Faint incandescent lights, faded paint, rusted nuts, and old but well-maintained rubber cables.
"It's like an enormous time capsule," Rita murmured, "like Jules Verne's 'Electric Era'."
"Like the Nautilus in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea?" Tian Shi's interjection briefly surprised Rita.
"You mean..." Rita looked thoughtful, then shook her head in denial.
No, after all, the Nautilus is merely a fictional submarine from a novel.
It's a bit absurd even in a bubble world... After all, Cervantes is a great writer who genuinely existed, so his presence in the world bubble is understandable.
But a fictional submarine... Rita regretted not taking a closer look at the submarine from outside.
"And this submarine's name is Caledonia, but its design..."
"It's definitely a late 19th, early 20th-century design."
Little Bianka seemed to have some knowledge of machinery.
"Where did you get that amphibious battleship? You don't look like 20th-century people, do you?"
When it comes to speaking her mind, Bianka has never changed.
"Indeed, it's not, but you don't have to worry." The sailor Leila smiled. "The captain will answer your questions in person later. There's no need for you to interfere."
"..."
"Come on, the captain is waiting for us on the bridge."
[Following the sailor Leila and the pilot Jimmy, everyone soon arrived at the Caledonia's bridge. On the bridge, a woman dressed in British style opened her arms to them.]
"The 20th century... no, perhaps they are all from the 21st century..." The red-haired woman sang in a melodious voice. "Welcome to the Caledonia! Captain Barbarossa, on behalf of the entire crew, I salute you!"
"Tsk, they're obviously a bunch of pirates, but they act like performers."
Little Bianka pursed her lips, an expression of "What's this woman doing? Does she think she's very interesting?" vividly displayed on her face.
"Thank you, King's Theatre, for your compliment~~"
The red-haired woman didn't mind Bianka's expression at all.
She took off her hat with a smile and bowed to Bianka like an actor exiting the stage.
...? Bianka, who had seemed bored, couldn't help but be stunned after hearing this.
And Rita, who was originally from England, responded even quicker: "You mean... the King's Company... Shakespeare?"
"That's right~" the red-haired woman smiled proudly, "And I am the one who played the role of Captain Barbarossa: William Shakespeare herself!"
"What?"
"Well... if you don't like this show, I can also play 'Captain Nemo' "
Faced with Bianka's incredulous expression, Shakespeare shrugged her shoulders.
"Although I don't know much about his exploits, I simply picked up a broken ship that he had abandoned "
Rita looked strangely in Tian Shi's direction, which truly confirmed Tian Shi's words.
"You picked it up?"
While it was perplexing why the novel's ship appeared here, what was even more bewildering was, obviously, the phrase "picked it up": what kind of luck was it to be able to pick up an amphibious armored ship!?
"That's right! On a sunny afternoon, a giant steel beast appeared from the whirlpool in front of the theatre director who was doing vocal exercises—"
"Are you messing with me?"
Bianka showed an unhappy expression; this statement is too silly, isn't it?
Do you really think Bianka's fists are made of mud?
"Are you joking?" Shakespeare raised her eyebrows.
"Yes, perhaps it's a joke from the play 'Destiny'. But it must be recognized that subverting order, changing destiny, and enforcing justice—all of this is truly fascinating "
"As expected of a cultured person, what you said makes sense." Although Tian Shi has no intention of subverting order, isn't what he's doing now changing destiny?
But Bianka's expression became a little strange: "Even in this other world where there's no order?"
"It seems you value order greatly, Miss Unknown Knight."
Shakespeare chuckled curiously: "Then, why don't we follow etiquette and introduce ourselves?"
"...?" Bianka couldn't keep up with Shakespeare's leaps of thought.
But Shakespeare didn't mind Bianka's thoughts at all and introduced herself: "I am Marianne William Shakespeare, captain of the Caledonia, from 16th century England."
"This is Leila Saidah Hera, the boatswain, from Morocco, my contemporary," Shakespeare said, pointing to the purple-haired boatswain.
It is said that Saidah Hera, a pirate who once controlled the western Mediterranean, met the king of Morocco and was overthrown by his son-in-law.
Then Shakespeare pointed her finger at the weak-looking boy with the monocle.
"This is James Jimmy Watt, the pilot. He helped baptize the Caledonia. In recognition of his complete restoration of the Nautilus, we all agreed on this new name."
This... well, there's no need to introduce this person; the name Watt is sufficient.
"Obviously you were the one who wanted to change the name..." Watt felt as if he was being blamed.
"As for this one." Shakespeare on the other side.
She didn't know when, but a person wearing a grey cloak, with her entire face covered by a mask, and whose gender could not be identified, was standing there.
"Iron Masked Man, first officer."
"Please take care of me."
The muffled voice under the mask still makes it difficult to distinguish the gender.
"I don't know at what moment, a person wearing a grey cloak, with her entire face covered by a mask, and whose gender could not be identified, was standing there. "
"Hey, this is too suspicious, isn't it?"
Bianka had an expression on her face that said: "Did a donkey kick them in the head?" Well, to simplify it, it's a stupid "beep" look.
Are you putting all kinds of things on the ship?
Bianka's expression is now much richer than when she was older.
On the other hand, the corner of Tian Shi's mouth twitched.
The man in the iron mask, huh?
Schrödinger, what an unfortunate girl!
He tried very hard to avoid the outcome where Schrödinger would sacrifice herself and fall into the quantum sea, but who knew that Schrödinger could perform an experiment and become herself!?
He had to find a way to help this unfortunate girl...
"Well... I think she's already a reliable member of our crew, at least compared to you, strangers."
"..." You really want to fight, don't you? Bianka twisted the corners of her mouth.
