The next day, at the Raiden residence.
As Raiden Mei brought dishes emitting enticing aromas from the kitchen to the spacious and luxurious dining table in the living room, the two Anti-Entropy scientists, who had stayed overnight at the Raiden residence, couldn't resist digging in.
Tesla's table manners were quite unrestrained, while Einstein, though eating at a considerable pace, still maintained a certain degree of elegance.
"Cough, cough, cough. This is way too delicious! Ryoma, you never told me your daughter's cooking was this good!"
Eating too quickly, Tesla choked on a piece of grilled salmon. She hurriedly gulped down a large mouthful of the steaming hot bonito flake miso soup in front of her, then, contentedly narrowing her eyes, patted the arm of the dazed Raiden Ryoma sitting beside her, praising Mei.
"Ah, this… I… haha…"
Hearing Tesla's heartfelt compliment for his daughter Mei's cooking, Raiden Ryoma's unfocused eyes regained some focus. His expression was stiff, and he could only force an awkward, polite smile, responding to Tesla with meaningless syllables.
Raiden Ryoma picked up a piece of perfectly cooked tamagoyaki and stuffed it into his mouth. The initial surprise and deliciousness he had felt the first time he tasted it were completely gone. He was just mechanically chewing and swallowing the breakfast Mei had made.
As he ate his breakfast with a taste like sawdust in his mouth, Raiden Ryoma's gaze involuntarily shifted back and forth between his daughter, Raiden Mei, sitting next to Ren Amamiya, and Ren Amamiya himself, who was calmly enjoying the food Mei had cooked.
The more Raiden Ryoma observed the subtle interactions between his daughter and Ren Amamiya, in their words and even their glances, the more he felt his soul withering away.
And as Raiden Mei's father, he couldn't do anything about it. He could only watch helplessly as Raiden Mei and Ren Amamiya exchanged knowing glances, becoming increasingly aware of the deep understanding between them.
As a father, Raiden Ryoma knew his daughter Raiden Mei very well.
Before he was imprisoned due to Cocolia's betrayal, Raiden Mei had been an aloof and cold, high-class young lady, untouched by the mundane tasks of daily life.
Yet, when Raiden Ryoma was finally released from prison, he found that his once proud, queen-like daughter, Mei, had now become a gentle, wife-material "cooking mama"—and she was actually a very good cook!
The Raiden Mei that Raiden Ryoma saw after his release was almost like a completely different person compared to the daughter in his memory before his imprisonment.
And the cause of all these changes in Raiden Mei…
Raiden Ryoma's gaze fixed on Ren Amamiya, who was sitting next to his daughter. When he saw Raiden Mei lean towards Ren Amamiya, intimately picking up a piece of bacon that Ren Amamiya couldn't easily reach due to his seating position and placing it in his bowl, then smiling sweetly, Raiden Ryoma felt like his teeth were about to shatter. His usually robust body trembled precariously from this heartbreaking impact.
All of this was because of Cocolia framing him and putting him in prison. If it weren't for that woman, Cocolia…
Thinking this, Raiden Ryoma's heart was filled with even more grief and indignation. He glared at the guest room where Cocolia was currently staying, practically wanting to burn a hole through the wall with his gaze, wishing that Cocolia, like non-burnable trash polluting his house, would simply combust and disappear.
Seeing Raiden Ryoma, usually so stern and rigid, now looking so weak and defeated due to the intimate atmosphere between his daughter and Ren Amamiya, Welt Yang, the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy, couldn't help but sigh wearily.
To distract his subordinate, Ryoma, and help him return to his usual self, Welt picked up his napkin, wiped his mouth, and then started a casual conversation with Ren Amamiya.
"You seem to be deliberately speeding up your eating. Are you eager to go to Mementos to carry out a change of heart mission? Is the target a request from a Phantom Thieves Channel user, or dealing with a certain VIP Palace ruler? Or perhaps… is the target still me, the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy?"
