Until Shu left Otto's office, Otto didn't say another word. He just smiled and watched Shu.
That was the most gentle and spring-like smile Otto had shown since Shu had known him.
And it was this heartfelt smile that sent a chill down one's spine.
He walked into the elevator alone. The moment the elevator doors closed, the enclosed space could only provide limited information. Shu's mind, which had stopped turning since he had left, was forced to start again.
Otto had not presented him with a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, nor had he shown him those cold numbers. He had only shown him his best side.
Then he had told him with silent words...
These are not for you to bear. You have what you face, and I have what I can carry.
Behind you, there is me, there is us.
We are always here.
...
A hand... gently rested on his chest.
Through the fabric, his heartbeat was not as strong as he had imagined. It took about two seconds before Shu could feel his heart seem to tremble.
The elevator didn't stop this time. The cold, thick elevator doors were like a surging flood, or like an unmelting iceberg, stretching across in front of Shu, freezing even his breath.
Time became very, very long at this moment. It wasn't until the elevator trembled slightly and the weight returned to him that Shu suddenly realized he had reached his destination.
The twelfth underground level, where Bianka was born.
And where the vessels of the "Biankas" existed...
At least they had once existed, right here.
The heavy doors seemed to have opened. In any case, Shu had indeed stepped out of the elevator shaft.
Bright lights, familiar pipe arrangements, towering culture tanks, just like when he had first arrived here months ago after defeating the champion.
But revisiting an old place was not always a happy occasion. When he stepped on the smooth metal floor again, a trace of hesitation actually arose in Shu's heart.
No, he shouldn't hesitate.
Clenching his fists was enough to lift his frozen feet and step among the culture tanks.
The cylindrical transparent culture tanks were still filled with a verdant nutrient solution. But this time, there was only nutrient solution in the culture tanks.
A few bubbling pipes floated helplessly in the nutrient solution. They should have been connected to a golden-haired vessel, curled up like an infant. But now, they held nothing.
The reflection projected Shu's image onto the cylindrical culture tank, stretching him into a figure that reached the heavens, and also turning him into a fragile and slender figure.
Shu's gaze circled the culture tank. Every empty tank made his eyes dim a little more, and every figure still bubbling in the culture tank soothed his palpitations a little.
"1, 2, 3..." Shu murmured in a voice only he could hear, his palm gently brushing across every empty culture tank, leaving a fleeting bit of warmth.
"...67, 68..."
"...153, 154..."
"...343, 344..."
He walked like this on the twelfth underground level. His heavy footsteps could not stop his advance, nor could they stop the passage of time.
In the end, Shu and time came to a standstill in front of the only broken culture tank on the entire twelfth underground level.
"...423."
It seemed that no one had thought of fixing it, and it was likely that no one could.
A chill still lingered near this culture tank. The moment Shu had approached it, the mad chill had already begun to prick his skin.
There was once a familiar figure here. Perhaps there was once more than just that one figure here. Shu could feel that the residual Honkai energy still stubbornly remained here.
But no matter what had happened here before, at this moment, there was only one thing here.
A tattered cape, like the embers after a fire, was frozen here.
It was almost identical to the robe he was wearing. It was the scrapped version of the robe he was wearing. It was its "past."
Shu knelt on one knee in front of the broken culture tank. He raised his hand, wanting to pick up the cape that had been left here for a long time. And at the moment of contact, the thing that had truly lingered here finally appeared before Shu.
It was a power from the same source as Shu's, a trace left behind after an explosion here. It would only respond with a sense of grievance when Shu touched it.
[Snow... darkness... fear...]
[Cold... unwillingness... craving...]
Was it a fragment of a memory left behind? Or was it a simple emotional residue?
The remnant of [Hope] contained in the cape impacted Shu's mind in an instant, and then left no trace.
Only Shu's hand, which was gripping the cape, reacted.
"My... genes..." The clenched hand opened slightly in front of him, revealing a striking scarlet bloodstain on the cape.
The MANTIS surgery, a powerful surgery. It could give the fish on the cutting board the right to struggle a little. It was a surgery that could create hope, a surgery that countless people flocked to in the face of the Honkai.
Its great effect was enough for people to ignore most of the negative effects.
Even...
That pathetic success rate of one in a million...
Everyone's eyes would be on the lucky one who succeeded, congratulating her, expecting her to go further, to reach the position she was supposed to.
And what was left for the losers was only silent silence.
Would they resent him? Would they regret participating in the experiment? Would they blame his genes for invading their bodies without their consent and shattering their original, perfect genes?
...Would they... be disappointed?
...
They... wouldn't...
Because this cape already carried their answer.
They never blamed, they never regretted, they never resented.
They were never disappointed. On the contrary, they placed their purest hope and expectation on the only successful one.
And so—
Bianka was born, born into this world with the blessings of countless compatriots.
"..." His hand rested on his chest again. Perhaps because of the extra layer of fabric, the trace of his heartbeat was even fainter.
Hope... that familiar hope again...
"Hello..." Shu said, his eyes lowered, speaking softly to the blurry figure reflected on the metal floor.
"Welcome to this world that is worthy of being loved... Your wishes... I have heard them all."
He gently closed his eyes.
If only... there had been one complaint among them... that would have been even better...