"Forget it. No matter what this Masked... uh, the Masked Man is like, since you, Captain, have introduced us to your background, then we should also discuss our own matters."
Bianka pointed to herself and Rita.
"I am Bianka Ataegina, and she is my assistant, Rita Rossweisse. We are Valkyries who came to this world to explore under Schicksal, and..."
Bianka felt her sleeve being pulled, and the next words she was about to say were interrupted.
At the same time, Bianka also saw the expressions on the faces of several other people.
Leila, Watt, and Shakespeare: "Huh?"
Except for the "Iron Mask," who was trembling slightly, everyone else showed genuine confusion.
"Eh? 'Schicksal'? 'Valkyrie'? What the hell is this?" Shakespeare scratched her face.
"Ah?" The other party's reaction completely exceeded Rita and Bianka's imagination.
But then Shakespeare laughed.
"What you said is true! My dear first officer 'sir'! Hahaha..."
"You've lost your temper, director," the Iron Masked Man gently reminded her.
"Hey! Why are you trying to be so mysterious, red dwarf?"
Little Bianka, who was still full of energy, didn't tolerate Shakespeare at all and directly called her a "red dwarf."
It turns out that by being a little aggressive, the number of riddles can be significantly reduced.
"Tsk, it's not good to use bad words, little sister."
Shakespeare used her seniority to suppress Bianka, but Shakespeare wasn't childish enough to compete with a child, so she became serious.
"Let me put it this way. At first, I had no idea about the Schicksal you mentioned."
"What?" Bianka was a little surprised.
If an ordinary person said this, it would be normal, but the one who said it was Shakespeare, who was famous in history and a very important person in the world.
For a long time, Schicksal had blocked European technology and culture.
Therefore, people like Shakespeare are definitely people that Schicksal would notice.
"But, this Iron Masked Man told me that in other worlds there is an energy called 'Honkai' that abnormally abounds. In particular, there is a world affected by Honkai and plagued by monsters. It has suffered extremely severe suffering."
Rita and Bianka looked at the "Iron Masked Man," who had been the most mysterious until now.
"Facing these disasters, the first to act was an organization called Schicksal. It selected young super-warriors capable of fighting monsters, called Valkyries."
Shakespeare told the two in detail the story she had heard from the Iron Masked Man.
"So, two people who call yourselves Valkyries, is what I'm talking about truly the history of your world?"
"Although the way it's described is a bit strange, it's true." Rita nodded.
"It seems that, except for the Iron Masked First Officer, everyone else is from a parallel world where Honkai does not exist."
Tian Shi said with a bit of envy. Having been in this world for so long, Tian Shi also realized how happy it is to live in a world unaffected by the collapse.
"Oh, by the way, if I'm not mistaken, was there an 'and' in your presentation, Miss Bianka? Although there are only two of you... could it be the old man who is guarding the ship outside?"
[No, it's me.]
Although it was a bridge, due to Shakespeare's professional habits, Tian Shi was able to easily find a blank papyrus.
Without the help of pen and ink, ink marks automatically appeared on the papyrus: this is the ability provided by high-level enchantment.
"Eh? My papyrus is floating? And the writing emerges automatically?"
Shakespeare seemed to have seen something new.
The Iron Masked Man trembled slightly at seeing this scene.
[My name is Tian Shi, and I am the Guardian Angel of these two young women.]
"Oh... Guardian Angel? Ghost?"
Shakespeare thought it was really interesting.
"Is it the kind of ghost from the Tower of London...? No, it should be a vengeful spirit... Is that a spirit?"
"Lady Bianka, look."
Rita tugged on Bianka's clothes and pointed at the mysterious iron-masked man.
"Does that Iron Masked First Officer know the Lord Guardian Angel?"
"Eh?" Bianka also noticed that the other person's body was trembling slightly.
[The Guardian Angel is the Guardian Angel, but...]
The papyrus floated slowly in front of the Iron Masked Man.
[Schrödinger, don't you want to say anything? After all, it can be considered a reunion after a long separation, right?]
"..." With a slight sigh, the Iron Masked Man took off her mask.
A strange face was revealed, half of which was completely quantified, while the other half still maintained the flesh.
But just by looking at half of her face, you can realize that she is a very cute girl.
"If possible, I sincerely hope that you, Lord Leader of the Alliance, do not appear at this time."
The current atmosphere does not seem at all like that of a reunion.
[Schrödinger, aren't you a little moved? How about flying or something? It's very sad to say.]
"Do you want me to submerge myself in a piece of papyrus?"
Schrödinger stared blankly at the papyrus in front of her.
After all these years, Schrödinger's function as an atmosphere-destroyer hasn't changed at all.
"But if you were my Guardian Angel, I would be happy to appear."
Really, please pay a little attention to what girls think...
As for Schrödinger, she was not really willing to appear before Tian Shi in that way.
After all, quantification or something...
[Even if you don't want it, the cat ears are cute and the quantification gives people a mysterious feeling, which is still great.]
Tian Shi is not completely without emotional intelligence.
"Is that so?" Schrödinger unconsciously touched the cat ears on her head: "It's just that the consequences of the Honkai Impact have worsened a little."
Schrödinger's face blushed at first, but then returned to normal.
"By the way, is everyone okay?"
When talking about this, Schrödinger also felt a little embarrassed.
All, throwing herself into the quantum sea was truly embarrassing.
"Did I get the time estimate wrong? Has the real world reached 2017?"
Schrödinger was a calm person most of the time, and it was rare for a trace of guilt to appear on her face.
No one knew how much she valued her reunion with Tian Shi; if she missed it... Schrödinger suddenly felt embarrassed.