Welt adjusted his glasses. He deliberately told a joke to lighten the mood, but the atmosphere at the table didn't improve; it became even tenser.
Tesla immediately stopped eating, a deeply exasperated expression on her face. Einstein even covered her forehead and sighed audibly.
Only these two Anti-Entropy scientists, who spent day and night with Welt, understood his threatening, cold joke.
Raiden Ryoma and Raiden Mei, who didn't know Welt well enough, immediately tensed up. Father and daughter both turned their gazes towards Welt Yang, who had stopped eating and placed his hands on the table, seemingly expressionless and composed.
"Ahem, well, you don't have to be so nervous. Ryoma, you should relax too. Welt just wanted to lighten the mood with a joke, though his jokes are terribly unfunny and tasteless, easily causing misunderstandings… Since Joyce, the true master of the Palace of the Herrscher of Reason, actively assisted you in collecting the Herrscher of Reason's Core fragments, we will respect Joyce's will and won't force you to immediately return all the Treasures."
Although Ren Amamiya still appeared calm and unperturbed, to prevent this mysterious and powerful Phantom Thief from having unnecessary misunderstandings, Tesla quickly spoke up to explain Welt Yang's terrible joke.
Currently, Anti-Entropy indeed had no intention of immediately reclaiming all the Herrscher of Reason Core fragments.
Since Joyce's will had recognized Ren Amamiya and Bronya, and Ren Amamiya had a close relationship with Ryoma's daughter Raiden Mei, Tesla saw no problem with temporarily keeping some of the Herrscher of Reason Core fragments with Ren Amamiya.
After all, for Welt Yang, whose injuries had not yet fully healed, the complete Herrscher of Reason Core was too much of a burden. Since Ren Amamiya could now slow down the Core's erosion of Welt's body, Tesla felt there was no need to be overly anxious.
Thinking this, Tesla turned her gaze towards Bronya, who was sitting in the corner of the dining table.
Unlike Raiden Ryoma and Raiden Mei, even after hearing Welt Yang's seemingly provocative, terrible joke, Bronya remained calm like Ren Amamiya. There was no trace of panic or nervousness on her delicate and lovely face. She simply stopped eating her breakfast, quietly fixing her beautiful silver-gray eyes on Welt.
Seeing Bronya's exceptionally composed demeanor, Tesla couldn't help but praise her inwardly, feeling that she was indeed worthy of being Joyce's chosen successor, living up to the weight of the 324 Herrscher of Reason Core fragments she carried within her body.
"Our Phantom Thieves of Hearts will be going to a new Palace for exploration next. As for whose Palace it is specifically, that's confidential. I can only tell you that the target this time isn't the Herrscher of Reason's Palace."
Ren Amamiya wasn't intimidated by Welt Yang's previous threatening, tasteless cold joke. His eating pace didn't slow down in the slightest.
After finishing his own breakfast, Ren Amamiya leisurely wiped his mouth and then gave his answer to Welt.
It concerned his own Palace, so Ren Amamiya naturally wouldn't be so candid as to reveal all the information.
Accepting Vill-V's mysterious request was already his limit. Ren Amamiya didn't plan to tell Welt Yang and the others about today's destination. He didn't even plan to inform Fu Hua, whom he originally intended to recruit into the Phantom Thieves.
Only those Ren Amamiya could truly trust from the bottom of his heart could access his Palace.
…If someone Ren Amamiya hadn't fully trusted yet were to infiltrate his Palace, before Ren Amamiya himself could react, the Shadow guards serving the Palace ruler would probably react to Ren Amamiya's heart first, treating those people as intruders and attacking and expelling them.
"Even if the Phantom Thieves want to enter the Herrscher of Reason's Palace again, it's fine. Just please inform us beforehand."
Welt adjusted the black-rimmed glasses on his face, outwardly maintaining a calm demeanor, but inwardly feeling somewhat dejected by his failed joke.
