Chapter 012: The Cause and Effect

According to the normal course of events, after the Endurance broke apart, everyone was forced to separate.

Lara fell into the water, lost consciousness, and was carried by the waves to the island of the Yamatai Kingdom.

Then, while Lara Croft was unconscious, she was picked up by a scavenger on the island, also a shipwrecked refugee who might have once joined the Sun Brotherhood and knew something of the queen's history.

But this guy's mental endurance was weak; having stayed too long on the island, he had become mentally unstable.

He lived in isolation, built an altar in a cave, and captured live victims for sacrifice, hoping to please the Sun Queen and get good weather to return home.

This time he picked up the unconscious Lara and hung her up, probably preparing her for the next sacrifice.

Fortunately, Lara was lucky; she woke up at a critical moment and, relying on her own perseverance, escaped.

Afterward, in this perilous situation, Lara quickly transformed from a novice girl into a qualified Sailor Scout.

On the island of the Yamatai Kingdom, Lara jumped from planes, killed wolves, single-handedly defeated the Brotherhood, eliminated Mathias, destroyed the Stormguard, and even killed Himiko herself, encountering countless dangers along the way but never dying, fully demonstrating what it means to have plot armor.

In the end, Lara even managed to leave the island with a few lucky companions.

The above is the normal development of the story.

But one thing must be clear: due to the turbulence of the multiverse, after falling into the water, Lara was not washed ashore.

Instead, she crossed over.

Yes, after falling into the water, Lara crossed over to the world of The Mummy, where she met Wang Bo, who had crossed over for the first time.

Then she stayed in the Mummy world for a while and was eventually successfully repatriated by Wang Bo.

The two didn't even have a chance to say goodbye.

When Lara returned to the island of the Yamatai Kingdom, everything was already over.

According to Himiko's memories, after she broke the Endurance, everyone except Lara ended up on Yamatai.

Mathias naturally discovered this group of castaways.

He pretended to be a castaway, infiltrated Lara's companions, and discovered a shocking fact.

Among Lara's companions was a woman named Samantha Nishimura.

She was an intern documentary producer and Lara's close friend from boarding school through university in London.

Samantha had dual Portuguese and Japanese citizenship and came from a wealthy family, never worrying about livelihood, but that wasn't what Mathias cared about.

What he cared about was Samantha's identity: she was a descendant of the Sun Queen Himiko.

Logically, the Sun Queen had no men near her and was unmarried, so she naturally wouldn't have children or leave descendants, but in reality, the Sun Queen Himiko had a younger brother.

As the queen's brother, having many women was not a problem.

So Samantha could very well be a descendant of Himiko's brother, or even of Himiko herself. Discovering this, Mathias attempted to implant Himiko's soul into her body to resurrect the Sun Queen.

In the normal story, Mathias failed.

Because Lara, after transforming into a Sailor Scout, not only killed him but also killed Himiko and saved Samantha.

But now, Lara had crossed over.

With no one to stop him, Mathias naturally succeeded, easily resurrecting Himiko.

After resurrecting from Samantha's body, Himiko dispersed the storm but did not let Mathias and the others go; instead, she killed all the members of the Sun Brotherhood on the island and turned them into Stormguard.

Even Lara's companions were no exception; Himiko turned them into Stormguard.

But after resurrection, Himiko did not leave the Yamatai Kingdom, because she discovered that during her half-dead years, humanity had undergone earth-shaking changes, even inventing nuclear bombs.

It was unrealistic for Himiko to want to unify the world.

So she planned to accumulate strength, wait for the right moment, first unify Japan, and then use Japan as a springboard to unify the world.

For this, she needed a large number of Stormguard.

However, not long after, Lara returned.

But she returned too late; all her companions had been turned into immortal monsters, the Stormguard, by Himiko.

When Lara discovered this, she prepared to kill Himiko to avenge her companions. Unfortunately, the resurrected Himiko was too powerful, not an opponent Lara could handle.

Thus, Lara failed.

When Himiko was about to kill Lara, she was surprised to find that Lara's body suited her even better than Samantha's, so she took advantage of Lara's despair and tempted her.

Wang Bo saw this part clearly.

Right in this hall, after easily defeating Lara, Himiko said slowly, 'As long as you are willing to offer your soul and body, I can spare your companions.'

'What did you say?' Lara seemed to grasp at the last straw.

Himiko tempted, 'You should know that since I can turn them into Stormguard, I can also turn them back.'

Lara was stunned, her breathing quickened.

Himiko continued, 'Let's make a deal. You give me your body and soul, and I will not only turn your companions back but also let them go, and even return Samantha to you.'

Fortunately, Lara was not foolish; she couldn't fully trust Himiko, so she made a request: 'I can agree, but you must fulfill your promise first.'

Himiko flatly refused, 'I suspect you are deceiving me.'

'As long as you spare my companions, I will do anything, I swear,' Lara began to vow.

Himiko said with a smile, 'When you offer your soul, I will be you, and you will be me. Do you think I would deceive you?'

Seeing this, Wang Bo felt puzzled.

Given Himiko's power, why didn't she forcibly take over Lara's body, but instead tempted Lara to voluntarily offer herself? What was going on?

But soon, the answer was revealed.

It turned out that Himiko not only coveted Lara's body but also her soul.

If Lara resisted stubbornly, it might cause irreversible damage to the soul, so Himiko threatened and lured Lara with the lives of her companions.

In the end, to save her companions, Lara agreed.

Then, Himiko used dark arts to occupy Lara's body and devour Lara's soul. Of course, Himiko was the one in control throughout.

Lara merely became a part of Himiko.

But Lara did not know that Himiko had deceived her; after devouring Lara, Himiko did not spare her companions at all.

This was a tragic ending.