At lunchtime, Shu finally saw Bronya Zaychik, hugging a Homu doll.
The instant he saw the Bronya-plus-Homu combo, Shu felt a flashback to Nagazora City, to the little girl making up excuses to wear a Homu backpack.
Although he hadn't found the sequel to Homu Brave Fights the Evil Dragon last night, he had watched a couple of other Homu discs.
He now had some understanding of why Homu could rule the world... no, wait, why Homu was so popular globally.
Homu was a vast species. Everyone could find a Homu they liked, see the story they wanted to see in that particular Homu.
So, the more people liked Homu, the more Homus appeared, and the more Homus people liked.
Therefore, more Homu leads to more Homu leads to...
"Bronya..." Shu spoke up, looking at the expressionless Bronya as she sat down. "Thanks for this morning."
Bronya paused slightly, glanced at Shu, and nodded.
"Bronya couldn't wake Shu up, so Bronya could only drag Shu to the sofa." Any lingering feelings of gratitude Shu had were instantly extinguished by Bronya's blunt statement.
Seeing Shu's smile falter, Bronya's little prank succeeded, and a faint smile touched her usually stoic face.
"You're welcome. It was the least Bronya could do," Bronya added, her formal reply now accompanied by the smile.
With a helpless sigh, Kiana, who had been anxiously rubbing her hands together, finally dug in, starting to devour the food like a whirlwind.
The idea that her earlier bowl of noodles would decrease her appetite? Not a chance!
After three months of training, Shu was no longer the Shu who would fight Kiana over braised pork belly. There was a reason Mei could eat with Kiana so many times and still get her fill every meal.
Kiana didn't just clear plates one by one. Her hand darted across the table like lightning, snatching the dishes she wanted while deftly avoiding everyone else's hands.
So, there was no need to compete. Eating slowly still meant you could eat your fill.
"Where's our next stop?" Shu asked, calmly retrieving a piece of meat from the blur of Kiana's movements and placing it in his bowl.
"Siberia," Bronya answered.
"Siberia..." Shu pondered for a moment, then shook his head.
He had specifically checked the data provided by Otto and confirmed that in this civilization's Siberia, there was no place called the Tower of Babylon, nor were there any horrifying human experimentation labs.
"Let's pass through as quickly as possible. There aren't any major cities of interest in Siberia," Shu said, popping the piece of meat into his mouth.
"Of course!" Ai-chan's voice chirped from the train car.
After leaving that memory space, Ai-chan's physical form had dissipated, and the Ai-chan on the train successfully returned.
Ai-chan wasn't forgotten instantly, but no one had really noticed her absence. So, after Ai-chan returned, the group took turns comforting the AI who had been overlooked in the corner for quite a while.
Lunch was quickly finished. Kiana, stuffed and satisfied, leaned back lazily on the sofa, contentedly rubbing her belly and letting out small burps.
Shu, meanwhile, sat where he had been last night, watching Bronya sort through the game discs.
"Bronya, about that Homu Brave Fights the Evil Dragon..." Shu hesitated, but decided to ask Bronya anyway.
As the resident Homu expert, who had collected so many Homu dolls, discs, and other paraphernalia, Bronya should know about the sequel to Homu Brave Fights the Evil Dragon, right?
"As far as Bronya knows, Homu Brave Fights the Evil Dragon has no sequel." Before Shu could even finish his question, Bronya gave him the answer.
Shu was dumbfounded. He'd spent so long searching last night, only to be told there was no sequel?!
"Why?" Shu couldn't help asking.
"The creator of the Homu character was one of the founders of Future City—Mr. Welt Joyce," Bronya explained patiently, holding up the disc case for Shu to see.
Shu reached out and took the disc case. Turning it over, he saw the creator's credit was a string of symbols he couldn't read.
He activated the translation function on his glasses and got a familiar name.
Welt Joyce.
He had previously learned about the founders of Future City. The result was that several Anti-Entropy elders, who had split off to form Anti-Entropy in the original story, had instead created Future City a hundred years ago in this civilization.
"Surprised?" Otto had asked Shu, who was full of questions at the time. "Shu, opportunity treats talent and strength fairly. No matter how unsuitable the circumstances, capable people will always rise to the top."
"Since they had the ability to establish Anti-Entropy in the original storyline, it's not strange for them to achieve even greater things in this world."
"What about you then?" Shu's question had been sharp and pointed.
Otto: "..."
Welt Joyce, Einstein, Planck, Schrodinger, Tesla...
Without Otto's constraints, these individuals had achieved something astounding—a city claimed to be perpetually 100 years ahead of the rest of the world: Future City.
And Otto didn't have Schicksal.
Titan and Spider mechs as mass-produced tactical armor; the "Peach Blossom Spring" known to the people of Shenzhou, the utopia known to the world—complete immersion in a virtual world; cold fusion technology; and the construction machinery that built the railway network spanning the entire globe...
Future City had produced far too many astonishing technologies. Even Otto admitted he suspected Future City had some kind of black box.
But when Shu asked why Otto wasn't part of Future City, Otto just smiled and shook his head.
"Since we parted ways in the original storyline, why would you think we could coexist peacefully here?"
"You got kicked out?" Shu retorted.
Otto: "..."
Hmph! As if! Back then, that Joyce fellow practically clung to my hand in the hot springs, wanting to sleep side-by-side, begging me not to leave... ahem...
"Perhaps..." Otto sighed, looking towards the horizon. "Because I cannot see the future... Of course, no one can, except you."
Shu hated two kinds of people in his life—riddle-speakers, and Otto.
He'd pondered Otto's cryptic sentence for three months and still couldn't figure it out.
What ability did he have to see the future? Did Otto know how much [Hope] it would cost to forge even one Xuanyuan Sword using [Wish]?
Was Otto referring to the original plot? Otto had practically stripped him bare metaphorically speaking; he was already used to Otto's gaze that felt like it could peel off clothes. And now Otto was saying he could see the future?
You, Otto, don't even know if I can, so how would I know if I can?
But back then, Shu had seen a rare trace of confusion on Otto's face, which stopped him from pressing further.
If even Otto couldn't figure it out, Shu figured he should probably just drop it... no point torturing himself over it.