Fortunately, although the joke had failed, the goal of helping Raiden Ryoma regain his composure had been achieved… At least, he wouldn't feel heartbroken by the overly intimate words and actions between his daughter, Raiden Mei, and Ren Amamiya anymore.
"Ren, Big Sister Mei, Bronya is full."
After Ren Amamiya finished his breakfast, Bronya quickly finished her own portion. She hopped down from her chair, then, lifting her expressionless, delicate little face, spoke to Ren Amamiya and Raiden Mei.
Although she hadn't collected all the Herrscher of Reason Core fragments, Bronya herself possessed exceptionally outstanding Honkai resistance.
Coupled with the 324 Herrscher of Reason Core fragments residing within her body, Bronya was now an incomplete Herrscher of Reason, personally certified by the two Anti-Entropy scientists.
Under normal circumstances, even with 324 Herrscher of Reason Core fragments implanted within her body, Bronya's strength and Honkai adaptability shouldn't have increased to the astonishing level of an incomplete Herrscher of Reason.
However, Bronya could now even vaguely begin to wield the authority of the Herrscher of Reason; all that remained was a matter of proficiency.
After a simple examination of Bronya, Tesla and Einstein concluded that this peculiarity was due to the way Ren Amamiya and Bronya had obtained the Herrscher of Reason Core fragments.
The Herrscher of Reason's Core housed the residual thoughts of 300,000 victims, and the consciousness of these victims formed the foundation of the Core's existence.
Even Welt Yang, who had inherited the Herrscher of Reason's Core from Welt Joyce, could only glimpse those 300,000 thoughts on rare occasions.
However, Ren Amamiya, using the unique methods of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, had taken Bronya directly into the Herrscher of Reason's Core, entering what he called a [Palace], and had come into close contact with the thoughts of those victims within the Core.
By interacting with the victims as if completing a mission, Ren Amamiya and Bronya gained the complete recognition of the consciousnesses of the 324 victims within the Herrscher of Reason's Core.
This recognition, from the most fundamental units composing the Herrscher of Reason's Core, meant that although the number of Core fragments Bronya possessed was a drop in the ocean compared to the complete Core, the power and authority she could unleash far surpassed Welt Yang's, even though he possessed a similar number of Core fragments.
According to Tesla and Einstein, Bronya was currently undergoing an incomplete [Metamorphosis].
If she truly gathered all the Herrscher of Reason Core fragments, Bronya Zaychik, becoming the third Herrscher of Reason, would definitely surpass Welt Yang at his peak.
It was precisely because of Bronya's incomplete Metamorphosis state that Ren Amamiya made the decision to include Bronya in the Phantom Thieves team.
When parting ways with Hare last night, Ren Amamiya had already explained Bronya's current situation to Hare.
When Hare learned that Bronya had now become an incomplete Herrscher of Reason, she hesitantly expressed her desire to meet Bronya… With Bronya's current Honkai resistance, she should be able to withstand the intense Honkai radiation she would be exposed to while staying by Hare's side.
And Bronya, after learning that she now had sufficient ability to join Ren Amamiya's Phantom Thieves team and could meet Ms. Hare, who was supposedly a friend of her mother, readily agreed, her heart filled with anticipation.
"Uh, Mei… You go ahead with them. Thank you for the breakfast. I'll take care of the dishes…"
Seeing Raiden Mei's anxious and hesitant expression, Raiden Ryoma instantly understood his daughter's predicament. He forced a smile, gave Raiden Mei a thumbs-up, and spoke in support.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Father… Ren, let's go!!"
Due to her excellent upbringing, Raiden Mei couldn't leave while her guests were still eating.
However, since her father, the true head of the household, was there, Raiden Mei could leave the Anti-Entropy guests behind and wholeheartedly participate in the Phantom Thief operation with Ren Amamiya.
Raiden Mei gave her father, who looked somewhat troubled, a bright smile. Then, she took Ren Amamiya's hand, a brighter and more joyful smile appearing on her face, and rushed towards the exit with Ren Amamiya.