Chapter 147: Even the Little Rabbit knows
A few days later, somewhere in Siberia.
Riding in a small aircraft, Kirataka, Mei, and Bronya arrived at this place covered with ice and snow.
Different from the environment in other places, this place covered with ice and snow is monotonous and somewhat pitiful. Everywhere you look, there is a desolate scene covered with ice and snow.
The cold wind whistled past, blowing their cheeks with a biting chill. The snow-covered ground was completely silent, with only their breathing echoing in the silence.
Of course, this scene was not too unfamiliar to Kirataka. Not long ago, when he was looking for Seele in the Quantum Sea, he also saw a similar scene in that world bubble.
Although similar, there are some differences.
The Siberia in that world is what it looked like before the second Honkai eruption. Although it is still cold and snowy, there are still some animals and plants that are suitable for surviving in the snow.
But the real Siberia that came into view now no longer had any vitality. Everywhere you could see were traces of erosion by Honkai energy and land washed by war.
The three of them found a place with a wide view and stayed there for a while.
Bronya, who had not set foot on this land for a long time, showed a trace of emotion in her eyes which had never shown any emotion before.
"Bronya... you haven't been back here for a long time, right?"
Mei, who was standing by, asked with concern.
"...Well, but for Bronya, more than half of what is left in this land are unpleasant memories."
The silver-haired girl replied in a low voice.
Siberia is her homeland anyway.
The unpleasant memories came from the time she was trained by the military to be a killer and lived as a girl soldier;
The pleasant memories came from the time when she was "captured" by Cocolia and taken to the orphanage to be taken care of after the failed assassination attempt on Cocolia.
She has left too many traces on this land.
Cocolia...
She once respected and loved this elder very much and regarded her as her own mother, but this time, she came here with the intention of breaking up with her.
'When that time really comes...will I be able to do it myself?'
She asked herself in confusion.
While Mei was talking to Bronya, Kirataka had already determined the exact location of the Anti-Entropy Fortress through the terminal on his body.
He pointed to the southwest and said to the two girls behind him:
"Go straight ahead from this direction, and that's where Uncle Ryoma is imprisoned."
Starting from here, it is about ten kilometers away. Environmental camouflage measures have been taken on the outside, and no traces of buildings can be seen from a distance.
"Kirataka, what should we do next?"
Bronya asked proactively.
"About this point..."
Kirataka groaned.
As the first action, he needed to know whether Cocolia had prepared any means to deal with them and where in the world she was hiding.
If Cocolia had not been on guard and was unaware of their intentions, then they could easily deal with her and rescue Raiden Ryoma while completing their own revenge.
If she had indeed received news from the gray serpent, or even communicated with them, then Kirataka's attack would most likely have been known to Cocolia, and she would have taken corresponding defensive measures.
In any case, it would be right to think that the other party was insidious and cunning, so he planned to use the strategy of self-torture to test her first.
After obtaining enough detailed information and determining the current situation, they could go back in time and formulate a better plan.
This is the safest option.
[Save point], record.
The source of the traceback was determined at this moment. After doing all this, Kirataka asked the silver-haired girl beside him:
"Bronya, did you receive a reply to the message you sent to Cocolia before leaving?"
He had asked Bronya to inform Cocolia about the mission to Siberia with him and specifically let Cocolia know his identity as a pseudo-Herrscher.
——He had RIN, the Herrscher of Corruption from the previous civilization, sleeping in his body. He was now indeed a genuine pseudo-Herrscher. Well, it's just that the big fox was unwilling to lend him any power, so he could only be considered a mere facade.
He only had the identity of a pseudo-Herrscher but did not have the power to corrupt. The same was true for Yae Sakura back then.
However, judging from the fact that the big fox was willing to share its power with Higokumaru... it was not as stubborn as imagined.
In short, although he was not a perfect Herrscher like Mei, he still had a certain appeal to the old witch who was madly pursuing power from Honkai. She would definitely not let go of this rare experimental subject of her.
The main reason for letting Bronya participate in this operation was to use her identity as a "spy" who was still trusted by Cocolia to make it easier for him to sneak into the Anti-Entropy base without using any weapons.
