“Hmm… is this really something we should be discussing?” Honolina asked, her gaze darting anxiously around the room.
“Rest assured, there’s no one else here, nor any listening devices or surveillance equipment,” Shirley declared.
“Mr. Helios inadvertently revealed that this is where he conducts secret meetings with his confidants.”
“All in all, there’s no better place for a girls’ private chat than this.”
‘Uh, well…’ Honolina still found herself hesitant to fully trust Shirley’s words, yet she clearly had no other recourse.
Helios had, after all, already proclaimed Dr. Irmindada, safely returned from the parallel world, an invaluable asset, forbidding anyone from interfering with her actions or threatening her life.
To make matters worse, the recent incident where Phoenix struck Shirley’s electric wheelchair, causing it to lose control, had undoubtedly been captured by the surveillance cameras mounted on the railings at the edge of the Sky Rose Garden.
Armed with such footage, Shirley could easily claim Honolina had attempted to murder her.
Though Honolina’s own standing was not insignificant, being accused of “attempting to murder a crucial Council scientist” would undoubtedly lead to severe repercussions—far harsher, at least, than the punishments incurred by her previous pranks involving birds.
Having fully grasped the gravity of the situation, she could only nod in agreement.
“Ah, that’s splendid then. I’ve always believed that genuine communication is the genesis of mutual understanding,” Shirley said, a faint smile gracing her lips.
Honolina, however, shivered involuntarily; to her, Shirley was still the Dr. Irmindada of old, possessing that classic ‘pink-haired villainess’ persona, and a smile from her could only signify malevolent intent.
“Now, I wish for you to answer one question with complete candor.”
“Huh?”
“Why did you compel those innocent little birds to engage in such petty acts against me?”
“Be-be-because…” Honolina stammered, her face flushing crimson, before finally articulating her answer after a long pause.
“Because you’ve been with my brother constantly, and he hasn’t paid me any attention lately. I… I… I was very unhappy, so…”
‘Well, well, just as I suspected,’ Shirley mused inwardly.
Having previously eavesdropped on the conversations of maids and servants within Honorius Palace, she had already pieced together a general understanding of the relationship between Honolina and Helios VI.
Numerous rumors claimed that Honolina harbored romantic feelings for her cousin and nominal superior.
While Shirley lacked most of Dr. Irmindada’s memories, her instincts told her these rumors were not unfounded.
Had she still been at St. Lian Girls’ Academy in her original world, Shirley, ever the good-natured soul, would have certainly offered words of caution.
After all, while pure love was undeniably beautiful, ethical considerations and the fundamental laws of Mendelian genetics could not simply be cast aside.
In this world, however, she found herself indifferent.
Disregarding her lack of affection for both Helios and Honolina, Shirley doubted that even close blood relations would pose significant issues for Honolina’s descendants, given her level of genetic technology.
Moreover, as far as Shirley knew, the parents of these two ‘lively characters’, both high-ranking officials of the Human Revival Council, had already gloriously sacrificed themselves for the grand cause of humanity’s resurgence three years prior, during her ‘good daughters” assault on the Council headquarters in Saint Tier City.
In other words, no matter how passionately they might enact their “Sky of Destiny” drama, there would be no one left to break their legs.
Under such circumstances, it was only natural that ‘brother was the best in the world’!
“Don’t worry, little Honolina. I’m not the same person I once was… that journey to the parallel world changed me profoundly,” Shirley stated.
“I will absolutely not interfere with matters between you and your brother… After all, pure love is the most, most, most sacred thing in this world!”
“Then you…”
“To be frank, I feel no sense of belonging to this world now. The world I lived in for three years, despite its many issues, was far more peaceful and beautiful than this one.”
“Moreover, I made many friends there and found loving parents; I would much rather return to my original world than continue living here,” Shirley began to speak with earnest… and utter honesty.
“Therefore, my sole objective at present is to bring our school’s teachers and students back home. I have no desire to meddle in the affairs of either the Human Revival Council or the Free Army.”
“That’s wonderful!” Honolina’s small face instantly blossomed into a radiant smile.
“Dr. Irmindada, you truly are the most—thoughtful—big sister! Um, if you wish to return to your original world, I am willing to offer every ounce of my strength and all possible assistance! Just say the word, and I will spare no effort!”
“Oh, it appears we’ve reached a consensus,” Shirley said, letting out a long sigh of relief.
‘It seems her gamble truly paid off!’
“Therefore, I require a little assistance in a few areas: primarily, with my mobility, and secondly, with external intelligence. Additionally, I need to know Salome’s location.”
“You’re looking for GM02?! Forgive my bluntness, but according to information I’ve gathered in the past, she is one of your… uh, your genetic templates who most ferociously desires revenge upon you! And I heard that your limbs were also severed by GM02…”
“Please call her Salome, thank you,” Shirley corrected.
