Mars, also known as Luoxing.
It is the fourth celestial body in the solar system. Roughly one billion years ago, it faced the threat of Honkai and succumbed to it. The Cocoon of Finality's failed embrace resulted in its civilization's destruction, leaving behind one final failsafe to ensure their people's continuation.
Two Bubble Worlds appeared, with each of them housing the remaining 'survivors'. In truth, these Bubble Worlds are connected and operated by a huge supercomputer reminiscent of Sa's creations.
The people inside these Bubble Worlds have no choice but to live their lives inside the supercomputer's simulation. That was until the Cocoon of Finality departed from Mars. Time froze for a billion years. It only ran after Kiana's Embrace became successful seventeen years ago.
This was the Project STIGMA of Mars.
If there is Kevin to supervise it, then there is also someone in that position.
The Goddess of Mars, Leylah.
Her long black hair is styled into a "hime-cut". Her pupils bore a dark pink shade, with her irises having a mix of yellow, green, and light pink. Their mystical appearance draws anyone to them at first glance. Her outfit is akin to a black battlesuit, with a pair of earrings to match her elegance.
"Unacceptable!"
At this moment, her fingernails sunk deeply onto her palm. Her sight was filled with nothing but the desolate Mars crumbling down. The area outside the pale pink barrier became nothing but floating space rocks. The core at the depths of the planet is on the verge of destruction.
All of that was caused by the huge entity floating amongst Luoxing's skies.
Its size covered the entire planet, though it wasn't Leylah's main concern. An enormous crack littered beneath its body. The power of dreams, turned into wishes, turned the injury permanent.
"Seventeen years ago… Things started to go wrong. Was that woman a part of it?"
In the original story, Kiana's embrace into the Cocoon forced her to fall into a coma. Everyone thought it was a simple process of accepting the Cocoon's power, but that wasn't the case.
Her coma was inextricably linked into Mars' Cocoon of Unwoven, the previous Goddess of Mars, Senadina. She, along with three other aliens, arrived at the solar system one billion years ago. They settled on Mars after seeing the Cocoon of Finality's actions. They were the mainstays against the Honkai's Embrace.
Ultimately, three perished due to various reasons—sacrifice, end of lifespan, and the search of one's Path. They failed to stop the Cocoon's descent.
Hence, the final failsafe was made: Mars' supercomputer. Besides the sole alien and Leylah remaining, every other "survivor" lived inside the simulated world. This continued until time halted after the Cocoon's disappearance.
Seventeen years ago, everything returned to normal… but not quite.
Kiana, who was supposed to fall into a coma, was awake due to her Nascent Soul Realm cultivation. The Embrace was no longer an 'ant' becoming one with 'God', but rather, a superpowered individual gaining god-like powers. It was a huge difference compared to her original counterpart.
Instead of heavily leaning towards the Cocoon of Finality, Kiana's cultivation allowed her to stand on a slightly equal ground as it. As a result, she has more grasp over the Cocoon's capabilities.
Among the Honkai Energy she took back for safekeeping was the shadows on Mars. These shadows are the outdated version of the Cocoon's Embrace (i.e., the equivalent of Honkai Eruptions and Herrschers). In the midst of doing so, however, she encountered another fragment of Finality stained with a foreign influence. She did not hastily break it as she sensed it was tied to Mars itself, thus she isolated it instead.
This resulted in the Dream-maker System and the remnant of Goddess Senadina herself falling into a slumber.
Leylah relentlessly tried to fix it for seventeen years. Just as she was doing so, Sa struck and almost destroyed the entire supercomputer. Its physical components alone were destroyed by half. Its conceptual components were heavily affected by Sa's power.
Fortunately, Sin Mal took action. She struck a blow to Sa's Bubble Worlds, causing her to lose a great deal of energy source. Hare also helped her to inflict injuries using the [Heart Intention] realm of the Blade Mantra.
In the end, they were able to set up an imaginary barrier that delayed Sa's descent onto Mars. Sa was forced to utilize her power to invade both Mars' supercomputer and Mars itself.
In Leylah's eyes, Sin Mal was nothing short of a goddess.
"This is..!"
Her thoughts were cut short by a sudden intrusion. Despite using her administrator privileges, she could not kick out the newcomer who entered the simulated world. She immediately logged in and faced the mysterious attacker: a small girl with a pair of drill-styled twintail.
"Administrator of the Simulated World. The Federation requests to communicate with you."
Her emotionless words made Leylah frown. She could not trust anyone given her current situation.
"The Vice Sect Master of the Wushi Dao Sect, Sin Mal, left this planet twelve Earth minutes ago. We have enacted several countermeasures against the enemy of your civilization, the Abyss of the Sea of Quanta."
"Sin Mal… the Goddess..?"
Prometheus did not answer her question but posed one of hers.
"Earth will send its reinforcements upon your approval."
After these words, she fell silent. Leylah eyed Prometheus and tried to find out details about her—about Earth.
"The Earth Federation is a unified governmental body managing Earth's official affairs…"
"The Wushi Dao Sect is the recorded number one sect with ten Nascent Soul Realm powerhouses in total. It is headed by the First Cultivator responsible for the Honkai's defeat and the destruction of a foreign god's influence…"
Leylah's eyes shrank upon hearing the "Honkai's defeat" and "Foreign God". She was no foreigner to these terms, especially the latter.
The world beyond this solar system houses Aeons that govern their own Path. One of Senadina's companions was a Pathstrider of Permanence capable of granting others immortal lifespan.
Most importantly, Leylah woke up to the confrontation between Shi Tian and Nihility. That fight made her wary for seventeen years. She never left Mars and focused on fixing the damages within the Dreamseeker System precisely because of that.
Knowing that person is leading the Wushi Dao Sect, Leylah made up her mind.
"I agree."
*****
A/N: That's it for the Part 2 shenanigans. To be honest, I haven't delved deeply into Part 2 itself. The farthest I went on the game was Part 1.5 (ahem, Vita). My current knowledge of Part 2 is a result of research and skimming through in-game dialogues (and of course, Kiana's meeting with the Memorykeeper that made rounds on the Internet).