Once every single sign of life in Babylon Labs fell completely silent, the white spectral spirits who had carried out their vengeance drifted back toward Sirin’s side.
“Head back for now~”
Sirin opened a gate to the Imaginary Space, allowing the white spirits to return inside.
“Bella, let’s go.”
“Yes, my Queen.”
Sirin returned to the chamber housing the Honkai reactor.
Now, she could finally kick back and absorb the Honkai energy here in peace.
Still, she had a lingering feeling that she had forgotten something.
“Bella, do you think there’s something I forgot to do?” Sirin blinked her big golden eyes, looking up at Bella.
Sirin was actually quite petite, while Bella was a tall, gorgeous beauty.
Sitting in Bella’s arms, Sirin looked just like a little sister being held by her big sister.
“I do not know, my Queen.”
Bella shook her head in all honesty.
“Ehhhh…”
Sirin quieted her thoughts.
Her cute, dainty nose twitched slightly, and just like that, she remembered what she had left undone.
Even though her body had fully transformed into that of a Herrscher—meaning she didn’t need to breathe, eat, or worry about a lifespan, not to mention possessing immense POWER!
But still!
She really, really wanted to take a bath.
Sirin glanced around the massive Babylon Labs using the main computer’s surveillance feeds.
She picked the mostly empty 22nd floor, spent a considerable chunk of Honkai Energy, and ripped open a colossal Imaginary Space portal.
She dragged the entire 22nd floor straight into the Imaginary Space, assimilated it, and then projected it back out into reality.
When Bella carried Sirin out of the elevator and stepped onto Floor 22, what met their eyes was a grand, fairy-tale-like hall.
A massive crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, reflecting off the gem-encrusted carpet below and casting a dreamlike glow over everything.
Countless extravagant tapestries adorned the walls, while 22 majestic marble pillars were carved with intricate, ornate reliefs.
Right in the middle of the hall stood a throne forged of gold and amethyst, waiting for its master.
“Looks like it turned out pretty well,” Sirin nodded with satisfaction.
Since the entire 22nd floor had been assimilated as part of the Imaginary Space, Sirin could alter or create anything within it at will and project it into physical reality.
Nothing in the Imaginary Space had inherent meaning, but everything could be defined and then manifested—in other words, literal reality-warping through imagination.
Seriously, who with a power like this would just use it to project a bunch of stupid spears?
“Bella, to the bathhouse!”
Sirin couldn’t wait and had Bella carry her straight into the bathroom.
“Phew…”
Soaking comfortably in the pool, Sirin felt all her tension melt away.
Sirin slowly swam over.
Bella immediately sat up even straighter.
Sirin was amused and exasperated, though she couldn’t help noticing the slight blush on Bella’s cheeks.
“Bella.”
“Present, My Queen!”
The moment Sirin spoke, Bella answered instantly, looking as though she was ready to lay down her life on the spot.
If they weren’t in a bathhouse, the solemnity would’ve been even more convincing.
“…”
Sirin felt helpless.
She just wanted Bella to scrub her back.
“Scrub my back.”
“Yes!”
Except Bella had no idea how to scrub a back.
Her touch was so soft and gentle, like she was handling an impossibly fragile porcelain doll, that it just made Sirin feel ticklish.
Left with no choice, Sirin hurried through washing herself.
“So many clothes?”
Looking at the wardrobe packed with outfits, Sirin felt her heart flutter.
So many cute clothes!
She really wanted to try them on!
After pondering for a moment, Sirin decided to change into a white-and-purple Herrscher gown—the exact outfit she wore when she first awakened as the Herrscher of the Void back in the original Honkai world.
Gorgeous!
Suddenly, Sirin turned around to look at Bella.
Bella was standing straight as a board right behind her.
“Go change into this,” Sirin said excitedly, reaching into a spatial portal and pulling out a lovely maid outfit to hand to Bella.
“Yes, My Queen.”
After gently setting Sirin down, Bella accepted the maid dress with both hands.
Then she began changing right there on the spot.
However, Bella had no idea how to wear human clothes, so Sirin had to guide her step-by-step from the side.
“Not bad at all!” Sirin nodded in deep satisfaction at Bella dressed in a maid outfit.
But soon, a thought crossed Sirin’s mind.
When Bella shape-shifted back into her dragon form, wouldn’t this outfit get shredded instantly?
It wasn’t like Bella would strip off her maid outfit before turning back into a dragon, right?
Sirin wasn’t entirely sure if Bella was straightforward enough to actually do that.
“Bella, what are you gonna do with this dress when you transform back into a dragon?” Sirin couldn’t help asking.
I will strip it off first before transforming back into a dragon!”
Bella’s deadpan, honest answer made Sirin facepalm in utter speechlessness.
“Alright then.”
Sirin raised her hand and let a doorway to the Imaginary Space pass through Bella, assimilating the maid outfit on her body.
Now, whenever Bella reverted to her dragon form, the clothes would automatically return to the Imaginary Space, and when she shifted back to her human form, they’d re-appear right beside her.
“Let’s go, Bena-dragon.”
Sirin turned around and sat in Bella’s arms, letting Bella carry her as she directed them out of the floor.
Returning to the Honkai Reactor, Sirin closed her eyes and began slowly absorbing the Honkai Energy stored inside.
She didn’t siphon off the entire reactor in one go.
Babylon Labs was still one of Schicksal’s major research bases; any erratic spike or dip in Honkai Energy would immediately draw Schicksal’s attention.
And Sirin wasn’t interested in dealing with Schicksal folks just yet.
It wasn’t that Sirin couldn’t beat Schicksal.
In this era, there was no super-powered Goose-chan (Durandal) running around.
Whether it was Siegfried or Theresa, or even if Otto personally led Cecilia and a whole army of Schicksal valkyries over, Sirin was fully confident she could leave every last one of them buried in Siberia.
Ever heard of chopping off heads with spatial portals?
However, the current Sirin wasn’t that arrogant blowfish of the past.
Even with a 99% chance of victory, Sirin refused to gamble on that tiny 1% chance of failure.
As the old saying goes: The moment you think you’re invincible is usually when your downfall begins.
If she failed, Benares would likely follow her instincts, carry Sirin to the Moon, and unlock the new powers granted by the Will of Honkai.
Yet Sirin remembered crystal clear: Previous Era had no such thing as a “Will of Honkai”.
That was all just a scheme orchestrated by a certain pink fat girl—the Herrscher of Human: Ego—from the Previous Era!
So, rather than bothering to collect six Herrscher Cores, Sirin preferred to play it safe and stay clear of anything whose true nature she couldn’t verify.
She had zero interest in going to the Moon to mess with that stuff, nor did she need to.
Instead, Sirin planned to pack up, move far away, sing songs while eating hotpot, and push a cluster of asteroids to give Mother Earth a nice bath.
As for how Sirin and Bella were supposed to nudge giant asteroids with their tiny arms and legs…
The essence of gravity is simply the curvature of space.
And Sirin just so happened to be the Queen of Space.
…
“Once I’m done absorbing the Honkai Energy, I’ll upgrade Bella.
She needs to be big enough and fierce enough!
For a dragon that’s supposed to be a Judgment-class Honkai Beast, she’s ridiculously small.”
Long ago, when Ren first saw Benares, he had wanted to complain: she was so small, barely even 50 meters long.
She didn’t look terrifying at all!
So, Ren wanted to make Benares far bigger and more imposing.
Even if she couldn’t match Chiyou—the ancient Judgment-class Honkai Beast that swallowed half of Shenzhou in one bite—she certainly shouldn’t be a pushover!
[Bronya secretly observing.jpg]