It seemed people on the Human Revival Council’s side preferred to refer to her daughters as “GM something-or-other,” apparently short for “Genetic Model.”
While the designation wasn’t malicious, Shirley strongly disliked it; to her, it felt like treating living beings as mere experimental subjects or mass-produced items, utterly devoid of respect.
“And yes, Salome did indeed sever my limbs. However, the circumstances at the time were somewhat… peculiar, and there were misunderstandings between us…”
“Alright, I believe I generally understand your intentions,” Honolina said, swallowing hard.
“GM02… ah, no, Salome’s unique ability allows her to open spatial rifts, which could enable your swift escape from New Ravenna. But what then? How will you locate the others and return to your original world?”
“I’m not entirely sure yet, but I intend to resolve the misunderstandings with my daughters—the survivors from the school should be with them.”
“As for returning… I’ve successfully undertaken a cross-world journey before, so I imagine doing it again won’t be overly difficult.”
“I’m afraid that might not be the case.” Honolina shook her head.
While her greatest satisfaction would be Shirley simply vanishing from between her and her brother, she now felt an inexplicable urge to help Shirley achieve her goals—though she herself hadn’t realized this.
“The last time you departed, you utilized a nascent technology still undergoing testing. Following that teleportation, the uncontrolled aftershocks of an explosion destroyed the transport equipment located in Britannia, and due to the escalating war, those devices have remained unrepaired.”
“What?!”
“Of course, the Human Revival Council once—and I emphasize, *once*—possessed a stable means of traversing parallel worlds, known as the ‘Threshold Gates’.”
“However, these ‘gates’ could only reliably reach a few specific worlds; traveling to other worlds, such as the one you previously inhabited, was beyond their capability.”
“This is precisely why the Council had always sought to develop alternative teleportation devices. Naturally, after the coup three years ago, all related projects were indefinitely suspended.”
“What’s more, even the existing ‘Threshold Gates’ are currently inoperable.”
“Oh? Inoperable?”
“Yes. The origin of the ‘Threshold Gates’ is a highly classified secret, but it’s certain they were not an invention of any Council-affiliated enterprise.”
“Instead, they appeared suddenly after the initial, unstable parallel world teleportation technology was developed.”
“The Council’s scientists, despite their exhaustive efforts, only managed to grasp a rudimentary understanding of how to operate them,” Honolina explained.
“Before the destruction of the Council’s upper echelons, there were a total of six ‘Threshold Gates’. The primary one was located in Saint Tier City, with the others dispersed among the Council’s administrative hubs on various continents—New Ravenna also housed one.”
“What happened then?”
“After the Council headquarters in Saint Tier City were destroyed, the remaining Council-controlled administrative centers observed that a ‘Threshold Gate’ had suddenly activated in Saint Tier City.”
“This implied a massive exodus of personnel and resources from this world,” Honolina elaborated.
“Over the past few decades, the Council had explored and expanded into at least seven other parallel worlds. While I am not privy to the specifics, they maintained stable control zones in at least some of these worlds.”
“They even managed to acquire scarce resources and technology from certain ones.”
“So, the activation of the ‘Threshold Gates’ signifies… that my daughters intend to invade these parallel worlds?”
“Most likely. At the very least, the genetic templates… ah, no, your daughters harbor an extreme level of hatred for the Human Revival Council, and they would undoubtedly attempt to eradicate Council influence in every parallel world,” Honolina said, spreading her hands in a helpless gesture.
“Upon realizing this, the remaining technical experts of the Council attempted to stop them, inputting the emergency code ‘Armageddon’ for crisis situations.”
“However, an unexpected event occurred: ‘Armageddon’ was supposed to merely lock down specific ‘Threshold Gates’, yet, for reasons unknown, all of the ‘Threshold Gates’ subsequently shut down.”
“Which means…” Shirley swallowed, a dry knot forming in her throat.
When Dr. Irmindada had emerged from her subconscious, she had emphatically stressed the absolute necessity of finding all twelve daughters before any return to the original world would be possible.
But if most of her daughters had already fled to other worlds, and she currently possessed no means of reaching those places, wouldn’t that imply…
“It means that the Council can no longer contact its branches and dispatched agencies in the parallel worlds. As for the specifics, I’m unaware, as that information is top secret, beyond even my clearance level,” Honolina admitted, spreading her hands.
“The good news is, aside from the most dangerous ones—GM01 Anastasia, GM02 Salome, and GM03 Cassandra—your other nine daughters have also departed to different worlds and cannot temporarily return… Uh, don’t get angry! I meant that’s good news for the Human Revival Council.”
“It’s alright, I’m not angry.” Shirley took a long, deep breath, slowly inhaling and then exhaling.
After a full half-minute, once her emotions had settled, she posed her next question.
“Do you know the location of New Ravenna’s ‘Threshold Gate’?”
“I don’t know; that’s also top secret,” Honolina replied.
“However, I do know who can tell you.”