2 【Chapter 2: Your Promise】

...

[In a coma, you dreamed, recalling the days with Sirin in Berlin.]

[Years of dust and dreams, but just a fleeting moment, and you woke up.]

In a somewhat dark room, the boy on the floor slowly opened his eyes.

Darkness, coldness. These were the first words that came to his mind. Surrounding him were cold metal walls and floors, and the room was small. The only decoration in the room was a small iron bed with a white blanket, the only touch of color.

There was no door in the room, only a cold metal cage. Chase couldn't help but recall his sister's comment on this room—a small black cage.

"Thinking about the past again..." Chase sat up from the floor, rubbing his temples, talking to himself.

Resting on the floor didn't feel comfortable, of course, Chase didn't want to rest on the floor either. But he had no choice. After undergoing the Honkai energy injection experiment with the researchers at the laboratory, the group of researchers collected enough data they wanted, ignoring Chase's painful expression, and dragged him back into the room.

The researchers had cold faces, and their eyes showed little emotion, only indifference. It was as if they were experimenting on a common and disposable white mouse, not a teenager in his teens.

"Is this test subject no good?" Chase heard the last words of the researchers.

Chase lowered his head and looked at his hands. There were dense needle marks on his arms, still emitting a faint pain. But this wasn't the most important thing. Chase quickly checked his own system.

[Confirmation that the hard-to-obtain items were not lost, Chase finally relaxed.]

[It was both an identity card of a researcher and the hope for survival. With this identity card, Chase had a lot more maneuvering space.]

[Continuing in this laboratory, all test subjects, no one could last a year, even with his [Honkai Adaptability].]

[It was also fortunate to have the talent [Perseverance (Green)] persisting; otherwise, Chase might already have met the fate of those children who slept forever in the snowy fields, becoming a "discarded item" in the eyes of the researchers.]

Chase slowly got out of bed, using his knuckles to tap on the adjacent wall.

"Dong, dong, dong."

[Dong, dong, dong.] Came the feedback from the other side.

Hearing the sound, Chase slightly eased his mind. This was the secret code between the siblings; after each experiment, they used this method to reassure each other.

Each room housed two people, and when Chase and Sirin entered, they were unlucky enough not to be assigned to the same room. However, at least they were in adjacent ones. Chase's roommate had already left forever in an experiment, and the Tower hadn't assigned him a new one. Sirin's roommate was a girl named Bella, a pretty nice little girl.

"Brother, brother!" Chase heard the familiar voice at the door and hurried over.

He walked to the cage, habitually reached out his hand, and grabbed the small hand stretched out on the other side.

He tried to lean out to see the girl's appearance, but he couldn't. The cage blocked him, and he couldn't see Sirin, and Sirin couldn't see him either.

The only connection was the hands held tightly and the sound transmitted through the air. One wall, two cages, became an insurmountable gap, turning the siblings' desire to meet into a luxury.

"I'm here." Hearing Sirin's call, Chase responded, "Sirin, how long have I been unconscious?"

"It's been a day, and those researchers only brought me food twice." Sirin said.

The experiment subjects in the Tower could only eat two meals a day, and the quantity was not much, just enough to maintain the subjects' normal bodily functions and prevent them from starving. Because they stayed inside the Tower all the time, unable to see sunlight, the subjects used the number of meals to keep track of time.

Sirin's hands were small, as if Chase could wrap them up by opening his palm, making it easy to feel protective. But the dense needle marks on her fair arms were so shocking, each needle puncture spoke of a cruel experiment.

Chase was about to speak but was interrupted by Sirin's sobbing.

"Brother, I..." 

"Brother, Bella..." Sirin's voice, with a hint of crying, gripped Chase's hand tighter, as if afraid he would run away.

"What happened?" Chase was surprised. He had only been unconscious for a day, right?

"Just after Brother was taken away by the researchers, Bella was taken away too, and then... and then..." Sirin cried softly.

Babylon Tower had the world's third-largest Honkai Energy Reactor. Excluding the Weapon Department's research on [Divine Key's] related weapons, just the technology that combined Honkai Energy with the human body, which the Advanced Systems Department researched, required a large number of test subjects.

As children used as experimental subjects, since entering the Tower, they were no longer treated as humans. They were only used as guinea pigs for experiments. Health didn't matter, life and death didn't matter; if something went wrong, just replace them with a new batch.

"Brother, I'm scared..." Sirin tightly held Chase's hand.

"Is it okay, Brother, if you go out, let Sirin bury Bella's body. They... they even said Bella is scrap, garbage!"

Saying this, Sirin's emotions seemed to become more agitated, and she held Chase's hand more forcefully, causing him pain.

"Sirin, my hand..." Chase called out, "It hurts."

"Do you still want to eat next time?" Sirin's voice carried a touch of sorrow. Gripping Chase's hand was her way of anchoring herself to reality, as if fearing that her brother might disappear.

Chase comforted her, "It's okay, Sirin. Brother is fine. Don't worry too much."

"Really? Brother..." Sirin asked cautiously.

"Really. Don't worry, Sirin. Brother is here with you," Chase assured her.

Feeling the tension in the air, Chase changed the topic to lighten the mood. "By the way, how did you learn that Eastern language? 'Baka' is not a word in German, right?"