Without Bronya, there would be no such convenient way to sneak in, and he could only find other ways to break in.
Hearing Kirataka's question, the silver-haired girl nodded slightly and replied:
"Well, Cocolia issued a mission order three hours ago, asking Bronya to find a way to bring you back to the base. If necessary, she can send out mecha troops to cooperate with my actions."
"Then let's do this. I'll pretend to be knocked unconscious by you, and then you'll tie me up and send me to that base."
Kirataka made up his mind.
As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. Although there are many bases in Cocolia's control, the distances between them are not close.
The nearest base to their current location was the fortress where Raiden Ryoma was imprisoned.
This was the so-called "self-torture tactic." He would have to enter the base first to find out the specific location of the defense force and Raiden Ryoma.
Then, he turned to the purple-haired girl and said:
"As for Mei, just wait until you receive my signal before attacking, okay?"
Both he and Mei had electromagnetic abilities and could communicate directly through the air without the aid of any equipment, which was quite convenient.
Even if the Anti-Entropy soldiers took away all the equipment on him, they would still be able to get in touch with Mei at any time.
"…Well, Kirataka, Bronya, you have to be careful."
Mei said with some concern.
Her arrival had not yet been revealed to Cocolia, so Kirataka did not intend to let her join in the self-torture tactic.
When necessary, he would let this Herrscher of Thunder launch a surprise attack.
Next, if he really had to endure some physical pain, let him bear it.
Even if the future timeline could be erased and reset, he didn't want to see the girl beside him suffer.
After making up his mind, Kirataka raised his hand and shot out several bolts of lightning, causing some damage around him to disguise it as a battle scene and also leaving some traces of battle on his body.
Then, Bronya took out a hemp rope and tied him up.
The silver-haired girl moved around him skillfully, tying him up tightly.
"Bronya, why are you so skilled..."
"Because this is also one of the necessary skills for a killer."
The girl answered simply.
The use of firearms, assassination techniques, and binding techniques like this were all commonplace to her.
After completing the binding, Bronya summoned Project Bunny for the first time in a long while.
A huge mecha appeared out of nowhere, obeyed her orders, and carefully held Kirataka in its hands.
"Former master, long time no see!~"
As soon as Kirataka was taken advantage of, Bunny's voice entered his mind.
It was previously sent to the engineering department of St. Freya Academy by Bronya, where it was tossed around by a bunch of researchers. It hadn't seen its owner and her friends for a long time, and it felt quite lonely.
Now that she was summoned again by Bronya, her tone was inevitably a little excited.
" former master?..."
"After all, Kirataka, you returned me to Bronya. Now Bronya is my master again."
The Project Bunny explained.
"Well, it should be said that it is very rigorous..."
Kirataka's mouth twitched slightly.
"Oh yes, former master, are you going to deal with Cocolia?"
Bunny asked a little excitedly.
"Certainly."
Kirataka answered casually.
By the way, what does an artificial intelligence like Project Bunny think of that woman named Cocolia?
In a sense, if there hadn't been Cocolia's X-10 experiment, the Project Bunny would not have been created by Seele and given to Bronya.
"Well... I wasn't created that long ago, but from my point of view, she is the culprit who caused Bronya and Seele to fall into that situation in the past!"
The little bunny answered decisively.
It doesn't know much about Seele and Bronya's past, but just from what it has learned from following Bronya for a year or two after its birth, it is enough to make it hostile to Cocolia.
Because of Cocolia, Bronya's brain was burned and she lost her emotions. Her originally flexible feet were also infected by Honkai energy and lost their ability to move.
Because of Cocolia, Seele was forced to drift to the extremely dangerous Quantum Sea where she could lose her life at any time, and she could not get out for a long time.
The difficulties, pains, and dangers encountered by its two most important stakeholders were all caused by the old woman.
Well, the answer is quite obvious -
"Former Master, you must deal with this bad woman who bullied Seele and Bronya with a heavy punch!"
Well, as expected, this is something even the Project Bunny knows.
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