Luo Lin gave up thinking again and swam towards this newly born Bubble World.
Just then, the system uncommonly raised its tone and issued a warning—
[Host, something is coming this way!]
Luo Lin felt a familiar pressure enveloping her, as massive and heavy as it was when she confronted the gray figure earlier, filled with uncertainty.
She immediately recognized whose gaze it was... it was indeed the Sea of Quanta!
At the same time, faint golden starlight also manifested around Luo Lin, condensing into a familiar golden sphere.
Obviously, the Imaginary Tree was also joining in the fun.
"Don't tell me, why are you two Titans watching me so closely?" Luo Lin complained. Concentrating her attention, she moved her hands and feet faster, finally accelerating her swimming speed in the Sea of Quanta.
However, it was a pity that pure swimming definitely couldn't avoid the impending disaster.
The Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta were indeed archenemies, launching attacks against each other almost simultaneously!
"Buzz—"
A deafening noise came from behind the girl, as if something had exploded. Luo Lin's vision was enveloped in deep blue, and she felt something touching her back!
She screamed, "If you want to fight, can't you do it somewhere else? The whole avenue is about to be wiped out by you two!"
As she regained her vision, the force behind her back made her crash towards an endless golden land!
"Help!"
------------------------
Kolostein, Hyperion docking area.
Otto had recently announced his resignation as Archbishop of Schicksal and appointed Theresa to take over the leadership of the Schicksal.
Then, he sent a communication to the Far East Branch to find the last Herrcher Core of the Herrscher of Domination, inviting Theresa and her team to the old Schicksal HQ in Kolostein for recovery work... and to hold the inauguration ceremony for Theresa to formally inherit the position of the Archbishop of Schicksal.
Although no one was clear about what the blond man intended to do, the group quickly prepared themselves mentally as they arrived at Kolostein in the Hyperion and prepared to face the challenges that followed it.
Sure enough, as soon as the Hyperion arrived, Otto arranged a big show for them: projections from the past were everywhere in Kolostein, and even a fake Otto claiming to be from 500 years ago appeared. Then, this fake Otto was soon ambushed by Rita, got dismantled into several pieces and the last Herrscher Core was found inside.
It turned out that the last Herrcher Core was well hidden, and all the visions in Kolostein were created by Otto to lure the Herrscher of Domination's Core into a trap—it fell into the trap indeed, and was easily captured by Otto.
But Otto doesnt seem to care about this core. He entrusted Durandal and Rita to hand over the item to the Hyperion's group, and quickly transferred all his Archbishop privileges to Theresa.
The subsequent arrival of the representative of the Schicksal Research Institute, "Nagimitsu," and Rita arrival announced the termination of the contract with the former Archbishop, guaranting the entirety of Schicksal to serve under Theresa's command.
Effectively making her the new Archbishop of Schicksal.
Schicksal forces in Kolostein would then obey Theresa's orders.
So, Durandal, Rita, and Nagimitsu, representing Schicksal returned with the Hyperion group, and the group began to ponder the role of the last Herrscher of Domination Core...
Now, Tesla was tinkering with the new instrument she had just acquired. This thing was an advanced quantum detection device pilfered from the Schicksal Research Institute in Kolostein.
"Look at this, Einstein, this thing's parameters are even better than what can be produced by our Anti-Entropy!" The red-haired doctor rubbed her hands excitedly. "I thought no one would use this device, so I asked Theresa to help me get if... I didn't expect it to be delivered in just over ten minutes. Otto really abdicated and really handed all the privileges over to Theresa..."
"Alright, tone down your excitement a bit, or at least stop rubbing your hands? You'll look like a big buzzing red fly,"
Einstein said, covering her head with her hands, seemingly helpless because Tesla couldn't control herself upon seeing the new device and was almost jumping over to hug the machine.
"Oh, this is the excitement of a researcher upon obtaining a new instrument, you know, like a warrior with a handy sword, a chef with a familiar spatula... anyway, let me start it up and see..."
Tesla straightened up and cautiously activated the device, carefully reading the manual that came with it, deftly operating it on the panel.
"Hmm... this function is not much different from ours. Is the precision of this project too high? Uh, what's this flashing prompt for... to explore the Bubble Worlds?"
Tesla picked up the manual, flipping through dozens of pages, until she found the relevant explanation.
She read it word by word, "If the prompt icon appears, it means there are Bubble Worlds available for observation within the detection range of the device...?"
"Tesla, are you sure you're not mistaken?" Einstein walked over, frowning as she looked at the data on the quantum detector, her brows furrowed.
"I'm pretty you sure... it couldn't be that my newly calibrated machine is malfunctioning again?"
The two looked at each other.
"What is Otto up to..."