Sirin blushed a little and said, "Brother taught me."

"Ah, I see. Well done, my clever sister," Chase praised with a smile.

"Hehe, Brother is teasing me again!" Sirin pouted playfully.

Chase chuckled and continued, "Let me teach you another word then." He proceeded to write and draw something on Sirin's hand.

"A... ahu?" Sirin looked confused.

"It means 'idiot'!" Chase laughed.

"Brother!" Sirin exclaimed.

"Haha, I'm just teasing, Sirin. No offense," Chase reassured her.

Sirin playfully punched his hand and then wrote something on his palm.

"Baka?" Chase asked, curious.

"Baka means 'fool' in Japanese," Sirin explained, giggling.

Chase was surprised, "You're learning Japanese now?"

"Yep, Brother is a great teacher!" Sirin smiled proudly.

"Haha, I didn't know my little sister, who I thought was foolish, would learn a foreign language from me."

"Hey, Brother!" Sirin blushed and playfully protested.

The atmosphere became lighter, and they started enjoying the small joy of learning languages together. However, Chase noticed that Sirin's hand suddenly became stronger and even caused him some pain.

[Sirin's sudden increase in strength surprises you, and you feel some pain, prompting you to remind the girl.]

[But this seems to touch Sirin's currently very sensitive emotions. She is insecure, afraid of losing, and fearful of causing harm. She subconsciously wants to escape...]

[Cowards are afraid even of happiness, and they can be hurt by cotton. Sometimes, they can even be wounded by happiness.]

Sirin quickly let go of Chase's hand, apologizing, "Brother, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

After apologizing, Sirin hesitated, wanting to hold hands again but fearing to hurt Chase, so she immediately withdrew.

Chase recalled the rabbits he once had. Those rabbits were timid, and any sound would make their ears stand up, their bodies shrink into a ball, ready to escape, only returning to normal when the sound was gone. Once, when Chase whistled while feeding them, they immediately dropped the food and quickly rushed back into their burrow, taking a while to poke their heads out again.

He always thought Sirin was like a rabbit—cute, soft, clever, and easy to feel protective of. But the departure of loved ones and the death of friends made the girl's heart start to change.

She formed armor from the scars on her soul, crafted a sword from defensive glances, and built a castle with a strong heart. Behind all that, a lonely heart trembled, longing for happiness.

She became fearful, afraid of the departure of familiar things, wanting to communicate and make new friends but fearing that it might lead to disappointment.

Chase quickly grabbed her hand again and said, "It's okay, Sirin. Brother is not mad. You're not a fool; you're my clever sister."

"Really?" Sirin asked cautiously.

"Really." Chase smiled, "But you really scared Brother just now. I didn't know Sirin had such strength."

Sirin pouted, "Σ(゜ロ゜;)"

"Haha, I'm not blaming Sirin," Chase seemed to sense the girl's thoughts.

[You've noticed the girl's fragile and sensitive inner self, comforting her in your own way, and the effect is quite good.]

[But it's not enough; you want Sirin to be more confident...]

"Sirin, do you remember the story of 'Hansel and Gretel' that Brother told you?" Chase asked.

"Yes, Sirin remembers." The girl replied, not saying anything more, as if waiting for Chase to continue.

Chase began to narrate the story of "Hansel and Gretel," carefully downplaying Hansel's part and emphasizing details about Gretel.

"Hansel and Gretel lived in a candy house owned by a witch who ate people. She locked Hansel up and forced Gretel to boil water to prepare to eat Hansel."

"When Brother Hansel was about to be eaten by the witch, clever Gretel stood up."

"She asked the witch, 'How can I tell if the water is boiling?'"

"The witch was surprised and said, 'What! A girl who doesn't even know how to tell if water is boiling? Have you never cooked at home?'"

"Gretel answered, 'No!'"

"So the witch approached the pot, carefully watching the boiling water."

"While the brave and clever Gretel used all her strength to push the witch into the hot pot, successfully saving herself and her brother."

Until Chase finished speaking, Sirin remained silent, seemingly lost in memories.

This time, when telling the story of "Hansel and Gretel," he deliberately softened the part about Hansel and emphasized Gretel's details.

The situation of Hansel and Gretel in the fairy tale, like Chase and Sirin's current situation, was somewhat similar—both were helpless and in danger. Chase observed the sadness in Sirin's eyes and hoped that by telling this story, he could lift her spirits.

"Brother hopes that Sirin can be as strong, clever, and lively as Gretel. No matter how big the difficulties are, you will face them bravely, overcome them, and then live happily every day." Chase said sincerely.

"Everything will get better; I promise."

At this moment, the talent in the simulator panel, [A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold (Gold)], quietly emitted a faint light.

[You assure the girl that everything will get better.]

[The talent "A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold (Gold)" has been activated. You act as an anchor, using intense emotions as a medium, establishing a connection with the world itself in the depths of the unknown. Golden and transparent threads connect you with the world. An unknown existence will guide you in the direction until all the dust settles. (Due to the broad scope of the promise, the talent effect is somewhat weakened.)]

[In the depths of fate, there is a predetermined number of days.]